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Summer Solstice Elemental Insights

Summer Solstice

Sunshine and the longest day

Tomorrow is the Summer Solstice, or Alban Hefin in the Druid calendar – the “Light of the Shore”. It’s the high point of the sun’s power in the northern hemisphere, a time to honour the fullness of life and light. If you’re curious about the roots of the festival, this page is a lovely read.

Traditionally, this was a time for hilltop fires, watching the sunrise, and offering thanks for the land’s abundance. In modern life, it might look more like a walk, a shared meal, or just noticing how long the light lasts. We don’t have to re-enact the old ways to feel part of them. Having said that…

Hadrian’s Wall – Finally!

We walked the ancient Roman feat that is Hadrian’s Wall at the end of May, and it wasn’t at all what I expected. I’d imagined something bleak, maybe a bit grey and repetitive – but it was full of life and light. Bright skies, baking sunshine, curlews and cuckoos calling out from every direction, and huge open views across the hills. A real treat, and one of those walks that gets under your skin in the best way possible.

Happy solstice everyone!





In the Ogham calendar, Apple is the tree of this moment. A symbol of wholeness, choice, and the sweet rewards of patience.

Apple has long been linked with healing, knowledge, and the Otherworld. In Irish mythology, it was the fruit of immortality, often carried in the hands of those crossing between worlds. In real life, it’s humbler but no less magical – a tree that asks us to slow down, to notice ripening, and to tend to what nourishes us.

If you’re feeling pulled in too many directions right now, Apple reminds us: not every choice has to be made at once. Some things need time to sweeten.

What has our jewellery brand Harmonite been up to?

The new Ivy and Oak pendants are now available in the OBOD online store – two strong symbols for this time of year. And last month I gathered the first elderflower blossoms and pressed them alongside their tiny leaves collected earlier in the spring. If all goes well, Elder pendants should be ready for the Autumn Equinox – which suits the tree perfectly.

Also very excited to be working on a new outlet for our jewellery in the form of our very own shop on the website.
Many of our lovely customers are not Amazon fans or cannot get out to see us at our various craft fayres, so we will be trialling an online webshop, hopefully in the not-too-distant future (once I’ve worked out the postage and shipping side!)
Harmonite Store on Amazon UK
Harmonite Store on Amazon USA

What have I been writing?

I haven’t been writing so much this month, because I’ve been working on our webshop for downloadable PDF versions of my books. So if you don’t use a Kindle or don’t have an Amazon account, but still want to read them, feel free to try out our new ebook shop and let me know what you think, I’d love to hear from you.

Also, I was delighted to receive an email recently from author Tal Gur. Who has written a thoughtful and in-depth review of my book “Aphantasia” over on Elevate Society.

And if you’d like to read my upcoming Forest Bathing book early and free, I’m still hopeful for more advanced readers to help me with reviews on launch day!
To sign up, just click the image and enter your details. It would mean so much to me. Thanks.

Follow My Author Page

What have I been influenced by lately?

BBSpringwatch (TV Series 2005– ) - IMDbC’s “Springwatch” has been on recently – it’s always hugely inspiring to me, and I’ve added a few new nature reserves to my “when I get my next campervan” list.
I was particularly impressed with the Springwatch Street section, showing badgers, hedgehogs, foxes and more in the urban back gardens of central Sheffield! Just goes to show that you don’t need to live rural to appreciate the great British wildlife. But something else I watched last month also stuck with me – a programme about “foundlings” – people left as babies in doorways or phone boxes, now adults searching for their birth families. Most just want to meet someone who looks like them. It really stayed with me. We take those resemblances for granted.   It gave me the nudge I needed to send off a DNA kit and start looking further into my own ancestry. Not because I was a foundling, far from it, but because I am interested in my origins and how far back they go (also secretly hoping I’m part Celt, or even Viking!). 

One small business helping out another …

Adrienne Say
As the Solstice encourages us to pause, reflect, and welcome change, Adrienne’s yoga classes, life coaching, and women’s circles offer us a calm space to do exactly that.
Reconnecting with ourselves and others is key, and her gentle approach has been a steady support for me through recent chaotic times.If you want to find your own moment of calm or connection this season, check out her beautiful website.

A final word from the woodland…

Things have been a bit quiet on the badger front – no recent sightings on the camera trap, which I’m keeping an eye on. But elsewhere, the woodland is humming with signs of life:

  • Slow worms basking under the reptile tins
  • Lizards hunting on the sun-warmed banks
  • Chestnut bark peeled and woven into a 4-metre mat for the new tea shelter roof
  • Honeysuckle cuttings taken from the old roof and potted up, ready to plant back again when the repairs are finished.

It still feels like a season of preparation instead of lazy summer days!

Until next time…
Blessings from Rais wood.
Joanne
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If you are reading this and thinking who the hell is Joanne Hedger, then I sincerely apologize; your email address has reached my Google contacts list somewhere along the line and I have embarrassingly failed to keep in touch. For this I am very sorry and wish you all the best in life. (There is an unsubscribe link below).

If, however, you wish to continue receiving Elemental newsletters, (I send a maximum of 8 per year), be sure to whitelist my email address or mark me as an approved sender in your email inbox. This is to ensure that you will receive all updates and announcements and not have me sent to your spam box.   My email address is: joanne@elementalretail.com

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