Almond Tree Almanac

20/12/2025

Tomorrow, December 21st, we celebrate Yule, the winter solstice. A time of peace and inward reflection - a pause to consider the energies and events of the year past, and perhaps to gently plan for next year.
This is the shortest day, and the longest night - a time to tuck ourselves up to hibernate - a brief pause - embracing nurturing, peace and calm. It doesn't feel much like this as we approach Christmas - this bright bauble of energy in an otherwise quiet time. But stop to appreciate the quiet little acts of self care - warm drinks, cosy slippers, a snuggly bed - time after the Christmas rush to read a book, go for a walk on a brisk, dry winters day, to appreciate nourishing meals.
To celebrate Yule, align your energies with that of the season - perhaps bringing in greenery from the garden - holly, ivy, mistletoe and fir. Decorating the house with reds, golds and greens and filling your space with the glorious notes of cinnamon, ginger, frankincense and orange. Baking warming, festive spiced foods. Lighting candles to celebrate the turning points - the longest night, the shortest day - after this point we embrace the returning of the light. We begin the slow, gentle flow back towards the warmer days. How lucky are we to experience this soft ebb and flow of the seasons - yin and yang - dark to light.
Wishing you all a blessed solstice.

17/12/2025

Beautiful winter day break - glorious colours 🧡

22/11/2025

💜

This points to the Celtic idea that liminal spaces, times and places that are “betwixt and between”, carry unique power. Dusk, thresholds, and seasonal turnings are moments when ordinary boundaries dissolve, allowing mystery, transformation, and connection with the unseen to emerge. It’s a reminder that change and renewal often arise in the in‑between, where certainty gives way to possibility.

🕯️Invitation for a Simple Threshold Ceremony/Ritual

1. Choose a liminal moment; sunset, dawn, or standing in a doorway.
2. Light a single candle (or hold a stone/leaf if outdoors).
3. Speak aloud: “ I stand betwixt and between, in the place where endings meet beginnings. May mystery guide me, may transformation find me.”
4. Pause in silence for a few breaths, feeling yourself held in the in‑between.
5. Extinguish the candle or release the object back to the earth, closing the threshold.

© DailyShaman 2025

06/11/2025

How beautiful 💜

The Bear Who Carried the Stars

There was once a bear so old that even the mountains could not remember the time before him. He was called Orun, meaning the silent flame. His fur shimmered in the colors of the cosmos—deep indigo, streaked with fire and light, as if he carried a piece of the universe upon his back.

Orun lived beyond the northern winds, where the sky touched the edge of creation. Each winter, when the earth froze and the stars drew close, he would rise from his slumber and walk beneath the night sky. The other creatures said he was searching for something—something lost when the world was young.

No one dared to ask him what it was.

But one night, as the auroras danced and the snow whispered like silk, a small fox followed his tracks. The fox was young, reckless, and curious—unafraid of legends. “Great Bear,” he called out, his voice trembling like wind against ice, “why do you walk beneath the stars alone? What do you seek in the silence?”

Orun stopped. His breath rose like mist and lingered, glowing faintly with starlight. For a long time, he said nothing. Then, in a voice deep as thunder and gentle as snow, he answered:

“I am not seeking the stars, little one. I am carrying them.”

The fox tilted his head, confused. “Carrying them? But the stars belong to the sky.”

The bear looked upward, and the universe seemed to ripple through his fur. “Once,” he said, “they did. But there was a time, long ago, when darkness tried to swallow the heavens. The stars began to fall—one by one—burning out before they touched the earth. The world grew cold. The rivers forgot how to sing. The hearts of living things turned to frost.”

His eyes glowed faintly, reflecting constellations the fox had never seen. “So I gathered what light remained. I caught the falling stars and kept them close, so their warmth would never die. Each spark I carry is a memory of what once was—a promise that the night will never win completely.”

The fox stared, his tiny heart aching with something he did not understand. “Does it not hurt, Great Bear, to carry the fire within you?”

Orun smiled, a slow and ancient smile. “Yes,” he said. “But to carry pain is to carry purpose. Light does not live without the dark to cradle it. We are both.”

