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Walking the Path of the Hedge Witch, Learning the Craft and the Art of Hedge Riding

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Beltane and the Sensual


Sensuality – what a lovely word. It rolls off the tongue – you have to say it slowly, it really doesn’t work otherwise.  Like dripping honey.  Sweet molasses.  A cat’s stretch. It needs time, awareness, mindfulness.

Sensuality is often misinterpreted as relating solely to the sexual experience. What we need to do is bring the sensual back into our everyday lives, seeing how it relates to the whole experience rather than just a sexual one. Sensual – input from the senses. There are so many other senses that are pretty much asleep for most of our day. Sometimes there are very good reasons – we couldn’t really function if all our senses were firing on full all at the same time.  But reawakening them, especially at this time of year, and working with them intentionally can help us to rediscover our world through our bodies, rather than just living in our heads.

All too often we experience life only through our minds, leaving our bodies out.  Mind and body are intertwined, and both need input, both need nourishment in order to function properly.  When we get too caught up in thinking, our bodies are often neglected. When we are too wrapped up in the physical, our intellect or even spiritual attributes can suffer.  Finding a holistic balance is key.

I know far too many people living in their heads.  They suffer greatly, because they cannot escape their own mindtraps  To alleviate that suffering, we need to reawaken the sensual. 

So what is the sensual? Essentially, it is working with the senses.  Many of our senses are asleep, or deadened through lack of use, or even abuse. 

Our sense of smell is so important, yet so many of us take it for granted.  It helped to keep us alive on our evolutionary journey.  Today, we hardly realise or utilise our sense of smell, or only notice it when we come across something that smells terrible.  We do things that hamper our sense of smell – we may use chemical air fresheners in the home, for instance.  We need to awaken our sense of smell to the reality of our lives, and in doing so we may find the answer to some deep-seated troubles.  Masking odours may be covering up a home that really needs a good cleaning.  If we didn’t cover up the smell, we would know that it needs cleaning and be better off for it, physically and mentally. Our sense of smell also needs to be reawakened to the ones that we hold dear to us in our lives.  The smell of our children, our cat, our lover.  The smell of the garden after the rain. The smell of woodsmoke on the wind.  The smell of the horses in the paddocks, your office at work, your car.  Our sense of smell can invoke wondrous worlds of joy and happiness, bring memories to the surface of our consciousness, alert us to what needs changing in our lives.

Our sense of taste is often dulled by highly processed or salty foods, smoking or odours present in the home, as smell and taste are interlinked.  Awakening our tastebuds, taking time with our food, trying new things, eating fresh fruit and vegetables is a brilliant way to reattune ourselves with that sense.  Try eating something without salt, or less salt for a week.  You may have forgotten what it actually tastes like.  Try doing nothing when you eat – just eat, don’t talk, read or watch television. Find out what is edible in your garden, and eat something totally fresh.  Feel it roll on your tongue, let the juices flow.  Lick the skin on your forearm – what do you taste like?

Touch is something that is dulled over the years as well.  As I type, I am aware of the plastic keys on my keyboard, their smoothness, the little marker bumps on the “f” and “j” keys that let me know where my hands are on the keyboard as a touch-typist.  Every morning I indulge in my sense of touch first thing, stroking one or both cats that have shared our bed.  Every morning and evening I share a kiss and caress with my husband.  I choose clothes that feel nice on the skin.  I sleep naked to enjoy the feeling of the sheets and my husband next to me.  There are so many ways to reawaken the sense of touch. Walk barefoot in the garden.  Feel the underside of the furniture in your home.  Close your eyes and hold a piece of fruit before indulging your tastebuds.  Do the same thing with all your cherished treasures – just close your eyes and really feel them. Do the same with your lover. Feel the wind and sunlight on your skin.

Our hearing is a sense that we often abuse. We go to concerts where afterwards our ears are trilling with that high-pitched squeal that indicates the damage done to the tiny hairs inside. We listen to our portable music devices far too loud.  We hear only what we want to hear. Try paying attention, really paying attention when someone is speaking. Don’t think of what your answer is going to be, really listen to them all the way through before even beginning to form your answer. Go outside and close your eyes – what do you hear? What sounds reverberate deep in your soul, what sounds bring you joy?  Last week as I was hanging out the laundry I was listening to all the sounds happening around me, and was overjoyed to hear the “brrrp” of the house martins returning from their winter homes in Africa.  It is one of the signs of returning summer for me here in the UK, and being awake and aware to it really keeps me in tune with the seasons, with nature and my home.  Listening is a brilliant reminder that the world is more than just you, that there are a multitude of lives and existences around you that are all living out their own story. Let’s start paying some attention to them.

Our sight is, again, a sense that is taken for granted until it is gone.  Walking down a pitch black hallway of your home in the night on your way to the loo during a power outage, you realise just how much you relied on your sense of sight.  Closing off our sense of sight can reawaken all our other senses, but what we need to do is to engage sight alongside our other senses in order to have a fuller, sensual experience.  Look at the lines and contours of your lover’s body.  Look deeply into the bark of a tree.  Pick a small square of lawn and get your face down there, realising the world that happens within a couple of inches of garden.  Watch the sunset, the moonrise.  There is a world of colour and light, of beauty and wonder if only we open our eyes.

Lastly I would include intuition, which I regard as a “sixth” sense.  As humans, we are blessed with both intelligence and intuition. G K Chesterton once said “A woman uses her intelligence to support her intuition”.  Let’s use the gifts we have to their full potential.  Listen to that gut feeling, after thinking something through.  Speak with the gods or the ancestors if necessary.  How many times have you gone against your intuition, only to be burned by your decision?

Let’s live a sensual life. Let’s reawaken our sense to have a more holistic experience.  We are blessed with our senses, with our sensuality.  Let’s use them to their greatest potential.  As Björk said, “Big time sensuality!” Blessed Beltane to you all. x

Joanna is a Druid and author of several books, including The Awen Alone: Walking the Path of the Solitary Druid and Zen Druidry: Living a Natural Life with Full Awareness

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 Joanna van der Hoeven is a Hedge Witch, Druid, and a best-selling author. She has been working in Pagan traditions for over 30 years. She has written many books, including The Path of the Hedge Witch: Simple, Natural Magic and the Art of Hedge Riding, as well as The Book of Hedge Druidry: A Complete Guide for the Solitary Seeker. Find her channels on social media at YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

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