After several smoky days the reprieve was a deep relief.
Friday night I slept better than I had in some time. Yesterday I felt soothed all day by the clouds and breeze. I felt grounded. Slower. A quieting of my inner fire. Autumn is coming. And with it a respite. As much as I enjoy the lengthy days and warm temperatures the Summer brings. The heat and vibrancy exhaust me. By mid July I am usually longing deep in my bones for Fall. I have learned that this is my relationship to the seasons. To the shift of energy from outward to inward. From long days to long nights. From action to stillness. Yet not everyone has these same rhythms. I know many people that lament the end of Summer and the quieting of warmth and light. Learning the way you respond to these cycles is part of your own magic. When you can find ways to mindfully tend to your own body (physical and emotional), during the different seasons you discover more harmony in the way you move through the world energetically and can connect more fully and intentionally to other energies around you. ‘ Summer can make me cranky and exhausted. I temper that with drinking lots of water, spraying myself with hydrosol often and making sure to move my body the most when the sun is still low in the sky. It is then I am able to tune in more deeply to the energy of Summer’s growth and work with this energy in my own life and magic. Ask yourself the following questions What seasons fuel you? What seasons drain you? How do you ride the tides of change? How can you temper the highs and lows of these? Make a list or free write and discover your map to tending your own rhythms. Last Call! Tomorrow night , Monday September 4th at midnight, the early bird pricing for the Season of the Witch Virtual Conference ends. Join us October 6th and 7th for two full days and a total of 12 classes covering topics from Voodoo and Traditional African Religions to Working with Crystal Skulls, from Sex Magic to Creating your Own Magical Apothecary and so so much more! PlusThursday evening I am hosting a pre conference ritual workshop focused on Rewilding Yourself. These conferences are one my favorite offerings, bringing together community, wisdom from so many different backgrounds and traditions, ceremony, practice and of course magic! As a registrant you have access to all the livestreams, plus replays, community in our private Facebook group, giveaways and lots of inspiration. Use code CROW20 at checkout to get 20% off when you register before Monday at midnight. See you there!
0 Comments
So many projects in the works at once, means my attention is split. And since I haven’t got a spell for cloning myself or the ability to stop time for a little while, I’m having to lean into my practices of grounding and centering.
Of taking extra moments to clear my energy throughout the day and come back to myself and my task at hand. My brain is like a chaotic blowing of a dandelion seeds in the wind. This thought pings that one and that one and pretty soon I’m 12 different places and none of them are what I sat down to do. So I’m taking a lot of deep breaths and mini dance breaks, burning herbs that smell amazing and misting hydrosols when there are no herbs on hand. I’m making lists (and trying to keep these in one notebook), and I’m crossing things off as I go. I’m talking to my spirit team and asking for support and guidance. And I’m connecting with loved ones to help me remember who I am in relationship with others and not isolate with my pinball brain. When I can stay connected I have more access to my magic and my magical allies. How do you connect? To the earth? Your allies? Yourself? Pick one thing on that list today and do it. Notice how amazing it can feel to come back to presence. So what are these projects that have me all over the place? The 4th Annual Season of the Witch Conference is October 6th and 7th! (Plus we have a bonus ritual workshop, Thursday October 5th in the evening). This means you get 13 classes available livestreamed and as replays, a chance to win prizes in our giveaways, and connection and community with other wise witchy humans. The early bird pricing is available until September 4th. Use CROW20 at checkout to get 20% of your sign up. You can check out the full schedule and line up here! Then join me for an enchanting and mystical time round that virtual cauldron. Everyday Magic I will be teaching a free class called Everyday Magic for the Parsippany Library September 21st. In this class I will cover a brief history of Witchcraft and discuss some ways to make everyday more magical. And the timing couldn’t be better as it lines up with the Autumn Equinox. If you would like to come hang out for this class you can register here (please note that the time posted is Eastern time). And speaking of everyday magic. I just finished up the 2024 Daily Planner. I’ve ordered a copy to make sure it all prints as [planned, and this should be available to you no later than September 5th. This year My Tarot Lady Christine Michele has added astrology for each month! So we will have some astrological guidance plus some witchy tips for each month and a calendar and guide to help you in your working with the moon. Stay tuned for the link to get your planner! In the meantime if you are wanting to help support a daily practice the Inner Alchemy journal is still available on Amazon. You can get yours here Book Club I’ve been wanting to do some mediumship work/practice and was looking at starting a book group, using the book Evidential Mediumship as the guide. This would entail meetings that last an hour and a half to 2 hours and give participants a chance to discuss what was read and practice the exercises in that section. If you think this is something you might be interested in reply to this email with Book Club in the header and I’ll add you to the list of folks interested. And Finally… I had this really overwhelming feeling that I needed to offer the Priestess Path again before the year is out. I had no plan for this. As far as I was concerned the next cohort was to begin in Spring. I reached out to the wait list and have a few interested folks. I need a minimum of 6 to make it a go. If you’d like to step onto the path before the year is over, reply to this email and let me know. I’m looking at starting the group end of Octoberish. We would be meeting on a Thursday or Friday evening two times per month. You can read the details here (scroll down past the Membership bit) Whew! That’s it for now. I am really looking forward to sharing all of these events and magical craftings with you! I did. Longer than most of my friends in fact.
