As the Aries Dark Moon rises, I have felt it pushing me a little deeper. To feel around in the dark for my passion. The parts that are longing to be seen, longing to create or to belong. It asks me what I have been putting aside for a rainy day or when I am less busy with obligations.
What am I finding is the deep, darkest depths that has this small spark asking for attention? The thing that will meet me at the crossroads of wholeness?
This is not necessarily about making a decision but about feeling inwards. It requires a very calm awareness. Free from the noise and thoughts and worries. The only keeping of time is that of the breath. Taking in of information comes in the form of our senses and the output is the slow wave of thoughts that bubble up from heart to mind. The ability to listen in this way will be the guiding force of decisions to move forward with something that you choose, no matter how small, to walk with in your next season. So what about you?
When you go deeper this dark moon, what passion are you finding in those depths?
What parts are longing to be seen, to create, or to belong?
What have youbeen putting aside for rainy days or days when you have fewer obligations?
What small spark is there asking for attention, the one that can meet you at the crossroads of wholeness?
What is the thing that will make you feel human and feral?
Photo via Pixabay
Starting Small
Overwhelm has a tendency to set fire to our greatest aspirations so this Aries dark moon really seeks that one thing, that one little spark that’s shining a little brighter. Starting small is where it is at. Some of the largest shifts and changes happen tiny bits at a time. Our journeys to wholeness and the building of our own health, wealth, and sacred self don’t happen overnight, but one spark at a time. This dark moon may you discover that spark:
Maybe it’s developing and maintaining a meditation practice.
Maybe it’s taking ten minutes each day to write. Anything – just write.
Maybe it’s taking a class or reading an educational book.
Maybe it’s smaller than that, maybe it’s a better nighttime ritual to get more rest.
It’s the smallest of things that can yield the greatest results. What is your one thing that is going to have the greatest impact on your journey forward? Write it, commit to it, and send your commitment to the universe upon the smoke of your incense this dark moon.
Kaycee is also over at Dark Goddess Collective, an upcoming community of Sovereigns being built on a private network. We believe that it is important to empower each other by connecting in a way that provokes and encourages knowledge of self, of sovereignty, and that which builds intuition.
The Warrior Season of Aries has begun, and like most years it brings with it the lessons of destruction turning into powerful growth. The underlying lesson is the same although the messages we each receive may be different. Diving deep into our own messages reinvigorates our season of fire and pushes us forward into new ways of focus, flow, and fecundity.
Photo by Mikhail Nilov via Pexels
Focus
Building focus, or should I say rebuilding focus, is one area that is finally hitting the consciousness of society. As a witch, it has been a constant framework of my practice.
“Where focus goes, energy flows” ~ Tony Robbins
There are bigger forces at play in our society today surrounding our ability to focus. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I want to encourage research into the ways in which our current daily lives are spent on escapism in the form of social media and technology. The underlying energy is simple, a society that cannot be reached in 7 seconds or less cannot be moved to: collaborate for the greater good, be informed, or force those in power to enact change. An easier place to start understanding that this is not fully solvable by individual change and how to take part in the collaboration of rebuilding societal focus is a book, Stolen Focus, by Johann Hari (2022).
And no, I did not get paid for the book mention, but this is not about money:
This is about taking back our mind power.
Photo by RODNAE Productions via Pexels
Flow
Finding flow, the state of flow, is increasingly difficult when we recognize that our ability to focus has been heavily impacted. That state of flow in which we are deeply enveloped within our processes of developing our greater sense of self and drive to create that which fulfills us, is needed now more than ever. An artist is still an artist, even when the artist is only thinking of what to create next. However, the artist that has hands in the clay and is actively creating art and is in a flow state that allows different parts of the brain to take over. This flow state has an increasing importance in developing new ideas, areas of thought, and new neural pathways.
For witches, artists, and healers – this is not new. We think about our art and in the practice of actually doing it, we find flow. Sometimes losing hours and thinking it has been only 30 minutes. It increases our fecundity.
Photo by PNW Production via Pexels
Fecundity & Fulfillment
Our ability to focus (requires intent) and get into flow states (transfer of energy) is where we find our fulfillment and fecundity. Witches especially understand that intention and energetic effort are parts of the practice of witchcraft that allows spell work to manifest in the middle world of everyday life. Our ability to see and tap into those currents is what makes our practice so powerful and fulfilling. It is why the actual practice is required.
The only way to get better at this is through focus and flow.
Learning what works for us requires focus: how we find the connections that are powerful to collaborate with (our tools, energetic allies, stones, and plants). Fecundity and fulfillment require a flow state of action: of experimenting with a spell, a chant, a potion, and diving deeply into the ways that our actions make an impact on our lives and the lives of others. This is our art.
