|
This weird holiday where we tell lies about the indigenous people of North America and the pilgrims. A day where we eat copious amounts of food in celebration and gather together with friends and family (often out of obligation instead of desire).
It’s a day for football and giant balloons paraded down the streets in New York. Like I said, it's weird. The thing is I love Thanksgiving. I love how the day is quiet. How things are closed. I love the food I only eat once a year and the way this celebration is the doorway to what we call the holiday season. But mostly I like the quiet. You of course will be receiving this tomorrow. A note from my now past self. A note from the last day of my 46th year. As your eyes scan this email it is my birthday. And I’m still me. But me in the new year of myself. Another beginning. Another time to reflect (there are a lot of those aren’t there?) Another moment where crossroads loom. Who have I been? Who am I becoming? One thing is certain. The landscape of my life is always shifting and changing. My creations, my relationships, the ebb and flow of my work. What’s true is the landscape of your life is too. In the world of witchcraft, of living life in tune with the natural rhythms, there are always new beginnings. Always places we can start again. New Moons, New Seasons, New Astrology. The natural world is always inviting us to reflect, shed and renew. As the seasons turn, the leaves fall and the darkness deepens, I invite you to the sacred space of circle. Today registration opens for the Winter Circle. This honoring of ourselves in the Winter, will begin at the Solstice with a Ritual to celebrate and mark the longest night, the start of the Winter and the return of the sun. Then in the following weeks, we will meet via Zoom, 6 times (approx every other week), on Fridays at 4 pm PT for about an hour and a half. We will work with the themes of not just Winter, but Deep Rest and Self Love. Using the practices of expressive arts, embodiment, spell crafting and community we will nourish ourselves through the darkness. We will end our time together with a ritual for the Spring Equinox, welcoming the renewal and quickening of the turning wheel. There are a limited number of spots open in the Winter Circle to facilitate trust and connection. ‘ Is one of them yours? Learn more and register here
0 Comments
It’s been raining and they are stuck to car windows and lawns and sidewalks and porches and even my boots.
Reds, and golds and oranges and yellows, migrating from branch to earth. November is my favorite month of the year. Aside from it being my birthday month, it also feels like a gateway into the darkness. This is the month when I get to really be in the night. I go to bed early. And because of that I am not out and about in the night very often. My relationship with the darkness is primarily an early morning affair. Yet now as the days become shorter and shorter and the blanket of night casts itself across the bed of my corner of earth much earlier, I get to tuck myself in under its edges. And I dream. This year November has a little less charm, with loss looming and the weight of grief lurking about the edges. But still the rhythm of the shortening days and falling leaves bring s with it the comfort and familiarity of this time. As darkness deepens I feel rest and vision calling. In this space I speak to the darkness and listen for the messages it echoes back. What do you hear in the darkness? What visions are coming to light for you? We are just over a month away from the longest night and the beginning of Winter. This year I am inviting you to join me in tending to our sacred selves in a Winter Circle. We will come together for the Winter Solstice in ritual with the Diving Deeper community as a way to kick off the season, celebrate the longest night and mark the turning of the Wheel. Following this ritual, we gather for 6 sessions, held on Fridays at 4pm PT for an hour and half, through the Winter months. Each session will offer a magical activity and exploration, with opportunity to connect and share with your Circle mates, There will be two themes cradling us through this time and these sessions. The first three will focus on deep rest and the second three will focus on self love. We will bookend our time together with a Spring Equinox ritual. Registration for this gathering will open on Friday November 24th. Keep your eye on your inbox for the link. If you want access to early registration reply to this email (if you have already told me you are interested in joining you are already on the early registration list) The benefit of registering early is to reserve your space as there are a limited number of spots available to facilitate deeper trust and connection. Did you take advantage of the 40% off sale happening over in the Cauldron school? This sale is happening through November 30th at 11:55 pm. Register for any of the courses and use code NOV40 at checkout. (this code is not valid for memberships or subscriptions) Moon Magic and December Advent If you’ve been in the community for awhile then you know by now that for the last few years I have crafted up a downloadable moon phase calendar for you all. This year is no different. It will be coming to your inbox very soon, so keep an eye out for it. I have also created an advent calendar for the month of December to help us stay connected to our magic and ourselves during this often busy time. I’ll be sending this to all of you as well. Then if you want to follow along in the community, be sure to join us in the Facebook group for daily reminders. Planner Time 2024 is coming soon! Be sure to grab your planner if you haven’t already and make everyday a little more magical. It includes monthly astrological insights and suggestions for witchery, a lunar calendar and monthly lunar cycle manifestation template plus correspondences for the planets and the days of the week. Each page holds two days so you have plenty of room for tracking your schedule and making notes and you will find a two page monthly calendar for each month to help you see the overview of your plans. These make great gifts too! Order yours today Back in August I booked a trip with my mom. Wanting to take her to see the breathtaking vastness of that landscape and take a little break before the holidays kicked in.