You see there was a universe unfolding everyday afterschool at my house. My neighbor and sister and I created an elaborate soap opera with our dolls, where we played out scenarios from our lives, our fantasies and the stuff we watched on 80’s television. Barbie was amazing in my eyes. She was so versatile, could do anything, had the best clothes and was pretty too. Wait! What? I liked Barbie because she was pretty? Yup. Truth. I wanted to be Barbie. Yup. Truth. (Although Gem was pretty freaking rad too. If you know you know) But it wasn’t just Barbie. I wanted to be anything but me. Older, thinner, shorter, more popular, desirable. I could tell you all the details about this that I have since unpacked in therapy, but I’ll spare you. And yes, Barbie did influence my own sense of self. But honestly no more than television, magazines and the general culture that was brewing in my elementary and middle school. The thing is, Barbie also opened up an imaginary realm. She gave me something tangible to create and imagine with. And I loved her. And still do. And in fact I still have Barbie’s. I saw the Barbie movie last week and it spoke to me. I hope you take some time to see it and notice if it speaks to you too. (It will speak so perhaps just notice the how). In magic we often use tangible objects to hold the energy of the in tangible, whether that be a wish, intention, person, ally, element or…the list goes on. In college I took a psych class where we crafted dolls from muslin forms to symbolize a part of our personalities. Later I took this idea and morphed it into different classes, one where we created our shadow selves with the dolls and one where we created dolls that represented our super powers. I’ve used this in therapy as well, asking clients to craft dolls that represent certain aspects of themselves. There is something really powerful about bringing these parts of self into the concrete tangible world. So why not do this for your magical witchy self? Make a $10 investment in a simple no frills barbie. They have them in different hair colors and skin tones and these days us curvy girls can get one that is a little closer to our frame. Choose one that speaks to you. Then create some sacred space for yourself, grab cloth, old clothes that were headed for the rag bag ribbon you have lying around, and even old jewelry then craft away. Is your magical self naked in forest or gothed out? Is she wearing flowy clothing or skin tight leather? Is she tattooed or scaly or even covered in fur? The sky's the limit here! When I was a kid and I fashioned and sewed all kinds of clothes for my Barbie, there was no “right” way to do it. I just let the muse guide me. What if you did this now? What if you took this project on as an ode to your magic, to one facet of your magical self (or more). What would it be like to use this iconic doll with so much history and one might say even baggage and strip it all away to make her your own? I ordered a Barbie for just such a project today. I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours 😉 The Season of the Witch Virtual Conference is open for registration. Early Bird pricing begins now! If you register before September 4th you can get 20% off your registration. This investment includes: 2 full days of classes plus one pre conference ritual/workshop for a total of 13 classes. Access not only to the livestreams but lifetime access to the replays as well Opening and Closing Circles A chance to win all kinds of amazing giveaways (one for each presentation plus two additional chances to win) Connection with your magical community A private Facebook Group where we will be connecting before during and after the conference. The line up this Fall is really exciting. Be sure to grab your spot Use this link or the code CROW20 at checkout to take advantage of the early bird discount. Thursday 6pm Rewild Yourself (a ritual workshop with-Emily Morrison Friday 8:30 Opening Ceremony 9-10:15-Alchemy in the Cave of the She-Wolf with Rachel S. Roberts 10:30-11:45-Dancing with the Divine Lover - Solo sexual magic for every witch with Halo Quin 12-1:15-Ancestral Death Doulaship: Ceremony, Rites & Rituals with Jess the Death Empath 1:15-2-Break 2-3:15-Dancing with Deity: Relating to the Divine with Irisanya Moon 3:30-4:45-Voodoo and African Traditional Religion with Lilith Dorsey 5-5:45-An Alliance with Elemental Dragons with Angelina Caporale 8:30-Welcome to Day 2 9-10:15-Song of the Soul: Voice as a Divine Gateway- with Jessica Fein 10:30-11:45- Create Your Magical Herbal Apothecary with Erin Lafaive 12-1:15- Longing- Energy & Manifestation Workshop with Karena Osborne 1:15-2-Break 2-3:15- Self Care for Your Sun Sign with My Tarot Lady Christine Michele 3:30-4:45-Working with Crystal Skulls with Celena Spolarich 5-5:45 - Creating Your Personal Relationship and Rhythm with the Moon and Lunar Cycles with Pati Diaz 6-Closing Ceremony And Finally I’ve had two different community members inquire about a daily planner for 2024. I’ve got one in the works with a few additions and improvements over last year's version. (including astrology for each month) It should be available to order by September 1st. Stay tuned here for details. This Tuesday Lughnasadh/Lammas, is sharing the day with the Full Super Moon!
