Once denuded by centuries of exploitation and industrialisation, Scottish landscapes are seeing the cautious return of their environmental heritage. Carried on the wings of the golden eagle, reflected in the eyes of the wildcat, and rooted in the steadfast Caledonian pine, these stories of environmental renewal have made Scotland a global beacon for “rewilding,” what National Geographic has defined as “the rebuilding of ecosystems to their natural, uncultivated states“.

But rewilding cannot simply mean returning landscapes to a past untouched by human hands, and not just because this is an impossible feat. We risk reinforcing the very patterns that led to Scotland’s biodiversity loss when we perpetuate the idea that humans and nature are separate. Rewilding must include people—not as intruders, exploiters, or overseers, but as integral participants in the cycles of the land. Rewilding asks us to reimagine our role in nature as one of balance, reciprocity, and care.

This brings me to my theme for Beltane 2025: rewilding as an expansive concept. What if rewilding extended beyond wilderness restoration to include cultural and spiritual renewal? What if it became a rekindling for our relationship to the “wild”—within our fields and forests, but also within our wider community and the stories we bring to Calton Hill year after year?

For potential Group Organisers, I invite you to consider what rewilding might mean to your group. Is it something aesthetic, like integrating sustainably foraged plant fibres into your costume? Is it direct and material, like cultivating seeds from vegetables you’ve gotten from the shop? Is it service oriented, like organising a litter picking event for your staycation? Is it linguistic, like speaking the primal Reds language?

For all members of the BFS community, I offer you two gifts. The first is a series on seed gathering and sharing, a practice that allows us to rewild not only gardens and doorsteps but also our connection to the more-than-human world. Details will come soon. The second will unfold on the night itself, where, as the May Queen, I invite group members to partake in a symbolic seed exchange with me. This could take the form of me “scattering seeds” that you will cultivate into a performance piece or object as the night progresses, we offer something to each other—something we can nurture together—or perhaps, something entirely unexpected that we’ll dream up as a collective.Together, let’s not only come together to rewild the landscapes around us, but also our relationship to those landscapes, and to each other.