The Cauldron Goddess

Spring Equinox Spread + Reading!

‘Tis the season of growth.

Growth can be uncomfortable, exhilarating or downright painful. It can be all of these things. Spring urges us to be brave, bold and take action on our instincts to move forward. In order to live the life we wish for, to make those dreams we incubated and flirted with through the winter come true, we need to take action to help them take hold and grow.

Sometimes this process isn’t clear- we don’t always have a strong vision on what it is we are moving towards, but we may have a sense of what has lived its purpose and smell the scent of change in the air. We may already be walking towards that new place within ourselves but haven’t even realised it or seen evidence of forward movement yet.

Like a bear emerging from its cave, we can sometimes take a while to adjust to the light, realise where we are, and what we need to do. I’m not a morning person, so I often feel the sleepy bear vibe this time of year.

In this process of emergence, we may need to say a final goodbye to something, someone or some part of us that is holding us back. It might be time to clean out the closet- literally and metaphorically. It might be time to more actively seek out what our heart has been longing for silently, in the background, while we went about our daily business of simply surviving.

In the spirit of the season, I have created a Spring Equinox Spread to help you nourish your growth process. It can be used to help you grow a specific creative idea or venture, a relationship or a new way of being within yourself. This spread can be done with your own Tarot or oracle deck. I also have done a reading for you below!

As you shuffle your deck, focus on your ‘seed’- the new venture, vision, project or aspect of yourself you wish to manifest. Feel in your heart what you long to manifest. When you are ready, lay the cards in the order below. The spread will guide you in nourishing and growing your goal!

Soil-This cards speaks to your foundations, the ‘soil’ your seed needs to be planted in. It shows you the nourishment requirements. It answers the question- What nourishes the roots of this goal? What foundations are required for this to work? What is needed to sustain this growth? This is the most important card in the reading, as you can’t get a healthy plant with unhappy soil or neglected roots!

2. Breaking Ground- This card shows you the approach to taking action, overcoming obstacles and moving forward. This card speaks to the process of breaking out from under the soil and reaching up. It answers the question- How can I meet the challenges to growth that I face? What action can I take now to encourage forward movement? When you face an obstacle to your goal, this card speaks to the recommended approach to dealing with it.

3. Stability- This card speaks to how to stay centered and focused on the goal. It helps you stay aligned with your purpose and inner strength. In our growth process, we might feel pulled in different directions or wonder if we are truly doing the right thing. It answers the question: How do I sometimes get off track and how can I stay on track?

4. Inner Growth- This card reflects the evolution and growth process that is happening within you. It may be what prompted this venture in the first place. It may or may not be something visible to others or even yourself. It answers the question- How am I changing? What is this venture teaching me?

5. Outer Growth- This card reflects how your inner growth is affecting your self-expression or your relationship with the outside world. How you connect with others, how you behave. It answers the question- How is my behaviour shifting from this process? How am I growing as I walk through life? How is this process affecting my relationships? This is what is visible to others.

Below is the reading I have done for you using the Goddess Power Oracle by Collette Baron-Reid, with my own interpretation:

Roots- Hestia- Goddess of the hearth and home Hestia is here to remind you that your seed’s roots are nourished with a strong home base. Where do you call home? Do you feel at home within yourself? Do you feel comfortable in your skin or try to run away? Do you feel nourished by your environment? It may be time to clean and beautify your space so you can function better within it. Maybe a new coat of paint, or a new colour scheme that reflects your authentic self. Or perhaps it’s time to move to a new dwelling that better reflects who you are and where you want to be. Nourish your roots and foundations by making a space that is yours. Create a physical space or an altar dedicated to to the new you or the venture you’re embarking on. Reflect the beauty of who you are and what you want in your environment. You will better manifest your goals if you have a strong home base- within yourself and around you to nourish them from.

Breaking Ground- Elen of the Ways- Deer goddess Elen makes us aware of patterns and shows us new pathways forward. It is easy for us to get stuck in unhealthy habits that hold back our growth. Elen is here to remind you that in order to overcome any obstacles you are facing, you need to notice your patterns and habits. If you don’t like what is in front of you, change how you’re going about things. Notice the patterns and habits you’ve created in your daily life. Are they serving your goal? Are you using your energy efficiently? Are there patterns of self-talk or self-sabotaging thoughts that prevent your forward movement? It’s time to take action by creating new pathways that serve what you are trying to manifest. Is there a path you haven’t tried yet? It may not be the well-trodden path you’re used to. Look around you and see what paths lead toward your goal. If there isn’t one, create a new one!

Stability- Maya- Goddess of Illusion reminds us that we need to see things as they really are instead of how we want them to be. We may go off track when we fall into wishful thinking, or see things through an outworn lens or story. This story could be of the essence of ‘poor me’ or ‘I never…’ or ‘I always…’. Or, when we invest in an illusion. Clarity is what keeps us stable, growing and on track. Get realistic and clear about your goal, your intention, what it is you are aiming towards, or your ‘plant’ will not be able to sustain itself. What illusions do you entertain around your situation? Do they serve your growth or inhibit it? What changes within you when you choose to see the situation as it is? Stay on track by looking beyond the veil of gossamer and staying present with what is.

Inner Growth- Freya- Goddess Freya brings the message of Radical Acceptance. Much inner growth is possible through this, when you accept yourself and your situation fully. Maybe you’ve had some disppointments, conflicts and battles and feel you’ve come out the loser. Maybe the setbacks have eroded your faith in yourself or dampened your warrior spirit. We can’t win every battle. Life inevitably leaves us scarred from our experiences. Our scars become part of what makes us who we are. We don’t need to accept cruel behaviour in our lives, but we need to accept that it happened to us and here we are now. It takes bravery and courage to accept what is. This inner shift may or may not be visible to others around you, but you will feel much lighter and at peace when you make it. This venture may spring from a newfound sense of wholeness and acceptance within yourself. It will teach you to appreciate all aspects of you.

Outer Growth-Shakti- Transformation- You are changing, and it this is reflected in your relationships and how you relate to others. The life force generated from this growth process will radiate through you in new ways, drawing new connections to you. You may surprise people around you with your energy. It is shifting every day, and you may feel a bit awkward sometimes. Just keep trusting that this change is needed and part of your growth process. You are reaching out to the world and changing everything you touch with a bit of magick. You are a divine being full of creative power to change the world. This this is beginning to radiate outward and will transform your life in many ways. Your growth serves as a way to transform the lives of others. You are transforming the world around you simply by being yourself.

Your growth and renewal is imminent, but like anything in nature- it is a process. Be patient with it, and trust that while sometimes we can grow in leaps and bounds, it most often happens one step at a time.

This Spring Equinox/Alban Eiler/Ostara, may you see with clarity, as the dark and light are in balance. May you thrive and grow in beauty and strength.

Blessed Be,

Serena

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Oh My Goddess, I’m 40!

As I near my 40^th birthday, I have been taking stock of my path over the years, and how my relationship with the Goddess has changed.

In many ways, it hasn’t changed, but my embodied experience of her has.

The Goddess’ energies of Maiden, Mother, Enchantress and Crone have danced in my life in many ways at different times in my life. I noticed each aspect holds a unique experience of embodiment for me.

Stages of Life

I feel the energies of Maiden, Mother, Enchantress & Crone can be experienced by anyone at any stage of life. Generally though, there are lessons pertaining to each aspect of the Goddess during specific stages in our lives. We may experience these aspects more physically, emotionally or psychologically.

From Georgina Catling’s Yoni Oracle Deck

It is a rough estimate, but generally our ‘Maiden’ years range from our teens to late twenties. This is where we are experimenting, finding ourselves, placing our own self-discovery and independence to the forefront. We may resonate with a Goddess who expresses these qualities of independence and adventurousness at this time of life.

Our ‘Mother’ years may span from the late twenties to early fourties. This is the stage where our focus is on nurturing relationships, creative projects, careers and/or family. We may connect with a Goddess who expresses these nurturing and creative qualities at this time of our life.

Our ‘Enchantress’ years may span anywhere between the late thirties to late fifties. This is about magic, transformation and authenticity, a time where we often need to reasses our life and make changes that reflect who we really are. We may find a Goddess at this stage who helps us to navigate change at this time.

The ‘Crone’ years may begin around 60 and beyond. This time is about embodying wisdom, acceptance, cultivating our spirituality and inner peace. A goddess who helps support this within us may resonate at this time.

I feel it is possible that any type of goddess can show themselves at any time in our lives that we need them and their lessons and gifts. They don’t have to follow the pattern I outlined above. My experience did not follow the pattern, exactly.

This is a little bit about my journey, which centres on the physical, embodied experience I’ve had in relation to these different aspects of the Goddess…

Maiden- Finding Her

In my early 20s, my sense of the Goddess was outside of myself. At first, she was elusive, an energy that I was trying to find within myself but struggled to connect with. At that age, due to social conditioning, I felt my body was not my own. Representations of the feminine who I was supposed to emulate and look to for guidance were either hypersexualized or repressively ‘virginal’. I did not know or feel that I was Goddess-like or even wanted to connect with her.

Then I started to feel a connection to the Goddess through her guise as Earth Mother, which made her more tangible and real to me. I felt her whenever I was in nature. Her imperfections helped me feel at ease with my own. I felt I could rest in her arms if I needed. I felt I could connect my body to hers. I could see her everywhere, and feel the healing balm of her stability, nurturance and beauty wherever I was.

I was practicing and teaching yoga at this time. I found myself subtly weaving my relationship to the Earth Mother into my practice and my classes. Yoga helped me to reclaim my own body and worthiness. This naturally fit with my relationship with the Earth Goddess. In an attempt to be more in tune with nature, I went off the pill and my natural cycles began, but they were extremely painful and debilitating.

The Earth Mother expression of the Goddess served as a calming tonic to my womb troubles, which weren’t so bad, at first. I began to consciously construct a practice around this. I was drawn to pagan books and began to learn more about witchcraft, the goddess, following moon cycles and celebrating the seasons. Doing this helped me reclaim my cyclical nature and see the reflection of the earth and cosmos within my body, even though my cyclical experience was sometimes painful.

I soon found I was also drawn to a darker aspect of the goddess- the ones who help us go through the underworld. Goddesses like Inanna, Kali, and Persephone resonated.

My womb pain began to increase steadily despite the support of the Earth Mother. I did not know at this time that I had endometriosis. I took up bellydancing and followed my instincts to dance and use movement as a pain-transmuting practice. I found a balance between the deep, transformative, Dark Goddess and the grounding, gentle Earth Mother Goddess. I honored these aspects of her nature through movement, dance and natural forms of healing.

Mother- Embodying Her

At age 25 I became pregnant. It felt that this was a new stage in my relationship with Goddess. It was a very embodied experience of her energy, and specifically her power. My pregnancy and birth went well. The strength of a warrior is needed to become a mother, and I felt a new level of embodied feminine strength and fierceness through this new role.

We always think of the Mother in her nurturing aspect as gentle- baking cookies, cuddles and soothing words or lullabies, however she is also the fierce protective mama bear who would kill to protect her child and die for them.

I cherished and honored the ability to carry life and birth my daughter. I was so lucky to be able to conceive and give birth with my condition. I was blessed with an amazing child. But like for any mother, the intense self-sacrifice necessary to raise a child began to wear on my body and soul.

It came time to take back some of my sovereignty and independence in order to balance this intensely giving energy.

Around 30, my womb health began worsening quickly and steadily. I was tired, anemic and in pain much of the time. I was struggling, taking evening classes, studying to be a natural health pracititoner. I was trying to build an avenue of work for myself while also being at home with my daughter. My body, however, was telling me I needed to get more serious about my womb health.

I eventually developed endometriomas (endometriosis-related cysts) on my ovaries and became so debilitated I could no longer walk or go to the bathroom without intense pain. My mental health suffered as I swung between anxiety and depression. After years of trying all forms of natural healing modalities and spending hundreds of dollars on natural health practitioners, I realised I had to take this condition more seriously. In my early 30s my doctor sent me to see a specialist and finally get surgery.

It was around this time that I was called into relationship with the Egyptian goddess Isis. Goddess of magick, motherhood and healing. She is also a Queen, her name meaning ‘She of the throne’. She was with me to help me reclaim my sovereignty, and to heal my womb.

From Marashinsky & Janto’s The Goddess Oracle deck

Isis was always quickly at my side to bring me relief when I needed it. I remember one night I was in severe pain. (My endo pain was often worse than my labour pains.) This was one of those times I wasn’t sure if I could make it through. I called on Isis to please heal the pain. I felt/saw her merge with me. My body began to shake vigorously until the pain subsided completely. I went to sleep peacefully.

I developed a faith in Isis that was strong, tangible and powerful. She reminded me that I could heal. She also helped me reclaim my inner sovereignty as mother and wife- she told me that I could hold love and boundaries in my heart at the same time. This was a new concept for me, but essential to learning to take care of myself.

At age 33, I finally had my surgery for stage 4 endometriosis. I felt so much relief, but still had some pain and bleeding issues, which were likely related to adenomyosis, a cousin to my condition. I had to take medication to keep the severe pain and bleeding from returning.

Enchantress- Deepening Into Her

In my mid-thirties, my relationship with Isis went into the background and I found myself in situations that tested this newfound embodied ease and integrity that came with no longer being in chronic pain.