This Sturgeon moon is the first of two full moons in the month of August and comes to us in the sign of Aquarius. It is illuminating the first harvest festival and amplifying the energies all around. I’ve written about Lughnasadh in the past and you can check out last years blog on the subject here. Just a few additional tidbits about this celebration as well as some reminders. Lughnasadh is a Celtic festival and specifically means Lugh’s Assembly. This is a time when many fairs and events occurred bringing communities together. Games played during these gatherings were often tests of strength and agility, bringing a warrior energy to the forefront of these gatherings. During this time Siruis, the dog star has risen and this change in the skies marked celebrations across many cultures outside of the Celtic realms, most tied to some type of harvest festival. It was traditional to bake bread from the grain of this first harvest and we sometimes hear this celebration called lammas or loaf mass. Another tradition includes crafting a corn dolly. It was believed that the spirit of the corn must be cared for and preserved until the next crop was planted. The last harvested corn husks were crafted into dollies and given a place to reside safely until the spring when they could be planted in the fields, bringing the energy of the corn back to life once more. Warrior magic can also be performed during this time. Consider calling on animal allies for strength and crafting symbols of them out of natural items, painting their images on stones, or creating a talisman to hold the energy of this animal and bring strength. You might also consider making a warrior mask. You can do this with paper mache or get a “blank” mask from the craft store. You could even use a white paper plate as your base for this project. Paint and decorate this mask imbuing it with warrior energy so that when you don this you become the warrior within. You can use the amplification of the full moon to charge up your warrior magic! Following the tradition of baking bread on this day, you might do just that and pair it with a soup or salad crafted with seasonal veggies and even edible flowers. However you choose to celebrate this holiday, be sure to take some time for considering what you are harvesting with this first gathering of crops. What have you been growing within your garden of Self? What has come to fruition? Honor the work you have done. For a little inspiration you might check out this Lughnasadh playlist (I did not make it but I am enjoying it) or create your own! I wish you all a blessed Lughnasadh! Community Playlist If you could pick one song that embodies you, one song that you feel in your bones whenever you hear it, what song would that be? I’d like to craft us a community playlist made up of these song essences. Reply to this email with an artist and song name and I’ll add it to the list, then share that list with you when it is complete. Daily Practice Are you going to be joining me for our August invitation? After crafting up the Inner Alchemy Journal I wanted to get a chance to use it with all of you! For the month of August I will be posting in the Facebook Group, Instagram and Facebook Stories and the Diving Deeper Community to share my own daily practices with this journal. If you are not already in the Facebook group, be sure to join in so you can share your own practice with all of us. Need the journal? You can get it here We begin Tuesday. See you then! the air is still warm from yesterday's heat. The crickets are chirping and the first of the birds is peeping it’s morning song. The sun hasn’t yet started it’s ascent and the Summer season is all encompassing.
Yet somewhere on that Summer scented air, I detect a hint of Autumn. Maybe it’s the ripening apples, or the windfall plums rotting on my lawn. Or perhaps it’s the breeze, with its constant shift from movement to stillness reminding us that change is always here. Even in those moments of feeling stuck, we are guaranteed that change will come. During this new moon in Cancer, you might consider using the following prompts pull cards and/or journal to work with this idea of change in the emotional body.