Fiercely Taking it Back
Taking our power back requires a fierce intention. It also means we acknowledge the necessity of it and investigate the ways in which we are holding ourselves accountable for our own growth while seeking to be a part of the challenge to the deeper forces at play.
Me and notebooks…I can never have enough! Photo by Kaycee Reeves
Building awareness:
Take an inventory of your day, for a week.
How many times do you pick up technology, like your phone, when you are doing something else?
How many times do you find yourself scrolling video feeds? Time it.
How many times are you interrupted by emails, dings, notifications, or even vibrations from devices?
Switching and multitasking
How many times are you trying to multitask instead of focusing just on one thing?
What parts of this do you have power over?
Finding the intention:
What do you want?
If you could have the life of your dreams, what would that look like?
In what ways do you have the life of your dreams already?
What areas do you value the most?
What areas do you struggle with?
What brings you a great sense of fulfillment?
How can you incorporate spontaneity and play?
Photo by Lum3n via Pexels
Formulation of Accountability
Practitioners of magic understand the importance of formulations. From potions to incense, we are deeply aware of the impact of having the right formulations. Awareness and intention give a roadmap to experimenting with the formulation of rebuilding our focus, flow, and fecundity. When it comes to our accountability and formulations for it, we know that we cannot grow something new without the death of something else. It is witchcraft 101 in that clearing the space is required and that nature will fill that space for us if we don’t actively participate in the activity of filling it ourselves.
Ready, Set, Grow
What you will need:
Large jar w/ a lid
Journal or paper
Scrap paper or small note paper
Writing utensil
Tape or glue stick
Dried Orange peel
Cinnamon
Nettle
Rosemary
Directions:
Sit down with your journal and free write about the space you are looking to clear to align with what you want or desire. After the awareness building practices, we have a greater idea of the time we have available to work with. Let us assume that time is 30 minutes or less per day.
Gather all of herbs and the jar with a lid. Place each herb in the jar. Orange Peel and cinnamon to commit to the fire of growth, Nettle to sting away resistance, and Rosemary for the discipline this will take.
When you put the lid on to seal, you can say “With this first seal, I am committed to my growth and discipline in my daily practice, with every turn and seal I commit to my focus and flow”.
Photo by Kaycee Reeves
Grab your scrap paper or small note paper and writing utensil. After the intention building practices above, we have a greater idea of what we want, what adds value and fulfillment, as well as things we could add strength and focus to.
On your scrap paper, write one thing you will do today to increase your focus and flow by removing ONE thing for a set period of time.
For example: Today I will color or create a sigil for focus while being completely unavailable for 10 minutes, no tech.
Another example: Today I will put away my phone in another room and I will go outside and really look at the world around me curiously.
Fill up your jar with as many ideas as you can. Each time you unseal and reseal your jar, asking for “Focus & Flow”.
Photos by Kaycee Reeves
Each day, pull out one thing from your jar and get to it. Once complete, tape the paper to a page in your journal and answer these questions:
How did it feel to interrupt the status quo?
How did I feel during the experience?
What parts of this brought me joy?
Are there ways in which I could have enjoyed this more?
Did I experience a deeper state of awareness and connection?
Once the jar is empty, feel free to start again.
The purpose here is to disconnect meaningfully each day. Doing the deeper work to connect authentically to our inner world has yields great fruit over time. It can provide greater clarity for what we want, allow us to focus the mind better, and this practice can change the way we practice switching and multitasking to allow greater ease into flow states.
Yours in focus, flow, and fecundity (also, a candle and a key),
Kaycee is also a Co-Collaborator over at Dark Goddesses Collective, an upcoming community of Sovereigns being built on a private network to do the deeper work.
Today, and perhaps for the last two years, the tower time of society has been heavily present in my witchcraft. From workings for Ukraine to the baneful ones that my ancestors would shriek in pure delight over, there is something about the ferocity of them. This work has required being spontaneous, agile, and feral. It is that wilderness of the unknown that keeps drawing me in.
She whispers “Sit with me, run with me, dance with me – be who you are and not who they think you should be”
Photo by Avery Nielsen-Webb from Pexels
Doing Wild Work
The first time I understood what wild work meant to me, it was during what I call an ‘inopportune time’: Shit hitting the fan, a lot of meetings, high stress, tensions running high at work and at home. The to do list that I continuously added to was out of hand. I felt an overwhelming sense of anxiety, doom, imperfection, and failure coming over the horizon for me.
Then it happened.
She whispered, “What if you just don’t?”
