RitualCravt Journal
Love Letters From a Witch: Shadow
Shadow
If you found yourself here today, you are probably no stranger to hearing the term Shadow Work. Exploring the deep netherworld of our psyche means to acknowledge that not all is love and light in this world. For there to be a balance there must be aspects of self that are not visible for all to see. In the shadow, we can hide our wounds, our fears, and less than desirable characteristics. However, if we do not come to meet ourselves in this space we will surely meet her, him, or them in our interactions with others. Perfect mirror images will show up in our lives disguised as our competitor, enemy, nemesis, rival, etc. Until we find those parts of ourselves we deemed unworthy of being visible, we will likely keep encountering the same lesson via different circumstance over and over again. Shadow Work is not to be treaded upon lightly. Facing our bullshit can be harrowing. For our Shadow is the only worthy opponent I think deserving of our attention because it’s the only challenger that can provide true clarity and healing at a root level. For it is within the darkest parts of ourselves that we can be met with what terrorizes us most and simultaneously find our greatest strength.
In the last few weeks and in light of recent events, you have likely been visited by your Shadow. Once or twice, or perhaps they have become a permanent resident reminding you of all the things you’ve been afraid to look at. Whether it’s the resentments you have been harboring, addiction via escapism, the relationships you have outgrown, the wound or pain you’ve been avoiding, the purpose you are ignoring, or even envy you’ve been mislabeling as judgment. Without the distraction of daily life that was once routine, we are given an in-person appointment with ourselves, an opportunity to connect, and perhaps an all-out, knockdown, drag-out match with our hidden innermost self. In times of isolation, we can go mad (as in insane) with a fantasy of real or imagined hurt. We can try and escape our shadow and only find that it reappears the next time we try to do something we are told we cannot, get on a call with a colleague or friend, or even when we open our electronic devices to escape. Only to notice it standing there before you, as it hasn’t gone anywhere, no matter how far you’ve run from it. There is no way to defeat the shadow but to face it, own it, and reclaim it as an ally instead of a sworn enemy.
So while I think it is important to tend to our altars and magic during these difficult and confusing times with wishes for good health and setting our spells to ask for root healing of the poisoned structures that have been in place for so long. It is equally as important to address the healing of our shadows. We can continue to pray that humanity finds the courage within as a collective to address the wounded parts that keep us in separation and to set intentions that we report for duty to our unique divine missions. To release any distractions, or energies that deter us from our ascension. This all might feel like a big ask from the Universe. Do not be discouraged. You have a unique and special role here to fulfill. One that you can step into now.
Some ways you can begin to address and send some healing to your Shadow self are below. New ways to connect to it and embrace those fragile parts and give them some support. I hope you find comfort in them, as I found these practices very helpful during some very confusing times in my past and present life. They are not meant to be cure-alls, but tools to help you find some sincerity in your practice, and intimacy with your grievances. So you may continue to grow, evolve, and help others do the same.
Writing letters to my younger self, to let them know how very different life looks like today and sending love, healing, and support to them.
Writing out what hurts, my resentments, painful memories, or sadness on a piece of paper and then burning it and thanking them for their service.
Lighting candles to bring to light any hidden feelings, beliefs, or patterns that have been holding back or hindering me from healing or moving forward.
I also encourage you to connect with your spiritual teams or deities that you work with that help you traverse the invisible path. I work with Santa Muerte as she often has appeared to me during times of great transformational change, especially in matters of facing my Shadow. However, she is not for the faint of heart and commands a great deal of respect. Please do not call on her if you are not ready to give that to her. With that being said, there are many guides and figures throughout all pantheons that work in the realm of the shadow. I would advise seeking the one that can connect with you in the most natural way. One that will hold space for you to do the work, but also push you with compassion.
I hope you find these suggestions to be powerful tools to aid you on your journey. May all that you illuminate be exactly what you’ve been looking for. That the benefits of your practice benefit all those around you. While feeling nourished and replenished fully. From my altar to yours…
Love,
Marcella
Connect with Marcella Kroll on instagram @marcellakroll, or on her website https://www.marcellakroll.com/
Tarot Practice for Revolutionary Self-Care
Tarot Practice for Revolutionary Self-Care
By Sterling Moon
Self-care is a big deal. Without it, we burn ourselves out and are unable to nurture the things that matter in our lives. That said, most of us approach self-care in a rather indulgent way. We clear the schedule for our spiritual baths, buy ourselves that treat we’ve been coveting, and push people who are taking a little too much of our energy at arms’ length. I ain’t judging because I do the exact same thing.
I’ve been wondering lately if a lot of us need to add another approach to our self-care toolkits. One of the things I love about Aquarius season is the fresh perspective that it brings and the waning days of this sign gives us an opportunity to examine our lives, our choices, and our responsibility to show up for ourselves in a new way.
There is a lot of collective distress happening as old structures are crumbling or shifting. It’s hard to see the forest for the trees when you are in the midst of the crumbling of The Tower. As things change, we have a tremendous responsibility to live out the missions we were sent here for and that is going to require us to step up our game.
My sweet friends, I challenge you to take charge and take responsibility for the areas of your life that are not working. This is revolutionary self-care and I promise it will literally change your life. You are not to blame for wrongs that have been committed against you or the abuses you have experienced, yet the only one that can bring you true healing is you.
