Category: Hearthwitchery

Imbolc Wisdom & Oracle Reading!

Welcome to the season of Imbolc!

This year we have quite a transformational Imbolc season, as it encompasses some important astrological shifts in year. There is a Full Moon on Imbolc itself, on Feb 1st and then Eclipse season (Solar Eclipse on February 17th, Lunar Eclipse on March 3rd), as well as a Saturn Neptune conjunction in Aries on February 20th and of course the Lunar New Year on February 17th.

What does this mean?

While Imbolc is often a season of patience and slow, gentle awakening and inner shifts, this year it might feel more emotionally intense and coincide with bigger collective events. We will evolve and grow more quickly through this season and may see things quite differently by the end of it.

This is not something to worry about or fear- that is the last thing we need to do with the energies of this beautiful season of renewal and inspiration! It simply means instead of just sipping tea by the fireplace, patiently, we may also do some tobogganing that takes a few turns and surprises. And who doesn’t love tobogganing? Ok well maybe not everyone, but it may be more active or adventurous than usual. This season will likely bring awakening, awareness and clarity that we perhaps did not expect, and it will help us to move forward and bring us exactly where we need to be!

Brigid carries us through with Her Flame

Brigid is traditionally the Goddess who begins to reign in this season. She is the Celtic goddess of inspiration, the hearth, light, youth, renewal, fertility, smithcraft and poetry. She brings hope, renewal, and a spark of inspiration, passion and creativity back into our being.

Imbolc is a fire festival and the element of fire is an important ally for us now. It can cleanse away debris we are carrying in our energy field, old habits, thought patterns and other baggage we no longer need to carry with us. It helps to transform us, as well as enliven and awaken us with light and magick.

Fire dances within us in our desires, as well as our impatience with the status quo- it can warm and melt where we have frozen, it can ignite our passion, sacred rage and motivation to make a change. The sunlight is more noticeably increasing now and in the weeks to come- signaling our conscious mind to become more active as we begin to become more clear on what’s been hidden in our depths and what feels most aligned to pursue in terms of our dreams and visions for this year.

Water is also a potent elemental ally for us this season. As a season of cleansing, we may be drawn to salt baths, a spa day, long ritual showers or drinking more water to help cleanse our emotional and physical body of toxins.

Tender Nurturance and Self-Care

In some ways, Imbolc is like ‘pre-spring’- it helps us prepare for making bigger changes ahead and moving forward. Imbolc season is excellent for clearing what no longer feels authentic to us, aligning our daily habits with who we really are, and beginning to nurture and protect the emerging self and the hopes and dreams we wish to bring forth into the world. it’s a great time to get rid of objects, subscriptions or other leaks or drains on our energy, so we can focus on tending to the new life slowly awakening inside of us.

This year may carry a bit more of that bold spring energy due to the eclipses as they tend to quickly move us forward towards our destiny. This Imbolc, especially because it includes an eclipse season, it is important to be gentle and tender with ourselves, to keep ourselves grounded as best as we can into daily activities that nurture us. This helps us have a supportive container for our transformation and rebirth.

Slowing ourselves down to process our feelings and cultivating patience is necessary to build our dreams, no matter how urgently they burn in our belly.

Imbolc means ‘in the belly’, and it often feels like we are not quite who we were, not quite who we’re going to be. During these moments of change, we can feel overwhelmed, and so finding those anchors for you can be helpful, whether they are talks with a good friend or loved one, pet cuddles, nourishing meals, salt baths, walks, meditation, yoga or prayer- let those daily rituals keep you grounded.

Spiritual Renewal:

Imbolc season is wonderful to reconnecting us to our ‘why’ in life, and the faith, hope and inspiration that draws us forwards. This is a great time to reflect on our ideals, values and our beliefs and see if our daily life is aligned with them. It’s traditionally a time to cleanse and renew our altars, perhaps perform a ritual of dedication or re-dedication to a deity or spiritual practice, and check in with our actions to see if they reflect what we are devoted to in our hearts and make any adjustments. Our spiritual practice changes as we change, and we can sometimes get stuck in old habits that hold us back.

This is a great season to review what we believe in, what we hope and vision for ourselves and others in the future, and to make small changes that align our spiritual practice or daily living with this.

A Goddess Oracle Reading for Imbolc!

This is one of my favorite oracle decks I’ve been using for many years- The Goddess Oracle by Amy Sophia Marashinsky, illustrated by Hrana Janto.

Take a moment to relax and center yourself with 3 deep breaths. Then ask ‘What do I need to know right now’? and choose a card. Scroll down for it’s meaning. The italics are from the author and the rest are my words.

The Goddess Oracle by Marashinsky & Janto

Now remember that number and scroll down to find your card!

  1. Lillith- Power

“I dance for myself. I am whole. I am complete. I say what I mean and mean what I say. I dance the dark and the light, the conscious and unconscious, the sane and the insane. I speak from myself, authentically, with total conviction, without regard for how I might look. All the parts of myself flow into the whole. All my divergent selves unite as one. I listen to what needs to be heard. I never make excuses. I feel my feelings, deeply and profoundly. I never hide my sexuality to please myself and pleasure others. I express it as it needs to be expressed, from the core of myself, from the wholeness of my dance. I am female. I am sexual. I am power. I was greatly feared.” – Lillith

When Lillith shows up, it is time to reclaim your power. We all have had times in our life where we gave away our power or had it taken from us. This can happen through betrayal, abuse, oppressive systems and more. We are often left with a wound or a part of ourself that we no longer accept or love and this can get triggered over and over until we face this power loss and reclaim this part of ourselves. Sometimes we feel broken or like we’ll never be our full self again. However, Lillith reminds us that we do indeed have the ability to take our power back and that we are always whole. Our power is a part of us- it can show up as our confidence, our creativity, our inner sovereignty, our inner child, our ability to love or feel worthy of love, our spirituality, our magick and much more.

There currently is a part of yourself wanting to rise up and be reclaimed. What might this be? Where have you felt ‘not enough’ or like you’re wounded beyond repair? Is there a situation in your life asking you to be more than you’ve allowed yourself to be? A more authentic expression of who you are?

Lillith brings you the courage to remember your wholeness and be who you are unapologetically. Take up space. Be who you know yourself to be. Stand in your fullness, stand in your power. You are always whole and beautiful just as you are, and you have been strengthened by your challenges. All of you is worthy, and your wholeness- light and dark makes you powerful. Sometimes we just need to remember this.

2. Hecate- Crossroads

“I sit in the blackness of the dark moon night with my hounds at the crossroads, where three roads converge. At the crossroads, a place of choice. All paths lead to the crossroads and all are desirable, but only one can you travel. Only one can you choose. Choice creates endings and all beginnings come from endings at the crossroads. Which one will you choose? Which way will you go? Though the choice is yours, here’s a secret I’ll share: The way to choose is to enter the void. The way to choose is to let die. The way to choose is to fly free.”- Hecate

There are times in life where we must makes a choice. This can be something small or big in your life. Perhaps it’s between choosing an old way of doing something and a new way that is a bit uncomfortable or unfamiliar but more beneficial. It could be choosing a new attitude, way of seeing things, a spiritual path or it could be something more tangible like a job, a place to live or a relationship. Decisions can often bring up our fears of the unknown, or cause us to over-analyze or feel pulled between our head and heart. Be gentle and kind to yourself during these times of change- you don’t need to fear making the wrong choice. Just simply give yourself time to stand at the crossroads. Imagine standing there with Hecate, the wise Goddess holding a staff of light. Just rest in this space and allow yourself to imagine the different possibilities before you without any pressure. Ask her for guidance and clarity. Deep down, you’ve already chosen. Trust what you feel.

3. Sphinx- Challenge

“If I ask the question that provokes, will you stretch to find the answer? Will you take up the gauntlet flung boldly and defiantly answer the call? Will you meet my challenge with tingling in your blood, with your hair blowing electric in the wind, with all your being? Knowing that every challenge is an opportunity, every challenge presents a gift. Every challenge is there to serve you, or not, it’s your choice.”- Sphinx

This is a time calling upon your inner courage to meet a challenge. This may be a part of yourself you are challenged by, or it could be a person or situation outside of you. Sometimes we know that the only way forward is through. We cannot avoid facing life’s obstacles and challenges that force us to summon our inner resources to meet. Every challenge we face sharpens, strengthens and deepens us, helping us to become more of who we want to be. It can be hard to see the gift in a challenge when we are in it. It is often in hindsight that we see where our path was taking us and what we needed to learn or experience. But the Sphinx knows she was made for this. The challenge has presented itself because you are ready, you have what it takes, and you will succeed. Trust your instincts, all the experiences that brought you here and wield your sword in full confidence of who you are what you are capable of! You’ve got this, fierce one.

4. Kuan Yin- Compassion

“I made the vow and kept my word. I reached enlightenment but rather than pass over to the state of eternal bliss, I retained human form till all beings attain enlightenment. Keeping human form enabled me to know more deeply the pain others experience. Because of my deep feelings, because of my understanding of misery and suffering, because of my decision, I am called The compassionate One. She Whose Name Alleviates All Sufferings. But wouldn’t you prefer to wait, feeling what others feel, suffering what others suffer, knowing their pain as your own. Wait till the end of all suffering and pain till all beings reach enlightenment? For me there was no other choice.”- Kuan Yin

Kuan Yin comes to remind you to have compassion for both yourself and others. You cannot really have one without the other. One of the most challenging paths of spiritual growth is to continually deepen and expand our hearts and be humbled by this human experience. In order to expand our hearts, we must come to terms with our own suffering, our own wounds and hold compassion for ourselves first. Otherwise, we can’t do the same for others. So take a moment to feel into your heart- what are you carrying? What are you feeling? Can you hold compassion for yourself in this moment? Can you see yourself reflected in another? Compassion includes all parts of ourself- including the parts we don’t like so much or that feel a lot of pain. There is an opportunity right now to take a softer approach. Be gentle and remember that we are all on this earth path as spiritual beings having a human experience- and being human includes many states of feeling, including suffering. We don’t need to glorify it, nor dwell in it- but we need to allow ourselves to hold space for it in ourselves and others, and offer grace and compassion when we can.

5. Aphrodite- Love

“When I open my heart, I am filled with delight so profound, with ecstasy so sweet, with pleasure so deep, the connecting with my beloved takes me to all the places and the union plays rhapsodies in my soul. I can achieve union when I achieve oneness with myself. I can dance in partnership when I can dance alone. I can love another when I can love myself.“- Aphrodite

Aphrodite comes to remind you how exquisite and loveable you are. Do you treat yourself like someone you really love? Does your self-talk reflect loving kindness and respect or self-criticism or self-deprecation? How can you bring a bit more loving kindness towards yourself these days? If you are in a relationship, what is the quality of feeling between you? Are you treating yourself and each other with love? Love is an action word, so listen to your heart’s call to share that love in tangible ways- whether it is towards yourself or another. Maybe offer yourself a break, a gift, kind words, or tell someone you care about just how much they mean to you. Cultivate the love within and then share it with the world in any way you feel called! Love heals and connects us, so let it flow and remember that we are always loved unconditionally by the Universe and can access this at any time.

6. Morgan Le Faye- Rhythms

“When I dance with life, I dance my own rhythm. I keep my own time. My soul’s tides are aligned and flow with my beat: My own unique expression. By honoring myself I honor all. When you dance with life, what’s you rhythm? Is it quick or slow, lively or liturgical, repetitious or ever-changing? Do you let the tempo serve you or unnerve you? Soothe you or seethe you, mettle you or unsettle you, do you know?“- Morgan Le Faye

Our culture operates on a very rigid and specific rhythm that does not follow nature, nor does it serve our natural physiology much of the time. We evolved to follow nature’s patterns of light and dark, and the seasons. However our culture runs on a scheme of constant productivity and electricity that can affect our hormones, sleep and sense of well-being.

This card is a reminder to honor your own rhythms at this time. It may mean attuning yourself more to the cycles of nature, or simply following your own timing when it comes to processing stimulation, honoring your creative flow, or taking care of your emotional and physical needs. Create some space in your schedule that serves your well-being. You may feel called to simplify meal-prep, your morning routine, or take a day off for your mental health. Maybe your creative drive comes at night and want to make space for that, or you need to get up earlier on weekends and go to bed earlier for better energy.

If you have a drum, it can be soothing to play a regular beat that matches your own internal rhythm. If you don’t have a drum, what music feels soothing or uplifting and matches your rhythm? It’s ok to go slow, no matter how fast the world around you is going. It’s ok to pick the pace up if you are feeling sluggish. Experiment and find a beat that feels right for you right now.

Did your card resonate? I hope it did. Wishing you a beautiful Imbolc season, full of inspiration, healing and renewal!

If you are in the Toronto area and would like to celebrate Imbolc in a small, cozy community, please consider coming to my Imbolc Circle: Awakening the Inner Hearth on Friday, Feb 6th, 2026!

You may also wish to try my guided meditation to Brigid for cleansing and renewing our Inner Hearth: https://youtu.be/IRI6q8iqZPk

Blessings,

Serena

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Winter Solstice Wisdom & Oracle Reading!

As we come into a New Moon on Dec 19th and the Winter Solstice on December 21st, we have arrived to the tender threshold of an end and the beginning of both the lunar and solar cycle.

We may be arriving bone-tired, processing grief and old wounds, but we have arrived. Perhaps we’re feeling reflective, inspired, hopeful, optimistic or perhaps a bit anxious or uncertain. Or all of this and more. We are held in the dark womb of rebirth now, as we await the return of the light of Solstice and its slow increase over the months to come.

Even if the months to come are colder, here in the northern hemisphere, the light’s return offers us new clarity, hope and healing to pave the way for new adventures and manifestations that begin in the spring.

Winter may seem ‘barren’, yet I don’t believe this is true. This dark womb season is teeming with potential- energy in waiting. Possibilities. Dreams. Old stories being composted into new adventures. An old self evolving into a new one. Some dreams will be ripe for manifesting this year, and others not quite yet. There is new life incubating beneath the surface- we just can’t see it. There is still much mystery, asking us to trust in the invisible, the life fruiting behind the scenes.

The darkness is what makes the light known and seen. When we struggle, it becomes most clear what really matters, what holds us up through hard times, and what is worth building upon.

The light represents our inner spark- that which holds meaning, what keeps us going through the dark months ahead. This often comes in the form of inspiration, our faith, and anything which warms our heart- simple creature comforts, to spending time with loved ones, pets, nature or a dream of a more equitable society.

The quiet and inward energy of the Winter season clarifies things for us- it brings into focus what warms us when we’re cold, what lights us up when we’re down, and what rises up into focus when we’re less distracted. If we actually let ourselves slow down enough to notice, we glean wisdom and self-knowledge necessary to build more fulfilling lives and set more authentic goals.

Winter Solstice initiates Capricorn season. This ambitious and pragmatic earth sign holds much wisdom for us to glean beyond its what our capitalist society often points out about it- it’s much more than money and business. Capricorn is the wise elder archetype. They knows what holds meaning, how to care for our elders- the elder within and elders in our lives. They understand the importance of being a good ancestor and creating a legacy- in whatever form that takes. They teach us how to pull up our spiritual strength from within and not only survive but thrive during the winter seasons of our lives. Capricorn shows us the importance of history and how to patiently weave a tapestry of experience that serves not only us but those who come after.

Capricorn season also teaches us that our goals must align with who we truly are, rather than who we think we should be. A healthy dose of realism is helpful during this season, as we may need to take baby steps towards our dreams, and tend the foundations before setting forth on a high energy-consuming path. Our goals for the next few weeks may need to involve more self-care, gentleness, slowness and presence than we see in our visions of the future. The reality is often a bit slower than our vision would like.

With each passing day this season as we head towards Imbolc in early February, we get a bit more light, a bit more clarity on the path we are on and where we’d like to go. Despite cultural pressures to begin brand new regimens and attain rigid goals starting in January, we don’t need to rush or have it all figured out yet. This is not the way of nature.

Nature asks us to take our time digesting, reflecting, grounding into the present moment. New visions will dawn on us. New desires will stir. A pathway forward will become clear. But this must happen on its own. Nature trusts this process and asks that we do too. We will sprout and grow again, in new ways and in perfectly orchestrated divine natural timing.

Some simple ways of honoring this time are:

  • Deciding to get a bit more rest- go to bed early or sleep in or just sit down and relax intentionally without distraction in your day
  • Meditate
  • Go for a walk in nature
  • Listen to calming music
  • Journaling or reflection
  • Light a candle and say a prayer for yourself, others, and welcome the Sun and the light’s rebirth
  • Intuitive movement, drawing or art
  • Yoga or breathwork
  • Oracle card/Tarot reading

An Cailleach & Oracle Reading:

The Celtic Goddess An Cailleach is the ancient giantess ruling over the cold and dark season. Her name means ‘Veiled one’ emphasizing the mysterious aspect of the season. An Cailleach is the One Who Shapes the Land, tends animals, creates winter storms and bestows sovereignty on Kings. She is mysterious, powerful, wise and commands respect. She teaches us to open to the mystery, to access our inner strength, respect the land’s wisdom and open to new dimensions within and without.

For the Winter Solstice Oracle Reading, I always favor this deck by Jane Brideson- Wisdom of the Cailleach. The imagery is so beautiful and powerful. May you be guided by its wisdom as well as your own as you navigate this magickal season!

Now, take 3 deep relaxing breaths. Once you’re calm take a look at the cards below and ask ‘what do I need to know for this Solstice Season?’ And choose a card. Scroll down for the description. Words in italics are by me and the rest are by the author.

Wisdom of the Cailleach Oracle by Jane Brideson

Remember that number and scroll down to find it’s meaning!

  1. Change- Transformation, Rebirth, Restoration

Change, rebirth, evolution. Chance, coincidence, a surprise or unexpected event. An opportunity to begin afresh. A realization or insight that reshapes your life.

Are you ready for a shift? Change is in the air. Be open and flexible. This year, 2026, is also a Wheel of Fortune year, emphasizing change. If things have been heavy, things will now lighten up. If things have felt slow, they may speed up. If you’ve been struggling, you’ll soon find ease. This is a great time to experiment, try something new, even something very small, like visiting a new neighborhood, town or taking a new class or reading about a subject that interests you. Be open to new ideas, possibilities and allow yourself to explore new territory. The hare is intuitive, instinctive, fertile and connected to the moon. Life moves in cycles- it’s time to let go of the past. Rebirth is imminent. Let your intuition lead the way and leap into the unknown!

2. First Shoots- Birth, beginnings, growth.

An awakening to new possibilities, a new start. Birth and growth of new ideas. An opportunity to learn new skills or put new ideas into practice. Time to emerge and take the first step.

This time is calling you trust what you feel stirring and emerging deep within. There is new life waiting for the right moment to burst through and show themselves in the light! This card holds a bit more of an Imbolc or even Spring energy to it, so for you, there is likely to be an early sense of renewal and growth this season. Something you’ve been working on behind the scenes may begin to show promise. You may feel new ideas stirring and calling to be expressed in a vision board, or plan for the near future. You may notice your energy increasing as the season goes on and new opportunities begin to show up. If you have creative aspirations or something you’ve been wanting to try or start working on, give it a go! This is a time to begin those baby steps forward, and trust the energy for it will be there.

3. Rest- Recuperation, patience, retirement.

Rest and refreshment. Withdraw from a situation, patience and restraint is needed so reserve your judgement. Resignation or retirement from work. A time to recover health and stability.

This card holds the traditional wisdom of wintertime, as it calls for you to slow down and allow some stillness, rest and recuperation. You’ve been working hard, perhaps struggling, fighting or pushing out too much energy, and now you can put down your sword, your responsibilities, your load, and just rest. What comforts you? Where can you make some space in your schedule to do less? Do you have supportive relaxation and sleep rituals that help you slow down and get a good night’s rest? This is the time to nourish your body, mind and soul by letting go and relaxing in the Great Mother’s dark womb to be renewed. Enjoy some alone time, and curl up in comfort. Take time off work for a solo retreat if needed. You’ll feel refreshed and ready for new activities once you’ve recuperated. Enjoy!