My medication kept me much more mentally stable and I was able to see with more clarity and calm what I wanted and needed. My daughter was older and more independent. I had a lot more energy at my disposal. I had newfound confidence in taking charge of my life. I saw clearly what needed to change.

Irish battle goddess the Morrighan came to me in these years, passing me her sword to cut unhealthy ties and habits from my life. She was a force to be reckoned with. Working with her changed me deeply. She showed up whenever I felt intense fear, vulnerability or needed to stand up for myself.

The Morrighan is a goddess I would classify as having strong transformational ‘enchantress’ energy, and she showed up when I started to feel a deeper need for authenticity and authority in my life. My marriage went through a deep restructuring at this time, and thankfully it survived. My relationship with family and friends also met with this sword. The Morrighan helped me set boundaries and value self-protection. I learned how to honor myself and create what I wanted instead of being a victim.

Without the limits of pain on my mobility, I began to run, lift weights and build muscle, coinciding with the internal strength I was developing. The Morrighan helped me embody a new level of fitness, fierceness and inner sovereignty. This felt a necessary experience in order to navigate the Enchantress years- which are all about transformation. This is the stage of life I feel I have been slowly entering.

Crone- Becoming Her

I am not in my Crone phase of life yet, but Cerridwen, most often depicted as a Crone goddess, has made herself a strong guide for me in the last couple years.

Cerridwen first made herself tangible to me when we went on a trip to southern Wales in 2019. On that trip our daily plans kept shifting due to weather, unforeseen closures and other nudges from the universe. We ended up wandering into the most beautiful, unexpected and quiet places.

Yews at Capel-Y-Ffin, Brecon Beacons, Wales.

It was these quiet moments at wells, caves, and in Yew groves where I felt an aspect of the Goddess that was deeply needed. A deep, ancient, wise grandmotherly energy. A mystical, all-encompassing , dark feminine energy that I still can’t fully describe. It feels like coming home to my soul.

My meditations at that time kept bringing me to sea caves and the shores of a beautiful lake, where a wise, older woman was always stirring her cauldron. She was simply there, waiting for me to visit. She would let me release what I needed into the cauldron, or she would share a bowlful of something from it to nourish me. Sometimes she wanted me to peer into it and simply ‘see’, or scry.

It wasn’t until some months later that I realised this was Cerridwen calling me, which coincided with the pandemic.

Cerridwen has an energy that helps me to surrender and embrace necessary endings in life. This has been helpful through all the chaos and uncertainty of the pandemic.

My relationship with Cerridwen has been like the calm eye in the middle of the storm. It helps to centre me, as well as let go of my attachment to how I want things to be. She dissolves these things in her cauldron, asking me to open to her deep, wise presence within me.

For the last few years, my medication has caused several symptoms mimicking peri-menopause and menopause. These complaints are minor compared to the intensity of the pain I used to have, so I am very grateful and accepting of this. But it hasn’t always been easy, as I am not quite peri-menopausal yet.

The combination of this somewhat menopausal experience in my body, understanding chronic pain, raising a teenager and being married to an older man, means I sometimes feel I have more in common with women older than me than women my own age.

While later than previous generations, many folks my age are just settling down and starting a family now, or maybe just starting to feel the body’s limitations creeping in. Caring for their aging partner may not have crossed their mind yet.

Aging is something I hope to do gracefully and well. Something I will accept more and more with time. There are lovely older women in my life that I admire. I hope to carry Cerridwen’s Crone wisdom with me into the future, navigating my Enchantress years with her .

For now, I honour all the ways in which the Goddess has danced with me and continues to teach me.

How do you feel you embody Goddess energy? Is it something that has changed over time? How has your relationship with Goddess and your body changed as you grow older?

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Tending to our Inner Hearth + Meditation Video

What does ‘coming home to oneself’ mean?

What does it feel like to truly belong and dwell within our physical body?

What ignites our inner fire, the central core of our vitality and wellbeing?

These are questions I contemplate regularly, but especially around the time of Imbolc, when we welcome the return of the light around us and ignite our inner spark of inspiration within.

As a work-at-home mother with a history of severe chronic pelvic pain, my healing journey has led me to spend a lot of time at home. It also led me to many healing modalities and movement forms to help feel a sense of belonging in my own body. This also coincided with my path as a Hearth Witch, tending to my inner Hearth as well as the Hearth of my home.

Through my experiences, I unwittingly became a Keeper of the Hearth- the hearth within my body and the hearth of my home.

The Hearth of the Home

The hearth is traditionally where the fire is lit and is a place for cooking, nourishment, gathering and belonging. Before electricity, the hearth was a central source of sustenance and therefore was the centre of the home.

Modern houses with fully equipped kitchens are still often built with fireplaces inside, which is a testament to how important the hearth is to our sense of being at home- physically and emotionally.

Just think of how much we love to have campfires in the summer! Even though we have electricity, our primal instincts crave the warmth, gathering and sense of ‘coming home’ that sitting around a campfire brings.

This isn’t to say that to feel at home, one needs a fireplace or a firepit! Every dwelling has a spiritual centre- a hearth in which people feel drawn to gather, to feel nourished, to settle. This can even be the corner of a small bachelor apartment or room.

When you have guests, where do they tend to want to gather or settle in? What area of your home do you tend to feel the most nourished and comfortable? This may be a clue to the energetic hearth of your home.

It is important to remember that in order to truly feel nourished by the hearth in our home, that it is tended to and taken care of.

As a Hearth Witch, keeping my home is a sacred practice. I have a fireplace in the living room which serves as the sacred hearth of our home. The entire home is designated as sacred space, and I tend to each room in this way, but the living room is a point of gathering for sacred ceremonies, so I pay special attention to the energy in that space. It has strong healing energy that helps restore us at the end of a long day, even if we are just watching Netflix. Its energy always helps bring us deep within ourselves, feeling safe, held, and supported.

Just like in a house, there is an energetic hearth within each one of us, in our body, which allows us to feel at home within ourselves, wherever we may be. Just like the hearth in a house, it requires tending.

In one’s own abode

For me, my inner hearth primarily lies within my womb space.

The sacral chakra resides in the pelvic bowl and is named ‘Svadhisthana’- meaning ‘in one’s own abode’.

I love the feeling this depicts, the feeling of being truly at home within oneself and one’s body. I resonate with its connection to the pelvic bowl- the womb being the first home each of us experienced before we were born into this world.

In my womb healing journey I explored the depth of my triggers and wounds that lay in the pelvic bowl, physically and energetically. It took years of unraveling the emotional and energetic blockages to create a sense of comfort being in the body I have. To feel at home in your body, when there is trauma history can be a long healing process, but a worthwhile one.

I can now say that I mostly feel at home in this body, even when it is uncomfortable, and alongside medical treatment, much of this has had to do with tending my inner hearth– tending to my womb space. This has been an ongoing process of learning how to truly dwell ‘in my own abode’, in a metaphorical sense.

What Does the Inner Hearth Feel Like?

Like the warm flames of a fireplace, this is the part within us that lights up with excitement when we are passionate about something, the place we feel our inner spark or desire to create something, the place we feel alive, with warmth, passion and vitality.

It is also the feeling of being comfortable, settled and ‘at home’ within ourselves. Sometimes the hearth flames run hot and high when we are feeling very passionate, sometimes they are gentle low flames or glowing embers when we are feeling calm, comfortable, warm and radiant.

Our Inner Hearth can be felt in many ways and many areas of the body. It isn’t limited to the womb space or pelvic bowl. You may feel this sense of ‘home’ and warmth in your abdomen, heart, or even in your head.

The Irish Hearth Goddess Brighid is sometimes depicted with flames coming out of her head, associated with inspiration and spiritual connection. So, we are not limited to feeling our inner hearth within our core- the head or crown centre may also light up when we are feeling inspired with new ideas or spiritual awareness.

From the Goddess Oracle by Janto-Marashinsky

Where in your body do you feel a sense of being settled, centered within, and at home in yourself? Where in your body do you feel ‘lit up’ when excited about something? What activities help bring you into this state of being?

When we Leave Home

What makes you feel you are no longer at home within, or outside of yourself?

It is important to note that trauma and wounding can make it challenging to feel at home within our body. Dissociation is a normal trauma response and many of us have reasons why we cannot really feel at home in our body. Honor yourself, your unique body and history. As I mentioned, my healing journey has been about healing these wounds, which has taken years. Feeling outside of my body was the norm before that. It can be helpful to work with a therapist or trauma-informed embodiment practitioner to help heal.

If you are an empath, a sensitive person or a bit of a people pleaser (as I have been much of my life), you may notice that certain people or activities pull you out of your sense of ‘home’ within. For instance, if you work with people closely, you may find yourself jumping out of yourself to attune to their needs, communication style, or rhythm of doing things. Many of us do this unconsciously, and often do it to meet others where they are at in order to help them, or get closer to them. Perhaps, whenever you fall in love you become whomever the other person wants you to be or sees you as, instead of dwelling within yourself.

These are just things to notice and recognise. Cultivating a healthy sense of self, boundaries and inner awareness are all part of tending the inner hearth.

Inner Hearth Meditation

I created this meditation to support my inner hearth and yours. It serves to re-ignite your inner strength, passion, inspiration and light you up from the inside. It is especially helpful if you feel down, heavy, uninspired, unmotivated, scattered, ‘outside yourself’ or if you simply want a pick me up. Try it out!

May you thrive and glow with the strength of your inner light,

Serena

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Imbolc Oracle Reading- Seeds of New life

Imbolc marks the point between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, and its traditions stem from Celtic celebrations of the very beginnings of spring. Here in Canada, we are still far from visible signs of spring, but the light is noticeably increasing and along with it, the hope and optimism of warmer days to come.

The Earth Mother is still resting but deep below, the potential of new life stirs. Within our creative cauldron, the seeds of this year’s harvest begin to awaken us to their potential.

Imbolc is said to be derived from old Irish, meaning ‘in the belly’ referring to pregnant ewes. The promise of new birth and the nourishment of ewe’s milk signify the hope and renewal this season symbolises. The Irish goddess Brighid- Goddess of healing, fertility, the hearth, smithcraft and poetry is also venerated at this time.

In Wales, this celebration is called Gwyl Mair, the feast of Mary, and it aligns with the Christian Candlemas and our Groundhog day, with overlapping themes of purification, light, divining the future and preparation for spring.

Similar to the ‘nesting’ instinct a pregnant mother experiences, we may start to feel the desire to prepare for new life coming in spring. We don’t really know what awaits us yet, we must follow our intuition and trust our instincts to lead us in the right direction. We may declutter our home, our psyche or cleanse our body in preparation for this mysterious new life to come. At some point in the coming weeks, we may begin to feel some clarity on a new desire, goal or vision for the year ahead and take our first baby steps towards it. We may feel drawn to make changes in our life to support the future self we are birthing.

Imbolc Oracle Spread

Imbolc is traditionally a time for divination. Groundhog Day is very similar to traditions in Europe where the habits of animals were seen as ways of predicting when winter will end. Even though the light is increasing, darkness continues to reign and therefore divination can really be a guiding light to help us forward.

I don’t personally wait for a special day to do divination, as it is part of my daily practice and lifestyle! But I tend to create new variations of spreads for the sabbats, just to change things up for myself. Here is my Imbolc one below…

Imbolc Spread: Seeds of New Life

Seeds: This position speaks to the potential incubating within. It may represent an idea, feeling, or the message regarding your seeds for the year.

Resistance: This position speaks to resistance or obstacles to clear in order for the seed to grow. Often around Imbolc we can be faced with challenges such as self-doubt, fear or insecurity. This card shows the nature of these challenges.

Light: This card is like the sunlight shining down on your seeds, pulling them towards growth. It speaks to the energy that brings you growth and renewal. It asks that rather than actively working on this energy, simply open and surrender to it.

Next Step: This card points you to the next baby step to take. It will help you clear the Resistance and/or embrace the Light card.

Try this spread with your favorite deck or book a reading with me!

Below is a reading for you, using the Goddess Power Oracle Deck by Colette Baron Reid.

Seeds- Danu- Assurance:

It’s been hard to feel a whole lot of hope these days. Endless pandemic burnout may be affecting you and your ability to believe in yourself and your ability to even dream or hope or create new life again. Danu, Celtic Mother goddess brings her assurance and steadfast strength to remind you that indeed you CAN create new life again, your dreams ARE valid, and you WILL be renewed!

She brings the assurance of the turning of the seasons, the warmth and growth of spring as guaranteed after this fallow period. As the Earth Mother, she reminds us of the importance of cycles and divine timing. Relax into the certainty of growth. She places her hands on your shoulders and asks you breathe in her assurance and trust all is manifesting in perfect timing, in the perfect way. Find the spark of confidence within. Whatever seed of desire you feel within, BELIEVE in its manifestation. It is promised.

Resistance- Metis-Wisdom:

Do you feel small or inexperienced? Do you feel imposter syndrome? Do you feel that your desire won’t manifest because you aren’t wise or powerful enough to make it so? Greek Goddess Metis reminds us wisdom comes with both knowledge and experience. We all have our unique wisdom to share.

Sometimes when we are faced with something new, we are afraid to take the first step because we won’t be good at it, we won’t be as good as someone else. We need to be willing to be a beginner sometimes, to make mistakes and learn from them. We must be willing to not be perfect.

We are all in a process of becoming. What lessons have you learned from last year? What wisdom have you gained? Is there deep wisdom within you need to recognise and share?

Our challenge is our willingness to embrace the wisdom we have and to keep walking our path towards greater wisdom.