I grew up in a home with an abusive, alcoholic father and a loving, Aquarian mother who was doing her best to manage it all. I could have easily let anger and substance abuse rule my life and had the perfect excuse - I had a shitty, scary childhood. I went down a self-destructive path and had to course correct with loving guidance from friends, my mother, and spirit, because that was not the life I am meant to live. Taking accountability for my choices has led me to reexamine my relationship to money, body image, relationship patterns, and so many other areas...and the work will never be done. I don’t say that with exhaustion. I say it with conviction because I am here for a reason. And so are you.
Tarot Practice for Revolutionary Self-Care
In addition to your tarot deck, please have a notebook or journal and something to write with.
Preparation: Close your eyes and take a few big breaths. Envision that you are surrounded by a perfect circle of light, any color that comes to mind. Ask out loud for your guides, ancestors, and highest self to bring you guidance. Thank them in advance for their assistance.
Writing exercise: What are the things I’ve endured that are not my fault and are still impacting my life?
Tarot draw: What can support me in moving forward?
Writing exercise: What is not working in my life? What are my hardships? In what ways am I unhappy and unhealthy?
Tarot draw: What can support me in making changes?
Writing exercise: What are my strengths?
Tarot draw: Where can I put those talents and gifts to the best use?
Writing exercise: What do I want from my life? Be specific.
Tarot draw: What changes do I need to make in order to reach my goals?
Ask your guides and ancestors out loud for a message of support and guidance. Pull the number of cards that seems appropriate. Trust your intuition.
Sit with what you have learned. Revisit as necessary and, most importantly, do the work.
Connect with Sterling on instagram
or on her website at
https://www.sterlingmoontarot.com/
Plática –A Heart to Heart Conversation With a Curandera
Plática –A Heart to Heart Conversation With a Curandera
By Lisa Martinez
In Curanderismo- (the folk healing and ceremonial practices of the indigenous people of the Americas), we begin with “plática,” the confidential heart to heart conversation held between the curanderx and their client. Plática is done before every private session, ceremony or ritual. It is the time you spend sharing what is “on your heart” and why you have brought yourself to be seen by a curanderx. My intention here, is to have “plática” with community about the importance of seeing and interacting with world through our heart and learning to come into a state of alignment with our thoughts and emotions. It’s this alignment that has the potential to create positive influences of change and healing in ourselves and others.
Whether we currently identify as healers, diviners or magical practitioners of any tradition -or if we provide any type of service to community- it is usually safe to say the work first began with ourselves. Perhaps, something in our life shifted in a positive direction as a result of an experience with a healer or magical practitioner or, maybe we found ourselves returning to our roots and embracing the medicine that has always lived within us. As a result of our experience, many of us became inspired to guide or support others. We came out on the other side and we want others to have the same opportunity. Our personal “war” stories and healing experiences are the very thing that provide us the foundation to do this important work. As I was taught by my beloved elder, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes -the battle wounds turned scars are where the gifts reside. It’s what gives us the genuine ability to relate and see through a lens of experience. During our darkest days we pushed forward sometimes slowly, but always breathing the sacred wind of life onto the glowing embers. As a result, we become illuminated with light from fires we worked hard to create. Our hearts ignite and our practices and interactions with others change. Our personal practices and work serving community is not “textbook”, but instead contains our own rhythms and songs of influential energy allowing us to shine light on the path to change or healing for others.
In curanderismo and many other traditions we are often reminded; what we think and how we feel influences our reality. This lesson is as old as time out of mind! We are taught to align our thoughts and feelings when we do manifestation work. We envision ourselves obtaining, achieving or experiencing something we desire and align our emotions so that we feel “as if” our desire has already occurred. This alignment is powerful, and many can speak to its effectiveness. Modern science supports this. It has measurably proven to us that our thoughts are electric, and our emotions are magnetic. When the two align we have an electro-magnetic effect. Science calls the alignment or harmonization of our thoughts and emotions “cardiac coherence”. There are several biofeedback software applications that can provide you with visual tools to help you achieve this state of coherence-they are quite mind blowing to witness. But now we ask, “what does this have to do how we interact with others in this world”?
Everything.
When we are in a state of “cardiac coherence,” when our thoughts and emotions are in alignment that electro-magnetic wave also has the power to influence the electro-magnetic alignment of others. Same is true when we are out of alignment. We can all recall a time our thoughts and emotions were chaotic and suddenly everything around us started to go sideways. Our environment seemingly became a field of landmines, even if we never spoke a word to anyone about our current state. We might have found it difficult to be at ease doing mundane tasks, we lacked patience with family and friends and our practices supporting others in community became a source of even more frustration because we felt like everyone else was “so irritable, angry or unavailable.” The effect of these chaotic ripples continues, going outwards into the world.
What would happen if we all took the time to look within and ask ourselves, “What’s on my heart? How are the ripples of my electro-magnetic waves influencing my environment and those in it?” What if our thoughts and emotions are aligned with positive intentions? If we honestly take inventory of how far we’ve come and elevate the milestones and accomplishments, there is an opportunity to take personal experiences next level and consciously align them to the thoughts and emotions of being whole, complete, worthy, prosperous and more. When we are in this state of coherence, the ripples continue going outwards in the world...but this time the effects are different.
