October 30, 2024

When we weave the threads
of ancestral wisdom
into stories that are resonant
and relevant for these times…

The angst in the collective consciousness, and in our consciousness, is palpable from this election. It’s intense. Equally intense, if we open to it, is the presence of the ancestors in this Samhain season. We can take sanctuary and strength in their wisdom. We can be in communion with our biological ancestors and the mystical ancestors. And we can anchor in the wisdom they hold, wisdom shared in myth and story, wisdom passed down to us in our family stories and in our DNA. Wisdom to navigate these tumultuous times.

We bow in reverence
to our ancestors.
Those who walked before us,
whose spirits guide our steps.
With open hearts, we honor
their wisdom,
Their sacrifices, their
strength, & their love.
We give thanks for
the paths they paved.
For the lessons they’ve
woven into our souls.
May their journeys,
challenges, & triumphs
Remind us of the courage
& resilience within ourselves.
Grandmother Flordemayo

We offer our gratitude. We honor their gifts of courage and clarity. And we weave their wisdom into the fabric of our lives in a deep commitment to manifest that wisdom. For the Light. For the Earth. For our people.

Beannacht,
Judith

October 25, 2024

Normally, I’m able to stay away from the drama and trauma of news cycles. Or at least take them in small measure. But these are not normal times and I find myself riveted on what’s unfolding in this election. More riveted than I’m comfortable with as a woman of spirit. I want to be focused on peace and love and compassion.

As I’ve been sitting with that discomfort, I understand why I’m so riveted. This is a tipping point for our nation. The possibility of falling under a fascist dictatorial regime is a horror I can’t begin to get my mind around even though the consequences are well documented. So many of us are terrified. So many of us are riveted.

Like so many of us, I’m spending much of my time and energy focused on sending Light into the collective. Working with an alliance of sacred energies to send that voice of divine wisdom that it might touch the Light in others and awaken them to their divine nature. Like so many of us, I’m doing this against the backdrop of storm clouds roiling through the collective. These storm clouds won’t dissipate any time soon and if healing is going to happen for our nation, it’s going to be important to understand the nature of what’s moving through the collective. It’s going to be important to understand the nature of those storm clouds. 

There is wisdom in watching. For in that watching, from a place of peace and love and compassion, we can find the wisdom to most effectively contribute to the healing. 

Beannacht,
Judith

October 22, 2024

This is only the beginning of a story unfolding in my life. I doubt I will share more of that unfolding. This is the essence of it. The heart of it. 

Many of us are sending prayers of Light and hope into this election. Prayers that the Light, the wisdom voice of divine spirit, will touch the Light in others as we all navigate this election. And we know that after November 5th the call will be to turn our prayers and focus from the ballot box to binding our nation in an energy of healing and hope for unity. As I’ve been holding this knowing and wondering how healing and unity might happen…well, this story began. A clear, personal, and powerful answer to my wondering.

When he showed up at our door last week, I hardly recognized him. It’s been years since we’ve seen each other. Gary (not his real name), who’s work, craft and art is landscape construction, had years ago sculpted the meadows and our long winding driveway here at MossTerra. We have one mutual friend but beyond that we don’t live in the same social circles, and our political beliefs and life experiences are…well, let’s just say vastly different. His world is massive earth moving equipment. Mine is sacred sisterhoods and spiritual journeys in Ireland.

When I welcomed Gary into the house, the tears welled up. He was here to tell me his wife, Gina (not her real name) had died. We sat on the front porch for almost two hours as he wept and shared the story of her long illness and death and his many years of devoted caretaking. He was fragile and, in his words, very raw. I just held him in the energy of love and compassion. And listened. 

It was in that listening a strong message landed for me. I was to offer to help him clear out some of Gina’s belongings. I was surprised because I hardly knew Gina and it was almost an out of body experience when I heard myself make that offer. Gary was so grateful. More tears flowed. 

I went to the house this week to see the project ahead. But before we went into the house where I would see, among Gina’s antique furniture and flowery furnishings, three gun safes in the living room, Gary took me on a drive through his beautifully sculpted and park like forty acres. I say ‘his’ because Gina’s love was the house. His is the land. 