How can you apply your experience and wisdom to the challenges you face now? Is there someone wise and knowledgeable you can reach out to?

Light-Kali-Liberation:

The fierce Hindu goddess Kali shines upon your seeds of rebirth, asking you to surrender to the process of shedding old skins, past selves and others’ ideas of who you are in order to grow. She asks you to liberate yourself by being authentic and true to yourself. Let go of the ‘what ifs’ and ‘what will they think?’ thoughts in your mind. Let go of the roles that stifle and restrict you, you are done with them. Life may have been shining the light on some truths about yourself or your upbringing that aren’t serving you anymore and it is best to simply let those habits and roles fall away now.

Turn your face up towards the light of Kali, shining her truth, authenticity and liberation upon you. Let your natural instincts guide you towards what feels like freedom and liberation from the past and your desires will start to manifest. Take a moment to breathe the energy of liberation into your body. What would it feel like to break free? Feel yourself becoming lighter and brighter and you courageously allow yourself to take up a bit more space! Surrender to this process of lightening and letting go.

Next Step- Hera-Alliance:

Your next step is to connect with your allies. These can be people with whom you resonate and vibrate harmoniously with. They can also be spirit guides, plant or animal allies that support your inner strength, resilience, and growth.

Sometimes we feel we are all alone on our path. We may feel that no one understands us, or that we must bear our burdens alone. Greek goddess Hera reminds us that we don’t exist in a vacuum, we are interdependent beings, and strengthening our relationships serves to strengthen us as well.

Regarding the Resistance card message, we may wish to ally ourselves with those who are knowledgeable and wise, those we admire for their wisdom, who bring out our own wisdom or encourage us to keep learning and growing on our unique path.

Regarding the Light card message, it is important that our allies serve our authentic needs, growth and liberation from old patterns. We need to be discerning in our choice of friends, teachers, collaborators and partners. If a relationship forces us into an outworn role or story with no room for change and growth, then it might not be with someone we would consider an ally. The next step is to reach out to someone you feel you resonate with, who supports your authenticity and growth.

Take your time, be gentle as you incubate your precious new beginnings, my friend. May the Goddess support you on your path, assuring you that all will happen in divine timing.

“It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.”― Gabriel García Márquez

Are you interested in learning more about Imbolc and delving deeper into its energies? Join me for our online Imbolc Circle: Nacent Beginnings, this Friday, Feb 4th @7pm!

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Beyond Smoke Cleansing: 10 Powerful Ways to Clear Your Energy

We live in energetically heavy times. Carrying stressful thoughts and emotions can contribute to illness and challenge our mental health. Whether these energies stem from within us or our environment (or both), ritual cleansing can be an important part of our energetic hygiene, especially for the sensitive among us.

Burning plant matter such as resins, leaves, bark and flowers with specific properties to clear the negative energy from a space is done in many cultures all over the world and has been for a long time. This can be a desirable and effective way to clear the vibes around us and in our space. I love smoke cleansing, but it’s not the only effective method!

In recent years smoke cleansing has become ultra-popular in mainstream culture. Specifically, the appropriation of Indigenous smudging took the world by storm and has had serious consequences, such as the over-harvesting of white sage and palo santo, as well as furthering the harmful cultural genocide of Indigenous people that began with colonization and continues today.

Thankfully, many pagans are now learning about this and are instead learning the smoke cleansing practices of their ancestors using other herbs & methods, or perhaps respectfully learning the teachings behind smudging from Indigenous folks (when/if offered), learning about colonization and supporting these communities. Many Indigenous folks believe smudging should be a closed practice and that sage should never be bought or sold, only gifted or grown/harvested oneself. I feel it is important to listen to and respect these voices, even though not everyone feels the same. (Indigenous folks are diverse, not a monolith). You may wish to listen to Revolutionary Mystic’s take on this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRu8UWr8KpI

In all this smoke, we can forget that there are plenty of other ways to cleanse ourselves energetically! There are many places and times when smoke may not be accessible, nor even the most effective way to transmute negative energy, so let’s explore some other amazing options…

Sound:

Sound is vibration and a very powerful energetic purifier. Really, any instrument can be used to shift one’s own energy or the energy in a space. Even recorded music has an effect. When you are feeling heavy or down, find a song that can help you feel better. Put on your favourite album. Or, if you enjoy making your own sound, you may wish to try drumming or chimes. I especially love Koshi chimes and find them to be very useful at shifting my energy and the energy within my space.

Koshi Chimes- Earth

Breath:

We always have breath with us, and it doesn’t cost us a thing. If you are feeling stressed or angry, take a moment and inhale through the nose, and exhale through the mouth. Try blowing the air out like you are blowing out birthday candles.

You can take this a step further with visualization. Imagine you are inhaling clearing, white light and exhaling out black smoke.

Speaking of sound, allowing sound to come out is very helpful! Try inhaling through the nose and exhaling a big sigh. Then on the next exhale try letting the most natural sound come out, even if it’s a nasty growl or sounds a bit monstrous!

Movement:

Our body usually holds onto negative energy, so moving it helps to move it out! Walking, dancing, or a vigorous workout can transmute anger, rage, depression or hopelessness.

If you are frustrated working from your desk, you can lift your arms over your head as you inhale, then as you exhale, lower your arms down, blowing out the mouth like in the breathing exercise above. Add sound. Notice how you feel.

A Bath or Shower:

As an empath and watery soul, water seems to be my preferred element for cleansing. If you’ve had a long day working with people, being in a crowd, or feeling a buildup of toxic emotion, a shower or bath or a swim in a lake can be extremely soothing and purifying. I like to add Epsom salts or sea salts to my baths for extra cleansing power.

*Sidenote: Whenever we resource something from the earth to energetically cleanse, I feel it is important to thank the spirit being- the spirit of the water, plant, rock, etc. for its help. So, while a regular shower or bath can clear us energetically, it becomes much more powerful when we add prayer, intention and gratitude. We connect to the element in relationship. This is the difference between a mundane activity and a ritual.

Aromatherapy Spray:

This is my favourite alternative to smoke cleansing. I was trained in aromatherapy, so I understand the energetic and chemical properties behind the essential oils and how to blend them. I list a few of my favourite essential oils and their properties here. Sometimes, I find my sprays make a stronger impact than smoke cleansing, perhaps because essential oils are more concentrated, or perhaps because water is more dense and makes a stronger impact on my sticky aura that picks up everything around it.

Sprinkling Water:

Like smoke cleansing, this is another cleansing ritual that has been done in different religions and cultures all over the world. I am not sure of its exact origins, and there are difference nuances to how this is performed culturally. But it is common in pagan practices to sprinkle a space to cleanse it and around ourselves reciting a little chant or prayer. Sometimes it is as simple as saying ‘I cleanse myself and my space with the power of water’. Sometimes saltwater is used.

Drinking enough water in your day can really help the body purify and therefore affect your energetic health too! It is important to connect with the spirit of the water, and the source of the water if possible as well, giving thanks.

Steam pot:

Similar to a spray but without the cost and concentration of essential oils, you can boil herbs, roots, and fruits on the stove and let the steam flow around you and through the house. This will give it a wonderful smell (assuming you boil wonderful smelling things). This is nice to do when ill, and if you boil herbs or bark you can drink as a tea, even better! When ill or feeling low, I like to make either cedar tea or a mix of garden sage,rosemary, thyme and lemon. Cinnamon is nice too! The possibilities are endless.

Besom/Broom:

A housekeeping tradition found all over the world is to clean one’s space with a broom. Traditionally, in the UK a broom was called a besom, and made of tied birch twigs to a larger branch handle made of ash, hazel or chestnut. Eventually, broomcorn came into use, which is the material we typically see in regular brooms today.

The broom/besom is also used as a sacred tool for energetic cleansing. It can be used to sweep negative energy out of a room, or off oneself. I use a small besom for personal sweeping, and I also fashioned one of wheat and other dried flowers and herbs. I sweep my body lightly from head to toe to remove negative energy.

The Earth:

Wherever we go, we walk on the earth. The Earth can help transmute negative energy. This practice is best in a place where the earth is happy and doing well, so if you’re living downtown in a large city, find a healthy, decent sized park rather than bothering a poor lone tree in the concrete jungle.

Let the earth know you are looking for a good place to transmute negative energy. Wait until you find a place that seems to be inviting you to it. Be patient, my urbanite friends, this may mean a longer walk or a bit of a trek. It could be a tree that draws you, or a patch of grass or sand. My fave local spot here in Toronto is the sandy water’s edge on Lake Ontario, but you may have another spot you like or a large tree in a park who doesn’t mind grounding your energy.

Birch is a lovely friend who helps me feel clearer

When you find your spot and the tree or earth says it will help you, simply sit and place your palms face down on the earth and imagine any negative energy flowing out from your hands, feet and the base of your spine, into the ground to be transmuted. If appropriate, you may wish to lay on the ground or sit with your back up against a tree. Breathe in the energy of the earth or the tree. Exhale any negative energy out. When you feel more balanced, thank the earth.

I always leave an offering if I am asking anything of a tree or the earth. You can leave herbs, safe food for local animals, or Sema (tobacco) if that is your tradition. Give thanks.

Wind, Rain & Sun:

Wind– When you are outside on a windy day, ask the wind to take your stressful thoughts away. Combine it with the breathing exercise above.

Rain– If it is raining, allow the water to help cleanse and refresh your mind and heart. Imagine each drop capturing your stresses and washing them away.

Sun– When the sun shines, lift your gaze to the sky, open your heart and ask the sun to purify you. Feel its warmth penetrating any negativity and transmuting it into love.

The elements are always here for us, all around us, part of us. Sometimes we just needs to remember to take notice, receive the Earth Mother’s gifts and give thanks.

There are many other ways I haven’t even mentioned to clear energy. What methods do you use? Which ones do you feel like trying?

May your energy be bright and clear this full moon and may all that needs to be released, go with ease.

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Dancing With the Sacred Unknown

We are collectively in uncharted waters. Much of what we have known and relied upon has been washed away, requiring constant flexibility and resilience as we swim to keep our heads above water as best as we can. It is as though the solid ground beneath us has given way to water.

Sometimes, in times like these, our best option is to float.

When we float is there is nothing but water and sky, and we are held in suspension- it seems as though we are outside of time and space, heart open to the vast unknown. Depending on your comfort level with water, this can feel super scary or total bliss (or both!). Whether the water is still or pulsing with waves, it can still hold us up.

Without struggling or striving, we can rest into that support, even as it ebbs and flows. This can feel like a gift to our souls as we remember what it feels like to be a babe in the great Goddess’ womb, part of the origins of life itself.

These times of transition and uncertainty ask us to take a break from striving and feel what it might be like to be held by something greater.

Allowing ourselves to be held by something greater doesn’t necessarily mean we give up on things that matter to us and do nothing about our circumstance or situation. It is not a complete surrender of our free will, agency or engagement with the material world. No.

It is a practice of remembering that we are not always in control. It is accepting what we cannot change and at the same time allowing ourselves to open to greater potentiality within ourselves. Like floating on the water, we can accept the flow and open to what new directions and awareness the experience might bring. We remain curious, aware and open to something bigger than us to take us where we need to be. When we are attuned to the flow, we will better know how and where to swim.

Divine Darkness

The Dark Mother energy of Cerridwen has been incredibly healing and helpful to me in navigating this uncharted territory. It is not surprising that she showed up shortly before the pandemic began.

Dark Goddesses are not dark in nature so much as they are present and supportive to us when we are in dark times. Times when we cannot see what lies ahead, transitional times, times when we are meeting our shadow face to face or healing and moving through trauma. Dark Goddesses bring the wisdom, strength and lessons we need in order to navigate these challenges.

In my life, when one of these Goddesses shows up, it is an indication that I am going to be doing some deeper work or going on an inner underworld journey.

Through my relationship with Cerridwen, I have been practicing trust, surrender and being held by The Mystery. Cerridwen’s cauldron is the dark womb of potential and rebirth. This dark womb/cauldron imagery is something I work with regularly.

So much of Cerridwen’s energy, gifts and lessons in my experience is about that surrender to something larger. Trusting this divine energy to hold me in the sacred unknown. In Cerridwen’s deep cosmic cauldron, I feel safely held, yet open to vast potential. It is a very nameless, dark, void-like space at times.

Emptiness & The Creative Cycle

I was feeling quite creatively barren and empty when Cerridwen showed up. I was scraping the bottom of the barrel of new ideas, passion or motivation. I felt the emptiness had come with the end of a chapter and awaiting a new beginning. I was struggling to feel engaged or excited about anything. Cerridwen, as the goddess of inspiration, came into my sphere.

But she didn’t just bestow an abundance of passions and inspiration upon me out of thin air. She beckoned that I come and spend time with Her first. She is named the goddess of Inspiration, because it is through the challenging experience of transformation and surrender to the dark womb of nothingness, that inspiration can be born.

I felt a strong draw to Her, and began to read about Her, connect with Her, and follow her mysterious trail of will o’ the wisps towards Her cauldron, and entered into its mysteries.

In a nutshell, the cauldron transformed me. It recognised what needed to be released, where I needed to be strengthened and the process is still continuing today.

I have not emerged from the cauldron yet. I am still releasing and transforming within it. In letting go of old habits and becoming aware of my true inner light and strength, I am more trusting in myself and my ability to float and swim.