We can’t change our past, but we can influence our present and our future. WE have the power to influence others every single day. This isn’t about being polite and saying, “please and thank you.” This is about genuine, conscious and intentional alignment practiced daily. I will say it again- practiced. We will not do this perfectly. We aren’t supposed to. But, when we can and when we are present with another soul who is having their own life journey, our electromagnetic alignment-the energetic ripples, can and will create shifts in their heart and mind. This is one of the most important teachings I pass on to my students.
Quetzalcoatl – is the winged serpent god of the Mesoamerican pantheon. On his breastplate he wears a star shaped shell ornament-the crosscut of a conch shell like those used in ceremony to open the roads of the four sacred directions. It’s the symbol of the wind (Ehecatl)-the sacred breath of life (the very breath we ourselves blew upon the embers of our healing process) and the planet Venus- the morning star who witnesses the birth of the sun every day and a reminder of the fraternal love that we must manifest daily for humanity. Quetzalcoatl wore this breastplate over his heart as a symbol of his deep love for humanity. He teaches us “through love, all things can heal.” This can only be done when we expect nothing in return.
All we need to do, is align our thoughts and our emotions.
My hope for you is that you have all you need and more. That you be surrounded by people who honor you and that you recognize the moments of alignment and embody them as gifts to be shared.
Lisa
Connect with Lisa on instagram @itzpapalotl74 , or in person through her classes at Ritualcravt School.
Love Letters From a Witch: Lonely Path of The Priestess
Lonely Path of The Priestess
Greetings to the Land and Sky Gods!
I haven’t so much lost my way, but have found a path back to myself by consistently obliterating all the imposed limitations bestowed upon me by old narratives and family of origin wounds. I can’t tell you how to do this or what the best direction is, but when you decide to free yourself from an inherited prison life architecture there is going to be lots of pushback, resistance to the change from the world around you, and learning to rely on your inner compass. You may be met with respect, absolution, gossip, slander, love, worship, and mistrust because of this soul mission. Whatever you do, don’t give up! You are not here to change anyone else, but you can heal yourself, and that can be the gift you give the world. Being an example can inspire them to do their work, and the healing can continue.
Often that means retreating from your surroundings to get to a quiet space to process your thoughts and anything you’ve picked up from other’s projections, family, social media, community, and what have you. You have to navigate the difference between what is solitude and isolation. There is a difference. Taking space is highly necessary when you are a highly empathic, sensitive, or intuitive person. Your emotions can run the show, and your internal compass can become erratic and off if you are always navigating in other people’s energy. To get clarity, you must periodically remove yourself from other people’s energies so you don’t feel confused, or trapped by energies that are not your own. No matter how much energy clearing you do, sometimes the best thing you can do is step back, and get to higher ground, so you can proceed with a clear conscious, and not just be reacting.
We have layers and lifetimes of systemic trauma, learned behavior, assimilation for survival, archaic patriarchal structures, and genocides to process. Nowhere in the history books does there appear to be evidence of working on healing our family and societal traumas. Communities may have tried, but if there was it was destroyed, and we are back at starting from scratch. I have to be direct and honest when saying that this job, this task, this life, and privilege of healing is so painful, and quite frankly sucks. However this is the path that is mine, and some of you have chosen to walk it too. Selfishly, I don’t want to come back again to do this human thing. I believe in reincarnation, but I also believe in evolution and ascension, and my spirit wants to GTFO of this 3-dimensional existence. Being in a body is uncomfortable (for me personally), but being trapped in your mind without hope is probably the worst kind of Hell I could imagine. I still dream happy thoughts and astral travel to beautiful places. There is still hope glimmering from an unknown light source (perhaps it’s the heartbeat of Andromeda, but I digress), but the reality of these moments are fleeting. I wonder if I will ever be happy, received, appreciated, loved by a partner, have a home of my own, and an actual community in the place I reside?
This all sounds so fucking trite and depressing, right? Sorry, these are the thoughts on this plane, in the air, alone in my thoughts to travel to meet my community. The people who support me, appreciate, respect, and receive me. See how funny that is, the answer is always right there is we open our eyes to it. Eventually we full circle back. Therein lies the problem with thinking one is terminally unique. It creates separation and dissonance in the soul. When all my soul wants is to be free and express it’s purpose, which is here to help you express yours and clear out whatever is blocking you from it. So here are three cheers to another year down and the close of a decade. These are my wishes for the collective conscious for the year ahead.
May your spiritual pilot light be lit from your truth.
May you find the soul community, love, support, and connection in the here and now.
May you claim your divine birthright to exist in perfect harmony with your truth.
May the blessings of your existence enhance, inform, inspire, and elevate the world around you.
Last but not least…
May you be seen, received, valued, respected, loved, and cherished in all of the healthiest of ways by those in your circle.
AND SO IT IS!
