Category: Spiritual Resourcing

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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Flowing Gently into 2025 + Oracle Reading!

A quiet, liminal energy flows through this gateway, as we enter a New Moon in Capricorn on Dec 30th, right before welcoming a new calendar year. So much has transpired over the past year, and there is much to come. This moment of reflective pause is an opportunity to just exhale. Let go. Rest. Reflect.

Allow for spaciousness and emptiness to hold you in its potential. Allow silence to surround you so your heart’s voice can be heard.

Take a moment to reflect on all that you’ve accomplished. Not just external things that society values, but the subtle, internal ways in which you’ve changed- the quiet shifts no one else noticed, the spiritual, emotional or physical challenges you overcame. Give yourself the recognition you deserve, for you’ve come a long way. You’ve made it here. And you will flow into 2025 with so much potential to grow, change and offer your gifts to the world!

There is no rush to get the next year all figured out now. We don’t need to prove ourselves by fitting in or keeping to imposed timing. We can take our time to truly listen in to the beat of our own drum and let our goals organically flow from there. Mars- planet of action- is retrograde until Feb 23rd, slowing us down and allowing us to ponder our next moves more deliberately, ensuring our New Year’s goals are aligned with our heart and souls’ authentic needs.

This Capricorn New Moon on Dec 30th is a grounding one and asks that we turn our focus to the structures and foundations of our lives over the next few weeks. It asks that we start getting real and begin creating sustainable structures that support our well-being, dreams and goals. So, there is a very productive energy here we can work with, it is just best to think slow and steady, small steps forward. Rushing ahead into a big drastic change, or on something we feel we should do, but that isn’t aligned with what we desire won’t work for us.

Capricorn is realistic and conscientious, valuing sustainability. This is why its planet Saturn, rules commitment. When we truly commit our heart to something, we must think about how we can sustain that over the long-term. It is often easier to sustain a commitment when we have realistic expectations of ourselves. Not exceptionally low ones based in self-limiting beliefs or exceptionally high ones that are unattainable. We must find the balance. Also, our heart and soul’s investment in the goal is key to being able to sustain our efforts!

This New Moon, we can reflect on what our heart and soul needs are at this time. Then we can decide what goals feel compelling enough to commit our energy to. We can then begin to create a pathway forward with realistic baby steps. We must decide where we’d like to commit our precious energy in the weeks to come and slowly build something nourishing and abundant for ourselves and others in the future.

Capricorn’s ruler, Saturn is direct in Pisces, reminding us that our actions in daily life are like a devotional prayer to what we believe in. Whether it is a dream, a cause, an ideal or an energetic vibration we are trying to manifest on Earth, we must get clear on what it is we are devoting our energy to, and how we’d like our daily actions and commitments to reflect that.

A reminder that commitment is a process and doesn’t have to be a rigid set of rules that never bend! Give yourself grace to experiment and change your approach if needed along the way. Process is progress. Commitment requires flexibility to be sustainable, too.

This Capricorn New Moon can teach us the art of commitment. Let it be a process, a learning experience, an expression of your passion and devotion- not something you either succeed or fail at. 

Capricorn New Moon Reflection Questions:

What am I currently committing my energy to?

Does this align with my physical, emotional and spiritual needs at this time?

Do my commitments align with my values and my ideals?

What am I truly devoted to? How can my commitments reflect that?

What do I wish to commit my energy to in the coming year?

2025 – A year of change and rebirth

It feels wise to take these quieter, slow-moving winter months to fortify our mind, body and spirit for the journey ahead. Soak up gentle and slow medicine while we can, because the upcoming year portends to be one of transformation and rebirth!

All of the outer planets will eventually be in new signs this year, as well as the lunar nodes, which is rare. This means that we will all be moving into some kind of new territory, collectively and personally. If you’ve felt things have just not been moving forward fast enough, or like you can’t shake the past, 2025 will help you feel the change you’ve been waiting for, starting in Spring. New beginnings are afoot.

It is the Year of the Snake, helping us shed old skins and grow.

2025 is also a numerology year 9, which is a year of letting go, change, gratitude, spirituality and humanitarianism.

New energies will flow in as the year progresses, and two planets move from Pisces to Aries in the spring which is a huge ‘new beginning’ energy. We may find that who we are in a year is very different from where we stand now.

I am excited for the changes the year will bring and also feeling the call to stay grounded and centered in my spiritual practice to help root me as things shift.

Oracle Reading- Themes for Contemplation

To get your reflective wheels turning for this new moon and new year, choose an oracle card from my new deck I got this Solstice!

It’s called the Old Ways Magick oracle by Naomi Cornock. Each card holds a theme for you to contemplate, with both positive and negative manifestations as well as wisdom to help you navigate. It leaves freedom for you to interpret as you feel called. Words are of the deck creator, Naomi Cornock.

Take 3 cleansing breaths. Then, choose your card. Remember that number! Scroll down to find its number and meaning…

Old Ways Magick Oracle by Naomi Cornock
  1. The World- Lughnasadh

As the Wild Goddess brings abundance wherever she treads, so as we gather in the harvest. We give thanks to her for her wonderful bounty.

Welcome: Grasp hold of bounty or boon and a world of possibilities is before you.

Warning: Disappointment, lack of reward for efforts made.

Wisdom: Be aligned with the rhythms of nature, and a world of endless bounty opens up.

2. The Cauldron

The Welsh Goddess Cerridwen is often associated with witches and magick, as well as nature, creativity, herbs, poetry, spells and knowledge. Her cauldron holds all potential and possibilities.

Welcome: A time to stoke the fire and harness the creative energy brewing in your cauldron.

Warning: Your cauldron is empty, your fire is out and energy gone.

Wisdom: Light the fire, fill your cauldron with creative magick and potential.

3. Community

Wolf can teach us to embrace community and understand it is there for us in times of need. In wolf we find courage to trust and lean on others.

Welcome: Reach out, connect with others when support is needed.

Warning: Unable to ask for community support.

Wisdom: To Wolf I ask, guide me to hold others with courage and love.

4. Sacred Journey

Find the quiet space inside you. Hear your own truths, recognise that everything is connected and you will not only heal yourself but all the world around you.

Welcome: A time for internal healing, look inwards to prepare for a new journey to begin.

Warning: Feeling unprepared and lacking the tools necessary to begin a journey.

Wisdom: Awaken to a new day, beginning of a sacred journey of healing.

5. Journey’s End

Sit under the long branches of wise old oak, soaking up quiet strength. Time to rest again and be still and grow moss. Steadfast and sustained, at one with the spirit of the land, sea and sky.

Welcome: Steadfast, stable, quiet strength.

Warning: Feeling unsupported and unstable.

Wisdom: A journey is complete, be uplifted and sustained.

6. Illuminate

Arianrhod is mother, lady of the silver wheel and queen of the citadel in the stars. She is Goddess protector, healer and wielder of justice.

Welcome: Shine a light in the shadows so hidden obstructions can not trip us up.

Warning: Be careful not to be ruled by the fear of what is hidden by the light.

Wisdom: Shine starlight on shadows which diminish their power to hinder progress.

7. Bounty- Mabon

Artio reminds us to balance the dark and the light in order to gather all the bounty the universe provides. And so it is at Mabon, we sees this reflected again, we must equally embrace the light and dark to grow and transform.

Welcome: Face our shadow fears, strong in the knowledge that our blessings are bountiful.

Warning: Unable to find balance and equilibrium between fear and love.

Wisdom: Gain a fuller and deeper understanding in order to make the most of bountiful blessings.

8. Pathways

Elen of the Ways is one of the shining ones who walks with me when I journey on the web of life, illuminating the old ways and showing me the paths to take.

Welcome: Follow the paths which wind down old ways to find what we have been looking for.

Warning: Don’t turn away from the paths lest the way is lost.

Wisdom: Elen lights the paths trod by the old ones, there we may find wisdom for today.

Did your card resonate? I hope it did! If not, perhaps it will stir some feelings or thoughts to expand on later. There is so much magick to behold in this moment. Trust your heart to lead you where you need to be. Trust in your own divine timing. All is flowing as it should.

Sending you blessings of hope, renewal, love and wellness for this New Moon and for 2025!

If you are interested in a more personalized reading for the new year, I am always booking Tarot Readings! You may also explore my other spiritual services here.

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Daily Rituals for Embodying Your Magick

We are spiritual beings with a physical body, and the Earth is too. Every tree, rock, and animal have a spirit and yet must contend with living an embodied life.

As humans, we find all kinds of ways to forget our body- through trying control it, deny it, or avoid it due to trauma, social conditioning, oppressive systems and more.

Our mind, heart, soul and body are all connected, so when one is out of balance, the others can be too. During stressful times, it is easy for our nervous systems to be dysregulated, which can affect our overall health.

We can choose to feed the fear, feed the numbness, or feed our body and soul with what nourishes us. This helps us to be energetically strong and present to navigate our daily life.

We can meditate, pray and connect to Spirit, but if we aren’t integrating the needs of our body (and whole self) with our spiritual work then we can’t fully come into our power as spiritual beings living in this physical world. Likewise, we can diet, exercise, take supplements and do all the ‘right’ things for our body, but if we aren’t connected to our Spirit (and whole self), we also may struggle to embody our power.

What Does it Mean to Embody our Magick?

Tree Pose

Embodying our magick means that we live, breathe and express our spiritual practice through our body and into our daily life.  It means that we bring our spiritual energy into form through how we carry ourselves and interact with the world around us. We become a physical channel of divine energy on earth.

For example, if being attuned to the element of water is a central part of your spiritual practice, then you may wish to try moving your body with more fluidity or softness, bless your glass of water before drinking it, express your emotions more freely, wear blues and greens, and spend lots of time in and around water. In a sense, you strive to embody the water itself and express its energy into the world.

Perhaps you are feeling connected to an animal ally right now. To embody that animal’s energy more in your life, you can do a bit of research- What do they eat? How do they move? What environment do they thrive in? And then you can emulate them to some degree in your life, transforming your own energy in powerful ways.

Embodying our magick is essentially a self-healing tool and practice. Some may call it shapeshifting, some may call it cultivating your inner Priestess, Witch, Mage, etc. It is essentially becoming a clearer channel for the Divine to flow through you and actively grounding that energy into your body.

What is central to your spiritual practice right now? How can you manifest that quality or energy more within your body, actions and in the world around you?

Perfection is Not the Goal

In the process of becoming a clearer channel for the Divine to flow through, we may come up against some challenges. There may be trauma, illness, injuries or chronic habits that inhibit the fullness of our spiritual power from flowing with ease through our body. This is very normal and simply part of the spiritual journey. Perfectionism itself can be a barrier to overcome.

You are not less spiritual or less powerful if you have physical or mental health challenges to contend with. In fact, integrating them and navigating through them can bring you more capacity for expressing your spiritual energy in the world, as the healing process brings deepened self-knowledge, empathy and wisdom. The body doesn’t have to be ‘perfect’ by any means for divine energy to flow through!

Nature is perfectly imperfect and fully divine in all its diversity.

Many powerful healers have met great obstacles on the mental, emotional and physical level, and that healing process enables them to hold great spiritual energy and help others more compassionately.

Our healing is never truly done, so trying to achieve some kind of embodied spiritual perfection is not the goal. Just being more integrated and self-aware is.

Depending on your needs, a therapist who is familiar with somatic work, a bodyworker or energy healer may be helpful.

Have you experienced barriers to feeling comfortable in your body? What have you learned about yourself through the process?

A Relaxed Body is a Powerful Body

Relaxation is a cat’s power

I recently became aware of a fabulous quote by embodiment facilitator Prentis Hemphill:

“One of my teachers says, ‘A relaxed body is the most powerful body that we have.’…Because when we are relaxed, we can do almost anything. I can make any kind of move from a relaxed body. I have a lot of choices from a relaxed body. From a body that is tight, tense, or protective, has taken on a protective shell, there’s only a limited number of moves we can make from that body. We’ve already foreclosed certain options.”

This is such a succinct way to put it. When we are relaxed, we have options. We can shapeshift into anything we need to, and that is powerful.

What makes you feel more relaxed?

Daily Ritual Ideas for Embodying Your Magick

simply holding a rock can help ground us

There are many ways to align body and spirit in our daily life. Here are some simple rituals to support embodying your magick in your practice. The possibilities are endless of course, so these are suggestions you can embellish or combine together to create your own:  

Morning Grounding Rituals: Yoga or any movement that expresses your devotion and supports your body; My Grounding Tree Meditation; Morning herbal tea with prayer; Mindful eating of breakfast with gratitude, Walk in nature to attune to the land; Smoke Cleanse attuning to the plant medicines.

Evening Relaxation Rituals: Essential oil/salt bath with intention stirred into the water; Slow movement or mindful breathing with devotional music; Evening Walk in nature to process the day and attune to the land spirits; Journal writing for processing as well as a tool of connection with your higher self/spirit.

Regular Check-ins: Starting and ending the day with a ritual is great, but it’s also important to check in with how we’re doing during the day as well. Take a break from work to simply ask: What do I need right now? First ask your body, then your heart, then your mind, then your spirit.

Pleasure Rituals: Many spiritual traditions eschew pleasure- however paganism recognizes pleasure as our birthright and an essential aspect of practice. Keep it simple. What scent arouses your sensuality? What sound brings you peace? What color makes you feel good when you wear it? What activity makes you giddy with joy? Surround yourself with the things that nourish your senses. Take it a step further and create a perfume for the deity you are working with, or if you enjoy singing or drawing or another art, create something that is fun as well as devotional.

Dress up: Adornment and costuming are great ways to bring a spiritual aspect of yourself into form! You can do some more subtle forms of adornment such as jewelry, or a change to your hair and makeup, or go full out with a new wardrobe to help you channel the vibes you are working with.

Communing with Nature: Visit a nearby tree in a park for a conversation; Talk to/sing/water your houseplants; Give your pet some love; Sit on the earth and merge with its wisdom; Swim or spend time near a body of water and let it cleanse your energy.  

Movement: Any type of movement that is done mindfully or with intention can become a spiritual practice. Whether it is taking a few deep breaths and stretching in your office chair; Dancing to music that helps you feel connected to all life; Moving intuitively to the sound of oceans waves; Or merging with your animal ally and dancing it into form, spirit loves to move through us when we let go of our rigid habits and move our body organically.

Music: Make a playlist of songs that evoke the energy you wish to embody more of. I create playlists for every sabbat/seasonal celebration that helps me attune to its energies. I also create playlists for deities I work with, and animal allies I work with too. Use the playlist alongside any other rituals you do or listen to it while you cook, drive, or do other daily activities.