4. Moon- Intuition, dreams, illusion

Imagination, inner vision, creativity. Recognition of your body’s cycle and energy levels. Heightened awareness, insight and understanding. A time to use your intuition and follow your dreams.

There is magick in the air here! What a wonderful time to start tapping into your intuition more and taking more time to journal your insights! Do you record your nighttime dreams? This may be a good idea in order to gain wisdom that will help you navigate this season. Do you have any creative hobbies that nourish your soul and express your spirit? How often do you gaze out at the moon? Take some time to be outside this season and let the moonlight bathe you in each of her phases. Notice how each phase affects your mood and your energy levels. We are cyclical beings and flow with the tides. Understanding this flow allows us to accept change and flow with it rather than holding rigid to unnatural structures or ideals. Practice tapping into your cyclical, intuitive wisdom as it arises rather than logic or doing things out of habit and notice what changes.

5 . Sovereignty

I am

Mighty stag, doe in fawn.

fierce guardian of the herd.

I am

your pathway to wild places, your solace, grief and savage spirit.

My worn hands and soothing song

shall lead you over sacred hills, through thickets of uncoiling ferns

By twisted track to find hearts’ ease

Deep in the valley of my embrace.

The Cailleach is a sovereignty goddess which means she is essentially the spirit of the land itself. In Celtic traditions it was necessary for prospective kings to be approved of. In a ritual- often with a female representative of the sovereignty goddess, through marriage or sexual union she bestowed him with kingship. Respect for the land (and feminine energy) was necessary for a king to be worthy of his throne. Sovereignty can also speak to owning your own self and space sacred, and respecting your needs and boundaries. How can you bring sovereignty into your life now? Do you feel connected to the land you walk on? How is the relationship between you and the land? Your relationship with yourself? Love, respect and protection are energies to explore here. You may wish to spend more time outdoors, connecting with nature, and/or respect your own needs and boundaries more.

6. Possibilities- Trust, hope, potential

Hopes, dreams and plans for the future. Trust that all will be well in this moment. An opportunity to explore your potential. Time of optimism and freedom.

How often do you gaze up at the sky in awe? This card helps us connect to our inner child and the part of us that still wants to wish upon a star. Keeping a sense of awe and wonder are key as we get older and think we have things figured out. There is always more to learn, and the great mystery never ceases to surprise us, if we are open and curious. What kinds of possibilities do you see for yourself in the future? Can you expand them a little more? What if the future is even brighter than you imagined? Hold a positive vision for yourself and your future. There is so much shifting in the world right now that things that weren’t possible before could be now. Dream, vision, stargaze and believe in the beauty you see and wish to create.

Did your card resonate? I hope it did. May this Winter Solstice season bring you so many gifts of rest, warmth, hope and renewal and we rebirth the light and open to new paths forward in 2026!

Blessings,

Serena

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When the Cauldron Feels Empty-The Sacred Void

As the darkness increases and the cold sets in, we can experience a challenging time emotionally and mentally, here in the northern hemisphere. Late Autumn and the Scorpio season brings themes of death, transformation and rebirth, as well as deep diving into the locked closets of our emotions, lineages and past life memories. We may find ourselves in the sacred void of the unknown, a place of release and cleansing, and a liminal emptiness that calls for pause, rest and recalibration before the new light of Solstice comes.

This year is particularly emo, with tons of planets in water signs, and in retrograde, bringing the past right up in our faces- to tie up loose ends, close old chapters, clear away baggage and anything that we’re holding onto that doesn’t belong in the new cycle being birthed in 2026.

We all seem to be going through our own rebirthing process, myself included. It reminds me a lot of the labor of childbirth. Waves of change flowing through me as old skins and inherited patterns release and something new slowly gets closer to being born within. My nervous system and body have been undergoing deep healing as I clear old patterns and trauma from my current and past lives as well as lineage wounds. It has been laborious and not fun to say the least, but I know it is helping me get where I need and want to be in the future. I am already amazed at how much lighter and freer I feel after releasing a lot of stuff over the past few months.

I want more for myself. I want my authentic self fully back home within so I can share more with the world. I am freeing myself of the weight of others’ expectations that I’ve been carrying my whole life. I am breaking unspoken rules and releasing absorbed projections that have taken up a lot of internal space, keeping me small. These have been streaming out of me- through my dreams, my emotional and physical body. Thankfully, I have the support of healers in both human and spirit form and the Earth with me on this journey.

Some days in this liminal transition time, I feel unmotivated and empty. When I was thinking of what I wanted to write for this post, all that came to mind was ‘my cauldron is empty’.

I felt like I didn’t have anything to share. No inspiration or helpful information I thought people would want to hear. Because, I have been in liminal space, a bit of a personal void. Yet there is nothing empty about the void. It’s actually quite fertile and filled with gratitude, grace, magic and mystery. It has transformed me in powerful ways and continues to. I’ve become impressed and fond of it. Surely there must be something I can say about this void or emptiness that could be helpful? I’ll give it my best.

Finding our Way through the Dark

We may find ourselves in the void in many instances in our lives when things are in transition. Between one chapter and another. During times of loss, illness, healing, separation, death, as well as birth, marriage, moving house, starting a new job, lifestyle or embracing a new identity. It can also be in a seasonal change.

We recently unexpectedly got a heavy dumping of snow here in Toronto, before all the leaves had changed and dropped. Temps dropped to winter levels. It felt like the vitality of the earth had just suddenly gone before I got to say goodbye. It triggered a heaviness in my heart- a reminder of the times circumstances or people slipped away in my life unexpectedly, and I never got to say goodbye or grieve properly.

We also recently changed the clocks back to standard time- much better for our circadian rhythms, but it takes some getting used to. All of a sudden the night goes on forever and the daytime, if it’s overcast or rainy, just feels like more darkness. This combo of darkness, dampness, and saying goodbye to the growth season made me feel particularly low and old wounds came to the surface to be felt and healed. Our environment can affect us on deep levels.

The seasons always mirror a part of our life- fall reminds us of what is on its way out, what is dying, or ending its cycle. We may feel more emotional or on edge as we clutch to nostalgia, ride waves of grief or fear the unknown. We know an emptiness awaits us, and we may fear that emptiness.

Yet, in order for new life to bloom, a period of slowness, rest and incubation is necessary.

 Emptiness is simply potential- it holds all the fertility and possibility in the universe.

It awaits our spark of energy to ignite it and set in motion a whole new path of possibility. But there is a time to simply wait, to allow it to be- so our energy can build itself up before the new spark can come into existence.

Life requires a time of rest, integration, recalibration and renewal. We sleep 1/3 of our lives for this reason. We don’t function well without this sacred surrender to the void. The surrender to rest allows us to awaken with new energy the next day.

Having experienced a lot of insomnia over the last year, I was reminded just how precious sleep is. I saw a sleep therapist for a few months which really helped me get back on track. One thing I learned was how important it was for me to re-learn how to surrender and trust my body’s natural capabilities and the Great Mystery itself. Practicing surrender and trust helped me perhaps more than any sleep remedies.

Part of the issue for me was that surrender felt like pain and powerlessness, which stemmed from old traumas, some of which involved my body being in physical pain or emotional suffering. I’ve relived so much of my past over the last year- my moments of powerlessness since birth or even before.

My faith was tested this year, as I grappled with my past and self-doubt and was pushed to strengthen my faith in Spirit and learn the art of surrender, while discerning it from powerlessness.

My attempts to escape my fears and old pain never worked, and my attempts to control the healing process (which is also a type of escape) backfired and made me feel worse. I spent a lot of time with trees and water and listening to the voice of the earth, my body and my intuition to help me stay afloat. The more I practiced this, the more it proved to be helpful and the more I was able to embody my faith and trust the process.

I know I am part of nature and move with its rhythms and its organic, non-linear ways. The more I trusted the messy, non-linear process in my body and psyche, the easier it became to sleep, and to release my past pain, and feel better than I ever have in many ways. I now sleep well again and have more freedom and lightness in my body, and a growing inner sovereignty than I can remember ever having.

Surrender to the divine and practicing faith offers us the power we need when we’re faced with the uncertainty life brings. I also cultivated a strong daily gratitude practice which expanded my faith.  

How do you deal with uncertainty and the unknown? Do you grip onto controlling smaller things in your life, like diet, your body, environment, or do you escape or numb out? How does your spiritual practice support you?

Creative Droughts and Spaces Between

Sometimes, when the cauldron feels empty, it is more on a creative level, where we’re between projects, or something we put a lot of energy into has ended and we have yet to conceive a new plan, idea or pathway forward.

As creative beings, it can sometimes be hard to admit it when we feel empty, uninspired, unmotivated, tired, or just like we’re in the void and have no clue what we’re doing or what’s next. It feels like we aren’t moving, and that can be scary in a culture that moves too fast and expects us to always be doing and producing.

But being in a phase of nothingness is totally normal and ok!  We are nature and nature moves in cycles. Slowing down is often what we need to do when there is a lot to process and integrate during times of transition. Some stages last longer than others. Sometimes they don’t go in a predictable way. But each stage serves a purpose and happens in Divine timing.

Patience and divine timing is something I’ve really had to learn to trust over the years. I like to feel in control, so life has brought me many lessons in surrender and letting go. I’ve learned to embrace the void, as a sacred cauldron of rebirth. A beautiful space of pure potential and possibility. This space only asks us to wait, and to let ourselves dream.  

But the void can feel scary. Especially in a culture that raises us to feel that rest, slowness, darkness, transition or stillness are dangerous, and the unknown is akin to death. But death always leads to rebirth. Energy is continuously in a flow of changing form, it doesn’t end.

The dark womb is where life begins. It is where we can allow new dreams to take shape.

Do you give yourself space and time to simply wonder and dream? Do you let yourself simply wander and be in a space of not-knowing and enjoy it? If not, what if you did?

Embracing Sacred Pause, Silence and Honing our Intuition

We live in a very logical and visual culture, so it can be helpful to become more well-rounded by honing our other skills, especially non-linear and intuitive ways of processing and being.

We need to balance ourselves by learning to feel our emotions- no matter how painful or messy they are. We need to practice trusting our intuition- that calm, quiet inner knowing we feel when we embrace the mystery that lies within the present moment.

Pause and darkness are what allow us to become more present and hear these parts of us.

When it is dark outside, we need to rely on our senses other than sight to get around. We need to feel what’s in our heart and our gut, feel the moment with our feet and hands, smell the air, sharpen our hearing. Attune to what we sense, rather than what we think or what is visible on the surface.

Silence can feel scary because it allows us to hear the voices of our buried truths and dreams that we’d maybe rather not see or hear, for fear that they may take us off into the unknown wilderness. But these voices carry the gifts of the new life awaiting us beyond the void.

We can plant seeds in this season for next year- But how can we know what to plant if we don’t slow down and listen to the new life that’s calling us?

When we pause, turn off our phones, noise and take a moment to simply be- what arises?

What if we embrace the darkness, the silence and simply light a candle? Take a moment to check in with ourselves to hear the whispers from deep within?

What if instead of trying to figure out our next step logically or force a plan, we simply tuned into this moment and allowed our instincts or intuition guide us forward?

Emptiness brings the Magic

Energy and inspiration need to have space to enter. Often when life seems to be slowing us down, or forcing a pause, it is because we need to receive something, but have been too busy to let it in.

Magic requires receptivity- our open hands, arms, and heart. When we fill every moment with action, noise or distraction, we cannot receive the new idea, spark, inspiration or energy we really want.

Sometimes our manifestations get blocked because on some level we don’t believe we deserve it, or that we don’t have what it takes to get it, or maybe we’re simply holding onto something else that is taking up too much space for it to come in.

So, when it comes to creating something new, we can start by clearing and making that space, then letting ourselves be empty and open to receive.

What is something you wish to have in your life? Is there space for that right now? Is there perhaps a belief or attachment to something else taking up that space in yourself or life? Are you open to creating space and letting yourself receive the new energy and inspiration that awaits?

In the cyclic flow of life, we cannot skip steps. In order to create, to renew and birth new life, we must embrace the stage of emptiness- which is actually full of potential. Perhaps the darkness is actually the most fertile phase of all. The more we practice simply being in it- in surrender, patience and trust, the more magic will be able to come through and ignite all we wish to manifest in the future.

I am here in the dark womb cauldron with you- may we embrace this sacred pause and open to the magic being formed- unseen yet full of new life!

If you’d like to feel the warmth and love that exists in the void, I recommend this beautiful music for meditation and relaxation called ‘Within the Void’ by Mei-Lan and Ali Pervez Mehdi.

Blessed New Moon in Scorpio and the depths of Samhain season!

xo

Serena

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What is Earth-Based Healing?

What exactly is earth-based healing? How can earth-based spirituality help us heal and grow?

Earth-based spirituality is a nature-based path of connection, remembering, healing and growth, rooted in animism.

Animism is the world view that sees all life as alive and interconnected. Each tree, rock, plant and animal has a spirit, and therefore a healing gift for the world. We are not separate from nature, and therefore, when we connect with our non-human kin, we remember our own medicine, too, and that we are not alone, that we belong in the family of this Earth world.

This is an ancient way of being that has existed in cultures all across the globe and is a foundation in many paths of witchcraft. It is very much alive in Indigenous traditions.

I feel one reason it is so popular today, is that we are in a crisis of isolation and have a deep hunger for belonging.

Social media, pandemic mandates, capitalism, and all the ‘isms’ have all contributed to this sense of isolation and separateness that has escalated in recent years.

My hope is that as we move into a new paradigm, as challenging as it may be, more folks will wake up to the fact that this deep hunger for belonging cannot be satiated through social media. Human connection is essential to our well-being and many of us are only satisfied with connecting with people in real life. Beyond that, I feel many of us have an even deeper need for belonging that connections with other people cannot fill- It is the need to feel a kinship with nature. There is a need to belong to the land we walk on and our animal, plant, tree and rock kin. This is our original relationship to the source of life- without the human mind and its drama- we need to remember our belonging with the land.

Deep down in our bones, we know we too, are wild.

The cleansing rain, the soft mossy earth, the whisper of a raven’s wing, the haunting song of humpback whales, the crackling flames of a bonfire- all live within us. We are Earth and Earth is us. When we spend time in the woods, there is often a deep remembering. Remembering the ancestors and how they lived, and of our own belonging to the earth. A remembering of the ancient wisdom trees hold, and the sacredness of the life of a deer- just as sacred as our own.

Life becomes magical when we remember our own inner wildness.

When I say ‘wildness’, I mean our innate connection to the Earth, which can be very quiet and introspective, not necessarily dance-around-the-bonfire-naked kind of wild, though that may be included too!

When we re-ignite our remembering of our kinship with the earth, our sense of belonging grows. It is hard to feel alone when we remember this.

How Do We Practice Earth-Based Spirituality?

The great thing about this practice is that there is no one way. Each individual will have their own unique way of practicing. At its foundation, it is about connecting with nature regularly, and intimately. It’s about going beyond the physical and into the energetic and spiritual essence of animals, plants, crystals, rocks, bodies of water, landscapes, sacred sites and more. It is a deepened sensitivity and intuitive listening to the world around us- to feel what’s beyond the surface and into the heart and soul of the living beings that surround us. It is also fundamentally about being in reciprocal relationship with the being around us- not feeling superior or ‘other’, but being a friend or family member with the beings around us.

One’s practice can entail listening to and talking to plants, and getting to know their energy and medicine. It can include connecting deeply with animals, and working with animal spirits for protection, energy, or healing in daily life. It can entail observing the equinoxes, solstices and moon cycles, connecting with the ancestors of the land, and much more.

Some folks are solitary, while some like more formal gatherings. Some prefer structured rituals, while some keep it loose and just live in tune with the earth and its cycles more intuitively. Someone living on a farm or in the woods will have a different practice than someone in a big city. Neither way is right or wrong, all are valid.

For me, my earth-based practice includes a lot of attuning to the energies I feel from the earth and its cycles as well as the moon. Connecting with the spirits of trees, rocks, animals and the elements is central to my practice, as well as observing my emotional and embodied experience during moon cycles and seasonal cycles.  

I don’t really spend time doing spells, but I have a lot of regular rituals- such as visiting local trees, talking with them, learning from them and giving offerings to them. I try to visit trees almost daily.

I also grow plants in my garden and like to take care of them and listen to them, harvest them and make teas, smoke cleanse, and herbal charms.

I also take regular sojourns to the spirit realm to connect with animal allies and do different rituals of connection with them.

I have many rocks and crystals in my space as well, which I enjoy placing on my body for healing, or wearing for protection, or adding into a healing pouch.

How Does an Earth-Based Path Help Us Heal?

Earth-based spirituality is healing because it is about being in relationship with the world around us. It heals our collective isolation wound. It helps us remember that we belong. Being in relationship with our non-human kin is the foundation of its power.

When we see plants as kin, we don’t wish to harm them, we respect them. This is a form of un-colonising our conditioning. True witchy power doesn’t come from using plants, herbs or crystals to fulfill a personal desire, but from having a respectful relationship with them and treating them as friends or family. They may wish to help you fulfill a desire, or they may want to teach you something, help you heal, or they may simply wish to simply ‘be’ in the environment, or work with insects and animals and not with humans.

Our non-human kin may be called ‘healing allies’ or ‘spirit allies’ or guides that help us heal or deal with a challenge in the present. Their medicine, or the special qualities they carry serve as reminders of a part of ourselves that wishes to come into wholeness.

Each aspect of nature, including us, are an expression of Spirit which flows through everything. Sometimes along our human journey, we forget, suppress or reject aspects of ourselves- to survive, to fit in, or to ‘succeed’ at goals that we set for ourselves. Over time, those aspects may call to be remembered, loved and integrated. These shadow aspects of ourselves, often contain gifts and medicines long forgotten or suppressed over generations in our lineage.

When we answer the call to remembering our kinship with aspects of nature, we are remembering our connection to the whole, and to our own wholeness.

In reality, we are completely whole, and perfect, just as we are. We are perfect and whole just as nature is. We only need to simply exist. Yet, we forget this, and need reminders.

Our kin in nature help reflect back to us forgotten parts of ourselves that are ready to come into integration within ourselves.

For example, we may have gone through some painful breakups that have left our heart untrusting and closed to intimacy. Connecting with a Rose Quartz crystal- and developing a relationship with them over time, can help us heal our heart. Working with Rose could also help, as these allies hold the energy of unconditional love. They can help us remember how to love ourselves again and open our heart to more true connections.

Another example could be that we’ve forgotten our confidence, and thus we may find working with a wild cat like a lion ally or another animal can help us remember this aspect of our nature. Or perhaps we work with the element of fire or sunlight to help ignite our inner flame of strength and confidence.

If we are in a situation where we need to get more grounded and sustain strength over a long period of time. In this case, an Oak tree may help us remember our strength and help ground us.

If you were embarking on a journey- whether a new educational program or traveling, you may find a bird ally helpful, as they resonate with freedom of movement and perspective. Each bird is so unique however, that there will be a specific one that carries an energy you would most resonate with.

How Do We Know Which Ally to Connect With?

Trust your intuition and curiosity. Perhaps you keep noticing a certain tree lately? Or, an animal keeps showing up in your dreams? Or you find yourself craving baths, being near water or wanting to cleanse?

Experiment and notice how you feel. Remember, this is an innate part of you, your inner wild one that has always been there, waiting to be remembered.

It doesn’t have to be complicated, and we don’t necessarily need a human teacher to intermediate between us and the earth. However, it is always great to learn from others! Especially Indigenous folks, when it comes to this land here on Turtle Island.

I believe we all have an inner spiritual guide or healer within that leads us to exactly where we need to be, and shows us what we need. We just need to listen, and to notice what we are being shown. Notice your dream symbols, notice your desires, notice repeated symbols in your environment. Be curious!

