Stonewylde Newsletter 12 March 21st, 2008

Spring Equinox Newsletter 2008

 Spring Equinox
March 21st
 
©HelixTree 
 
The Spring Equinox falls on March 21st in the Northern Hemisphere, and is one of the four fire festivals.  Day and night are of equal length, with light and darkness in balance.  Some call this festival Ostara or Eostre, after an ancient fertility goddess of spring.  This is the source of the word “Easter”, the Christian festival that takes place every year on the first Sunday on or after the first full moon after the spring equinox.  A strange way to fix the date of such an important religious event, but often the roots of one religion can be found in another. 
 
This pagan festival is a time of renewal and regeneration, as the earth really starts to come to life after the cold winter months.  The goddess Ostara or Eostre (whose name some believe is the root of the word “oestrogen”) represented fertility and growth.

The egg is a major symbol of the festival, as a potent emblem of new and growing life.  For centuries, and in many cultures, eggs have been dyed or painted, and often hidden for others to find.  Small cakes or buns are marked into four quarters to represent the four fire festivals or the four elements.
 
The hare is the totem animal of this spring festival, long associated with fertility and also the act of reproduction itself.  

Hares are magical creatures, known to be moongazy and are renowned as animals of transformation.  There are also traditional tales of the hare laying eggs in a nest at this time of year.  This may derive from the fact that the skylark lays eggs in a nest on the ground in the same kind of habitat where the hare builds her own nest (a form) for raising her leverets.
At Stonewylde, the standing stones in the Stone Circle are decorated with “a carousel of hares” and a lovely pattern of spring flowers: violets, primroses and celandine.  The great stone behind the Altar Stone is decorated with a painting of Eostre, depicted as a beautiful young woman with flowers in her hair, stars around her head, a hare by her side and an egg in each upturned hand.  As in all the fire festivals, a great bonfire is lit during the ceremonies, and there is much celebration in the Great Barn.  The children make masks  Eggs are blown and decorated, hidden in the grass and hedgerows around the Village Green and riverbank.  The children go on an Egg Hunt and proudly bring their finds back to the Barn. The Spring Equinox heralds the real start of the growing season at Stonewylde, and the hardworking Villagers know that this is when the work really begins.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bright Blessings
to all Stonewylders
at the Spring Equinox!
 
Greetings to all my Stonewylde readers for the Spring Equinox.  This year it's going to be extra special, as the full moon falls at the same time!  Can you imagine the magical events that would take place at Stonewylde on such a conjunction?  Powerful stuff, with Yul's green magic from the Altar Stone and Sylvie's moon magic from dancing at Hare Stone.  Wow!  Let's hope it's a clear day and evening, so we can all experience the equilibrium of light and dark as we watch the sun rise and set, giving us a day and night of equal length.  Many readers have said how Sylvie's moongaziness resonates with how they feel, watching a beautiful full moon rise and then walk softly across the night sky.  Perhaps we're all a little more moongazy than we think!
 
There's so much Stonewylde news to tell you that I hardly know where to start.  February saw a massive campaign to get the Stonewylde books into more independent books shops, a cause dear to my heart.  The take up was fantastic; if you have an independent book shop near you do go in and see if they're now stocking the series.  This is a huge step forward in getting the books known to a wider readership. Our next aim is to persuade Waterstones to place them in Adult Fiction rather than Teenage.  The majority of readership is adult, so it makes sense.
 
Many thanks to all readers who forwarded the last newsletter to a friend.  Please send this one to anyone you can think of who would enjoy the books.  And we now have a "send to a friend" button on the homepage of the website too.  Many readers also buy the books as presents for friends, wanting to share their discovery of a new series that leaves you with a great afterglow.
 
 
I spent a wonderful morning recently at Reading University speaking at the conference A Celebration of Women Writers.  This annual event, open to the public, was a first for me, and I really enjoyed doing readings from the books and running a workshop.  We discussed many aspects of the Stonewylde books and as ever it was fantastic to be able to interact with readers.  Thanks to Penny Hunter for inviting me, and to the lovely crowd who attended my workshop.
 
