Author Archives: hilde

Taking our time and getting it right

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Finally, at long last, we ordered our new windows for Westacre.

It took us months to get it right. This is the single largest expense for our eco-renovation project, and we had to try different compromises between energy efficiency, cost, and aesthetics.

We got quotes from several high-end window companies. We were after windows that would give us a Uw value of 0.8 or lower. And we knew we would have to pay for the privilege of having well insulated windows.

Our experience with the different companies was variable, but we ended up with a few likely contenders, including Uniwin, based in Scotland, and Russell Timbertech, who had competitive prices.

A local company, Spectrum, based just 20 minutes’ drive from here, sells and installs Internorm windows. They were friendly and helpful from the start and prompt in their replies to our e-mails. So although they didn’t give us the cheapest quote, we decided to go for known product quality and support a local business.

With Spectrum’s help, we went through a number of permutations in our requirements.

At first, we thought we wouldn’t be able to afford aluminium clad wooden windows and we were looking at alu-clad uPVC. But with the discounts Spectrum was offering at the time, the price difference wasn’t that great, and we decided to go for the wood after all. This gives us a better insulated window with a Uw value in the region of 0.7.

We also considered the final look of the renovated house. Having looked at houses of roughly the style and age we are trying to emulate, we noticed that many of them have white casements inside black frames. They look very smart and trying to copy that look would help us get the Edwardian period feel we’re after.

Turns out, though, that opening windows are quite a lot more expensive than fixed ones. All those moving parts do add to the cost. To remain somewhere near our budget, we had to minimise the number of opening windows in our order. And if our windows didn’t open, we couldn’t have them in two colours.

The final order we placed with Spectrum is for all white windows at the front of the house, and dark grey for the side and the back. They will be aluminium clad wooden windows, that will give us great insulation and, hopefully, a good looking house.

We are expecting delivery and installation towards the end of November.

Westacre newsletter issue #4

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The nights are drawing in. The weather has cooled significantly, and along with an abundant harvest of fruit, the first colours are appearing on the trees. Autumn Equinox is upon us.

Just yesterday, the Westacre project rounded an important corner. We paid a deposit for new windows. It has taken us a long time to work out a compromise between what we wanted and what we were prepared to spend, but we’re happy with the outcome.

Trouble is that every other aspect of Westacre’s insulation depends on the windows being installed: everything else connects to them. And Winter is coming. Hopefully, we’ll at least have better windows by the time it gets cold.

With the help of some friends, I have been working hard on the video content of the Ritual Toolkit course. It is all looking very beautiful, and I can’t wait to share it with you. The launch date very much depends on when Alex can write the software for us to get it to you.

On 22 September, the Sun slips from the sign of Virgo into Libra, marking the Autumn Equinox. It is a brief moment of suspension between the light and the dark. In this newsletter, you will find a meditation for that time.

On 28 September, a remarkable event is taking place in Glastonbury. Have you heard the Warrior’s Call? More below.

May this Autumn bless you with

Hilde

## In this issue
– Suspended: a meditation for the Autumn Equinox
– The Warrior’s Call
– Ways to stay in touch with Westacre

## Suspended: a meditation for the Autumn Equinox

The days have been slowly getting shorter since the Summer Solstice. At first, the change only took seconds off each day. Now, close to the Equinox, each day is four minutes shorter than the last. The nights draw in fast.

Very briefly, in the rush of change, the night is equal to the day, dark balanced with light. The Equinox. A brief moment of perfect poise before we fall into growing darkness.

As an opportunity to experience that moment of stillness, I offer this meditation.

Go to your place of meditation. Take your time to settle into a comfortable position. Take a few breaths and become aware of your body. Allow it to relax into the floor or the chair you are sitting on. Let go of the tensions of the day.

Close your eyes, and find yourself standing in front of a beautiful old apple tree. Its old, bent branches reach up to the sky, and its canopy is filled with hundreds of blushing fruit. See, feel and sense that tree. Speak your greeting.

Feel the edge of the tree’s field of energy. Enter its space respectfully. Walk up to its trunk and sit down against it. Take some time to just lean against the tree, to feel its presence.

When you feel settled and relaxed, allow roots to grow down among the roots of the tree. Let it show you how to be rooted. Rest in the solid Earth.

Now let your consciousness rise up into the trunk of the tree. Become aware of its upright strength. There is no boundary between your body and that of the tree. Feel strong and solid.

With an out-breath, let your consciousness stretch into the tree’s branches. Reach up into its smallest twigs, into the sky.

Become aware of the tree’s leaves, touched by sunshine and wind.

Feel the fruit of the apple tree. This year’s harvest is plentiful. Many fruits are growing and ripening on this tree. Feel their fullness, their lush fruitiness.