What area of your life do you feel drawn to healing or improving? What type of energy does this area need? What animal, element, crystal, herb or tree carries a similar energy?

Here are some more ways you can bring some Earth-Based rituals into your life:

–Walk in a nearby park or forest and allow yourself to be drawn to a plant or tree. Get to know them, sit with them, talk to them, become friends. Bring an offering of animal-safe food or herbs, or offer loving words of gratitude, song or even a kiss or a hug.

–Choose a crystal you are drawn to. You may also find a rock on the ground and ask if you can take them home. Hold the rock to your heart or wherever on your body you intuitively feel their energy. What is their energy like? How do they make you feel? Rocks hold the wisdom of time and the land they are from. Read about their origins and properties, wear it or keep it nearby.

–Get acquainted with an herb you are drawn to. Connect with them outside, if possible. If not, connect with them as a dried herb- either as is, or in a tea or tincture. (Of course be sure to check out the medicinal properties if you are ingesting it!). What is their energy like? If they were a person, what would they be like? How do they make you feel?

–Keep a Moon journal. Note the phase and how you feel during that phase. You may wish to read my blog posts on honouring the moon cycles here and here.

-Let the elements heal you. When the sun is out, take some time to receive the healing light of its rays into your heart, mind, belly. Feel the warmth and light fill any areas of sadness, fear, emptiness or malaise. If grief, wistfulness or overwhelm come over you, spend some time near water for cleansing and renewal. Even just listening to a recording of ocean waves can kindle our remembering. When experiencing anxiety, confusion or overwhelm, spend some time grounding in the earth. Take off your shoes and feel it under your feet. Lean against a tree or sit on a rock to remember your own stability.

As our practice grows over time, we start to feel a greater kinship and belonging- not only to the land, but also to ourselves. When we connect to all the beauty and medicine that exists around us, we remember that it is the same beauty and medicine we carry within.

If you are looking for some support to help you embark or continue on your earth-based spiritual journey, I am here to do just that! I take you on a guided journey to find your allies, through my one-on-one program: Nourish Your Spirit. In a series of 6 sessions, we uncover the healing needed through a Tarot Reading, learn grounding, centering, energetic cleansing and protection practices, and find a crystal, animal, herb, tree and elemental ally for you to work with. Contact me for a free 30 min consult!

In kinship,

Serena

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How to Honor the Full Moon & Waning Moon

The Lunar cycle is such a central part of an earth-based spiritual practice. Many folks are especially drawn to doing something special to honor the Full Moon, as it is such an energetic time of the month. After approximately three days of fullness, the light of the moon begins to darken and wane. It then heads into the Disseminating, Third Quarter and Balsamic moon phases over the next two weeks, until the renewal of the New Moon.

Each phase has its own special energy, but we are often too busy to notice the more subtle energies that lie between the Full and New Moon. Here, I will focus on the Full Moon phase, and touch on the following two weeks of waning light that can be felt and tuned into if desired.

The easiest way to honor each lunar phase is to simply tune into how we feel! The moon is intrinsically connected to our emotions and thus can be felt on an emotional and physical level quite powerfully.

There’s a lot of talk about spell work and ritual around Full and New Moons, yet one doesn’t need to get all formal or analytical about this. We don’t need to worry about having the right colored candles, crystals, words or do a lot of prep to make magic. Ritual can be any action that aligns with the energy of the moment. It can be as simple as checking in with our body, our heart, journaling, having a good cry, going for a walk, singing, drawing or moving our body in tune with how we feel. Magic is something that exists all the time. It is felt as a result of being fully present with ourselves and the energies around us, not something we need to create with a special formula.

Often the material world naturally reflects the energies of the lunar cycle. Lunar magic, in its ebbs and flows is a constant that we can tap into any time. Rather than trying to ‘use the moon cycles to manifest what we want’ with specific spells or rituals, I advise simply opening up our senses and attuning our actions to harmonise with the lunar moment. Just notice how it feels, in your heart, in your body.

What’s your mood like? What’s the mood of the people surrounding you? The plants and animals around you? What are your dreams at night like? How is your sleep and energy levels? What emotions, desires, pulls or feels are flowing through you? How are things shifting?

Each week has a different lunar energy. Observe how that energy is manifesting within and around you.

Honor the Moon by flowing with it, rather than against it.

The Full Moon is a very expressive, emotional high tide. It is helpful to express your feelings to someone, or through art, journaling or just to yourself to gain clarity, healing, awareness and release of anything that’s been brewing beneath the surface for the last couple weeks (or longer!).

Full Moon Vibes

Keywords for the Full Moon are:

Culmination

Realisation

Awareness

Expression

Manifestation

Fullness

Visibility

Illumination

Clarity

Revealing truth

Balance & conflict

Light & shadow

Things coming to a head

Outward flow

Breakthrough

Release

The Full Moon Energies:

The energy of the Full Moon is a swell of upward and outward energy. That which has been planted or initiated at the New Moon comes to a culmination. Oftentimes, we are unaware of the seeds we have actually planted. Even if our conscious mind planted seeds at the New Moon, our unconscious may have had a secret agenda that may become known at the Full Moon.

Whatever has been brewing or stewing beneath the surface is revealed. This can be a healing breakthrough, even if it causes stress or conflict at first. When things come from our subconscious into our awareness it helps us to take steps towards new decisions that bring healing and a better quality of life.

This can be the busiest and most productive as well as stressful phase of the lunar cycle, as everything comes to a head and is revealed. That which has been worked on behind the scenes comes into a culmination or manifestation. It can be a time of honest proclamations and emotional outbursts, these can lead to healing breakthroughs as well as necessary endings. We often need time to integrate the truth that is being revealed to us into our body and psyche over the next two weeks, until the lunar cycle is completed by the New Moon.

This phase can be triumphant or challenging, or both. It can also be a very social, celebratory phase, as our energies are pulled outwards to connect with others.

Because the Full Moon is an opposition aspect between the Sun and Moon, there is often a ‘self versus other’ energy at play. Either self vs partner/friend/coworker/boss/family member/society, or ‘mine vs theirs’ or ‘this vs that’- there’s a conflict or oppositional energy to balance within ourselves, often through other people or another point of view.

This is all to help us balance different aspects of ourselves. Perhaps we’ve given too much energy to one aspect of ourselves and now a neglected part is crying for our attention. This may be experienced through conflict with others or our environment. Sometimes we just receive some awareness of where we could bring some more balance into our lives, or something that needs to change so we can be more authentically ourselves.

Even if we feel pretty calm around the Full Moon, others may be sailing rougher seas. This is because each Full Moon happens in a different astrological sign, and these can hit us all differently, based on how it interacts with our individual astrology. So, even if it’s not feeling like a big deal for us, our partner or friend may be really going through it, which also affects us. We also may find others are more high energy or excited than we are, or vice versa.

Sometimes the Full Moon’s emotional brew doesn’t rise up fully until there’s an opportunity when it can. If we are too busy holding all our feelings in, keeping it all together for work, or being a solid rock for others during the Full Moon, we may not receive our own emotional effects until a few days later. This is why it is important to make some space and time around Full Moons for yourself. The longer we hold things in, the less likely our emotions come out in healthy ways.

We may also feel the effects more strongly a few days before the Full Moon instead of during the 3 days of peak fullness. The waves come when they can find a way through. This might even only be during our dreams at night. The Full Moon is a great time to remember your dreams, write them down and see what they are trying to reveal.

How to Honor the Full Moon:

All we need to do is give ourselves the space and time to FEEL our emotions and EXPRESS them. Let them show us the part(s) of us that are calling for attention. Let them flow through us, whether it be anger, rage, grief, joy, pride, love. We are meant to feel the full range of human emotions in this life, despite the hierarchy of ‘acceptable’ ones by society.

Emotions are also ‘energy in motion’, so they need to move and be expressed in healthy ways. Doing so prevents us from reacting in ways we may regret later. Once we are aware of what we’ve been feeling deep down, we can decide how we wish to move forward with that information.

Ways to Honor the Full Moon energies- Feel & express emotions, connect with others:

Journal your feelings and thoughts

Try some creative writing

Deep, releasing breaths

Sing

Drum and chant from the heart

Play a musical instrument

Do some sounding (just making sounds as you exhale, letting whatever needs to come out to come out)

Dance to music you feel called to

Walk outside

Move your body any way that feels good: Shaking, stomping, wiggling, stretching etc.

Scream or yell in a safe place

Punch a pillow or other safe object

Have an honest conversation with a friend, loved one or therapist

Take a salt bath

Watch a movie or reading a book that tugs your heartstrings

Listen to music you feel drawn to

Spend time in nature, especially around water or in water

Listen to ocean waves or whale song

Smoke cleanse your self & space

Record your dreams, speak them aloud to someone

Speak your feelings aloud- to yourself or another who you feel safe to process with

Play a sport or game

Go out with friends

Hold a gathering or celebration

What happens next? The Waning Moon Period:

Once the Full Moon starts to lose its intensity (usually a few days later or when the moon sign has changed), we come into a phase of integration and release.

The period of the Waning Moon is two weeks long and includes the Disseminating phase, Third Quarter phase and Balsamic Phase. Each of these last a few days and flow into the next. I won’t go into much detail of each of these Waning Moon phases here, but overall, this Waning Moon period is where we integrate, process and release the awareness that the Full Moon brought up. It takes a while for our body to catch up sometimes, so our nervous system may take some time to realign, and our psyche may take some time to rebalance.

Shortly after the Full Moon, during the Disseminating Moon, we may wish to continue with some activities of expression that are listed above to help process the energies. We may feel called to synthesize our newly gleaned awareness into something that can be helpful from our experience to share with others. This is an alchemizing, creative time where we can make beauty from our wounds, create new pathways forward and give thanks to others, and the universe.

As the Third Quarter phase comes into play, we may feel challenged to make an internal shift to let go of something that no longer serves us. This is an important time to release, lighten our load and tend to the inner part of us that felt triggered at the Full Moon with gentleness. Energetic cleansing practices, such as smoke cleansing, baths, walks in nature, and healing therapies are great at this Moon Phase. We may need some extra self-care and self-nurturance here. We may also feel empowered as we turn a corner within and make decisions about how we want to move forward.

As we get closer to the New Moon, the moon’s light is becoming less visible, our energies go increasingly inward and downward. We may feel lower energy or wish to be alone. We may also feel called to simplify and free ourselves from anything we don’t need and keep things light and easy. This is our time to release our attachment to material outcomes and embrace a more spiritual perspective. It is a great time for retreat. Meditation, nature, stillness, extra sleep, spiritual practices and healing therapies are supportive during this phase as we prepare to renew and turn over a whole new leaf at the New Moon!

The Lunar Cycle vs dominant culture:

Flowing with the Moon’s shifting tides is very counter-cultural. It upsets the patriarchal system. Our calendars and schedules are not made in honor of the lunar cycles. We are expected to perform in the same way all month long. This is especially hard on menstruating bodies and psyches, which flow in a very similar way as the moon. But it is also hard on any of us sensitive beings who wish to honor nature’s cycles within and without.

Reclaiming our shifting tides and emotional nature is a form of reclaiming lost power. It is a way of healing our lineage and transforming the world. Honoring the ebbs and flows we feel in body and psyche are powerful ways of coming into realignment with nature. We carry the Moon within us (all genders), and its power is available to help us evolve, grow, shapeshift, create and manifest with greater ease and authenticity- if we choose to tap into it.

How do you like to honor the Full Moon? How do you feel at the Waning Moon?

Share in the comments!

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Beltane Wisdom & Oracle Reading!

Welcome to the season of Beltane!

Beltane is the anglicized word for Bealtaine in Irish Gaelic which means ‘bright fire’ and is also the name of the month of May in Ireland. In Scottish Gaelic it is Latha Bealltainne. In Wales, it is called Calan Mai. In England and parts of Europe, it is May Day and in Germany it is called Walpurgisnacht.

Beltane is one of the four fire festivals, and thus bonfires are an important element of this celebration. The sacred smoke, ash and flames are used for cleansing and protection. A commonly held rural tradition was to light two bonfires and pass the cattle through the smoke to cleanse of bugs, bless and protect them as they went out into the summer pastures. The ash was sprinkled over crops for protection and used to protect the self and space as well.

This is a time of year when it was also important to appease the Fairies, as they are out causing mischief, so offerings were given.

As a season of growth and fertility, celebrations often include Maypole dancing, and fertility rites to encourage abundance.

Here in Canada, the buds are just starting to appear on the trees and new life is just sprouting from the ground. The sun is strong and the earth is warming up, with new life finally manifesting before our eyes!

Like young new shoots reaching for the sun, it is important that we too open to receive the nourishment we need to grow right now. This may mean feeding ourselves with nourishing food, rest, and positive, supportive people, online content and thoughts, as well as releasing things that drain us. Like with a plant, we must create the right conditions for us to thrive.

Once we do this, we may notice our own vitality and creative energy increases, and we become stronger and more resilient. Our ability to heal, to start new projects and ventures, to get out and socialize, are increased as well. It becomes easier to harness the energy of growth and manifest our dreams into reality!

If we have been feeling low energy, anxious, or impatient and desperately wanting to create change in our life, it can be helpful to ground our energy by reacquainting ourselves with the land. The Earth’s rhythms are deeply soothing and supportive to helping us reach our goals with greater ease, trust and enjoyment.

Each plant blooms in its own unique way and timing. We must honor the process of manifestation rather than getting too rigid about the goal and timing. We will get where we need to be with the earth as our guide. The land reminds us to trust the natural process, and to create sustainable, realistic goals.

It is a great time to get your hands dirty in a garden, go out for walks in the sunshine and open to the bounty the Earth is offering to you. Take in beautiful scenery, listen to the sounds of the birds or ocean waves, sit on the grass for a picnic or rest under the shade of a mighty tree. Give yourself permission to receive, to be nourished, and to experience pleasure. Let the wisdom of your senses lead the way forward!

The next several weeks are a great time to put your ideas, feelings and creative energy into tangible actions! The energy of manifestation is building, and the universe is supporting our ability to birth new creations into life. Tend the garden of your life in the ways that feel right to you. Make adjustments, create necessary boundaries, release the old to open up more space, plant new seeds, and cultivate ongoing projects to be in the shape you want. You are supported in all your endeavors now.

Beltane is about celebrating being alive, and joining our unique song with the song of the universe. What we put forth now will become part of our harvest later!

Your Beltane Oracle Card Reading:

Take 3 deep, cleansing breaths. Ask ‘What do I need to know now?’ and choose a card below. Alternatively you may ask a specific question about your life right now. Scroll down for its description. Words are of the deck’s author.

Seasons of the Witch Beltane Oracle by Lorraine Anderson & Juliet Diaz

Remember that number! Scroll down to find your card…

  1. Orgasm: Release

Thrust your body, elevate your spirit, open the gates to your renewal.

Release is a necessary part of life that you must give way to from time to time. When that does not happen, your soul becomes too overwhelmed and will seek release in more destructive ways. Never is this more true than with emotions: Lower vibrations such as anger, jealousy, and rage can consume you if they are left unchecked. You may think you are getting over what you feel by ignoring it or locking it in the back of your mind, but eventually your emotional baggage will seek another outlet and may manifest in self-destruction, illness, chaotic outbursts or other negative expressions of release.

An emotional release doesn’t have to be dramatic; there are many ways your can free yourself from the storm brewing within. Giving yourself to creative expression is a healthy way to channel darker emotions. Dance or cook or lose yourself in art, body expression or music. The medium doesn’t matter if it brings you a sense of freedom.

2. Boundaries: Self-Respect

Sewn into the parts of who you are for they are not to be crossed.

Self-love can be expressed in many different ways. Sometimes it needs to manifest in a spa day with girlfriends, getting up to exercise or sleeping later than usual, while at other times it manifests in a need to set and enforce boundaries so that no one person completely drains you of your energy. No one is allowed or even needs to take all of you; no one has teh right to demand all of your time, energy or resources or any parts of who you are. It isn’t selfish to want to keep some things for yourself, as doing so is a show of self-respect and an understanding that you cannot give what you don’t have.

Imagine trying to give more of your time when you don’t have enough in the day to do what’s already on your plate. Imagine spending more money when you’re already in debt or giving more of your energy to make someone else happy when you’ve been depressed for a long time. You have pulled Boundaries because you are giving too much of yourself away without recharging your batteries. You are encouraged to say ‘NO’ more often or the very least ‘Not right now’. Know that this is for the good of everyone in your personal orbit, that you will have so much more to give once you are in a proper place of balance. Additionally, make sure to follow through with any boundaries you’ve set, as other people will push your limits to see how much you’re willing to bend to their desires. Stay committed to yourself and stand your ground.

3. Phoenix: Rebirth

Summoned, your flesh rises from the ashes and into the expansive flame of your soul.

Phoenix is the ultimate expression of life, death and rebirth. She allows self-destruction to take hold, tearing apart the old so that a new, more enlightened being can take shape, You can see the intelligent process of the life and death cycle all the time- one season sheds into another, one day drifts into the past and allows a new day to enter the present; the bush loses one brilliant bloom so that a new rose can flourish.

Phoenix is lighting a blaze in your life. You are about to embark on a fresh journey, but before you can welcome the new, you must be willing to shed something old. Do not consider this process to be a sacrifice. Instead, consider it to be a trade in or an upgrade rather than a loss, for what you will receive in return will be much improved from what you have now. Even if you are happy in your current situation, pulling this card is a sign that there are bigger, better things just over the horizon.

Additionally, Phoenix represents a breakthrough or a significant change in circumstances. What you have inquired about today is nearly at its end. In this way, Phoenix represents hope for a new beginning. You may be the lucky receiver of a financial windfall, suddenly find the solution to a long-term problem or move past troubles in a relationship. Be at peace, for soon all will be well.

4. Growth: Expansion

Inside myself I’ve sewn beauty with wounds, which speaks of my immortality in the expansive eternal song softly bellowing in spirit.

In ancient times Beltane would have been considered to be the start of summer, the season of action, abundance, and energy. The universe will present you with opportunities in such a period of growth but you must be willing to meet opportunity with commitment and passion.

Make those calls, start researching and be ready to make your pitch when you’re put on the spot. Your dreams are out there for the taking but you must be willing to do the work to see them grow.

You have pulled Growth to remind you that success lies outside of your comfort zone. This card is challenging you to reach for things that are much bigger than you’d normally go for. Do not worry about the outcome, but instead focus on what you can do today to be one step closer to the goal line. Just as farmers have to do heavy lifting during spring pulling weeds, fertilizing crops and monitoring growth, you will also need to expend energy to reap your harvest down the road.

5. Sacred Waters: Healing

Drunken by the swell of the sea, I can feel the blanket of her embrace. Unafraid of the presence releasing the cords, I call her in, I call her deeply within.

This card comes to a reading when you are ready to heal wounds that have troubled you for many moons, perhaps lingering pains from things lost or the weight of the past that creeps up to haunt you at night. Pulling Sacred Waters is a sign that you will soon be renewed and your soul will release the cords that have bound you to memories of old.

You may not know what needs to be healed- you could be carrying baggage that isn’t immediately present in your consciousness- but the effects of such deep healing will become evident in the changes happening around you. Do not question the blessings coming into your life; they are here because you are slowly learning to wash away the blocks that have previously prevented such abundance.

Sacred waters reminds you to be gentle with yourself in the coming weeks. Difficult emotions or painful memories may surface, but this is your spirit bringing them to your awareness so they can be healed for good. If you do experience painful memories, allow them to wash over you. Do not try to overcome what you feel or allow yourself to feel guilty for what you’re feeling. Simply experience the wave, allowing it to pass at its leisure.

6. Rowan: Protection

There is no need to fear, dear one; protected you are and protected you always will be.

With success also comes envy and, sad as it may be, there are those who will seek to possess what you have. This is true even if you do not feel particularly successful. There are those who believe you are better and smarter and have something they do not. The good news about pulling Rowan is that you are protected and safe from any forces wishing to move against you.

