The Month Of Fire
November's Newsletter
November has thunderer into being, hot on the coat tails of a very busy half term and soon we will be lighting the community fires, burning the guy and setting the sky alight with coloured gunpowder.
It cannot be denied that there is something very primal about the burning of an effigy. Bonfires and fire festivals were present at this time of year across the country in various guises (no pun intended) way before Guy Fawkes became the subject of our subversive celebration. As a nation it's something we hold dear whether it’s tar barrels, bonfires or fireworks
Whilst we scaffold the fires in our paddocks, fields and back yards, in the mulching soil beneath us the cerise and lilac cyclamen push through the rotting leaves and the yew stands proudly all needles and bright berries, so tempting yet so very poisonous, unless you are a member of the thrush family.
The Stonechat’s contact call sounds like someone sucking their teeth at you as you stomp through the mud of autumn storms, and the whir of the blackbird’s wings cuts through the muffled silence of the cloud soft day. I hear there are two young peregrines causing havoc in the local copses although I have yet to spot them myself.
The season of larder stocking is almost done and the feasting times will soon be here as we gather to sing and make merry for the yuletide season. For now we can rest in the space in-between.
Last month I reached 20,000 words in my current WIP, a third of the way through The Little History Of Storytelling. I am still marching through the befuddling timeline of the Classical Era - more on that here - and now writing must start in earnest again if I am to catch up and stay on schedule.
November’s stories are of the sea, potions and elixirs as I deliver the first of my Vlogs for the Portsmouth Pupil Poet Laureate project and join the wonderful Tom and the team at Slake Spirits in Worthing again for a Time Traveller’s Guide to Potions and Elixirs. You can find a list of my events further down the newsletter. This month, landing in inboxes for all, there will be a slight change to the usual book review with ‘The Storyteller’s Library’, plus events and updates.
Plans are afoot for the first episode of Season 5 of ‘Stories From Lore’. The episode is entitled ‘Born of Fire’ and I will be taking a look at the creatures of fire from the English Bestiaries and beyond. This month, for paid subscribers, ‘The Story Forecast’ continues although it may be a little later this month but it will be available as soon as possible.
There will also be a new series of audio stories via The Village that explore the night sky through the star signs, the first one being Scorpio. I will stop by with a link to it when it’s available.
In the meantime, I hope you’re able to take some time for yourself beside the fire this November before the demands December arrive!
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Plant Of The Month
Dogwood
Nothing says autumn for me, like the firey red stems of dogwood. It’s associated with Christianity as it was said that the cross on which Jesus was crucified was made from dogwood.
It’s also closely associated with protection and can be used as a cross and placed above your door for these purposes. Its flexibility means the dogwood can be made into little red pentacles as well as crosses to place in your pocket, once more showing that the transition from paganism to Christianity wasn’t always cut and dry.
So what of its name? Butchers made skewers known as dags, from dogwood and it is from the dags that the name evolved. A tea made from the bark is also said to help with pain and fever.
Dogwood folklore travelled to Nova Scotia and there they once used dogwood as thole-pins on boats. These are the pins that oars are attached to and it was thought that by making them from dogwood it protected sailors from witchcraft.
At the other end of the seasons, it has been noted that ‘When dogwood flowers appear, Frost will not again be here,’ although this is not always true and when the white flowers show but there is still frost, much like the blackthorn, it is called a ‘dogwood winter’.
November’s Listen :
I’ve enjoyed the couple of episodes of this podcast I’ve listened to and if you like a panel podcast this is a good one. Each episode is easy listening with interesting discussions about women in fiction, interviews with women who write speculative fiction and hosted by three equally interesting women, one of which is Lucy Holland, author of SisterSong and Song Of The Huntress.
Upcoming Events For November/December :
1st November - Spooky Folktales - Weald & Downland - included in admission to the museum - Book Here
15th November - Folktales & Cocktails - Slake Spirits - Book here
Portsmouth Pupil Laureate Project - Words From The Sea - First video released to participating schools
7th December - Yuletide Living History Event - Redhouse Museum Christchurch, book here
14th, 15th, 21st & 22nd December - Yuletide Storytelling At Butser Ancient Farm, Book Here
For more information and to book me for your event, visit my events page using the button below.
Thank you for supporting this newsletter through October. Supporting my work in this way allows me to continue to find new stories and research the old ways, and I thank you from the bottom of my storytelling heart.
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November’s Reads:
Above is a list of the books I am hoping to read over the next month. I will be collating the books I read into one multiple book review post called ‘The Storyteller’s Library’ and will post it towards the end of November.
