Seed Moon: Witches, Wildflowers and the Seeds of Resistance
A Seed Moon reflection on witches, resistance and remembrance. Discover the Pockets of Love project, creative workshops and how to be part of this growing community.
Sitting down to write this full moon letter to you, I realise, I’m sitting in the light, not in the dark. We’re now in the light half of the year, the time for sowing seeds and in the Celtic tradition, this is what the full moon in April is named for.
Last night I gave the second of my series of talks on the Scottish Witch Hunts. I asked – Why does the Patriarchy need Witch Hunts?
Patriarchy seeks to control and contain women’s energy, creativity and fertility, and every summer season the Earth reminds us that we cannot be contained. We plant the seeds and we grow. We find a way.
It was so lovely to meet new faces at my talks, people who seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the Pockets of Love project – not because they know me, but because the project resonates with them.
Things are beginning to move beyond me, the seeds of this project are taking root in other people, and that’s exactly what I’d hoped for when I started this work.
We plant the seeds and we grow. We find a way.
In West Kilbride, the first Pockets of Love are being marked out and the first stitches taken, as this second Pilot Group gets underway. In the Hebrides Pilot Group we’re thinking about the weeds and wildflowers that will decorate the front of each Pocket, symbolising the beauty and uniqueness of the accused women and the landscape. I’ve been drawing Tormentil and Bell Heather this month. It’s my way of honouring the Earth’s fecundity, to bring attention to the beauty and wildness of weeds.
If you want to join me in honouring the accused women, I’d like to invite you to the first in a new series: Remember Her. The first gathering will be in honour of Isobel Gowdie, accused in Auldearn in 1662. She gave her first confession to witchcraft on 13th April, and together 363 years later we will come together and remember her.
Using simple materials, paper and pencils and a downloadable kit, we’ll create paper memorials to her. A small act of ritual created with our own hands.
We’re planting the seeds of something truly magical, and we’re doing it together.
Following this on the 16th April, I’ll be giving the last in my series of talks and using this space to talk about the deeper symbolism of the Pockets of Love project. I’ll talk about the history of women’s pockets, how they came to symbolise women’s power and sexuality, as well as the reasons that I have chosen wildflowers and blackbirds to stitch on them.
Join us…
These events will also mark the beginning of a fundraiser for the Pockets of Love project.
This next stage is about shaping the visual language of remembrance—the wildflowers, the lettering, the symbols that will live on each pocket. Anyone who wants to be part of the project from the very beginning can support and hold the work in a deeply meaningful way.
If you’d like to be part of this, you’re warmly invited to join me for Remember Her, a creative workshop honouring Isobel Gowdie, or for my upcoming talk exploring the deeper symbolism of Pockets of Love. These gatherings mark the beginning of the fundraiser and a chance to step into what’s growing. Book your place via Eventbrite here
If you’d like to receive these letters each full moon, you can sign up here…