Those who are seeking to bring you harm do not have what it takes to defeat you. Yes, you may need to defend yourself, but you have worked hard for what you have an you are more than capable of standing your ground. Push back against any adversity; knowing that you are supported by the universe in your fight. All will be well, and while it may be challenging you will emerge from this struggle unharmed.

7. Ribbons: Awareness

For it lives in the silk of my binding, the knots in my truth; the eye of becoming, the witness swallowed in stillness.

Dear sacred soul, Ribbons reminds you that you already know the answer to what you have inquired about. You are connected to your situation in a way that makes it clear what your next steps should be, so follow the signs- or in this case, the ribbons- and allow the truth of your query to come to your consciousness. Trust in your ability to see what you need at this moment. It may be scary or require more of you than you’d hope, but you can move forward with the knowledge that this path is for your greatest good and will lead you to success.

Additionally, pulling this card means the signs have been around you for some time waiting for you to invite them into your awareness. Be especially mindful of any colors, animals, numbers or feelings that crop up repeatedly as they are messages from the divine guiding you to the truth of your situation.

8. Honey: Sweetness

The sweetness of you swells in the grace of your pull, oh so beautifully lethal.

You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘You catch more flies with honey than vinegar’, which easily applies to manifestation, magick and even healing. Your soul attracts more with positivity, love and compassion that it does anger, frustration and sadness, so if you have found yourself in a period of unrest, jealousy, heartache or fear know that the path to healing yourself is through allowing sweetness to swell within your being.

Rejoice in the success and good fortune of others. Celebrate the good in your life rather than focusing on what’s wrong or broken. Find compassion and forgiveness for those who have brought you pain. Each act of sweetness, even if you have not felt much heartache and are currently experiencing a period of good fortune. The more you lean into kindness of heart the more increase you shall see return to you: an increase in love, wealth, health, or joy or all of the above.

Did your card resonate? I hope it did!

Wishing you blessings of love, ease, peace, health, joy, abundance and dreams birthing into form this Beltane season!

xo

Serena

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The Gifts & Challenges of Being an Urban Witch

As a highly sensitive, introverted witch who lives in a city with a population of 7.1 million, there are days when I long to get out of the city for some peace and quiet, to really immerse myself in nature and feel nothing but the love between the land and me.  

Like most of us living in Toronto, the usual things can be overwhelming- traffic, noise and air pollution, constant people everywhere and the workaholic culture can make it difficult to slow down and feel a rooted sense of belonging with the land.

I have been living here for the better part of 24 years and have learned how to thrive as an urban witch through connecting to the land and navigating the challenges and gifts of being a witch in a big city.

I wanted to identify some of these and give a few tips as well. These can also apply to anyone following an earth-based spiritual path, in any city you wish to connect more deeply to!

Why is connecting with the land we live on so important?

If you practice an earth-based form of spirituality, connecting with the land is central. Even if you don’t practice this form of spirituality, connecting with the land helps you feel more anchored in a sense of belonging where you live, it also helps undo and repair colonial ways of being and the damage it has done to our relationships with each other, the land and ourselves.

It is hard for me to talk about ‘the land’ as though it is separate from us. I use terms like ‘nature’ and ‘the earth’ because colonialism is woven into our language. But us earth based spirituality folks know that WE ARE NATURE too. We embody the land and are not separate from it. The trees, animals, plant beings and rocks are kin. When the land is out of balance, we are too. I feel language can be changed somehow to reflect this, yet I haven’t found the right words yet. So for now, I say ‘nature’ or ‘the land’ as though we are not all intertwined, but truthfully we are one. It is our birthright to remember this kinship and cultivate it- wherever you live and whomever you are!

There are many reasons why people don’t feel connected to the land they live on.  Especially in a big city, it can be easy to get caught up in the colonial, industrial system imposed on us and lose our sense of the heartbeat of the earth beneath our feet. The land wants us to connect, interact, to harvest its medicines (in sustainable, reciprocal ways) and be in relationship. It wants us to rekindle our sacred original kinship and contract. All we have to do is pay attention. Once we make the effort to be in relationship with land, we feel a sense of greater belonging to place and to each other.    

I highly recommend this short video by Robin Wall Kimmerer, discussing the importance of us connecting with the land from an Indigenous perspective, as it benefits us as well as the land itself to have an emotional and spiritual connection with one another.

Relationship with an urban landscape

local art reflecting the tree

Many spiritual, witchy, earth loving folks idealize living in a rural setting, in peace and quiet with the songs of the land bathing us in its love every day.

We may fantasize about living in a Victorian mansion with massive gardens and a greenhouse, like in the movie Practical Magic. Perhaps we dream of a little yurt in the woods, or a cottage on a secluded lake with loons serenading us under a night sky full of stars.

But the reality is, many folks need to live in cities for work, education, family, proximity to health and social services, spiritual reasons and more. Also, many folks thrive in cities. As much as I love being immersed in trees and quiet, my own guides keep bringing me here to Toronto because this is where my spiritual evolution and work needs to happen. This may change again in the future, but this is what it is for now.

So much of the witchy practices and rituals we are taught to do in books or see in media are done in a rural landscape, and yet so many witches live in cities. Here though, we may need to adapt our practice and work harder at it. This can make us feel like we are somehow ‘less than’ rural witches or lacking in resources, skills or spiritual vibrations necessary for magic- when this simply isn’t true!

Urban landscapes are FULL of life. Not just humans and cars, but animals and plants of many kinds. Also, remember, we humans are nature too! We are all one. Magick is just as powerful in the city as anywhere else. It may have even more magickal potential, because the city creates a complex nexus of energy. We are all very connected in this nexus, so if you are sending out healing, positive vibes, it has the potential to reach more people and beings in the environment. Likewise, we can receive a large variety of energies from this nexus, and this requires we develop skills to filter out some of the negative while cultivating the positive.

Deer at an east end urban park, Morningside Park

City energy moves faster than rural energy, which can mean that many of its inhabitants may be on a fast track of personal change and transformation. This can require a different approach to one’s earth-based practice, one that can help bring grounding and balance to the effects of such constant change.  

The challenges that a larger city brings has the potential make us a more focused, adaptable, creative and tolerant witch, because we are forced to do things a bit differently.

If you can witch in the city, you can witch anywhere. It’s the difference between practicing meditation in a calm temple, vs practicing it in a stressful situation, when you need it most. Meditation is meant to be applied in our everyday lives, just as we are meant to weave our magical practice into our everyday lives, not wait until we are away on retreat to do so.  

Witching in Toronto- Canada’s largest city

High Park, Toronto

Many folks outside Toronto love to hate on Toronto. The big city can be challenging and bring up strong reactions, some of which are reflections of people’s shadow rather than the city itself. Large cities hold a bit of everything and can act as a mirror of one’s issues.

Granted, life can be hard in the city. Cost of living, for one. But there are perks, like not needing a car, diversity, job and education opportunities, health services and social opportunities.

I wasn’t born and raised here, neither were most of its residents. It is the most ethnically diverse city in the world, with the majority of folks coming from elsewhere. Overall, I’ve really enjoyed living here because I am never bored, always learning new things and meeting amazing people! I am also aware of its many challenges, including affordability. It is however a city that encourages constant evolution and personal growth. It doesn’t let you stagnate. It will bring up your shadow, and move you forward, ready or not. This is not everyone’s cup of tea. If you are on a spiritual path and want to evolve, Toronto can be a gold mine.

I just want to address a few common witchy challenges I have encountered and tips. Some are specific to my city but you will likely have your own where you find yourself. Feel free to share your own city’s gits/lessons and witchy tips in the comments!

Some Challenges of Being an Urban Witch:

plant babies I grew from seed

Gardening: Herbs and plants are often eaten by squirrels, rabbits, bugs, trampled on or peed/pooped on by people’s dogs and cats.

Tip: Plant-growing needs extra attentiveness, openness to learning and patience. There is little we can control about others’ behavior or animals in the city. We just have to let go and keep learning. I get a pro gardener to check in with my garden once in a while. It can also be helpful to talk with neighbors about their gardening tips too as they have the same struggles!

Food offerings: Food for the land and/or other spirits put outside may immediately be eaten by raccoons, squirrels or rabbits. Should we even bother?

Tip: Offerings placed outside must be carefully considered for animal safety. Research what is harmful to local animals. Food offerings for spirits can be placed inside the home with intention, then outside later once the spirits have gotten the energy they need. Also, squirrels and raccoons are part of the land here, so their spirits strengthened by our offerings helps the land too! Alternatives to food offerings include– herbs, our energy, kind words, song, poetry, water, cleanup of the nearby area, creating something in their honor. If we haven’t brought anything physical with us, there is always our love, our touch, our breath, words and intentions! The land and spirits respond to all these things.

Apartments/condo living: This can make plant care challenging- Those lucky enough to have balconies are limited to container gardening or can’t grow many varieties due to lack of sun outside, and many live in dark basement apartments.

one of my plant windows- north facing/lower light

Tip: Relate to fewer plants more deeply, find low-light tolerant ones. Relate to herbs and local plants by getting out to visit them in other locations in the city in parks and gardens. Many varieties grow in the parks and valleys here.

There is also the issue of noise which can make some aspects of witchy practice tricky to do without disturbing others or being disturbed by others. Noise-cancelling headphones are helpful. Drumming and chanting can be done outdoors in a park if need be due to intolerant roommates or neighbors.  

Roommate issues: It can be tricky to practice with roommates, such as dealing with allergies to herbal smoke or conflicting spiritual beliefs.

Tip: Our fellow humans offer us challenges to make us city witches stronger, more creative and adaptable. Use smoke outside only, create essential oil sprays for indoors. Find common ground between differing beliefs, yet stand your ground for your right to your practice. These can be very challenging lessons. Often the folks in our lives are meant to teach us by bringing up an aspect of ourselves we don’t like. Shadow work is part of the spiritual work of a witch. How can we stand our ground while also respecting others? How can we integrate our wholeness? Healing some of our fears of persecution and the shame from the Witch Wound can be helpful in navigating boundaries and compromise. You may wish to read my post: Healing the Witch Wound.

Moon Rituals & other outdoor rituals: Placing crystals or water outside to ‘bathe in moonlight’ may be more likely to be bathed in streetlamp light, car exhaust, and tons of traffic noise or collective emotional stress. Placing something outside can absorb very chaotic energies on any given day, depending on your location. This may not apply to you if you’re in a quiet neighborhood away from traffic.

Tip: Maximize the positive vibes of your indoor space. You can catch the moonlight indoors from a windowsill or spot in the room. Put things outside when the vibes are good, and then bring things inside again if the energies shift for the worse. If the full moon has really chaotic vibes outside, wait a night or two, or keep the crystal on a windowsill. Better to have absorbed more positive vibes overall than a chaotic full moon. I also feel it is ok to absorb both artificial light mixed with moonlight. We can’t have it all. There are also other ways to charge our crystals and water! Sunlight is a lovely option, as well as using our own positive energy with our hands and heart. You can sing a song or a spell and emanate energy through your hands. I do this with my water and crystals all the time. We are nature too.

Willows- Centre Island, Toronto

Communing with the land in public spaces: Many trees and bodies of water often happen to be public spaces full of other people with little privacy or quiet, making tuning in challenging.When I lived more rurally, it was easy to just walk to a forest or a trail and not see another soul for an hour. That rarely happens in Toronto. I maybe go 30 seconds without people walking by in most nearby urban parks. There may be sirens and horns blaring, music blasting, kids yelling, or garbage trucks vrooming in the background. This teaches us to filter outside noise and activity and really deeply focus our attention and listen to the trees, water, or land we are connecting with. It takes practice.

Tips: I often do my walks at night or times when there are less people around. Winter and bad weather days are also easier for tuning in. I stick to parks and places that are safe in off-hours and invoke spiritual protection when need be. Cemeteries are another great option as they are usually quiet and full of spiritual energy! As city folks, we have to learn to filter and block out certain stimuli and tune into others. Practice blocking out the noise and tune into the water, tree or rock you are connecting with. You will eventually get really good at focusing and receiving energy very quickly and efficiently. I bring earbuds to plug in my ears while I commune with a tree in a noisy public spot.

Me on the Seaton Trail in Pickering

Communing with nature in public can feel embarrassing or like you’re a weirdo: I understand. It’s taken me years to figure out how to commune with the land without being too obvious about it, especially if I am out with my teenage daughter who gets embarrassed by me easily.

Tip: I eventually had to accept that I simply AM a weirdo and that’s totally ok! Cities are full of weirdos, making it even easier to be one. Release shame. This is an opportunity to heal the Witch Wound. If I let my embarrassment stop me from connecting with the land in public, I would never have the chance to at all. I have no choice but to stop caring It’s so worth it! But if you’re still feeling limited by this, try just casually sitting by a tree and pretend you’re looking at your phone. Then, once you’ve tuned into the tree, you can easily type what the tree is saying to you in a notes app.

The stimulation and others’ energy can be overwhelming and stressful: Yes, I totally empathise, as a highly sensitive introvert.

 Tips: Boundaries, cleansing and protection! This is probably the biggest difference between an urban witch’s practice and a rural witch. We have to have boundaries, cleansing and protection practices as part of daily life or we can suffer. You wouldn’t go out in January without a coat. Don’t leave your home in Toronto without your energetic protection suit. This may be why urbanites like to wear black. It helps protect our energy. This is why we don’t give our attention to every random person we see, that would be extremely exhausting. We need to be selective and clear about what we will and will not do with our precious energy. Keep strong cleansing practice and do this daily, such as smoke cleansing, showers, breathwork and other energetic techniques. Follow this with a protection practice. Practice your ‘resting Witch face’ and a very quick extra-protection practice if you find yourself in a sketchy situation. I work with animal allies and visualization for this. I may also wear protective crystals and carry herbs for protection in my purse or on me.

Me wearing my typical black in Salem, MA.

To sum up, challenges connecting with the land and practicing as an urban witch can teach us lessons in: Adaptability, patience, letting go of control, getting creative, getting along with others & doing our shadow work, dispelling shame, healing the Witch Wound, cleansing, boundaries, focus and protection. These are witch skills that when cultivated, make us much stronger! We are not only cultivating a relationship with the land, but the other humans inhabiting it with us. This is in and of itself a bundle full of gifts gleaned from our urban witch practice.

Now, onto some gifts of witching in the city…

The Gifts of Being an Urban Witch:

Toronto Beaches sunset

It’s easier to find other witches or witch-friendly events and spaces: In a big city, it’s just easier to be yourself. You can wear all the black and pentacles you want and no one will stare at you or judge you. You can even wear a witch hat and or sparkly cape on a normal day. You may find strangers who happen to be witches strike up a convo with you on the subway or grocery store. I have met witches and had interesting spiritual conversations with many random people just based on a piece of jewelry I was wearing or a witchy button on my bag.

Tip: We can find each other easily in big ponds, if we’re willing to express ourselves just the teeniest bit! Wear something that starts a conversation. Go to witchy gatherings and shops to meet some like-minded folks!

Some Toronto witchy shops: Ram & Rebirth, Old’s Cool General Store, Gifts from the Earth & Geologic, The Plant Mystic, Happy Soul, The Rock Store, Alternity, The Hermit’s Lamp, The Occult Shop.

It’s easier to cultivate a specific witchy interest: Because there are more diverse folks in the city, we are more likely to find others who share our specific interests. In a smaller town, you may have to be more broader in your interests to connect with others. All things spiritual can get lumped together like chakras, astrology, mediumship and spellwork. In a large city you can find someone who shares your obsession with Ancient Egypt, Sigils, Chaos Magic or Welsh Gods and share with others in-person through friendship, workshops or clubs. Online communities are great for this too, of course, but lack the in-person connection!.

Tip: Look for specific workshops or gatherings around your interest in your city. Or, just start your own club or Meetup group!

Great diversity and access to wildlife and parks: Did you know Toronto has one of the largest urban parks in North America? Yup, the Rouge National Urban Park in the east end is beautiful.  We have many accessible urban parks by public transit such as High Park, the Beaches, Trinity Bellwoods, Sunnybrook, Dufferin Grove, the Toronto Islands, The Humber River, Scarborough Bluffs, Morningside Park, and many more. We also sit right on Lake Ontario, which is the 14th largest in the world. We also have a great ravine network that offers many opportunities to connect to the land and local wildlife.

I see more ‘wild’ animals on a daily basis in Toronto than I ever did living rural. On a given day, I will see at least several of these animals: Squirrels, racoons, opossums, foxes, coyotes, deer, beavers, turtles, muskrats, salmon, hawks, owls, bats, rabbits, mice, rats, ducks, pigeons, swans, ravens, crows, vultures, blue jays, cardinals, finches, and tons of other beautiful birds and mammals and fish! The wildlife here is used to living amongst humans and therefore less shy and more visible. The plant life is just as diverse.

Rouge National Urban Park

Tip: Look up parks and trails in your city. Look for walking groups, plant-lovers, and bird watchers. There’s a whole world of non-human kin that are waiting to connect with you!

Toronto-based nature groups: NANPS, Protect Nature TO, High Park Nature Centre, Toronto Nature Lovers Meetup, Toronto Field Naturalists.

There’s a rich history to explore: Because cities grow over time, they have a very rich and interesting history, which adds to the well of energy coming from the land itself as well as all the man-made structures. One of the things that has transformed my sense of belonging in my neighborhood was learning about its history. I live in what was once its own town called East Toronto, which was a central station for the Grand Trunk Railway and used to have a large horse racing site. Knowing the history explained a lot about the energy I felt here. I learned from the local historical society that offers walking tours and now can feel the magic of the past emanating from the buildings and land that surround me. I also encourage you to learn the Indigenous history of the land you live on- this is key to understanding how we got here and the work still needed to repair these relationships with land and each other.

Tip: Learn the history of where you live. There are layers of energy emanating from the land as well as the man-made structures. Feel the magic of all the lives lived and the ghosts of the past offering us information and support for moving forward. Participate in local ghost tours and history tours of the city (ie: Haunted Walks Toronto has historical info as well as mystical). They are fascinating!

Toronto Historic Tours and info: Heritage Toronto, History of Toronto, Beach & East Toronto Historical Society, Haunted Walks, Toronto History Walks Meetup group.

Tkaronto Indigenous history & learning: First Story, Events at NCCT, Indigenous Studies @ York U, Indigenous Studies U of T, A collection of resources by U of T.

The city strengthens your weak spots: Perhaps the biggest gifts we can get from practicing in the city are from the challenges it offers. We are forced to be creative, adaptable, tolerant of humans, and sharpen our witchy skills to be more focused, practical and efficient. It is really nice to get out of the city to just rest and be open to the songs of a forest, or feel the beauty of a quiet lake. But, I realized over the years that what I really needed to cultivate was not my sensitivity, thoughtfulness or openness, I was already good at that. I needed to learn things like boundaries, cleansing, protection, efficiency, patience and focus.

Tip: Discover what your gifts are and what needs work. Use the city’s challenges to strengthen your weak spots.

 You cannot be lonely if you are connecting with the land: I recently saw a news article stating that Toronto was ‘Canada’s loneliest city’. I find this very sad, as I have had the opposite experience living here, but it is also understandable. The pandemic changed how we socialize, and this is not specific to just Toronto. Folks are now going out less and staying at home more. People turn to social media instead of calling a friend and going out or trying out a new class or club. I think this loneliness however is also deeper than connecting with other people– it comes from a longing to feel connection with the land and a sense of belonging to place. My feeling is that this malaise has more to do with dominant culture becoming so removed from the land. This is more palpable in a large city than in a small town because there are more distractions.

 Tip: My remedy for loneliness is first and foremost to connect to the land. Find a nearby tree in a local park and tell it your story. Make friends. Bring it an offering. Go to the lake’s edge and tell it your pain- the waters will listen and offer their love. Learn from local events or Indigenous centres about this land and its history. Join a nature group (see above for recommendations). Spend more time outside connecting with the land itself.