Love,
Marcella
Connect with Marcella
@marcellakroll | https://www.marcellakroll.com/
Lessons of Loss: Tarot Spread for Grief
Lessons of Loss: Tarot Spread for Grief
By Sterling Moon
In the waning days of Scorpio season, we are confronted with lessons of Death. The 13th card in the tarot reminds us that endings are inevitable and that even the most painful lessons make room for eventual growth. We all experience grief and its source takes many forms. Literal death. Loss of love. Injury or illness. Victimization. Loss of stability. Deceit. What triggers grief matters less here than the process of how we deal with it. I’ve had more than my fair share of loss and I’ve spent close to 20 years working in a field that allows me to walk with people who have experienced immense trauma. What I have learned along the way is that when it comes to grief, the only way out is through. If we don’t actively take steps to process our experience and our emotions at a pace that works for us, it will come out sideways. In other words, if you don’t deal with grief, it will eventually deal with you.
This doesn’t mean this is some kind of race. Grief is not linear and there is no finish line. There will be days that you feel like your “old self.” There will be triggers that send you back to the moment your life changed. What I can promise you is that what you have experienced doesn’t have to define you. The only constant in life is change and you can get through this. It will take effort and a lot of support, which you may have to reach out for, but you can be happy again.
Tarot can offer immense support during your grieving process. It is definitely possible to over-read your situation, so I am offering two ways you can use your cards.
Grounding
When we are in the throes of grief and loss, we feel unmoored. Everything seems surreal and we may not feel like we are fully in our bodies. Taking five minutes to ground prior to working with your cards will allow your readings to be clearer.
Here is a simple technique that I use before every reading. Close your eyes and take two or three deep, slow breaths. Scan your body from toes to crown, allowing yourself to become still and calm. Take another 2-3 breaths, envisioning a ball of light forming in your chest. Any color that comes to your mind is perfect. Simultaneously, the light spreads down through your legs and out the soles of your feet, connecting you to the earth, while also traveling up the torso and out the crown of your head. You are rooted to the earth and connected to the heavens. Take two or three more breaths as you feel the light within you grow brighter. In your mind’s eye, draw a circle of light around your body. It arcs overhead and underneath you, creating a beautiful, crystalline bubble. Say either out loud or in your mind, “I have created a protected space where only that which is for my highest good is welcome.”
Card a day
Sometimes surviving from moment to moment is the best we can do. When you are in that space, I recommend pulling one card per day and doing the spread below once per week to start. Start with the grounding exercise above. Ask out loud for your guides, ancestors, and highest self to bring you a single card to guide you through your day. Thank them in advance for their assistance. When you feel settled, shuffle your cards and pull a card from your deck. If the card triggers a negative reaction, sit with it. Don’t discount it. This could offer a suggestion of things to avoid or an area that you need to switch your thought patterns.
Tarot Spread for Grief
This tarot spread is intended to be repeated regularly and it hits on a few common points in the grieving process. We often have difficulty having compassion for ourselves and others when we are in pain. We may experience a crisis of faith in humanity or in our spiritual beliefs. Most importantly, it can be hard to remember that what you are feeling will evolve. Your relationship with grief will change as you create a new normal.
I recommend doing this spread once per week to start. As your grief becomes less acute, perhaps you will use this once per month or simply revisit it as as triggers come up. Find what works best for you. If you are in a particularly bad space and find that your cards are reflecting back negative messages, back off for a few days and focus on nurturing yourself. You can also ask a trusted person to pull the cards for you and you can interpret them together.
Ground yourself and ask out loud for your guides, ancestors, and highest self to bring you guidance. Thank them for their help. When you feel settled, shuffle your cards.
Card 1: Where can I show myself more grace?
Card 2: Where can I show grace to others?
Card 3: How can I get through the week, month, etc in the best way possible?
Card 4: How can I strengthen my faith?
Card 5: How can I best survive, and even thrive, during this phase?
Regardless of your circumstances, I send you love on your journey.
https://www.sterlingmoontarot.com/ | @sterlingmoontarot
Love Letters From a Witch: Love Yourself
Love Yourself
The longer I’m sober, the crazier I feel. I didn’t do it to be on a cleanse, nor did I want to do it for a short time. It had to be a permanent life change. I was dying, my relationships were radical projections of what was happening internally (not cute), and my magic was going haywire. Literally haywire spells gone awry and just plain old destructive. The desire to evaporate was coming up again. A superpower I wish I could possess. To just evaporate at will into the ethers and reappear when it felt safe again. Needless to say, that ability still has yet to come into my possession, but I digress. Something I have learned this year is that you do have a hand in your reality. Not in a New Thought I have the power to manifest whatever I want kind of way, but in a more practical matter of fact I must make some decisions way. You see it came to my attention that while most people have the problem of not believing in a higher power or something greater than themselves. My dilemma appears to be the opposite. All too often I let my version of Spirit take the wheel and I oblige to whatever direction the wind takes me in. This has in some way been a powerful act of faith, but more recently has turned into a passive way of not taking responsibility for my life. Which then suddenly brought to my attention another factor I had not taken into consideration. What if this whole time I have been making decisions purely based on survival and not at all rooted in what I wanted? How would I proceed if I participated in my life, instead of letting the wave of life take me? This would mean that I would have to commit to learning to make decisions as though I was a person who loved myself. Even if I didn’t know what that meant. This was to be the new next right action.
