Herbal Hegemone

22/05/2026

Had the urge to pull a card from The Hedgewitch Tarot and The World literally jumped out.

Hope it resonates with some of you today ✨🌍

20/05/2026

Beyond chuffed to find a clump of Tansy plant with the uber rare Tansy beetle in residence 🪲

18/05/2026

A very flamboyant poppy at York St John University ❤️

17/05/2026

Just a brief blog on what I have been up to so far this May 📘🍏🧚‍♀️

Just a brief update on what I have been up to over the past few weeks. Obviously my PhD has been taking up the spotlight as I hone my chapters into what now feels like coherence as opposed to randomness. My current thinking is a trio/triptych/trinity of chapters looking at plant kinship, agency, aff...

09/05/2026

All the articles in Issue One of Curiositas are now available online and are free to read. As a journal, we were very keen to make this publication accessible to all, so please click the link and start exploring the humanities-based research being conducted at York St John University

Issue 1: Origins is the first issue of Curiositas, York St John's Postgraduate Journal for the School of Humanities, published in May 2026.

29/04/2026

Co-led a session today on Shakespeare and Plants and we found ourselves beneath this wonderfully fragrant apple tree 💚

25/04/2026

Spent the morning in beautiful Bridlington, collecting sea glass and paddling in the waves 🩵

23/04/2026

Thank you to all the Year 8 students who came to York St John University as part of York International Shakespeare Festival. My workshops involved exploring the folklore of two plants that Ariel sings about in The Tempest; the cowslip and apple (blossom) and were concluded by the students making some great artwork.

The prompt was to draw or write about anything that popped into one’s head whilst listening to the folklore of these two plants. In addition to drawings of faeries, imprisonment and apples, we also had mentions of doughnuts, tridents, a toothpick, Glastonbury, Japan and a toilet which goes to show how intriguing art with its capacity for hidden knowledge can be 🧚‍♂️

19/04/2026

Had the urge to pull a tarot card from the gorgeous Hedgewitch Tarot Deck and received one of my favourites, The Queen of Swords.

To me, she represents force of thought coming from within and projected out when needed. She is intellect and consideration and a powerful ally when you need to speak your truth or just clarify your thoughts internally. She is discerning and sees clearly through smoke and mirrors.

17/04/2026

Many thanks to the participants who turned up to my plant folklore and ecospirituality workshop yesterday. We explored the symbolism of the beech tree before co-creating moments of enchantment and art.

12/04/2026

Ripples and Thing Power in Manchester by Dr Clare Lesley Hughes On Friday 10th April, I attended and presented at the Annual Conference of the British Sociological Association in Manchester. I was speaking about a chapter of my thesis that, … Continue reading →