The realisation came to me when I was spending a lot of time outdoors. I have always loved the British countryside, immersing myself in the garden of England of Kent when I was a child, to exploring the rugged landscape of the north of England in my twenties, to learning bush craft and wild camping in the Scottish Highlands in my early thirties. It was taking the leap to commit to not flying anymore that led me closer to our land, and the understanding that the solutions to our problems are on our doorstep.
It was during one of these self-created expeditions trekking out into the hills for a few days that it dawned on me. Our ancestors were so close to the land, experiencing her changing mood with the cycle of the seasons. What did they experience which we don’t now, being so detached immersed in the complexity of modern day life? What did they know that we no longer know?
Wild camping at the top of Shutlingsloe, Derbyshire
My curiosity strengthened as I was lying in a stone circle, one of many that I had found myself in over the past twenty years. What is so special about this place that made them what to build this structure here, to bring stones many miles from a particular location to mark this exact spot? These questions only propelled me faster along my path to self-discovery, and the uncovering of the ancient ways that have helped me make sense of the present, and work to help create a different future for mankind.
 Drumming at Nine Ladies Stone Circle, Derbyshire
The Way of the Buzzard is a different way, a way which makes sense to myself and Jason. Each of us needs to find our own way, taking what resonate with us on our journey and discarding the rest. Jason and I both bring our uniqueness and blended together it creates our path through life. It is our wish to share this with other like-minded souls as aspects may resonate with them, as they have with us. We live in a truly remarkable land, in truly remarkable times, and the ancient wisdom held within our earth is ready and waiting to be tapped into, to guide us on our way.
Strategy work with cow poo to stop the bits of paper blowing away! at Nine Stones Stone, Derbyshire in the very early days of The Way of the Buzzard
I have spent most of my working life working in the field of environmental protection. I’m a Chartered Environmentalist, and having worked as a sustainability professional in a number of large organisations for ten years and then my own sustainabilty consultancy for five years, called Soul Sustainability and sustainability training businesses Be Carbon Literate. I still have one professional consultancy business Conscious Culture which I run with a friend and we operate in the arts and culture sector. I have also volunteered for many years with my local transition town group. These are my professional credentials, however deep within the essence of me is an emerging part, my true part, which is connected in with the cycles of the earth, the moon and the universal energies.
Wild camping at Shamanic Practitioner training in Roburndale, Lancashire
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As a shamanic practitioner I work between worlds, worlds which we cannot see in the third dimension but are as real, as alive with spirit, and there for us to tap into to help us navigate the complexity of the third dimensional world, the earthly realms of the fairies, elves, nature spirits, as well as the universal realms of the archangels.
It is this aspect of myself that I bring through by The Way of the Buzzard, for those who are drawn to share alongside me. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, far from it, but I have been gifted a toolkit to help unravel them.
Drumming Moorland Whisper at the Pike Stones, West Pennine Moors close to our house
As I have traveled my path, mentors and teachers I have learnt from and been greatly influenced by are Liz Clarke, Jayne Johnson, Robyn Fell, Glennie Kindred, Annie Keeling, Chris Johnstone, Stewart Pearce and Martin Shaw…
… and of course my greatest teacher is my husband Jason 🙂 pictured here together at our handfasting.
My shamanic training has been primarily from my shamanic practitioner teacher Jayne Johnson, and I learned in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire. More recently I am having on-going supervision from both Jayne and also Robyn Fell who is a shamanic practitioner living in the North East of England, and who Jason was an apprentice to for a number of years. Glennie Kindred and Annie Keeling have been amazing teachers to, in working with the natural cycles, elements, trees, and the importance of ceremony. Liz Clarke has been a rock for me as my psychotherapist initially, then supervisor and friend, and Chris Johnstone has taught me the Joannna Macy Work that Reconnects. Finally, Stewart Pearce has taught me how to work with the angelic realms, and currently I am immersing myself in the world of storytelling with Martin Shaw down int he West Country School of Myth. I find in my journey of development that the more I learn, the more it seems I realise how little I know(!) and I am so grateful to all of my teachers, both in this realm, and in the other worlds.
Our hand fasting at Silverdale, Lancashire