Concentrate your consciousness on just one apple. Feel it. Be aware of the stalk that connects it to the tree. Sense its flesh, getting sweeter under the touch of the Sun. Notice its skin, yellow-green and blushing red. Its little crown, where a flower bloomed and died. And five pips at its heart.

Be that apple. Allow yourself to ripen. Allow yourself to sweeten and expand. Become your most fruitful self under the warmth of the Sun. Relax, suspended from the tree.

Rest and be still. Relax and surrender to this moment. Stay there as long as you like.

When you are ready to return, feel the stalk of your apple coming loose from the branch. Suddenly, you drop to the Earth. Take some time to settle there, to become grounded in the Earth.

Reach for the roots of the tree, and your own roots that you put down amongst them. Let your consciousness rise through the roots back into your body.

Feel yourself as separate from the tree. Feel your own integrity, riper and sweeter now. When you are ready, return to your place of meditation.

If you need grounding, eating an apple is a wonderful way to do that now.

## The Warrior’s Call

In the last newsletter, I spoke about my concern about fracking, the controversial practice of fossil fuel extraction that is officially called hydraulic fracturing.

In very real terms, it comes down to using poisoned water to crack open the body of the Earth so that gas or oil can escape.

It just doesn’t sound like a good idea. There is a long list of risks to the local environment. And both the process and burning the fuel obtained will contribute to climate change. We can’t afford either.

Many of us in the Pagan community share these concerns. Many of us have signed petitions and shared their concerns through social media and in conversation. A few have gone to Balcome and participated in direct action.

One Druid decided this threat is so severe that something special needed doing. He dreamt up the idea of doing a ritual on Glastonbury Tor for the protection of the Land. He put a call out on Facebook, hoping to get 50-odd people to join him. He named it the Warrior’s Call.

But word spread. Soon, dozens of people reacted. Hundreds shared the event with their friends. The whole thing expanded way beyond expectations. It got too big for the top of Glastonbury Tor. Satellite rituals will be taking place at the same time across Britain and around the world.

Right now, about 1700 people have said they will be in Glastonbury at noon on 28 September to take part in a public ritual to save Albion from fracking. I will be one of them, and so will many of my friends.

We will raise protective energy that will spread across the Land. A strong shield of power to save the Earth from more damage done by humans.

Never before has such a large group made ritual together for one common purpose. Would you like to be part of this historic event? Answer the Warrior’s Call.

Www.facebook.com/Warriorscall

## Stay in touch and help the Westacre Project

As things are finally happening on the renovation project, you can follow us step by step on Twitter.

Several times a day, Hilde tweets inspiration, news and useful links on environmental issues. Her blog posts and Facebook updates from the Westacre Page are also posted there.

You can find us at twitter.com, as @HildeWestacre

Please follow us there, and retweet anything that appeals to you. This will help us find the people who are interested in the Westacre Project and the Spiritual Centre, so we can inspire them to take their own steps towards connected living.

Our contact details and our presence on social media can be found here:

http://www.westacre.org.uk/contact

Transform yourself through gentle acceptance

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Steps on the Pathway of Transformation Why did I ever think that it would make sense to write the steps on the Four Pathways in order, one by one? Life isn’t that well ordered. And the flow of inspiration takes twists and turns like a river through a landscape. Over the last couple of months, I have been [...]

Your body is a map of the world

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The Pathway of Sorrow, part 1 Last week, I wrote about the challenges that face us in today’s world (climate change, impending war, social injustice, …) and how all of us feel those things in our bodies. It is important to feel these emotions, as they are signals from the greater Body of Earth, the living ecosystem [...]

Feeling and healing sorrow

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Step onto the Pathway of Sorrow, an introduction. The Pathway of Sorrow I resisted putting my feet on this Pathway. It felt too overwhelming. The path of Sorrow is about recognising the pain of our world and allowing ourselves to truly feel it. I didn’t particularly relish the prospect. Over the last few of months, though, the world [...]

Westacre Newsletter issue #3

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This is the time of Lughnasadh, or Lammas, the feast of the first fruits. We have dug potatoes out of our veg patch and enjoyed them simply boiled and roasted. Finally, the tomatoes are making fruit. Fingers crossed they actually ripen.

There are other harvests, too. Westacre’s spiritual centre has sown the seed of its first e-mail course and gained a over 70 subscribers. That includes you – thank you!

The renovation project is still in its infancy, but we have gathered a lot of knowledge in the last few weeks. It will give us confidence as we make potentially pricey decisions.

The main course of this Westacre Newsletter is a Lughnasadh meditation. Enjoy the ripening of the season, and let it help you consider your own harvests.