Color Therapy: Color is energy and holds the power to transform how you feel and interact with the world. What color have you been feeling drawn to lately? How does it make you feel? How can you incorporate it into your wardrobe, jewelry, environment or daily life? You may wish to connect with crystals, flowers, herbs or environments with that color.

Crystal Therapy: Crystal beings hold powerful energies and are medicine for our body and spirit. You may have a favorite or feel drawn to one in particular at a certain time in your life. Go to a crystal shop (in person preferably) and notice which crystal draws you- it may carry an energy your spirit wants to emulate. If you take one home, spend time connecting with it. Notice how it makes you feel. You can place it on your body regularly or wear it or carry it with you.

Trees- Grounding tree meditation: I admit I am a huge tree-lover and they remain one of my favourite ways to connect with the Divine on a regular basis. You may wish to spend some time hugging or leaning against your favourite tree and listening to its wisdom. You may also wish to emulate tree energy in your practice.

I have recorded a variation of my Grounding Tree Meditation. Each time I do it it’s a bit different. This one is approximately 13 mins long, check it out here:

I hope you feel inspired to incorporate a new ritual to support embodying your Magick! If you have any other ideas you wish to share, please feel free to share in the comments below!

May your body and spirit be nourished, supported and well during these times of change,

Blessings,

Serena

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Samhain Wisdom + Oracle Reading!

Roots & Ancestors. The Soul, Death & the Otherworld. The bonds we share here and beyond the veil. Letting go and shedding old skins.

Samhain season carries some heavy themes, yet this is ultimately a season of liberation. The invitation to dance with our shadows and contemplate death serves to remind us of who we truly are and how we want to live. It helps us open to something greater than we originally imagined life could be and pushes us to release anything that holds us back from living authentically and aligned with our highest good.

This is also Scorpio season, which is reflected in Samhain’s meaning. Scorpio teaches us how to reclaim our power. Past wounds, betrayals, or triggers of powerlessness that rear their heads now are ways the universe is actually conspiring to help us heal and be free. We must feel our pain fully in order to transmute, understand and learn from it. We are called to be brave warriors of the heart here, and take our heavy armor off for a moment to simply feel what we feel. If we do this, and tend to our healing in earnest, we may not need to wear that armor ever again in the future.

Thankfully, we are not on this healing journey alone. We are gifted easy access to the insight of our beloved dead, spirit guides and healing allies, just in time for our healing. We simply need to slow down and tune in to hear their whisperings. Whether you do this through paying attention to your dreams, prayer, trance work, meditation, movement or simply walking through the forest, Spirit is waiting for you to hear its message.

Samhain means ‘summer’s end’ in Gaelic and has been traditionally a time to honor our beloved dead and ancestors. Our loved ones beyond the veil watch us and protect us from harm, and sometimes we may take this for granted. This is an opportune time to connect with our spirit kin, and show them gratitude by speaking their names, reading their stories, creating an altar in their memory, making a dish they enjoyed or passed down, or praying to them. While they may not be in the flesh, they have much wisdom to bestow on us to help us live here on this earth walk, if we choose to listen.

Samhain is opposite Beltane on the Wheel of the Year. As opposites, they share a natural bond. Beltane in the spring is the season of earthly fertility and visible growth of the plants. Samhain falls in the season of visible plant death and dormancy, yet it is a very fertile season for soul growth- as the growth happening now is in the invisible realm.

We must shift our awareness from the surface of things to the inner depths to notice all the fertility that lies beneath. Our inner garden awaits our tending.

We can ask ourselves, what seeds of healing do we wish to plant in the depths of the night? What potential lies within that simply needs some care and attention in order to flourish?

This season of darkness reminds us that there is no such thing as death. Fertile soil and blooms can come all year round if we decide to till our inner soil.

Energy never ends, it only transforms.

Ready to receive a message to help you on your Samhain season journey? Take a moment to ground and centre yourself. Take 3 deep, cleansing breaths. Then ask your guides “What do I need to know for this Samhain season?” and choose a card below:

Season of the Witch Samhain Oracle by Lorraine Anderson, Juliet Diaz
& Giada Rose

Now remember that number and scroll down to find it’s description! (Descriptions are by the deck’s authors.)

  1. Reflection- Truth, Fear

Reflection shows you the person you’ve become, for better or worse. It shows the parts of yourself you wish you could hide and the parts that are to your liking. Your reflection has no desire to hide your truth. You are being guided to acknowledge who you are at this time. Looking to the future is great and so is setting goals. But how can you make a plan for where you’re going if you haven’t come to terms with where you are now?

It can be a challenge to stand in the truth of who you are today. No one wants to say ‘I’m overweight’ or ‘I’m in debt’ or ‘I’m sabotaging my goals’. However, pretending these circumstances do not exist is like hiding under a sheet of paper in a rainstorm, it will protect you for a few moments, but eventually the water will soak through and you will be forced to face your reality. Or, in this case, your reflection.

Reflection has come to ask you to be honest with yourself. Stop hiding from the situation you are facing. You must use where you are as a starting place for any real change to occur.

2. Silence- Stillness, Nothingness, Presence

The world moves at such an alarming rate. Sitting inside a coffee shop I can hear sirens, cars, construction, people talking and moving. I find myself seeking the quiet of dawn when the Earth is still and muted.

There is a presence in the silence. There is space to fill it with the sound of your voice and the beat of your heart. This is the space where all of creation is free to roam wild. Stillness is the presence of nothing and the potential for everything.

A witch knows she must take time to find stillness. It is within nothingness that creation is born. One must be still to hear. One must be still to receive the subtle messages left for a few moments to guide you on the path.

If Silence has come, take this opportunity to be still. This card is a reminder to spend time each day to clear your mind. The answer to your question will come when you stop searching, allowing the solution to be presented to you. There is no need to rush in this situation, even though you think you must. Remove your expectations of the situation you are inquiring about. Give this up to the silence, the nothingness. Spirit will take your query and answer when the time is right.

3. Greet the Darkness- Self, Inner Truth

Darkness. You might get a sense of terror from what you can’t see. But not all hidden things are bad. There are many things that you cannot see that hold the secret to life, abundance and renewal. Like the lotus flower that blooms from the darkness of muddy waters, there is beauty in the darkness for those who know where to look with their heart.

You have pulled Greet the Darkness as a call to go deep into your dark corners. There are parts of you that are beautiful yet remain undiscovered. You must allow yourself to open to the unknown. You can so this by confronting old wounds, lost memories, feelings of shame, guilt and disappointment.

This is called shadow work, a practice that allows you to make friends with your demons rather than hide from them. What seems like a monster is really a lost part of you needing love and support. When feelings such as anger, resentment and chaos come round, it is because those feelings are trying to protect you in the only way they know how. Anger only knows anger and can only offer its support in that way. Chaos only knows chaos so that is the only way it can get your attention. These feelings are trying to help you find the beautiful gems that are waiting in the dark spaces of your being.

Confront whatever feelings you have surrounding your situation. Allow those feelings to surface and face them without fear. Greet them and ask them how you can work together. Journal your meditative conversations with your dark parts. Within their words of advice you will discover the lost or missing pieces of yourself.

4. Potions and Spells- Manifesting, Calling

Potions and spells are how a witch weaves her magic spell, calling into existence her deepest desires. Potion making and spell crafting are two rituals that, when done correctly, can bring about dozens of manifestations. Adding little pinches of this and that here and there can change your creations ever so slightly and is an art that has been passed down through hundreds of generations in as many cultures.

One of the best nights of the year to create potions and work spells is on Samhain, when the veil is at its thinnest. Weaving your magic on this night is like supercharging your magical creations and rituals. Our ancestors would work spells on Samhain to survive the winter. For a time, magic was the very bread and butter of survival, a way to protect, nourish and support through good times and bad.

Should you receive the Potions and Spells card, know that you should begin learning the art of potion making and spell crafting. The more personal a spell or potion, the better the chance of a favorable outcome.

You are capable of manifesting anything you wish. You are the director of your life, as as a witch you are better equipped to manifest exactly the life you desire and deserve. Think big! The potions and spells available to you are endless. You can have and create anything you choose. Make it your mission to craft your life.

5. Healer- Guide, Facilitator

We all come into the human experience with the use of energy and intuition. Among us are those who are called to be Healers. They are the wise ones who’ve made a conscious choice to devote themselves to guiding others on their paths.

Healers can be found in all religions and traditions, each with something beautiful and unique to contribute to the collective energy of the world. You may know them as shamans, medicine men and women, priestesses, wise ones, great ones, the list goes on.

If you have pulled the gift of Healer, know that you are being called to initiate yourself as one of the wise ones. You are meant to be a guide for those who are finding their way and there are many ways you can do this- as a healer for your family and neighborhood, or through building a community on social media offering wisdom. It doesn’t matter how you choose to heal. All that matters is that you do.

If you have through about becoming a healer this card is a resounding YES! Some healing practices are crystal therapist, Reiki practitioner, tarot reader, psychic, doula, death doula, herbalist and so on. You may have something you’ve practiced for years or you may feel called to learn a new skill. Trust your intuition.

You can become a facilitator of healing. Creating healing tools such as guided meditations, healing jewelry, candles and even creating your own oracle deck can provide others with a path to heal themselves. You create the path for others to walk. You are unique and have something to share with the world.

6. Protection-Safety, Hidden

Many of us have had to search out our own safety since beginning our journeys as spiritual healers, students and teachers. We’ve faced criticism for being witches, faced jealousy for being true to our own paths and had to withstand attacks from our own egos. But we rise and keep going with fearless determination. We know we have our spiritual team (our ancestors, guides and angels) to support us and keep us from harm.

You are always protected, my dearest witch, no matter how scary the world may seem or how many things go bump in the dark night of your soul. Within you is a space that cannot be harmed, penetrated or shaken. Here you can retreat to heal and find comfort. You need only step through the veil into the arms of those who love and care for you.

If you have drawn Protection know that all is well and you are safe. Your spiritual support team will protect you from harm. You are protected from hexes, evil eyes, danger, psychic attacks; you are even protected from the dangers of your Earth-based ego. Know that you can handle anything.

When you are feeling unsafe, speak to the powers that be. Ask them to guide you where you do not have eyes and to keep you safe when you are in harm’s way. They are always walking with you and are ready to provide you with additional support whenever you feel the need to ask.

7. Altar- Devotion Worship, Individuality

Your altar is a sacred space created to honor something in your practice, a space dedicated to worship and the devotion of your craft. It should not hold things that are not sacred to your energy work. It should be the place in your home where spirits of the wise gather and share their knowledge with you.

Each altar you create is a beautiful expression of who you are. It’s where you hold your connection to something in Spirit that resonates with your inner self. Some things naturally belong on an altar such as ritual candles, crystals, herbs, an athame or a chalice. Personal items are welcome too. There is no right or wrong item to put on your altar as long as it holds special meaning for you.

If you have pulled Altar it is because your guides are thrilled to see you making an effort. There needs to be an intention, a worshipping and space so that you can harness your energy without disruption. Either a physical space such as an altar or metaphorical space like opening your heart- it is even better to have both- where you can come back to your true self. Know that you have the power deep within that needs a place to land.

Your guides need a space to speak to you. They can reach you anywhere on the planet and you can call on them at any time. Worshipping at your altar gives them an open invitation. They know they are welcome and that you are ready to receive their gifts and messages in your sacred space.

8. Frog- Transformation, Serenity

Butterflies are often what comes to mind when we think of transformation. But let us not forget, frogs are also a symbol of transformation: Going from a tadpole that lives in water to a frog that adapts to land and water. For some species, this process takes a couple of weeks. For others, it can take months and even a year to transform from one thing to another.

When Frog comes croaking, know that you are transforming or the process will begin soon. This is a positive transformation, an easy-going one, so you might not even know it is happening. It’s a subtle shift that occurs in the background until one day you realize things are different. There is nothing you need to do to move this change along. Like the frog, your higher self will take over and guide you through instinct. You need only pay attention to the urges you feel and follow those urges when they strike.

Be patient and note that this transformation has come to your awareness. This is not something that can be rushed or forced. Like the frog, this transformation may take days, weeks or maybe even a year or two to transform completely. All unfolds in accordance with divine destiny.

Did your card resonate? I hope it did!

Wishing you a blessed Samhain, and all the love and support you need to navigate the journey.

xo

Serena

If you are in the Toronto area and interested in celebrating Samhain with me, there’s still a bit of space in our Samhain Circle: Blessings Beyond the Veil, if you wish to join! If you are not in this area, know that the next Hearthfire Circle will be online for Winter Solstice. I hope to see you then!

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Snake Medicine- Shedding Old Skins

Every spring and fall, I feel very connected to Snake energy. While in real life, snakes evoke a natural caution and sometimes squeamishness for me, they are actually one of my most powerful animal allies that I work with on a spiritual level for clearing and healing.

Every time Snake showed up in my life, a healing on the creative, energetic or sexual level happened shortly after and lasted for several months.

I have had many real-life encounters with snakes, mostly while walking in the woods. Once, while sitting and meditating on a rock on a beach I received an intuitive download about my life and future. Then, as soon as I got up to leave, a massive snake slithered out from under the rock I had been sitting upon. It startled me at first! But it also felt meaningful, and not that surprising, as I had been working with Snake energy in my practice to help me heal a chronic health condition.

Snake awakens our intuitive, creative and vital energies, and help us to transmute our pain into power. They help us heal the past and restore energy harmony within our bodies.

The Healing Gifts of Snake Energy

Snake slithers along the ground, attuned to the vibrations, trusting them to guide her to places of warmth, rest, food and companionship. She flicks out her tongue to smell the air and follows the scent that draws her. She glides sinuously along each bump, crack and curve of the land. She is deeply connected to the earth and subtle energy currents.

Snake is equally feared as revered. Some can kill us with their bite. Most are harmless and simply mind their own business, yet send us humans into full panic mode. We evolved to fear snakes for survival reasons. Yet, on the spiritual level, they actually take care of us and have been a symbol of healing for centuries.

Snakes have been revered since ancient times in many cultures. They are often associated with wisdom, healing, longevity and transformation. They are the shamanic visionaries, the mystic healers, the Kundalini itself rising from the base of our spine.

Caduceus Image by Freepik

The Caduceus is an ancient symbol derived from Yoga, the two snakes representing the Ida and Pingala, or intertwining solar and lunar energies around the central column, the Shushumna- the Kundalini energy column that dwells in our spine, bridging the Earth and the Divine. When Ida and Pingala (inner Yin and Yang energies) dance in harmony, Kundalini awakens and rises.