Now, this might make you wonder “Well yeah, shouldn’t you know that already?”, and trust me at 42 years old I thought “Duh, isn’t this what you tell your friends and clients?”. However, until this moment smacked between 2 eclipses and 5 planets retrograde did it make sense. Sometimes we aren’t ready until we are ready. Another thing I am currently realizing. Comprehension, compassion, and understanding do not just get gifted to you overnight because you decide you want them in your life. It can take years of engaging, interaction, and human experience for these things to come into existence, especially all at once. However, once I did decide to start making decisions based on loving myself something pretty profound started to happen. I stopped saying yes to things I wanted to say no to. I started giving myself more time in the morning before immediately picking up the phone or computer to respond to someone else’s needs before making sure I felt grounded. I got a new sponsor and shifted my meetings to better prioritize my recovery. I left work situations that didn’t feel like a fair exchange. In doing so certain relationships started to fade. Not in a dramatic, blowing up or burning the bridge way, but more respectfully and gracefully. As the late great Nina Simone would say, “You've got to learn to leave the table when love's no longer being served”.
Now it might seem like, I’m saying no a lot to things I had been asking for, and on some level, I am saying no. However it’s the opposite in a lot of ways. In letting go of these situations that were not benefiting all involved, I made quite a bit of room. Room for other relationships to develop that were better suited. Breathing space for my creative muse and personal magic to be inspired and flourish into new possibilities. Allowance for my life to grow into new spaces. It’s scary to think about growing. It only feels like I just got here, an actual place I can be proud of. Then suddenly it’s time to shift again. Magic and being the captain of your ship is a bit nerve-wracking like that. To find the balance we must become participants in our lives and have a belief that something greater than ourselves is assisting us along the way. Which is terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. You don’t have to believe in a romanticized or terrifying God, but I encourage you to explore what a higher power looks like. The Universe and the Stars have often been whom I turn to in times of gratitude and duress. More often then not my version of being supported by something bigger than my human understanding is shapeshifting. It speaks to me through song, through art, another’s words, a stranger, nature, and the constant shifting and changing world around me. We can all agree that it’s a weird time to be alive. So why not make it a world that you can believe in. I need my version of life to be just as flexible as my ability to grow and evolve with the dynamic shifts that are happening to humanity and the world around us. To keep going I need to believe that we are all capable of evolution. Evolve or evaporate as they say. If I have learned anything in this very short but long existence I can truly say that I am no longer closed to the idea of people changing. You may not be able to change the world around you, but you can change your narrative. The dialogue that poisons you can be turned to medicine if you give yourself a chance. Trust me, I never knew I had one because I didn’t come from a place that told me I could be loved, loving, and make a difference. I hope to work on believing that latter one while I reside in this physical body. But if I can get to a place of believing the first two, I’ve got a good start. As do you. So if you are here and you are reading this, I hope you too can come to a place where if you haven’t made decisions because you loved yourself that you can start. It might not change the world overnight, but it will change things, that I promise you, and that is the best gift you can give to your heart and loved ones right now.
With love and respect,
Marcella
The Lion’s Roar: A Tarot Spread for Strength
The Lion’s Roar:
A Tarot Spread for Strength
By Sterling Moon
Late summer is when many of us get our proverbial poop in a group. August, at least in the West, brings hot days, but also the first hints that Fall is just around the corner. Our gardens are at peak production, but some of the leaves and flowers are showing the first signs of withering. There’s a contrast between sunshine and abundance and knowing that it’s time to start thinking about preserving food for the colder months or going back to school or just how rad it is that Halloween is a couple of months away.
This August carries extra heaviness and it has taken me awhile to put my finger on why. I had a reading with the amazing Karyn Crisis a couple of weeks ago and I told her about the deep anxiety I had been feeling lately. Sometimes the problems of the world feel so huge that I almost can't stand it, which was then leading to almost paralyzing worry in my daily life. She reminded me that often we feel things that are happening collectively and that if I was feeling this way, maybe I wasn’t alone. I began to notice that almost everyone I knew was confronting something that they feared in addition to being petrified by what is occurring in the United States and globally. This got me thinking about two things. The first was the concept of infinite energy. Energy cannot be created or destroyed and the ripple effects of our actions, thoughts, and words live on, potentially forever. I was also reminded of something a good friend always tells me: “What you focus on expands.” We are living in exceedingly trying times and it feels like we are at a tipping point. Our choices are creating consequences that will be felt beyond our lifetime. We also need to own that when we succumb to negativity we can unintentionally “call in” more to fear. Left unchecked, we run the risk of perpetuating what feels like a neverending downward spiral.
I believe it is time to call in the message of the tarot card Strength. Below you will find a tarot spread designed to help you find areas that you can build your strength and consider the infinite energy you are contributing to the world. Strength is ruled by Leo, so it does have a bit of grandiosity and dramatic flair, as shown in the classic Smith-Rider-Waite image of the maiden gently closing the jaws of the lion. More importantly, the Strength card carries a quiet bravery and a willingness to confront danger with a spine of steel and gentle hands. I had planned on creating a tarot spread for the Leo season that was frivolous and fun, but this is not the year for that. I hope you will find this tarot spread helpful. I hope it will call you out in a loving way. I hope it will help you identify ways to step into your own strength and power and tap into the fierce, majestic lion that I know you are!