As we wandered cross country in his red pick up truck, he stopped several times. ‘This is my cathedral’, he said, pointing out a magnificent grove of towering maple trees. ‘This is where I planned to put my chapel,’ he said, stopping in a stunning sixty foot circle surrounded by cedars. This is the essence of him he wanted me to experience. When I sang to the trees, he smiled. It was clear that our shared reverence for the natural world would be the tap root of our relationship. As we spend time together, this is the foundation for our conversation and sharing. This is the heart bridge across our differences.

As our nation navigates the future, may we find those heart bridges to each other.

Beannacht,
Judith

October 20. 2024

In this Samhain season, there is much to share about Crones and wise women. And I will. There is much to celebrate. But there was a time when such celebration was dangerous. There was a time when being such a woman was dangerous. 

There are those in this nation who would have us return to those times. There are other nations who are already returning. In our nation, the intention is clear and bold. We can read these words of Fia Forsström and shift them into the context of these times. The horror of it is clear. We must not go back!

It was not witches who burned.
It was women.
Women who were seen as;
Too beautiful,
Too outspoken,
Had too much water in the well
(yes, seriously),
Who had a birthmark,

Women who were too skilled with herbal medicine,
Too loud,
Too quiet,
Too much red in their hair,
Women who had a strong nature connection,
Women who danced,
Women who sang,
or anything else, really.

Any woman was at risk of burning in the 1600’s.
Sisters testified and turned on each other
when their babies were held under ice.
Children were tortured to confess their experiences
with “witches” by being fake executed in ovens.
Women were held under water
and if they could float, they were guilty and executed.
If they sank and drowned they were innocent.
Women were thrown off cliffs.
Women were put in deep holes in the ground.

Why do I write this?
Because knowing our history is important
when we are building a new world.
When we are doing the healing work
of our lineages and as women.
To give the women who were slaughtered a voice,
to give them redress and a chance of peace.

It was not witches who burned.
It was women.

Fia Forsström

We must not go back!

Beannacht,
Judith

Kyri Koniotis Artwork

October 14, 2024

When we weave the threads
of ancestral wisdom into stories
that are resonant and relevant
for these times…

As the night wraps her arms around the days in a shawl of descending darkness. As the Earth slips into quiet slumber. The rhythms of this season are perfect for ancestral connection. For deep listening. For powerful encounter.

This was the truth for our ancestors in the northern hemisphere when the waning daylight limited their activity and they moved indoors to be around the hearth fire. It can be truth for us if we are willing to step away for the busyness of our lives and the glare of our devices. If we are willing to align ourselves with the mystical energies of this season.

Some of us know we have experienced past lives. Some of us are connected with mystic ancestral energies. All of us have biological ancestors. There is wisdom to be gleaned from all of these. Wisdom to weave into the fabric of our lives.

For those of us who have walked this Earth for many decades and know the realm of ancestor is soon to be our reality, this is potent Crone alchemy and Elder magic. For all of us, this ancestral weaving holds much wisdom.

May you embrace the possibilities of this season.
May the ancestors visit you.
May your weaving be fruitful.

Beannacht,
Judith

October 12, 2024

When I look out my window
Many sights to see
And when I look in my window
So many different people to be
That it’s strange
So strange
Mm-hmm, must be the season of the witch
Must be the season of the witch, yeah
Must be the season of the witch
Donovan 

It’s already Christmas at Costco. The Halloween costumes are looking pretty bedraggled and picked over. Pointy hats aside, for those of us who are not aligned with the commercial holiday calendar, we are slipping into a most magical season.

We are slipping into the Samhain (sáwin) season. It’s a season that stretches before us measured in weeks and months. It’s the season that includes the ending of the old year and beginning of the new year. It’s the season of ancestral connection, of the Wise Woman, the Old Woman, Crone, and yes, even Witch. Looking into or out of the windows of our lives, there’s a lot going on. Many sights to see and consider.