As I go through this journey with Cerridwen in Her cauldron, my inspiration is increasing. I am feeling more connected to what stirs my passion and aligned with my authentic self. I am also more comfortable with the unknown and finding ways to dance with it.

I recognise that life moves in cycles and new life always emerges from the emptiness. We don’t always know how the new life will show up, but it always does. So, I am looking forward to the continued emergence and growth that is sourced from that original emptiness I surrendered to. I trust that it will flourish in its own way and timing.

The Sacred Unknown

There is something sacred about the transitional times in life. Dawn, dusk, birth, death, those moments when we are neither here nor there, between versions of ourselves, ways of being in the world. These are sacred times. We are closer than ever to the source of life at these times, and while they are often uncomfortable, lonely, traumatic, or unbearable, they are the times when we are most held by something greater.

These are the times dark goddesses and spirit guides have made themselves clearly known to me. I have met important healers and had serendipitous experiences that changed the course of my life during these times.

Sometimes we have to be broken down in order to open up. I find it interesting that the word ‘scared’ is in the word ‘sacred’. I feel that moving through our deepest fears can be a deeply spiritual experience, because it can change us forever and help us grow.

It is important however, during these transitional times, to hold safe space for ourselves and ensure we have someone who can hold safe space for us, as safety is necessary in order to truly grow from our depths. The cauldron represents the sacred container that allows us to do so.

Water, Darkness & Reflection

I feel that it is important while we are going through times like these that we take time to look back and reflect on how far we’ve come.

How have you become more braver? stronger? More adaptable? What have you let go of? What new things have you opened up to? How have you changed?

It is also a good time to explore our relationship to the element of water and to darkness.

How do you feel about going with the flow? What have you learned from navigating change? How do you find your way when you cannot see what’s ahead? How do you cope with uncertainty?

Rituals for Being Held by the Dark Womb/Primordial Source:

I invite you to try connecting to the dark womb/primordial source as a way to cultivate trust in the unknown. It is something I enjoy doing.

If you have a bathtub, you can try taking a bath at night, with all the lights out. Imagine you are resting in the great goddess’ womb, merging with the primordial source of being. Silence is a very powerful accompaniment to this, just listening to the sound of your own breathing. However if that is too challenging, you may wish to play some deeply relaxing music. I suggest Deep Sleep by Calm Collective, Long Ambients by Moby or Voyage by Garth Stevenson. Simply rest in the darkness and feel as you are held within the womb.

You can recite the following affirmations:

I am safe. I am held. I am safe and held in the dark womb. I trust in divine timing. My time to birth will come. I now rest in the sacred unknown.

If you do not have a bathtub, or don’t feel comfortable in water, you can also lie down on your bed in darkness (if you cannot make your room completely dark, try wearing a blindfold). This makes sense to do at bedtime. Relax into bed, and imagine you are floating in the middle of a lake at night under a sky full of stars. You are warm and snuggled in the covers. Imagine you are within the Great Mother’s Womb, held safely. Connect to the silence, following the sound of your breath in and out. Or, if you’d rather, you can play relaxing music as I suggested above. Say the affirmations above to yourself.

You may also wish to visit a float spa, such as H2O Float Studio here in Toronto. Or, if it is warm where you are, go ahead and float on an actual body of water.

May the changes of these times create a relationship with darkness that is no longer one of fear, but of deep comfort, like the darkness of the womb, the darkness that is the source of life.

xo Serena

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9 Ways to Protect Your Energy- For Sensitive Souls

During the winter season, the darkness and cold means we are vulnerable not only to harsher weather and viruses, but also negative energies. When we lack Mother Earth’s abundance of medicines and the sun’s warm rays to nourish us, we need to shield ourselves energetically and feed our hearts and souls with some extra love and care!

What is Negative Energy?

Negative energies can come in the form of harmful thoughts, emotions, intentions, rogue entities and spirits. We can essentially pick up these energies just as we can pick up viruses from one another. We also can send these energies to others- either consciously or unconsciously. Sometimes energy isn’t necessarily negative at first, but if it collects and stagnates it can become harmful. Energy must continuously flow so it doesn’t get stuck.

Much of how we pick stuff up and carry it has to do with our energetic immune system, which is similar to (and linked to) our physical immune system.

Energetically, our thoughts, feelings and emotions are intimately tied to our body. Generally, feeling emotionally low can increase our likelihood of feeling physically ill, and vice versa. So, it is important to take care of one’s body and health as a form of energetic protection.

Empaths, Sensitives & Intuitives

It can be hard for the sensitive among us to live in this world. For years we grow up thinking something is wrong with us, that we are flawed or weak or somehow less capable than the average person, when really, we are processing a ton more information on more levels and this requires an extra level of personal responsibility and self-care.

You may be an empathic person, which means you pick up others’ emotions easily and may carry them as your own. You may feel easily overwhelmed when with other people and burnout when in a crowd. It is important if you are an empathic person to create and maintain emotional boundaries and learn to strengthen your inner sense of self to prevent sapping your energy or forming co-dependent relationships.

You may be energetically sensitive person and find that you feel the vibes in a place or coming from people very easily. You may be more sensitive to your environment than most people, responding strongly to stimulation like noise, light and activity. You might find that you are sensitive to the energy around you, but it isn’t necessarily on the emotional level, like with an empath.

If you are an intuitive person, you may be empathic and/or sensitive, but you also are attuned to the spirit world. Perhaps you see or sense entities and spirits of those who have passed on, perhaps you are psychic and see, hear or feel things others cannot. With this added layer of awareness comes an added vulnerability to ill-intentioned spirits, so protection becomes very important.

Energetic protection is important for everyone, but it is especially for sensitives, empaths and intuitive folks. It is also important for those of us living in big cities surrounded by lots of people, or those who work with people in vulnerable situations or life and death situations.

Being Responsible With Our Energy

Almost everyone at one time or another has felt negative emotions or had negative thoughts about someone else—it is human nature. But as we grow in self-awareness, we need to be careful of how we direct our energy because our thoughts, feelings and intentions affect our environment. We can often reach another person with our thoughts and intentions, causing actual physical illness or make them feel unwell, anxious or depressed. It is very important that we not only protect our own energy, but that we be aware of how our thoughts, feelings and intentions affect others. If we feel strong hate or anger towards someone, sometimes it can help to write down how we feel and then burn the paper afterwards, asking that the energy be cleared with no harm to anyone.

It is important that we continuously work on our own healing so that we are less likely to direct blame and hatred onto others and instead tend to our own unhealed wounds, trusting that this will be much more effective than lashing out.

Shielding and Inner Strength

When it comes to energetic protection, I feel it is important to protect ourselves as well as our home space. Living as a sensitive, intuitive and empathic person means that energetic health becomes a lifestyle built on habits.

Protection is a combination of shielding negativity as well as cultivating inner strength, positivity and power in oneself.

Shielding habits are about warding off negative energies, kind of like wearing a mask to prevent viruses from entering. Cultivating inner power and strength is akin to taking care of your body and immune system so that if a virus enters, it can be transmuted more effectively.

Energetic Protection Habits:

There are many ways to protect ourselves energetically against all forms of negative energy. The things in this list are habits I try to keep regularly, as part of my personal energetic hygiene.

Being an empathic, sensitive or intuitive person can be a lot of work simply to maintain oneself! Its ok if you don’t do any or many of these things, even just trying one of them can make a difference. I don’t do all these things every single day, but they are part of an ongoing rotation and used on a regular basis:

I call on my spirit allies and guides to be with me.

I call them and feel/envision them there with me when I am in a dicey situation or place. I have one in particular that comes to my side and works very well at deterring negative energy coming from people in my environment with harmful or dangerous energy. I also call on Cerridwen, the Goddess I work most with, as she has a very protective presence.

I visualise an egg or orb of light all around me that is sealed with a protective black smoke.

I know some people imagine an egg of pure white light, or a colored light or substance that they resonate with. I found the light wasn’t enough for me, but when I imagine black smoke swirling around the egg of light, I feel better protected. I have done this in public situations where I felt unsafe, and it works pretty fast to move the negative energy away from me.

I do a grounding practice.

This is part of my daily energetic hygiene, so it is always done before I leave the house or do anything important. I do a grounding meditation to connect with the earth, sea and sky, to feel the divine in my body. I connect with the land I live on, its ancestors and give thanks. I smoke cleanse with herbs I grow in my garden and hold a local rock in my hands and place it on my heart to feel my rootedness to this land. Being grounded is essential to being protected. Having a relationship to the land ensure you will be looked out for and be in tune with the ebb and flows of energy in the environment.

I wear a lot of black and crystals! (I know its a cliche, but it works)

I wear black pretty much all the time. Black is a strong protective color that helps to ward off negativity.

I also like to wear colors that help to strengthen my inner power and vitality. For some folks that might be a bright color, but for me it is black again, as well as purple or plum or green.

I also like to wear protective jewelry. I have different symbols I wear that I charge with intention. I also wear crystals, such as obsidian, onyx, black moonstone, smokey quartz, auralite, labradorite, selenite and others that help ward of negativity. I also like to wear crystals that ground and energise me, such as ruby, garnet and black tourmaline.

I use plant medicines

I like to carry cedar or spruce in my purse when I go out to protect me and my belongings. I have a little leather pouch I put plant matter in.

I create aromatherapy sprays using essential oils that carry qualities that I wish to embody and surround myself with. If I need to stimulate my sensual side, I might use rose, orange or geranium. For calming, lavender or chamomile. If I want something more shielding, I might use a blend using evergreens and cloves, or if I need grounding, I might wear patchouli.

I like to drink nettle tea when I am feeling my power is a bit low or am vulnerable. It is very nourishing to the blood and due to its prickly nature, has a protective energy. Ginger tea is also a good one to strengthen one’s inner fire.

There are many ways to use plant medicines, including teas, salves, ointments and tinctures to help strengthen your immune system and protect energetically.

I prioritise exercise, sleep and eating well

I fuel my inner vitality with exercise, nutritious food and enough sleep. Exercise that includes physical strengthening and core exercises is especially helpful in creating better boundaries for empaths. I make sure to exercise daily, as I easily become ungrounded if I don’t. I eat intuitively and do certain cleanses and take vitamins as needed. I am a night owl, so going to bed early is challenging for me, but I always aim for 8 hours sleep.

I feed my heart & soul

One way I feed my heart and soul is by simply listening to their whispers and feelings. My heart is nourished by spending time with my pets and loved ones, listening to music, dancing and writing. My soul is nourished with walks in nature, spending time near water, communing with the Goddess at my altar, and doing devotional practices, crafts and rituals.

I work on keeping healthy boundaries

If we find ourselves habitually drained after an interaction with someone, it might be an alarm bell to place better boundaries for ourselves or distance ourselves from them. It might mean that we need to limit our time with them, say no to some of their requests, or explain that we only have so much energy today and can only handle ‘a’ or ‘b’ but not ‘c’ at this time.

A lot of us are spending more time online on social media, so it is important to place boundaries in this setting. I have been unfollowing people I need to distance myself from, leaving groups I don’t like, deleting accounts that I don’t use and focusing my energies on the connections that nourish and inspire me or challenge me in growth-oriented ways.

I find that boundaries are also about keeping my inner power strong, so this means that I need to take regular time out to be alone so I can re-align with my own energy. I find that throughout the day, I need to check in with myself because I tend to get too involved with others’ emotions and issues.

Taking a 5-minute break to just check-in with yourself- in mind, body and emotions can help keep you centered within.

I do regular energetic cleansing

Every day I smoke cleanse and/or use my besom (witch’s broom) to clear my energy and my space. I always open a window and pray and give thanks to the spirit of the plant medicines for transmuting the negative energies that may have clung to my aura or are sitting in the space.

I take regular salt baths. I alternate between using either epsom or sea salts and essential oils in a nice hot bath. I find this is especially helpful for the empathic part of me, because water resonates with the emotional body and this is where the gunk can collect energetically for empaths. Water helps the emotions to flow and clear beautifully!

I take a shower after spending a lot of time in public around a lot of people and I just want to clear the day’s energetic debris.

How do you protect yourself as an empath, sensitive or intuitive person? What do you struggle with?

What strengthens and nurtures you in body, mind, heart and soul?

It has taken me my whole life to figure out the unique needs of my nervous system and energetic constitution, with lots of trial and error! Some of what I suggest may work for you and others won’t. We are all unique. Experiment and see what works for you.

One thing I have learned is that protective habits are best weaved into one’s lifestyle. When they become part of our daily routine, we have a good foundation to stand on when things get rocky in our lives. Picking one thing and sticking to it can make a bigger difference than doing several things irregularly.

May you be well-nourished and protected in the weeks to come my sensitive soul!

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A Winter Solstice Oracle Reading For You…

The Winter Solstice is a wonderful time for divination. People use divination in various ways, and there is no right or wrong way.

I tend to use divination as a healing tool rather than a predictive tool. For me, it is an invitation to get curious about myself and what the current situation is asking me to heal or become more aware of, helping me to grow.

I am less interested in predicting the future because many factors are at play that can change the outcome of any situation. I also feel our sense of personal agency is a key player in our personal healing and how we live our lives. Getting too attached to future possibilities can diminish our personal agency in accessing our power in this moment.

I see a tarot or oracle spread as a reflection of the present moment, holding the feelings and potential that we can access right then and there. I feel a reading loses its power as time goes on, because we can change moment to moment. This is mainly why I don’t record readings, but ask clients to take their own notes, trusting that they will hear what they need to hear in that moment, and what stands out to them will be most important and influential on their choices and actions.

