Rebecca Tamás, a British poet and environmental writer, explores the tension between modern conceptions of time and natural rhythms in her recent work, highlighting how societal structures have shaped our relationship with the passing of days and seasons.

In her book, she traces a year marked by her quest to reconnect with what she terms “wild time”—a temporal experience rooted in the cycles of nature rather than industrial schedules. Tamás argues that while the measurement of days and years derives from astronomical phenomena such as Earth’s rotation and orbit around the sun, humanity’s understanding of time has become largely divorced from these natural markers. She points to the Latin origin of the word “calendar,” originally referring to an “account book” or “interest register” used by creditors in Ancient Rome, as symbolic of how time became a tool for economic control and organization, particularly within capitalist societies.

Tamás recounts her own struggle with burnout while commuting to a London job that subjects her to a rigid, uniform experience of time, regardless of natural light or season. This led her to reflect on a contrasting period during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she spent several months on Exmoor. There, immersed in rural surroundings, she felt a shift in her perception of time—one aligned with the rising sun, seasonal changes, and the rhythms of her own body, rather than imposed schedules.

Building on this experience, Tamás investigates traditional seasonal rituals that seek to align human activity with natural cycles. She commits to observing the eight festivals of the pagan Wheel of the Year, a framework combining equinoxes, solstices, and halfway points between them, reflecting pre-Christian celebrations of seasonal transitions. Though the Wheel itself is a modern construct, it draws on older customs that linked human life to the natural world.

Her journey takes her to various cultural events including the Beltane Fire Society’s Samhain ritual in Edinburgh and the May Day ’Obby ’Oss festival in Cornwall. These occasions, featuring drumming, fireplay, and processions, offer Tamás opportunities to deepen her connection to longstanding communal practices tied to nature’s cycles.

Tamás’s writing combines lyrical prose with personal reflection and political thought. She candidly discusses her ambivalence toward certain ritual aspects, such as the male-dominated elements of morris dancing, as well as the grief she experiences following her father’s death, which she confronts within the context of the natural cycles underscored by these rites.

While embracing the restorative potential of reconnecting with nature-based time, Tamás also acknowledges the complexities and challenges inherent in such practices. Her work presents a nuanced exploration of how revisiting ancient rhythms might offer an alternative perspective to the relentless pressures of contemporary life, especially in urban environments dominated by mechanical and profit-driven timekeeping.