The Seasons Of A Woman

The Maiden is calling…

Come, come she calls, come play with me. With the winds at our backs and the dust at our heels we were off, galloping into the dawn. Like sisters we were entangled in each other’s sense of adventure. She who is the untamed one, chasing after the blue jays and dancing like a wild stallion.. As we trotted past uncharted territory she pulled my hand and encouraged me to dance , to spin, to laugh, to scream, to dream the dreams only the wild ones dare. Leaping up the old pine tree she swings and sings sweet songs…as her bare feet dangled in the wild dandelions below. “Can you smell the scents of spring my sister?” She called… The blossoming, the time of play and fertility, the time when I get to move the way I long to move and play amongst the dandelions. She shot back down and touched the earth, her dress rarer yet she didn’t care…she was off dancing into the dawn, with such innocence, pleasure and joy. She yelled to me in the distance to remember to play wild one play and never forget the maiden in me!

The Inner Mother Speaks…

As my maiden self grew deep roots into the great mother, her dreams were much farther than what appeared. Young maiden in me, longed to give birth, to nurture something in need. She dreamed of the other and transforming into the mother, but something deep down inside was conceived. 

A long journey ahead, patience and soft acceptance was what the maiden whispered. The world at her young adolescent feet yet she couldn’t help but crave for more. As she longed to set roots and brood amongst her fellow ducklings the great mother grew something far more. The young maiden, as winter grew to spring and summer to fall she lost her way and forgot how it all was. Her fertile self once sowed her seeds, and now granted gifts that forced her to grow. Atlas the mother was born, a rebirth to herself the great mother heard her call and birthed a greater gift. For the mother in me longed to be nurtured, she pulls at my soul and calls me within. Thank you mother, for I now know it all starts from within.

The Seasons Within Me…

I step into a life led by the depths of my soul. A journey of decent to greet the young maiden in me that had been hurt. There is something to collect, maybe a potent seed to remember, some young intuition to harvest, or a sacred wound to breathe into. To begin this inward quest to meet the innermost depths of my soul calling I call to the mother in me to hold me when I’m hurt, to weave my worries into the safe vessel to protect me. The mother who cares for my tired bones and lets me go into the unknown.

This journey of decent, A knock on the door to awaken my soul, A map only led by intuition. The farther in I go, this face far in the distance appears, she has been waiting and watching my dance across her mural. To my eyes and old wise woman appears, the Maga I am becoming… she tells me of all the seeds she’s harvested, all the potent gifts she’s grown. Young wise one she whispers I gift you such sacred seeds to bring with you on your journey for these will be your tools into the unknown. Through the depths of the darkness I continued in remembering what the mother told me, The gifts that the maga gives and as a firelight staring into the night I continued on.

How vast this quest is but there is a part of me I haven’t met… winter is upon me and I begin to let go, to fall into trust and knowing what is already known. A time of reflection. From the depths of the crone, she appears in sensation and connects the scattered part of myself that I had grown away from. You have become your power young one and follow this journey to connect with soul and be guided by spirit. There is a calling from the depths within and you have the tools to lead you into the unknown.

Tending To The Garden In Need…

Bucket by bucket I pour my love, I tend to the weeds if your soul and await your growth. Like fertile soil you process this journey from amidst the darkness to greet the dawn. Together tending to the garden in need we emerge, reaping gifts we have grown. We forget how important the process is to be beneath, brewing these soon to be abundant gifts. So sow your seeds, let your inner water fall to feed the dry soil and give thanks to this garden you’ve received.

Yesterday, a whole quarter of the moon came to light. To think on the morning of the new moon I walked and drummed my prayers into the earth with my sisters. Each foot print planting my new seeds for this lunar cycle, this seasons cycle, this life cycle. Watching my seeds come to fruition and blooming sweet fertile blossoms, I have some tending to do. Everything that has been in the way of these micro growing seeds, this prayer engrained in Mother Earth has birthed, has pushed me to change, to connect, to compost what’s no longer needed. Weeds will grow and the garden needs tending, inner and outer mending so these seeds I once sowed will connect me to the direction I must go!

First quarter moon energy: growth, maiden, spring, fertility, connection… Has your new moon intention, or this new cycles prayer come out to take hold and enliven itself? Are there some weeds in the way that may need “thinning”?

My Journey to Meet My Plant Ally!