That is when I understood wild work and being feral to mean unsubscribing from the narrative that is currently at play (especially within my realm of responsibility) and using my own spontaneous witchcraft to interrupt that energy abruptly. I have come to the realization that witches who do this, who recognize it, who become aware of it, are feral witches that embrace the wild and unknown with curiosity, pleasure, joy, and a fulfilling happiness.
Photo via Pixabay
Leaning In
We have choices. We can lean into the unknown and be curious about it. We can run from it, close our eyes, and hope to resist change. However, change is required to be among the living.
If we can accept change as a requirement, it becomes easier to accept that it is up to us how we navigate it.
Being curious is what led me to witchcraft. Being curious is also what leads me to experiment in the ways I practice. While I still maintain a corporate life, I have also joyfully used witchcraft at work to change the nature of how and when I work. Whether it is agrimony around my desk (when I know I will be dealing with folks I butt heads with) or a spell for clarity around systems that reduce the number of hours I spend working (so I can get back to the wilder work I am passionate about), I lean into owning how I impact change and how change impacts me.
Photo via Pixabay
Pivot Fiercely
There is a moment that feral witch will reach, it is the moment that the witch understands the need to pivot. This pivot is fierce, it is a reclamation of how we play and create. Maybe you have seen it when it happens. Maybe you have been looking at yourself in the mirror when you caught a glimpse of it.
There is this undeniable spark of soul that glows in a witch’s eyes.
We gain clarity on what we need, we remove things that are taking up the space meant for what we need, and sometimes this too looks like chaos. Our whole universe rose from that same energy, so I encourage the ability to pivot into it, to navigate and utilize that energy to play and create the universes we center ourselves in.
Photo via Pixabay
Embracing That Witch
Perhaps in the time of towers, it is just beginning to sink in that we deserve to live instead of only survive. That just like everything on this planet, we deserve to be. Maybe that spark is just beginning to show in your eyes, and you feel it singing to you as the blood moves through your veins. It is a feral idea that the to do list, while important, is not the only thing that measures our worth and the productivity is not increasing our connection to the wild sacred spirit that longs to just be.
Seeking Clarity
This is a tarot or oracle spread that can assist us in finding a thread that we can follow when we need a little more clarity surrounding our own next steps towards our sacred wilderness.
Kaycee is also a Co-Collaborator over at Dark Goddess Collective, an upcoming community of Sovereigns being built on a private network (no algorithm or ads!!).
After this last full moon ritual, I found myself doing the work (the work we all must do) of asking some really challenging questions. The hard ones. The ones that remind us all that we can do hard things. I love this time of searching the inner landscape for what will make it bloom and what will allow that inner landscape to continue to fruit.
Photo via Pixabay
Into Fruition
It is in the moments that we slow down enough to contact the Muse, or our divine creativity, that we find what we truly desire and how it differs from where we are right now. The fruit of our labors, that which we want to birth into the next season, is not unlike the seeds we are planting for our garden. We take extra care to give those seeds what they need. What about ourselves? What are we doing for our inner landscape? The Muse did not disappoint! The landscape of our Health, Wealth, and Sacred Self is where true fruition arises.
Health
Health is truly multifaceted. It is not just about the body, but also the mind. Being aware of how we are or are not meeting our needs as an individual. This can be very tricky. There are still places that do not have clean water (references below article). With the rising cost of food, many are without access to nutritious and whole foods as well (references below article). This type of stress that comes from not being able to access basic items such as food, water, or housing directly impacts health.
Photo via Pixabay
It is recognized that the stress from such insecurity impacts our ability to think, learn, grow, and prosper. The EPA organization, as of 2019, shows data that over 90% of people in the US have access to potable water. Other sources show over 95% of people have access. If many of us fall into this category, are we sure we are getting enough water? Are we consciously aware of our bodies and minds to know when we need more water? What about food? If we perhaps fall into the privileged category of having access to nutritious and whole foods, are we eating them? What are the choices that we are making that impact our health? What are the ways in which we can make small changes to connect with our bodies and minds that improve health?
Photo via Pixabay
Conscious Movement – Sleep, Focus, and Energy
This is not just about exercise, it is about our ability to give our body (and believe or not, this directly impacts cognition) meaningful moving and stretching in our current field of abilities. Our ability to feel muscles being engaged. Are we breathing deeply? Are we getting sunshine? Are we getting even 5 minutes outside? Movement also provides stimulation for certain hormones, impacts our ability to make decisions, focus, sleep, and energy levels.
Are we getting enough sleep?
Photo via Pixabay
Do we live a sedentary lifestyle? Are we getting enough movement? Are we expanding our breaths deeply and purposefully? Even the movement of breath, Prana, is considered life force. Getting enough nutrients, oxygen, and rest is just as important as physical movement. I am learning to choose my health, as many facets as I can, as a priority so I can continue to birth meaningful fruit into the seasons of my life. I hope you join me in asking these tough questions (and also make an impact where you can for others through the various links at the bottom of this article).
