November 8, 2024

When we are in right relationship
with the sacred and community…

I’m staying away from the news right now. I choose not to go down the dark rabbit hole of finger pointing and speculation about how we got here and where we are going. For now, I choose to focus on the Light.

I have been scrolling through Facebook, downloading the many uplifting images and writings people have posted in the last couple of days. Fodder for future posts. Reminders of the essential spirit that lives in my many communities. And in the process something shifted. In the past weeks and months, I had viewed these people as like-minded and like-spirited people focused on the election. Now I view them as a tribe of people focused on manifesting a future of hope and possibility. A tribe of resistance. A tribe of Light workers. A tribe that will be sustenance for the journey ahead.

Be around the Light Bringers,
The Magic Makers,
The World Shifters.
They challenge you,
break you open,
uplift and expand you.
They don’t let you play
small with your life.
These Heartbeats are your people.
These people are your Tribe.

Our Tribe. There is courage and passion and compassion here. There is love and Light here. There is cause for celebration here.

Beannacht,
Judith

November 6, 2024

When we are in right relationship
with the sacred and community…

I wrote in a recent post about helping a friend clear out his wife’s clothes. I was over there yesterday. Seemed a good way to distract myself while waiting for the election results. This morning, like so many of us, I’m in deep grief and connecting with friends and family.

In the middle of those connections, he called. To thank me for coming over yesterday. I know he’s on the far right of the political spectrum and have studiously avoided political conversations with him. But this morning he was cheerful and asked if I wasn’t also happy with the election results. I paused and mentioned that actually I am terrified. 

I won’t go into the details beyond saying that he has clearly bought into the myth and narrative that we will be saved by this new regime. Our conversation was civil as we listened to each other and at the close of it I offered that while we don’t know all of what lies ahead, it will be important to navigate that journey from a space of caring and connection with each other and in community. “I love you,” he said. 

I love you. In this, the journey has already begun.

Beannacht,
Judith

November 6, 2024

When we are in right relationship
with the sacred and community…

I wrote in a recent post about helping a friend clear out his wife’s clothes. I was over there yesterday. Seemed a good way to distract myself while waiting for the election results. This morning, like so many of us, I’m in deep grief and connecting with friends and family.

In the middle of those connections, he called. To thank me for coming over yesterday. I know he’s on the far right of the political spectrum and have studiously avoided political conversations with him. But this morning he was cheerful and asked if I wasn’t also happy with the election results. I paused and mentioned that actually I am terrified. 

I won’t go into the details beyond saying that he has clearly bought into the myth and narrative that we will be saved by this new regime. Our conversation was civil as we listened to each other and at the close of it I offered that while we don’t know all of what lies ahead, it will be important to navigate that journey from a space of caring and connection with each other and in community. “I love you,” he said. 

I love you. In this, the journey has already begun.

Beannacht,
Judith

November 5, 2024

When we are in right relationship
with the sacred and community…

It’s Election Day. And like so many, I’m holding a sense of optimism and staying away from the media circus. There will be time for that later. So for now, two stories.

I had a blood draw on Friday. A general look at my overall health. I had another blood draw today to detect the presence of cancer. It was my fifth. All others came back zero cancer so I’m optimistic. The delightful young man who did the Friday draw was such a bright light and spirit that I was compelled to comment on it. He was both delighted and taken aback, and told me no one has ever told them that before. Wow. It’s hard to miss. 

The draw today was by another bright spirit. I spoke with her about this and we fell into a wonderful conversation. She mentioned she’s had trouble focusing on the election and would rather just focus on the bright spirits she encounters through her work. She’s connecting me with another patient who she says has such a strong spiritual essence and said she would rather focus on starting a movement of Light spirits to increase that energy in the world. 

After she left I reflected on our conversation and
my two recent encounters. Regardless the outcome of this election, healing this fractured nation will be essential. And we each of us have the power to contribute to that healing. One encounter at a time when we take the time to see the Light in others and reflect it back to them.

We do have the power. We can absolutely be a shining movement of Light spirits and increase that energy in the world. Through this election and beyond, we will need all the Light we can shine. 

Beannacht,
Judith

November 2, 2024

Jellyfish. Seriously? I have never even remotely considered jellyfish as a spirit guide. Never heard of anyone claiming membership in the jellyfish clan nor being a jellyfish shaman. But here I am even wondering if I might get a tattoo. OK. Not. But the wisdom is compelling.

In our sacred sisterhood, the sisters spend much time in the natural world. Weaving with the nations of stone, fire, water, air, plants, and creatures. One of the sisters spends much time on the beaches near her coastal California home and her recent encounter with jellyfish in those waters opened up profound spiritual insights about these creatures. When she shared her insights with me I was inspired to create a graphic.

In the midst of this election, it might seem ridiculous to consider this gentle creature. Yet there is an energy of deep peace here, an energy that calls us to be strong in shining the Light of our essential nature but also to have the strength to ride the currents. There is wisdom that calls us not to be so attached to outcome that we lose the flexibility to face whatever comes. And in the struggle ahead, we are counseled to remember we are not alone; to remember that our power to navigate the challenges we will face comes through surrendering into and aligning ourselves with the sacred energies of the ancestors and the natural world. There is power in this Sacred Alliance, power we need for what lies ahead.

Jellyfish? Seriously. In this time, I welcome this new spirit guide.

Beannacht,
Judith

November 1, 2024

When we honor the wisdom of Ériu,
walking the land, living her rhythms,
and knowing her patterns…

Magic is an illusion. Trickery and sleight of hand. It’s not real. This is the story of magic embedded in our collective consciousness. Ours is to sit in the audience and be amazed by what is only the dominion and provenance of magicians.

This story is the illusion.

True magic is knowing that spiritual realms are real. True magic is being in relationship with those realms. True magic is very much our provenance, if we open to it. In these tumultuous times, we need all the magic we can muster. In this Samhain season, the energies are powerfully present for that mystical mustering.

The magic in me is old,
it sings the song
of my ancestors,
words of the
forest tongue,
long forgotten.

A.M. Galdorcraeft

May we embrace our magic.
May we rediscover that long forgotten tongue.

Beannacht,
Judith

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