Art in Nature: Openings to the sea
OPENINGS TO THE SEA: Summer Solstice 6/1/1983 Once again, I was returning to sand rituals at summer solstice, a pattern that would continue. When my son travelled to stay with his father for the first part of each summer, I took up residence in...
How to approach summer solstice 2023
Summer solstice, te maruaroa o Hine Raumati, is approaching. The longest day will be here on December 22nd. Is it on your calendar? Is it in your awareness? Why am I drawing your attention to summer solstice? This, the most glorious festival of...
Art in Nature: Inner channels – Juliet Batten
INNER CHANNELS - 1 21/12/81 Feminism had opened up an inquiry into the inner channels of my reproductive system. I painted ovaries and fallopian tubes and charted my menstrual cycle through daily temperature readings, to determine the moment of...
Art in Nature: Beginnings
BEGINNINGS In May 1978 artist Allie Eagle came to live in the studio behind my bach, and on the weekends when I came to visit from the city, we shared the bach living space. I was intrigued by Allie's trips to the sea, where she dug into the sand...
Make way for Beltane — again!
I was surprised. She didn't want to be Persephone in the school play. I thought all the girls would have lusted after the part of the maiden, dancing with her friends amidst the spring flowers, her head crowned with a ring of blossoms. But not...
Art in Nature blog: Introduction
INTRODUCTION TO THE ART IN NATURE BLOG Working with nature: elemental artworks by Juliet Batten I am creating this thread in order to document and honour the artworks I created in nature from the late 1970s onward. At the time, much of this work...
Breaking the shell at equinox
Have you heard how sweet and clear the bird song is now — especially in the mornings? Birds are busy mating and nesting as spring equinox approaches on September 23. The pīpīwharauroa has returned from its winter pilgrimage, singing 'Kui, Kui,...
Finding stability in spring
Do you struggle to find stability in spring? Don't feel there is something wrong with you. The nature of spring is change. It's a season of uncertainty, and for most of us, uncertainty is not easy to deal with Spring is full of contrasts: on the...
Opening to First Light
Are you noticing a shift? — subtle but unmistakeable? It happens every year around six weeks after winter solstice. Yes! The returning light (despite kickbacks of chill) begins to bring warmth with it. It can feel like a long wait for this relief....
Seasons Newsletter: Three questions for Matariki
Mānawatia a Matariki! This year, the second national Matariki holiday takes place on July 14th. You may have already gathered the profound significance in te ao Maori of the return of these stars, the home of the ancestors. You may also...
Stories for the solstice fire
How do you maintain your inner fire at winter solstice, when thunderclouds rumble through the sky and cloudbursts drench the air, bringing plummeting temperatures that set you shivering? If you are in the northern hemisphere, you will soon be celebrating...
Seasons newsletter: Sand, tide, and memory
As the season releases into the quiet of winter, with Matariki still absent from the night sky, do you find memories surfacing? — especially when you consciously let go of things that once were treasures? Two days ago when the sun was...
Season of release
Autumn is a season of release. Leaves fall, light fades, crickets slow down then cease their song, the days shorten, and flowers drop into the earth. I'm in the flow of the season, letting go of small things (and some big), taking stones to the...
Seasons newsletter: the invisible month
Did you know that in te ao Māori there was a month in which so little happened that it was often dropped from the calendar altogether? We are approaching that month now. At present we are in Paengawhāwhā, the eleventh month of the Māori calendar....
Can it be summer without the sun?
How do you lean into the gifts of summer when it is very rainy and not very summery? This is what a reader from Tauranga asked recently. Sarah wrote to me, wondering, 'Many of the summer blessings you describe in 'Dancing with the Seasons' are things...
How green are your fingers?
I returned to the city after ten days holiday to find my garden burgeoning with growth. Lettuces, beetroot, and beans were flourishing, new seedlings were doing well, and a poppy grown from seed gifted at Beltane in October was now as high as my arm. Its...
Solstice Blessings 2022
Blessing When you lose your footing May the earth hold you When your heart is aching May the waters soothe you When life feels overwhelming May the air lighten you When your thoughts are darkening May the fire illumine you. ...
How to approach summer solstice
Summer solstice is approaching. The longest day will be here on December 22. Is it on your calendar? Is it in your awareness? Why am I drawing your attention to summer solstice? This, the most glorious festival of the year, is easily...
Make way for Beltane!
I was surprised. She didn't want to be Persephone in the school play. I thought all the girls would have lusted after the part of the maiden, dancing with her friends amidst the spring flowers, her head crowned with a ring of blossoms. But not 11-year-old Mira....
Your creative spirit
Today my new book, The Persimmon Journal, arrived from the printer, box after box, bursting with the joy of birthing. I will say more about this exciting news in a moment. But first I want to ask you a question. Do you find that some...