This symbol has also been historically connected to the Greek God Hermes and a similar version of it with one snake called the Rod of Asclepius, (belonging to the Greek God of Healing Aesculapius), is a prominent symbol in the medical profession.

So, in both eastern and western medicine, snakes are associated with healing.

When Snake shows up for us, it is probably because we are amidst a healing process or about to be. We may feel trepidation at first, but Snake cares for us deeply and only wants our liberation from what no longer serves our growth or potential. She wants us to thrive and embody our power.

Following Our Instincts

Snake teaches us to trust our instincts.

They don’t have the best sight or hearing, so they rely on vibration and smell. Snake reminds us attune to the vibrations we feel and what we smell in any situation, rather than what is seen and heard on the surface level.

You know that feeling you get in your gut that something just feels off? The vibes you feel underneath the words? That’s your snakey-sense kicking in. Follow the scent of truth and you will find your way forward.

One thing I love about Snakes is that they don’t tend to move in straight lines, but in sinuous waves and curls. This inspires us to let go of the idea that our path in life needs to be a linear one. Those of us who attune to the deeper vibrations within and around us may move in a different pattern, such as curves or spirals, following a different vibration than those around us.

Forward movement is sometimes better accomplished in waves, spirals or through our senses rather than thought. Our travels can be smoother when we follow the waves of our emotions, the rhythms of the earth and our sensual instincts, rather than trying to follow a straight or rigid path in life.

As walkers between worlds, Snakes bring us the gift of cultivating our life-force energy. They do this by helping us trust our instincts to lead us to places and experiences that enhance our vitality, and by thrusting us through the necessary shedding that must be done in order to continue growing. They keep our life force alive, by helping us move and flow!

Shedding Old Skins, Awakening to Rebirth

Snakeskin Photo by geekfight on Freeimages.com

Snakes grow their entire life, so they continuously need to shed their skin to accommodate their new size. Many shed their skin twice a year, before the winter and then again after emerging in spring.

When their skin is about to shed, they become less active, eat less and their eyes turn a cloudy white. They may get more anxious, irritable or aggressive as the skin-shedding process can be uncomfortable. They understandably feel vulnerable during this process. Their energies are focused on releasing the old skin, as there is a new skin growing underneath.

Skin-shedding is a death and rebirth process, not unlike ones we experience as humans. There are times when we are in a personal transition, and we too feel vulnerable or irritable as we change.

We may need to withdraw from our usual activities, social engagements and take time to follow the call inward. This is a potent time for dreaming and receiving messages from Spirit.

This liminal shedding experience is echoed during menstruation time. As the uterine lining sheds, we shed energy from the month past that is no longer conducive to our growth cycle. We may feel irritable and uncomfortable (or in a lot of pain, depending on our cycles), and not have the energy for the outside world we normally do, because of all that is going on in our body. Our energy is pulled into the dream state more easily and the body requires rest for this spiritual and energetic shift.

The Fall season, as well as the waning moon are also common times for us to feel this call to shed old baggage and prioritize rest, healing and inner work. These are times when we may withdraw some of our energy from the external world to focus on the process of inner change.  One foot is here on Earth and the other is in the Otherworld or Spirit world.

Feeling Misunderstood

For some of us highly sensitive folks on a spiritual healing path, or those working with a Snake ally, dwelling between this world and the Spirit world is a lifestyle. It may appear from the outside looking in that we are reclusive, anti-social, introverted (gasp!), or even aloof, snobbish, escapist, detached, moody or intimidating. These are typical misunderstandings or self-judgements we encounter when we are called to walk a Snake path in life or enter a spiritual time of transformation and rebirth.

In the capitalistic, material world it can seem like those on a spiritual path are doing nothing of value. However, personal healing and rebirth require a ton of energy, courage and strength. Self-healing affects our lineage and the collective at large.  It radiates to others around us. It stays with us when we leave this world. It may be the most valuable thing we can do.

Like the Snake, we may seek privacy and seclusion for our times of skin-shedding and to help contain the sacred unfolding of our rebirth. Alternatively, we may let only a trusted few  into our sanctuary during these times. If others are used to having access to your energy all the time, it can be challenging but also very energizing to place boundaries around your tender transitions to let things unfold in a sacred space of your own making.

What Are You Ready to Shed?

Snake in a tree

This time of year is conducive to our own personal skin shedding. We may wish to finally let go of old selves, habitual ways of thinking, relationships, or material things we’ve accumulated that are no longer serving our highest good.

It is important to remember that it is perfectly normal to feel vulnerable or anxious when things in our life or aspects of ourselves seem to be falling away. When life brings change, we may immediately feel like something must be wrong. It is partly a survival instinct, but it also can be a trauma response and social conditioning to maintain a ‘safe’ status quo that can eventually stifle our life force.  

We need to be gentle with ourselves and remember that change and loss come because new life is emerging from within. Like the Snake shedding their old skin because a new one is forming underneath, loss is a natural outcome of new growth, and like Snake we are meant to continuously grow.

The new will be revealed in time. During the in-between transition, honor this sacred time of being closer than ever to Spirit.

I am shedding a bunch of things right now. Old timelines and goals I had carried that have now proven unrealistic and misaligned with my spiritual values. I’ve been gradually shedding old fitness routines and re-training how I breathe, move, eat and treat my body in its middle age. I am shedding habitual ways of relating and repeating childhood traumas and feeding old fears. I am shedding social expectations I internalized about what I should have accomplished by now and simply let my journey be an authentic expression of who I am rather than trying to fit into boxes.

What do you feel is changing or healing in your life?

We may wish to reflect on the following questions:

What Old Skin is shedding? What no longer feels relevant to who you are now and where you’re headed?

What is the New Skin emerging? What new energy, desires or dreams are rising up from within?

How do you use your vital energies in daily life? Do these activities or relationships nourish, energize or drain you?

How can you use your energy in more revitalizing and empowering ways?

Connect with Snake to help you follow the flow of energies calling you forward and help you to leave behind that which isn’t serving your highest good.

How to connect with Snake?

My Snake tattoo (belly/ribs), she is always with me
  1. You can start by closing your eyes and taking a few relaxing breaths.
  2. Bring one hand to your heart and the other to your lower belly and feel the energy awaken in these areas.  
  3. Then simply call Snake spirit. Open your heart to receiving their wisdom. Sense the energy in your pelvic region, as this area is attuned to the Snake creative impulse. You may wish to look at an inspiring photo of a snake to help you connect.
  4. Ask them- “Dear Snake Spirit, I am open to receiving your wisdom. Do you wish to connect with me today?” If yes, take a moment to let the energy build and ask, “What guidance do you have for me today?” and listen for their answer.
  5. You can create a little Snake altar in your home if you wish, with an offering, a photo, or representation of them and a candle and connect on a regular basis.

Another great way to connect with Snake is to dance! Put on some sensual music and let your instincts guide your movements. Imagine a golden Snake energy flowing through your belly and limbs as you move, clearing out stagnant energy and bringing in health, vitality and power.

You may also find you naturally feel Snake energy when you practice Yoga, vigorous exercise, dance or have sex. Notice the ways in which Snake may already be present in your life, as they are our kin.

Do you have any experience with Snake as a spiritual ally? Or a real-life encounter that moved you? Please feel free to share in the comments!

Wishing you ease and flow through this ‘shedding season’ of change,

xo

Serena

Interested in nourishing your spirit through animal ally connection and more? You may wish to check out my 6-week program: Nourish Your Spirit- Healing Allies Program, available online or in-person.

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Staying Grounded Through Eclipses & Times of Chaos

There are times in life when our feet barely touch the earth. Where we just don’t feel centered or like ourselves. Our consciousness may be immersed in the future or past, or so preoccupied with a situation or person that we can’t see the forest for the trees. We may feel unsettled, anxious, spacey, depressed or simply outside of our body and the present moment.

These challenging feelings can come with any big transition, change, chronic stress or traumatic event.

These feelings are common during Eclipse Season- the duration of approximately one month that spans the Solar and Lunar Eclipse cycle. Its energies reverberate through the next six months, as we integrate and embody its lessons. If you are a highly sensitive person, then you may feel eclipse seasons with greater intensity as you are attuned to the collective emotions as well as your own, which can be triggered at this time.

We are still in eclipse season now, as we are experiencing a Solar Eclipse in Libra, after the Lunar Eclipse in Pisces a couple weeks ago. This eclipse is about reclaiming our inner sovereignty and creating a healthier balance in our life. Themes of give and take, relating, justice, peace and harmony reign.

We may notice how people-pleasing or giving our power away to others no longer serves us. How trusting ourselves and caring for our own needs first is necessary if we are to dance in harmony with another in a healthy way. It is a great time to ground into what brings us true peace and inner strength. It is an opportunity to take our energy back, patch up leaks and drains, and move forward in a more sustainable way.

Eclipses are not to be feared, but to be respected. They are a great time for inner work, healing and transformation. They are not a time to assume the smooth hum of everyday life will be our status quo. Eclipses aren’t ‘bad’, but they are chaotic and can be stressful, because they are meant to unsettle us. This is to help us evolve, heal and grow. They bring an opportunity for us to walk into the future in a new, more liberated way. Eclipses gift us with new perspective, inner awareness and alignment with who we currently are and where we need to go.

But these gifts don’t necessarily come easily. Oftentimes, eclipse season brings unexpected things out of the blue. Things that were hidden from us come into the light, while the full truth of a situation may still be obscured. Old wounds and deeper issues get triggered by a conversation, an unexpected event or reminder of the past.

Doors may suddenly close, while unexpected windows open. Endings and beginnings take place. This process can take the few weeks surrounding the eclipses. It can be confusing, like a fog has set in around us. Once it clears, reality looks different.

Eclipses require extra space and time to process- as we are processing much more information, emotions, memories, feelings than normal through our body, mind and heart.

If we choose to pay attention to the deeper energies at work, we may notice how they are teaching us how to navigate uncertainty and strengthen our intuitive muscles. Like driving through fog, we need to slow down, get present, and begin using some of our under-used resources.  

Navigating uncertainty is one of my least favourite things to do, so that must be why I find myself doing it a lot. It’s a life lesson I can’t seem to run away from. I have anxiety and there are times it gets the better of me, this eclipse season being no exception. I feel the collective anxiety is very high right now.

So, I thought today I’d share a few simple things that helped me manage anxiety and stay grounded through this eclipse season, so we can experience not only its challenges but its gifts!

Faith:  The Calm Eye in the Middle of the Storm

Times of change can put our spiritual practice and faith to the test.

In this soup of collective fear and anxiety, it can be hard to hear the loving voice of our inner wisdom speaking. It is easy to get caught up in the flurries of fear and the many distractions thrown at us.

But our Spirit is bright, calm and clear, all the time. We can tap into this light any time we need a reminder of who we really are, like the calm eye in the middle of the storm. Our Spirit can see how this moment is an important part of our whole journey, in ways we could never see.

There is a call to have faith in the process here, to be willing to trust the unseen forces- our spirit guides, deity, our higher self, ancestors, etc. and trust they have our back! When life looks like a mess of obstacles, mistakes, fears and challenges to us, Spirit sees a sparkling pathway we cannot see, one made just for us to collect the gifts and experiences we need to move forward on our path in a better, stronger way. We are loved and cared for, always, especially during our darkest times.

It can be hard to have faith, especially when there is so much suffering. But faith in something is what helps us put one foot in front of the other. It keeps us grounded. Faith doesn’t need to be blind, conventional, nor unwavering. It only needs to feel true to you, a beacon of light in the darkness, something that fuels hope and peace for you in this moment.

Whether you access your faith through prayer, joining with others in spiritual community, sitting at your altar or going for a walk in the woods- The important thing is that you connect with Spirit regularly to strengthen your bond.

What strengthens your Spirit? How does your faith support you in challenging times? What is one way you can tap into your faith right now? How can you grow your faith each day?

Grounding: Trees, Water, Food and Plant Medicines for Support

For those of us on the earth-based path, grounding is not only steadying for our body and mind, but an essential part of our spiritual practice. Earth and Spirit are on the same continuum.

A tree is not just a tree but a wise elder with deep roots here that can help guide and strengthen us when we feel lost.

Walking in nature and connecting with the Tree Beings can be very helpful for anxiety.

Each Tree has its own special medicine and personality. I highly recommend getting to know the Tree Beings around you and find even just one to visit on a regular basis to lean up against, relax with, and listen to for its advice. Ask if they are interested in starting a new friendship, and give an offering of appreciation, such as cleaning up any garbage, giving it water, or putting down herbs or animal safe food at its roots.

Once you establish a connection with your Tree, just be present and receptive to them. Get a sense of their energy. Feel free to ask them a question about your life or situation.

The Oak trees have been giving me very specific advice about my health and my movement practice. They also encourage me to strengthen some boundaries and be more ruthless in keeping my mind out of harmful thought patterns.

The Willows I visited have been helpful in softening areas of tension in my body and energy field. They encouraged me to breathe and release trapped emotions, as well as reminded me to be much kinder to myself.

A nearby Spruce helped me understand how my energy was influenced by the collective energy and gave me information about timelines, cycles and protection.

Is there a Tree you’d like to connect with in your area?

Another grounding activity I love is sitting on the beach. Being where land, water and sky connect is a sacred place of liminality. It helps us connect with the divine and the earth in balance. I often get my most powerful healing messages when sitting by water.

Wading in Lake Ontario, I let the waves gently cleanse away old ways of being that are no longer serving me. The waves remind me that this is simply part of a cycle and ‘this too shall pass.’

When at the beach, I hold the local rocks in my hands and place them on my body where I needed grounding. When I do this, I feel immediately safe. I have a few at home to do this anytime I need.

Grounding foods are another great way to stay rooted through chaotic times.

Drinking tea made of roots such as ginger and turmeric, and warm spices ease digestion and help us stay rooted.

Eating root vegetables, hearty grains, nuts and seeds can be helpful.  if you eat meat, then increasing your intake of unprocessed, lean meat can be very grounding and restorative.

Adaptogens such as Reishi mushroom and Holy Basil have been helpful at keeping me in balance during stressful times.

Getting enough rest is paramount. If you have insomnia, or have trouble sleeping during eclipses like I do, there are many things you can do. In general, activities that relax you before bed such a yoga or meditation, exercising earlier during the day, and avoiding screens before bed may help. Sleep inducing herbs and teas may also help. Weighted blankets, blackout curtains, eye pillows can also help. Everyone is different however with sleep needs.

What activities or foods ground you? Do you have a special place in nature you can go to feel safe and supported? Are you getting enough rest and sleep?