If you are not a part of the percentages with access, I have included some links at the bottom of this article that may be helpful.
Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels
Wealth
I am not speaking to the spirit of money here. I am speaking to the wealth that comes from community, relationships, and experiences. Humans have an innate desire to belong, to be seen, and to be a part of something bigger than themselves. We are social animals, even those of us that traverse liminal spaces, and our relationships are one of the key areas where our wealth can expand. The hardest questions are which ones provide meaning to us, not just a benefit? Which ones need work? Which ones need better boundaries? Which ones no longer bring joy, and can we turn that around?
Photo by Marianna from Pexels
Which ones do we need to let go of?
Indeed, it feels like the spring of friction again, but a little deeper! We can look at the parts we play in them and make choices about our ability to give and take graciously. To do so full-hearted. Our experiences can set the stage for how we define our wealth and success. I am finding it to be true that there is an abundance of wealth to be had together, especially when we do so as a community. Are we taking actions in our backyards? We all find wealth together when we can find community, build it, and strengthen it.
Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels
Sacred Self
Our life is the ritual. It is the one that has the most impact even when we are not conscious of it. It is the ritual of wholeness and I find that our daily practices further assert truth to the sacredness that we each have. We are all born with this sacredness, it is just a choice in how we honor and connect to it. It is the birthplace of our intuition, our ability to navigate the challenges, and persevere even in the face of adversity.
How do we honor the Sacred Self?
What are the rituals and traditions that we participate in because we feel connected deeply to it? Are there any other things that we feel called to? Are there any rituals that we do not feel connected to? Do we need to review and renew our commitments to self? Some of the biggest ways I have learned to honor my sacred self is to pay attention to the thoughts and feelings that arise, especially that ones that have been deemed “bad”.
Photo via Pixabay
Anger, rage, grief, frustration, and apathy are all signals that something needs attention.
Being curious and open to all feelings without acting right away (also known as knee-jerk reactions) gives us an opportunity to reflect. I honor my rage, I honor my challenges with wanting to act immediately, and I can discern quickly if it is something that I need to work on in a sacred way or if there is a boundary violation somewhere. Boundaries are another way in which we honor the Sacred Self. Do I set boundaries well? How do I handle those that violate them? Do I reassert them or have I been letting it slide lately? Am I more concerned about someone’s reaction to a boundary? We find our sacredness in the challenges and the joys of every single day, but both are a requirement.
Photo by willsantt from Pexels
The Trio
Health, Wealth, and the Sacred Self are all connected (as is everything). This trio is really a great starting point for the next season that we are all gestating. It gives us a ground zero from which to look back and look forward, the crossroads of the places we have been and where we are going. May your next season be as sacred as you are!
Kaycee is also a Co-Collaborator over at Dark Goddess Collective, an upcoming community of Sovereigns being built on a private network (no algorithm or ads!!).
She is that which lives within, the curious whisper
“Now we begin again”, oh how I missed her
Photo by Andy from Pexels
Heading into the space between the end of winter and the beginning of spring marks the passage of transformation. Indeed, if we look hard enough, listen well enough, and use our tactile feeling sense, there are already indications of change on various levels within us and all around. Through the process of opening ourselves to the changes, we invite in the alignment required to connect with our Muse. It is possible that you have already encountered her, but don’t fully recognize her call.
Herein lies the challenge
How do we recognize her call? How can we connect with our own inner Muse that would guide us forward? What is the ‘Muse’ exactly?
Photo via Pixabay
The Muse
The Muse has many names: Divine connection, our Holy Guardian Angel, our sacred voice, our Genius. The one thing I have come to appreciate is that the Muse is our connection to our will and inspiration to create. Our creativity. Our inspiration.
Have you ever noticed it?
In Big Magic (2016), Elizabeth Gilbert tells the story of American Poet Ruth Stone who could hear a poem coming her way like “a galloping horse” and she would have to run for paper lest it pass her by and be lost forever. In his foreword in The War of Art (2002), Robert McKee describes our creative connection and inspiration, where our ideas flow from, as our unconscious mind. Steven Pressfield, the author of The War of Art (2002), also calls the divine creative connection his Muse. Whatever name we give it, we find inspiration and we continue to create even when the ideas come from “nowhere”.
Photo via Pixabay
Maybe you notice that you are filled with ideas during this time of year too. As the wheel of the year continues to turn, many of us find ourselves in a sort of gestational period ~ not unlike the Earth during this time.
