Wishing you all a blessed 2024 along with wonderful ideas and passions to explore.
As I am still working to complete 2023 goals, mainly the ‘Ogham Prompts course series that I am way behind on, I thought I would also self indulge with you to post my intentions with ‘Nature Folklore’ during this 2024 calendar.
Through 2023 I settled into the wonderful Substack platform very comfortably. I also settled into presenting various article series’ comfortably too, and you seem to enjoy those and respond to those well. Thank you for supporting these.
So instead of heading off into other subjects, through 2024, I am going to follow the series seasons again and add more to them. I want to integrate more videos, interviews, personal experiences storytelling, and more photos. I aim to help you wonderful readers become more involved, maybe experience the folklore more where you live, and share what you have done and enjoyed.
I also hope we can start some kind of offline meet-ups during 2024 too.
As a reminder …
Around Imbolc … it’s ‘Discovering The Sidhe’.
I will be integrating Brighid, Gobnait and other feminine entities into this too. I will be attempting to write and present more from a personal experience sidhe interpretation more than the ‘templated’ stories that many tell. Quite a bit of divination will enter this, plus abundant water folklore.
Around Spring Equinox … it’s ‘Us & Trees’
I was very quick with this last year, very short series, so I will fill out this series much more this year. Though the tree planting season is from November to the end of March, its mid to end of March that ends up being the busiest time for working with trees. Last minute of course. But there seems to be more tree folklore around in March than during November, anyway. So to me, this is a great time for my Tree series, including exploring our relationship with trees, and especially creating a transition from my series on Sidhe and Water.
Around Bealtaine … it’s ‘Bealtaine Frolics’
May is my own favourite time of the year since I was very young. This is the time of the first very warm sun, and it is melting the last frosts, ice, and possibly snow. The amount of light in a day is noticeably a lot longer. Yellow flowers are around us in incredible abundance, and yellow is my own favourite colour. Since I was very young this was a time of innocence, mischief, and mating. Its also the time when the Hawthorn tree blossoms, and folklore is very abundant then..
Around Summer Solstice … it’s ‘Midsummer Joy’
The daylight here is now the longest, and often this is the time of our best weather of summer, and often before the midges, cleggs, and other insects are at their most annoying feeding from us abundantly. We are usually very happy at this Midsummer time as we have the earliest signs of abundant new crops wild and cultivated about to be available for us soon. Around Ireland, Bonfire Nights are at this time, and here in Co. Leitrim we also have our fire at a mighty Crossroads Dance that is wonderfully symbolic of much of the Midsummer Joy.
Around Lughnasadh … it’s ‘First Harvests’
This is the time of harvests of both wild and cultivated food. I tell a lot of folklore around the traditions of Bilberry and Garland Sundays, that is also another mating dance time too but with a more mature difference. Also the First Harvests of Grains, the customs and rituals of this, plus some controversial stories of Crom Cruach and Crom Dubh are with us now. We humans get into some amazing celebration behaviours at this time through the festivals, trading, and storing.
Around Autumn/Fall Equinox … it’s ‘Apple Wisdom’ time
Apple Harvesting time, among the last of the summer abundance to be harvested, but also Apples are the carriers of perhaps the most folklore, mythology, customs and magic. I just love everything about Apples and their role in our nutrition, survival, and even guidance.
Around Samhain … it’s ‘Ale House Wives’
I have loved my annual gathering and expansion of this story from ancient Mesopotamia westwards to ourselves in the UK and Ireland. A story of women over time that not only draws in our seasonal changes between summer and winter but also brings us into the heart and spirit of Hag, Wise Woman, and Cailleach folklore and mythology. This is also about protection of our water too, and it’s carrying of life and protection. I share all of this rather than the usual Halloweeny and Samhainy stuff.
Around Winter Solstice … it’s ‘Winter Mischief & Magic’
Our modern Christmas celebrations seem to have disconnected us from much of the flow of Nature from this time. A time when here in the North the days are mainly or all dark, and we are looking for more light. Through 1000s of years we have tried to hold onto light and bring more back. Plus there has been fear that the light may not come back unless we perform specific rituals. I love the incredible myth and folklore associations with animals at this time, especially Goats as we enter into the month of the Capricorn fish, or mermaid, tailed goat from the point of Winter Solstice.
Ogham Prompts?
The 20 Ogham Prompts modules of my course will also be expanded, and made more useful, and more interactive as we pass through the seasons. Again, I hope we can get some offline meet-ups to share this asap.
Nature Echoes?
I have been ‘off the air’ with my weekly broadcasts for a few weeks to free up some time space for me to catch up on other things, especially the Ogham Prompts modules.
I aim to return to broadcasting live in February, but with a different format for awhile.
Instead of 30 to 60 minute shows I am going to broadcast 7 x 5 to 10 minute snippets per week on Nature Folklore subjects that I do not include in the Nature Folklore series. I will aim to make them tight and informative. The first of each set of seven will be live. Then the other 6 short episodes posted as ‘premieres’ each day at the same time each day through the week, even though I may record them all together once a week.
Though I do not like the modern Portrait format of videos, such as viewed mainly on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Facebook Stories, most of you seem to prefer Portrait to good ‘ol Landscape videos. So Nature Echoes will go out on both Portrait and Landscape formats, including live through Instagram too.
Looking forward to you following, responding, and taking part in Nature Folklore, Nature Echoes, and Ogham Prompts through 2024.
Many thanks for your generous support through 2023. Here’s me aiming to do more for you through 2024.
John Willmott
I look forward to all you bring forward! 🍀🙌🏽🌳
Wishing a better year for you, John, with better health. I have heard from several astrologers that this will be a much better year for most. I'm counting on it. So glad you are up and running.