Emergence - To The Trees Edition #74

During the course of the last two weeks, spring has shown me some spectacular things and where once was a vaguely hinted mirage of the season, now a full form falls through my eyes.

To many this month’s newsletter might seem like the ramblings of a madman, but rest assured it is not my lunacy at the root of this eruption, but rather a slotting together of season, story, and landscape that has converged to shed new light upon my place within these hills.

My paths have changed, my routes have merged and all that was, no longer is. And there is no turning back. Now, I step out of the dusk into a new season, with an elevated point of view, peering across, into, beneath and through the landscapes thick with green and white fizz.

Hawthorn blossom rises in plumes of smoke so dense that leaves become smothered in its pure white shroud. They sing for the forthcoming festival of Beltane, bobbing their heads like far reaching dragon heads riding upon the crests of huge green waves. Soon, a crowd of faces will wind through our streets for the Beltane parade. In the morning, the Tor will don a hat of people, all waiting to watch the fire unleash and climb high into the sky.

All of the isle is oriented to this moment, and all our sights are set towards the rising sun at Beltane, with all of its vigour, eagerness and volume, bright round shapes, and bellowing voices. Our eyes eagerly await the extreme passion of heat which will be let loose upon our lands, our hearts know it is coming. Yet, for most, it is just a chance to enjoy the warmth, to strip down and screen up, oblivious to the depths of the beauty laid before us, and the nugget of Spring’s wisdom to which the trees and landscapes wait to wake us.

This end of Spring is the beginning of a fiery trail that leads us onto the summer solstice, a forked tongue and fierce tale that causes all to get their legs on and frolick in the grassy verges that froth in the wake of the season. We are tugged into, under and through spring’s current, unable to find a foot hold, drowning in the euphoria of all that is happening out there, the provocation of fire that turns land to green and writhing seas.

If only we could slow it down for a moment, walk for a day or two while Spring is paused, perhaps we might then begin to take in the magnitude of its beauty. But, alas, we are destined to witness it as an epiphany viewed too close up to get a grip on its whole.

We are dazzled by the extent of the beauty, by the plethora of colour, names, and double names, half words and poetry of it all. We are stifled by the tumbling white rows and the tangled canopies and left bereft at the amount there is to take in. Like the pastures as they ripple on the wind, we are caught in the movement and glint, a part of the wave, too much involved to see the sea itself, and as such, we struggle to discern the true depth of its meaning.

To begin to come to terms with this overwhelm, it is advisable to sit for long hours surrounded by green and trunk, to make friends with the branches, the scripts, the flowers and song. We are to wait and to let our surroundings speak to us. Rather than forcing ourselves upon it, we stay still, open our senses and allow the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch to arrive within us. It sounds mystical, perhaps even religious, and at its depth it truly is, but it’s also so simple, clear, and so intrinsically human. Time is not an excuse, we have ample hours to do this. We will regret it in the end if we do not. There is a mass of mystery to absorb, if for one moment we would just put down the rectangles which gain so much from our attention, while we lose a great deal more.

I speak from experience, I see things in nature on a daily basis that baffle and confound me, that raise my heart to its highest notes, things that cause my skin to pimple and my nerves to tingle. This, I believe to be the height of human enjoyment, the pinnacle and peak of experience. Holding one’s hand to the floor and reclining into the sea of green, peering up into the burgeoning ash, I am at peace, I am free from strife, my heart is settled and I rest.

In this season, I take every warm moment to get out into the fields and orchards. The apples sing with their rosy blossoms, their five pointed secrets sung through the ages with sweet smelling pinks and whites, awaiting the visit of bees to provoke them into fruit.

A bee provokes a flower to transform into an apple. When you put it in such simple terms, it’s pure magic that occurs right before our eyes, but we take it all so bluntly for granted that we fail even to be grateful to the apple for its beauty, let alone for its sweetness, its nourishment, its healing and for the bee who plays such an integral role, almost as if it were designed that way in order to save us thee trouble of manually pollinating each flower!

Perhaps I am preaching to the converted, after all you have been led to this writing and so I imagine you already have an interest in the sovereignty of nature. Nevertheless, I urge you to stop reading this article, take your head out of the mirror and get out into the circles, the curves, humps, and rounds. Take those feet walking through waist high grasses, let your eyes fall upon petal and your ear and heart be caught by wren. Allow your nose to be touched by the musk of hawthorn, the sweet rose of apple, and the scent that only the colour green can conjure. Be provoked into movement by the rippling grasses, the swaying trees, their burning flames lit by the fire of Beltane, and all of the promise of the forthcoming summer.

All the blessings of beltane.

MW 1/5/2026

VIDEO:

Enjoy a walk with me in The Coombe in Wells to take in some of their spring trees.

Upcoming Tree Walks

The walking season is already well underway, May will be one of the busiest months ever for walking, with a number of local Glastonbury walks, a walk for Wedmore arts festival, as well as numerous private group walks. All Summer dates have now been released, fb event info. I am also preparing for my first tour of Stonehenge and Avebury for a french group who last year enjoyed their tree walk so much that they booked me to take them on an adventure to Glastonbury’s sister sites.

Abbey walks continue twice a month, these are now available free to members and included with entry to non members. All are welcome, do get in touch with me if you need help or further details and don’t hesitate to book a private walk if the arranged ones do not suit your dates.