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I learned so much from our fabulous teachers! As always it was a pleasure to gather in virtual community with those that attended. The next conference will be hosted in October (The Season of the Witch 3) and I am always working to tune into what the community wants to learn and know. If you have any thoughts or ideas for presentations or things you would like to learn more about let me know. Just reply to this email. In addition this gathering has reminded me of how many amazing readers (Tarot, Astrology, Psychic’s etc.) I know and trust. In the coming weeks I’ll be adding a page to my website with the contact info for these folks so when you are seeking this type of information you can connect with someone who is reputable. I’ll let you know as soon as that is up and running. A neckalce of stars… This is what Stargazer Li referred to the current planetary alignment as. And when I caught sight of it Saturday morning I discovered that this term was in fact fitting. There in the east before the sun arose, the last quarter moon hung at the far right of a series of planets, with Venus shining the brightest, but the others clearly visible to the naked eye. Much to my husband’s dismay, such events bring me much joy. So much joy in fact I want to share it with him. So at 5:30 Saturday morning I drug him from our cozy bed to come and see the necklace of planetary sparkles. (this joy has also led me to haul him out of bed at 1 or 2 or 3 am to witness and eclipse or try to chase a never found comet.) The cosmos mesmerize me (and terrify me a bit too). The vastness. The sheer size and distance. The connection we have with things that have happened before we were ever here visible from our planet only now. It is awe inspiring. And it makes me feel both simultaneously connected to everything and also tiny and insignificant. Yet Saturday morning as I stood on my front lawn and looked up at the sky, I found myself feeling like I had just won the lottery. To catch this moment, without fog or clouds, to see the planets aligned…it felt sacred and I felt like the simple act of seeing it allowed me to be a part of this sacredness. Have you ever felt this way? As you gaze at the stars do you feel the alluring nature of the cosmos? The sacredness of the quilted universe of stars and planets above us? Or do you want to close your eyes and pretend that vastness is not reaching out all around as we spin through the air on this blue globe? On my spiritual path, the Earth is the place I root myself too, the seasons, the story and rhythm, I honor, and yet the elements are all around and within, and the cosmos, works with the planet to co-create this symphony of being. My devotion is to the natural world, below and above. I ask myself each day, what steps I am taking to care for this planet we call home. I ask myself how I am caring for her waters, her soil, the creatures I share this space with, the air we all breathe. Sometimes the answer is clear. Sometimes I recognize I have to try harder. On the heels of Earth Day, I find myself pondering more than usual, how the ways that we care for the planet, the ways we honor the earth and the cosmos, are all acts of devotion. The simple practice of choosing organic food, or buying something in bulk, or using our own reusable shopping bags. The simple act of planting trees, or flowers or herbs. Of random acts of kindness toward humans and animals, of allowing ourselves to feel the wonder and awe that are everywhere, in the wind in the leaves, a child’s laughter, the brilliant colors of flowers and sunsets, or the song of a brook or bird. Choice, presence and awareness are all acts of devotion to mother nature. What one small act will you do today? Announcement! As some of you know, back in early 2020 I planned and began to share about two in person retreats I had crafted up for that year. These were of course cancelled due to the pandemic. Well this is the year we try again! I am please to announce the 1st Wise Woman Witchery Summer Solstice Retreat. This event will be held here in Santa Rosa California. We will be completely outdoors at a local campground. Camping is optional (there are plenty of hotels and air B n B’s available nearby) and the heart of our time together will all be contained during waking hours so you won’t miss anything. We will gather from Sunday June 19th-Tuesday June 21st and will explore our magic through exercises, rituals, divination and spell work. We will also celebrate the Summer Solstice together. 