Recognizing The Muse
We can recognize her in ideas that come from nowhere or songs that get stuck in our head. Themes and thoughts that pop up over and over for us or even things we find ourselves daydreaming about can be her signature. It is her call. Be curious. Pay attention.
Our Muse is creative even in getting our attention.
We may even find her call more pronounced during certain times, for example, upon waking. There are mornings that I climb out of bed and before I can even pour my coffee it is like lightning: the ideas flow down and I am scribbling frantically in a journal to make sure I have captured the essence of what she is throwing me. Some of my greatest work and magic has come to me before I have washed my face, brushed my teeth, and sometimes before I have managed to crawl out of bed. Maybe for others it is in that space between awake and asleep, when we have slowed down.
Photo via Pixabay
Connecting to The Muse
Our ability to connect to our Muse does require a bit of slowing down. Getting into that space allows us to open our cognitive gating factors a little further. Have you ever noticed it? Right before falling asleep, we may allow our thoughts to simply come and go without latching onto them and falling down a rabbit hole of other thoughts. It is in this space that our awareness is wide open and those things that we unconsciously filter out are allowed entry into the senses.
Like our breath.
Breathing just happens, we are not aware of it until we slow down and focus on it. The information unconsciously available can be made conscious in these spaces and the Muse loves to show up during those times.
Photo via Pexels
A Prayer to The Muse
There are historical references to invocations or prayers to the Muse (such as Homer and Virgil), but here the power of prayer is simply to call her forth. Ask for her presence in the work you are doing, the work you want to be doing, or just to begin the relationship with her by becoming aware of her presence.
I am seeking my Muse
She who walks with my creativity
Pregnant with the eternal ability to birth through humanity
The greatest arts, songs, healers, and teachers
I call to you and now I listen
When She Speaks
A part of the reason that prayers and invocations are powerful is because we set the intention of calling to something. In fact, we unconsciously know exactly what it is we are tuning into when we do this. We begin to slow down and to vibrate at that higher level, to tune in, to connect. With practice, we tune into that higher vibration more easily and we hear her speak more often. We find doors open, we find creative insights and powerful motivation, and we find that when she speaks she inspires action. May she guide you passionately forward this Spring!
A candle and a key,
Kaycee
Dark Goddess Collective, A Revelations of a Witch Circle, will be launching soon. This is a community focused on those who are interested in doing the deeper, life-changing, intuitive work of reclaiming their power with Dark Goddesses and a tribe committed to fostering change in their communities. Make sure you have subscribed to get updates!
The renewing of the Witch’s Spark at or around Imbolc is not a new idea or tradition. I am working to redefine how I connect to my witchcraft and my traditions, igniting my inner spark has required much more than just mind work. While I am a firm believer that mind work is required, there are three keys I have discovered. These keys are transforming what I know about connecting to my witchcraft and that which lives in the space between habit and intention.
Kristina Paukshtite via Pexels
Between Habit and Intention
The spirit of renewal and the Witch’s Spark is a type of soul doctrine, between the Witch and the Universe, whereby the Witch is guided purposefully forward into the next season. What lives between habit and intention is the difference between kindling the spark of renewal within and fanning the flames to clear the path before us. Just as a spark and a flame are connected in essence, the three keys to the Witch’s Spark are too.
Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels
Key #1 ~ Movement
There are different kinds of movement here, but the big three are:
The Body
The Mind
The Magic
The equation is connecting all three. This key has taught me that if I cannot connect with my own self/body, how am I connecting with others or with my magic? (Hint: not well!). Moving the body outdoors for a change of scenery, moving the body physically if able, or even moving (safely) within proximity to others allows me to experience this world as it is, pick up on energetic shifts, and feel into the body deeply. I can find where I am holding stress, fear, anxiety, and other sources of friction. This can be the catalyst that connects to the mind, how can we transform and transcend this friction into a spark that guides and connects us to our purpose- to our intention? How can we use this energy and intention to fan the flames of renewal in our magic?
Photo by SHVETS production from Pexels
Key #2 ~ Meditation
There are many types or subsections of meditation, from mindfulness to shamanic journeys, but here again we are looking to connect:
The Body
The Mind
The Magic
I am learning here that there is unbelievable power in controlling mind and the ability to focus. Meditation is a key that opens the gate to deeper connections with the body (including the ability to heal), the ability to deeply focus the mind, and transform our magic through connecting with energy at a causal level versus effect level. When we utilize this key, we are signaling that we are ready to fan the flames of our purpose, passion, and magic.
Key #3 ~ Magic
The final key to the final gate is what has turned this season up a notch for me and yes, it is all connected:
The Body
The Mind
The Magic
We each have an ability, a unique magic that sets us apart from everyone else. This key beckons to us to re-member – to put back together that which has been forgotten or hidden away. The magic of our sexuality and sensuality is only one example of magic that lies within the body. The ability to connect with plants for healing is another.