And with that, the bear lifted his great head, and the sky opened above him. From the depths of his chest, a gentle glow began to rise—stars shimmering like tears—spilling into the heavens until the firmament blazed anew.

When dawn came, the fox was alone again. The snow was marked only by the fading shape of a pawprint—vast and luminous, like a constellation pressed into the earth.

That morning, for the first time, the fox looked up and saw the stars still burning in the daylight, faint but unyielding.

From that day on, the animals of the north spoke of Orun, the Bear Who Carried the Stars. They said that whenever the world feels cold and endless, if you close your eyes and listen, you can still hear his heart beating in the sky—a deep, rhythmic pulse reminding all living things:

Even in the darkest night, someone is carrying the light for you.

05/11/2025

💜🌕

Tonight is the Full Frost Moon, so called because the frost and ice will start to set in as the earth grows colder, animals will start to hibernate for the winter months, the last leaves will fall from the trees and the land will become barren. This is also known as The Beaver Moon.

The Moon is in the sign Ta**us. We are amidst some strong planetary alignments that are heralding a need for profound change and revolution inside and out. Our attitude is of foremost importance during this time and can empower us and see us through whatever we are facing. Gratitude for what we have and a willingness to move with the energy that is calling is required.

The Full Moon tonight will also be a Supermoon. The Supermoon occurs when the Moon is the closest to the earth more than any other time of the year, making the Moon appear up to 30% bigger and brighter than usual. The Supermoon not only affects nature such as the tides and wildlife it also affects us, our emotions will be heightened, our senses will be sharp, things that were hidden or in the shadows can now be seen. A Supermoon amplifies the effects of a normal Moon, we will be feeling ultra-sensitive and emotional at this time.

This particular Full Moon will not be boring and will have an unpredictable vibe along with it. The places we have been feeling stuck in our lives may suddenly begin to move or shift. If emotions are clogged, they may surface and flow, let them, don't hold anything in, let your emotions out.

The Ta**us Full Moon will be filled with raw emotions. Everyone is going to feel it on some level. You can feel your emotions go from high to low to all over the place. We may have trouble sleeping and experience wild and vivid dreams but don't worry as this will pass over the next few days. Be aware of dualistic thoughts, emotions and behaviours, this may be generating a lot of mental stress and tension plus sending out mixed signals to others and the universe. Try to stay grounded and find a balance. Finances are illuminated on this Full Moon, to watch what we are spending and to improve or bring in any extra income.

Tonight's Full Moon brings change, we are coming to the end of the year with Yule and the New Year fast approaching we must become empowered to make the changes necessary to shift our situation. It is up to us and the time is now. We must let go and surrender to the deeper current that is transforming us. You are the master of your destiny. Take your power back from society and other people. Learn from your past mistakes. Vow to do better next year. Make a commitment to your success. Be adaptable. Make friends with change. It is not the enemy. Change is your friend. Change sheds the old and gives birth to the new.

This Full Moon is about communication, higher learning and our sense of creativity and adventure. Something has been building inside of us and now is the time when the energy of the cosmos demands that we let it out. We are magnets to our desire right now, we have the power to attract what we want toward us. Ta**us is the sign of deep thinking, work and stability, this will give us a boost in mind and body power, we will be able to see things more clearly, we will see our own truths and a fog will be lifted that can show us a path that can lead us into improving ourselves both spiritually and mentally.

This Full Moon look into yourself and ask yourself what you need to move forward, ask yourself how you are going to achieve this. Use the energy of this Full Moon to heal and gain strength. Ask the Goddess for guidance and to lead the way to a more positive and happier life. Tonight is a good time to determine just what you value and want to stand for, what you want to create in your life and carry forth into the next cycle of your evolution.

Have a blessed Full Moon. May the Goddess watch over you.