My journey to meet my plant Ally!

Yesterday afternoon, I hibernated in the tent and created. I studied, wrote, and meditated as the rain patted above me. I was so excited about this visual journey to meet my plant friend who I will dive deep with in the next weeks!
As I listened to the guided meditation, I began to fill my being with a swirling golden light. I felt an excitement. An excitement to meet my new friend. A white portal to the upper realm is where I ascended. Growing wings and flying! Through the mist I arrived to an old growth redwood forest. These giant beings towering over me. Like fire flies these little beings allured me their way. Flashing and twirling amongst this damp forest floor. A flowing stream intertwined these beings feeding them with liquid life. These little spirits seem foreign to me let alone growing in the wrong climate. Well twirling there purple star faces they called to me and warmed my being with a sense of courage and magic……Beautiful Borage was who they introduced.

Borage is a beautiful friend to call upon to help radiate your sense of inner courage, and connect you to your physic abilities! Her beautiful star face helps ease your vulnerability and anxious tendencies. She nourishes your brain and body with fatty acids, iron, and anti-inflammatory properties.

Samhain Offerings (Remembering & Reconnecting)

Honouring change, the time just after the Harvest season and the dawn of Winter. Samhain, Halloween, a Celtic festival where we honour the dead and connect with our ancestors and spirits. May 1st, the Day when the veils of the other worlds are the thinnest and our intuition and remembrance are at the for front. Remembering and reconnecting with that part of our lost selves. A time to reflect on our season of harvest, what came to fruition and bared fruit? What sacred seeds will you bring into this new season of hibernation and contemplation? Winter is slowly upon us here in the Southern Hemisphere and I am sitting in the void of what is, what has been, and what is being seeded.

Ritual roots our vast beings and connects us closer to our communal intentions. So today on this day of honouring and remembrance I honour the young maiden I once was, I greet the mother of all births I am becoming,  I call to the maga and crone to bare gifts of insight and deep knowing.

A passage from my journal “Seeds Of Remembrance”

She journeyed far for this feeling. Something engrained deep within drew her to the very place she is. This dance in the in between but seeking a place to land. A dream once dreamt and a vision so vast, her calling pulling her soul for a dance. So young her maiden vessel but how ancient her soul had become. Living in a world of parallel universes, always dreaming of what is to come and longing to travel to far away lands.

Which route truly resonated to her souls calling? Hidden and enclosed to the powerful force of the outside world she became curious. She was born into the wolf pack and initiated as the leader. But soon after her calling grew stronger, it was time to leave the pack.
Now turning to a life led by curiosity and her seeds of remembrance, she is able to journey outside of her boundaries. Like a gift from the goddess grotto she is now able to drum to the earths heart beat. This art of flight opened the unseen within. As she stepped into her radiant orb, she was swept off her feet only to be led by trust. Months go by and a new sensation grew stemming from the soles of her feet. Roots had begun to penetrate out from beneath her and her sense of home pulled at her wild soul. An unfamiliar feeling began to grow and she new it was time to land. Seeds need soil in order to grow and so it was she did too. A new place to begin that stemmed deep from within, she is following her calling and gathering her new wolves in.

May this post offer wisdom and insight to accessing your sacred seeds within and celebrate this beautiful day of entering a new season!

Letting go of the old & Welcoming a change in Season!

 

Autumn…Fall…Harvest…Maga…bounty…Intentions…letting go…Inward…Reflecting…Shedding…Darkness…Hearth…Fires…Gathering…Creating…Slow cooking…Fermenting…Canning…seeds…nesting…

This morning I sit, my mind meandering down old memories. I awake to the crisp dewy morning as I watch the steam rise from the earth and my first yawn blow out billows of smoke. The seasons are changing and days are growing colder. The dawn of Autumn, the cusp of winter. A Season for reflection, to harvest. How powerful and heart opening this journey is. Be raw, be the wounded soldier within just for a moment, but do remember how grateful moments like these are. A time to honour the seasons within and without.

What if instead of setting our intentions every year in January, we had this season of reflection, Autumn, to firmly set these goals in motion? In this cycle, we are supposed to reflect on ourselves, let what needs to fall fall back into the earth. Trees and plants spread their seeds, so why don’t we? If we could sit with this letting go of the old and reflect on what we would like to bring into this new cycle we will forever be growing.