At the Winter Solstice, we can often feel a bit ‘in the dark’ about our lives, as the increased darkness invites us to embrace the unknown as we journey into the deeper recesses of our psyches.

Divination can be like a little flashlight, showing us clues to follow, as we trust our intuition to lead us forward. There will be twists and turns on our path, and whilst we may not be meant to see whats ahead, divination helps us access the tools we need to be able to navigate the journey.

I would like to share with you my Winter Solstice Spread below. It shows us what we’ve learned from the past year and how that has influenced our present situation. It shows us the potential wisdom that we can now apply to the current situation and develop in the weeks to come. First, I give you the layout so you can do the reading with your own deck, then I give you a Solstice Goddess Oracle reading below!

Use any deck you feel comfortable with. Ground and centre yourself. Take a few deep breaths and connect with how you’re feeling. You may wish to bring the cards to your heart centre so they can attune to your energy.

Shuffle the deck however you normally do, taking your time to reflect on your past year and your current situation. Then when you feel ready, choose your first card and place it in the centre. This is the Present Situation. Then choose your second card, placing it to the left. This represents the Lessons/Gifts from the past year, which have influenced your situation. Choose your third card placing it on the right side of the centre card. This represents the Wisdom in Waiting, or potential energy you can apply to the current situation, that will also help tie in the lessons from the past year and bring you to a new place of growth.

Goddess Power Oracle deck by Colette Baron-Reid

Notice the thread that flows through the cards. Notice what resonates, what feels true and what feels interesting or inspiring. Write down anything that you wish to carry with you on your journey.

Below is a version of this reading that I have done for you. It is a general reading for all who are reading this, let me know if it resonates!

Here is what I pulled for you:

Present Situation: In the present position, we have Lillith, Jewish goddess of independence in this deck. The experiences of 2021 have brought you to this new place in your life where you are finally living your life on your own terms, having moved away from or severed unhealthy, toxic ties or codependent habits. It can feel scary to go it alone sometimes, but it is only when we know who we are as an individual that we can attract the right people for us in our life. Through 2021 the planets Saturn and Jupiter have been in Aquarius, urging us to define what freedom and independence means to us and how to build the right foundations for it. You currently are creating that space for yourself or being called to do so at this time. More work in this area will continue through 2022, as the road can be bumpy with Saturn still in Aquarius. You must take responsibility for the choices you make in the name of independence and be prepared for the consequences. But you are much better equipped now than you were last year, knowing what feels true to you and what is worth the effort. Keep it up, knowing you have the power to blaze that trail and do your own thing!

Lessons From the Past Year: Here, we have Benzai-Ten, Japanese goddess of beauty. Over the last year, you may have come up against insecurity, low self-worth, rejection or a sense of just being ‘not enough’. It may have been hard to see the beauty in life, due to a cloudy outlook, or feeling that you aren’t beautiful or have nothing to offer the world. You may have had to re-align with your true values rather than those imposed on you by the outside world. Those were the challenges, but there were also gifts. You maybe had to dig deep to find what was really holding you back, into past experiences in your childhood that fueled low self-esteem. This lead to some deep healing and courage to finally stand on your two feet and shine your beautiful, independent spirit. Or perhaps someone or something reflected your beauty back to you, reminding you of how beautiful and capable you really are. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder- perhaps a change in perspective was what we needed to see the beauty in yourself instead of through the lens of others. Perhaps you were inspired by something beautiful, which urged you to take a new path and express more beauty in your life now.

Wisdom in Waiting: Here, we have the potential energy of Yhi, Aboriginal Australian Sun Goddess in this deck. How appropriate for this time of year, where we celebrate the hope of the increasing light. The advice for the present is to shine your light, and keep doing you! Find that warm spark of passion within you, and let it radiate through your being. What lights you up? What gets you excited? What brings you joy? When you live life from your centre, from that flame of truth inside of you, your path becomes clear, you attract new opportunities and people who are good for your health and wellbeing. Yes, sometimes when we shine brightly, we attract bugs, so be aware of this potential, but don’t let it get you down. You’ve got this, you are strong and capable. The world needs your unique light, so don’t be afraid to shine!

So, to sum it up- you’ve come a long way this year, and its been a journey of finding yourself and blazing a new trail of independence. Give yourself permission to be your uniquely beautiful self, embracing your quirks and all the weirdness that makes you who you are, and shine it out into the world. It gives others permission to do the same.

Let me know if any of this resonated with you. I wish you a warm and bright Solstice and please feel free to contact me for a reading!

xo Serena

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Connecting with our Wise Inner Elder/Crone

‘Tis the season of the Elder, Crone, Hag and Wise One within. The season of tough love which urges us to to simplify, surrender, conserve our physical energy and contemplate the bigger questions in life.

The Crone aspect of the triple goddess (Maiden, Mother, Crone) rules over the dark moon phase of the lunar cycle and winter in the seasonal cycle. For those with a menstrual cycle, this aspect rules over one’s bleeding time- where body and mind ask us to slow down, release the past and open to new dreams and potential by tapping into the wisdom of the Universe.

The winter season carries the same energy, asking us to make space to reflect, dream and simply ‘be’. The working world doesn’t stop for winter, but invites us to simplify and conserve our energy. The subconscious requires more attention and processing, pulling us to sleep, meditate and heal our inner self.

Who is the Crone?

The Crone is the Death Goddess, the One who Sees in the Dark, She who comes to our aid when we are going through dark and difficult times. She teaches us the lessons of surrender, letting go, patience, strength and the necessity of death and decay to bring new life.

These can hard lessons to swallow, which is why there is a general fear of this aspect of the goddess, and consequently, a fear of womxn as they age, and a general devaluing of elder wisdom in our youth-obsessed, death-avoidant culture.

We are taught to equate old age with death rather than wisdom. If one believes in reincarnation, or an afterlife, or even just in the cycles of nature, we can find comfort in knowing that energy never ceases to exist, it simply transforms. But change can be scary, especially when it comes to death- the greatest mystery of all.

The Crone teaches us that death is a necessary component of life.

There are Crone goddesses in cultures all over the world. Some that fit this category are Ereshkigal, Nepthys, Hekate, Mother Holle, Sedna, Kali, Cerridwen, Cailleach Bear, Baba Yaga, and more. What these goddesses all have in common that they are somehow connected to the realm of death in some way. It is reflected in their myths, or by seasonal association. They often share stories of pain, trauma and rebirth that render them the wisdom to help us through our own difficult passages. They are also known for their knowledge of the unseen realms and the mysteries, as they are the lights that guide us through the dark.

Elder as Community Leader

During the winter solstice we welcome the energy of Capricorn, as it initiates the winter season, followed by the last 2 signs of the zodiac, Aquarius and Pisces. These three signs rule over the winter months in the northern hemisphere and carry the qualities of Crone/Elder energy in each their unique way. They are the signs most concerned with the collective- its structures, social health and spiritual wellbeing.

Similarly, the elders in a society are meant to be the ones who care for the community by being advisors and in turn, the community takes care of them. In our current system, elders- especially women and 2SLGBTQIA+ folks are not given value or purposeful roles and they are often forgotten and shunned to the shadows of society.

As we go through the winter months, we start to look at the big picture more. We become more aware of our sense of security and place in the world, as well as whether the collective is sustained within the structures that are meant to support it.

Things get serious in Capricorn season. Survival and security are at the top of our minds. We need to get responsible and be accountable. We start to think about our long-range goals and what practical steps we need to take to get there. We notice if the structure our life rests on is sound, and make any necessary adjustments. Capricorn, an earth sign asks us to be patient, think long term and think like an elder.

When we contemplate our goals, we my ask ourselves: Is it functional and sustainable? (Capricorn) Is it inclusive and progressive? (Aquarius) Does it leave room for spirituality and liminality? (Pisces).

Elder wisdom reminds us that we are small beings in a big universe, we are not the centre of it.

It also reminds us that we are all an intricate and important part of the web of life and have a duty to participate in its weaving. We must follow the light of our inner wisdom to lead us to our part to play in the dance of life.

From the Seasons of the Witch Samhain Oracle deck

Connecting to the Wise Elder Within

The Crone aspect of the goddess has always been the one that most resonated with me. Maybe because I was born in the depths of winter, or because I always felt like an old soul. It’s just an energy I gravitate toward and strive to cultivate. I feel it needs a greater voice and value in our culture.

Family structures have shifted in such a way that many of us have not been able to have a strong bond with grandparents, aunts and uncles or other elders in our lives. We may feel groundless or lost because of a lack of this energy in society. Sometimes family dynamics are simply too toxic or dysfunctional to have healthy relationships with our elders. Intergenerational trauma plays a big part and each generation must contend with its own struggles.

Connecting with our inner Elder can help heal that generational trauma, by bringing death to old patterns we are carrying and acting with wisdom. No matter what our physical age, we all have an inner Wise Elder within that we can connect with and consult with when we reach an impasse in our lives. It can become part of a regular practice to strengthen this part of us, so that when times get tough, we have the internal light to help us through.

If you are someone who journals, you may wish to try journaling on these reflection questions below. Or, perhaps you wish to simply contemplate these seeds in your mind, as a way to start connecting to your inner Elder.

What are qualities you admire in the elders you’ve encountered in your life?

In what ways does the Elder/Crone energy show up in your life?

How have the losses in your life changed you?

How do you feel about aging?

How do you imagine yourself as an elder in the future?

If you are already an elder, how would you describe your role and way of expressing this energy in your life?

What metaphorical or physical ‘wrinkles’ and ‘scars’ in life have strengthened you or made you who you are today?

If your younger self was looking for advice from you right now, what would you tell them?

Imagine you are with a wise elder right now, who knows everything about you, loves you unconditionally, really ‘sees’ you on the deepest level. What would they say to you about your life situation right now?

Crone spirit I found in the woods- do you see her face?

I think often about the future, and what kind of elder I want to become. I imagine different scenarios (some include grandchildren, while others include more cats, and maybe even a dog). My husband is much older than me, so I imagine what it would be like to live my elder years without him, which is very hard. I think about the strong independent women elders in my life, the ways they stay young at heart and the ways they express their wisdom and age gracefully.

The more I connect with my own inner Wise Elder/Crone, the more I live my life authentically, let go of the small stuff, and release the things that drain me. My inner Elder sees the big picture and knows the price of acting in self-abandonment or out of step with my values. Integrity is probably the most important lesson I learn from this part of me. She urges me to do the right thing, rather than the easy thing.

What does your inner Elder or Crone say to you?

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Hearth Magick for Wintertime

During the warm half of the year, we are blessed with Mother Nature’s blossoming abundance, color and the sun’s shining rays to support our health and wellbeing. Our vitality is stronger, our energy flows outward with more ease. The earth offers us a constant stream of protection, nurturance and healing energy.

Now that we stand in the peak of darkness, the naked trees reach starkly into the grey sky and the earth beneath us is resting. Like the earth, we must conserve our energy and protect our self and space. This time of year belongs to the Hag of Winter, the Crone and Elder, awakening our strength, perseverance, and the wisdom that comes with aligning with our priorities and honoring our spirit.

Personally, I feel more at home during this time of year than in the warm months. Maybe it’s because I’m an introvert, or because I grew up in the cold, windy prairies in Winnipeg- aka ‘Winterpeg’!

I enjoy the darkness that comes with the winter season, because I like retiring into night mode. I also love when the sun sparkles on the snow, the hushed quiet of the woods, the squeaky sound of crisp snow underfoot, snuggling up with blankets and slippers with hot tea in front of the fire… I feel more connected to my intuition and spirit at this time.

But it is true that this season requires more diligence on an energetic level. Not only do we need to conserve our energy, but we need to protect it and our space as well. Many of the trees and plants that normally protect us are dormant or conserving energy too. The harsh weather can bring power outages, unsafe road conditions, hazardous ice, and on a social level general grumpiness, exhaustion and viruses. Basic travel and living take more work.

If you are sensitive & empathic, living in a busy city, being surrounded by people constantly means picking up on others’ difficult emotions that tend to surface this time of year. Also, the stark realities of life cannot be hidden beneath pretty flowers. Many folks are unhoused, in poverty, isolated, struggling, and the reality of systemic oppression and its effects are inescapable. It is a time where we may need to check on our neighbors more and keep a sense of community as well as keep ourselves safe- physically and energetically.

With all of this in mind, I thought I’d share some simple ways to protect your home and energy during this time. My approach to Hearth Magick is pragmatic, as well as multi-faceted. I find that tackling an issue from as many angles as possible yields the best results, so I do pretty much all of these things regularly as general winter hearth maintenance. I am assuming you’ve got basics covered, like locks on your doors and windows (and maybe an alarm system & security camera, depending on your ‘hood), heating, a roof over your head and nourishing food on the table. I am also assuming your space isn’t haunted by strong negative entities.

The home and self are connected energetically. One affects the other.

Clean and Clear

Clutter doesn’t do us any good. It’s a great time to clean out our closets and release anything that is taking up space that is not useful or making us happy. Clutter creates stagnant energy in the home and in turn, in our own energy. Give away the clothes you don’t wear, let go of things you don’t use anymore. Clear your shelves, cupboards, drawers, and of course your altar or your hearth.

Clearing your space energetically is also very important. This could entail washing your floors and counters with some of your favourite herbal infusion, essential oil, or adding a prayer or intention to your regular cleaning.

