After the last ice age when the land was barren it was Birch which begun to create the great forests which followed. It is quite incredible when you think about it, that through this tree great things are possible which would otherwise be impossible.

Birch is remarkable: it colonises bare rock and creates soil making it possible for other species to come and grow. If you're looking for Birch, head to an old quarry as you’ll see them flourishing there, their fine twigs, leaves, pollen and even bark continually shedding to nourish the earth.

In the Celtic Ogham, (our Celtic ancestors had an alphabet of twenty letters, each letter represented by a tree, which they called the Ogham) Birch is placed at the start of the alphabet as it is a tree of new beginnings.

It is fundamental to our spiritual practice that we connect in with these old ways of marking the turns in the Wheel of the Years. As aligning our lives with the natural cycles of the Wheel of the Year gives us powerful momentum to move forward, even towards dreams that might feel unreachable.

It's a special time right now as Beltane begins tomorrow - the Celtic fire festival marking the end of winter and the beginning of summer.

Back in the day, this was a festival of great celebration for our distant ancestors, marked by bonfires, feasting, dancing, and rituals to honour the fertility and abundance of the land and nature.