Morningside Park

Greater appreciation for nature in all its forms: When I lived in a smaller city and in a rural setting, I could meditate in the woods for an hour and feel completely safe and just soak up the wisdom of the trees. I gathered a sizeable collection of raven and crow feathers with ease.  Because this became so commonplace, I began to lose appreciation for it. When living in Toronto, I feel so blessed to find a bird feather, appreciate every little garden plant, and often say ‘thankyou for being here’ when I pass by the older trees especially. In the city, you never know when one of your tree friends will get cut down suddenly, so you savor every moment with them.

Getting outside of the city for a weekend or longer is a great way to remember how easy it can be to connect with the land, and help you stay inspired to keep at it in the city.

Tip: Appreciate every tree, every bird, every quiet moment. Appreciate the cacophony oh humans and land interacting, merging, blending, dancing together. All is nature. All is temporary. All is life.

We need the land and the land needs us. Let’s find ways of cultivating relationship with our fellow kin in the human and non-human world. Let’s open up to the possibility that we are not separate, but beautiful expressions of the same divine patterns. Let’s remember our original kinship and make our practice a reflection of that remembering.

Even the smallest action, such as picking up garbage in a park, offering a tree kind words of gratitude, or just slowing down enough to hear the birds’ singing brings us home to that belonging we all crave so deeply, that is a driving force behind our earth-based practice.

What gifts and challenges have you experienced connecting with the land in the city? What have you learned?

Toronto Beaches- Great swimming!

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Imbolc Wisdom- In the Belly We Grow

We are now entering the season of Imbolc, celebrated in early February. The word Imbolc comes from Gaelic meaning ‘In the Belly’ referring to the peak of lambing season in the UK, where the ewes are pregnant and/or nursing their young.

The goddess Brigid, who later became St. Brigid is venerated this time of year. She brings new life and fertility to the land, as well as healing and inspiration to our lives. As a goddess of fire, she is associated with the hearth and smithcraft as well as poetry and inspiration. She awakens the earth and the spark of life within us to be reborn anew.

Here in Canada, it is often our coldest time of year with everything still under a lot of ice and snow, spring seemingly eons away. Yet, the light is noticeably increasing, bringing us the hope and reassurance that indeed spring will come!

Funny enough however, here in Toronto, I saw snowdrops sprouting through the ground last year at Imbolc! I had never seen them so early, as it was a very mild winter, the warmest on record, I believe.

Snowdrops in Toronto in February 2024

Snowdrops are a common Imbolc symbol of hope and new life in the UK as they begin to sprout at this time. I am not sure we’ll be so lucky to see snowdrops here this year, but even if we don’t see the physical evidence of new life sprouting, we must have faith that life is forming, incubating, and stirring beneath the ground, just waiting for the perfect moment to be born.

Imbolc is very much a season that asks us to cultivate faith and patience. There is so much we just can’t see yet. Trust the process. New life is stirring, forming, becoming. We must hold space for some mystery yet and allow for some things to unfold in divine timing.

This is an incubation period energetically, but it is not passive. In fact, it is a perfect time to strengthen and nourish ourselves for the journey ahead. It is a ripe time to gather our resources and prepare. Not from a place of fear, but from a place of love and hope. We must tend to our inner strength and light. This might mean prioritizing self-care or positive connections, anything that brings us a sense of inner peace, happiness and warmth.

This is a wonderful time for gentle nurturance of new dreams, goals and aspirations that may be stirring within. It is a time for some tenderness and care as we are not quite who we were and not yet who we wish to become. Allow for innocence and childlike dreams imaginings to surface, for they may become seeds of rebirth. Honor your inner child.

Imbolc is the season opposite Lammas, held in early August. Both times of year are considered times of preparation. At Lammas, we are harvesting the outcome of our work and toil of the warm months and gathering our resources for the inner journey coming in fall. We separate the wheat from the chaff in our lives, give thanks for all we have and begin to slowly draw our energies inwards as the darkness increases.

At Imbolc, we have come through an inner journey and are preparing to slowly come out of our cave and into the light, as the sunlight increases. We have gleaned wisdom from the dark terrain we’ve traversed and must decide how we’d like to put that into action in the world. We cannot rush the process, but can use this time to sift through our dreams, visions and yearnings and decide what will see the light of day in manifestation and what will wait in the ethers for now. This requires some receptivity and deep listening, as we turn our ear to the whisperings of our heart and soul.

Brigid reminds us to tend to the creative spark within ourselves. This light is our unique essence, love, and medicine we carry. The world needs us to shine. We each have a purpose. We all matter right now, and the more of us that are lit up inside, the stronger we become against the powers that strive to keep our light diminished.

Energetically, love is extremely powerful and brings us together to make us stronger. I am not talking about romantic love (not specifically), but rather a universal love, the love that motivates us to shine our light in the world, to care for others, and for the planet, to create works of art, to start movements and communities. While we can’t be in a state of love all the time, cultivating it in small gentle ways within ourselves and then connecting with others who share that love increases our ability to move mountains.

Whether it is people, a cause, the earth, animals, a creative or spiritual practice, tend to that which you care most about now. This increases your power. Also, let yourself receive love and care in return! We all have nurturing ability within us, and we also have that nurturing energy available to us through the Earth, the Goddess or Divine Mother energy. Let yourself receive what you need.

I invite you to imagine we are literally in the belly of the Goddess, held and nurtured right now. We are not who we were last year and not quite who we are becoming yet, but we are changing, and we are growing.  She is holding us safe and helping us become who we are meant to be with her divine love that is available to us all.

There are some unknowns of what life will be like in the future. During these times we may feel restless, impatient, and want to control some things that we cannot control. We may ignore the things that are completely within our control. We may wish to see things we are not yet meant to see or look away from things we must see. We may wish to jump into new life before we are ripe and ready for it.

While we may feel like we need to make everything happen now, or we just simply wish to escape to anywhere but here, there are other ways to use the energy of this time:

We can begin to envision the future we’d like to experience. We can prepare ourselves, mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually for what we wish to create or cultivate in our life. This might look like:

  • Resourcing ourselves with love– Connect with loved ones, friends, kindred spirits, pets, nature, a passion or cause you care about. Who brings warmth to your heart? Can you let yourself receive it? Where can you offer love to others? Becoming aware of our connections and networks help us forge a supportive container for our creations.

  • Healing our wounds, doing our trauma work and releasing blockages that are holding us back. What do you feel is preventing you from living the life you desire? What can help you heal and move forward? Baby healing steps make a big difference! Notice how far you’ve come already. All types of healing are well-supported during this season.

  • Looking for inspiration in new places, spaces and people. What helps you feel inspired? Music? Art? Nature? Spiritual ideas? Open to new sources that feed and brighten your inner fire. They just might be the seeds of your magnificent manifestations in the future.

  • Experimenting with small shifts in our habits, thought patterns, diet or our daily life. What helps you feel more energized? What could you release to feel lighter? Every small thing you do for your own energy right now will serve you well in the months to come.

  • Planning, visioning, brainstorming- This is a great time to tinker with ideas you want to manifest in the future. Is there a creative project you wish to begin? An experience you wish to have? A community you wish to start? Sketch it out, write it down, envision it happening, make a draft, start the foundation.

  • Cleansing, clearing, making sacred space- Your space reflects your inner self. Optimize the energy in your home or space by getting rid of clutter, fixing broken things, redecorating or changing the energy to reflect your goals. Create an altar or make changes to your existing one(s).

  • Awakening your inner Hearth- Your own energy field requires cleansing and protection too. Become aware of the flow of energy in your body. Is there an area of your body that feels blocked or rigid and needs softening? Or an area that needs a bit more light, energy and vitality? Bodywork, energy work, chanting or meditation practice can help. See resources I created below to help your energy flow!

I have created a couple of Imbolc resources for you. A chant and a meditation:

Chanting helps to open up our creative energy channels and ease the flow of expression. May my ‘In the Belly’ chant inspire you to sing along and help you move forward gently through these times:

Lyrics:

In the Belly song lyrics:

In the belly we are, in the belly we are, in the belly we are transformed again.

In the belly we are, in the belly we are, in the belly we are reborn anew.

In the belly we are dreaming

In the belly we are healing

In the belly we are nourishing

In the belly we are strengthening

In the belly we are, in the belly we are, in the belly we are transformed again.

In the belly we are, in the belly we are, in the belly we are reborn anew.

In the belly we are reclaiming

In the belly we are remembering

In the belly we are reweaving

In the belly we are rewilding

In the belly we are, in the belly we are, in the belly we are transformed again.

In the belly we are, in the belly we are, in the belly we are reborn anew.

Awakening the Inner Hearth Meditation:

Here is the meditation I created that we will do together at our upcoming Imbolc Circle followed by a ritual and craft. May it support your Imbolc journey this year:

May we turn to face the direction our heart is pulling us to and trust that what we seek is also seeking us. May we find our way forward with clarity.  

Remember that you ARE the light, the flame, the warmth of the hearth. In the belly of the Great Mother we grow and patiently await our rebirth!

*If you are in the Toronto area and would like to celebrate Imbolc with me, register for the upcoming in-person Imbolc Circle: Awakening the Inner Hearth at my home on Friday, Feb 7th, 2025 @7pm!

Much love and bright Imbolc blessings,

Serena

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Coming Home to Ourselves- Hearth Craft & Belonging

So much of my spiritual path is entwined with coming home to myself and cultivating a sense of belonging within and in the world.

Many years ago, I became interested in hearth craft, which was a way to integrate my witchcraft into my largely home-centered life working from home and as a mom.

On the surface, some might think hearth craft to be a bit mundane or repressively domestic. But this is not the case, and over the years I discovered just how deep and fulfilling this path was, with immense healing potential on both a personal and collective level.

Hearth Craft is the practice of weaving magic into your home and daily life. It embraces being present with mundane tasks, gratitude & simplicity, and creating spiritual sanctuary in the home. The home is seen as a reflection of the self- and caring for it physically and energetically is just as important as caring for yourself. It honors the home as a sacred container for our nourishment and becoming.

(You can learn more about hearth craft in this blog post)

Being a hearth witch is also more than making home-keeping rituals a sacred practice or creating a sanctuary in your physical space. While these are deeply meaningful practices of hearth craft, I feel there is very little discussed about some of the larger spiritual themes of this path, which can be a part of any spiritual practice.

This brings me to the question- what is ‘home’, anyway?

My sense of ‘home’ is not only contained within the walls of my house, or a geographical location, but exists on other planes. It includes my spiritual sense of connection with all of life while also feeling rooted on this earth in my body and in my emotional wholeness- the light and dark within myself. 

I feel that my original home is spiritual. It is the feeling of being at one with everything.

The separation from our spiritual connection with all that is, is a separation from our first home.

Coming back to that spiritual sense of home and belonging is not something our modern society makes very accessible.  

I would say we as a species are in a crisis of belonging. Due to the industrial machine we live in, we all have a wound around this. Modern life encourages separation from each other, from the earth, and from our spiritual nature.

For me, the hearth witch path is about cultivating the feeling of spiritual oneness within myself and manifesting it in the world around me. I concentrate my magic not only to the physical home, but into becoming a hearth of spiritual remembering for self and others.  

Along this path, I’ve been cultivating the art of coming home to myself- to my body, my roots, my ancestors, my spirit, and the land I walk on.

I invite you to explore these 5 spiritual themes of my hearth craft path to help you feel a greater sense of home and belonging:

  1. Remembering our spiritual home
  2. Coming home to our body & the energetic hearth within
  3. Reconnecting with our kin in nature: the elements, plants, animals and other allies.
  4. Ancestral healing & reconnection to our roots
  5. Reclaiming the value of home & hearth keeping from patriarchy
  1. Remembering our spiritual home:
Lake Ontario

Like many people, I always wished to feel I truly ‘belonged’ somewhere. My instinct has often been to look outside of myself- to groups and communities, to geographical locations, to workplaces, to movements and causes, to even other times and worlds- you name it, I’ve looked for belonging there. Yet, in this seeking, I often missed the real feeling of belonging, because I felt I couldn’t fully be my authentic self in any place. I knew I needed to find belonging within myself first and foremost.

It’s often through taking some time with a nearby tree, or sitting silently by the lake, or reconnecting to one of my spirit allies, that I remember Spirit flows through me every day, and everywhere I go. I am home all the time, wherever I am, it just takes a moment of remembering. We often simply need reminders that our sense of home is not necessarily a place in the external world- our home lives within us.  

We all come from the mystical source of life, however you call it- the Universe, the Great Mother, God, Creator- this is our first home, which holds the feeling of oneness with all life that we long to return to. We are just visiting here on earth, and we long for that home our spirit remembers.

This Earth, I feel is meant to be a reflection of our spiritual home. It currently isn’t in great shape, however, because so many have forgotten our original home and have abused this reflection of it. It needs our care and still offers itself to our memory, to help us come back to being in good relationship with it.

Our longing can eventually become our belonging, if we remember where we come from and strive to keep coming home to that memory within us. Then we can weave that memory into the land, into our relationships, work and creations as best as we can, and let it serve as a beacon of remembering and coming home for others.

Questions for reflection:

What if our desire to belong comes from spiritual home sickness?

What if we are meant to re-create that spiritual sense of home here on earth in our own unique way?

What helps you come home in a spiritual sense?

2. Coming home to our body and the energetic hearth within:

The Hearth Within

The word ‘hearth’ is very special to me and warms me up inside. It contains both the words ‘heart’ and ‘earth’, depicting the sacred connection between both. I feel the hearth is where our heart meets the earth, where our love manifests in physical form to nourish and support us.

I also feel energetically the hearth holds a womb-like quality, reflecting our first physical home in our mother’s womb.

The sacral chakra, which is the energy centre that also houses the physical womb, has often been referred to as our lower heart. It is the heart’s sensual, earthly counterpart. In Sanskrit, the sacral chakra is named Svadisthana, which means ‘in one’s own abode.’

My inner hearth is a warm, loving, nurturing energy and tends to feel strong in the sacral chakra and in my heart chakra as well as the crown chakra. Others may feel it quite differently, which is all good and well.  

Often, to feel our inner hearth, we can think about what ‘lights us up inside’, and notice where we feel that in our body.

What awakens love, warmth and that feeling of spiritual home within your body? Sometimes visiting a certain place in nature, cuddling a pet, hearing a song or type of music or doing something nourishing helps us kindle the flames within.

It took me a long time to feel a sense of being at home in my body. There are so many factors, especially trauma, which can make this challenging. It can take time investing in a mind-body practice or healing support. It may also spontaneously arise when in the right frame of mind or situation.

Another aspect of cultivating the hearth within is to pay attention to our need for boundaries and self-protection. I take on others’ emotions very readily and have had to learn how to cleanse and protect my own energy field. This is something I practice daily as well and recommend as part of cultivating one’s energetic hearth.

Questions for reflection:

What lights you up inside?

Do you feel a place of warmth and love in your body physically or energetically?

What does ‘being at home’ feel like in your body?

3. Reconnecting with our kin in nature- seasonal cycles, plants & animals, the elements & other allies:

Me and a tree friend

Coming to this earth from our spiritual home can be disorienting. Essentially, we ‘forget’ where we come from to some degree and are not given a clear set of instructions, schedule or map.

We are left to find the breadcrumbs ourselves, to hopefully connect with our kin here in earthly form- our soul family- and allow our memories to resurface.

Our soul family may include other humans, as well as animals, plants, trees, rocks, bodies of water, places on the land itself, and other spirit helpers all serving as reminders of home. We all come from the same place, after all. Our soul family can rekindle our inner hearth-flames of remembering, and help us become a beacon of remembering for others.

There have been many places and beings in nature that have helped me greatly over the years. For example, since I was a child, I always felt most at home when I was near or in a body of water. I always felt the sacredness of the water element. Whenever I am near a lake, ocean or river, I remember that I am part of everything.

Swimming- especially in lakes- is one way that I can instantly feel a sense of belonging again. To a lesser extent, during the winter months, I rekindle that feeling by taking baths. Perhaps it’s the memory of living in surrounded by water in the womb. Or maybe it’s a deeper, more ancient connection to coming from the ocean. Either way, connecting with the water element is a very easy, quick way for me to regain a sense of belonging when I feel alone.

Living in a big city with millions of people, I have had to be quite intentional about seeking out allies in nature to rekindle my sense of belonging. Thankfully, Toronto has lots of trails, parks, critters and sits on the edge of beautiful Lake Ontario. We always have a reminder of home nearby.

Also, the energy of all the humans in the city, while overwhelming at times, can also increase our chance of finding other humans in our soul family. Even if we haven’t met them yet, there are likely others a lot like you who have found their way here.

Questions for reflection:

Is there a place in nature that helps you remember your belonging to this earth?

Is there an animal you’re drawn to or have a strong relationship with? A tree that helps you feel at home?

Who in your life feels like soul family?

4. Ancestral healing & Reconnection to our roots

Returning to our roots

Learning the stories of my ancestors has greatly strengthened my sense of belonging and feeling at home on this planet. So many of us have been removed from our roots and our elders, displaced for many different reasons. This is one of the reasons I feel we are in a crisis of belonging.

I wasn’t really interested in my ancestors much until around the age of 30. Then, thanks to the internet and a keen aunt, uncle and other relatives who loved genealogy, I was able to find lots of information about my relatives with ease.

Slowly over time, I collected photos, stories, names, and scrapbooks. I am still learning more every day about my ancestors. There are definitely things that have been passed down to me that I feel proud of. And some things, like inherited wounds, I am working on.

For the most part though, getting to know my ancestors not only on paper, but spiritually- through prayer, talking with them, going to their lands, speaking their language and honouring them in my daily life has been a balm to my soul.

Not only has my relationship with my ancestors helped me– by showing me just how loved and protected I am, reminding me of my gifts and helping me feel more rooted with purpose here on the planet- I feel it has helped them, too.  I feel their joy and relief when I connect with them. I feel like they’ve been with me my whole life, just waiting for me to hear, listen, pay attention to them. When I do, they get positively giddy, and that warms my heart so much.

I feel hearth craft is essentially an ancestral-reclaiming practice, because in a very short span of time-maybe only a generation or two for some of us- daily life went from cooking over an open fire, hunting and fishing off the land, farming, sewing and washing by hand, to modern technology doing most of our chores for us and food sourcing shifted to large corporations. Hearth craft embraces a reclaiming of the old ways, reconnecting our lives to the land and to the crafts and wisdom of our foremothers.

Many of my ancestors on my mother’s side were homesteading pros. Voyageurs, Metis and French Settlers who lived across Quebec, the Great Lakes and the prairies, they knew how to build a home and community from the ground up in various landscapes. They lived off the land, and some even formed a village, St.Leon in Manitoba.

Some of my ancestors/relatives from St.Leon, MB

Some of my foremothers bore up to 16 children all the while working hard to survive the harsh prairie winters. Some spoke French, English, Cree or Michif. They had tough lives, a strong faith, a good sense of humor and took great joy in playing the fiddle and spoons, writing, singing and dancing. They put me to shame with my modern convenient life, but inspire me deeply with their joy, resilience and strength.

When I feel lost or lonely, or like this world is too much, I can rest assured I carry their gifts within my blood and bones. They overwhelm me with gratitude.

Questions for reflection:

Do you feel a connection with your ancestors or the lands they walked?

What gifts and strengths were passed down to you?

How do your ancestors help you feel a sense of belonging and home in this world?

5. Reclaiming the value of home & hearth-keeping from patriarchy

me & my daughter in 2009, Manitoba

While much has changed since our foremother’s times, women are still under immense pressure. We’re expected to ‘do it all’ and somehow do it perfectly and happily, which is humanly impossible.

I sometimes feel the hardship, pain and lost dreams of my foremothers, as they had to make many sacrifices to ensure survival of their families. Having been raised in the 1980s and 90s, I absorbed a lot of mixed messaging around what a woman’s role should or shouldn’t be- as independent woman, mother, wife. Basically, whatever we do, society won’t find it acceptable, and there is always a sacrifice of some kind.