Being Present: Right Now is the Only Thing That Exists

We live in a very distracting world. Our senses are constantly bombarded with stimuli, especially here in Toronto, and it can be very overwhelming to our system on every level.

But even aside from noise, traffic, people, screens, computers and phones, we can distract ourselves with work, relationships, addictions, or constant ruminating and destructive thoughts about the past or future.

The less things we are doing at once, the more we can be present and access the steady, eternal calm beneath the moment. Like the ‘eye in the middle of the storm’ I mentioned. No matter what is happening externally- in the environment, in our emotional body or our mind, there is a still lake of deep peace and eternal serenity we can attune to.

Meditation has been around for thousands of years for a reason. Most of our stress originates in our minds. The mind itself is but a movie screen of our thoughts, not a true reflection of reality. Learning to watch our thoughts come and go, and attuning to the eternal oneness that is underneath it all can be a powerful grounding and centering practice.

Mindful Breathing is another great way to get present. When feeling anxious, inhale for 4 counts, pause with full lungs for 4 counts, then exhale for 4 counts. Repeat a few times, gradually extending the length of the exhale so that it is longer than your inhale. This helps to engage the parasympathetic nervous system to calm your nerves.

For some folks, becoming still, focusing on the breath or noticing thoughts can be an overwhelming, anxiety-inducing activity. In this case, staying engaged in a daily task or physical movement is a more accessible way to be present.

Focusing on physical tasks in daily life– such as cleaning, vacuuming, preparing food, cuddling pets or brushing their fur, folding laundry or exercising can become sacred rituals to help us focus on the here and now, on what is in front of us. This can help pull us out of the projections of our mind into the future and the past and remind us of the peace inherent in our everyday existence.  

Naming 3 things you see, smell, hear, or feel is another great way to ground into the moment, and helps a panic or anxiety attack. This can be practiced daily. For instance, on your break at work, you can just take a moment to notice and name 3 sensations you feel- ie) The cool breeze on your cheek, your shirt caressing your lower back, tension in your shoulders. Then notice how that changed your demeanor. You can add complexity to it as well, such as ‘name 3 things you can see that are red’. This helps you to bring your awareness back into the reality in front of you, rather than the mind’s projected fears.

Mindful eating can help you stay in the moment. Instead of eating while talking to others, listening to a podcast or thinking about your to-do list, try immersing your attention on the act of chewing the food, the sensations in your mouth and body, the full experience of the act of eating.

What activities help ground you into the present moment? What thoughts or distractions pull you out of it? What is one way you could become more present to this moment right now?

Sharing and Connecting: We are never alone

My husband and I on the Friends set reproduction a couple years ago

As someone conditioned to be low-maintenance and highly attuned to others, it can be hard for me to open about my struggles and reach out for support. I tend to reserve my venting and vulnerability for my partner or professional healers. I always find though, that whatever I am struggling with, there are always others going through the same thing. Often it is part of a larger, collective struggle as well. We are all connected and we experience things like eclipses altogether. Many of us are likely experiencing the same themes and feelings in our lives, just in slightly different situations.

Every time I hold my circles and we share what’s been going on for us, we discover that others in the room are feeling the same. We all learn from each other and support each other.

Guaranteed, you are not alone in whatever you are going through right now. If you have even just one person in your life that you trust, that is a willing, caring listener, connect with them and share.

One thing I am slowly learning is that sharing our struggles with others doesn’t necessarily mean we are burdening them. When we share our problems with others, it can also heal them too, as they may have felt the same in the past or right now in the present, too.

Now, this isn’t to say that you should use your friends or loved ones as a dumping ground or get in the habit of sharing and not return the favor of listening. If you are someone always on the listening end, maybe try sharing. If you are someone always on the sharing end, maybe ask how others are feeling and listen.

If you don’t have any humans right now in your life that you feel comfortable connecting with, what about a pet? A spirit helper, tree, plant, or body of water? Are there any folks you follow on social media who inspire you or share your struggle? Any communities or support groups you feel drawn to connecting with online or in-person?

I often like to speak with my ancestors and spirit guides as well. They are always listening and happy when we connect! Even writing in my journal is a therapeutic form of expression when I don’t feel I can talk to anyone.

Who in your life do you feel comfortable sharing your feelings with? What communities, friends, family or professionals do you have in your life to inspire or support you? How do you support others? Is there a balance?

Play: Leisure, fun and play are essential aspects of life

My lovely friend Jazzie and I playing with veils

Last but not least, during heavy or transformational times, we need to remember how to play. This may look like trying out a new exciting recipe for dinner, playing a game with your child or pet, playing a board game or card game with a friend, creating art just for fun, coloring, exploring a new part of your neighborhood, traveling, watching a movie or dancing to one of your favorite songs. Whatever gets you out of your funk and reminds you what it feels like to have fun again!

What do you do for fun? What would happen if you did that a little more often? Is there something new you’d love to try?

I hope that you are navigating this eclipse fog with some support. We are getting through this together, and flowing forward into a more liberated and aligned future. Remember that you are not alone and the Earth Mother holds you, always. May we come out the other side empowered and renewed!

If you would like some guidance or support, such as a Tarot Reading, Spiritual Coaching or Earth-Based Healing, please check out my services which are offered online and in-person.

Sending love and stability for these chaotic times,

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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Summer Solstice Wisdom + Oracle Reading!

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

— Mary Oliver, The Summer Day

At Summer Solstice, the Sun reaches its peak light, illuminating our deepest dark corners and strengthening us for the darker half of the year. The Earth Mother blooms in fullness, sharing her many gifts and medicines with the world, infused with the sun’s life force.

Here, we reach a culmination, a peak moment, a turning point in the year. I often think of the Summer Solstice as a moment of truth- where we can no longer hide from our deepest longings or avoid the reality in front of us.

The Solstice means ‘sun standing still’, and so the light shines on us in its fullness to see all we need to see, and feel all we need to feel, so we can let go of what holds us back and move forward in more nourishing, aligned ways.

The light shines on our lives to show us where we’ve reached the end of something- a habit, a dream, a relationship or way of being that no longer feels true or supportive for us. This is for our liberation and growth. We are changing and some things just don’t fit anymore, and that’s ok! We can make the necessary shifts we need. It can be a time of fated experiences, important connections and meaningful moments that etch themselves on our soul.

Summer Solstice is not only a time of clarity, illumination and endings, but also a time for new beginnings and expression. It aligns with the Sun moving into the nurturing water sign, Cancer, a cardinal sign, which means it initiates new beginnings (every sign on the solstices and equinoxes initiate a new season!). This new energy brings our attention to our home, inner life, our sensitivity, mothering, self-care, nourishment, family, roots and lineage.

We may begin to feel more in touch with our emotions, physical and creative desires, and inner child. This is an excellent time to dig into our past and childhood to heal sources of our current blockages or pain. It is also a ripe time to reflect on our inherited generational gifts and lessons and think about what kind of ancestor we wish to be for the future generations.

There is also a Full Moon in Capricorn happening around the Solstice this year, which turns up the emotional intensity and bring more awareness of the balance between our inner needs and our responsibilities and the structures we have in our life. The energy will help us to release energy drains, and create more soul-nourishing structures and goals- ones that make space for our spiritual growth and self-nurturance.

Some reflection questions for this Solstice/Full Moon:

What do you want to do with this one wild and precious life?

What kind of ancestor do you wish to be?

What brings you joy?

What if you took your needs, feelings and dreams more seriously?

What is bubbling up from your inner cauldron to be expressed and shared with the world?

Summer Solstice 2022

Summer Solstice Oracle Reading:

In honour of the Earth Mother’s bounty this time of year, I thought I’d bring out the Magickal Herb Oracle by Cheralyn Darcey & Deer Dandy.

This is a great time to work with plant allies- as there are so many herbs and flowers at our disposal now. These cards each have a specific plant and a message to go with it. It may be a starting point for you to begin a bond with a new plant spirit in the weeks to come!

Start by taking 3 deep relaxing breaths. Let go of any expectations. Then, gazing at the circle of cards below, ask “What plant energy do I need most right now?” and choose a card. Remember its number and then scroll down to find the description below.

(Descriptions are in the words of the deck’s author, Cheralyn Darcey.)

Magickal Herb Oracle by Cheralyn Darcey & Deer Dandy

Remember that number! Scroll down to find it.

  1. Balance- Passionflower

A return to centre is needed and may also be offered. Have you taken something too far, or maybe not reached out enough? Now is the time to come back to a more harmonious and even place. Stability is what you should be focused on at the moment, and rash actions and decisions are to be tempered. Now is not the time to take a risk, but rather to step back just a little and see what transpires. You may find you need to get more rest or time away, or retreat a little.

Magickal Uses: Love, sleep, balance, visions, peace, friendship. Amazon natives have used Passionflower as an addition to ayahuasca-based brews to deepen and magnify their visions. When strewn on the floor of a home, the flowers can end disharmony, and bathing is or carrying Passionflower creations will help you attract a lover.

2. Expansion- Ephedra

There is an opportunity for development and even the end of challenges that may have been difficult. It is time to look for a new direction or to examine more closely any possibilities that have presented themselves to you. Change is coming, but it may be more demanding than you anticipate before you get your bearings. There may be a betrayal that is very hard to accept. If you have been suffering from any challenge, this is a reminder to stop stewing in your anger, sadness or grief and move on.

Magikcal Uses: Longevity, immortality, lust, sex. Ephedra is used in magickal work to increase awareness and uncover the unknown. It has been used in China where it is known as ma huang as a medicine and in spiritual practice. It is native to China & Mongolia.

3. Attraction- Parsley

Someone or something is going to hold your attention and tempt you. It is also likely you will find yourself the focus of someone else’s attention. There are other opportunities coming along soon, so don’t be dissuaded by setbacks, as a bigger picture is about to emerge. Something may end, but it will make way for a needed change and better times ahead. Better luck and happiness is around, and there are indications of a sort of rebirth that is greatly empowered, hardier and more successful than before. Romance is also suggested.

Magickal uses: Purification, protection, ending bad luck, divination, love. It was believed that sprinkling food with herbs, in particular parsley, would protect the food from both physical and energetic contamination. This is where the practice of garnishing comes from.

4. Flow- Ginko

If you are challenged in any way, then you are being offered hope and the resilience required. There is the possibility of achievement if you simply go with the flow, but you need to be patient, as things must take their natural course and time. Although this is the case, balance still has to be found, and perhaps some moderation should be practiced to help find it. You may discover that looking at your personal motivations and your recent reactions will lead to a greater understanding. This is a period of rest and a recharge could be of value now.

Magickal uses: Business, dreams, beauty, love, healing. After soaking dried Ginko nuts in water, place them in the bedroom to inspire love and enhance your beauty. Plant the nuts to celebrate the birth of a child, and it will ensure long life. Ginko wood can be made into amulets or pieces carried to ensure health and instigate healing.

5. Desire- Damiana

The pursuit of what you long for and the achievement of its obtainment are indicated. Something you long for could be in the spotlight and having a greater ripple effect through your life than usual. Is this a good thing? Perhaps, but be careful your desires do not cloud your focus or true purpose. Ambitions, passions and goals are all in a state of progression, as are calculated risks. A very important concern will come into your life shortly that needs your full commitment and attention. Relationships become more physical and passionate.

Magikcal uses: Lust, love, sex, desire, psychic abilities, clairvoyance. This herb assists in releasing inhibitions and hesitation. It can be used to heighten connection with magickal energies and to enhance visions and psychic abilities. Sprinkled lightly on the food of someone you desire can increase their passion and interest in you.

6. Activation- Yerba Mate

Now is the time to begin something new, put plans into action or put more energy into a project or situation. You can do what it is you desire. Not everyone around you may share your enthusiasm for a concept, idea or the path you are undertaking or considering, but you shouldn’t let that stop you. Physical action needs to be undertaken, as hesitation or failure to do so may mean a loss.

Magickal uses: Health, lust, love, energy, friendship. Yerba Mate has long been used as an aphrodisiac and in love, sex and lust magick. A potion created from it that is then shared by a couple will ensure they stay together forever. It could be a good idea to keep a little bottle of it somewhere, as you can always break the spell if need be by pouring it on the ground.

7. Compassion- Marshmallow

Trust your inner feelings and let them lead you a little more strongly. Spiritual energy will be very high, so perhaps fulfillment or illumination in this aspect of life will be easier to obtain. This is a time of giving, of looking out for others and taking a more supportive role. Remember that the more you give, the more you will receive, and in ways that may not be apparent in the first instance. Listen more that you talk, give more than you take and bend a little more than usual.

Magickal uses: Protection, psychic abilities, attract good spirits, marriage, persuasion, calm. Having marshmallow nearby when you perform spells will encourage good spirits and deities to assist you. The flowers are particularly good for love spells and blessings. Marshmallow is also regarded as an herb of persuasion, and carrying some on you will make others more likely to agree with you.

8. Abundance- Wild Yam

There is an indication of an increase in resources for you. Situations should be turning into a positive outcome or staying that way, and if you are looking for an answer, it is ‘yes’. An addition to your family or your circle of friends or even a new facet of life should be coming along shortly. Luck is also on your side at the moment. Make very sure you share any good fortune that comes your way and be careful of over-indulgence, obsession, pipe-dreaming and waste.

Magickal uses: Fertility, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, love, increases, healing. This herb is also known as devil’s bone, especially in the field of magick. Traditionally, it has been wrapped in a red cloth and carried to ensure vigorous health and a strong constitution. It can also be carried to attract a new love interest.

I hope your message resonated, and that the light of the Solstice brings you the clarity, healing and blessings you need!

If you are in or near Toronto, ON, please join us in-person on Friday, June 21st, 2024 for our Summer Solstice Circle: Magickal Plant Allies. We will go on a guided meditation journey to connect with a plant ally, create herbal charm sachets, feast and celebrate together!

Solstice and Full Moon Blessings!

Serena

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The Cauldron Times- Navigating Eclipses & Transitions

It’s Eclipse Season again, which is what I lovingly call a collective ‘Cauldron Time’, which is a time of transformation that impacts us deeply and can alter the course of our lives.

Spanning from the Spring Equinox until about the end of April 2024, we are in one of these times. We had a Lunar Eclipse on March 25th, we have a Solar Eclipse on April 8th and we also have Mercury retrograding from April 1st-24th. This period emphasizes the need for flexibility and inner reflection as things shift and change to bring us onto a path more aligned with who we truly are.

The Cauldron is a symbol prominent in Celtic Myth that represents transformation and rebirth. I think of ‘Cauldron Times’ as those times in life where we are neither ‘here’ anymore, nor ‘there’ yet. We are stewing and brewing in the Great Mother’s cauldron, surrendering to her plan for us, as she seeks to helps us grow into our full potential.

