Herbal Hegemone

07/09/2026

Many thanks to the National Folklore Survey for England for featuring my blog 🌱

Clare Lesley Hughes is a York-based wortcunner, herbalist and academic. This guest post explains more…

03/09/2026

Join me as part of the York Environment Festival to explore environmental philosophy via the folklore of plants. Four events are planned: two at York St John University Campus and two at the University of York Campus. Details can be found in the images or message me for info. Places are free and no booking is required.

30/08/2026

A stunning Hornet Mimic Hoverfly on the flowering ivy this morning 🐝

23/08/2026

Beautiful heather at Skipwith Common, North Yorkshire. The bees were loving it 💜

18/08/2026

Dark Boughs and Green Leaves - A Beech Queen

12/08/2026

So - that was pretty spectacular! That weird, unnatural light is the best part, it’s like every fibre in your body is saying “this isn’t right, something is wrong”.

And, as with the aurora, seeing everyone outside looking at the enchantment of life is beautiful 🌞🌚

08/08/2026

My latest (and overdue) blog about sentient and agentic woodlands.

I have been shockingly bad at posting blogs recently and the excuse I have is that I’ve been really busy with my academic work. One aspect that has taken up my time has been the preparation for a conference on spectral tourism. My contribution was a discussion on the ethics of tourism on an ancien...

07/08/2026

I’m writing a blog for the National Folklore Survey and trying to summarise my work in six photos 🪾🌱🌳🎓🧙‍♀️📃

02/08/2026

A wonderful birch crown 💚

31/07/2026

Looking forward to the Spectral Tourism Conference today! I’m talking about the ethics of tourism in a sentient woodland 🌳👻