We are always subject to criticism, whatever our choice or circumstances are in regard to having a family, career and value in this world. Patriarchy still has a hold on us, and this requires some unpacking and healing.

Deciding to embrace hearth-keeping as a sacred calling in my life brought up insecurity and wounding. Internalized social conditioning had me belittling the ways I weaved magic into my home and family life. I felt I was not doing enough to save this very messed up world. While I always worked or volunteered in some way serving the community at large, I always felt like what I was doing for my home and family wasn’t considered valuable work and I should somehow be doing more, even though I was exhausted.

Tending the home and hearth was held sacred through much of history in many cultures. While patriarchy designated this area of life to women and devalued this work to keep control over us, the home has never ceased to be a foundation upon which everything else stands.

Our early experiences with home, nourishment and love from our early caregivers deeply influence who we grow up to be. While we and many of our foremothers have known this, having all the burdens of emotional, physical and mental labor placed on women is unacceptable. Social systems are still deeply lacking in support for parents, elders, those in caring professions and caregivers in many ways. These roles are part of the hearth-tending needed in society at large.

Sacrifices have always been part of the package. While sacrifice is noble and sometimes necessary, martyrdom is not. I’ve had to unpack this inheritance from my own lineage and conditioning quite a bit.

My hearth

I wish to invite us back to an expanded view on what the hearth is. It is very much a feeling of being home and belonging- an energetic quality, which is not limited to the walls of our dwelling. It is an energy we can cultivate within ourselves, and in our interactions with the world at large. We can create a hearth energy in our workplace. We can cultivate a hearth in our intimate relationships, communities and those we care for in various ways.

Whether you bring your love, magic and nurturing energy to your house plants, pets, home, partner, friends, children, co-workers, clients, customers, a cause, passion, art form or a special place on the land, you are feeding the hearth fires that keep us all going!

It’s really about your intention and the energy you bring to what you are doing.

Also, remember that in order to be the hearth for others, your own inner hearth needs stoking first.

Reclaiming the value of home and hearth keeping is about finding out what it means to you, rather than what society or culture thinks. We can experiment. We can use it as an opportunity to heal broken lineages, childhood wounds, start new habits and transform our relationship to it.

How do you feel about home keeping and domestic work? What perspectives did you inherit or absorb from society/culture about it?

How does the idea of hearth-keeping as a sacred act of care for self and others sit with you?

How does hearth-keeping show up in different areas of your life?

As I mentioned before, for me, the hearth witch path is about cultivating the feeling of home within myself and manifesting it in the world around me. I strive to concentrate my magic not only to the physical home, but into becoming a hearth of spiritual remembering for self and others.  

May your your inner hearth fires be nourished and burn brightly!

xo

Serena

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Letting Go of Spiritual Boxes & Embracing Your Unique Path

Life is full of ideals and expectations about who we should be- and this also goes for who we should be as a Witch, a spiritual person, or a follower of a certain tradition. Sometimes these come from the current culture and trends, other times they are passed down through generations or through long-held traditions. Often we internalize them.

While sometimes ideals and expectations help us grow, other times they hold us back and become a stifling box that we struggle to fit into or get stuck in over time.

Social media floods us with specific ideas about what being a Pagan, Witch or having a spiritual practice should look like or be like. These days there are pressures to fit your spirituality into an existing aesthetic, to create an entire brand around it and spend many hours a day making inspirational yet illusory content to gain followers which now includes a lot of AI generated stuff.

This isn’t to say that everyone making spiritual content is expressing something inauthentic, fake, or is stuck in a box (myself included here!) just that this is an expectation that social media puts puts on us. This can lead to some unrealistic ideals as to what a witchy life really is and what it actually looks like. It really is time consuming as well, and I’d rather be doing my spiritual practice than trying to fit it into social media’s tiny boxes for consumption.

Glamour and Illusions

Seven of Cups- Not all is as it seems, choose wisely

Most of the images we see in media can be deeply inspiring but not necessarily a reflection of our daily reality. Images of women in hooded shawls meditating with ancient standing stones, dancing in white dresses in misty forests, or drawing handmade Tarot cards by candlelight are beautiful and inspiring, but can set an impossible ideal of the ‘magical life’ that folks may feel they need to attain to be a ‘real witch’.

While my own practice includes rituals of card-pulling, nature walks, yoga , meditation, chanting or journeying, it’s not necessarily aesthetically pretty, upholding an ideal nor something I feel is meant to be shared.

Sometimes my practice looks like lying in my pj’s journaling a disturbing dream, ugly-crying through old emotional pain the shower or breathing a quick and desperate prayer on my way to sleep after a stressful day.

My practice also looks like vacuuming, washing dishes or cooking a meal with intention. Sometimes it’s just doing nothing, taking a nap or cuddling my cats. It’s also asking existential questions while I look blankly into my fridge for the answers, or tuning in to my inner wisdom while standing in line at the grocery store or sitting on the subway.

I hope to remind us all, whether a newbie or experienced on the path- that magic is everywhere, all the time, including within us.

Your spiritual or witchy practice can be anything you do that brings meaning into your daily life. Mindfulness and intention are what can make a seemingly routine or mundane action, like eating breakfast, magickal.

For example, you can eat your breakfast with gratitude to the Earth Mother and connect with your food’s origins. As you eat, you can give thanks to your body and appreciate it. You can recite a daily affirmation, receiving the positive energy of the words as nourishment with your food.

Living a spiritual life can be as simple as integrating meaning and perspective into your daily existence.

Magickal practice is called such because it is like working a muscle, a repeated remembering of our wholeness and power, which can be called upon in times of stress or suffering.

It’s also about being true to you and honest with yourself. Your practice may fit into an existing tradition or current trend just fine. Until maybe it doesn’t. Then it’s ok to step out of the box!

Some examples of trying to fit into a spiritual box:

Eight of Swords- Free your mind, free yourself
  • Portraying your spirituality on social media to please an algorithm, gain popularity or fit into an aesthetic: You don’t need to conform to these expectations or share everything. Some spiritual experiences are meant just for you and not others.

  • Conforming within a spiritual group or tradition that conflicts with your true values: Perhaps you’re attracted to something within this group or path but there are things that make you feel uneasy or like you have to put away or hide an important part of yourself or your beliefs/values to follow it. This will eventually make it really hard to stay or move forward.

  • Sticking to a ritual, practice, tradition or path because you feel you should, even if it isn’t resonating with you anymore: Perhaps you’ve always done something one way and it used to support you but now it feels meaningless or like you’ve outgrown it. It’s ok to evolve out of something! Commitment and repetition can be strengthening and supportive, until it’s not and you need to change it up somehow.

  • Following spiritual trends to be trendy: Is this helping you grow spiritually or is it stemming out of ego, or a need to belong and be accepted? Or, is it just not truly resonating with you?

  • Following a teacher that isn’t really helping you grow: Maybe this teacher is highly recommended, or popular with others. But if they don’t resonate with you, your values, or they raise red flags- you don’t need to stick with them.  

  •  Engaging in a spiritual practice because it helps you avoid reality: Spiritual bypassing is a common trap on the path. It may feel good at first, but ultimately asks you to not love or accept your whole self- light and shadow. While we all need some time out from the heaviness and negativity of this world, I feel the purpose of spiritual practice is to help us live our earthly life with more presence, meaning, and faith, rather than avoidance.

One thing I have learned over the years is that I need my spiritual path to allow me to be who I already am, as well as who I want to be. In my light and my darkness. In my bliss and in my daily responsibilities.

It does however, take some time and experimentation to figure things out. So, don’t feel bad or beat yourself up if you’re stuck in a box. These lessons are part of the path! They make us wiser.

Following Traditions vs Forging Your Own Path

Eight of Cups: It’s ok to leave it behind and follow the call to a new horizon

I’ve often felt like something was wrong with me for not feeling 100% devoted to one path, one tradition, one deity or pantheon in my life. I wondered, was I too weak, lazy or not committed enough to keep going in that one direction? Why was I failing? Why did I always feel I was hitting a wall and unable to keep going? Why couldn’t I just find ‘the one’ path for me?

My Spirit would only lead me so far down an existing path before guiding me elsewhere. My mind would get confused by this. I didn’t want to be someone who just dabbled, or took spirituality lightly. Truthfully I wasn’t someone like that. But what my Spirit was showing me, was that I didn’t need to be more committed to an existing path, I needed to learn to commit to my own unique path and my own intuition, rather than the path I was immersed in at the time.

I often spend years immersed in one tradition before I move onto another one and do the same, like a serial monogamist. But these days, different aspects of my many paths (which are all under the Pagan umbrella) come and go as needed into my daily practice, and they’ve kind of formed their own beautiful tapestry where I can easily access an entire thread if need be.

I appreciate and respect wisdom traditions, teachers and the roots of spiritual practices. I respect those who’ve forged paths before me. But I am here to forge my own path. I let my intuition guide me, which comes in the form of a strong internal pull coupled with signs in my life pointing in that direction.

As we get older, I think most of us understand that life is too short to waste our precious time and energy squishing into stifling boxes, or pretending to be someone we are not. We also learn to embrace the limits of our energy and the curveballs thrown into our path.

Spiritual growth is never linear for me, and so my commitment is to my own process of becoming wiser rather than to a fixed set of beliefs or teachings.

Quieting the Inner Critic & Letting Go of Control

The Hanged Man: New perspective is gained from surrender and letting go

As August brings with it a reflective vibe (and Mercury retrograde), I have been assessing my ‘progress’ on my dreams and goals I made at Imbolc and have been hard on myself for where I’ve fallen short.

I started scolding myself for not having met a creative goal I made at Imbolc. In fact, I haven’t even started the project. Instead, my body and soul called for some deep healing, cleansing and rest. I’ve learned to listen to this call when it comes.

So, I spent the last month focusing on healing with a liver and diet cleanse, as well as some shamanic and energy healing with my healers, which brought up some past life pain and emotions. I am just coming out of this process and am a bit exhausted, but also much lighter and freer, energetically.

Another Imbolc goal I had was to gain more herbal knowledge, but instead of intentional study, I have been spending hours with my indoor plants dealing with bug infestations and out in my garden trying to save my Mugwort and other plants from hungry rabbits.

I learned through months of trial and error that nemetodes are a decent remedy for fungus gnats, and rabbits are very sneaky. I suppose this has furthered my knowledge in a certain way, just not in the way I’d intended!

At Lughnasadh/Lammas, I didn’t do any traditional baking of bread, nor did I hold a circle, because I needed a break. I celebrated Lammas in a more internal, reflective way this year, but criticized myself for ‘not doing enough’ anyway.

Conditioning runs deep!

Just because we have a tradition of baking bread at Lammas doesn’t mean we have to do that. Just because we had a beautiful plan or goal, doesn’t mean circumstances and timing support it. We may like to think we can manifest things we want, but sometimes the universe has another (better) plan.

Many folks are drawn to witchcraft because they want to feel more in control of life or circumstances. They want to have the power to manifest their desires. Yet, I’ve learned all we can really control is ourselves and how we respond to what life puts in front of us. Our inner work is really where it’s at.

Over the years, my practice has moved away from manifestation and spell work and towards my inner work- healing and shadow work, as well as surrender, and embracing the Mystery. This is where my path has taken me and it has helped me grow.

It doesn’t mean we are any less of a witch or spiritual person if we do things differently than someone else or how culture dictates it to us. You don’t need to do spells, grow herbs, chant, worship deity or wear shawls at dusk in the forest, to be a ‘real’ witch. Witches come in all forms, and magick does too.

A Full Moon Calling for Freedom

The Star: Aquarius, pouring the waters of inspiration on Earth.

I am writing this as we head into a Full Moon in Aquarius on August 19th- the sign of liberation from outmoded boxes, traditions and expectations. This full moon is brimming with the energy of freedom, inspiring a change in perspective and the release of chains that we may have wrapped around ourselves or boxes we are ready to climb out of-mentally, emotionally, physically or spiritually.

It may feel tense or unsettling, like we are being pushed out of our comfort zone and there may be some resistance. Know that we don’t need to overthrow our whole life, of course. Even a small adjustment to an existing container can have profound effects.

This is a great Full Moon for bringing our awareness to where we can release some tension or stagnancy- a massage would be great, or softening some mental knots and listening to the unique song that is only ours within our heart.

It can be helpful to journal, move, exercise, dance or process your feelings in expressive ways. Listen to your inner voice and remember that you are the creator/creatrix of your own life. Release any chains or old stories that hold you back.

Reflection questions: These can apply on the mental, emotional, spiritual or physical level.

Where might I need to loosen up a bit?

Where am I forcing myself into a box that just doesn’t fit?

Am I clinging to any outmoded ideas about myself, my life or my spiritual practice that are no longer serving me?

What structures or containers are supporting my growth and which are not?

What small adjustment can I make now to allow more space to be myself, to move, flow or grow?

I hope that whatever path or practices you embrace, they nourish you deeply and give you the spaciousness, support and freedom you desire.

Can you think of a time you felt stuck in a box- a spiritual or mental expectation or ideal that was holding you back? How did you free yourself? Please feel free to share in the comments!

xo

Serena

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Winter Solstice Wisdom + Oracle Reading!

Winter Solstice is a point of peak darkness. The longest night whispers to us to draw deep within, to go quiet so we can hear the call of our soul song.

The hushed blanket of night reminds us that in the dark there is much we cannot see or understand with our conscious mind- But we can feel, sense and ‘know’ what we need to, by tapping into our wise instincts and intuition.

Seeing in the dark requires different faculties than in the daylight. Instead of relying on surface appearances, logic and analysis, we must awaken to the wisdom of our body, heart and intuition to help us navigate the moment. We must honour and integrate our inner needs into our decisions about the future.

With Mercury retrograde, the end of a challenging year and Pluto nearing its end of a 15-year cycle in Capricorn, we are in a place of deep transition and reflection over these next few weeks. We are closing a chapter in preparation for a new cycle.

The past may now rear its head in many ways, reminding us of lessons we’ve already learned, things we’ve accomplished, what worked and what didn’t. Unfinished business may come up to be tended and released. Some things may naturally dissove or end, clearing space for a new chapter. The events of this time may serve to remind us of who we really are and how we’ve changed over time.

Acceptance is a word that keeps coming to my mind. This is a season for accepting the choices we’ve made, learning from the mistakes and painful experiences. We are urged to take responsibility for our lives and create the one we want to live, one small step at a time.

We’re in Crone/Elder season, and the Wise Old Ones remind us to be patient with ourselves as we process all of this. Take it slow, no need to rush, they say. Your healing and renewal are a necessary step towards growth. Sometimes we need to stop moving and simply be still or even take a detour to the past in order to move forward again.  

Crones from the Wisdom of the Cailleach Oracle by Jane Brideson

The Old Ones may gaze sternly into our eyes, reminding us of our potential and urge us to stop habits that are holding us back- whether it’s letting negative self-talk, fears, old trauma or boundary issues control us.

They may gaze at us with lightheartedness and childlike joy, reminding us of the simple pleasures we may take for granted in our busy lives.

The Old Ones see deeply into our soul- our pain, longings, fears and insecurities. They take our hand in theirs and remind us that we are never alone. We are loved, and we too are Wise Old Ones in the making.

They ask us: How is this moment helping you to become wiser? What has this past year taught you?

If you wish for some inspiration/support to help you integrate the year’s lessons, read on for some oracle guidance…

Winter Solstice Oracle Reading:

In the spirit of the Old Ones, and Wise Crone energy, I’d like to offer you a reading from the ‘Wisdom of the Cailleach’ Oracle by Jane Brideson.

The Cailleach, also known as An Cailleach, An Cailleach Beara or Beira, is the Irish and Scottish Hag of Winter and Old Woman who shapes the land. She is responsible for storms and nasty weather, making mountains and preventing thaw. Her name means ‘veiled one’. She is associated with the cold, barren months of the year, while the goddess Brigid or Brìghde, is associated with the fertile, warm months.

Cailleach’s energy is strong this time of year, so let’s take heed of her wisdom.

Choose one card as your message of inspiration for this season…

You may wish to take a moment to ground and centre yourself first and ask “What do I need to embrace this Solstice?” Then Choose.

Wisdom of the Cailleach Oracle by Jane Brideson

Once you’ve chosen a card, remember its number and then see below for the description! Descriptions in italic are from the author, Jane Brideson, followed by my own words.

  1. Fire Pit: Passion-Sacrifice-Creativity
  • Passion, anger or strong emotions
  • A sacrifice or an opportunity to release the past
  • The spark of creativity, increase in enthusiasm and vigour.
  • A time of power and intensity

Imagine you are sitting outside at a sacred fire pit on a cold winter’s night. As the flames dance and sparks fly, what do you feel? What ignites your own sacred flames within? The fire calls us to be brave, courageous, authentic. There’s no more denying how you really feel, or who you really are. It’s time to express yourself and channel your energy into productive, yet authentic actions. Time to do things that feed your passions and your physical energy. Feel yourself warming up from the inside out, your inner flame burning away false pretense and old selves. It is time to rise, to transform, to create anew!

2. Possibilities: Trust-Hope-Potential

  • Hopes, dreams and plans for the future.
  • Trust that all will be well in this moment.
  • An opportunity to explore your potential.
  • Time of optimism and freedom.

Imagine yourself bundled up nice and warm, standing in a peaceful forest under a starry winter sky. Gaze up at the beautiful vastness above you and allow yourself to feel the wonder and awe of a child. This is a big, wild universe, and sometimes we forget how much we have yet to experience and explore! Ask yourself ‘what if-?’ and let your imagination wander. It is easy to get stuck in limited thinking patterns as we grow older .This card asks you to open up to more. Let the perceived limitations fall for a moment and seek new possibilities for growth and expansion! What does your curious self wish to explore? Where can you expand your view of the world?

3. Ancestors: Origins-Forgiveness-The Past

  • Your roots, your ancestors, your heritage.
  • Lessons learned, time to move on.
  • Understanding and forgiving your former self.
  • Time to leave behind your past, old patterns and beliefs.

You come from a long lineage, which has brought you here today. What sings in the memory held in your blood and bones? We carry both trauma and gifts from our ancestors. Sometimes it can feel like a heavy weight, as we carry the past into the present. What inherited patterns are not serving you in this lifetime? What is it time to transmute and heal? What gifts have you been given that are asking to be expressed more in your life? Perhaps a little journey into the past is called for in order to move into your bright future. You hold the power to change the story and make a brighter path forward for your descendants and the generations to come. What legacy do you wish to leave behind? Your ancestors surround you in love and support you now on your path.

4. Harvest Hag

I am rowan berries on a thread, fleet footed hare beneath the moon, the keen-eyed, reaping blade.

I am the seed, sickle and the sheaf, ebb and flow of land and sun, life’s waxing and decrease.

I am your call to roam across the land, to fill your arms with grain and fruit, to reap your golden harvest, laughter, love and tears.

Gaze into the wise eyes of the Harvest Hag and be reminded of your own resourcefulness and abundance. You hold all that you need to create the life you desire. The sickle represents discernment and respect for that which you are reaping. Only take what is needed, and leave the rest to flourish on the Earth Mother’s body. Life is cyclical, and there are times to reap and times to sow. What abundance exists in your life? What bounty do you hold but have not yet put to use? What latent talents or abilities can you cultivate to help you move forward? Like the hare, you are fertile and can create abundance wherever you put your energy. Harvest your gifts and weave new magic!

5. Tribe: Community-Celebration-Support

  • Family, chosen family or community
  • The mutual support, comfort and help of friends
  • Undertaking responsibility and assisting others.
  • Time to celebrate and share with others.

You are not alone in how you are feeling. There are others who share your struggles and longings, who resonate with your energy, and await you in their circle. It may be time to let go of certain beliefs about yourself that hold you back from connecting with others. Perhaps you are afraid of an old pattern repeating or a wound re-opening. Perhaps you don’t feel you have anything to offer. Put these ideas to rest and remember your worthiness. It is safe to take the first step in re-connecting with your soul family. Join a class, a community event, or reach out to a friend for a phone call or cup of coffee. Join an online community if there is nothing local. Find others who share your values. We are stronger together!