05/11/2025

Beautiful full moon energy - the Frost moon, Oak moon or Beaver moon - tonight we have a super moon, when the moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit - hopefully we will see this beautiful moon above all of the bright sparkly fireworks and through the smoke and clouds. If not, the beautiful lunar energy will be present - and perhaps it will be clearer tomorrow evening.
Time to release, time to let go, to breathe out - in conjunction with the autumnal energy, this is a great time to clear any emotions that you need to disperse, any memories, and habits or limitations that are holding you back.
If you are having a bonfire this evening, write down anything you would like to purge, and allow the fire to burn this away.
Put out any crystals you would like to cleanse, perhaps some water, allowing it to absorb the lunar energies 🌕

31/10/2025

30/10/2025

SAMHAIN - START OF WINTER
Samhain is the start of winter. The hours of daylight continue to dwindle; the powers of growth are winding down, while the powers of darkness and cold gain ascendancy. Plant growth has stopped. The vegetation harvest has long been gathered in, and root crops, nuts, berries and apples have been stored against hungry winter. Animals have been brought down from their summer pastures to more sheltered winter quarters, to be fed on stored hay. We turn to the hearth and the warmth of the crackling fire and the cheer of the singing kettle on the hob.

We enter the season of the Crone, the Hag of Winter. She is no gentle old lady but wild, fierce and primal, just like winter itself. With her holly staff in her hand and a carrion crow perched on her shoulder, she strides across the land, beating down the vegetation, and hardening the earth with ice. But when the earth is bare and the trees skeletal, when everything showy is stripped away, we feel the underlying bones of creation and we see more clearly into its deepest secrets; we approach its elemental power.

The myths of the Crone tell us something fundamental about winter; there is a deep connection between fertility and winter death. While the Maiden begins it, the Mother bears it, and the Harvest Queen reaps it, the fertility of the next year’s harvest is fundamentally the Crone’s gift – the sleeping seeds in the underworld are in her care.

Winter is a powerful time of radical change. We should not mourn the passing of spring and summer, but celebrate life returned to the cauldron of creation where it is held, where the compost of old forms feeds the roots and seeds of the new.

Though the modern world tells us that we should be the same all year round, our bodies tell us that this is not so. Winter affects us on a physical, emotional and spiritual level, and we need to acknowledge that we too are cyclical beings. Mother Earth teaches us that periods of withdrawal from busyness, slowing down, resting and recuperating are necessary.

All growth takes place in darkness from idea in the mind to seed in the ground. We withdraw our energies into our roots and nurture the seeds sleeping in the darkness. We undertake deep inner work and dreaming magic. Samhain is a chance to enter the Crone’s cauldron of transformation, to shed our old forms and use them as fuel for new ones.

Samhain is time to acknowledge the role of death, seasonally and personally. We all return to Mother Earth, and death is the price we pay for life. Our lives are ephemeral, existing they do in a time that passes. Time will destroy all, and all things dissolve in the blackness of the Crone’s cauldron. But the Goddess promises us that the tomb is the womb from which we shall be reborn.

Death is an absolute transition from one state to another with no possibility of return. We experience many small deaths in our lives as various stages and experiences end to make way for new phases and experiences, up until to the ultimate transformation of physical death and rebirth. Death initiates change. We take this time to acknowledge death in all its forms, and to mourn what we need to mourn. We think of all the lives that have touched ours, and the ancestors that have brought us to this place.

© Anna Franklin, The Hearth Witch’s Path, Llewellyn, 2025

07/10/2025

Tonight, the Hunter’s Moon rises, the full moon following the Harvest Moon.

Long ago, its bright light guided hunters as they gathered food for the coming winter, when fields were bare and nights grew cold. This moon glows with clarity, preparation, and renewal. It is a reminder to focus your energy, release what no longer serves you, and gather the strength you’ll need for the season ahead.

Step outside tonight, watch it rise in fiery gold, and feel the rhythm of the ancient world as it still moves across the sky.

20/09/2025

Over the next few days, we celebrate the Autumn equinox - a time of balance, the energy of late summer genty letting go into the softer, slower autumnal seasons. The breath out and the easing away from activity, bustle and abundance.
You may like to honour this change in the energy by going for a walk and observing the changes in the hedgerows and fields around you. Perhaps making a warming, comforting meal from local, seasonal produce. Gather leaves, acorns, warm orange and red colours and make a little space in your home for a little piece of autumn 🍁🌰🍂