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In the stack of first books I read when coming to witchcraft, was one called Book of Shadows by Phyllis Currott. The book is about her own journey into witchcraft and it was really inspiring for me. This was before I ever had my own Book of Shadows and before I truly understood what role one of these would play in my spiritual path. Do you journal? Do you have those journals that you look back on and revisit your past self? Perhaps they are from childhood or adolescence (my 9 year old diary tells the story of my brief stint with Christianity, with many entries that begin “Dear God”). Or maybe they are full of stories and feelings and poems from that rather angsty self from your early 20’s. (or maybe that’s just me). What’s true is that I have been journaling for as long as I can remember and these stacks of notebooks and scraps of paper and half filled tomes, tell the story of my past self in a way that my present self can not. They are first person accounts of a moment. Of memories. Of hopes. Of goals. Of visions. My Books of Shadows (Also lovingly referred to as my BOS’s) tell another story. They tell the story of my witchcraft journey. They are full of spells, notes from books I’ve read, rituals I’ve created and co-created, reflections on divination practices, notes I’ve taken from witchy workshops, rough sketches (and I do mean rough!), songs, chants and more. They are the way my past witch self communicates with my current witch self. They are a way to time travel. To remember. This is my own library of both a journey and knowledge. You might have your own BOS, or maybe you have yet to start one. What you need to know is that it doesn’t have to be fancy. It just has to have pages to write in and a place you come back to again and again. I want to help you fill your book! Through these emails, through classes and workshops, our membership group and the Priestess Path, I am always striving to give you touchpoints and exercises for reflection and experience. The Cauldron of Wisdom 2 is no different! This virtual conference of Witchery is host to classes on the following topics: Numerology Palmistry Crystal Magic Tea Spells the Tarot Cards that Scare Us the Maiden Goddess Oshun Mediumship Devotional Poetry and a yoga and tarot collab class Embodying the Fools Journey Plus two full days of community and lots of information and reflection to add to your own library. Grab your Book of Shadows or start one today by grabbing a notebook and beginning to tell your witchcraft story. Then join me and 9 other Wise One’s as we guide you through two days of witchery! We begin Friday.  We create rituals and traditions to make meaning out of this weird and wild life. Some of these are simple routines and practices, like saying I love you to your family or friends before hanging up the phone. Or sitting in the quiet and journaling into waking. Today is Easter. It is a day that has never held a religious or spiritual meaning for me, but it is one that has been celebrated with rituals and traditions throughout my life. During my early childhood Easter was all about the candy, easter egg hunts and camping! When I was a little older Easter meant family gatherings, fancy brunch, dresses and of course egg hunts at my Grandparent’s. There was always ham and hot cross buns and cousins to play with. When we moved away from my grandparents and I grew to be a teen, Easter lost meaning. No more gatherings. No more dresses. Yet my Dad, ever the keeper of holiday traditions, would always make sure we had Easter baskets of some sort. Once I met my husband, I discovered a whole new realm of Easter celebrations. These included big gatherings with friends, chosen as family, bbq’d turkey sausages and bloody marys.. As the generation above us has become grandparents, and some have passed away, we find ourselves untethered. The holiday has taken new forms each year, from brunches with our families, to chocolate comas on the couch. For me, Easter has been about a feeling of family, community, the smells of spring, green grass, blooming trees and flowers and nourishment. Even without moving through the rituals of the past, there is still a ghost of these feelings drifting through this day. Today as I watched my 16 month old great nephew find a few eggs and empty his Easter basket, I reflected on the meaning we give to days. The way each holiday marks the passing of time. The power that ritual and tradition hold in our lives and the way we make sense of and give meaning to the world around us. Easter may not fall of the wheel of the year, yet its roots lie in the theme of rebirth and resurrection. As we sit here less than a month into Spring, the earth still thawing in some places (and sometimes freezing anew), and in others growing and bursting new life forth with abandon, how are these themes living in you? What traditions do you hold? How do you honor or celebrate the earth’s awakening? What does this season, this holiday, this time mean to you? Witch School This week I have had the pleasure of connecting more in depth with the teachers for the upcoming Cauldron of Wisdom 2 virtual conference. I am so excited! I love learning, and I am always awestruck and amazed by how much there is to know and explore. How each new thing I learn branches and tendrils. This is the 6th conference I’ve hosted and each time I walk away brimming with inspiration and wonder fueled both by the information shared and the connection of this community we are all a part of. (You all are some pretty fabulous humans!) The Cauldron of Wisdom 2 begins this Friday April 22nd and runs through Saturday april 23rd. We will move through 9 classes/workshops together via a livestream in a private Facebook group. All participants will also have access to the entire conference in the conference site. So if you can’t make some, or even all of the classes live, you can check them out at a time that works for you. Register today and join me Friday around the virtual cauldron for all kinds of witchery, magic, wisdom and fun! (As always there will be giveaways too!)  