NCL Blog 7 Spring Equinox 2025

I hope you are meeting this moment with wellness and some extra energy. It's a blessing that we tilt more towards the sun for the next 6 months.

Let's start with a blessing poem:

A Blessing for the Spring Equinox

May the quiet hush of dawn find you
standing at the threshold of light,
where the earth tilts once more toward the sun,
and all that was sleeping begins to stir.

May the air tremble with birdsong—
a wild, rising chorus of returning wings,
each voice an echo of survival,
filling the bare branches with the certainty
that life comes back, again and again.

May you stand beneath the trembling buds,
swollen with promise,
ready to break open into green flame,
each leaf a whispered vow
that the waiting was not in vain,
that the world is remaking itself,
and so, too, may you.

May the wind carry whispers of new beginnings,
the rains wash away the dust of what no longer serves,
and the lengthening days remind you
that you, too, were made for warmth and wonder.

May the breath of thawing earth rise to meet you,
the rain kiss your skin like a benediction,
blessing both what you have let go
and what you now dare to dream.

May your heart lift like the wings overhead,
your spirit root deep like the waking trees,
and may you walk into this season of light
with hands open to both sow and gather,
with eyes wide for the quiet miracles—
for the green fuse of life,
for the earth tilting toward joy,
for the rhythmical return of hope.

Spring Equinox reminds me that although there is much warmth to the sun, there is still the chance of a frost. 

It also reminds me that while most days I can greet everyone with a warm smile and a glass half full perspective, there are moments when I can be attached to something 'negative', coming across as dark, grumpy, carrying disappointment, sadness or utter disbelief at something going on in the world, as I meet another. 

In those moments, almost always, if I listen outside myself, my heart can be lifted again and I can carry the warmth of the sun in my greetings again.

As an example... it was early on Monday morning this week, when sadness was upon me as I left my partner after a lovely weekend together, that as I got to my van I was stopped in my tracks. I heard an uplifting song coming from thick overgrown bushes in a front garden. It was a Blackcap - the first I heard this year. What a joy! And the smile was back on my face again.

I also love that feeling of expectation in the air. Migrant birds and insects returning. Buds swelling. Shoots emerging. I'm putting less clothing layers on. As I slowly walk round the wood I work in, doing the weekly risk assessment, it's palpable. 

In one of the layers of the 8 Shields model of Nature Connection I use, Spring Equinox is about being aware of dangers and hazards... so you can be safe. I reflected that when there are less leaves on the Hawthorne trees and brambles it's easier to see the thorns, and locate these dangers, and thus reference them later when they are a bit more hidden by foliage. 

And that is a good metaphor to carry along. 

What spikiness do I hold that is easier to see in my darker, more exposed moments?

How do I cover them up when all is good and abundant?

Does knowing my spikiness help me accept it, work on it, and put it aside to greet someone?

Is it important to let those around me know of my triggers or thorns?

Looking around the woods I work in I see a plant it's important share. There are lots of Lords and Ladies leaves coming up i and I'm reminding all the groups of children that come to me at the moment about it. Here's some info incase you don't know about it already:

It's through knowing the risks and hazards, the boundaries and the edges that life energy can flow fully, like a river flowing between banks.

The change in the tilt of the Earth relative to the Sun means that there is now more energy around. The sun is leading, the rest of life is following. There are pathways of energy and the constant play of following and leading increases again. 

Birds are laying eggs - our chickens are laying more abundantly. Mother bumble bees are buzzing about the early flowers in search of nectar and we are all emerging into the wakefulness of spring. 

It's time to get busy drinking dreams and visions, leaves and flowers to light.

I wish you hearty growth this year. 

and a wonderful spring.

In friendship

Chris

PS What did you think of the blessing? I have some information that might change your feelings about it.

I prompted Chat GPT with some themes and asked it to create a blessing in the style of John O'Donaghue and Mary Oliver. 

I would love to hear your response to it , and the news it was AI generated. 

Other things: Mentoring with Cards for Life, Camps, Courses and Retreats

Winter can be a time for inner growth. This winter I took a course on how to facilitate using a wonderful deck of cards called Cards for Life. These can be used in so many ways and I've started using them to great effect for mentoring and team development. They are a perfect partner to the 8 Shields model and were created using Permaculture Principles to aid regenerative and systems thinking in growth and solution finding at both the personal and business levels. 

This spring and summer I am offering 10 people half priced mentoring./nature connection coaching sessions (£25 per hour) as I get more fluid at using the ONLINE deck version of Cards for Life. If you are interested in being one of these folks, please email me back or

Camps

Once again I am facilitating two family camps on the Devon Dorset border for Trill on the Hill at the end of May and end of July - Use the code HOLLAND10 to get 10% off when you book. I may also be running a camp in Bedfordshire - watch this space :-)

Courses

I'm running Understanding Bird Language (Saturday May 10th), Advanced Fire-craft (Saturday 1st November) and 8Shields and Natural Flow Learning courses (Sunday 2nd November) with Greenwise People in SW London click hereand scroll to the bottom of the page to find out more: http://www.greenwisepeople.co.uk

In North London on the 4th October I'm delivering a Natural Musicians and Storytelling Workshop in partnership with Kinship in Nature - click here to find out more Kinship in Nature.

Retreats

I'm really excited to offer RETREATS co-curated and facilitated with Pam Horton, who has been delivering the Nature of Leadership and Women's Leadership retreats at Eden Project. Find out more about her here - she really has done some incredible work over the years.

With over 50 years combined experience of facilitation and connections we can run retreats in some incredible locations and to a wide range of budgets. Please email me to find out more. 

And finally - 

If you would like a signed copy of my new PLANT OF THE WEEK book, sent 1st class tracked (and way more speedily than the print on demand copies that are only £2 cheaper) please get a copy here:

Wishing you a wonderful spring, 

In friendship, 

Chris