You may also wish to try smoke cleansing by burning herbs or incense or spraying the space with an herbal infusion or essential oils.

You can try creating a nice steam air purifier by boiling herbs on the stove, which is great for combating dryness from the heat and spreads good energy from the herbs. It also doubles as a tea. I do this with cedar, or sometimes with cinnamon, cloves and ginger. These are protective of self and space as steam, while helping to support the immune system as a tea.

Simplify Your Life

Do you have people or activities in your life that drain your energy? Have you overcommitted yourself? This is the time to set some boundaries. Say ‘no’ to that person or extra thing. Or, set up something that works better for you. Delegate. Take charge of your schedule as best as you can and see what is unnecessary. Focus on the priorities and keep it simple. Otherwise, you may burnout.

Let There be Light

This is the time of year when lights make a big difference in our mood and energy. Do you have any particularly dark areas of your home? These are areas where energy can hold negativity. Light them up! Whether it’s adding a strand of twinkle lights, a salt lamp or candles to your décor, sources of light can help prevent negative energy from stagnating in areas of the home, as well as in your mind and heart. Switching some of your bulbs to full-spectrum lighting to imitate the sun can also be helpful, especially if you are affected by SAD or need a mood boost.

The Fire Element

Do you have representation of the fire element in your home? Lights, as mentioned above count. However, other representations may be warm colours- reds, oranges, golds and yellows. You can wear them or bring more of them into your space, by adding a throw pillow, blanket or candles in these colors.

What about fiery activities? Any vigorous, playful or transformational activity can bring the energy up in your home and self! Things like lighting candles while you relax, cooking and baking your favourite foods, exercising, dancing, listening to energetic music, eating spicy foods, hot drinks and taking hot baths, all help to build up your inner fire and vitality, increasing self protection.

Indoor Plants

The color green is something I desperately miss by the time March rolls around. Psychologically, when we see green we relax, because it is an indication of fertility and life around us, ensuring our survival. In winter, we are lacking this!

My home is old and dark, a bit like a cave, with not many places for plants to thrive so, I invested in a garden window. Since filling it with indoor plants, I’ve noticed a huge difference in my winter wellbeing. The plants give me hope and have added a very positive energy into the home which in turn brings positivity into the residents and protects the space.

My garden window- with a little cat bed included.

If you are someone who kills any indoor plants they own or live in a basement apartment you may wish to try plants with very low light requirements. I have found Spider plants to be particularly adaptable. They clear the air, are low maintenance and reproduce abundantly, so if you mess up with one (and it has already grown some babies), you can try again by rooting and potting the babies. The trick is not to overwater. If you have bright light, air plants or Aloe Vera are also wonderful choices!

Evergreens

I love evergreens! The land always takes care of us with her medicine. Evergreens are a source of vitamins, minerals, anti-viral properties, and energetic protection and strength. They are also strong transformers of negative energy. Juniper, Spruce, Pine, Cedar, Fir and Yew are what I consider wise Crone/Elder trees that take care of us in the northern climate.

If it’s Yule season, you’ll probably see an abundance of evergreen clippings and decor to purchase in local grocery or plant stores. These can help protect your home on the outside and the inside (the real ones, not the fake ones!).

One thing I learned from Indigenous community members is to hang cedar above my doorways to protect from bad energy. I also put it under my mats, over and around windows and keep other evergreens around the house all winter long. I also sometimes put some in my purse for protection while out.

Anything with needles usually has a protective quality. I sometimes keep evergreens by my bed to protect me while I sleep. If you’re not into live indoor plants, keeping evergreen cuttings around the house is an alternative.

Working with plants is much more effective when we cultivate a relationship. It is easy enough to do this on a walk. Find a nearby park, hug an evergreen, stand with your back against them, feel their energy and receive their wisdom. Thank them. They each have their own unique personalities. I have learned and received so much wisdom, love and protection from evergreen beings.

Salt Bowls

Salt is the master remover of bad vibes. One of my favourite ways to use salt in a space is to fill up a bowl with it (I use sea salt) and add a crystal and some herbs on top. Not all crystals do well sitting in salt, as their energy can drain. I usually opt for quartz and amethyst, which seem to do fine, but I play around with other ones. I’ve made some mistakes and learn as I go.

As for herbs, you can add which ever ones would support energy clearing, such as lavender, mint, garden sage, rosemary, evergreens, etc. But really, just the salt is what matters most. Place the bowl wherever you feel excess energy needs to be absorbed, such as an office desk, bedside table, the dining room table or near an entranceway.

Mirrors & Sparkles

Never underestimate the power of a mirror. Mirrors reflect energy back to its sender. Sparkly, reflective surfaces can all do this to varying degrees. You can ward of bad energies coming at your home from a certain direction by decorating your yule tree with reflective, sparkly decorations and placing your tree in the window facing that direction.

Or, you can purchase a mirror or make a mirror-faceted decoration and place it either in a window or outside your home near the entrance as a deterrent to ill-intentioned visitors.

Essential Oils

Another favourite plant medicine is essential oils. Yes, they are more expensive than dried herbs, but the reason for this is that they are very potent and concentrated. Dried herbs are wonderful and can be worked with too. I find in urban areas where we have far less nature and far more industry and pollution to counteract, the concentrated plant energy can be very helpful. It is best to ensure you are buying pure essential oils from a reputable source. If the price is too good to be true, then it is probably not pure and cut with some other oil. I cannot advise using these for the purposes below.

*It is important to note that essential oils are flammable and must be handled with care. They can also be toxic to humans and pets if ingested. Follow the advice of an aromatherapist or the product maker.

Using essential oils in your space is pretty simple. You can put a few drops in a bowl of water, as the oil sits on the surface and naturally diffuses through the space. Or, if you have a forced air heating system you can place a few drops on a Kleenex or strip of paper and place it in the intake vent so the scent and vibes flow through the house. You can also put it in an output vent to diffuse quickly through the space.

My favourite trick is to place a few drops on a Kleenex and place it inside the bag in my vacuum cleaner. Whenever I vacuum, the scent and energy flows through the house.

My fave oils for winter and what they’re good for:

Lavender: Antidepressant, helps with tension and headaches. Relaxes the mind and aids sleep. Has antiseptic properties. Brings peace to a space. Blends well with most other essential oils.

Orange: Antidepressant, uplifts mood and invigorates the mind, sensual.

Black Spruce: Antiseptic, antibacterial, antiparasitic, kills most pathogens in the air. Great for when illness strikes in the home. Energetically refreshing, grounding and protective.

Geranium: Antidepressant, immune booster, excellent deoderiser, uplifting, regenerative, sensual.

Eucalyptus: Antibacterial, Clears airways, clears mind, helps breathing during colds/flu. *Avoid during chemo, high blood pressure, epilepsy or severe asthma.

Clove: Antibacterial, analgesic, antimicrobic. Energetically cleansing, warming, strengthening and protective. *Avoid if pregnant

The oils above can be combined in many variations and work together well. You can also use any of the oils above in a warm bath. Simply mix 7-10 drops of the essential oil with about a teaspoon of vegetable glycerin and add to a bath. You may also wish to add 1-2 cups of either sea salt or epsom salts to help neutralise negative emotions or energies you’ve picked up in the day.

I hope some of these suggestions appealed to you and feel like something you might want to try for yourself! If you have any questions about them, feel free to contact me!

Happy Yule/Winter Solstice/Alban Arthan/Holiday that you celebrate!

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Keeping the Cauldron: What Does it Mean to Hold ‘Safe Space’?

The cauldron is a prominent symbol all over the world, especially in Celtic myth. It is a receptacle of death, rebirth and inspiration- A mysterious womb in which transformation takes place.

It is symbolic of the place we go when we are undergoing great change in our lives. It can feel dark and bottomless, as we are no longer who we once were and unsure of what we’re becoming. Yet, once we are reborn anew we realise there was something greater and stronger that held and contained us, and this enforces our own strength. This is the gift and mystery of the cauldron.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about how necessary the cauldron’s containment and strength is, because it allows the transformation to take place within it. The cauldron represents the containment, boundaries and sense of safety necessary for us to relax and be vulnerable enough to go into our depths, heal our wounds and grow.

Holding space is important to me, because having spaces held for me in my healing journey has been truly transformative. I have been lucky to have experienced a feeling of safety in some healing spaces, but I have also experienced spaces in which this wasn’t the case and am aware of the damage it can do. I wanted to share a bit about this topic so prospective clients know that I value and strive to hold safe space. However, I am aware that ‘safe’ means different things to different people, and therefore, I often say ‘safer’ space, because even though I make efforts, each individual has their own requirements to feel safe, and I cannot always guarantee that my space will feel safe to all. But I am always open to dialoguing about clients’ needs.

As healing facilitator and Tarot reader, I must ‘keep the cauldron’ and tend the space with clients or in a group so transformation and healing can occur. Otherwise, the emotional contents can stagnate, spill all over the place, burn or dry up. The proper container is necessary in order to heal. The soft places within us cannot fully express themselves or transform without boundaries keeping them safe.

Safer Space & Boundaries

A lot of us who are empaths, introverts and sensitive souls are aware of the need for boundaries. Boundaries are a way that we can protect ourselves from harm.

When we are wide open with our feelers out all the time, we very quickly get bogged down with other people’s stuff, overwhelmed, scattered and drained. We know the necessity of saying ‘no’ to things and creating boundaries on our energy- whether that is time alone in our room, taking control of our schedule or only surrounding ourselves with people who support us- in order for our sensitivity to operate positively.

When holding space for others, I feel setting clear boundaries is an important way to foster safety so that participants can relax and delve into their sensitivity. This may be in the form of clear rules and expectations for participants, closing the room off from outside noise or traffic, beginning and ending at a set time, following through on intentions, and holding a protective, capable, nurturing, trustworthy energy. As a participant or client, I also feel it can be beneficial to mention to the facilitator my own situation or needs for safety.

Inclusivity

I understand that those who are marginalized can live in chronic anxiety and the feeling that they aren’t safe in this world. This is due to very real discrimination, violence and oppression they experience, because it is inherent to our social structures. Mental health struggles and trauma are more prevalent in marginalised communities and therefore this requires attention.

When marginalized people speak out on what they need to feel safer- whether it is a change in language, recognition, being heard, the need for greater representation, or calling someone in to check their privilege or be accountable- I feel this is an important statement of their boundaries so they can survive and function in the world- and they deserve to be heard and respected.

I have found that it is unfortunately all too common in spiritual communities for there to be a lack of understanding on the importance of inclusivity and its connection to safer space. Spiritual and healing practitioners may have good intentions, but if we don’t make the effort to educate ourselves or do our own inner healing and bias work, we will fail to create the space necessary for healing to occur.

Healing may occur with some of the clients/students- the ones who just happen to feel safe, included, welcomed and understood in that space. If there is no effort to do this for those who have a history of trauma or marginalization, then they may be re-traumatised and marginalized even further.

I strive to be inclusive and listen to marginalized voices in my work, because I know how necessary it is to feel safe in order to heal the deeper stuff and grow.

Discomfort & Growth

Feeling safe is something that is very unique to each individual and not every space is going to feel 100% safe for all people all the time, and it will not feel 100% comfortable all the time, either.

I think its important here to distinguish between feeling safe and feeling comfortable. It can be a fine line sometimes, but usually those who walk that line, know the difference. The goal of creating a safer space isn’t about feeling comfortable all the time.

Some folks assume wanting to feel safe is the same as wanting comfort. They will say things like ‘stop coddling those fragile snowflakes!’ because ‘it will hold them back in life’, ‘they’re just being big babies’, ‘discomfort is necessary for growth’, etc.

I can agree with the last one- discomfort can yield much personal growth and transformation. However, there is a difference between feeling uncomfortable and unsafe. Those things above are often said out of ignorance of the true depth of impact trauma and mental health issues have on the nervous system.

In order to grow through our pain and trauma, our nervous system requires a feeling safety first, or we can’t access the layers beneath the ‘survival mode’ it is in. Wanting safety is more about survival than it is comfort. Its goal is to help us feel safe enough to be within our window of tolerance-so we can simply ‘be’ without the extra anxiety- so we can actually take in information and interact and participate.

If we are already in our window of tolerance, dwelling happily in it and feel pretty comfy, then some discomfort can help empower us to try new things and overcome fears. However, if we don’t have access to an inner sense of safety first, we can’t get there.

Snowflakes-Each beautiful and unique, thriving in the cold

I think of it this way- feeling pain, discomfort and experiencing trauma in life is guaranteed. Everyone will have opportunities to feel pain. However, space in which people feel welcomed, understood and safe enough to drop one’s armor to feel and work through the pain is rare. I want to help create those rare spaces because safety and comfort are never guaranteed.

As someone who has experienced trauma and mental health struggles, who, because of these things rarely knew where my window of tolerance really was or what it felt like- I deeply value the people and places in my life that help create safer space for me. It was in those spaces that I felt I could relax my defenses, cultivate self-acceptance, and was able to heal the parts of me shunned into the shadows. It was only because I felt welcome, seen and heard that I discovered where my centre and inner feeling of safety even was.

Some say you need to find the safe space inside in order to feel safe outside. However, I feel the reverse is also true. Especially in regards to trauma history.

