Thursday 16 September
Happy Equinox everybody!
We asked you – the Salisbury Centre community – to share what you are enjoying, and what is nourishing you just now. Here is a whole feast of creativity and activities for you to read, listen to and do for yourself! Including ‘how to do a morning shake’, some beautiful poetry and music, an inspiring exploration into the Scottish witch hunts, and some creative ideas for springtime!
Don’t forget, we also have three Spring Equinox community workshops taking place on Saturday and Sunday, which you can book tickets for HERE. Hop down to the end of this blog to see timings and blurbs for the Earth Holders Ceremony, Kate’s Circle Dancing Workshop, and Paola’s Introduction to Sigil-Making!
So, without further ado, let’s get inspired for springtime with these wonderful offerings from our Salisbury Centre community! Please share your appreciation for these generous offerings on our Facebook page, to let the community know what you enjoyed and why 🙂
As we feel the cold months coming to an end, let’s begin with this wistful picture from Brenna (who is just coming to the end of her role as project manager for our hugely successful Living Lighter project!). Brenna calls this photo:
Brrrr!! I can definitely relate to that feeling – soaking up the blue sky but still in your winter hat! Thank you Brenna!
And to warm us up, next up we have a morning shakedown from Diana Dodd! She says –“I’ve done this shake every day for years for just five minutes as part of my morning wake up routine. Since lockdown, I’ve doubled that to at least ten minutes daily.”
Francesco (our Events Administrator and Fireside prayer-circle space holder) spent lockdown learning to produce music and film some music videos. He also challenged himself to create and record one song per day for the rest of 2021! Here is a video for the song… and a link to his soundcloud where he is uploading a new song every day (woah!). Francesco says – “I love singing and just want to make sure I give it the time that my soul needs.”
You can hear all of Francesco’s songs on his Soundcloud, including this one which he wrote for Imbolc!
Colin Abdul-Malik leads the Salisbury Centre board of trustees, and in non-lockdown times he would be at the centre every Friday for the weekly Sufi Dhikr. As a Spring Equinox contribution, Colin has created an ‘Introduction to Sufi Meditation’ video to share with us!
Lindsay Gibson wrote in to share this short film about The Sandpaper Project, an ongoing piece of process participatory art. The Sandpaper Project draws on Roy J M Pugh’s gathering of the names of over three thousand men and women who were accused of witchcraft in Scotland, mostly in the seventeenth century.
Lindsay says, “Lockdown gave me the time I needed to dive into the waters of deep green feminist themes, in the shape of moving forwards with a Creativity in Action project. I am completely delighted that I was able to gather together all the interests and skills generously shared by others who enabled me to craft the threads of this stage of The Sandpaper Project into meaningful new understandings and directions. In the film, the Salisbury Centre is directly shown and referred to as a place of inspiration, and as the film project resolved towards its conclusions, I was intrigued to note the prominence of respect for the literal and symbolic water in the wells of Edinburgh. This too ties in with The Salisbury Centre and my excitement on learning about its stewardship of one of the Wells of Weary, and that I was moved to share some cultural sources related to such wells during the first incarnation of The Beautiful Salisbury Centre group.”
Since you mention the well Lindsay, check out its beautiful new awning and patio in the Salisbury Centre garden, made by Alan, with help from Ben and Francesco! We are so delighted that the well is receiving the love it deserves, and thank you Lindsay for sharing your discovery that it is one of the sacred Wells o’ Wearie!
We launched at the start of March and already have over 100 members in our Facebook group, all interested in saving, sharing and celebrating sustainable seed in Edinburgh. We’re aiming to have an online gathering to give folk an opportunity to meet each other over the coming weeks, so join our group, like our page and/or keep an eye on our website to find out more. You can also get in touch on edinburghseednetwork@gmail.com
There are so many ways that we can support and encourage nature at this time of year. Katie O’Neil is the RSPB Scotland Edinburgh Swift City Project Officer, and she has kindly shared the recording of her ‘Swift Nest Box Training’ video, in collaboration with the Edinburgh Tool Library. You can watch a taster video first for some inspiration, before you dive into the full hour-long workshop below!
“The swifts in local folklore are a symbol of hope and summers return. They grace Edinburgh skies at the start of may and we want to give them a big welcome back, with more swift homes available all across the city. Join us in this workshop to learn about the swifts, about their nests and see a live DIY nest box creation, for you to use at your own leisure to create your own nest box.”
Katie is running a workshop as part of the Spring Series  ““CELEBRATING THE SWIFTS RETURN” – Nature Connection & Surveys“, you can book tickets here
If you would like to take part in any of our Spring Equinox workshops this weekend you can sign up here:
Sat 20 March 4-5pm: Earth Holders Spring Equinox Gathering
A virtual ceremony to mark the Spring Equinox, with a nature-centred meditation, poems and an open sharing space.
Join Paola and Susannah in this introduction to the magical art of sigil-work. You will get the chance to focus on your wishes for this new season, and learn a new way to channel it.
For all workshop sign up here
Donations to the Salisbury Centre are very important to the running of the Centre and we are very grateful for any support provided.
Donate NowWe are thrilled to have received funding from the University of Edinburgh’s Local Community Grants Scheme for a collaborative project…