Perhaps it is no wonder then that this time of year brings to mind cooking pots (as I write this I’m reminded I need a new slow cooker). The cauldron is one of those items perhaps most associated with witchcraft, magic and fire.

A good part of a geological age has been dug from the depths of the earth. Is it any wonder she speaks to us of the Carboniferous in broken dreams and calls our attention to our existing wetlands?

When we see ourselves as part of the landscape, only then, I believe we’ll put in the real work to stop the destruction of it.

But how likely is that do you reckon?

There is a magic in nature, one that cannot be described by words alone. It is a soul deep feeling that nourishes and makes us strong. Losing that feeling, disconnecting from that nature is the root of many of today’s problems. It is what makes us use and abuse the planet, the environment, animals and other humans. We forget that all is connected, that there is one whole and whilst we all may be separate, individuals, we are also all connected. Destroy one part and we destroy ourselves.

Being in the presence of daldinia concentrica can put us back in touch with the mysteries at the heart of the carbon cycle.

A poem about Gwydion, the Welsh magician god, and the shift from the woodland knowledge of gwydd to gwyddoniaeth ‘science’ which has played a role in our current ecological crisis (with accompanying notes on the mythic background).