How to welcome the change in seasons this Autumn?

1. Light a Candle

Tis the season for the sweet smell of burning bees wax! Lighting a candle also helps to call yourself present. I love to light candles as the days grown colder and darker.

2. Create your sacred space

What would it feel like to be cradled? Create that warm, nourishing space for yourself and go there from time to time to reflect and be with the wisdom within. My scared space changes from time to time and I almost enjoy creating it the most. I roll out my felted rug, gather my journals, books, pillows, blankets, sacred objects…

3. Journal

When you have settled into your sacred space, pull out your journal. What is alive in you at the moment? Write whatever arises down…sit with that a moment and play with creatively writing what “harvest…letting go…inward…” means to you. You may be called to reflect on your last season cycles, writing everything from emotions to events. After letting go of the old stories, write down your new intentions for the following seasons. Journaling for me is medicine, it is a straight portal to the wisdom that lies beneath our bones. Come back to this as often as you like.

4. Nourish

As the day grow colder, our bodies are needing more nurturing and warmth. Tea is sacred in this season and there is something about listening to the tea kettle blow and the crackle of fire. Herbs like, oatstraw, nettle, sage, rose, ginger, tulsi, linden and many more are just a few that I brew for nourishment. Tea is always your best friend and provides the mind, body, and spirit with everything you need at exactly the right time. Slow cooked meals are also vital as the day grow darker. Onions, leeks, roots, spices, broths, seaweeds, oils, beans are what is usually stewing in the kitchen for me. Most importantly, listen to your body and go slow! Enjoy slow meals with long mingling chatter with friends and family by the fire!

5. Gather

Make time to check up with each other, to hold each other, to laugh with one another, to tell stories and sing songs. As much as this season is an inward one, community is key! My spirit is always lifted after a beautiful gathering with friends and family sharing home cooked food! Create a gathering, whether is be a sister circle, a men craft night, or a shared potluck!

Enjoy the nourishment and sweet tenderness of fall and may all beings be blessed and honour their blessings!

 

axe!

Sophie

 

 

To Nest

I have been back in the hum of things here on the land after a deep hibernation time. The inward and outward dance of spinning with the seasons feels to never end. I went home to visit family and reconnect after my 9 months here in Australia, a time of stillness. It was Winter there but my spirit was still spiralling in the summer air over in Australia.  Mighty Oak trees, Pinon forests, and Yucca elders surrounding me. The smell of the eucalyptus trees and the glimpse of the wattle seed blossoms were engrained in my memory. I was in a constant in-between state. Where was home? At a standstill with my inner rhythm and seeking a deeper connection to community I am eager to root and find my route.

As the moon grew larger our motivation to move into our nest grew fonder. February 11, the full moon rose and we had migrated into our nest tucked beneath the camphor trees. The sounds of the creek as we sleep and the rustling leaves swaying in the wind, I’ve longed to live wild once again. This was a project of love, a cocreation of us all coming together to build our home. 3 months of screws, power tools, sweat, and tears. It does really feel like I gave birth to something and was fully conscious of every step along the way.

The first night we slept wide awake in awe of the orchestra around us. Night creatures out in parade and enjoying the full moon glory. The cicadas hummed and the occasional bats silhouette flew by. Stillness, Illumination, Harmony, Peace. Nature is beautiful and always awaiting us to sit and listen.

The days are growing hotter here in Australia and work around the farm is just beginning. Our Lychee orchard is in full harvest and Eliot has been on the tractor getting ready for our seasons to come! I have only been back a week and life is continuously evolving. My dream to connect with the community and birth my gifts is bubbling deep in my blood.

How do you nest and where might this nest live?

sending love,

Sophie

ReBirthing Ritual

I am one amongst many who have had a big story tied to my birth. Born in hospital and taken away from my mother for hours. My placenta, my ever growing life force in my mothers womb, had been tossed away in a hazardous waste bag and my Miwi (soul) had been left behind. Thru my recent curiosities  I have discovered this remembering of our sacred wounds and wombs. Birth is a ceremony,  it is our first spiritual imprint and awakens our soul to our paths destiny.

During my fist opening gathering with jane, my teacher at the School Of Shamanic Womancraft, shared with us this spiritual bioenergetic activation. Honouring our once lost life force, the placenta, and symbolically burying it into the earth. This act of giving our placenta to the earth aligns us to our purpose in life and brings deep connection and guidance from mama earth. It is said that by not honouring this we forget our lives purpose and feel lost in this world.