6. Sun: Joy-Energy-Prosperity

  • Happiness, warmth and good health.
  • Good luck, success, a positive outcome
  • A time to enjoy sunlit days, a holiday.
  • Time for pleasure, fun and play.

Has life gotten to heavy or serious lately? While there will always be some heaviness in life, it doesn’t mean you need to carry it all the time. This card wants you to lighten up and create space for more light-heartedness and joy! If the lack of sunlight is affecting your mood, try using a full-spectrum lightbulb or visiting an indoor garden. Light candles, string up some extra holiday lights or add some fresh colours into your home. Perhaps it’s time for a sunny getaway or some more leisure time to do what nourishes you. Pleasure is our birthright and a certain amount is necessary in order to help you reach your long-term or serious goals. Time to release the burdens you no longer need to carry and make space for fun, lightness and laughter! Your body, heart and mind will thank you.

7. Mound: Solitude-Withdrawl-Inner Focus

  • Need for solitude and privacy
  • Meditation, an inner journey.
  • Withdrawl into your inner world.
  • Time for contemplation and assessment.

The sacred journey inward beckons. You have given your energy to the outside world plenty, and now it’s time to focus on your inner self and your spiritual path. There are times in life where we cannot go forward or grow until we stop and take the time to do our own healing. Most spiritual practices involve a time of withdrawl or solitude away from the bustle of the outside world in order to hear the inner voice and come to a greater self-understanding. It is in these journeys that we can process our past, accept our present and contemplate the future, gaining a fresh perspective on life itself. The wise know when to turn inward to find the satisfaction they may have been seeking outside themselves. Create a sanctuary for your soul, protect your boundaries and delve into the mysteries of your inner world.

Wisdom of the Cailleach Oracle by Jane Brideson

May you be held in the loving embrace of the Elders and Wise Ones this Solstice.

May you find comfort, hope and peace as the longest night births the light again.

May your inner wisdom grow!

xo

Serena

Heeding the Call Inward at Equinox

Autumn calls us inward, urging us to release that which we no longer need, and gather what sustains and nourishes us for winter.  Autumn is not only a season outside of us, but an inner season as well- one that favors deep spiritual renewal and growth.

As we descend from the lighter half of the year into the darker half, we are invited to tend to aspects of ourselves we may have neglected over the summer months. We can integrate shadow parts that may have cropped up into our awareness, as well as discover hidden seeds of wisdom and new creative beginnings within our soul.

Like the acorns that fall from the oak to the ground now, creative ‘seeds’ are planted in our energetic womb for incubation, growth and birth in the light half of the year.

This is where it’s important to slow down so we can hear our inner voice, sense the deep longings of our soul, and allow for these seeds to find fertile ground within.

What has been whispering for your attention lately?  Is there a part of you that perhaps has been neglected, forgotten, or simply not given a voice?

As we prepare for the inner journey, we must pack light.  We don’t want to carry any burdensome energy drains with us into winter. This is the season to lighten our load, simplify and release. Let our emotions bubble up and into our consciousness to be transformed. Let any excess be composted into the soil. Create space.

What are you carrying on with that is draining your energy? What can you let go of to lighten your load? Can you simply sit and be with your feelings?

We are invited to be open, embrace change, cry, grieve, to feel it all and let it move through us; To enter the realm of mystery, shadow, longing, and hidden gems of passion that we’ve forgotten.

A cool breeze can awaken new inspiration or a jolt of clarity on your daily walk. The falling leaves may bring up an old grief or a reminder of the fleeting nature of life.

Rather than trying to cling onto the familiar or hold rigid to ideals and old habits, autumn teaches us to simply allow things to shift and flow into their new form.

Surrender is our superpower. Gratitude is our anchor.  

Gratitude & Grief- They Go Hand in Hand

Autumn Equinox is also called ‘Witches’ Thanksgiving’, as it is the harvest season. It is a time of gratitude for the abundance of the Earth Mother, for the support we have in our lives, for all the good things, big and small.

The harvest season can be a time where we reap what we have sown in our own lives- projects, relationships, personal growth etc. We can reflect on our efforts of the last several months, notice what has bloomed and produced, as well as what didn’t.

We may have grief to process, and an awareness of what we need to accept or let go of, existing alongside gratitude for what we have lost, as well as what we still have. While seemingly odd bedfellows, grief and gratitude go hand in hand.

Gratitude often helps us flow through grief. Gratitude can act as an anchor for us during times of change, reminding us that we are taken care of and loved even when things feel chaotic or challenging.

After a very hot, chaotic summer, I am even more grateful than usual to be at this point in the Seasonal Wheel. It’s been a busy time of obstacles and setbacks in most areas of my life- work, home, relationships and personally. It’s been a year of disappointments, frustrations and waves of burnout for me, accompanied by lots of shadow work. To be honest, I’m pretty exhausted. Yet, each day, taking time to feel gratitude is helping my energy come back. Focusing on the love and abundance in my life shifts me out of negative thinking patterns around what didn’t work out and what is naturally ending.

I’ve been making a point of walking more and simply taking in the beauty around me. The cooler air has been a harbinger of clarity and renewal. A reminder that new seeds are awaiting, and my spirit is calling me on an inner journey.

What do you feel grateful for?

The Power of Pause

Over the summer, I was keenly aware of my need for darkness, coolness and quiet. As is typical for me in summer, I slept terribly, didn’t have much alone time, and operated mostly in survival mode, as I don’t do well in hot weather and excessive sunlight. (I’m more of a night plant or winter-bloomer!)

I knew I needed to have that quiet space to hear my spirit speaking. But as I often do, I let life’s busy-ness override that need. I kept putting it on the backburner- knowing I’d have more time later.

Now that it is later, I have the time, but I’ve really had to coax myself to slow down and allow for the necessary pause. It’s been a practice working on letting go of the need to fill free moments and instead hold space for my spiritual renewal.  

Energy seeks to fill empty space, so it is important to open to receiving what you need, while having an intention. In my case, I wanted to hear what my spiritual life was asking of me. So, I opened to that, and almost immediately, my spirit whispered to me my next steps, which was to take an upcoming course on Welsh Goddesses and to continue learning on my path of Welsh Witchcraft.

What has your soul been calling for? What can you shift in your daily life to honor that?

Nurturing Boundaries for Energetic Health & Integrity

Over the last two years with The Cauldron Goddess, I have found it challenging to balance creating spiritual content and offerings while also tending to my own spiritual needs.

My spiritual path is very personal and dear to me, and there is pressure these days to share everything all the time, with the public, constantly, which I feel is unnatural and invasive. Also, as an introvert, I don’t get the dopamine hits extroverts do off social media. I find it exhaustingly inauthentic, and irritatingly manipulative of people’s desires for validation and attention.

Leading an online existence is draining for me. So, I have paused posting online and drastically lowered my social media scrolling for several weeks now and I am much better for it! Reclaiming my spiritual need for privacy, living in the moment and experiencing life in 3D has been a positive shift. These boundaries have helped me feel more nourished by my spiritual practice, and more relaxed in general.

I will still post online and share in my blog, but only on my own terms, rather than in service of an algorithm or social pressure to be a content-machine. I will decide what and when to post based on how authentic it feels to me.

Are there boundaries you’d like to create to support your energy or personal integrity at this time?

Letting our Harvest Ripen in its Natural Timing

When it comes to spirituality, I like to take my time, years in fact, to fully digest what I learn and experience before sharing it with others, especially if it’s in any type of ‘teaching’ capacity.

Over the last few years, I have been learning Welsh, studying The Mabinogi and learning from Welsh Witches, Druids and scholars in the ways accessible to me. I went on pilgrimage to Wales, am learning about Celtic history and have been keeping a consistent practice in devotion to the Goddess Cerridwen. There has been a lot of inner growth and change related to this, however, I rarely share my experiences in these matters publicly, despite the name of my blog and social media pages!

This is because my sense of spiritual integrity demands time for integration and ripening. Boundaries and privacy are necessary to allow that ripening of creativity and wisdom. Sharing unripe fruit with others not only tastes bad but can cause indigestion.

I’ll only share something when it’s ripe and ready. Everything I share is something I have been working with for some time already, (years), and feel confident about.

My recent reflections have made it clear that I need to focus more on my own path for a bit so I can bring new insight and offerings to The Cauldron Goddess. If you hear from me a bit less, that is why. But I encourage you to stay tuned, as I will bring any ripe fruit to the table from my harvest!

In the meantime, I continue to trust in life’s natural cycles, and urge you to do the same, even when in a difficult season or phase. The wheel only keeps turning and each turn brings us new experiences, wisdom and inspiration. Every plant has its own timing in which it flowers or bears fruit. Some plants bloom only at night, and some only produce colourful berries in winter.

There is no such thing as a barren season. Every phase has its fruit- whether on an inner level or an outer one. You only need to tune into your unique cycles.

What is ripening in your life? What still needs some time before harvesting? What is going to seed? Can you patiently embrace this phase for what it is?

I wish you much love, healing and gratitude during this harvest season. May whatever phase you find yourself in bring you into deeper wisdom and inner sovereignty. May you enjoy your unique bounty to its fullest!

*If you’d like to read my post from last year’s Fall Equinox on Dancing with Our Shadow in Relationships, please read it here.

Thankyou for reading,

Xo

Serena

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Being Present & Embracing our Inner Seasons

I talk alot about cycles- seasonal cycles, astrological cycles, moon cycles, and the menstrual cycle.

I’ve always found it fascinating how our own psyches and bodies are mirrored through these cycles around us. Knowing that whatever we are struggling with is temporary and part of a natural cycle, is deeply comforting. Understanding the nature of the energy we are dealing with and how to work with it rather than against it can be so empowering.

Aligning with the cycles of nature can be a healing act of resistance, too. When we remember we are nature, we tap into a power that our capitalistic cultural conditioning seeks to suppress.

But, we are complex beings. Sometimes how we feel doesn’t match the season or phase we are in.  Just because it is summertime outside doesn’t necessarily mean we are feeling happy, expressive and social and aren’t experiencing grief, loss, or death (so-called ‘winter’ feelings). Just because it is the waxing moon doesn’t necessarily mean we feel energised and creative. We can have our bleeding time at any moon phase, even if bleeding resonates with the dark/new moon. We can experience a relatively chill and relaxing Mercury Retrograde or chaos and delays when it is direct!

This is partly because there are several cycles happening within us and around us at the same time- for instance, we could be going through a long Saturn transit (planet of restriction & loss) that goes on for years, and it overlaps with a season of abundance, or a transit of benevolent Jupiter.

It’s also partly because we are not meant to always look for explanations and answers outside of us- in theories, systems and patterns. Sometimes, we’re just meant to experience life in the moment and not overthink it! Sometimes, we just need to embrace whatever our current feelings and needs are and listen to them, and trust they are part of our growth.

Embracing our Inner Seasons and Cycles

None of these cyclical systems- astrology, the seasons, or the moon- is a perfect template for our life, nor is our understanding of them meant to be rigid, or fully understood so we can control our lives and make them foolproof.

After studying and living with this awareness for so long I feel that it is impossible to fully understand how cycles overlap and play into our lives. Leaving life to the Great Mystery is part of the fun, as well as a key spiritual ingredient to our growth and wisdom.

Increasingly, I’ve been feeling our human analysis of ‘how this cycle is supposed to go’ can be a trap that prevents us from flowing through our own phases more organically, in a more honest, authentic way.

Oftentimes in life, simply knowing ‘this is a temporary phase’ is enough. Remembering that death and rebirth happen simultaneously, and that energy is always changing is enough.

It’s ok to be in whatever phase you are in, for however long you need to be. It’s ok to flow back and forth between phases. There is no right way or wrong way. It doesn’t have to match up with anything outside of yourself. Your experience may resonate with a seasonal or lunar energy, or it may not, and it can happen any time, and its all good. It’s part of your path. You are not doing life wrong or misaligned somehow if your plans don’t match up with the moon or you’re not feeling the effects of Mercury retrograde!

Information vs Wisdom Gained from Experience

I’ve been thinking about this whole thing more lately because there’s been a huge increase in astrologers, psychics and witches- and all kinds of random people without any astrological knowledge or study behind them- talking about astrology, the moon and sharing information online. Some of it is parroted info, lacking in any substance or actual knowledge of its complexity or delineation.

I see lots of superficial cookbook associations such as ‘Venus retrograde means it’s the season of the ex!’ ‘Leo season means it’s time to sparkle!’, ‘Plant your intentions, it’s a fabulous new moon!’ (even if it’s under conflicting aspects). I know that friendly bite-size bits of info are all folks want to consume these days, so I get why this is a trend. However, it bothers me that this is where it usually stops.

I started studying astrology formally with a mentor with the Canadian Association for Astrological Education in 2001. Social Media wasn’t a thing back then. We were fringe-y weirdos into hidden knowledge. Ever since, I have been continuing to learn and live the knowledge, which gives a more nuanced perspective than when you simply read an article and parrot things other astrologers say for your own online content. When you study the cycles in-depth, you realise you have to actually live the knowledge and experience it yourself before you can say you know it or understand it. And even then, you still can’t truly know the secrets of the universe or even fully ever understand any of it.

The more I live it, the more I realise I don’t know. I also realise how spiritual systems of understanding are quite limited and can hinder our spiritual growth by encouraging us to continually measure our experience with external patterns, or gaze towards the future instead of fully being in the present. Especially since so much of our existence is online now, I feel it is more important than ever to instead gaze within and live more in the present 3D moment.

Being Present & Leaving Space for the Mystery

What makes life what it is, is its mystery. We’re not always meant to understand it or feel we can control it.

In witchcraft and astrological communities online, I repeatedly see the message that when the season is ripe, we should grab the bull by the horns and go for it! Every new moon, we are reminded to plant those seeds of intention. Every full moon, we’re told to release, let go, or watch what we say to avoid drama. I’ve repeated this narrative too, of course.

But, my practice has been shifting away from harnessing energy to create a desired outcome and instead just flowing with the energy and experiencing it within myself with no agenda.

This idea that we need to harness the energy around us at all times- do something with it, create with it, use it, feels kinda capitalist and colonial to me. I get that it can also be empowering sometimes, so I don’t mean to diminish that, but the messaging often feels steeped in our cultural shortcomings- The fear of being rather than doing, the fear of resting and not producing- and perhaps our biggest fear- being fully present within ourselves.

I feel it is too easy in today’s witchcraft to fall into this trap of needing to be in control, to overly focus on manifesting, to keep ‘using’ nature’s cycles to get what you want, and to spend more time creating online witchy content than living your actual witchy life.

What if we live fully in the moment? Without analysing, or striving to understand its context or place in the whole. What if we spend less time doing and more time being? What if we stop looking outside for validation and listen to the whisperings within?

My practice has steadily been shifting away from manifestation towards surrender over the years. It’s more about connecting with myself and my environment more deeply, rather than spellwork or ‘harnessing the energy’ all the time. I’ve been spending less time online in favor of staying present within my body and self.

I have been outgrowing practices I used to do and making shifts to honour where I am at now.

Midlife Weirdness and my Inner Fall-Winter

I feel I have been in a ‘fall-winter’ phase within for the last few years. My creative and social drive is low, my sensitivity, introversion and spiritual antennae is high.

My solace is the cave of the Dark Goddess, merging with the fertile darkness of Her womb, where all life begins. Cerridwen has been my companion through this. I have been in a process of simplifying, clearing and turning inwards.

I am in a particularly challenging phase of parenting, as my daughter nears her 15th birthday. I have hit middle age, and my role as mother, as partner, as healer and all the things I identified with is changing.

I am aware of my current astrological, hormonal and life cycles. However, this awareness hasn’t really helped me navigate the path as much as I would expect. My mind wants to analyse and understand but it is being quieted by my heart and soul who just want to experience. I am making space for this transition and doing my best to simply be present rather than grasp at activities that distract me away from it.

I can’t see more than this very moment in time right now, so I am embracing this call inward, this call to self, to letting what needs to fall away go.

I am letting go of my need to know and trusting the mystery before me no matter how strange and uncomfortable it is.

I trust that this process will help me on the next step of my journey.

Being called to the Cauldron of Change and Rebirth

There are times when the metaphorical cauldron calls me to deepen my spiritual lessons. I envision this cauldron as much larger than me, sitting in the earth, tended by Cerridwen.  I sit on the edge and dangle my feet in for a while, testing the waters. I may stay there for days, weeks or months, just slowly dipping in, one part at a time, like entering cold water, gathering the courage to let go of the rim and drop all in. Cerridwen is patient with me, most of the time.

I try to go voluntarily or else I know I may just get pushed in. I currently feel I’m headed in for another journey. I’m already quite immersed, I just need to let go of the rim. I don’t know how long it will be, or where it will take me, of course. Not knowing is key to its purpose.

Letting go is a practice. It takes practice to really tune into our internal creative rhythms and listen to the call of our soul- especially if it doesn’t align with our idea of where we ‘should be’ or with our environment.

Change is the only thing we can rely on. This is always a bit uncomfortable for me to accept.

What season are you in?

The seasonal energy I feel within is on the dark side- it resonates with the Last Quarter Moon, the Fall, Midlife, The Enchantress and the planet Pluto. Yet, it is none of those, exactly. This is my own unique experience, my own personal ‘season’- the spiritual phase I embody, as I type this under the high noon July sun and waxing moon. My season is my own.

I am on a journey of renewing my creative energies. Composting the past and incubating new seeds of growth for the future.

Following our creative rhythms takes courage, as it can go against well-worn patterns we’ve become stuck in, or the outside world’s demands- to constantly and consistenly produce and share all the time.

But as a creative soul, I know the importance of doing what is necessary to renew my energy, to keep my creative waters flowing without stagnating. To regain inspiration and motivation requires change and many journeys inward and down to the deep.

Is there a particular aspect of your life, where you feel in a reflective winter phase? A blooming summer phase? A change-filled spring or release of fall?

How do you feel when the focus of your energies is quite different from the energy around you?

What spiritual practices ground you into this moment?

If you are interested in learning practices for renewing your creative energy, as well as celebrating the season of First Harvest, please join me for my online circle on Tuesday, August 1st for First Harvest Circle- The Cauldron of Creativity! This will be my last seasonal circle before I take a pause to renew my creative energies. More on my journey to come, I recommend you sign up for my newsletter below for details.

Wishing you acceptance and love as you move through whatever phase you are in!

Xo Serena

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Healing the Witch Wound

What is the Witch Wound?

Healing the Witch Wound is a bit of a hot topic these days, which I feel is a good thing, because it means folks are waking up to a call deep within to heal ancestral pain and reclaim their power.

The Witch Wound is a layered, collective wound rooted in our ancestral memory and our DNA from persecution and death related to colonisation, the burning times, patriarchy, capitalism and religious extremism. It is a deep and collective ancestral wound we all may carry to varying degrees, and for many, it is still carrying a traumatic charge.

The Witch Wound can manifest in our current life as several fears, including fears of:

  • Speaking up or speaking our truth
  • Persecution
  • Being different or an outcast
  • Standing in our own power
  • Success or being in the limelight
  • Trusting our intuition
  • Our body and it’s natural functions
  • Being feminine, female or gender non-conforming
  • The wild/nature
  • The unseen and spirit world
  • Pursuing a spiritual or alternative lifestyle or profession
  • Calling yourself a Witch, Pagan, Priestess, or other similar identification publicly

As a result of these fears, we may resort to excessive people pleasing, dismissing our intuition, dissociating from the body or present moment, distrust of the body or fear nature, and more. There are many avenues and layers to the healing process, and I feel that each generation and everyone is drawn to their own way of healing it for themselves.

