Embodied Energetic Year
The Embodied Energetic Year is a seasonal calendar aligned with biological energy, human development and seasonal lag rather than just symbolism alone. Instead of asking where the sun and moon are, this system asks:
"How does life actually feel and behave in the body and the land?"
Because the Earth has thermal mass and stores heat and releases energy slowly, the peak and trough of lived energy does not align exactly with the equinoxes and solstices. This calendar reflects that reality.
Seasonal lag varies place by place. The embodied energetic year follows the appropriate seasonal energetic shifts, accounting for Guernsey's maritime seasonal lag and is meant to be felt, not obeyed. We've also aligned it with ecological design (OBREDIM), adaptive learning (SADIMET) and we interweave Looby's 'Design Web' where appropriate.
Each seasonal threshold is marked by a gathering for people to land onsite and embody the energy of the season by engaging with an appropriate task, a campfire, snacks and chats., a week pause before a creative expressive design workshop, These gatherings and workshops form the backbone of the CIPI events calendar and it's resulting emerging culture aligned with the natural cycle. Offering a way to listen, express, integrate or release - in step with natural energy rather than against it.
From this annual framework emerges an attuned culture which underpins Cipi and it's projects. This framework is designed to protect people from planning too early, pushing for too long and rest-shaming. Please visit our events page and RSVP if you'd like to attend any of these workshops or gatherings, taking place at Cornucopia, so we get an idea of numbers.
This is not a series of standalone workshops, but an embodied annual design journey — using creativity, ecology, and lived experience to help participants shape something real, visible, and meaningful over time. However, it's possible to just drop in and out of them if necessary, although participant who are not present will miss the group creative process, they can do the design element in their own time.
OBSERVATION
The energy from the Sun's demise makes this time the threshold from release to observation, around the 5th of January in Guernsey.
Practise: Hibernation. Rest without purpose. No intention setting. No planning.
OBREDIM: OBSERVE.
Design Web: Pause.
Nothing is changing quickly. Systems are stripped back. Patterns are visible because activity is low. Ego is quiet enough to actually see.
CONCEPTION
When taking this concept of annual energy into account, the 'conception' of our year, in Guernsey, is 19th February on the Gregorian calendar and our gatherings will be the Sunday following so our first workshop is near the beginning of May. Metaphorical seeds are sewn. Practise: set 1-3 quiet intentions. Choose direction, not outcomes. Keep personal plans private, share plans for CIPI.
OBREDIM: ORIENTATION/BOUNDAIRES.
Design Web: Vision & Ideas.
Once you’ve observed, you begin to define: What is this system? What is not? What am I responsible for? What constraints exist? This fits perfectly with Imbolc as internal beginning.
INCUBATION
Energetic 'Expression' end of March.
Practise: .
OBREDIM: BOUNDARIES
Design Web: Limits & Patterns.
EXPRESSION
Energetic 'Expression' end of March.
Practise: Experiment. Connect. Take measured risks.
OBREDIM: RESOURCES.
Design Web: Helps.
EMERGENCE
Energetic 'Emergence' and action begins around the end of April. This is when the seasonal lag from the spring equinox is felt Guernsey and is a time for commitment to growth.
Practise: begin action, protect early growth, say 'no' to over expansion.
OBREDIM: EVALUATE.
Design Web: Principals.
Now that something exists, you ask: What does this need to survive? What do I already have? What’s missing? What’s responding well? What’s growing too fast? What feels alive?
EXPANSION
Practise: Express fully. Share work. Stop before depletion.
'Expansion' 20th May.
Practise: Experiment. Connect. Take measured risks.
OBREDIM: DESIGN.
Design Web: Action Plan.
VITALITY
Due to the seasonal lag in Guernsey the peak of the sun's solstice energy is experienced 6 - 8 weeks after the solstice, which takes us to around Lat July/ early August where we start preparing for the harvest gathering.
OBREDIM: IMPLEMENT.
Design Web: Action.