For those of us approaching or navigating the Elder and Crone energy, we are invited to consider the many threads of our lives. The many people we have been. We are invited to explore the wisdom and treasure of those threads in our life tapestry. For in this season, as  the veils are thin and we encounter ancestral energies, we know we will soon be ancestor. What wisdom will we take with us as we cross that threshold? What wisdom will we, as ancestor, hold for those we will encounter from the other side?

It is the season of introspection, mystical connections, and deep contemplation. For Elders and Crones. Perhaps for all of us.

Beannacht,
Judith

October 9, 2024

Try imagining a place where
it’s always safe and warm
“Come in,” she said
“I’ll give you shelter
from the storm”
Bob Dylan

As we slip into this season of Samhain, of ancestors and elders, of Crone, there is much to write about. But in this moment I am totally focused on the people of Florida and surrounding states. Hurricane upon hurricane arriving and leaving behind death and destruction. Homes and lives ruined. So this is the story I share today.

Father: You’re not riding your bike.
Daughter: No. There’s a spider web on it.
Father: Well, just destroy the web. The spider will know it’s not a safe place to be.
Daughter: Isn’t that what happens to refugees?

I’m seeing so many reports of parks and parking lots and even race tracks opening for those fleeing from the hurricane. Open arms and open hearts. And that’s wonderful. But do we not see or recognize that so many refugees, we name them immigrants, flee to this country because, like those in the path of the hurricane, their lives have been destroyed?

Wether escaping storms of weather or storms of political violence and persecution, can we not open our arms and our hearts to them? Can we not give them all shelter from the storm?

Beannacht,
Judith

October 4th, 2024

When we embrace the ancient ways
of being in right relationship
with the earth, the sacred,
and community…

Just days ago, Dennis and I were talking about coincidence, events or circumstances without apparent causal connection, and how the word shares a root with coincide. Which resonates for me as I know all energies coexist. Perhaps it’s only in the noticing that we name it coincidence. A safe place to park it for the skeptics among us. 

Yesterday. I had just finished creating this graphic when there was a knock at the back door. It was a friend of some thirty years but not of particularly frequent social connection. It had been a long time since I’d seen him. He came to tell me his wife died.

We sat together on the front porch while he poured out the story of her illness and death. And he sobbed. It was gut wrenching. I just listened and held him in a space of love. And I kept thinking of this image and these words on grief that I had just created. Coincidence?

I won’t share this graphic with him. I can only hold him in the sentiment and energy of it. He doesn’t have a computer and isn’t on any form of social media. His only technology is an old flip phone. 

I share this story because it reflects the piece I wrote yesterday. This friend is very conservative and we don’t share many political perspectives. But that didn’t matter when he was here with a huge crack in the vessel of his life. That didn’t matter as the tears were flowing. What mattered is that he knew he could come here and be held in love and compassion. 

Such events and circumstances may not appear to have a causal connection. But they do. And if we open to the coexisting energies of the Universe, we can know that. 

Beannacht,
Judith

October 3, 2024

When we embrace the ancient ways
of being in right relationship
with the earth, the sacred,
and community…

When she walked to the well for water, the old woman carried two pots. They were both worn from use and over the years one had developed a crack. As she walked the path back to her cottage water leaked out. By the time she was home, the pot was half empty.

A neighbor who had been watching this could no longer contain himself. “Old woman! You do know that your pot is cracked and leaks water, don’t you. And yet you still carry it to the well. Are you crazy?”

The old woman smiled. “Yes, my friend. I do know of this. But you see, I’ve planted seeds along the path and this old cracked pot waters them. Now I walk among flowers on my way to the well. And it brings me great joy.”

It seems every day brings news that lessens my anxiety about the upcoming election. It seems ever more likely we will continue to have integrity and the values of compassion, equity, and inclusion guiding our nation forward. 

However there is one anxiety that looms large for me. Our nation is fractured and broken in so many ways. How will we navigate that? What will we do with our cracked pots? Are there possibilities they might water the flowers of a brighter and more unified future?

Beannacht,
Judith