The magic of the mind is the ability to transmute or change our perception, our consciousness, and deeply think about how we are using our magic.
Are we using it only defensively? Are we only doing magic that is habitual or are we actually connecting deeply to it? How are we practicing the actual magic or witchcraft? Is it a practice or is it only when we need something? The magic (of magic) is that the only boundaries are the ones we place upon it. The moment we signal that we are leaving habit, that we are intentionally re-membering that which is unique to us, the inner Witch’s Spark is set ablaze. Renewal has begun and her Doctrine of the Season is signed.
Kaycee is also a Co-Collaborator over at Dark Goddess Collective, they are building a community of Sovereigns!
We are equally excited to announce that our private network is coming along beautifully. Its creation will be for those who are interested in doing the deeper, life-changing, intuitive work of reclaiming their power with Dark Goddesses and a tribe committed to fostering change in their communities.
I’m welcoming in 2022 with a full heart and witchery that aligns with the same sentiment. I am weaving together relationships, partnerships, and finding that the power of the heart is where magic really opens its doors to me. I have taken the pause, reflected, given gratitude for the lessons of 2021, and now I am listening to 2022. In an enchanting way, I have arrived at the crossroads of my witchcraft and the paradox that living it all contains.
Photo by Nojan Namdar via Unsplash
Doing More and Doing Less
Over the last year I was deeply inspired to get back to community and connection after almost two years of this pandemic. The paradox here is that it has led to more divisiveness than I have ever experienced in my life, but also more unity. The movements that are ever rising for education, especially on colonialism, Indigenous, Black, and People of Color issues and rights and violations, Trans issues and rights and violations, and women’s rights and violations, are front and center. It is righteous outrage. I am so grateful to be living it, to see it, to be a part of it. I am doing more connecting, more donating, more writing, more community building, more loving, and more empowering.
A part of being a full hearted witch at this juncture is doing less. It looks like focused priorities that do not value productivity over wellness. There is this tension, an incongruency that I recognize in myself as this deep rooted conditioning of what I must do to be valued or considered valuable to the world at large and what my heart longs for. It is there that paradox is found, looking and being busy is not in alignment with what my heart truly desires. My heart desires less. It is the brain that is desiring more doing. Maybe you can relate.
Together and Separate
There is great strength in numbers and hearts that align for common causes. It creates fertile landscapes for change on a larger scale. We can see the impact because it is the worker taking their power back, moving together, and forcing change in government, employment, wages, education, and the ability to demand being seen as inherently valuable just because we breathe. That is full heartedness speaking. Together we are doing it. Together we are the force of change.
Photo by Thirdman from Pexels
We also are doing it separately
I am learning how to clear out the clutter, how discipline is the ultimate form of selflove and selfcare, and how boundaries also create partnerships and communities that work. Choosing to cancel my prime membership (and contemplating deleting multiple applications altogether), choosing to create relationships with local farmers instead of some large grocers, and choosing to donate a little extra to causes I believe in. Instead of getting that thing that I didn’t even know existed until I saw an ad for it (or that I have no space for or that I think I will use and then…not use) and choosing to donate to the women’s shelter instead of goodwill. Choosing to support local artisans or etsy crafters instead of CEO’s that can go to space instead of paying great wages to their people. It is the individual choices that we make that make coming together powerful.
Photo by JJ Jordan via Pexels
Weaving Full Hearted Witchery
Becoming more heart focused in my craft has been a huge goal of mine. Creating and maintaining relationships fulfilling relationships has been another. In working with spider, I have come to see how all of this is connected at the center. It is where we all stand, it is the perspective from which we view our lives and the choices we make in the context of it. This year, I am deeply invested in doing magic that speaks to me, magic that is guided less by brain and more by how it feels in the moment that I am doing it. I am also building a network, a community for Sovereigns looking to grow, teach, learn, and embrace the rebellion of living life on our own terms. Together.
Kaycee is also over at Dark Goddess Collective, they are building a community of Sovereigns!
We are equally excited to announce that our private network is coming along beautifully. Its creation will be for those who are interested in doing the deeper, life-changing, intuitive work of reclaiming their power with Dark Goddesses and a tribe committed to fostering change in their communities.
In keeping with the great revamp, I needed to really look at my own traditions to find what feels Hygge, or cozy, warm, and sparks authentic joy. We are preparing for Yule (Winter Solstice) in the Northern Hemisphere, and I noticed that I have not felt deeply connected to Yule, the typical Winter Solstice activities, or even taken the time to contemplate what this time of year really means to me. A deeper question yet: what do I want it to mean for me? How do I want to celebrate this time of year?