Blessings of the ripening apples,
Hilde

## In this issue
– Meditation with the Summer Sun
– Featured link
– Stay in touch and help the Westacre Project

## Meditation with the Summer Sun

As always, this meditation is best done outside. Choose a spot in the sunshine or in dappled shade – be sensible about what your skin can take). If your meditation time is at night or it happens to be raining, choose a quiet spot indoors and let your imagination provide the sunshine.

Settle down in a comfortable upright position. Turn your attention to your breath, without trying to alter it at all. Just notice your breath as it is at this moment.

With each out breath, allow your body to relax. Let your weight settle into the lower half of your body. Feel the places where your body touches the Earth.

As you relax more deeply, allow roots to grow from the base of your spine. Let them comfortably spread into the soil beneath you.

Feel the life force of the Earth as it is this day. Its green abundance is all around you. Feel the Earth’s power to sustain this riot of life.

Let the power of the Earth flow up through your body. Let it nourish and replenish every cell in your body.

When you feel strongly connected with the Earth, let branches grow from the top of your head, from your shoulders, into the air around you. Relax out into the air, stretching your branches into the sunlit sky as widely as feels comfortable.

Take your awareness along your branches into the smallest twigs. Feel how buds are growing there. Bring your full awareness into one of those tight buds.

As a bud on the twig of a tree, let the sunshine warm you. Feel how the light of the sun makes you swell and loosen.

Breathe easily, as you open, stretching delicate petals into the light of the sun. Radiate with flower beauty.

Take some time being a flower in spring. Enjoy being open and receptive. Allow life to happen to you.

After a while, you begin to feel old and tired. Your petals gently loosen and drop to the Earth.

But as the sun shines on you, more warmly now, you feel yourself swell. Feel how you are growing into a tiny green fruit.

Feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. Feel how it ripens you to your fullness. Take as much time as you like to ripen in the sunshine.

Feel what it is like to be a ripening fruit under the radiant sun. Allow yourself to soften, to sweeten, to grow. Surrender to the warm sunshine.

When you feel ready, draw your awareness back from the fruit into the branches of the tree.

Slowly travel back to the trunk, and feel your own body sitting in meditation.

Let your awareness sink into your roots, into the good Earth. Stay there until you feel settled and completely at home in your body.

Write or draw in your notebook about the sensation of ripening in the sun. Have something to eat and drink and return to your day.

## Featured link

Rachel W. Cole

Rachel is an American life coach with a unique angle on teaching people, and women in particular, about self-love. She speaks of seeking fulfilment in life in terms of what we hunger for and how we feed ourselves. Through this metaphor, she encourages us to listen to our body’s urges and desires, and to find ways to feed our starving souls.

The other day, her post about using terms of endearment for ourselves, struck a chord with me:
http://rachelwcole.com/2013/07/16/terms-of-endearment/

## Stay in touch and help the Westacre Project

As we work on renovating our 1930s semi, we aim to share our new-found knowledge about ecorenovation and energy saving retrofits. If we can inspire just a few more people to modify their houses to save on fossil fuels, we can benefit the Earth and all living beings.

Roughly every week, the Westacre blog publishes a new article about an aspect of our renovation project. So far, we have covered topics like the choices we are making about insulation materials, the aesthetics of our renovation project, and tips on removing a wasps’ nest from your working area. Check out http://www.westacre.org.uk/category/project/

All these posts are publicised on social media, including Twitter. You can stay up to date by following @HildeWestacre.

You can do a lot to help us spread the word. Follow Hilde on Twitter and strike up a conversation. Retweet anything you find remotely interesting. This will help us a lot to grow our audience and inspire more people to lower their carbon emissions for the good of all beings.

Our contact details and our presence on social media can be found here:
http://www.westacre.org.uk/contact

A call for contributors: Pathways through chaos

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Chaos. It’s a strong word to use. But these days it really feels like our world is descending into chaos and there is little hope of changing it for the better. Start with the threat of climate change, which is already unavoidable and does and will continue to affect every living thing. Much of it is [...]

Westacre Newsletter issue #2

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It’s Summer! I’m amazed. I don’t think the weather has been this hot and sunny for this long in several years. The contrast with last year’s washed out July couldn’t be sharper. I hope you enjoy hot and sunny, and you are revelling in it while it lasts.

While you are all still receiving The Magic of Connection, do tell us if any of the episodes go missing. We’ve had a couple of unexplained disappearances, and of course we’d like you to get the whole course! I do apologise for any teething problems. We’re very new at this and are working to streamline the process.

This 2nd Westacre missive is full of unexpected discoveries. Do let us know what you think of it, and share your ideas about what you would like us to include.

Enjoy!

Hilde

## In this issue

– Project News
– Interview with a Bad Witch
– How you can help
– Stay in touch

## Project News

The Westacre renovation project is an attempt to make our 1930s house as environmentally friendly as we can. This will involve insulating it thoroughly, and getting our heating from renewable sources. You can follow our adventure on our web site (see link at the end of this issue).

