4. Earth | Winter Solstice Advent Special

To celebrate the Winter Solstice I’m doing something a bit different for the month of December on this new podcast.

Inspired by the German Adventkranz I’m going to be sharing a Winter Solstice Advent episode in the three Sundays leading up to the solstice with a final, gift of an episode released on the 21 December.

Each episode will share moments of wonder from the four alchemical elements:

1. Earth - 1 December

2. Water - 8 December

3. Air/Sky - 15 December

4. Fire - 21 December

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Today’s first Solstice Advent episode is all about the Earth and the wisdom we can learn from other earthly beings during winter, including red berries, the Robin and bare winter branches.

You’ll journey with me into my local garden and park in voicenotes filled with science and folklore stories on:

• The miraculous gift of red berries from the wild rose, Hawthorn, Rowan and Holly

• Becoming the Robin’s song and how it changes our brain and body

• The clever chemical boundaries bare winter branches put in place to preserve energy during the winter months

Each one is a reminder that the small roles we are given in our western society are made up and that there are a million different ways to exist and be on this Earth. In that sense these moments of wonder are a gentle act of resistance.

Mentioned in the podcast:

• Tales of Winter Enchantment podcast (2023)

• Earth Wisdom by Glennie Kindred

• How to identify a Rowan, Hawthorn and Holly from The Woodland Trust

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Share below

I’d love to know how learning about the robin, red berries and bare branches changes how you move through the winter landscape - let me know in the comments on Substack and do share with loved ones too.

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Join The Wild Enchantment Club

Perhaps you are seeking to nurture a devotional practice of noticing the wonders of nature on your doorstep in 2025?

I warmly invite you to join The Wild Enchantment Club - A monthly subscription for fiercely tender-hearted wonder-seekers ready to step outside and nurture a devotional practice of noticing nature.

Members get a monthly wonder quest to get you outside and turning your loving attention towards the nature on your doorstep - blossom, birdsong, water ripples. AND a monthly deep dive podcast you can take with you filled with science, folklore and art research about that topic.

As the world feels ever more tumultuous and divided pausing to marvel at a frost-covered leaf, to trace the paths of migrating birds, or to feel the quiet strength of ancient trees, is where we defy a hyper-individualised culture that devalues connection—to nature, to each other, and to ourselves - and instead turn our compass towards the beauty and wonder that inspires the more loving, just and rewilded world we are creating.

The first December wonder quest and podcast is already there for you - about gemütlichkeit and seeking out cosy animal dens.

I can’t wait to welcome you in.

Agnes x