by Juliet Batten | 24, Nov, 2022 | Seasons Newsletter
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... 
by Juliet Batten | 27, Oct, 2022 | Seasons Newsletter
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... by Juliet Batten | 7, Jul, 2022 | Seasons Newsletter, Uncategorized
A profound cultural event has just taken place in Aotearoa: the first Matariki public holiday. At last, the new year has come into alignment with the seasonal cycle of Aotearoa! — the return of the sun at winter solstice; the return of the stars at... by Juliet Batten | 16, Jun, 2022 | Seasons Newsletter, Uncategorized
Photo: Anne Dean Ruffell What does Matariki mean to you? Can you remember when you first saw Matariki? I can. But it was by another name. In my early twenties with the help of a little star book, I began to explore the night sky from the balcony of my... 
by Juliet Batten | 28, Apr, 2022 | Seasons Newsletter
Every Sunday my Aunt Jessie would visit the graveyard. The graveyard lay on the other side of town, a little further out than our house, so it became a natural thing for me to join her at our gate and run alongside. This is how I came to explore the...