Photo by Annie Spratt via Pixabay
Birthing Witchmás
Witchmás was born of love, connection, and a deep longing for more. In fact, it is there in the name. ‘Más’ means ‘more’ in Spanish. As such, Witchmás is a gathering around the cauldron, to draw in those closest to you, love them where they are, and of course, to Witch more. It is the deepest part of wisdom, of Crone-season, of the longest night, to lean on each other, offer support, and intricately weave our reflections on this year together in that moment.
The Witchmás Circle
This year is the first Witchmás of what I hope to be a lifetime of them. With my closest friends, we are going to come together in this liminal space of standing in the darkest night, where we have learned to see in the dark that which we must see and share it with each other. We will celebrate the wins, share the lessons of the losses, and share our paths forward in 2022.
Photo by Anete Lusina from Pexels
Maybe there will be little gifts, they certainly are not obligatory. A part of Witching More is to see each other, validate the journeys we have been on this season, and share our desires for the next year in alignment with Witching more. Speaking our goals is powerful, being together is powerful, and this tradition is powerful.
As we revamp our witchery through purpose, passion, and magic in the next season, may whatever feels powerful find its way to you,
The beauty that I am finding in the Winter season is the heightened sense of awareness of my own inner workings and the calmness that has overtaken my inner landscape. I have found myself at a threshold, reflecting upon the journey of 2021 while simultaneously looking forward to the journey of 2022. Indeed, many of us have been preparing for the Winter Solstice and planning for our next season. What do we desire in 2022, what do we long for, and what must we create space for?
Photo by Brooke Lark via Unsplash
Our Magic
I remember starting my witchcraft practice. As a teenager, I would sneak books in, hide shiny things in caboodles meant for makeup, and just do my own thing in secret. As an adult I became completely restless, searching for all the information I could find, joining classes, searching for somewhere to belong where I could connect with others like me.
Here is the deal though…there is no one like me.
There is no one like you either.
What unites us is also the thing that will set us apart in our practices of magic and both are correct for the person practicing. We can learn from each other, provide ideas, perspectives, and still leave everything on the table that does not feel empowering to us personally. There is no one right way to practice, but as I have said before, if you’re not connecting then you’re just collecting. I am not a collector of practices, I am a practitioner of my own brand of magic. Own and hone your brand of magic!
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Own it and Hone it
This idea of owning and honing my practice came to me once I recognized that there are traditions and practices that I still use out of habit instead of actual connection. In 2022, I am saying ‘Ciao Bella’ to practices that are stagnant or hold no intentional value/connection for me. We can start by asking specific questions:
Why do I do this every day, week, month, sabbat? The best and worst parts of habits are that they can become an unconscious thing we do, we are unaware of the trigger that causes us to do it now, except that we do it just because we have trained ourselves this way over time. If it is no longer intentional, we can either bring awareness back to it or we can let it go.
Does it still feel connected to my magic?
Do I use this practice as a bridge that builds into other parts of my practice? Does it bring me greater awareness? Joy? Creativity? Curiosity?
Does this still feel powerful to me?
When I think of releasing this as a practice, what is my gut feeling? Sadness? Distress? Does it feel like a weight off the shoulders?
By looking at my current practices as they are, I can see where I can evolve, create space to dial in on other practices I want to learn more about or dive into deeply. I can be playful and curious without subscribing to the voices of others telling me what this should look like or what I should be doing. I can make my own choices and set my own goals.
Grab the Eyebright! A pen and paper! Or whatever method you use to get really clear on what you want and actionable steps to take in conjunction with your magic. This is typically the most difficult part because knowing our own desires and speaking them has come with labels (selfish), judgement (why can’t you have normal goals?), and guilt or shame or a mixture of both (I should just be thankful, others don’t have what I have, I don’t deserve this or that because this thing happened that I need to make amends for).
I BANISH IT FROM THIS SPACE.
It is time to dive deep. It is time to connect with ourselves, our knowing, to shush the voices of others, and tune in fully to what we want from our practice of Witchcraft. What are we wanting to weave into being? What are we passionate about? What is realistic?
Start listing everything out, looking for common threads and deeper needs being met through those goals.
Make a plan: list out the actionable and practical steps that you can take
Magic in your favor: what energetic alliances do you have and what auspicious astrological timings would work with the magic you are creating?
Commitment Ceremony: Write your goals out and have a ceremony to commit to them this year.
Timelines: Create a plan of action for your magic, for example, if your goal is connect to the Runes this year, what Runes are you studying each month and what is your methodology for connecting with them? Break it down into bite sized pieces to reduce overwhelm.
