Spellbound by Nature

AHA! is excited to let you know that we have launched Spellbound by Nature, our online spell-kit of Nova Scotia’s nature words! This was created as a result of stakeholder feedback from our program last summer of the same name, and inspired by The Lost Words, by Robert MacFarlane, illustrated by Jackie Morris.

Although aimed at junior high school aged youth, it is accessible for younger children, teens and adults.

The ‘Spell-kit’ has been concocted by Nova Scotia writers and artists, to conjure some of the common nature words of Nova Scotia, in order to help with their identification. Artists and writers have used their own creative ways to help others imagine these plants, animals and insects. Biology students and instructors from StFX University have also contributed, explaining more about each organism, linking birds to their calls to help you find them by their songs, suggesting where they may be found, what they look like, what they eat, and even examples of how they have informed biomimicry, the study of learning from, or mimicking nature.

So many folks have contributed to this project and we are incredibly grateful to them all. It has really been a community effort – not only the AHA! and Antigonish communities, but also the Nova Scotia writers’ and visual artists’ communities. Full thanks are on the website.

Check out the Gallery page and test your knowledge.

The Spells page outlines the Ecosystems where these plants and animals are found. This is a handy guide for a field trip or exploring your own back yard.

More about our contributing artists and writers can be found on the biographies page. Many folks also graciously agreed to lend their talents and support to this project: see the ‘Thanks’ page.

Here it is! We hope you have fun perusing it….and finding all these nature words outdoors! https://spellbound.artshealthantigonish.org/

Love to know what everyone thinks of this! Please send feedback to our email account: artshealthantigonish@gmail.com