Earth Pathways Showcase

It’s Autumn 2023 at Half Moon Field in South Devon and we’ve gathered to ask the land and its beings; “What is your purpose? What do you desire? What do you need?” We vision quest and constellate to help us listen in.

“I’m not for sheep,” insists the top field, “I’m for trees and crafts.”
“Bring more children here!” replies an oak.
“Sacred spots to sprout across the site,” suggests the shady, fae-beloved pool, “Let the edges and elements meet.”
“Whatever you share and do here will flow downstream,” the tinkling brook reminds us.
The Garden gifts us flowers and bees.

We breathe out and smile. We pledge listening alongside land work; softness amidst sweat. We feel the supportive potential of the local human community, knowing the work will be shared and that the support will be there. A golden light suffuses Half Moon Field as she raises her arms and proclaims; “I exist to give forth from the heart. I am breaking open to change.”

Listening To the Land © Carol Asuray and Charlotte Dean, 2023

Friends of the Dart came from a passionate group of river swimmers deciding to take action after becoming ill from swimming in 2021. Two years later we’re a thriving community of thousands, led by a dedicated team of five. Our mission is crystal clear and we have one powerful voice; advocating for the Devon river we hold dear. We’re working to improve the water quality of the river Dart from source to sea, through collaboration and partnership. We inform and inspire, and we roll up our sleeves to make a positive impact. We have local water-testing teams, work with water companies and trusts, contribute to national panels and have submitted four Designated Bathing Water applications to Defra. Our efforts benefit the river, its tributaries, their rich ecologies and the wellbeing of our community. Our togetherness is our strength and we wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without the incredible efforts of hundreds of river-loving volunteers and creatives. We aim to reduce the sewage and then remain the Dart’s unwavering protector, ensuring it never faces such pollution again. Together, we’re stewards of our environment; standing strong and proud as the river’s guardians.

Friends of the Dart: Guardians of our River © Charlotte Dean / Friends of the Dart 2023

The children were kept from the forest, as the people forgot what they’d known. The forest is dirty or scary or dead, they’d always been told or been shown. But it didn’t take long to remember, when we took the forest to them. Their stalk and their sneak, their listening hands, their wonder and laughter and song.

They walked like fox and buzzed like bees and listened more rapt than owl. They touched the bark and smelled the trunks and sent out minds to follow the roots. Sculpting like the nest-makers with moss and mud and feathers. They shared what they’d heard from the birds with their mums and picked wild leaves for their teachers.

Protecting worms from careless feet; asking seeds when they wished to be planted. Making sure that all wild beings were safe in the places they tended. The adults had forgotten to look after the land and ask what it was that it needed. But the children sang to the trees that they loved and wondered if fungi had feelings.

That year of young re-enchantment unfolded like buds amidst birdsong. Only one turn of the earth round the sun before knowledge took root and grew strong. No walls or fences exist anymore, between the forest and village. The children are grown, with some of their own, and their love of the trees carries on.

Children of the Forest © Charlotte Dean 2022