We can think of a Cauldron Time as a spiritual gateway, a metaphorical cocoon, a mysterious twilight, a period of being betwixt and between while we await a transformation to complete.

Cauldron times can range from uncomfortable to very challenging or even traumatic. Some examples of natural transitions I would consider to be Cauldron Times are puberty, pregnancy, becoming a parent, midlife, perimenopause/menopause, illness/healing and dying. Other common ones are marriage & divorce, moving, ending/starting a career path, business or relationship. There are many more.

Cauldron Times are anytime we are no longer who we once were and not yet who we will be. This is, in a way, the human condition itself, as we are always evolving and changing! But the Cauldron Times are characterized by a more intense period of struggle with our sense of self, identity, and feel a clear ‘before’ and ‘after’ version of who we are and our life path.

Often after a Cauldron Time we find there is no going back to who we once were. They commit us to a new level in our evolution and growth.

The Cauldron Time transforms us thoroughly enough to mark us. Sometimes we may not even be aware of how deeply an experience etched itself on our souls until many years later. Sometimes what seemed like a regular job, or relationship at the beginning turned out to be life changing, altering our sense of self or path forever.

A Cauldron Time can last days, weeks, months or years, depending on what type it is. It may begin and end abruptly, or be much more gradual.

Surrender

Many Cauldron Time experiences leave us with little to no control. Things are breaking down, dissolving or falling away in order to make way for something new. This is often painful. In most cases we must surrender and accept the change taking place and find ways to cope and evolve through it. There may be adjustments to make, new things to learn, and inner healing required to move through it. Denying or resisting this kind of change or controlling its trajectory is often futile. 

We are conditioned in school to believe that if you have good intentions and work really hard, you can achieve your goals. That if you behave and follow the rules, you’ll receive rewards. That you control your destiny. That life moves in a straight line of logical decisions and accomplishments.

But as we grow up, we find out the real world isn’t like that. Bad things happen to good people. There are folks who treat their bodies terribly who live into their 90s and young healthy athletes who die of cancer. There are kind loving couples who struggle to have a child, and abusive people who have lots of children. A global pandemic can hit anytime. You can lose everything through no fault of your own. Life isn’t fair or logical. It can be painful, nonsensical, chaotic. We are most definitely not always in the driver’s seat.

Fate can swoop in when it feels like it to wash away all your efforts. It can come out of left field and drop you on a completely different course. Oftentimes these changes teach us important lessons. Maturity comes with an awareness and respect for the larger forces at work in the universe beyond our individual human self. It comes with humility and learning how to accept, adapt, and do our best with the cards we’re given. It doesn’t mean we give up on life completely, or let go of personal responsibility. But acknowledging that devastating loss, hardship, betrayal and pain is an essential part of our evolution can help us accept, learn, and become more empathetic people.

To me, surrender is the art of learning the limits of our manifesting ability and trusting the divine to bring us where we need to be, to learn the lessons and have the experiences our soul needs.

Sometimes we need to trust divine timing and the flow of life. This is one of the biggest lessons of a Cauldron Time. In letting go of our usual habits, expectations and assumed reality, we can grow into a more expansive, strong, wise, compassionate version of ourselves.

Eclipses

Eclipses are times where the hands of fate often move us off one course and onto another. It is believed that they bring us back onto our path if we’ve strayed. It depends, of course on how the eclipse hits our unique astrological chart. Some will affect us greatly, and others we may barely notice. Not every eclipse will feel like a Cauldron Time for us, but it may for someone else.

Eclipses often conceal the fullness of a situation but also reveal something we were unaware of.  Previously concealed information, news and proclamations from others may come out of the blue. While new information may come to light, the full situation may not yet be fully clear, so it can be good to move cautiously rather than react impulsively.

Eclipses are super-charged full and new moons. Emotions are high, and everyone feels a bit more on edge. Our sense of time may alter as well, as it can feel like more time has passed than actually has, because things change more intensely in a short period.

Emotional triggers often happen around eclipses, which can reveal to us how we really feel about something or someone, or how someone really feels about us. This may change our relationship with the person permanently, for better or worse. Eclipses are very much about shadow work. They reveal what’s been in shadow and what is beneath the surface. They ask that we deal with these truths.

Eclipses help enhance our self-awareness and align us with our true self and support our growth and evolution. There is no predicting exactly how we will experience an Eclipse. But it is said that whatever transpires during an eclipse was meant to be, and it is putting us on path. It is also considered a time where we don’t need to make things happen, because life is trying to get us to flow in a particular direction, so the more flexible we are, the better.

During this time of transition, having some guidance can help.

I believe we are meant to trust our wisest selves, and not just blindly listen to the advice of others. So, keep in mind, while I will offer some advice based on my own experience, please just do you, experiment and follow what you feel works for you!

Here’s my little advice list for dealing with Eclipses:

  • Remember that some eclipses will affect you more deeply, and others may feel mild. It may not really be a Cauldron Time for you, but it may be for someone you know. You can be empathetic and supportive to them in that case. Also, the collective will likely be impacted, and so we are too, as we are all connected.

  • Leave space in your schedule for the unexpected and for processing your feelings. If you overschedule yourself, you may get stressed out, reactive or say things you regret later, because emotions tend to run high. You may also find things just don’t pan out how you hoped. Take it as an invitation to slow down, do a bit less and draw your attention inward.

  • It’s not the best time to schedule important gatherings, social events, or project launches you want to go smoothly. Eclipse energy can be chaotic, unpredictable or have unintended consequences. A launch or gathering is easier to handle once eclipse season is over, when the energies are more stable. Permission to stay home and be a hermit! However, if you do have something planned you cannot change or you feel strongly about the timing, it may be an experience you need, or part of your growth journey. It also really depends on the type of gathering, and the eclipse energies. As a highly sensitive introvert, I usually avoid large gatherings at this time (and most of the time, lol).

  • Stay grounded yet flexible. Eclipses have a way of uprooting us or making us feel a bit nervous or edgy. Keep your daily routines- regular mealtimes, meditation, exercise, spiritual practice, etc. going at a steady rhythm to keep your grounded and centered. Along with this, just be open to new ways of seeing and doing things. Be like a Willow tree- rooted yet soft.
  • Take a break from manifesting. Often folks wonder if they should do manifestation spells and rituals under an eclipse. I personally don’t because I find the energy is too intense and chaotic. Things are breaking down and shifting. The soil is being cleared and turned. The weather is stormy. If you plant seeds, they may take if you’re lucky, but why not wait until conditions are favorable? The conditions are favorable for inner work, however. Connecting with our own emotions, shadow work, healing and transformation are what eclipses encourage. I apply this for both the solar and lunar eclipse, and the whole eclipse season. Again, feel free to experiment for yourself.

  • It’s a great time for grounding and processing rituals, such as journaling, reflection, a craft, yoga, movement, nature walks, Tarot, anything that helps you be present with yourself and how you feel, and anything that encourages self-awareness or healing is wonderful. It’s also ok to do nothing in particular and just go with the flow!

  • It is a great time to get support- from a healer, therapist, or a friend to help you navigate your feelings and thoughts. You don’t have to completely hole up and avoid life during eclipses. Healing, support and care are available. I do tend to be a Hermit during Eclipse season, with the exception of my work and things that serve my wellbeing.

Any of the above list can apply to another Cauldron Time you may be experiencing. Be kind to yourself. Be patient with the process. It’s ok to be a work in progress. It’s ok to be neither here nor there, betwixt and between!

Being in Transition is Counter-Cultural

I think one of the hardest things about being in a state of transition or change is that it is frowned upon by our dominant culture. Our mechanized world loves clear definition, boxes and hitting goals.

What if our goals change? What if we aren’t who we thought we were? What if we have a goal, but it’s a winding road there, and the messy, ugly in-between part lasts a long time?

You are allowed to be a mess. For life to be a mess. To not know the next step. To feel confused, overwhelmed or tired. You’re allowed to neither be here nor there. We’re all a work in progress. Letting go of our need to have it all figured out and fit into a neat box is the first step.

Trust that in time, things will come together, how and when they are meant to. I fully believe in Divine Timing. While it can be challenging, I am learning the importance of surrender in making transitions empowering, healing experiences rather than scary ones.

Aries Energy

Mercury goes retrograde on April 1st in fire sign Aries, adding even more emphasis on our need for flexibility and self-awareness. Our ‘spring forward’ momentum may feel slowed down. On April 8th, we have the Solar Eclipse in Aries.

Aries energy helps us to home in on what our most authentic desires are. The next few weeks can help us identify the ways in which we want to nurture our personal needs, passions and independence, trailblaze or start something new. It can also help us find ways to live more in alignment with our inner flame. It may help us heal some wounds around who we truly are, help us shed fears and live more bravely and authentically.

We may feel frustrated at times, since linear progress may not happen how we want or as fast as we want this month, as Aries loves to push forward. But we are making progress here. As we re-align with who we truly are and what we truly want, we make progress. As we re-kindle our inner flame of passion and energy, we make progress. As we release the insecurities, masks and heavy expectations we no longer need, we make progress! Inner work is the foundation of making our dreams happen in the physical world.

The Eclipses and Mercury retrograde come to make sure we are moving forward in the right direction instead of the wrong one. There is method to the universe’s madness!

Here are some reflection questions you can work with over the next few weeks. Feel free to apply them to a specific situation you are struggling with.

  •  What do I feel ‘done’ with?
  • What is no longer working for me?
  • Where could I afford to be a bit more honest? A bit more vulnerable? A bit braver?
  • What persistent desire keeps bubbling up to be felt, no matter how often I try to push it down?
  • What lights me up inside?
  • What habits or actions do I do regularly that drain my energy?
  • What habits or actions help to fuel my energy?
  • What parts of myself do I feel insecure about?
  • What parts of myself am I proud of?
  • What part of myself do I feel needs more space to exist and express itself in my life?
  • What part of myself or desire have I been neglecting or pushing away?

I hope this was a bit of a helpful guiding light for your path as we navigate the transitions of April, and beyond. Note that you can apply much of this to any transitional time you are navigating, like a big life change, whether it is short term or long term.

If you’d like some support and guidance for your journey at this time, I offer Tarot Readings to shed light on your situation and bring balance to your mind, body and spirit! I also offer 1 on 1 Reclaim Your Magick Sessions to help resource you for stressful times.

Blessings,

Serena

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Healing Perfectionism- You Do Not Have To Be Good

Nature is perfect in her own way- and you are too.

Like each tree, plant and flower, you belong here and carry your unique medicine and gifts. You have an important part to play in the universal story and believe it or not, your existence is enough. All of your flaws, vulnerabilities, wounds and insecurities- they are part of your medicine. You are perfect in this moment, right here and now.

Our Environmental Stresses

Our culture is steeped in image-obsession and perfectionism. It seems every day there is a new level of pressure to adhere to impossible standards- not only of beauty and youth, but parenting, career, social media behaviour, in every aspect of life.

I am a recovering perfectionist. Like most women, I grew up in a culture that expects girls to always behave like a young lady, please others and put others’ needs first. As I became a teen and young woman, I realised how impossible it was becoming to meet the expectations placed on me by society. It always felt I was ‘too’ something or not enough of something. My goodness wasn’t inherent. It was to be earned.

Some of us may have had childhoods where being ‘good’ was internalised as a matter of survival, and later as adults, it manifests as the need to please our bosses, clients, partners and the public at large. Rather than feeling good, we feel we must act or look a certain way to be considered good.

We all have an internalised authority figure- an inner judge or critic, or some almighty spiritual being or God that we feel is watching our every move. We may serve this judge on a daily basis and not even realise it. Guilt and shame are used in our society to control us and have been for a long time.

We may have idealised in our mind about what our ‘perfect’ self looks like, acts like and strive to meet that. This may be part of a spiritual ideal, or a social ideal. We may succumb to social media’s pressure to romanticise or glamorise our lives, to perform activism or do whatever is necessary to look good and be good in the eyes of the inner judge.

Social media makes it so we no longer have privacy. Our words, photos and videos are available for the masses to consume and criticise, so we curate them appropriately. The widespread use of Zoom forced us to see ourselves on video far more than we normally would, inviting excessive self-consciousness and self-criticism.

I know I sound old, but I miss the days of simply BEing ourselves, in 3D, finding friends and sharing our interests without the unnecessary public scrutiny.

The religious underpinnings of our society mixed with capitalism create an environment where our desire to be loved and accepted is constantly used and manipulated with guilt, shame and image-consciousness to keep us buying things and doing things that are not authentic to our true, whole selves.

Beauty Standards

My 15 yr old daughter is really into makeup and loves Sephora. I recently read an article about ‘Sephora Kids’, who are often age 10 or younger, insisting they use products designed for middle-aged women lest they wither and lose their youthful glow. But they haven’t even been hit by teen acne yet. These girls are inundated with Tik Tok influencers selling anti-aging products they don’t need, which can actually be harmful to young skin. It is becoming more normalised than ever for teen girls and young women to get botox and cosmetic surgery as well.

Thankfully, my daughter has enough sense to do her research and see the BS behind a lot of social media pressures, but she is not immune to it and neither am I. I think today’s youth have it harder than I did at that age. Sure, they have better makeup and acne products, more access to information on anything, and can text their friends instead of writing notes. But they’ve got way more pressure to look good and act a certain way. More ways to be bullied and publicly shamed on a larger scale. More risk of internalising beauty standards that are completely unrealistic.

As I embrace middle age and walk with my daughter through her teen years, I see how deeply we’ve both been conditioned to dwell on our appearance, our behaviour, our need to be ‘good’ as girls and women. How our bodies will never fit into the box and neither will our spirits. I hope my own process of liberation supports hers, and we can embrace the wholeness of who we are as we grow older.

We are Spiritual Beings Having a Human Experience

So, how do we live authentically, without falling into these traps of idealisation, perfectionism, guilt and ‘not-enoughness’?

How do we invite our wounded, flawed, wrinkled, imperfect selves into a dance of wholeness with all that noise in the background?

How do we embrace the limitations of our earthly existence- the body, our survival needs, our desire to simply be loved and belong- amidst the pressures to constantly prove our worthiness?

Perhaps the most healing poem I’ve ever come across that acts as a balm to my perfectionism is Wild Geese by Mary Oliver:

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

Let the Soft Animal of Your Body Love What it Loves

I was introduced to this poem over 20 years ago when I first became a Yoga instructor. It has been a great support to my embodiment practice over the years. When I find myself getting rigid about my diet or body image, I often have to remind myself to simply ‘let the soft animal of my body love what it loves’. Every day I do an authentic/free movement practice to help me ground into the sensations, pleasures, and limitations of the body. This helps me reclaim my body as my own, as an organic process, as a living being- rather than an object for others to look at.