Things like trigger warnings, using the correct pronouns and inclusive language are simple and necessary ways to help create a safer space for individuals who are continuously wounded by the dominant culture, and who don’t often feel safe. Simply listening, being empathetic and open to adapting and changing things can make a difference. Doing these things does not mean you are preventing discomfort or necessary growth- in fact it will likely support it.

My Cauldron-Keeping Goals:

I am a work in progress, but strive to:

Stay aware of my own biases, privilege and position in relation to those I serve.
Use inclusive language and strive to create an inclusive space in my gatherings and sessions.
Keep educating myself on the needs of IBPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, and those experiencing mental health/trauma. I am always open to hearing feedback and learning from my mistakes.
Actively listen to my clients without judgement
Continue my own personal healing work- Seeing my own healers and counsellors, continuously working on my own wounds and baggage.
Commit to my own spiritual path, connecting with my spirit allies and spiritual teachers, continuously growing and evolving.
Acknowledge that I may not be able to create safe space for everyone all the time, but I will always strive to.
See discomfort as a nudge for us to look within ourselves- to tend to the part of us that is asking for attention and healing.
See physical and psychological safety as a prerequisite for transformation and healing to occur.

Creating a Feeling of Safety Within Ourselves

Creating a sense of safety within ourselves is an important aspect of self-healing. Some of the ways we can do this is:

Release or heal toxic relationships
Set boundaries around our time and energy
Be aware of our triggers and communicate our needs to those around us
Be aware of the potential triggers of social media and limit our time on it
Check-in or ask questions before walking into a space
Create a time and space where we feel safe to be vulnerable and explore our feelings
Surround ourselves with beauty and inspiration
Associate with people who bring out the best in us
Spend time with a beloved pet
Spend time in nature
See a therapist, counsellor or spiritual healer who we feel safe with
Cultivate our spiritual practice

I feel this is a really big topic and could be explored in many ways. I hope you have a cauldron of safety somewhere in your life.

What helps you feel safe enough to be vulnerable, explore your depths, heal and grow?

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Who is the Goddess Cerridwen?

Cerridwen is a prominent figure from Welsh mythology revered by druids, witches, and pagans all over the world.

She is known as a mother, wife, shapeshifter, witch, healer, powerful initiatrix and bestower of the Awen– the divine force of flowing inspiration that permeates all existence.

Cerridwen has been the source of inspiration for bards of history through to today, as she is believed to brew the Awen in her magickal cauldron and bestow it upon those who wish to channel it.

She is therefore instrumental in the creation of art, song, poetry, music and all forms of creative communication.

Cerridwen is also a Goddess of spiritual initiation, transformation and change. Her myth depicts the process of her initiating a young boy named Gwion going through several stages of death and rebirth, eventually transforming him into Taliesin, who grew up to be the great Chief of Bards.

She is sometimes referred as a goddess of Inspiration, the Mother of Awen and the Keeper of the Cauldron, for her cauldron is a vessel of great power and change.

Cerridwen’s Myth in a Nutshell

Here is my brief version of Cerridwen’s story (derived from ‘The Tale of Taliesin’):

Cerridwen was married to Tegid Foel and lived in Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) with her two children- a breathtakingly beautiful daughter named Creirwy, and an ugly-looking son named Morfran (meaning ‘sea crow’), which she later changed to Avagddu (meaning ‘utter darkness’). Cerridwen loved her son dearly, but like any mother, she worried about him.

She wanted so badly for her son to have the respect and opportunities in life he deserved, so she set about creating a potion that would bestow him with great powers of wisdom, inspiration and prophecy to give him hope for a better future.

Cerridwen was well versed in the practice of magick, and so spent time collecting the appropriate herbs, while assigning a young peasant boy named Gwion Bach to stir the cauldron and a blind man named Morda to tend the fire continuously for a year and a day- this potion was quite a commitment!

It was also a very particular potion in that once three drops of it were consumed, the rest of it became poison.

Gwion and Morda worked tirelessly, and Cerridwen mustered all her magickal knowledge and energy for this very special brew for her son. Eventually, she became tired and had a little nap.

During this time, three drops of the hot potion splashed from the cauldron onto young Gwion’s thumb. Instinctively, he brought his thumb into his mouth to soothe the burn.

Upon ingesting those three magickal drops, Gwion was immediately filled with the magickal abilities and wisdom intended for Avagddu- he could see the past, present and future with complete clarity. He knew Cerridwen would be very angry and seek her revenge.

Soon after, the cauldron split and broke open, spilling the now poisonous remains of the potion onto the land, where it flowed and killed horses nearby.

Cerridwen, awakened by the commotion, saw what had happened and in a rage, she began to chase Gwion Bach.

Gwion, now possessing the ability to shapeshift, took the form of a hare to run quickly away from Cerridwen. But Cerridwen was more powerful and took the form of a greyhound in pursuit.

As she got closer and closer to Gwion, he panicked and as he came to a body of water, he quickly transformed into a salmon, swimming as fast as he could. But Cerridwen then took the form of an otter and quickly gained on him.

Gwion then rose out of the water, taking the form of a wren, flying through the air. But Cerridwen took the form of a hawk and again began to catch up quickly.

As Gwion flew over a mill, he decided to turn himself into a grain of wheat and hide amongst a large pile of grain, thinking Cerridwen would never find him there.

However, Cerridwen was very determined, so she transformed into a black crested hen and proceeded to eat each and every last grain of wheat there, swallowing up Gwion into her belly.

She was relieved and satisfied to have gotten her revenge.

However, things did not go as she planned. By some biological oddity, the grain of wheat that was Gwion implanted itself like an egg within Cerridwen’s womb and began to grow.

‘Ceridwen’ by Christopher Williams
(c) The Glynn Vivian Art Gallery; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

When Cerridwen realised she was pregnant with this new form of Gwion, she was furious, and couldn’t wait to kill him once he was born.

Nine months later, Cerridwen birthed the most beautiful little boy. When she peered into his radiant face, she was overcome with love and could not bring herself to kill him. But she could not keep him either, after what had happened with the potion. So instead, she placed him in a coracle and set him out into the sea to meet his fate.

The young baby floated out in the sea for months or some say years, until one day a Welsh prince named Elphin was fishing for salmon and noticed something unusual caught in the nets. It was the coracle with the babe in it.

He brought it in, and when he saw the baby’s face, was overwhelmed by his brightness and exclaimed ‘What a radiant brow!’ In Welsh this was Taliesin, which is the name he then took. Taliesin eventually grew up to be the most famed and talented bards in history.

Cerridwen’s Character & Roles

This myth is so rich and full of symbolism, far too much for one blog post. However, these are some key things that stand out for me in regards to Cerridwen:

She is a protective mother, who wants the best for her child

She is a witch– (swynwraig in Welsh), as she is very skilled in herbs, potions and magick.

She is an initiatrix– She pushed Gwion through stages of spiritual growth and evolution- through the shapeshifting animals of land, sea and sky. Then he is consumed into the great dark womb of transformation through her pregnancy, after which he is reborn into a completely new form.

She is a transformer and incubator of energy, like the cauldron itself and the womb. There is a strong theme of transformation, incubation and rebirth throughout the story. There are three ‘wombs’ in which this takes place- the cauldron, Cerridwen’s womb and the coracle.

She is Mother of the Awen– She is connected to the song of the universe- the flowing inspiration that moves through all things, which enables her to make such a powerful potion as she did, bringing all that knowledge, wisdom and magickal ability to Gwion Bach in an instant.

She can teach us lessons around control & surrender– There is a strong theme in the story of surrendering to a power larger than ourselves. Cerridwen’s best laid plans, skills and intentions did not prevent her spell from going awry. Something bigger was at work. Her plan to kill Gwion was also twisted by fate. Gwion himself thought he was just going to obediently stir a witch’s cauldron when in fact, what awaited him was a massive initiatory journey of death and rebirth.

Cerridwen in my life

Marashinsky & Janto’s Goddess Oracle deck

I have only been working intentionally with Cerridwen since spring of 2020. Interestingly, that was the beginning of the pandemic. I had felt her presence before that, particularly on a trip to Wales, but I hadn’t put a name to her yet.

On my path, I seem to have periods of time where a deity calls me- I see or sense them in a vision, meditation journey or place, and feel very drawn to them. I work with them for however long I am meant to- to learn their lessons and integrate their energies into my life.

In some ways, starting a relationship with a new deity is like starting a new intimate relationship with a person. I go deep, I let the relationship transform me and my life. It may be long term, it may be shorter term. But I am touched forever.

It makes sense that Cerridwen would call during this collective time of such upheaval and change. We are all in her cauldron, in some way or another. We’ve had to surrender and let go of things, parts of ourselves, and people. We’ve been pushed out of our comfort zones and initiated, tested and challenged, like Gwion.

Working with Cerridwen has brought me face to face with my fears- of persecution, of rejection, of the unknown. She has helped me transmute them and liberate myself, layer by layer. She helps me to trust myself- my connection with the Awen and my skills as a witch. She challenges my love of knowing, stability and control- she has been eroding my need for certainty and transmuting it into a deepened acceptance and trust in the unknown.

Collette Baron-Reid’s Goddess Power Oracle

Cerridwen beckons us to see the beauty in the unformed potential that exists deep in the darkness of the cauldron and embrace this potentiality as fuel for new life.

Working with Cerridwen also seems to activate my voice. I would not consider myself a confident or talented singer or poet. I also struggle with much caution and fear in communicating my truth. Yet, whenever I meditate with Cerridwen, I am always compelled to sing and sound. She seems to love this, as an offering. She also doesn’t let me stop writing, communicating and standing in my power. She ensures that the truth be communicated, in service of the Awen. I thank Cerridwen for keeping me an open channel for the Awen to flow through. For being my protectress, my wise guide and teacher and my dark mother during this potent time.

I will share more of my experiences with Cerridwen and my journey with her in the future. For now, here is a simple song prayer I made up and sing to her:

Cerridwen
Sing to me
Mother of Awen
Teach me the Mystery
Cerridwen
Mother and Crone
Lady of the Deep
You dwell in my bones
Cerridwen
Shine your light
Hold me by the hand
In this dark night

-Serena

*If you are interested in learning more about Cerridwen, I highly recommend Kristoffer Hughes’ book: Cerridwen-Celtic Goddess of Inspiration.

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What is a Witch?

I have been asked by folks- how do you know if you’re a witch? What defines a witch vs a spiritual person who’s into herbs, nature, crystals and energy?

This is a very good question! I don’t have a definitive answer, simply because I don’t feel I have the right to tell someone else whether they are truly a witch or not. But, I can tell you a bit about my experience and share some thoughts about it that may help you define it for yourself.

The Witch As Archetype

The definititon of what a witch is can vary from person to person and culture to culture. It has changed over time as well. It is interesting to me how witchcraft comes and goes in popularity. But overall, it seems to be steadily rising and gaining acceptance in dominant culture, which I feel reflects peoples’ need to feel empowered and connected to something deeper and meaningful in their relationship to the material world, self and others.

Some of us have grown up pre-Harry Potter era, where fairytales and myths depicted witches as dangerous, child-eating, power-hungry, jealous and ugly-looking older women who were always up to no good.

However, there are also expressions of the playful, sweet, mischievous and even housewifey witches, such as in the show Bewitched.

As a teen in the 1990s we had The Craft, Charmed, Practical Magic, Buffy and Sabrina which catered to an audience our age, emphasizing the rule-breaking, adventurous, non-comformist aspect of the witch archetype.

The witch archetype seems to encompass a variety of expressions of ‘female’ power- She can be seductive, maternal, dangerous, non-conformist, with the ability to both heal and destroy. She can be old or young. Witches aren’t limited to the woman-identified, either. There are male, non-binary and trans witches, it can be an identity for anywhere on the gender spectrum.

The witch can change their reality at will, and either work in harmony with the forces of nature or discover the consequences of working against them.

Ultimately, it seems the archetype of witch has much to do with power. Specifically, the power to transform, create and destroy. Culturally this has been associated with the feminine, and a cultural fear of the feminine- in the form of women specifically.

The witch as an archetype challenges us to take charge of our reality and empower ourselves. In a society where some are automatically given more power than others, it is often those with less power who find solace and strength in the witch archetype- because they can identify with having others’ fears projected onto them, and strive to defy the suppression and oppression that is set against them.

Fear of power

Because of the history of the witch hunts, and the patriarchal/colonial agenda to strip women in particular of their power in society, there is a general fear in us, especially those who identify with the feminine- of our own power.

This may mean we don’t trust our intuitive senses, our body’s natural cycles or our ability to heal, create, or transmute energy.

We may fear and suppress our own inner wisdom and authority so as not to threaten the status quo. We may remain small and invisible and silent for fear of being cast out, or taken down by those who feel threatened or jealous.

There is a sort of silent agreement that gets passed down through generations of women that in order to survive, we must stay small, be good, tow the line. That looks different depending on the generation and culture you grew up in. But in essence, it is the same message.

Many of us are carrying a fear that if we reclaim our intuitive, creative wisdom and power, we will be met with abandonment, ostracization or even death. If we come out of the broom closet and call ourselves a witch- because we embrace the liminal, magickal lifestyle, we fear that on some level, we are threatening the status quo and death could result.

Myself and likely other folks following a pagan path feel need to break from these generational narratives that are no longer sustaining us, nor the generations to come. This takes lots of time, sensitivity and patience. For many witches, this is a big part of what the path demands from us.