On the dusk of the new year, January 1st 2017, my 21 year old self had honoured my past and buried my rock “placenta”. Beneath the pomegranate tree in my mamas land. As I gathered my sacred offerings and alter pieces I felt an energetic connection to this ceremony I was doing. Choosing to do this by myself and honouring my souls connection with mother earth. I chose my fairly large rock, that resembled my placenta and laid it in the earth. I lit my candle and smudged the energy. Standing strong, grounded, barefoot on the earth I felt a knowing. This journey I am on is my souls medicine. I am here to heal and share my wisdom for those in need. I am here to love, to express, to feel, to remember, to share, to support, to live!

These words below are from Jane and the wisdom passed down from an aboriginal woman, Minmia:

“The proper birthing process will connect the child to the oneness so they are more able to handle the chaos to come – they will be more grounded.

It gives the child the strength to live a connected life.

One-ness is the key, absolutely and from now on…

She instructed me on what to do about this, as she has already with many other women over the years.

Her focus was on the spiritual role of the umbilical cord and placenta for the baby’s wellbeing.

Firstly, placentas are not ‘hazardous waste’, they hold, on the side that is connected to the mother, the baby’s Miwi print, which in Minmia’s words is the baby’s life journey map, their soul’s destiny this lifetime.

She says that what’s meant to happen is this:

Babies are born, the cords are not cut but are left until they stop pulsing. With the cord still pulsing, and as the baby takes its first breath, information is transferred to the baby from the placenta via the cord, on how to follow the map, their Miwi print. Later, the placenta and cord are buried in the earth and so the baby’s Miwi print goes into Nungeena-tya. The Miwi print lies there until Nungeena receives the child’s first seed. For girls that’s their first blood, their menarche, for boys its their sperm from their first wet dream of puberty.

As it (the child’s first seed) hits the earth, the seed is recognised instantly, almost as if it enters a computer data system. Nungeena-tya then goes back to wherever the Miwi print was buried and locks it in. She then acts to ground and guide the ‘wanai’ (post puberty, adolescent) on her/his journey throughout this physical life.’[i]

And this is when you (the adolescent) start receiving your teaching and learning the lore/law.’ 

When they fall down or get knocked down, Nungeena-tya will anchor them and pull them back up. They will always be very close to their path if not right on it.[ii]

For those people who’s placentas were not buried in the earth and were probably either burnt or destroyed together with other placentas, they still eventually get to the earth but their Miwi prints are melted together with others and so they are confused. They are spiritually and emotionally confused and can’t fulfil their journey.

The Rebirthing Ceremony can repair this.”

For more information go to Janes blog about the Rebirthing Ceremony

Some Sweet Soul Soothing Love!

Just for a moment let go.

Understand that you are one sacred piece in this giant puzzle that keeps evolving.

So unique and exquisitely different but here on this earth with your gifts to give.

As this year flows into the next watch your inner gifts ignite.

Be willing to allow everything that is and honor your beautiful being for being this vessel of love.

Be gentle with one another and allow yourself to be with what is.

Hold tight to your inner light and may this guide you.

—

~Some sweet soul southing love~

~ BATHE…submerse yourself in a warm bath with candles and essential oils (rose,lavender, pine, jasmine, frankincense…) Focus on your sensations, the warmth of the water, the smell of the oil, the touch of crystals scattered around, and the length of your breath. Allow your self to melt into this juicy experience.

~ GET COZY…curl up next to the fire with your loved ones and sip on some herbal tea. Rose  petals help to warm your heart space and gift you the connection to your inner love. Theres something so primitive and magical about starting up your little wood fire and entrancing yourself to the warmth of the flames. Meditate on the gift that fire brings. Fire brings new life and nurtures our sprouts waiting to pop up. She is powerful!

~ COOK… some sweet treats and experiment with new recipes. Lately, I have been finding so much joy in creating in the kitchen. From playing with herbs, infusing syrups, or baking  delicious treats, I have discovered the magicalness in the art or cooking! So get out your tastebuds and craft some magic!

~ GROUND DOWN…lay on the earth and breath deep into your heart and your belly, imagine yourself rooting down feeling grounded. When the stimulation of the world gets to intense, connect with the earth! She is always here to nurture and cradle your soul. Close your eyes, or keep them open and be aware of her little blessings all around.