Having lived with a painful chronic disease, I have had to overcome a lot of inner perfectionism and embrace new levels of acceptance. Daily, I must come to terms with this body and its form, its limits and embrace what is, in the moment.

Unlike choreographed dance forms, authentic movement (and ecstatic dance) help me to embody and feel my beauty, rather than just try to see it. When I feel the satisfaction of a deep stretch, the powerful pulse of my heartbeat, the shivers of excitement when I shake my hair out- I am whole. I am happy. I am ecstatic.  I feel beautiful, and this helps me see that in the mirror.

Through movement, I shapeshift into many forms. My body mirrors the movements of animals, birds, trees, fish and otherworldly creatures of all kinds.

When I put on music, I am transported to the sky realms, the sea, the mountains. I travel and flow with it, with my body, letting it move however it wants to. Some days, I just want to lie still. Others, I want to shake, jump or sway. I don’t have to look good while moving. I also activate my voice with sounding, which doesn’t have to sound good.

Movement helps me remember that my body is a channel of energy, that it is part of everything, that it is both finite and connected to the infinite universe at the same time. Movement is magick.

Free, authentic movement is a balm to our wounds of body objectification and separation from our animal instincts. By being fully in our body, the sensations coming from within it, we can transcend it at the same time, and feel the wholeness of our Spirit.

How do you let the soft animal of your body love what it loves?

Tell Me About Your Despair, Yours, And I Will Tell You Mine. Meanwhile, the World Goes On

Our journey through this life eventually etches itself on our body, and in our psyche. We become a collection of experiences- of love, pain, anguish, grief and joy.

I am ok with my laugh lines and crow’s feet. But the furrowed stress lines between my eyebrows, less so.

It’s easier to embrace the good parts of life, harder to embrace the pain. I don’t want to remember painful parts of my past. But embracing and remembering doesn’t mean I have to dwell in it.

The poem Wild Geese reminds us that while our pain is real and must be felt and processed, it is a small part of the big picture. For every moment of pain and sorrow there is a multitude of joyful moments to join in on, if we choose to.

No matter what dramas befall us, the natural world keeps going. The instinct of animals is to keep living their life as best as they can. They don’t waste time trying to fit into anyone’s expectations or worrying about the past. They remind us to live fully in the here and now. They continue to generate life, no matter what else is dying or falling away.

The sun always rises again the next day. We’re given another chance to begin again. To breathe new life into ourselves.

Nature asks us to merge with her rhythms and trust they will bring us into a new place all on their own.

When I’m in emotional overwhelm, I go for a walk in the ravine, cuddle my cat or tend my houseplants. Other times I just stare at the moon outside my window. All I know is that these small acts immediately bring me into a deeper calm when I’m frazzled or caught up in life’s dramas. I know I’m held and supported, that there’s a bigger rhythm and cycle I’m part of. These cycles are a reminder that we cannot control everything. That there is a divine wisdom unfolding in its own timing.

What rituals do you have that help you feel part of nature and its cycles?

Announcing Your Place in The Family of Things

We have a collective wound around belonging. This creates a deep insecurity within ourselves, that can rear its head and make us feel we have to ‘earn our keep’ or prove our worthiness to exist here. But we all belong here.

You belong here. Right here on earth, right where you are now. You’re part of the Earth family. You are exactly where you’re meant to be. Imperfections and all. You are deeply loved and supported by all your kin- your fellow humans, trees, animals, ancestors, the little flowers on that windowsill, and the big beautiful full moon in the sky.

The human experience can feel super lonely. Even though I have a strong animistic spiritual practice, I still feel loneliness sometimes. I have often become overwhelmed by this world and felt like I must be from some other place. While perhaps our spirit may be from another dimension or the stars, we were born on this earth, for a reason and purpose. We are meant to be here, and we belong here now.

My animistic practice is what has healed the deeper loneliness I used to feel, and it is what I turn to whenever loneliness comes up, because it heals me every time.

Animism is the belief that everything has a spirit. No matter what form we are in, we all have a spirit, and maybe that spirit is from here and maybe it isn’t, but we’re all here nonetheless. We’re all spirit in a physical form on Earth.

When I hear the croak of my neighbourhood raven, or touch the trunk of a nearby tree, I feel their kinship. When I sit on the beach, I listen to the waters and speak my pain to them. When I pick up a rock I listen to its wisdom. Everything has a soul, an intelligence. This is what I believe, and how I live. It takes away the loneliness.

I know that while I have human family, my family extends far beyond that. I have the nature beings, ancestors and spirit guides. This is my family and my home. It is yours too.

Do you have a favourite spot in nature that helps you feel at home? What helps you feel a sense of belonging on this earth?

As I recover from my own perfectionism, I hope to share these little nuggets of healing, in the hopes that we all feel a little better in our bodies, on this planet, just as we are.

Do you struggle with perfectionism? What helps you heal and feel whole?

May any perfectionism you struggle with soften into a deep knowing of your innate worthiness. Your existence is enough. You belong here. You do not have to be good.

Xo

Serena

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An Imbolc Oracle Reading For You!

Imbolc Blessings! We have come upon the beautiful season of Imbolc, which means ‘in the belly’- Referring to lactating ewes. This season honors the process of incubation and nurturing new life- whether it is a dream for the future or creative projects. It is a time for preparation and planning, and clearing our path so we can more easily manifest our desires.

We still have more hours of darkness than light, so it is an ideal time for healing and integrating our shadow, doing our inner work and clearing debris from our past. The light is increasing, bringing hope, inspiration and new resources to help us release what weighs us down and support our personal healing.

The Goddess Brigid is venerated this time of year, lady of fertility, healing, creativity and new life. May she bring us the clarity and inspiration we need to move forward and help us to manifest our dreams!

Imbolc is also a season of divination. Traditions of weather divination continue today as we observe the behaviour of groundhogs, badgers, snakes to fortell how many weeks of winter remain.

Of course, any time is a great time for divination in my books, so let’s see what’s ahead for us this Imbolc season, shall we?

I am very excited to have just received the newly released deck- Seasons of the Witch Imbolc Oracle!

This is part of the Seasons of the Witch series by Lorraine Anderson and Juliet Diaz- they created a deck for each of the 8 seasonal festivals. I am slowly collecting them all! The artwork is beautiful, the writing impactful and I just love having a deck devoted to the energies of each season on the wheel. They are going to become a staple in each of my Hearthfire Circles from now on!

The Imbolc deck focuses on self-care and self-healing through the season, helping us to overcome obstacles on our path.

Let’s get started. Take a moment now to ground and centre yourself. Take a few deep relaxing breaths and quiet your mind. When you feel calm and present, you may wish to ask yourself ‘What do I need to know for Imbolc season?’ Open your eyes and gaze at the cards below and choose your card…

Seasons of the Witch Imbolc Oracle
by Lorraine Anderson & Juliet Diaz. Illustrated by Tijana Lukovic

Once you’ve chosen your card scroll down to find it’s meaning below. Meanings are from the deck’s authors.

  1. Amethyst– Intuition, spiritual connection, stress relief

“Go where your spirit dwells, where your sight is clear and your breath is liberated.”

You may be experiencing a very emotional or stressful time when you receive the Amethyst card: perhaps a situation has gotten out of hand and you aren’t sure how you’re going to resolve the matter. Amethyst is considered to be both a stone of spiritual connection and helpful in seeking sobriety, which suggests the answer to your question is likely a balance between spiritual and practical means. Taking time to clear your mind in meditative practice could help in seeking a solution or provide info for your next steps. It is up to you to put the guidance you have received into practice.

Connecting with cosmic intelligence has no useful power if you are unwilling or unmotivated to act upon this gift of wisdom. Trust that your intuition is correct and will guide you to the right outcome. Additionally, this card encourages you to find productive ways to manage stress and warns of the destructive habit of playing the victim. Perhaps you feel powerless against your impulses, but giving in to temptation can lead to further heartache. While it may not be easy, there is a way out of your circumstances because deep down you know what to do even if you don’t want to do it.

2. Bathing Ritual– Healing, washing away negativity or what does not belong, preparing for success

“With you, water spirit, I wash away what no longer serves me and drink in spells that call for healing.”

Receiving this card is a good omen that a new beginning is very close at hand. However, there is still a little healing to do before you can welcome a fresh phase. There are remnants of a past experience that are still negatively influencing your choices and what you’re calling into existence. You may not even be consciously aware of just how much emotional or spiritual weight you are still carrying. You may wish to consider reaching out to a professional if you feel called to help you access those areas of your life that are in need of healing so you can safely process and move forward.

Each time you confront the challenges of your past you open up a little more space, which allows you to fill your life with more joy, abundance and love. Pulling this card is a sign that now is not quite the right time to move forward with your plans, although you are not very far away from the light at the end of the tunnel. Skipping over this critical healing step could derail any future success you might have. Instead, invest in this act of self-care, washing away what no longer serves the person you are becoming.

3. Coming of Spring- Preparing for rebirth, reaching for the light, renewal, surge of hope

“Beneath my feet stir the waking, spiraling surges of warmth that tell of life ready to birth.”

Imbolc marks the beginning of the end of winter, letting you know it’s time to begin your ascent out of the darkness. This card often finds you after a challenging situation or an emotional or spiritual crisis. You may have recently experienced a great shedding of what no longer serves you through the dissolution of a relationship or a dramatic end to a chapter in your life story. You are about to enter the stage of rebuilding from the ashes and can begin to allow hope and faith to enter your spirit again. This is a positive sign if you’re looking for new love or a new job.

This card indicates there are many prospects waiting for you when you’re ready to put yourself out there again. Perhaps the most important meaning of this card is that you have a wide open lane to fill your life with anything you choose. The possibilities for where you go next are endless, and you should entertain all opportunities that come your way because any of them are likely to yield positive results.

4. Casserole- Alignment, bringing things together in a harmonious way

“Trust in the flavors that led you here, an unexpected alignment. Let it move you in ways that capture your soul.”

This card will appear when lifetime or long-term connections are being formed. Receiving it suggests the presence of a soulmate, angel investor, or business partner and potentially a new addition to your family such as a child or fur baby. It could also represent finding your life calling or settling in a place that feels like home. Much like a casserole, this new connection indicates a feeling of warmth, familiarity and comfort. You can expect this relationship to be harmonious, for there to be a feeling of belonging together like mac and cheese.

Don’t allow doubt to spoil things when this feeling appears in your life. The attachment you have or are building is very likely to be reliable and fits into the moving parts of your life with ease. If you’re inquiring about bringing things together such as a group of friends or blending a family, this card is confirmation that everyone involved will find joy with one another.

For questions related to finances, this card suggests financial stability and comfort. You may experience financial windfalls or be blessed with an opportunity to create long-term wealth.

5. Garlic- Defensiveness, protection, managing negativity

“It is unwise to walk beyond the boundaries you have yet to expand on. Protection among all else.”

Pulling the Garlic card suggests there are people who are working against you, or perhaps that is your perception of the situation. There is likely resistance from others but it may not be as bad as you think. Whatever you are facing, receiving this card means you are more than capable of defending yourself against any attack you may face. You have what you have because of your hard work and dedication, and there is no one in your current orbit who has the power to take that from you. Any negativity you are experiencing is the result of someone whose own emotional traumas are being triggered, which is all about them, and not you. It may be unfortunate for them, but you are not required to entertain such behavior when it is hurtful to you.

Garlic Protection Spell:

This spell was learned by the author by an elderly Cuban woman. Carry it with you for a trip or flight or party or wherever you feel you want a little extra protection. You will need 1 garlic clove; 1/2 tsp of honey; a pinch of salt and aluminum foil.

Peel the garlic clove and make a slit in it that’s slightly smaller than its length. Cover the slit with honey and salt, making sure the salt sticks to the honey. While you are preparing this, focus your mind on your intention of protection. Wrap the clove in a small piece of foil so it won’t dirty your clothes or whatever you decide to carry it in.

6. Black Bear- Transcendence, the battle is easily won, personal power

“Your existence is the resistance, All you must do is accept the power awaiting your arrival.”

Bears are considered to be the top of the animal food chain, having no real threat from predators. Pulling the Black Bear card means you have done the work needed to find your authentic self. You have transcended to a higher level of consciousness but with the light comes shadow, and those who still dwell in the darkness will seek to take the light you’re now embodying.

This is not a bad card to receive, as it suggests you’re operating from a healthy level of self awareness. Protect yourself from any threat but remember to have compassion for those who have not yet battles their personal demons. Low-vibrational people are operating from a place of fear, and the lower the vibration the bigger their effort will be to lower yours. However, for you it’s no real fight at all and you are more than capable of handling anything that’s coming your way as long as you stand in your power. Authentic, mindful people stay at the top of the food chain.

7. Greenhouse- Sowing seeds, preparation, planning, setting things in motion, clear path

“May it be clear the intentions I sow in preparation for the path ahead.”

Greenhouse is one of the most positive cards in the deck, and pulling it means you are about to welcome a joyous new start. Unlike with other cards in the deck this fresh beginning is something you’ve chosen for yourself and are excited about. You have all of the potential to create something momentous; however, this card also warns you not to expect miracles. There will still be a lot of hard work, dedication and even some failures along the way, but the overall result will likely be very successful.

If you’re feeling stagnant or are in a challenging situation, this card encourages you to begin planting the seeds and preparing for a new idea or opportunity to drop into your lap. Dress for the job you wish to have, start researching things you’d do if you had the money or time or get together a plan of action for a goal even if you don’t have all the resources to make it happen. Receiving this card means the pathway is clear and you are covered by the safety of your cosmic greenhouse. You don’t need to wait until external conditions are right to move forward with your plans.

Did your message resonate? Let me know!

If you’d like to celebrate Imbolc in a warm and friendly space, please join us for our Online Imbolc Circle: Tending the Inner Hearth on Friday, Feb 9th, 2024 7pm-9pm EST! We will be discussing the themes of the season, awaken our inner hearth of inspiration, creativity and renewal with a guided journey and candle ritual.

I’d love to see you there!

Imbolc Blessings,

xo

Serena

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What’s Your Power Season? Your Birthday Through a Witchy Lens

We all carry the essence of the time we are born in. I believe this and have seen proof of these patterns, as a lifelong enthusiast and practitioner of astrology. As a Witch, I also see how we express the energies of the seasonal festival closest to our birthday. This is what I call our ‘Power Season’ because it relates to our vitality, creativity, and inner power. It is a time of year where we operate from a place of greater strength and energy, potentially making big strides forward in our lives. This is when our unique light shines bright.