We understand the system because we've lived it. Energy is high enough to hold complexity. You can see second-order effects.
HARVEST
Our Harvest begins on 16th August at our extended gathering at Cornucopia where there will be free workshops all afternoon, with food and music around the campfire all evening.
Practise: Refine. Harvest results. Reduce scope.
OBREDIM: MAINTAIN.
Design Web: Momentum.
INTEGRATION
Following the sun's energy means that our 'integration' phase is pushed to the end of September.
Practise: Integrate lessons. Close loops. Prepare to release.
OBREDIM: REVIEW.
Design Web: Appreciation.
What needs tending? What needs simplifying? What must be stabilised before winter? What do we need to conserve?
RELEASE
Dissolution / letting go is 31st October, according to the ruling energy of the Sun and so we have our penultimate gathering and final design adventure workshop around this date. This is the time when the seasonal lag of the autumn equinox is truly felt in Guernsey and for a commitment to decline.
Practise: Grieve. Release roles. Simplify radically.
OBREDIM: ADJUST.
Design Web: Reflection.
Let systems die. Release roles. Compost failures and successes.
YULE — Death / Stillness OBREDIM: OBSERVE This is the crucial correction most people miss. Why observation belongs here: Nothing is changing quickly Systems are stripped back Patterns are visible because activity is low Ego is quiet enough to actually see 🧠 Psychologically: receptivity, humility 🌱 Ecologically: reading land in winter 🛑 No decisions yet Observation without pressure Seeing without fixing 2️⃣ IMBOLC — Conception OBREDIM: BOUNDARIES Once you’ve observed, you begin to define: What is this system? What is not? What am I responsible for? What constraints exist? This fits perfectly with Imbolc as internal beginning. 🧠 Psychologically: clarity, containment 🌱 Ecologically: mapping land edges ✏️ Still no action 3️⃣ OSTARA — Birth OBREDIM: RESOURCES Now that something exists, you ask: What does this need to survive? What do I already have? What’s missing? 🧠 Psychologically: realistic optimism 🌱 Ecologically: soil, water, seed, skills ✅ Gentle action begins 4️⃣ BELTANE — Expression OBREDIM: EVALUATE Evaluation here is not judgement — it’s feedback. What’s responding well? What’s growing too fast? What feels alive? 🧠 Psychologically: curiosity, play 🌱 Ecologically: observing growth rates 🔥 Adjust without control 5️⃣ PEAK (Lagged Solstice) — Full Vitality OBREDIM: DESIGN This surprises people, but it’s correct. Why design here: You understand the system because you lived it Energy is high enough to hold complexity You can see second-order effects 🧠 Psychologically: confidence, systems thinking 🌱 Ecologically: whole-system layout ⚠️ Design, not expansion-for-its-own-sake 6️⃣ LAMMAS — Early Decline OBREDIM: IMPLEMENT Implementation works here because: Energy is still sufficient Urgency has dropped You’re working with gravity, not against it 🧠 Psychologically: pragmatism 🌱 Ecologically: harvest, build, store 🔨 Do the work that needs doing 7️⃣ MABON — Integration OBREDIM: MAINTAIN What needs tending? What needs simplifying? What must be stabilised before winter? 🧠 Psychologically: responsibility, care 🌱 Ecologically: repair, pruning 🧺 Keep only what’s working 8️⃣ SAMHAIN — Dissolution OBREDIM: (IMPLICIT REVIEW / RELEASE) Classic OBREDIM doesn’t always name this explicitly — but it’s essential. Here you: Let systems die Release roles Compost failures and successes 🧠 Psychologically: grief, meaning-making 🌱 Ecologically: decay feeds next cycle 🍂 Nothing is carried forward unchanged → returns to Yule (Observation) Why this is so strong Most productivity models: start with goals skip observation punish rest treat decay as failure Your integrated system says: Observe before you plan. Design only after you’ve lived inside the system. Death is a phase, not a problem. That’s ecologically sane and psychologically humane.
Our Story
Is yet to be told