Last week, the Westacre renovation project moved into a new phase. We made decisions on the details of the new windows and front door we want. The plan is to restore much of the old part of the house to what it was like originally, including the position of the front door. So we needed to do some exploratory demolition work to find out how much space we have to play with.

In the process, we uncovered a few unexpected things.

Behind the plasterwork, we didn’t find a straight lintel but a brick arch where the front door used to be.

In the ceiling space near the arch, the wiring was, let’s say, a little unorthodox. Alex spent a day working out what was connected to what and bringing it up to scratch.

The ceiling of the current front door porch was made of white asbestos, and had a wasps’ nest hiding behind it. Because we need to work in that area, we unfortunately needed to take lethal measures to make it safe.

We were much happier to discover a nest of small bumble bees in the garden. It is in an area that we have designated to become a coppice woodland, so the bees couldn’t have chosen a better place to build their colony.

The adventures continue.

## Interview with a Bad Witch

One of our favourite pagan blogs is owned by an old friend of ours. She writes a short post every day, covering pagan topics of all kinds. Her posts are variously beautiful and useful, or weird and silly. It also lists pagan events in the London area.

We asked her a few questions.

How long have you been writing the Bad Witch Blog? What inspired you to start it?

My first post was on November 7, 2007. I started writing it for two main reasons.

The first reason was that although I I’d been a feature writer on a local newspaper for six years, I realised that writing for the web was overtaking dead tree publications. I hoped blogging would give me web-writing experience.

The second reason was really behind the subject matter I chose. I wanted to get back to being more involved in paganism. Ever since I’d stopped being an active member of a coven I felt I’d become a lapsed witch – or a bad witch. That was why I picked that title. I wanted to become a better witch.

Doesn’t it get a bit much to have to do a daily post?

Gosh yes, but I find that the discipline of having to write it is good. I sort of think of it as my daily magical practice. Writing as a bad witch stops me being a bad witch.

Are you still enjoying it?

Gosh yes too. I’d have given up ages ago if I didn’t enjoy it – although of course there are times I feel like giving up.

What would you say is your best blog post so far?

That’s tough as I have written quite a few over the years that I’ve enjoyed. My favourite is probably The Ghosts and Grails of Lewes: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/08/ghosts-and-grails-of-lewes.html

The most popular by far is one about double-yolked eggs: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/08/double-yolk-eggs-folklore-and.html

Do you have a regular spiritual practice that sustains your soul?

I think I’ve answered that – writing my blog. Although it isn’t just the writing, it is the research and learning I do that goes into the writing. Blogging is just the discipline that keeps me at it and gives me more of an incentive to keep going. I’d really recommend it to anyone on a pagan path who likes writing.

You are writing a Bad Witch’s blog, but have you ever met a good one?

I’ve met loads of good witches – absolutely loads. What makes a good witch is practice. I think many people are born with the natural ability to be a witch and it is possible to learn a great deal from books but you’ll only get any good a it by regular practice. It also helps to get training from someone who very experienced and a good teacher.

I trained initially with Shan at House of the Goddess and after that spent a year and a day training with a Wiccan coven before I was initiated as a witch, but it took many more years of practising the craft before I felt I was really any good at it. There are still some areas in which I would consider myself a rank amateur!

What does the phrase ‘The Magic of Connection’ mean to you?

We are all connected via the Web of Life. The magic of connection is experiencing it – realising that every human, every animal, every plant, every rock, every bit of our planet and all the planets and stars and galaxies are all connected, always have been and always will be.

With thanks to the Bad Witch for answering our questions. Please go and explore her blog by following some of the links in the interview. If you like it, bookmark it and share it with your friends.

## How you can help

– Tell your friends about the free Magic of Connection course.

– Share our blog posts on social media. Liking them is good, but actually sharing things that you find interesting really helps us find our audience.

– Comment on our blog posts, on the actual web site. Tell us about your own adventures in connected living. This will get conversations started that add value for all of us.

Get your hands dirty:

– Come and visit us at Westacre. Join in with what we are doing. It is an opportunity to learn new skills and to hang out with us in our beautiful garden.
Last weekend, our friend Liz came to stay. She enjoyed making a real difference to the look of our garden by getting stuck into the weeding.

## Stay in touch

Our contact details and our presence on social media can be found here:
http://www.westacre.org.uk/contact

Remember what gives you joy

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Step onto the Pathway of Love, part 3. This morning at 5 am, rumbles of thunder woke me. I lay there, listening to this uncommon sound and the hush of the rain falling, counting the seconds before flashes of lightning lit up the room. I’m glad I woke up. I needed to witness the coming of the [...]