March

Mad march hares under a bright full moon,
Sunny days are coming soon!
Warming our way into the year
Bringing with them so much cheer.

Foods at Their Best in March

Fruit and Vegetables

brussels sprouts, beetroot, broccoli, carrots, celeriac, chicory, cauliflower, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, leeks, parsnips, purple sprouting broccoli, red chicory, radicchio, spinach, swede, salad onions, sorrel, rhubarb, turnips

Seafood

crab, clams, cockles, eel, hake, John Dory, lobster, lemon sole, salmon, scallops, skate, trout, mussels, oysters, sea bass, winkles

Wild Foods

daisies, dandelion leaves, fat hen, fresh nettle tops, garlic mustard, horseradish, lime leaves, morel mushrooms, sea beet, violets, wild garlic

(Hurrah! The hedgerow is picking up.)

March Correspondences

• Festival: Ostara (vernal equinox). Symbols include eggs, seeds, bulbs, spring flowers, and the hare.

• Full moon name: Worm Moon. As the snow begins to melt and the ground softens, the earthworms come to the surface, leaving behind their casts. Other names include Crow Moon, Sap Moon, Fish Moon, Chaste Moon, Death Moon, and Moon of Winds.

• Astrological signs: Pisces, February 19–March 20; Aries, March 21–April 20.

• Birthstones: Aquamarine and bloodstone.

• Nature spirits: Air and water beings connected with spring rains and storms.

• Animals: Hedgehog, badger, hare, and chickens.

• Birds: Song thrush and blackbird.

• Trees: Alder and birch.

• Flowers: Anemone, crocus, daffodil, violet, and primrose.

• Herbs: Broom, yellow dock, wood betony, and Irish moss.

• Scents: Honeysuckle, rose, jasmine, and citrus.

• Colors: Pale green, yellow, white, and violet.

• Goddess: Ostara.

• Powers: Energy, growth, new beginnings, and balance.

• Other: St. David's Day (Wales), Mother's Day, St. Patrick's Day (Ireland), Easter (first Sunday after the full moon following March equinox).

March is here and all around spring is—well, springing. The hedgerow is picking up and you can't move out in nature without tripping over a new green shoot or a bouncy lamb. The flowers are in bloom and the birds and bees, ladybirds, and those small annoying little gnat things are everywhere. Incidentally, does anyone out there know exactly how the birds and bees "do it"? I have absolutely no idea. It is still a mystery to me; I guess I really did fall asleep in biology all those years ago.

In March, it's so beautiful that you can't help but want to get outside without your coat and feel some warming sun on your skin. Oh, how long it seems since you were last able to do that. This is, of course, assuming that March doesn't roar in like a lion and roar out again; it can be a little unpredictable on that front.

In March, nature is still busy at work, but you only get to see it all if you're brave enough to fight your way through driving rain and gale-force winds. That's the way March is, I guess. We all love to see a host of golden daffodils waving gracefully in the breeze along the banks and in our gardens; however, the reality tends to be a host of slightly battered-and-bruised, bent-and-flat, not-so-golden daffodils lying forlornly on the ground. March winds can take your breath away—that's for certain.

Well, we had best get started, my lovelies. And where to start? At the very beginning!

Getting Started

Getting started on your path can seem a daunting prospect, with a wealth of names and labels to contend with. Are you a Wiccan? A Witch? A Pagan? A Kitchen Witch? A Druid? The list is seemingly endless. I hate these labels, because I believe there is no one box that fits us all; we are all individuals and, whatever your faith and beliefs, they are as individual and personal to you as your personality or your fingerprints. I call myself a Hedgewitch, because I feel this is the image that best describes me. However, I reserve artistic license to believe in what I like—as you should.

That being said, where on earth do you begin to learn your craft, whatever you have chosen it to be? In the old days, crafts were learned by word of mouth and practical methods that were handed down from generation to generation. These days, this has become almost a thing of the past. But the modern age has a trick up its sleeve to replace it—the Internet. Like it or loath it, the Internet is going to be with us for a very long time, and it can be a wonderful aid to getting you started. Out there, in the unseen world of Computerland, are people like you and me, searching for friends and kindred spirits with whom they can converse and share knowledge. With a few simple clicks of a mouse, you can connect with likeminded people all over the earth. You can share your views and beliefs, join clubs and covens, and "like" and follow pages that speak to you. It's like having a Book of Shadows at your fingertips and on speed dial.

If you have access to a computer and the Internet, use them! We are blessed to have this wonderful way of communicating with each other. We witches are an adaptable bunch and should embrace the modern and the new with as big a hug as we do the traditional and ancient. It seems to me that we should move with the times. Who knows? In another thousand years, our relatives may look back in wonder at the "old way" of doing things online!

With so much on the Internet to explore, you may ask what place books have in this mix. (No, no, no; that is not a cue to stop reading this one. Come back!) Books are where I started to learn about what I do, and my bedside is never without a half-read book. The feel and smell of a new book is something so special to me; it touches all those old feelings from childhood. I loved to read and remember receiving a wonderful big book on wild plants for my eighth birthday that I still have today. I have no idea why I was given such a book, as I can't ever remember showing any particular interest in wild plants as a child. But over the years, that one book has been a massive source of reference for me. So there must, I think, have been a higher reason why it was given to me.

For all the resources on the Internet, books are still the first thing I reach for when I want to absorb knowledge. The joy of reading something that has come from one person to another comes second only to the pleasure you get from owning a book. Books are real and tangible—always there to pick up and dip into and reread as many times as you like. The written word, although certainly not as popular as it once was, is still used by everyone, everywhere. Harry...