A Tarot Spread for Strength
Preparation: If you would like, you can take the Strength card out of your deck and use it as a significator, which is just a fancy word for a card that is consciously chosen to anchor your intention for your tarot reading. Close your eyes and take a few big breaths. Envision that you are surrounded by a perfect circle of light, any color that comes to mind. Visualize the lemniscate or infinity symbol. Ask out loud for your guides, ancestors, and highest self to bring you guidance. Thank them in advance for their assistance. When you feel settled, shuffle your cards and begin.
Card 1: Where is my strength being tested?
Card 2: Where in my life do I need to step up to the challenges?
Card 3: Where am I expending unnecessary energy?
Card 4: Where am I at a tipping point of choosing how I use or where I put my energy?
Card 5: Where can my strengths shine?
Card 6: Where is the best focal point for my energy?
Card 7: Where do I need to build strength?
Card 8: At this point in time, what is the infinite energy I am contributing to the world and my own lineage?
Pro tip: If any of the cards trigger a negative reaction, sit with it. Don’t discount it. This could offer an opportunity to search for the proverbial silver lining or it could even offer a suggestion of things to avoid or an area that you need to switch your thought patterns.
https://www.sterlingmoontarot.com|@sterlingmoontarot
Love Letters from a Witch: Mentor Breakups
Mentor Breakups
I don’t call myself a Bruja anymore because I’m not of Latin descent. While I have deep ancestral cords that tie me to wisdom beyond my comprehension or within the environment I grew up in. I am apprehensive to fully embrace and reclaim my spiritual origins for fear of ridicule (both real and imagined). For the last 11 years, I have filed my taxes as a Spiritual Counselor. I call myself a Witch and unapologetically take up space with that title. I’m not Wiccan or a devotee of any single Deity. I am an omnipresent non-denominational Priestess. Which means I practice magic, give one on one psychic, spiritual, creative, and life advice. I perform ceremonies, public ritual, teach classes, meditations, and create tools of empowerment. I purposely do not identify with one religious denomination anymore because I need to be available to all people who don’t necessarily feel connected to one thing or another. It’s also part of my own healing of being multiracial and not having a set place of practices or things I can claim because of it. I exist in the liminal for others who do so too. For those who do not know where to go or whom to talk to? I’m not a fashion witch or necessarily the popular one, because I don’t have time, or the agent, or PR team to create a brand or persona. I am not friendly or warm upon meeting. I’m high functioning on the Autism Spectrum (something I’ve only recently been ok with sharing after years of masking, humiliation, and misdiagnoses). I’m just myself. Annoying or off-putting to some. Inspiring or resilient to others. Either way, whatever you think of me is none of my business. But here we are. So in full transparency, I write to you today, about a part of my path that is not mystical but is truly the foundation of my magic, and what I think a lot of us in this community are experiencing. Especially over the last few years. So here it is.
I don’t affiliate myself anymore with certain teachings or teachers specifically because they were problematic, they borrowed (and in some cases co-opted or stole), and were never really vetted by the people who they claim taught them in the first place. I used to revere these beings without question. With a fierce loyalty because I was raised to fear the authority if you want to survive. Only in the last few years have I come to understand how certain things didn’t fully sit right. Not because of someone else’s questioning my own ethics by association, but because how could someone who helped me so much, be so problematic. I do want to take this moment to apologize for the harm I may have perpetuated in the search and struggle with my own identity. I am sincerely sorry for not having wide enough lenses to see beyond my own survival and experience. Only realizing now that none of these bloodlines can excuse me from pain others have endured. However, they can arm me with the strength to do better. I walk with generations of warriors and wisdom keepers behind me. I also share lines of origin with criminals and abusers of power. I no longer hold shame for these truths and not understanding them completely. It’s taken many years, unpacking, uncovering, unearthing secrets, pain, and truth. This is not for the faint of heart! There is a reason why growth is called growth.
We live in important times of acknowledgment, reparations, truth talk, and reclamation. It is now more than ever a time to go back to our magical roots. To uphold the integrity of what we are doing, and truly clear the karmic channel. If we are going to be better, we have to do better. No one has access to all information at all times. But once one does, it then becomes your responsibility to uphold integrity. It is now my responsibility to see where the pain exists and amend it, for myself and others without perpetuating shame culture. This isn’t about canceling people and perpetuating persecution. It’s also not about bypassing the bigger issue. This is about accountability. Making new vows and commitments to true healing on a collective scale. So I offer you this exercise in understanding your part, and what responsibility looks like. I invite you to clear the channel and begin anew. To amend any past action in your lifetime and in your ancestral lines, and start the action of moving towards greater awareness, consciousness, and healing. While it is true we cannot change the past we can certainly course correct the present, allowing the option of a better future.
On either a Saturday or a New Moon, begin with quiet contemplation in a space (indoors or outdoors) where you will not be disturbed. Spend a few moments in long deep breath connecting to your physical body and your presence on this earth. Thank the earth for holding you in support at this time. You may wish to call on your ancestors to hold space for you at this time, as this healing is for them as well. You may wish to just be with the elements. When you are ready, place your hands together with palms up, in the gesture of giving a gift outward from the body.
Then recite the following:
I now clear and release any cords, hooks, vows, or attachments to any teacher, teachings, tools or wisdom throughout the ages that have been stolen, appropriated, or co-opted for the benefit of myself (presently or ancestrally) at the suppression of another. I now give back what was never mine to carry, employ, or gain from. And so it is!