Having some of those listed fears may not be connected to the Witch Wound specifically. Many traumas can create these. However, having a lot of that list activated in your life along with a sense of being persecuted for your spiritual gifts in the past (a past life or ancestrally) may mean you carry the Witch Wound. You do not need to have literally been persecuted for Witchcraft in a past life to feel the Witch Wound active within you.

One interesting exercise is to simply notice what thoughts and feelings come to you when you hear the word ‘witch’?

Witch!

What comes to mind?

A warty, ugly hag with a crooked hat riding a broom?

A powerful, sexual, but immoral or ‘evil’ woman?

A woman speaking her mind bluntly or exerting her will?

A strange healer or non-conformist who lives in the woods, mumbling to plants?

Our negative associations with the word Witch are often rooted in the Witch Wound. For hundreds of years those that lived on the fringe, had spiritual abilities, utilized plant medicine, were women or gender non-conforming, or who held Indigenous perspectives and traditions, have been ostracized, oppressed or targeted through violence or even genocide.

Witch is a charged word, one that I choose to identify myself with, because I feel it is an act of reclaiming of its power to do so. It’s a way of bringing the word back into it’s true meaning of a Wise Woman, Healer and Magickal Person. Calling myself a Witch means I’m someone who lives in tune with the spirits of nature, lives by their intuition, who creates and transforms at will- and proud of it.

Even to this day, however, I sometimes struggle in being openly a Witch. While there is much more acceptance than a generation or two ago, it’s still sometimes scary to identify.

Even if you would never identify as a Witch, you still may carry the Witch Wound, which would show up in the list of fears above.

Persecution & Practical Magic

Practical Magic- My fave witchy movie with Sandra Bullock & Nicole Kidman

One of my most recurring fears is that of persecution. I feel a familiarity with the scene in my favorite witch movie, Practical Magic where the mob of children yell at the young Owens sisters ‘Witch, Witch, you’re a Bitch!” repeatedly, pointing their accusing fingers at them. Even at a tender young age, the girls were tormented for being descendants of Witches, making them immediate outcasts who had to find their magic within to empower themselves.

The girls’ Witch ancestor, Maria Owens was persecuted and set to be executed in the Salem Witch Trials. She used her magic to escape, but eventually died of a broken heart, and cursed her entire line of descendants that any man who falls in love with an Owens woman will die.

This, of course, sets the plot around the adult Owens sisters, Sally and Gilly, who are struggling with their love lives, losing the men they love. They attempt use magic to fix things, only to make them messier.

My favourite part of the movie is at the end, when Sally and Gilly need a full coven of 13 women to complete a ritual to de-possess Gilly from her abusive dead ex-boyfriend. They are forced to call upon the local, judge-y townswomen to come over to help. The women could empathize with wanting to banish an abusive ex, so they managed to put aside their supposed differences, and reconnected with their own power in a circle to heal Gilly. The women found and accessed their own Witch-Power within, through sisterhood and empathy- and made some magick happen! From then on, the Owens family could walk through town being themselves, torment-free, perhaps for the first time in generations.

Circle of women banishing the ex

I love this movie so much because it illustrates how we carry biases, curses and shame for generations, and how it only takes one person making a new, bold decision to end the chain of suffering. Sometimes the only action we need to take is to be ourselves, authentically and openly.  It also illustrates how we all have a little ‘witch’ within us, and when we become more comfortable with that part of ourselves, we can love it in others too.

“There’s a little witch in all of us”

Aunt Jet Owens

I feel the ancestors are smiling upon those who dare come out of the broom closet, who dare be themselves and live a magical life in this very uncertain world. To all those who are doing this work, take a deep breath, and remember that you are very brave.

The Healing Spiral

Healing the Witch Wound is a lifelong process. I naively thought a few times that I had healed this wound within myself over the years as I started getting more comfortable with who I am, committing to this path and moving away from conditioning. However, it’s been more like a healing spiral that comes around again and again for new layers of deeper work to do. I have come a long way but am nowhere near ‘completely healed’ if that’s a thing.

I still fear persecution. I still feel insecure in myself. I still make myself small, so others feel safer. The world keeps changing and it’s sometimes hard to know when to stand my ground and when to adapt. When to be visible and when to be invisible. When to share my spiritual gifts and when to have boundaries. Like Sally Owens from Practical Magic, I sometimes just long to feel normal and fit in. But life often teaches me that I’m not meant to fit in, and that’s ok!

“My darling girl, when are you going to realize that being normal is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage!” 

Aunt Frances Owens

When we are doing this work reclaiming our authenticity, being bold and brave and ‘out’- I feel we still need to be discerning and it’s ok to have boundaries that keep us safe. What feels safe for me here in Toronto, may not feel safe for a Witch living in a small town in the US Bible Belt. The cost of being oneself is different for every individual.

While it takes courage, bravery and a willingness to start a fire here and there, it can be wise to remember that ‘You don’t need set yourself on fire just to keep others warm’. Self-sacrifice isn’t necessarily the way to help or create change. Courage to be yourself in the capacity that you can handle is a powerful act. In being yourself, you give others permission to do the same. While we may not always fit in, we are never as alone as we think we are.

Gentle Reconnection with your Inner Witch

The first step of healing the Witch Wound is connecting to your Inner Witch. Your Inner Witch may have many facets, and it’s ok if you’re not ready to explore them all yet. She may have been persecuted, exploited, oppressed, or hidden for survival over generations, and you carry that memory in your nervous system and DNA. Some parts may feel more comfortable to connect with than others. For instance, connecting with plants more intimately may feel safer than ritual, spells or doing shadow work.

I am a fan of gentle reconnection to one’s Inner Witch. This is a tender, yet very powerful part of yourself that cannot be rushed or forced out. And even when the Witch IS out, it may be a long journey of fully accepting and embracing her.

If you are interested in healing your Inner Witch, here are a few suggestions that have helped me:

  • Intentionally commune with nature as often as you can. Whether it is tending an indoor plant, spending more time outside, or talking to a neighbourhood tree, remember that you ARE nature, and it is YOU. You don’t need to have a green thumb or extensive herbal knowledge to be a Witch. You don’t necessarily need an intermediary to teach you. You have a right to a relationship with the earth. Cultivate your own connection with nature. Choose a tree to have a relationship with. When the sun shines on your face or when you dip your toes into water, acknowledge the elements as beings in their own right, that offer themselves to you and wish to get to know you in return. Even if you are sitting in a fluorescent-lit office in a downtown high rise, you can take a deep breath, close your eyes and connect with your favourite place outdoors in your mind. Surround yourself with reminders of the natural world on your desk or whenever you can’t be outside.
  • Practice Gratitude. As cliché as it may sound, taking a few minutes every morning and evening to connect with what you are grateful for opens you to the abundance that supports you, and this is essential when doing brave work of healing. It reminds you that you are loved and supported, you are not alone. It may be interesting to note who you are giving thanks to. What higher power do you believe in? When you cultivate gratitude, you grow your spiritual support system and strengthen your trust in yourself, in others and in the unseen, which is a trust that the Witch Wound often erodes.
  • Tap into your intuition. It’s easy to bypass this wisdom as we are conditioned to dismiss intuition for logic in every situation. Take some time to regularly practice re-connecting to your innate knowing. You may feel intuition as a flash of insight, a gut instinct or a tug in your body somewhere. Next time you need to make a decision, even as small as deciding what to eat or where to park you car, check in with your sixth sense. Discerning intuition from other parts of ourselves may be tricky at times. To navigate this process, you may wish to read my blog ‘Is it my intuition? 5 Ways to Tell.’
  • Explore different beliefs and paths. There are many different Pagan paths, so it can take some time and experimentation to find what resonates with you. If your chosen path deviates from how you were raised or the dominant belief system in your environment, this can be where the Witch Wound fears show up. Know that you are not alone. We often rely on the trailblazing of others, so seek out elders who have paved the path before you. Perhaps YOU are the Trailblazer of your generation, making it easier for the younger generations to be themselves, OR you may be a Bridge-Maker who facilitates movement between different belief systems and ways of thinking.
  • Explore your fears. When you are more comfortable with the above suggestions, you may wish to look at the list of Witch Wound fears from the top of this blog and choose one to work on. Perhaps the one that stands out strongly or comes up most regularly for you. Take some time to reflect on where this fear stems from. Childhood memories or trauma? Social conditioning growing up? A deep memory in your bones, in your DNA, or a past life? It may be something worth exploring through journaling, reflection or a therapist.
  • Connect with community. The digital age has made it much easier for Witches to find each other! Whether it is through social media, a local gathering, or just emailing a Witch blogger like me to say hello or ask a question- connecting with like-minded souls is very healing! I know how intimidating it can be to reach out or meet new people. You are welcome to email me any time with your questions or comments!

Your Inner Witch is beautiful, wise and powerful. Your journey is unique and sacred. May you thrive and grow as you break generational curses and stand tall in your power!

If you are looking for witchy community, you may with to check out my Hearthfire Circles– which are both online and in-person.

Xo

Serena

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Healing Allies for Transitions, Grief & Sensitive Souls

I am one of those people who feels grief in the spring, like many do in the fall. My introverted, sensitive soul likes her winter cave of darkness, reflection and inner work. The call of spring to sprout, grow, move upward and outward sometimes blares overwhelmingly like a morning alarm clock, bringing up resistance, grief and also hope within me, all blending into an overwhelmingly emotional breakfast smoothie.

This year’s 28 C weather in mid April (normal high 10 C), has been a tad jarring, thrusting us from a thundering snow storm into full-on summer mode. The city heat came in pounding with traffic, noise and chaos whilst new leaves bud on the trees and birds sang their sweet praises to the awakening Earth. The city has been a cacophony of new life in both lovely and stressful forms.

Although we are soon to get cold weather again, the process of changing seasons can be volatile and challenging to our body and mind.

On the first hot day, I instinctively went for a walk in the nearby cemetery to soothe my dark witchy soul amongst all the new light, heat and noise. I traded my black boots for light walking shoes and went out to greet the sun in one of the only reliable anchors of peace in an urban landscape.

Cemeteries are those rare places reserved for sanctuary, reflection and rest.  A place where we can tap into the inward season of Samhain any time of year, giving space to our grief for what’s passing away while new life begins.

Growth and grief always flow together, and yet our patriarchal, capitalistic culture only values the ‘growth’ aspect of life.

The spring season sometimes triggers the feminine wound within me, around the cultural binary that associates growth, light, extroversion, productivity, logic, masculine and yang energy as preferable and superior; Whilst release, darkness, introversion, rest, receptivity, feminine, intuitive and yin energy are considered bad or inferior. Yet one always lies within the other, and beauty is found within both.

I tend to lean towards the Dark Goddess as a Witch, as I work with Cerridwen and resonate with Crone/Wise Woman energy. I was born in deep winter during a waning moon, and a heavy dose of Scorpio energy in my astrology chart. We carry the energies of the moon phase and season we were born in. For me, transformation, release, and darkness feel like home, even though they can also be difficult and painful.

While transition and loss are painful, when I speak of darkness, it is not equated with evil in my mind. To me, darkness is equated with the Great Mystery, the Sacred Womb, the Source of Life. It is peace, surrender, the quiet void of death and the nascent beginning of life. It is the metaphorical Cauldron that holds us safe as we shed old skins and grow into new ways of being. It holds great beauty, power and solace. It’s essence, to me, is the Dark Goddess. The unknowable void of darkness brings up fear, which is why we don’t like it. But it’s only through moving through our fears that we grow. Like spring seeds sprouting through the ground to greet the sun for the first time, our growth processes may have us feeling tender, exposed and vulnerable.

Even if the old reality we are letting go of was toxic, stunting our growth, or holding us back from our potential- it likely still comes with grief- which is simply a reflection of our capacity to love and live with passion.  So this dance we feel during seasons of transition can be emotional and complex, as growth and grief dance together.

As anyone who’s had a baby knows, you can feel intense loss and overwhelm along with the excitement new life. You may also feel a sense of pride, excitement and intense grief as they grow up and become adults.

It’s ok to grieve as you sprout, or sprout as you grieve!

As we are now entering eclipse season, it may feel we are crossing a threshold. Emotions may be close to the surface as we feel something is ending as something else begins. We are in a ‘Cauldron Time’, as I call it, a crucible of death and rebirth.

Perhaps some new beginnings are emerging in your life that ask for you to let go of an old way of being in order to grow. Are you ready to take the plunge? Or are you overwhelmed and paralysed with fear? A bit of both?

We can navigate these times of transition without losing our soul in the process. We can nourish our resilience and support our sensitivity, too. In times like these, we call upon the healing allies in the natural world- trees, elements, herbs and crystals that can help. Simply by being with them in nature, connecting with them through medicines we can move through change with greater ease.

Here are some healing allies I have worked with over the years that can help us navigate times of change, vulnerability and loss. Let me know your experiences with them or feel free to share some of your own!

Trees: Black Willow, Weeping Willow, Pine, Cedar

Trees are beings dear to my heart. I think of each and every one of them as a friend, with their unique personality and energy. You can connect with a tree ally by visiting one in person and giving it an offering, such as an herb, animal-safe food, cleaning up any garbage around it, or simply your loving words and energy. Ask it for permission to be with it, sit against it or lean against it. Become open and receptive to its energy. Ask it for it’s advice.

  • Willows are my favourite allies for helping us to feel our emotions. Ruled by the moon and most often growing near water, the Willow reminds us that it’s ok to feel what we feel. They hold us in a gentle embrace of unconditional acceptance and love.
  • Weeping willow is an especially tender ally that can bring tears out to release what we’ve been holding back in our hearts, bringing lightness and clarity. They comfort us in their embrace and soften the rough edges that developed from holding our armor on too tight for too long.
  • Black Willow looks a bit different- they have very textured, darker bark, more gnarly branches and they do not droop quite like the Weeping variety. They hold more of a Crone/Grandmother energy that offers us a soft shoulder to cry on, along with a bit of extra strength, honesty and down to earth wisdom to keep us grounded. These are native to this land and I hold a special place in my heart for this wise ally.
  • Pine is thankfully abundant and native here as well, offering us a strong yet soft, cleansing energy to support us through dark times. The refreshing smell of Pine sap offers a new perspective and breath of fresh air. Burning Pine needles is a powerful smoke cleanser. Leaning against a Pine tree and asking it to help transmute heavy energies we are carrying can bring strength and help us to clear old baggage. The Bach Flower Remedy Pine is helpful for releasing guilt, which can come with loss.
  • Cedar is of course native to this land as well and is one of the 4 sacred medicines of Indigenous communities. Cedar to me, feels like ‘home’, more than any other tree. Perhaps, because this is where I call home. It also harkens to my ancestors who relied on this tree for medicine and shelter. When we are feeling uprooted, out of touch with our body, or our sense of home, this can be a helpful ally. It also has strong protective and cleansing properties. Cedar tea is supportive to the immune system, and its leaves are very protective. Cedar wood is extremely resilient and repels bugs. Sitting, leaning against or hugging a Cedar can bring grounding and protection to the sensitive soul.

Bach Flower Remedies: Walnut, Olive, Rescue Remedy, Olive, Rock Water, Water Violet

I am a huge fan of the Bach Flower Remedies! These are excellent for sensitive souls. They are vibrational medicines created from plants in the tradition of Dr Edward Bach, a British physician and homeopath who developed them in the 1930s.

Each remedy carries the energy of the plant it is made with, which is associated with healing a specific emotional state. They are designed to bring us into balance. I’ve been using them for about 15 years and took a Bach Flower course to understand them better. They are available at many herbal shops and health food stores.

  • Walnut is my number 1 go-to for sensitive souls in times of transition, such as moving, pregnancy, menopause, relationship breakups, seasonal changes, new job or lifestyle situation. It brings a protective shield of safety when we are feeling vulnerable, when we are sensitive to the energies in the environment and opinions of other people.
  • Rescue Remedy is a combo of remedies that supports us through trauma and shock. This is a remedy for when the change is too much for our nervous system to process and we are struggling to cope. It is great for sudden accidents, illness/diagnosis of serious illness, sudden loss, coping with changes that have us rattled and shaken, or any situation that has us stressed or anxious. It brings comfort and stability.
  • Olive is for exhaustion. Whether we’ve been caregiving for others or ill ourself, this is the remedy for the weary soul who can’t seem to get the rest and restoration needed to bring one’s energy level back up. Olive feels energising and protective, bringing more resilience.
  • Rock Water is made from water flowing over rocks. It is a remedy for those of us who deal with stress by getting overly rigid and perfectionistic. Rock Water helps us to soften our need for a certain state of perfection and embrace the messy processes of life. It smooths our rough, idealistic edges, and lets us relax into the flow.
  • Water Violet is one of the remedies that help those who get very withdrawn and pull away from other people. It helps to open us up to connecting with others and allows grief to process.
  • Willow helps when we are feeling vicitmised by our circumstances, having suffered bad luck or problems, making us feel bitter or resentful. It helps us to forgive ourselves and others, and take responsibility for what is ours.

Crystals: Black Tourmaline, Jet, Smokey Quartz, Selenite

Crystals hold powerful vibrations that can help transform and/or protect our energy when placed on the body, worn, placed under our pillow or in our environment.

  • Black Tourmaline is a strong grounding and protective black crystal, excellent for empaths and spongy-sensitive types who pick up other’s emotions and environmental energies. It’s a good one to wear on one’s person if you are out and about a lot or in contact with people regularly.
  • Jet is also a black crystal but with a very different energy. It is a type of coal, derived from wood that was changed under extreme pressure. It is soft and can easily absorb excess negative energies such as anger, grief, sadness or fear. It was historically worn as jewelry to funerals. I have often used it to help alleviate physical pain such as headaches and menstrual cramps as well. It requires regular cleansing because of its absorbant nature- you can bury it in the earth, run it under water or smoke cleanse it.
  • Smokey Quartz is one of my favourite protectors for sensitive souls! Like clear quartz, but a smokey grey-black colour, it helps us to focus and organise our thoughts while warding off negativity beautifully. It is great to wear on your person or carry or have in the environment, like in windowsills or other places you wish to ward off outside vibes.
  • Selenite is a type of gypsum. It is soft, white and looks like moonlight, named after the Greek moon goddess, Selene. Selenite is one of those crystals that cleanses other crystals that are near it. Unlike Jet, it doesn’t hold onto the energy, but helps it flow, like a stream of cleansing moonlight.  When your life or energy feels stagnant, stuck or heavy, place a piece of Selenite on your heart centre, under your pillow or beside your bed. I find it helps protect against heavy and negative energies by transmuting them.

The Elements: Water, Earth, Fire and Air

The beautiful thing about the elements is that they are always around us! All we need to do is pay attention and connect! Whether we take a moment in our busy day to just lean against a tree, splash water on our face, or breathe the air more consciously, the gifts of the Earth Mother are here for us, waiting to connect. Once we begin a relationship with an element, we start to notice it everywhere. Like with trees, you can give thanks by leaving an offering of your energy and gratitude, an herbal offering or animal safe food.

Water helps our emotions to flow and release. Drinking more water, taking baths/showers or simply stepping into a stream or lake can help us flow through the changes upon us with great ease and acceptance.

Earth grounds us and calms the nervous system, helping us to feel safe while things are changing. Anxiety pulls our energy upward, which requires a downward flow for balance. Walking barefoot, massaging our feet or holding a squatting position helps to pull energy downward again. You may also find increasing your protein and iron intake helpful as well.

Fire warms and energises. If the changes we’ve been undergoing have depleted our hope, our spirit or lust for life, the simple act of lighting a candle and receiving its light into your heart can bring a shift in how you feel.

Air brings lightness and can help clear our mind. Using a bird feather to sweep away the negative thoughts or herbal smoke to cleanse your energy and space can bring some peace when chaos is swirling around you.

What remedies or healing allies do you find support you during times of transition? Please share in the comments!

The Earth Mother offers Her healing abundance to us as we navigate stressful times. We simply need to take the first step and connect, remembering we are worthy of support, and that acts of self-care are not selfish, but necessary.

Thank-you for reading,

Xo

Serena

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