Check in: Put it on your calendar to check in with your goals, adjust them if needed.
Photo via Pixabay
Witchcraft is not a race
There is no finish line. There is no first place. There really isn’t a medal for “Witch of the Year” either (even if there is, I am not sure that I would want that to be the ultimate goal I am shooting for, but you do you). There is you, there is your brand of magic, and everything you have ever hoped for in between the reconnection of a thought and an action.
As the year of the Owl and the Witch is coming to a close, the great letting go of fear to fly higher has left me swaying in the liminal space of ‘I can’t believe that happened’ and ‘I am proud that I was able to see a different path forward’. I confess: Owl is truly the guardian of Night’s Wisdom. From learning how to see in the dark to releasing what keeps me weighed down and unable to use my own wings, I am in deep and joyous gratitude to my Owl ally. This journey through darkness does not end in wholeness, in fact it brought about an entire web upon this spiral of life I am navigating.
Photo via Pixabay
The Spider
I am not a fan. Well, specifically, I am not a fan of them showing up inside my home. They have, in the past, popped out of nowhere and scared me. I am, however, protective of a few that have made their homes outside. I make it a point to tell the bug guy where I have noticed a spider hanging out and to please just skip that area. Do I get an odd look? Yes. Do I care? Not even a little.
I am not sure where I learned it or if it was ever a story that was told to me as a child, but spiders that are weaving around my home are there protecting me and my loved ones. The ones around the front door are particularly great at catching energetic nuisances or bad vibrations. Maybe this is a knowing from another life or I am tapping into deep stories and truths from the ancestors.
Photo via Pixabay
Her arrival in 2021
I love how Spider showed up for me, showing me a glimpse of the medicine coming for 2022. I was gifted a homemade solar lamp for my back porch during a family summertime pool party. I noticed her immediately near the top and watched her for a few minutes. The gifting party noticed and offered to remove her.
I declined.
I felt like she needed to be with the lamp and with me. I wasn’t scared, it was just a knowing. Home with me she came, I fastened a hook just outside the kitchen window to hang the lamp, and I watched her.
Photo by JJ Jordan from Pexels
Deepening the work with spider
Her medicine is deliberate and with intent, in the same way that she uses silk from various spots on her abdomen depending on what its use will be (1). She is patient in creating and weaving her world. She knows when to start over, when to reweave a portion, what areas require stronger connections, and when to leave entirely. Throughout summer and fall, I was watching spider every day.
I am deeply fond of her process of creating her world.
I watched her be courageous and bold enough to have, at one point, built her web so expansive that I had to duck under it through an entire area of my back porch. I didn’t mind. It was thrilling. She was so small but had created this massive world with what I imagined to be a beautiful view.
Be BOLD! Photo by Suman Karmakar from Pexels
Bold and Courageous
A part of my work for 2022 is connecting to this energy of bold and courageous. To embrace taking up space. This is the year of learning to reweave, unweave, let go, focus deeply, create new places, spaces, and connections. We can all weave, unweave, tear it down and start over with the same unwavering authority of ‘bold and courageous’ that Spider revealed to me through her own weaving on my back porch. We just need to know where to start.
Hidden Threads and Attachments
Spider, across many continents and cultures is a universal and primordial creatrix of this universe and humans. Neith, Arachne, Grandmother Spider (Cherokee, 2), Spider Woman (Hopi, 3), and countless others have deep threads associated with the weaving and creating of life.
It is the starting point…
The most powerful starting point I encountered is the understanding of the web created with my very first breath. Look at any natal chart. It is the universal web of energy. It is a beautiful complexity of aspects that embraced us all as we became a whole, individual human with our very own spiral. A galaxy, a universe, from which we begin to walk and create upon the web with her.
Photo via Pixabay
Continuing forward, I found more hidden threads and attachments.
Many of our threads woven in childhood are dependent upon others and the communities or societies in which we belong. These threads can help ground us and balance our outward threads of growth, the way in which we weave outwardly in connection with others. As we grow older, it is this basic level of what has been woven that we may need to review and inventory.
The Work
I found many hidden threads, through layers of my spiral in this life, that tied back to one person or event. I found where my energy of that time or place has prevented my growth because I am attached back to my own energy there in the past. In the past, this has manifested as fear, resistance, or just an inability to move past some unseen obstacle.
In fact, I liken it to being stuck in the web of my own weaving!
Photo by JJ Jordan from Pexels
With Spider medicine and Witchcraft, there is this undercurrent of shapeshifting. The witchery creates this shift from being stuck in the web of my own weaving unconsciously, to being fully awakened and conscious of how I can become the spider that is creatrix and weaver anew. I am unbelievably excited about the journey of 2022 and I am so glad you are here for it!