Now take your hands and place them over your heart. Then recite the following:
I am a clear channel for positive, nourishing, and revitalizing sacred practices that are authentic, ethical, and in alignment for my spiritual work and legacy. I honor the gifts of working with my soul’s truth. And so it is!
Now take your hands down by your side, with palms facing down towards the Earth. Then recite the following:
I acknowledge, amend, and course correct as needed with Harm to None. And so it is!
To close the work acknowledge those that have come, gone, educated, and held space for you during this process of learning, and amending. Then recite:
It is done, it is done, it is done!
While this may be the end of the suggested ritual, it is just the beginning of a new way of being. One that will change your life and path perhaps in ways that make it unrecognizable. Let this be the greatest gift of all. The one where we get to make a difference as individuals, but for the collective healing of all beings.
With love always,
Marcella
Love Note to Taurus Tarot Spread
A Love Note To Taurus:
Tarot Spread to Exalt the Season of the Bull
By Sterling Moon
I love Taurus season. In Colorado, we start having our first 60+ degree days in late April and even warmer into May. We still usually have a random snowstorm or two, but the sweet budding flowers look all the prettier covered with a light dusting of snow. The air smells good, our senses wake up, and we can sink our bare toes into the earth for the first time in months. Life feels good, baby, good!
I love Tauruses. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to be loved by a Taurus, you know the high points. They love to give gifts. They are delightful to share a meal with. They will literally want to share so you both can try a little of everything...at least they will want to share until they find their favorites on the table. Then it is theirs, but they may order another round for you. They delight in anything that pleases the senses. Fuzzy blankets and cozy sweaters. Art and music that pulls at the heart and turns the stomach. Back rubs, kisses, and well, you know. Tauruses are grounded and patient. They often have the funniest feet with squarish toes. Once they decide to love you, their loyalty can be lifelong.
Taurus is far from perfect. They can be infuriatingly stubborn. Never tell a Taurus to hurry up. Their delight in the material can lead them to forget that the most important things in life are not things. They can overspend. They can be unfaithful lovers, but not see themselves as such.
That said, we all can find ways to indulge and root down during Taurus season. May you find ways to ground and celebrate the sensual aspects of your life!
Tarot Spread to Exalt the Season of the Bull
Preparation: Close your eyes and take a few big breaths. Envision that you are surrounded by a perfect circle of light, any color that comes to mind. Visualize the astrological symbol for Taurus. Ask out loud for your guides, ancestors, and highest self to bring you guidance. Thank them in advance for their assistance. When you feel settled, shuffle your cards and begin.
Card 1: How can you best indulge your senses right now?
Card 2: Where do you need to dig in your heels & be a bit more stubborn?
Card 3: Where do you need to slow down?
Card 4: How can you best take care of your physical body?
Card 5: Where do you need a bit more patience?
Card 6: How can you best exalt the season of the Bull?
Pro tip: If any of the cards trigger a negative reaction, sit with it. Don’t discount it. This could offer an opportunity to search for the proverbial silver lining or it could even offer a suggestion of things to avoid or an area that you need to switch your thought patterns.
https://www.sterlingmoontarot.com|@sterlingmoontarot
Love Letters From A Witch: Be Your Own Parent
Be Your Own Parent
I was born in a small city, in a small state, in a very small corner of the northeastern part of the United States. It’s not by chance I was birthed on the threshold of winter to spring but by my soul’s very deliberate attempt to find the most physically descriptive foretelling of my adolescence into adulthood personality. To survive meant to be invisible and larger than the beasts in front of you at the same time. What does it mean to be seen and not heard? How can one be so deliberately (yet silently) so loud? To take up space without making a peep until you get pushed too far or are so wounded, you scream or lash out because no one taught you healthy boundaries, or how to communicate what you actually need. So you go off and you figure out how to get what you have to, to survive. You mask your discomfort with bravado and breathe in so deeply, that you suck back the tears into the recesses of your vision. Sometimes one may slip out and you say, “Oh I’m fine, just got something in my eye”.
The idea of death fascinated me as a kid. Often times I made up elaborate stories of how I would die, and what my funeral would be like. I would act them out with my Strawberry Shortcake dolls the way I would see them depicted in the daytime soap operas I would watch with my Grandmother. If any adult actually knew how much I pondered these things they for sure would have had me committed to a mental facility. I also fantasized about that too. It would have probably been more peaceful than my home environment. My Mother’s abuse was constant. From an early age, I got accustomed to leaving my body. It became a necessary mental health escape tactic. So how do you ever get over this kind of trauma? Years of facing and unpacking it helps. As I get older and through the layers, it begins to get further away, but those dark thoughts seem to creep in occasionally. It never occurred to me that you change your lot in life. Even though I had taken many leaps of faith and by chance, truly believed in magic, and made choices that definitely saved my life. The concept of making your experience in this body different didn’t really sink in till around 36 years old. I’m 42 now.
It’s also important for you to know that I no longer view myself as a victim. It doesn’t mean that I’m not hurt by my Mother or other abusers behavior. I just understand their circumstance more now and have a bigger picture. As a woman who now knows her empath abilities, I can now see how that 8-year-old girl took on the pain and confusion of everyone around her and owned it as her own (especially her Mother’s). That the pain and desire to not be there or exist was a deeply empathic mirror of her own Mother’s harsh reality of not wanting to be in this earthly body.
