Tread a path to wholebeing with the wheel of the year.

Tomorrow, 21 December, marks the winter solstice. The garden has been quiet and still these last few dark months. Many of us are tempted to do the same at this busy time of year - should we feel bad about that?

We ebb and flow with the sun.

There’s a renewed awareness that this winding down and withdrawal is a natural reflection of the simplest fact: that the sun’s power has dipped and the darkness now lingers longer. Human energy, just like the rest of nature, ebbs and flows with the sun. It’s not a question of introvert or extrovert - we are all naturally more attuned to our quiet, inner world at this time of year. And - if we give this aspect of ourselves space alongside the bustle of the festive season - we’re likely to feel fresher and stronger when January comes.

The wheel of the year is a vital part of the cycle of life.

This is not new knowledge, nor is it surprising. The wheel of the year, which charts a course from Winter Solstice to Samhain, has been a human expression of the sun’s cycle for generations. Right now, we’re in the period of time between the old festival of Samhain (Sow-win) at the end of October and Winter Solstice on the 21st December. At Winter Solstice, the old year dies and the way is cleared for a new year to begin as the days lighten - this cycle of death and rebirth has been cherished as a vitally important opportunity for renewal.

Why do we honour this at 10 Trees? 

It was Pippa’s recent letter about wholebeing for our sister social enterprise Open House that made it click into place for the 10 Trees team:

“When your inner life, your relationships, and your sense of belonging to the wide web of life, are no longer treated as separate territories … life becomes coherent again.”

In many ways, the wheel of the year offers just this - a journey into a deeper understanding of our connectedness to the natural world, and, along with it, a pathway to wholebeing.

So we stopped, and turned inward. In place of outward-facing action, we explored dream worlds, invited the wisdom of intuition and paid closer attention to the mirror that nature holds to the human experience. We realised we wanted to invite more people to experience this seasonal, cyclical human journey - and that the garden could be the perfect space for this. 

Journey with us in the garden next year.

Just as the year dies and renews, our dreaming time has birthed new experiences for you. Interwoven with the things you loved this year - from the Community Tree Nursery, to Slow Sundays and Pickle Club - are moments that invite you to tread the wheel of the year in the garden. You might find yourself bathing in the sound of the dawn chorus at Beltane, revelling in music around the campfire at Summer Solstice or even letting your wild self out to play at Samhain. 

Whether you feel like peeking doubtfully over the garden wall at all this, or bounding through the gate to be part of it, you’re invited on this journey exactly how you are. We’ll share more as the days start to lengthen and bulbs push through the soil in January.

New ways of wholebeing.

Does this feel like a bold move to you, or back to simple living? Either way, we are quietly thrilled about the possibility of treading this path together with you all. As artist, writer and teacher Glennie Kindred says, 

“We are trying in our own way to live the dreams and visions of a new age, but we are still bound by our old conditioning and life patterns. We each carry the seeds of a new vision, of a new way of being. Each time these visions-re-emerge after the incubation period of winter, they are stronger and we are surer.”

What a gift this communal journey could be - to ourselves, each other, and the world.