Fear of power is also sometimes the reason folks choose not to identify as a witch, because it is loaded with projections and generations of this fear and they just don’t want to carry that. This is valid. But it can also be the exact reason one chooses to call themselves a witch, as an act of reclaiming and redefining for oneself who they are. In redefining the meaning of witch-by living it on one’s own terms, one can transform the baggage behind the title for the generations to come.

What does the word witch conjure in your mind?

Depending on the environment you grew up in, you may have a vastly different idea of what a witch is compared to someone else. Take a moment to reflect on what comes to mind when you utter the word witch?

Often, it is a combination of representations of the witch archetype you’ve been exposed to throughout your life.

If you are a spiritual, nature-loving, magickal person who is wondering whether you should call yourself a witch or not, there are a couple questions you may wish to ask yourself:

What does the word ‘witch’ mean to me?

What aspects of my associations with ‘witch’ do I embrace or feel uncomfortable with?

How would I define the word ‘witch’ for myself?

And finally:

How does my spiritual practice and lifestyle resonate with my definition of a witch?

What led me to identifying as a witch

I had always been a sensitive, intuitive child, naturally talking to invisible spirits and listening to the wind and trees as friends. I sensed the power in crystals and rocks. I had a strong ‘knowing’ of what was going to happen sometimes, and easily felt the hidden truth in people and situations. I felt the presence of ancestors and guides around me. I wished upon stars and dandelions, looked for 4 leaf clovers and lucky pennies.

As I grew older, I became obsessed with tarot cards and astrology. I believed in the power of visualization and intention. Through my mind-body studies I discovered the power I had to heal and transform my body, my energy and how to manifest my intentions.

But it took me some time to identify as a witch. To me, being a witch was a lifestyle. There was a structure, purpose and commitment to it.

In my teens and 20’s I started unpacking some of the Catholic beliefs from my childhood. At 13 I refused to go through my confirmation, and that felt really good to me, because I felt no connection to the church. As time went on, I realised that I felt more connection to a Goddess presence than a God one.

I didn’t feel a connection with one particular goddess but started praying to ‘Goddess’ and feeling what that meant to me. I grew that relationship over time. It has gone through many forms. I now acknowledge some of the gods as well and generally consider myself a polytheist, but still tend to favour the goddess in many forms. Deity however, may or may not be part of a witch’s path, as we are all unique.

I knew I had a deep connection to the land around me, but I wasn’t very intentional about it, more just open and sensitive to it. So, I started cultivating an intentional relationship with the natural world around me, bringing offerings and talking to specific trees regularly, listening to what they have to say about themselves, life or my concerns.

I started celebrating the solstices and equinoxes and cross-quarter days, learning of the traditions behind these celebrations.

It was when I started purposefully observing and celebrating the witches’ sabbats, communing with the moon and land intentionally and regularly, that I started to feel I was a witch. A big piece was doing rituals. Even simple ones, such as daily smoke cleansing or preparing a healing bath. The difference was that I was doing these actions with awareness and appreciation of the energy of each herb, oil and current moon phase while weaving that with my intention to create a specific energetic quality. I was co-creating reality with the world around me.

Also, for me, embracing all of the aspects of the archetype of ‘witch’- all the shadow parts and fun parts- was empowering and strengthening to my sense of witch self.

I reclaim and embrace the word witch as my own. My inner cackling hag, seductress, mischief maker, raging feminist, green eyed monster, as well as my medicine making, nurturing, healing, and creative witch are all parts of me that I accept.

Some witches do a lot of spellwork. Some do none. When I do formal rituals and spells, it is usually to heal myself around challenging situations in my life.

Mostly, I weave magickal intentions, words and rituals into the rhythm of my daily life. This is part of why I consider myself a Hearthwitch, as I tend towards the less glamorous, more folky type of witchcraft, centered around my home and inner hearth. I also have called myself a Womb Witch, as much of my practice centered around my own womb healing for some time. I follow my intuition and value the freedom to follow the beat of my own drum.

Many diverse pagan paths

There are many pagan paths that honour nature, energy and magick in different forms, and not all Pagans consider themselves Witches. Some are Druids, Warlocks, Wiccans (Wicca is a specific modern Pagan religion), Heathens, Priests or Priestesses. There are Folk Witches, Green Witches, Grey Witches, all kinds of witches under the witch umbrella. Some may be a combination of these, some prefer to call themselves Pagan or simply spiritual. There are folks who combine christianity with paganism as well. Some prefer the community spirit of temples, churches and covens, while others prefer the freedom of being solitary.

Here are some take aways:

–You don’t need to call yourself a witch to be a magickal, spiritual or nature-loving person.

–In calling yourself a witch, you are not bound to any narrow definitions or archetypes from pop culture or myth.

–There are many diverse pagan paths and titles- you may feel something else is more suitable for you.

–Reclaiming the word and title of witch can be an act of empowerment and intergenerational healing.

As this interesting article by Time magazine states:

“This is also why being called a witch and calling oneself a witch are usually two vastly different experiences. In the first case, it’s often an act of degradation, an attack against a perceived threat.

The second is an act of reclamation, an expression of autonomy and pride. Both of these aspects of the archetype are important to keep in mind. They may seem like contradictions, but there is much to glean from their interplay.

The witch is the ultimate feminist icon because she is a fully rounded symbol of female oppression and liberation. She shows us how to tap into our own might and magic, despite the many who try to strip us of our power.

We need her now more than ever.”

I hope that gives you some ideas to consider. What do you think about calling yourself a witch?

May your path be lit with the wisdom, wit and curiosity the witch is famous for.

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Why I started The Cauldron Goddess

Perhaps you’re like me and have felt kind of isolated and alone in your path as a witch, a pagan or spiritual person. Perhaps you are still in ‘the broom closet’ and not sure about being open about who you are yet. Maybe you’ve been out of the closet for a long time, but the path’s been super lonely or challenging.

Or perhaps you don’t consider yourself a witch at all, but your sensitive spirit comes alive in nature, and you wish to delve more deeply into that nourishment you receive when you slow down and connect to the cycles of the seasons, the celestial bodies, the earth, air, fire and water, the animal beings of the planet.

You perhaps know you are intuitive but sometimes don’t trust this part of yourself.

Maybe you are feeling some uncertainty or are going through a transition and wish for some guidance from your higher self.

Whomever you are, welcome and thankyou for coming by for a visit!

Things have been isolating in general over these long months of pandemic crisis. Many witches, pagans, and spiritual folks don’t have churches or temples in mainstream society. We are forging our paths and communities without much social support, in many ways, our very existence goes against the grain of colonial, patriarchal culture.

I am mainly a solitary witch, and happy being so, but sometimes, it can get a tad lonely. Even though I am in a big city where lots of other witches live, each of us has our unique path. Even if we are part of a group, our spirituality tends to be a very personal, individual thing. Some of us thrive when we are free to follow the beat of our own drum. Some thrive when in community. Some of my biggest lessons have been about the strength and empowerment that comes with forging my own path, and participating in community endeavors in small doses.

There is a fine line between solitary and lonely. It’s ok to dance that line sometimes, I feel it is part of the journey.

Truthfully, when we are on this path, we soon discover that we are never really alone. We are surrounded by allies and friends in the trees, rocks, animals, sky beings, ancestors, and spirit guides that surround us.

Even though I am solitary, I hold small community gatherings- the Hearthfire Circles– and try to attend events as well. As an introvert, I often find large events overwhelming, so I prefer smaller ones. The urge for community is often a strong desire in us witchy people and this exists alongside a need for solitude- to commune with nature, do our internal work and to rebuild a relationship with Spirit that is free of doctrines that do not resonate with us.

Part of why this urge for community it strong in me, and I feel in many other spiritual folks, is that we remember the old ways singing in our bones.

On a deep level, we remember living in sustainable community structures- in sacred connection with the land and each other-in reverence for all life. We remember the ways of folk magick, land-based practices that honour the cycles of the moon and seasons. We wish to return to more authentic, meaningful connections with others and ourselves. Perhaps we wish to revive the traditions of our ancestors- or at least, reclaim them in a new form that honours the present reality and the future we wish to create.

Our current culture under colonial, white supremacist, patriarchal capitalism can make creating a life like this quite challenging.

There are layers of oppression that have wounded many generations of us that takes a while to unpack and heal, and there are many obstacles in the fabric of our modern culture that makes us choose between the survival of our body or the survival of our soul. It also emphasizes the survival of some folks at the expense of others.

‘Community’ now is a word used rather loosely. It can pertain to one’s Instagram following, Facebook group or membership to a corporate entity. These are fine ways to connect, but they often lack the depth, intimacy and real-life energetic exchanges between people that we instinctively crave. We are also contending with barriers such as white supremacy, patriarchy, cis-heteronormativity, and all the ‘isms’ pervading not only the mainstream but pagan spiritual communities as well.

My wish, my motivation behind my spiritual practice and The Cauldron Goddess, is not only to reclaim my own power as a witch and wise woman, but to help others do the same. I wish to be part of the change I wish to see in the world. It’s kind of a big ask sometimes, but the path demands that we stay awake and aware of the world around us, and the power of small steps to eventually make big impacts.

I feel that my own practice, my writing and both my in-person and online work are some of those small things that can send magickal ripples out into the world.

Pandemic Burnout & Nourishing the Spirit

Over the pandemic, like many of us, I experienced recurring burnout. It was my constant companion, with peaks and valleys of anxiety and depression. I am privileged enough to have been able to see an amazing therapist through it whom I’ve been seeing for many years now, and I’ve had the freedom to do the healing work necessary to cope.

A lot of old patterns and stories were triggered this year, and I have been releasing them and healing them ongoingly.

What I realised over the pandemic is how essential my spiritual practice is to my own wellbeing and how necessary it was that I nourish my spirit in order to be be present for my family and clients.

My witchcraft practice reminds me that I am not alone, that I am part of the sacred flow of life around me. It also teaches me to honour my sensitivity and protect myself energetically when the world around me becomes too much.

Nourishing my soul had taken a backseat to duty for too long. Instead of heeding the call of my spirit, of taking time to process who I was and what I really needed in the moment, I continued to prioritise work, duty and the mundane without the magick. I was scraping the bottom of the bucket to the point where nothing was left for my clients, my family, myself, no one.

Prioritizing my spiritual practice has become a lifeline, and so re-centering my energies onto the things I love and bring me joy- witchcraft, writing, tarot and my circles is how I am filling up my cauldron again.

Ultimately, The Cauldron Goddess is for me- a way to keep my energy focused on what nourishes me, and in turn I hope it be a source of support for you too.

Womb Healing

My background and experience is in mind-body therapies and womb healing work.

For most of my adult life, I have struggled with endometriosis and this set me on a long journey of healing in mind, body and spirit. For the last 5 years, since my surgery, I have been gratefully pain-free and slowly rebuilding myself a new life that finally doesn’t centre around chronic pain. With my newfound energy, I did some things that were on the backburner during my 20s and early 30s.

I got a driver’s license, went to college, started working out and eating some of the foods I enjoyed but couldn’t eat due to my condition. I traveled and started to work with womb healing clients 1 on 1 in a deeper capacity because I had the energy and experience to make a difference.

Until that energy bottomed out.

At first I thought it was just the pandemic and all the personal challenges that came with it. But it slowly became clear that it was more than that. I knew my soul was urging me to move on from focusing on womb health. The time had come to shift into focusing on my spiritual life more.

Womb wellness was always a part of my life, and always will be. But I’ve been changing, my path has been changing, and my work has to change with it. Cerridwen called me. My spirit called me to focus on my sacred craft and practice. The cauldron, which among other things is symbolic for nourishment, containment and the womb, was calling me to explore it in new ways.

My womb space healing work continues now, just in a different, more expansive form. The Cauldron Goddess is an extension of this work, but with a focus more on the spiritual aspect. It is now in a form that can benefit anyone with or without a womb, with or without a womb health issue. It is about nourishment, self-care, and soul-care. All of which benefit the womb space, if that is something you need.

But I am moving beyond the physical womb itself to focus on nourishing the spiritual womb, the inner hearth.

The Cauldron & The Hearth

My intention is to create an energetic hearth with this blog and offer my services as a cauldron of nourishment for your soul.

This has been my practice as a Hearthwitch over the years- creating a sense of nourishment, safety and sacredness within my self. This then naturally extends to my home, family, clientele and community.

Taking the role of sacred space-holder, of empathetic listener and intuitive guide is my pleasure and passion. This role is nourished by my own spiritual and creative practices.

I have basic counselling, trauma and social work training that I feel is an important asset to what I offer as spiritual healing facilitator and tarot reader. I strive to create that safe cauldron for you to tune into your own intuition and self-healing abilities.

I will be sharing about topics like Tarot, witchy healing tools, sacred crafts, navigating the transitions through life-death-rebirth cycles, and all things related to my path as a hearthwitch, womb witch and devotee of Cerridwen- Goddess of inspiration, transformation and Mother of the Cauldron.

This isn’t my first blog, nor will it be my last. Its purpose is both a hearth for my thoughts, feelings and personal journey as well as a cauldron of teachings, tools and inspiration for your own journey. My hope is that in reading this, you will feel less alone, and more inspired!

So, come and sit down by the hearth with me, relax and nourish your intuitive, creative, nature-loving, witchy soul.

If you’re feeling comfortable, please reach out and connect with me for a reading, come to a circle or sign up for the Cauldron Collective newsletter below, and you’ll receive my free ebook with info on the Witches’ sabbats and moon phases with affirmations and journal prompts for your own practice.

Serena

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