I’m not going to lie, we both needed that break. But life throws curveballs and unexpected things happen. So instead I’m typing this to you from my living room. In my pjs, with my hound girl next to me and a mediocre cup of coffee steaming nearby. My eyes are tired. My brain is functioning in slow motion and time is doing the thing time does when you linger too long in the in between. My Mother in Law is dying. Transitioning from this world to the next is such a process. One that has no clear timeline. Like birth, death happens in its own time and its own way. So we wait. And the waiting is hard. What does one do while they hold vigil? And what does that vigil look like? Out of respect and privacy for my husband and his family I won’t give details here. But I will say that dying, like birthing is messy and full of lots of feelings and unknowns. In the midst of this process one of my dearest friends has shared her decision to begin hospice. My heart is broken. And also full. Because there is something really beautiful about making that choice for yourself. Needless to say this week of “vacation” is a lot. And in that “a lotness” I have these moments where I have felt completely devoid of magic. I feel empty. I know it is grief. And sometimes in the grief, the motivation to do the things that help me connect disappears. So instead of hikes, I’ve been dancing in my living room or walking though my neighborhood in little spurts. Instead of sitting in nature, I’ve been laying on the floor with my animals and staring out the window at the trees dropping their leaves. And sometimes it helps. And sometimes it doesn’t. This time is a not so gentle reminder that grief is the other side of love. And as with all things and feelings I know this moment will change. But for now, I’m just hanging here. In this liminal space. Gaze soft, looking for some twinkle of magic in the mundane. The Witch Next Door is off this week. However if you are looking for something to listen to, I was a guest on Your Average Witch Podcast, and the episode was released this week. You can find it here or tune in on your favorite streaming platform. I have more to share in the coming weeks, but for now, I’ve got some staring out the window and cuddling dogs and cats to do. The veils are thin.
The calendar date of Samhain on the 31st of October/ 1st of November hold a collective energy, as so many people use these dates as the marker for this celebration. However, astronomically Samhain is actually on November 7th. This is the true cross quarter day. Maybe you are feeling a deepening into the in between. Maybe you are noticing that the energy as we move deeper into this month has brought you deeper into connection with other worlds. Here in my corner of the world we are navigating an anticipatory loss of a loved one and I have been talking to our beloved dead often. Asking for guidance, and support. For assistance and care for our loved one and for those with breaking hearts. It can be difficult, here in the in between. There are many truths and realities that coexist that seem paradoxical. We can grieve and laugh, feel sad and angry, find beauty and horror all at once. In truth this is what it means to be human. Yet in this in between all of it is amplified. Time speeds up and slows down all at once. It’s a strange liminal space. If you have been here or are here now, I see you. Whatever experience you are having right now you might take this time, this moment between the Equinox and Solstice to explore what is dying away with the lengthening nights of Autumn. You might even pull a few cards or journal with the following prompts.
What is true my friends is that even here in the in between there are pockets of joy to be found… November is my personal birthday month and one I spend a great deal of time practicing gratitude during. I am so grateful for all of you. For this community that allows me to share witchery and wisdom and from whom I in turn learn so much from. As a thank you, I have put up several past classes that had been archived (these are recordings of live classes with all the written curriculum as applicable) and I am offering you 40% off on them. In fact all the classes in The Cauldron can be accessed for 40% off (membership circle and upcoming Winter Circle excluded). These classes include, The Restory your Life series, Honoring Our Sacred Grief, Witch Crafting , The Gift of the Labyrinth, Playing with Pendulums, and my ebook, Ground Yo’Self Use code NOV40 at checkout to take advantage of this offer until November 30th. Some of you may recall that I mentioned an upcoming seasonal circle. Starting at Winter Solstice and ending at Spring Equinox, I am hosting a 6 session and two ritual circle to hold and nourish participants through the Winter season. We begin with your invitation to the Diving Deeper Winter Solstice ceremony and then meet 6 times for an hour and a half through the Winter months, ending with a Spring Equinox ceremony. We will be using ritual, creative arts, embodiment practices, spell work and connection in this group working with the themes of Deep Rest for our first three sessions and Self Love for the last three. If you think you might be interested in joining us please reply to this email and let me know and you will be the first to be notified when registration opens. This is a closed group with limited spots to help facilitate a deeper connection and trust. |
Emily Morrison MA, MFTArchives
December 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed