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It’s About Control
I am so tired of fighting this fight. I can’t do it anymore.
That was the first thing that came into my head when I read the news about the Supreme Court likely going to overturn Roe v Wade.
Ten Things I Can’t Live Without
Sometimes writing is a matter of staring at a screen and hoping words will appear. I mean, you know you have to type them, but you wait for something — anything — to write about. When I am in a good place, feeling flush with ideas and writing easily, I try to make note of ideas to write about.
This is one such post.
You Can’t Get Away from Yourself
One of the things that excited us about retiring early and moving to a new country was that we could both develop new — healthier — habits. We felt (as do many) that our working life was geared to taking care of our employer’s needs rather than our own. Even when we were relieved from hours of daily commute by the pandemic lock-down, we found ourselves needing to be more aware of when we were “on the clock” and not so as to be good employees, rather than slackers.
Shadow Work, Briefly
In witchcraft, there has long been a strong (or, at least, vocal) community of people who espouse living solely in the light, eschewing all negative thoughts, feelings, and habits. Maybe that works when one is at a beginner level of witchcraft, but nearly impossible to do once we’ve moved past the basics. Why? Because focusing only on “love and light” prevents us from becoming whole beings and is a form of spiritual bypassing. Absolutely, it’s more fun to ignore our negative qualities or hope they will go away if we keep them locked away in a mental basement. Doing so, however, leaves us relying on superficialities and platitudes which look good but have no depth to them.
Having a Shadow takes nothing away from how good or wonderful a person we are; it is an essential part of being embodied. How well we accept and assimilate those qualities is a better indicator of our success within the world. While much of the language relies on the duality of light/dark and positive/ negative, in no way are there judgments being made about the intrinsic nature of “dark” or “light.” Shadow work is a process of assimilation and acceptance of all aspects of one’s Self. Too much light is a form of spiritual bypassing; too much dark is as much of an avoidance.
Sacred Hospitality
A Deity I offer honor unto is Hestia. She was the Lady of the Hearth, a Goddess so fundamental there was little written about her. No one needed to write down Her stories, they were told cradle-side and carried throughout life.
Creating Safe Space
One of the things I struggle with is living a life of tolerance, inclusiveness, and creating safe space for all walks of life while dealing with the odd “bad actor”. Although I’m not sure I’m using that phrase correctly, let me explain.
Shedding
For many years, J. and I shared custody of two dogs, Sasha from late 2007 and Leo in mid 2015, and two cats, from late 2011. Thus a seasonal rite of passage was the great shedding as all of them lost their heavy winter coats.
This post is not about that kind of shedding.
Imbolc musings
I’m having a hard time with Imbolc this year.
Usually it’s one of my favorite celebrations. We — finally — can literally see the promise made at the winter solstice; the light is returning! We light our candles in hope and joy, secure in the knowledge we’ve survived another winter.
Sometimes, Writing is Hard
A big part of my new life is that I’ve had to step back from being directly, constantly involved with the Art of Ritual Class and JaguarMoon. Being hours ahead (as much as eight) of everyone made how I used to do things almost impossible. So when I knew it was real that I would be moving to Portugal, I asked the coven to step up.
And they have, beautifully.
(Umm… Lisa? I thought you were going to talk about writing?)