Witching the Wild Year
With Ajay Tegala and Zoë Howe
Join witchy wordsmith Zoë Howe and wildlife whizz Ajay Tegala (as seen on BBC Springwatch) on a voyage around the zodiac, exploring folklore and seasonal nature. For centuries, people have tuned into the earth’s energies, finding magic through the changing seasons. From solstices to saints, animals to plants, Ajay and Zoë take you on a full turn of the wheel through all twelve star signs in their gem-encrusted almanac.
Which plant could help relieve hay fever? What is the best time to manifest? Where was a fire kept burning for centuries in honour of a saint? Why is a hawthorn a sign of fertility? When was plough pudding traditionally made? Who is the patron saint of farmers? How can you mark the summer solstice? Witching the Wild Year is full of facts, fun, festivity!
And a reminder that real magic may be closer than you think …
. . . . .
Ajay Tegala
Wildlife television presenter, author, voice-over artist, countryside ranger and naturalist, Ajay has a degree in Environmental Conservation and over a decade of experience working in nature conservation. His television presenting credits include BBC’s Springwatch and primetime wildlife documentary Inside the Bat Cave alongside Lucy Cooke. He has appeared on BBC’s Countryfile, Coast, Winterwatch and Springwatch: Unsprung, the animal quiz show Curious Creatures where he made a winning team with Chris Packham. And he took on the Eggheads as part of a celebrity science and nature team, winning his head-to-head round. Other credits include Walking Through History and Homes by the Sea for Channel Four, BBC Look East, ITV Anglia News. Radio credits include a monthly wildlife spot on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and Ramblings with Clare Balding. He makes a regular one-minute #WildWednesday video to share across his social media channels.
Zoë Howe
An internationally published author, broadcaster, musician and visual artist, best known as a music biographer and Soho Radio’s ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Witch’. Her most recent books are The Jam: 1982 (a collaboration with Jam drummer Rick Buckler, published by Omnibus Press) and the Mind/Body/Spirit title ‘Witchful Thinking: The Wise Woman’s Handbook To Creating A Charmed Life’ (Llewellyn, 2022). She is author of numerous titles since her debut novel ‘Shine On, Marquee Moon’ which was shortlisted for the Virginia Prize for Fiction in 2016. Zoë is the co-author of the acclaimed ‘Dayglo: The Poly Styrene Story’ created with the late X-Ray Spex star’s daughter, Celeste Bell, and the pair also collaborated on the award-winning documentary ‘Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché’, with director Paul Sng.
Zoë is a contributor to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and a Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at Newnham College, University of Cambridge.