Likewise, we have an opposing season, or what I call a ‘Balancing Season’- when our creative energy is lowered. During this low season, it can be a good time to recharge and refuel our creative cauldron. It is also a great time to integrate that season’s balancing energy to help us achieve greater wholeness. I invite you to read the description of your balancing season as well, as it is often our best teacher!

Remember- this is simply an added lens through which to get to know yourself, one that compliments astrology, not replaces it.

Find Your Power Season

In the modern witch’s calendar, the year is divided into 8 seasonal festivals. These 8 festivals take place at the Equinoxes, Solstices and the points between each of those.

Your birthday season is your Power Season. Find where your birthday falls in the list below. Your Power Season is the seasonal festival that is closest to your birthday. You may need to look at your calendar to see which one that is. Your birthday may fall right in the middle of two seasons, and thus you may carry some of the energy of both, as one season fades into the other. You can consider both festivals good times for using your creative power, and both balancing seasons good times for recharging your energies.

Winter Solstice- Approx Dec 21st

Imbolc-  Feb 1st or early Feb

Spring Equinox- Approx March 21st

Beltane- May 1st or early May

Summer Solstice- Approx June 21st

Lammas-  Aug 1st or early Aug

Fall Equinox- Approx Sept 21st

Samhain- Nov 1st or early Nov

Now, let us explore these seasonal festivals and how they resonate with your inner gifts and power..

Winter Solstice Approx Dec 21st – The Wise Witch

If Winter Solstice is your power season, you are the Wise One, Old Soul, carrier of elder energy. You are attuned to the ancestors, and value the wisdom held in traditions and the old ways. Perhaps you feel you’ve had many lives on earth and have knowledge you wish to pass onto others. Your life is one of collecting experiences that teach you to become stronger and wiser. You may choose to teach others as well. The darkness of this time of year doesn’t faze you as much as it does for others, because you have a strong core of self-reliance that holds you steady as you surrender to the Mystery. You can see in the dark with your intuitive senses. You can hold space for the unknown while your feet stay planted on the earth.

The festival of Winter Solstice is one of honoring endings and beginnings- processing all that the year has brought, and rekindling the hope of renewal as the light begins to slowly increase once again. It is a deep moment of stillness, reflection, rest and retreat, before the dawn.

You carry this essence of depth and of hope- the ability to straddle moments of death and rebirth in life for others. You may find yourself called to be in those moments of transition, loss, or challenge for other people. You enjoy the company of elders and feel a kinship with the ancient ones.

Your power lies in your internal strength, an inner light that blazes even when everything around you is in darkness. You are the solid rock others lean on when in need. You sometimes may feel you need to carry the world on your shoulders and have trouble asking for what you need. You feel like you must be always the responsible one or the authority. It may be too easy sometimes to get swallowed in darkness, grief, or pragmatism. Your focus may be past-oriented, as you glean wisdom from your past experiences or the wisdom of others who have tread the path before. You follow what has worked over time, and you are patient.  

At the Winter Solstice, embrace solitude and really tap into the increased wisdom the year has brought you. Stand in your power gained through experience. Consider how you can share this wisdom and be a source of strength for others in the year to come. 

Your Balancing Season:

Your balancing season is the Summer Solstice. Let this time be an invitation to step out of your usual role of authority and let yourself receive the earth’s gifts and replenish your deep reserves. Open up to the love, bounty and beauty around you.  

The melting, softening, opening and blossoming energy of solstice may feel uncomfortable, dripping with excess, drama, or just too much sunlight! But the light, playful and expressive energy of summer solstice can help you remember that you can have fun, be silly and enjoy life! Receive the light into your being, so you can shine it for others in the dark. Read the description of Summer Solstice season for added insight.

Reflection: How do you embody wisdom? How do you integrate your playful, youthful side?

Imbolc- (Feb 1/Early Feb) The Visionary Witch

If Imbolc is your power season, you are the sparkling magic of sunlight on the snow, the gentle stirrings of new life deep in the belly of the Earth Mother. The cold may be harsh and unrelenting, yet the light has noticeably increased. Like a deer in a silent winter forest, your spiritual antennae are attuned to higher frequencies and your sensitivities are heightened to the energies around you. This attunement to subtle energies gives you an allure of mystery, as not everyone can hear what you hear or see what you see. Your sensitivity may also require added care and protection. Inspiration is what you seek to channel, as it fuels your visions of a brighter future and motivates your creativity.

The festival of Imbolc venerates the goddess Brigid, healer, poet, smith, and hearth-tender. It is a season of cleansing and preparing for new life, dedication to our spiritual path, and stoking our inner hearth of inspiration and creativity. It is a time where we envision the year ahead, and gently incubate the new life stirring within us.

Like the season, you may straddle the world of harsh reality with one of hope and possibility. You may find your sensitivity, spiritual orientation or unique perspective misunderstood by others or seen as impractical, but these are your gifts. You can see much farther ahead than most, feel collective energies stirring beneath the surface and can intuit things very accurately. The job of a visionary is to dream. To see possibilities, where others don’t. You embrace multiple perspectives, and make connections. The world needs your inspiring visions and goals. You are here to inspire hope, help others believe in magic, and create new ways of doing things.

During your power season, re-commit to your spiritual path and ideals. Tap into your creative visioning power! Dream a new dream and map out the way there. Trust your instincts and sensitivities. Your gentle nurturance is a gift for all life- you may wish to share it with young children, animals, plants, or ideas. Honour the preciousness of new life and tend to its needs.

Your Balancing season:

Your balancing season is Lammas. Let this time be an invitation to take a break from future-minding and get present to the earthly bounty around you. Soak up those warm rays on the beach, get deeply interested in the sand between your toes and nothing more. You may find this season uncomfortably physical or pragmatic. The land asks that we reap our harvest and contend with the results. Enjoy your harvest! The practical energy of this season helps you bring your dreams down to earth. Drying herbs, canning, pickling, crafting, and making bread are all good activities that help ground your expansive spirit into the here and now. Read about Lammas season for further insight.

Reflection: How do you embody the Visionary energy? How do you integrate your grounded, practical side?

Spring Equinox- (approx. Mar 21st) The Brave Witch

If Spring Equinox is your power season, you are the bright flame of rebirth, regeneration, and new life! As an early spring witch, you carry the essence of new beginnings, optimism, and brave action. Like the baby ram leaping about, or the relentless green shoots pushing through the soil, you are motivated to break new ground and enjoy doing it. The old ways of doing things don’t interest you. You seek to innovate, initiate, and move things forward. No matter how old you are, you carry a youthful, fresh, and innocent energy. Children are likely drawn to you, sensing a deep kinship. Life is your adventure, and the world is your oyster. You are sensitive to energy and can channel a large amount of it. Your motivation and optimism are contagious, like a flame that lights others’ awaiting wicks.

The festival of Spring Equinox is a celebration of new life and inspires taking tangible action. This is the time of year when we can begin to implement the creative visions we had in Imbolc season, bringing them into the material world and taking risks or bigger steps forward.

Like your power season, you love to start new things. Others may find your optimism childish or that you lack follow-through, but new beginnings are the job of the brave witch that you are! You know that you can’t manifest a dream if you don’t try. You are more likely to succeed in your endeavors than most, simply because you’re willing to act where others let fear prevent them from taking the first step. You may feel called to be that helping hand or voice that urges others to be brave, stand up for what they believe in or take a step towards their dreams. You may be an advocate for the vulnerable, or champion of the underdog, willing to put yourself in the line of fire if needed.

During your power season, take a stand, start something new, share your innovative energy in some way. It will have far-reaching effects. The world needs your brave warrior witch energy!

Your Balancing Season:

The Fall Equinox is your balancing season. This is where we begin our descent into the underworld and draw inward. You may find this season depressing or difficult, as the leaves fall, reminding you of what has been lost or ended. Let this be an invitation to take off your armor and give yourself a break from being the warrior. You deserve rest and recuperation too. Make a warm pot of your favourite tea, get cozy with a good book or pull out your journal. Let your heart melt and the tears flow. Your own inner child deserves the love, care and protection you give to everyone else. Read about Fall Equinox season for further insight.

Reflection: How do you embody bravery? How do you integrate your softer, reflective side?

Beltane- (May 1st/Early May) The Sensual Witch

If Beltane is your power season, you vibrate with the green earth, which is alive and beginning to show buds, leaves and flowers. The energy of growth is your magic, with a passion for manifesting tangible creations. You’re a very sensual being, in touch with your body and sexuality, trusting your physical instincts more than most. The vibrant spring energy you carry exudes strength, confidence, optimism, and beauty. You may have a green thumb or a talent for healing, cooking or art. There’s lots to do during this season- gardens and projects to plant, tend and cultivate. Likewise, you may find you are often busy and juggling many tasks at once. Like the butterfly, you may find yourself flitting from one thing to the next, sampling nectar from different flowers and bringing together different flavors or notes to create something new.

The festival of Beltane is a time to celebrate fertility and growth. We do rituals in celebration of the body, love, dancing and feasting. It is also a time for cleansing and protection from mischievous fairies as well.

The warmer weather brings people out and about, ready to mingle and socialise, and you may find you are often drawn out to connect with others, or simply enjoy nature. Beltane is a time of movement and growth, so you do not like to stagnate or stand still too long. There is too much to experience! You may find you have a knack for connecting people to one another and learning new things. Some may think you’re a bit scattered or lacking depth, but you are here to enjoy life and all it has to offer! Your diverse, tangible experiences enrich your life and enhance your skills. You always have a good story to bring to the table, or something beautiful to bestow upon the world.

During your power season, indulge in a new sensual experience, buy yourself new adornment, travel or learn a new skill! Share your fertile, sensual energy with others in creative and loving ways.

Balancing Season:

Your balancing season is Samhain. Your spirit may feel a bit low around the dark, death-embracing energies of Samhain. However, your power must be replenished with a period of dormancy and rest. Samhain invites you to slow down, draw inward, and connect with your deep emotional roots. What ancestral gifts or wounds do you carry? Is there something you need to grieve? Embracing solitude and allowing yourself to feel your depths- especially pain-helps you to transmute it so you can bloom even brighter next year. Healthy roots are necessary for growth. Read about Samhain season for further insight.

Reflection: How do you embody playful sensuality? How do you integrate your inner darkness and pain?

Summer Solstice- (Approx June 21st) The Shining Witch

If Summer Solstice is your power season, you shine with the colours of the rainbow! The flowers are in full bloom, and medicinal herbs are ready to be harvested. Everything is blooming and expressing their full potential. You too, like to bring your full potential to everything you do, and expression is very important to you. You are very generous, and like to go big or go home. Authenticity is a motivating force in your life. Why pretend to be somebody you’re not? You are unabashedly you. Highly attuned to the Earth Mother’s energies, you love to bask in the sun, swim in the water and play as much as possible. You feel life is to be enjoyed and celebrated.

The Summer Solstice is a time where we celebrate the longest day and acknowledge the sun’s protective and energizing gifts. Again, like at Beltane, fairies are out causing mischief and many believe this to be one of the most powerful times for magic in the year. It is a peak of energy that reverberates and energizes us for long into the future, so it is best to use it wisely rather than let it go to waste.

Like your festival, and like the sun, you carry a strong energizing force that can powerfully protect, bless, or burn. You decide how you wish to use your energy. Be careful of burning out, as some may take advantage of your warm rays. Some may feel blinded or jealous of the light you carry, but don’t let them dim your light. Trust that you are meant to wield potent energies, and have the capacity to create big, beautiful things!

During Summer Solstice, find productive, creative channels for your power, and use your abundant energy to make the world a better place. You are a nurturing, giving and generous soul, meant to share the Earth Mother’s love with all.

Balancing Season:

Your balancing season is the Winter Solstice. With all the giving you do, this season invites you to rest and recuperate. You may find it depressing or exhausting when winter descends but think of it as a soft blanket wrapping you in love and giving you permission to simply be. This season teaches you that you do not need to be at your best all the time! You can feel tired, lazy, and anti-social and that’s ok. You can let someone else host the holiday dinner and be the first to leave. Just do the basics and hold space for the unknown. It is in the dark void that we grow truly wise. Spend time with the elders in your life. Invite the wisdom of darkness to help you understand how to wield the light. Read about Winter Solstice season for further insight.

Reflection: How do you embody the life-giving energies of the sun? How do you integrate rest and embrace darkness?

Lammas (Aug 1st/Early Aug)- The Abundant Witch

You straddle the bright shiny energy of summer solstice as well as the beautiful harvest season, here at Lammas. You carry the soft, warm glow of sunset on a wheat field, the wind rustling through the trees, and crickets singing through the night. There is a sense of peaceful fulfillment during this season, an inner satisfaction that no other season carries. It fills us with gratitude. Like the Summer Solstice Witches, you love to play outside- basking in the sun, picking flowers, swimming in the water.  You carry the energy of abundance, like a balm to the collective scarcity wound. Gratitude is a theme in your life and its essence is the highest expression of your spirit. Naturally skilled and creative, you do not waste anything, and often make beautiful things- whether cooking, crafting, gardening or any sort of art! You use your time, energy and resources wisely. You carry the wisdom of reciprocity in regards to relating with the Earth as a living being. You understand the give and take, the importance of showing gratitude in physical ways. You love giving gifts to others and like to receive appreciation as well.

Lammas, or First Harvest festival is the festival of the grain, and making bread is one of its main activities. It is at this time we have a sense of which of our planted seeds have done well and which haven’t. We reap what we’ve sown and accept the outcome. We separate the wheat from the chaff and begin our preparations for autumn. It is a festival that celebrates artisans and farmers with food and craft markets, feasting and gratitude.

You like to upcycle, to create something beautiful from humble beginnings. Where others see rags, you see a potential quilt! During your power season, use your craftiness to make incense or medicines from herbs, jams or preserves from fruits, or create beautiful clothing, jewelry, décor or other items that enhance people’s lives.

Some may say you get hung up on the details or focus too much on issues of scarcity and abundance, but you are a true artisan of life- you know that life is in the details, for nothing of quality can be made haphazardly. You prefer DIY projects because you trust your own magical ability to weave thread into gold!

Your Balancing Season:

Imbolc is your balancing season. Sometimes you may get bogged down by the mundane details and limitations of the physical world. The season of Imbolc invites you to reconnect with your ‘why’- the higher principles and motivation behind your actions. Imbolc takes place at the coldest, harshest time of year and you may find scarcity thoughts take hold at this time. Remember that you are the earth and you are magic. You don’t need to get your energy from the outside world, the flame of creation lies within you. Reconnect to the awe and wonder you had as a child, rekindle your belief in magic, possibility, and new sources of inspiration. Connect with your Spirit and dream new dreams for the future. Read about Imbolc season for further insight.