A companion exercise to these queries might look like this: Sometimes when we are feeling stuck or stagnant emotionally and/or energetically we need to see things from a different vantage point. Choose a space and cast a circle Stand at the Eastern quadrant of this circle facing outward and take three deep breaths while you take in your surroundings from this vantage point. Notice what you see, hear, smell, taste and feel (physically and emotionally) Step to your right to the Southern quadrant of your circle and repeat. Do this again in the West and North Repeat in the Center- perhaps even spinning slowly as you take your breaths to notice what this space looks like from all the directions. If your space and body allow lie on the floor looking up repeating these breaths and awareness Then roll over face down and take three breaths and notice what you notice. Sit in the center of your circle and reflect on what you discovered both from the outside (what you saw, heard etc.) and the inside (what you felt). Open your Circle When we look at situations from a different perspective we can often discover things we have not seen before, and in turn begin to change how we think and feel. Just in the time it has taken me to write this, the sun is lighting the overcast sky and more birds have added their voice to the morning chorus! Let the new moon remind you that we too move through phases and there is always an opportunity not just for change, but for beginning again. We are less than a week away from the Gift of the Labyrinth workshop . Perhaps you are familiar with the labyrinth. Or maybe you have never set foot upon one. Maybe you have experienced them in a way that has never led you to think of them beyond that moment. I want to invite you to explore this sacred tool with me. Together we will learn: About the history the labyrinth Discover the different types of labyrinths How to create your own Ways to work with this pattern And journey to the center and back out again. This class is offered live, July 22nd from 9-11 am PT. The replay is available to all who register. I look forward to walking this path with you! Register here! Wise Ones, have you noticed all of the in between times in our journey as a human?
Those liminal spaces between toddler and child, child and adolescent, young adult to adult and adult to elder? This week on the Witch Next Door Podcast we discussed one such space. That one defined by modern medicine as peri-menopause. That in between when hormones shift and the experience of being in one’s body is not quite as it was before. What does this have to do with magic? Listen in and find out! Wandering the streets of Guilford, CT this last week, my friend Sara and I stumbled upon a labyrinth. Even as a resident of this town for many years, Sara did not know this labyrinth resided there. It was a secret treasure discovered by accident, or fate (depending on the lens you see the world through). We walked the sacred geometry of the twists and turns, and as we did I felt my consciousness shift. My heart rate settled, my mind felt clearer. Into the center where I stood and let the air play with my hair, breathing in the moment. Then out again, reset, refocused regrounded. You are invited to make the acquaintance of this ancient path in the two hour workshop the Gift of the Labyrinth, Saturday July 22nd at 9 am PT. We will couple our book learning with experiential exercises to build a relationship with the labyrinth in both mind and body. Register here and I’ll see you there! Visiting my friend Sara of the Sisters Enchanted.
It is always a strange and unusual adjustment to time travel from one coast to the other. I feel slightly out of sorts and between worlds. As if I have portaled to some other realm where time no longer has the same meaning. And I think that’s the point. Stepping out of the normal day to day and into a different reality shifts the narrative. Inner rhythms are disrupted. There is a sense of being in time out of time. There is a world moving all around and yet my world is no longer on the same track. It is a place of surrender and of opening. I like my schedule and my rhythms. But I also really like adventure, seeing new places, being in new ways. The two can be hard to reconcile. They can create an unsettling sensation and even confusion. Yet the more I lean into presence, the more I am able to suspend the challenges of this and just “Be”. I can begin to take in what is all around and discover the magic and awe of whatever time and place I am in. This sounds simple but it is not always easy. Simple Practice: Look around yourself in the place you are at. Place your hands on your body. Perhaps one on your heart and one on your belly. Or perhaps place them somewhere else that feels comfortable to you. Close your eyes or soften your gaze. Take a big breath in and a slow breath out. Do this three times. Gently open your eyes and take a look around. How has the landscape changed? How has the way you see it shifted? What do you see? Feel? What stands out to you? Use this practice liberally and discover the way the world changes and the way you feel within the world with this new perspective. Interested in other ways of finding perspective? Gathering information? The Labyrinth is a helpful tool for both of these things. As we walk the path within, our perspective starts to change. As we make our way back out we integrate what we have discovered and learned. July 22nd at 9 am, we will journey into the Gift of the Labyrinth together. Regsiter here for this 2 hour workshop. This Week on the Witch Next Door Podcast we round out our origins of divination series with a look at the Runes.
