Just after summer solstice 2024, Andromeda and I arrived at Brithdir Mawr. We had been let down at very short notice by a community in Portugal and Mike came to our rescue, offering us a few weeks respite at Brithdir whilst we reorganised ourselves. Almost immediately, we fell in love with the land and the community and, with the blessing of the community, decided to extend our stay. The mystical landscape of west Wales captured my heart and it became clear to me that Malwen could become the place I call home; once the dream becomes reality.
With this in mind, I began deepening my connection with the project, offering up my skills, passion and energy to the vision. Mike, Andromeda and I began meeting regularly to discuss Malwen and continue the process of viewing plots of land available around Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. For me, these viewings and our reflections upon the places we viewed have started anchoring Malwen into the local landscape. Alongside the amazing work of the Charitable Community Benefit Society formation team with Mike, Mary and Marc, Malwen feels like it is being born into this world.
For me, Malwen offers a ray of hope during these dark times. The dream of being able to live in a rural queer community in the lands of my ancestors, where we can return to right relationship with the natural world and do our part for the healing of Gaia, is a guiding star.
Although the situation at Brithdir Mawr is tenuous and often fraught at the moment, I count myself blessed to have been gifted so much time here. I believe the journey of my soul lead me here for a reason. Part of that reason is to help hold Brithdir Mawr through it’s Saturn return and the beginning of it’s new chapter. Another key part of my reason for being here has very clearly become my participation in Malwen. For me, Malwen feels like a seed being held within the body of Brithdir, being slowly nourished by the roots that were laid down by the Brithdir Mawr Community over the last 30 years, gathering in the perfect constellation of supporters and waiting for the right moment to be released into the wind, to finally find a home in some quiet valley, craggy hillside or wide open plain in the Land of Dragons and Legends, Cymru.
‘Awen under the Moon’ by Andromeda