Fowey Joy

A ritual and everyday performance that hopes to bring joy through sensitivity to the inbetweenness of the seasons.

It is made up of seven elements: 

a papier maché bead,
a seedling pot made from newspaper
a ribbon made from plaited grass
a fallen or dried leaf
a seed,
burning bay twigs
potion made from fragments of a recipe for Carmelite Water

Phase 1. Please take or make a seedling pot then select or make a papier maché bead, select or find a leaf and a seed, make a ribbon from plaited grass and then put all the items in your seedling pot.

Phase 2. Before dusk approaches find a patch of ground upon which to place and leave your seedling pot.  You will not return to your pot. It will decompose into the soil.

Phase 3. At a time decided by all participants, gather by the fire to burn bay twigs, and drink the potion.

The potion is made from a fragment of the recipe for Carmelite Water that suggests a tonic and/or an eau de cologne made from cloves, coriander and lemon balm.

For the Fowey Joy Potion, these herbs and spices have been soaked in Vodka, to which orange liqueur, cranberry juice and lime juice have been added for extra vigour, joy and lustiness.

Fowey Joy was enacted by participants of Camp Zero +1 at Churchtown Farm, Fowey, Cornwall in June 2013.