Discover where and when they were brought into being and how they are used. Listen in! Did you ever watch the movie Labyrinth? It’s a classic. But it’s misleading. You see a labyrinth isn’t a maze. There are no dead ends. No tricky turns. There is just a path. One that leads to the center through the twists and turns of sacred geometry. Onc in the center the only way out is the way you have come. This design is both simple and complicated. It has been used for meditation and contemplation for a very long time, and can be found in community and retreat centers, churches, and natural spaces. You are invited to delve into the Gift of the Labyrinth with me on July 22nd at 9 am PT for a 2 hour workshop. You will learn and experience:
You can register here With Love and Blessings, Emily 7/3/23 I’ve been feeling a little quiet lately. You might have noticed a few less emails in your inbox. Social media posts that are few and far between. A skipped week of podcasting (or two). I’ve been feeling myself pulled to my writing, my imagination, painting story, crafting characters and unfurling a landscape in which it all unfolds. My creativity is a part of my magic. Perhaps it’s the biggest part even. It’s the place that I gather my tools and energetic connections and transform them into ritual and workshop, spell crafting and altar building, potion making and manifesting. And sometimes when my creativity and I are head over heels with each other the rest of the world fades a bit. It’s harder to do things like dishes and laundry and meal planning. It’s harder to reach out to community. Because creativity can be such a passionate lover. It sometimes makes the rest of the world disappear. But I want you to know I’m still here. Still making magic. Still crafting ritual. Still holding space. Just a little quieter on the outside. Because I’m having a Summer love affair with creativity. Are you? Simple practice: Write a love letter to creativity. Maybe you call this your creative self. Or perhaps you relate to this as the Muse. However you see this force in the world, write it a love letter and invite it in. Let the Summer energy fuel your own passionate relationship to creativity. Then sit beneath the full moon or the noon day sun and read it aloud, calling out to creativity to dance with you. Journey with Me Step into the magic of the labyrinth, a twisting turning journey to a center. Your center. The labyrinth is a single path that leads to the center of the structure and back out again. It offers us a place for meditation, ritual, and contemplation. July 22nd at 9 am PT, I am offering the Gift of the Labyrinth workshop. During this two hour experiential gathering we will,
The Solstice is still a couple days away, yet the smell of early Summer is in the air. The drying of grasses, the warming of stone fruits on the trees, the scent of jasmine and roses and butterfly bush flowers.
I love the smell of Summer. Fall is my favorite season, but there is something about the scent of the start of Summer that holds the promise of lazy hot days, extra time outdoors and vacations that hearken back to my childhood and the end of the school year. What are you doing to celebrate the Solstice this year? The Summer Solstice marks the official first day of Summer, it is the longest day. The sun reaches its highest point before the nights begin to lengthen once more. It is a day of celebration and marking of the coming heat of the season, the height of the growing season, and a time for play. One of my favorite things to do on the longest day is to greet the morning sun and say goodnight as it sets (the latter is often a challenge for me). You might sing the sun up or down, dance beneath the day's birth or death or just take the time to watch the changing of the season as the light moves in and out of its moment of splendor. This year in our Diving Deeper community we made wands to celebrate the Solstice, inviting that fire energy of the sun and the season to infuse our tools with their magic. On Wednesday (the 21st) I will be setting out some tea to brew with my summer intentions scrawled on paper and tucked beneath to infuse the elixir with not only the solar energy but my plans for the season. Need a little more inspiration? Erin LaFaive of Full Circle Herbals and I cooked up a digital Celebration Guidebook that is available here For many years at the Summer Solstice my women’s circle and I would make our way out to the ocean to walk a labyrinth beneath the setting sun and feast together. The symbolism of walking into the labyrinth and out again invited us to move within ourselves, allow those shadowy places within to be illuminated (and perhaps transformed) and to make our way back out again as a process of integration. The Labyrinth is a sacred and ancient tool, place, practice. I am offering you a 2 hour class called the Gifts of the Labyrinth in which you will discover the magic of this sacred geometry. Together we will:
Pricing for this event has been tiered. Choose the price that supports your financial situation the best. Register here Retreat Rescheduled! The Wise Woman Witchery Outdoor Retreat has been rescheduled for 2024. We will gather Friday June 7th through Sunday June 9th in Santa Rosa, Ca for three days of magic and community. If you are interested in joining us you can register for updates here. With Love, Blessings and a whole lot of Summer Magic, Emily PS You can also build on that Summer vibe by tuning into past episodes of the Witch Next Door podcast Summer Solstice and the Sun Card Summer Solstice 2020 Summer Magic Have you ever found yourself gazing into the bottom of your tea cup at all the bits left behind, wondering what it might mean?
Tasseomancy or tea leaf reading is the topic of this week's episode of the Witch Next Door Podcast. We explore the origins of this process and how it is done. Listen in! Have you ever walked a labyrinth? These sacred paths are not mazes. There are no dead ends or tricks and turns to keep you trapped within. They are a tool that represents moving within and out again. There is only one path to the center and one path out. Several years ago I taught the Gift of the Labyrinth at one of the first conferences I offered. I am teaching it again as a stand alone 2 hour course on July 22nd. During our time together you will, Learn the history of the labyrinth The ways it can be used Go on an experiential and tactile journey to the heart of the labyrinth Discover the power of this magical, spiritual and meditative tool and learn to use it in your own life Registration opens this weekend. |
Details
Emily Morrison MA, MFTArchives
January 2024
Categories |