As someone who likes to play dress up, I find a great deal of value and power in the ability to shift my thoughts with the change of an outfit or the addition of an accessory. When we change our outward appearance it can help us shift our inner realms as well. Is it necessary? No. But it is one of the tools we all have on hand to work with the energy within and with out. When we feel our magic and embody it our confidence soars and the way we feel and think shifts. Plus people see us differently too! We notice when someone who is feeling confident and grounded enters a room. The energy changes. Heads often turn. When we recognize that working with magic is really just working with energy, we begin to discover the vast world of tools we have to explore these realms. Music is another key tool in shifting energy. Choose some songs. Find ones that are upbeat, then ones that are a little more mellow. As you listen notice the shifts that happen in your body. In your energy. Notice the way you feel. Music is strong medicine and a very helpful tool in our day to day and the magical realms. Like dressing up. it can shift your perspective, your emotions, your confidence. I love making playlists. Lately I've been adding and listening to this one a lot and it has been rooting me more deeply to the Earth and to myself. It's called Feel the Magic and I hope it helps you tap in too! I invite you to make your own playlists. Ones that make you feel powerful. ones that bring you more in touch with your witchy Self. ones that help you move your body, or cry or boost your confidence. (And maybe you will discover some outfits that match those playlists too). What other tools have you got in that apothecary of witchery? I want to give you a few more! The Cauldron of Wisdom 2 is a collection of 9 workshops loaded with all kinds of practices and exercises. Together we will dive into Numerology, Mediumship, Tea Spells, Devotional Poetry, Palmistry, Tarot Cards that Scare Us, Working with Crystals And some yoga and tarot action in Embodying the Fools Journey. The entire event is livestreamed to a private Facebook group and the replays of the workshops are available to you forever, so you can always come back and revisit topics that intrigued you or watch the ones you might have missed live. You get over 11 hours of content during this conference, a wonderful community of folks to share the time with plus, as always there will be giveaways too! (Full schedule and lineup is on registration page) Register today and I'll see you around the cauldron!  I am watching the waves crash in and out Fierce and bubbling with strength and fury Thunder rolling down the shore An echo over miles An echo over centuries It calls me home To myself In this strange town Where I am a stranger And the land does not know the tread of my feet Or the cadence of my breath But welcomes me anyway I am watching the waves crash in and out And finding my rhythm once more If I'm honest, I began my vacation two weeks ago, burnt out, and exhausted and ready for a break. Then, as I shared with you all, the first day my dog, my friend, my companion of 12 years died. I was grateful for the time to grieve. And admittedly feeling a little lost. How does one relax and rejuvinate while grieving at the same time? I went to nature. Already my husband and I had plans to get away and so we went to Mount Shasta and I walked and listened to the river and waterfalls and made mandalas and altars along our path from the pieces of earth and stone and trees I found. I let the experience wash over me. A few days later, home once again, I still felt raw and unrooted but a little more me. After a couple of days, I was off again. This time with my mom. We stayed away from the mountains and went to the Ocean and Redwoods. I made more mandalas and listened and felt and sang to the wind and the waves and found my way back to myself. The earth heals me. It is the place I find my center again and again. Somewhere in the rhythmic heart beat of waves and the whispers of the trees, somewhere in the stones and waterfalls, the pinecones and soft soil of forest floors, I rediscover all the pieces of my Self that get lost in my day to day, that get left behind in the responsibilities and the “to do’s”, and I find salve for the tender parts of my grieving heart. I reconnect to the threads that weave us all together. Simple Practice The making of nature altars and mandalas is a practice that allows for a creation of sacred space, an honoring of a moment, a feeling, an intention. It is a way to give tangible life to these things and simultaneously surrender them to the universe. In the picture above you see a mandala my mom and I made at the beach. The next morning this creation had been washed into a pile of stones and sticks and sand, with no semblance of the story it had held less than 12 hours before. These offerings are an acknowledgement of the ever changing nature of the world around us and the ever transforming nature of ourselves. They also create a release, a