~ READ and get inspired from other light beamers who have journeyed in their unique way and have their messages to share.

Woman Who Run With Wolves By: Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Hygieia By Jeannine Parvarti Baker

Being Of The Sun By Alicia Bay Laurel

Anastasia By Vladimir Megre

Steering By Starlight By Martha Beck

A few of my favourite at the moment..

~ DANCE… and awaken your inner being that hibernates often, wiggle and giggle! Don’t be afraid to get wild and move through that energy in your being that needs releasing!

~ WRITE… your stories and inner intuition, creatively journal them and when need be share with other to inspire them!

I hope that these little bits of my practice finds those inspiring to expand more from within! Enjoy!

REmembering & Connecting

Imagine a school of magic weavers. Woman here to weave and reconnect our once tangible lineage. A pod of mermaids that have chosen to heal and feel together on one long riptide. I have found this school of mermaids and have just begun to sink deep into the depths this journey entails. This is called the School Of Shamanic Womancraft.

The School Of Shamanic Womancraft is a four seasons journey of remembering and reconnecting your red and white threads. My red thread, all the woman who have come before me, is powerful and one that I have been feeling for a long time. It is a deeply rooted ancestral remembering that I have just began. This journey is truly about letting go of the “cult” of the expert and reclaiming your own self responsibility. Healing the womb and the womban to come! My teacher, Jane Hardwick Collings is a magic maker and Maga mama who has done her work in order to hold space for us woman in circle.

 

As we enter each ceremony together we are learning and growing the goddess within. Imagine sitting with sisters who are all on this journey together at so many different stages in life, the maidens, the mothers, the magas, the crones. Remembering that at each of these rights of passages in a womans life has so much to learn and grow from!

I have just returned from our opening gathering all together. We entered our red tent to go within and discover the woman mysteries. The weekend was truly magic, we had so many blessings come into our middle realm. We were able to physically and spiritually practice spiritually midwifing each other. One big ceremonial meditation we had was to make a drum. This primitive creation was a medicine to rebirth ourselves.

“I chose you beautiful deer with uncertainty and unknowingness, but you are here to teach me a lesson. As I blessed your bare skin I could feel a sense of remembrance. I have been here before…as your tangled cordage kept wrapping amongst my feet. I was impatient and restless, wanting to be done and completed, ready to be born! I have been here before, forgetting to breath and doubting my outcome. Trust, remembering. May the beat of your drum sing rhythm and prayers back to this beautiful earth!”

On the day of this meditation and birth of my drum I also turned 21.

As 11.40 am came about, the drum started to beat. my heart in sync and my spirit embodied. from metal position I began to feel the time was coming. The sisters began to sing and the drum beat faster. From out of the quite void the sun appeared. As I greeted my birth and began to awaken the sisters held this sacred space and brought me to rebirth. Drum still beating I couldn’t control my energy and began to feel. “Remember your breath” Jane spoke in between the beating. I arrived, 11:40 am November 26 again 21 years later but this time held by mermaid sisters 58 mamas holding me in and remembering my birth.

Now, 21, I am learning to sit with my sensativity and be gentle.

I am so excited to continue sharing and spreading my light to you all throughout my journey this year and this lifetime!

blessed be!

 

Rhythms and Cycles

 

October 17.

Days keep flying by here on the land. It has been two weeks and I don’t know where the days have gone. I feel my chrysalis cracking open as I’m slowly emerging into a new layer of myself. Mornings are becoming lighter and lighter and I feel myself dancing with my dreams peacefully thru the night. Spring in October, such a foreign feeling.

To begin again, thats where I start. Knowing every moment becomes a memory and teaches my spirit something without even knowing. Freely feeling in my present body, such a gift I am given and blessed since birth. This feeling I had only discovered until now. As I had mistaken this journey as the “waiting game” I am coming to realize my journey is here now, I’m consciously weaving my inner web and expanding the outer. I feel and how grateful I am to feel! The dew beneath my feet and the wind as it sweeps my skin I am alive with sensation. This path that I am paving with so much uncertainty and knowing is what I live for. I dream to inspire and create a tribe with others who are on this journey of self discovery and growth for the whole, using creativity and the divine as our mantras. I dream of the days to come and to continue growing and evolving with love!