Reflection: How do you embody abundance? How do you integrate your spiritual, idealistic, dreamy side?

Fall Equinox- (Approx. Sept 21st) The Balanced Witch

If Fall Equinox is your power season, you are one lucky witch! Often called the ‘season of the witch’, this time holds the beauty of a feast shared with loved ones, the brilliant reds, oranges and yellows of the trees, the gentle cool breeze and a warm cup of tea. Something about fall equinox is extra witchy- perhaps because it is that point of balance between light and dark, marking our descent into the darker half of the year. You are drawn to the inner journey, sensing the magical treasures to be found there. You carry the ability to both live in this world and the spirit world. You can just as easily craft a beautiful besom or herbal tincture as you can dance with your demons. You enjoy a bit of socializing as well as curling up alone with a good book. You are not afraid to dip your toes into the darker realms of human nature, and yet you also delight in the sensual aspects of life, feeling the leaves crunch beneath your feet as you sip your pumpkin latte, or soaking in an essential oil bath. Your path is one of integrating different aspects of yourself, your inner light and dark.

The Fall Equinox festival is another harvest festival, this time focusing on fruits and veggies rather than grain. It is a time of gratitude, celebrating what has manifested and worked well, and grieving or letting of what hasn’t. We may let go of physical things we no longer need, or habits that have been holding us back. It is a time of transmutation, release, and opening to the mystery that awaits us as we begin the journey inward.

You may feel you walk a line between worlds at times. Perhaps you feel the call of the darkness more strongly, and other times, you wish to feel your feet on the ground. Some may find it hard to know where you stand, or demand you pick a side. But, like your festival, you carry an inner sense of balance within that you like to maintain. This also aligns with a sense of personal integrity, understanding, ethics and justice. You live by an inner code that reflects your need for balance. Reflection is very important to you, and you may find your mind venturing into the past to integrate its lessons.

During your power season, take the time you need to digest the year’s energies and consciously begin an inner journey- spiritually and/or emotionally. Honor your inner Witch in gentle, loving ways.  Stand in your power as an edge-walker, a balancer of light and dark.

Balancing Season:

Perhaps you are more willing than most to learn from your balancing season? Spring Equinox is your balancing season, as it invites you to embrace innovation and break new ground. Your natural essence is integration and reflection, which can make the impulsive verve of Spring Equinox feel unsettling and forceful. Spring asks you to take off the cozy sweater and try new things, which can feel scary. It asks you to jump in feet-first and be willing to fail. Can you trust your ability to land on your feet? You won’t know what you’re capable of until you try. Let spring show you new aspects of yourself to fuel your quest for integration. Read about Spring Equinox season for further insight.

Reflection: How do you embody Balance? How do you integrate your brave and impulsive side?

Samhain- (Nov 1st-Early November) The Healing Witch

Your power season is Samhain, also known as the Witches’ New Year. The winds have grown colder and many of the leaves have fallen by this time, leaving their stark, twisted, craggy naked beauty to behold. You do not shy away from the grittier, darker aspects of life, as you have an x-ray vision that shows you the deeper essence of everything. You are not fooled by appearances and can smell a rat a mile away.

This is the season of death and increased darkness. You carry the wisdom of knowing that death is simply a part of nature’s cycles and always leads to rebirth. Life never ends, it only changes. Your healing power stems from this wisdom, and your simple presence can offer comfort to someone who is grieving, struggling, or experiencing deep pain. It is said the veil between this world and the spirit world is thin this time of year, giving you a heightened sensitivity to the spirit world. You may be unusually attuned to your ancestors or helper spirits from other realms. You may be gifted at mediumship, oracles, channeling, or of course, healing.

The festival of Samhain is one in which we honour our beloved dead and tend to our roots which contain our ancestral gifts and wounds. We may feast the dead, talk about our favourite memories, or do some deeper shadow work.

During your power season, take the opportunity to do some of your deepest healing. Tackle those ghosts in the attic or delve into that ancestral wound. The work you do now will reverberate not only for the rest of your life, but generations forward and back all through your lineage. You are a powerful healer.

Others may find you intimidating, intense or dramatic. But this is because your path puts you through more intensity than most. Life, death, and rebirth will always feature prominently in your life, and others will likely seek you out for guidance when they are in transition. In order to heal, we must understand illness, in order to cultivate life, we must learn to embrace death. One cannot happen without the other. You know this.

Balancing Season:

Your balancing season is Beltane. The sensual delights of the earth blossoming invite you to embrace life and be nourished. The darkness of Samhain can diminish your trust and ability to appreciate life’s simple pleasures. Place your feet on the soft morning grass, smell a flower and appreciate the bounty that surrounds you! Care for your body, be kind to yourself and allow yourself to thrive, connect and create! Enjoy the life aspect of the cycle, remembering this is the thriving, healing energy that moving through loss eventually brings. Read about Beltane season for further insight.

Reflection: How do you embody deep change and healing ? How do you integrate your lighter, sensual side?

I invite you to take some time to delve more deeply into awareness of these seasonal points. How can you use this knowledge to enhance your birthday season or recharge during your balancing season?

If you’d like to experience the seasonal energies in a deeper, more meaningful way, join us for the Hearthfire Circles! We celebrate the seasonal festivals online and in-person with guided meditation journeys, art-making, ritual and warm community vibes.

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to comment below!

In love and balance,

Serena

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The Fertile Darkness- Dwelling in the Dark Womb

The Fertile Darkness- Dwelling in the Dark Womb

We live in a world obsessed with growth, light and productivity. Capitalist conditioning runs deep within our bones, urging us to behave like a machine rather than a fleshy, sensitive human that requires rest in mind, heart, body and soul.

There is rarely an allowance for receiving, waiting, or incubating. There isn’t much room for uncertainty or mystery. We must always be ‘on’ rather than flow with our creative cycles, which have dormant periods and transitional spaces.

Nature teaches us that growth is a cyclical process with distinctly different phases.  While I’ve been facilitating circles and centering my work around these teachings for years, the phase I feel is most important to focus on is the dark season, which we are in now.

The dark season is here to show us how darkness is a source of massive creative potential, healing, and inspiration.

The dark time of year, specifically this time nearing Solstice, the seemingly fallow ‘death’ phase of late autumn/winter, corresponds to the dark moon, old age, the Crone archetype, and the Dark Goddess. In addition to it being an earthly season, it is also an inner season that we may experience for varying lengths of time, during periods of personal transformation, loss, creative dry spells, natural aging or moving from one phase of life to another.

This is the aspect of life I feel we most need to collectively reclaim, and explore in our personal lives, as we typically resist it. It is not inherently negative; we have just been conditioned to think of it as such.

Darkness dwells in us all, and the Dark Goddess teaches us that this is a place of fertility, magick, beauty and mystery within us. It is where our potency and power lie. But we must be willing to do the work of unraveling our conditioning to access its gifts.

Rather than running or numbing out the discomfort of difficult emotions or being in a fallow phase, it is much more empowering to embrace it.

Our darkness may show up when we’re triggered emotionally, when we meet with shadow aspects of ourselves, through life changes or loss. These times can trigger fear, anxiety, ‘fight, flight or freeze’ responses in us.

Perhaps something has ended, and we just want to rush into the next thing- like a rebound relationship, job, or activity. Or perhaps we simply feel stuck or frozen in the status quo as we resist acknowledging it.  

We may reach for our favourite numbing agent or try to escape by traveling or distraction. This is fine and human. But the feelings will likely just come back again in the future, as things are cyclic, so we might as well use the opportunity to grow.

If we practice embracing the darkness, the uncertainty, the grief or the fear and shame- if we feel the feelings, sit with the discomfort rather than running or numbing, we actually evolve, learn and heal.

Embracing the darkness begets growth.

Nature’s Teachings on Dormancy

Currently, the weather is getting colder, the sky darker, and it seems as though everything is dying around us or going to sleep. But this is a crucial stage of growth and magick happening behind the scenes.

Many seeds require several months of dark, cold dormancy for them to take root. This is why we plant tulip bulbs in autumn, as they need the dormant period first, to grow in spring. Some seeds take weeks, months or even as long as 50 years of dormancy before sprouting!

Dormancy is not death. It is a waiting period of transformation and uncertainty. This ‘not-knowing’ makes us uncomfortable, as we are conditioned to always have a sense of clarity on where we are going, but the reality is, much of the time life just doesn’t go how we imagine it would or how we want it to.

The dark dormancy period may last a short while or a very long time. It is a mysterious, magickal, fertile stage. It’s where one could say life truly begins. It is where energetic potential and physical potential slowly merge and mingle, doing the actual work that begets visible growth. This is where the roots grow, drawing nourishment into the seed that will one day sprout and grow into a beautiful plant.  Even if it seems not much is happening, a lot is. New foundations are forming.

Tending to our Roots

Roots are the most important part of a plant, but grow downwards, not upwards. They’re not always visible to the outside world, but they are essential. We humans are like plants, and tending our roots is a tender, sacred, vulnerable act.

Like plants, so much that is essential for our own well-being and growth goes on beneath the surface and lies within our roots. Our roots are connected to our foundations in life- childhood, home life, family and ancestry, our spiritual beliefs, values, and of course in our physical body. They are found in the basic building blocks of who we are.

When we get triggered, or feel low or in pain, it can be wise to follow the feeling down to its roots. We can follow it into our body, into our childhoods, beliefs or even our ancestral inheritance.

Once we find the root of something, we can bring a tender loving energy towards it and then the pain it holds will lessen. The pattern shifts. This inner work is transformative, healing and has impact not only on us but all those connected to us. It is one of the gifts the darkness brings us- Stronger, healthier roots, which help us personally and collectively thrive in the future.

The Importance of Rest and Retreat

We all began in the darkness of the womb. Our instincts know on a deep level that darkness and retreat are required for living life. As humans, we spend about one third of our lives sleeping! This is our daily dose of resting in the dark womb.

During the dark season we require more sleep, more solitude, more time in the dark womb.

In the dark times of our lives, we often feel this pull by our soul. Just like our body gets exhausted at the end of the day, our soul gets weary over time and longs to come home. Our soul requires rest and renewal too.  

When we feel we are going through a dark or fallow period in our life, it is often because an old part of ourselves is changing and a new part of ourselves is taking root. This requires a lot of energy and can make us feel weary and tired.

We may feel disoriented, confused, like everything around us is dissolving. We don’t know what to do next, or how to manage or control the situation. A relationship, project or dream dear to us dissolves. Things end, and we may be carrying grief, confusion, frustration or give up hope as we descend into what seems like a dark chasm, meeting a void of nothingness, as we cannot see ahead or even understand where we are now.

But in these times, we are in the Dark Womb of the Great Mother, or The Dark Goddess. We are held by Her warmth, and by the grace of Her Mystery. We are beneath the soil, letting go of our previous form, to become something new and beautiful.

Like the tulip bulb, our growth can only happen if we are willing to surrender and rest in the darkness for as long as is necessary. We must trust in the process, let go of our need to control it, and have the courage to be present to the magick unfolding, as quiet or subtle as it seems.

The Art of Surrender

While the process of transformation often requires surrender, I don’t think of surrender as passive or powerless. Surrender, I am discovering is quite an art. It requires our active participation and presence. It may require extrapolating our perception of surrender from powerlessness, which for some of us go hand in hand.

When in a process of change, we are meant to surrender by letting go of certain conditioned habits, stories about ourselves or ways of doing things that are holding us back. Often the resistance to change is more painful than the change itself.

Surrendering doesn’t mean we do absolutely nothing, give our power away or self-victimize. It means we consciously soften into a new way of being that our soul is longing for. When we choose to soften into our soul’s longing, stay present with all that are feeling, and accept all that we are experiencing, we are practicing the art of surrender. This is a courageous act.

In times of darkness, it often means we are simply taking root. We are incubating a new birth. We are meant to trust the process, and trust that we will know when it’s time to come up into the light of day again.

How to Embrace the Darkness as Your Ally

If you feel called to work with the darkness this season or anytime in your life you feel in a dark period, here are some practices to work with:

-Turn the lights off completely or light a single candle as you just sit in the darkness as a nightly ritual. You may wish to do this while you relax in the bath, or at your altar, or sitting up in bed before going to sleep. Rather than reaching for your phone or another activity to ‘unwind’, try just letting the darkness enfold you, and imagine it holding you like a mother. Feel its peace.

What feelings come up for you when you sit in the dark?

-Go for a nighttime walk. Perhaps you already walk in the dark with your dog in the evening or just coming home after work, but instead of it being routine, let it be an intentional, sacred walk for your heart and soul. Look up at the stars and moon. Feel the energy of the trees whispering in the night, notice the night creatures- raccoons, cats, possums, bats and the nightlife that surrounds you.

What feels different when you walk at night vs in the daytime?

-Get to know a Dark Goddess and work with Her. What makes a goddess ‘dark’? She may be associated with harsh weather such as winter, storms, wind or cold. She may also be associated with war, strife, or death. She may be associated with transformation, nighttime, old age, wisdom, or healing. Dark goddesses’ myths may depict them in frightening ways; however, they are often the strongest, most protective and healing goddesses that come to help us when we are going through the most difficult times in our lives.  Some examples are: Hecate, Persephone, Medusa, Nyx, Kali, Sekhmet, Nepthys, Nut, Ereshkigal, Lillith, Hel, Pele, Baba Yaga, Cerridwen, The Morrigan, An Cailleach.  

Is there a Dark Goddess you are drawn to? How might her story or personality reflect your own?

-Go to bed earlier and pay attention to your dreams. The longer we sleep the better chance we will have more dreams to remember! Often our dreams communicate to us the truth about how we are feeling, and deeper wisdom coming from our Spirit and Guides about our life. Keep a dream journal. Notice how you feel when you awaken.

What emotions or symbols come up in your dreams? How do you feel when you get more sleep?

-Practice acceptance and the art of surrender. What part of your life is asking you to soften and change? Is there something that you need to accept but are resisting? Perhaps there are signs in your life that something has come to an end or needs to shift for greater well-being. What isn’t worth fighting anymore? One way to embody surrender is to move your body. Put on some music you enjoy and move in whatever way feels good. This can help prevent us from getting stuck or rigid and open to ways of being.

Where in your body can you invite in some more softness, gentleness or acceptance?

May your journey through this dark season be rich with healing, rest and the love and protection of the Dark Womb and the Dark Goddess.

Xo

Serena

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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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