I'm now taking lots of bookings for talks to the WI, which is a very different scenario for me as many of the ladies won't have read the books.  I hope to allay any fears about paganism (still viewed by some as a rather sinister thing) and explain how honouring the earth, the seasons and the beauty of nature is something most of us do anyway - it's just at Stonewylde it's a complete way of life.  Judging by many of the posts on the Stonewylde Forum (which has gone totally crazy recently with so many new members and topics), it seems that many of you would love to live at Stonewylde and be Villagers!  Oh for a return to a simple, unpolluted life!
 
By popular request from many fans, Mr B and I are in the process of creating Stonewylde T-shirts which will be on sale in April from the website.  I'll send out a small extra newsletter to you all when they're ready, with pictures and full details. But I can tell you they'll be green, featuring the Stonewylde logo on the front, and a green man and slogan on the back.  And they'll be good quality and reasonably priced.  We hope readers will wear them with pride and help spread the word about Stonewylde.
 
 
Mr B and I have just returned from a long weekend in Amsterdam (for his birthday) and were very excited to find Stonewylde in Waterstones there!  We also visited the American Book Centre, a wonderful shop with a huge tree trunk in the middle rising up through the three floors.  They are now very keen to stock the series, and will be promoting all three books.  Many thanks to Ebany, a Stonewylde  Forum member from the Netherlands, who suggested visiting them.  My readers are wonderful!  I must be the luckiest author ever to have such support from you all.
 
Bright blessings to everyone,
Kit xxx 
 
Click on the logo to visit Stonewylde
 
 
If this is your first Stonewylde newsletter - welcome! 
The newsletter usually goes out just before each of the eight festivals, with the very occasional extra one to inform you of something new.  Anyone who has ordered from the website or e-mailed Kit Berry is automatically added to the mailing list now - if you don't want to receive the Stonewylde news, it's easy to unsubscribe.  But we hope you'll stay!  And please forward this to anyone you think may be interested in learning more of the magical world of Stonewylde.
 Kit's new blog
 
The Stonewylde Blog has been revamped! Much easier to read and now regularly updated with interesting posts, it's attracting more comments than ever.  Take a look here >>  (Photo courtesy of Graphicphoto-arts)
Amazing 5* reviews on Amazon!
 
At the time of writing, there, are 73 five star reviews for the
Stonewylde Series on Amazon!  Thanks very much to all who've posted reviews.  Take a look if you haven't read them and do add yours if you haven't yet contributed.  It all helps the Stonewylde cause!  Click here >>
Special offer for Book Groups
 
Moongazy Publishing has a very special offer for Book Groups, with fantastic discounts available.  Kit has also written a discussion sheet for groups to use, and will answer questions too. Click here for full details >>
Stonewylde Greetings Cards for Beltane 
 
The beautiful Stonewylde
cards are selling strongly and are ideal for sending Beltane greetings to your friends at the next festival.  Also great for birthday cards, thank-you cards and generally keeping in touch.  Available individually or in packs of 5 or 10.  Details here >>
 Stonewylde Forum explodes!
 
The community of Stonewylde fans who've joined the forum has completely exploded! Members are so friendly and supportive of each other, and there are many very interesting topics to read or contribute to.  Have a look as a guest, and if you've never joined a forum before, why not try the lovely Stonewylde one?  It's great fun and not difficult. And Mr B will walk you through it if you get stuck!  Click here to visit the forum >>
 RSS feed now on website
For the techies who use an RSS feed newsreader, there is now an RSS feed button on the Stonewylde website, so you can be informed every time a new item is added. 
Find the button on the homepage of the website.
 
 
 
This beautiful image of five hares dancing around a full moon was painted for me as a Yule present by my sister.  She's  the artist who painted the Stonewylde Wheel of the Year.  Later this year she'll be bringing out a range of her own greetings cards - more news on this later!