focusing of energy that is then dispersed by natural forces. They are sacred spaces, rituals and a cast spell all in one. *Where will you create your next nature altar? *What will you release and transform in the process? Witch School Want to add some more practices to your magical tool box? The Cauldron of Wisdom 2 is like a two day intensive school for Witches. As we gather together and for 9 workshops we open ourselves to new skills and experiences, we often discover the practices we already know look a little different when offered by new teachers and we open the door to a deepening of our Magic! The Cauldron of Wisdom 2, virtual conference of Witchery is less than two weeks away. Join us for over 11 hours of workshops and a fabulous community of Wise Ones. Plus, as always, there will be giveaways as well. The full lineup and schedule can be found on the Registration Page. Grab your space around the cauldron and get ready to stir up some magic!  We are less than three weeks away from the Cauldron of Wisdom 2 virtual conference! We have some phenomenal presenters and workshops coming your way April 22nd and 23rd. This is the 6th conference hosted by Wise Woman Witchery and each time I walk away with new knowledge, new connections and more tools for my magical tool box. One of the great things about this conference is the community that it generates. Imagine hanging out with a bunch of witchy wise folks for two days while exploring all kinds of enchantment together! One of our community members just shared with me that at last Spring’s conference she and a friend from afar attended simultaneously with their messenger boxes open and just talked about what they were learning the entire two days. It’s true that much fun can be had when we gather together! So grab your notebook, snacks, favorite brew and perhaps a friend or two and stir the Cauldron with us. Below you will find not only the schedule and class titles but descriptions of them as well. (In the coming days I’ll share more about our presenters too!) All times Pacific Friday 10:30 Opening Circle 11 am Numerology with Victoria Akins-Discover the metaphysical/archetypal meaning of numbers and what these mean in your life. 12:30 pm Mediumship 101 with Sara Carlson- this class is designed to teach about the foundations of mediumship and how we all can access messages from the spirit world. This class will be a combination of lecture surrounding mediumship, a meditative experience of practicing sitting in the power with spirit, and Q&A time. 1:45 Break 2:30 pm Embodying the Fool's Journey with Veronica Wade-Lewis and Emily Morrison- Through a brief discussion of the Major Arcana followed by a yoga series that takes you through each card, embody the Fool’s journey in a whole new way! (bring your yoga mat and dress is your comfiest of clothes, this practice is for every BODY!) 4 pm Palmistry 101 with Robbyn Raquel Wallace- This class offers you a crash course introduction to the art of palmistry. Here you will learn the basics of this craft. Saturday 9:30 am Tea Spells for Manifestation with Heather Wright Fitzgerald -You want to feel empowered to create the life you most want to live! How magical would it be if you could manifest that through the power of herbs! A dash of this and a pinch of that, and voila! You have a potion with your own energetic purpose. Build your tea spells into your routine the same as you do with your morning coffee - but do so with confidence that you are effectively using the plants you call on. 11am Using Crystals in your Magick and Everyday Life with Celena Marie Spolarich- Have you ever wanted to work with crystals or do you find yourself drawn to them and want to know why? In this workshop we will go over the basics of crystals, Crystal Healing and how they affect our bodies, our frequency and our environment. We will also discuss ways to incorporate crystals into our magic and why. 12:15-Break 1pm Dance/Movement-get your blood flowing after lunch before we settle back in for even more magic 1:15 pm- Devotional Poetry with Mael Brigde- In this class, we will focus on poetry as a tool in creating union with the divine. Mael will share some of her Brigit poetry and offer guidance in using poetry in this way. Participants are asked to have writing materials available for a short exercise. 2:45pm Working with the Maiden Goddess Oshun with Tirra Hargrow- In this course you will learn who Oshun is as the maiden form of the goddess, and her various manifestations, keywords for her wisdom that you can apply to your life and remedies & rituals that you can use to heal your life or to amplify the energy of Oshun, The Maiden in your life. 4:15 pm The Tarot Cards that Scare Us ( and how to work with that fear) with My Tarot Lady Christine Michele-Have you ever pulled the Tower card or the Death card and become a bit scared? Perhaps it made you wonder, what am I supposed to do with this? During my class I will show you why some tarot cards can be challenging and what to do with the fear. I have chosen five common “scary” tarot cards to demonstrate an alternative view of their messages. Then I will show you 4-5 ways to work with the energies in order to integrate the growth oriented messages of the more challenging cards. 5:35 pm Closing Circle And don’t worry if you want to register but can’t make all the classes. Once you sign up you have access not only to the livestream but to the replays as well! REGISTER HERE! See you around the Cauldron!  |
Emily Morrison MA, MFTArchives
August 2024
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