Can I ever find a way to forgive her or anyone else that has hurt me, completely? Maybe someday, anything is possible. Selfishly I hope so because the resentment is a heavy burden to carry, and it certainly doesn’t move me to greatness holding onto it. It anchors me to an outdated belief in my existence. It blocks my magic and limits my resources, ie; my connection to spirit. Until then I choose to work on it. Asking for peace, forgiveness, and help with healing and filling this giant hole in my heart. I invite in Magic to intervene and hold space for me, or at least grant me the wisdom to not put garbage expectations or low vibe relationships in it to fill the serendipitous void or replay the scenario with different people playing the part.
So many healers I know, have had to fine-tune their senses to survival mode. Whether they grew up in feral environments, had traumatic experiences, or just felt challenged by the day to day task of shutting down how incredibly aware they were of the weight of the world around them. Some have developed wonderful personas that will fight to the death for others, to keep them in front of the pack, while the little being inside just wants to be told it’s going to be ok, and that they can relax and are supported. They will use carefully crafted words and well-branded dispositions that show you how to show up for yourself. Meanwhile, another feeling is bubbling up under the strong facade. I think a lot of magical people walk this contradiction. We have had to in order to survive.
So if you didn’t get the ideal relationship with your parents or guardians, or life isn’t exactly as you imagined it to be. I highly recommend learning how to reparent yourself. Doing so empowers you by taking charge of how you care for you and how you would like to be cared for. You have the ability to change your perspective. You have the ability to show the world how you should be treated. It may feel unlikely, but I promise it is possible. It won’t be overnight but it will and can change your life. Get help with this process if you are to embark on it. Connection and communication are key tools on this journey. Mother yourself by allowing self-care and proper nourishment of body, mind, and spirit. Father yourself by allowing yourself to receive the gifts of love and spirit to come to you with grace. Protect your inner child and give them words of comfort, encouragement, and support daily. Stop the shaming process of wanting to be fixed or healed already. These things take time, and the process requires patience. There is no spell to erase these wounds from your memory. It is my wish that if you are reading this, and it resonates with you, that you find more love, more balance, more harmony, and an all-access pass to love without limits. It can be challenging but you are supported. Also If I can do it, so can you!
Love,
Marcella
Marcella Kroll
instagram @marcellakroll
https://www.marcellakroll.com/
Love Letters From A Witch: Be Your Own Witch
Be Your Own Witch
Finding a way through darkness can often feel like you are being swallowed from the inside out. The desperate relief you seek can feel unobtainable when everything you reach for that’s promising to fix you has no effect on your grief or discomfort. Which can often make one feel like they have been abandoned on the threshold of life. I cannot tell you how to live a life without pain. Or how to formulate a ritual that can erase your human nature. However, I can share that Magic in all its forms has been my ally, best friend, and constant companion. No matter how I felt, or who was around. Magic and my practice have never abandoned me, which in turn has shown me even at the lowest of times, how to not abandon myself.
Practicing Magic and being a Witch is something that I used to be scoffed at for. To live in an age to see it so widely embraced is something I’ve dreamed of but I am also frightened by. It was only 10 years ago that I was being screamed at and trolled for setting up in cafes and flea markets for reading tarot cards. Not that long ago that I was called a fucking freak or being jeered at by a group of punks chanting “Burn her, Burn her”. It’s still very real for me when even friends express discomfort with my knowledge of things, or how dating has been an extra surreal experience when your romantic interest is frightened by your kinetic nature. So to see it widely commodified or wanted to be summoned into one’s life so deliberately, I often ask “Why would you want this?’, but then I remember. I remember how magic brought me back to life again and again. How being a Witch empowered me to face all the parts of myself that I was most afraid of. It reconnected me to the spirit living in all things and rooted me back into believing that anything is possible. It gave me faith and hope that no matter what awful ache or loneliness I felt, it would always be there.
You may come to your path by way of your pain, seeking love, wanting community, or looking for a miracle. The reasons may vary and no one can tell you (in my opinion) what is the right approach. My only suggestion would be, to be honest with your intentions. To do it for you and not for the approval of others, on the internet or in real life. Show respect for the energies, tools, and elders who shared the wisdom before you. If not I can promise it will be mirrored back to you, in some way or another. Working with Magic is an exchange and a promise. A life worth living for an honest heart and reverence for all that resides to support you. It will reward you greatly if you are forthcoming. Be forewarned however it will quickly put your ass in check if you don’t respect or honor the exchange of what you are summoning into your life. Also be careful what you wish for. Magic will certainly deliver it. While you may be able to conjure love, money, wisdom, beauty, and vision remember the exchange of your dedication, respect, service, and energy to be met. True magic is not a one sided or selfish practice. It is one of honest appraisal of one’s own heart and life. So here you see the importance of authenticity and finding your own expression within the cosmic interconnectedness of it all, and why it’s so very important during these evolutionary times to Be Your Own Witch.
- Marcella Kroll
instagram @marcellakroll
https://www.marcellakroll.com/
Onward & Upward: A Tarot Spread for the Coming Year
Onward & Upward: A Tarot Spread for the Coming Year
By Sterling Moon
I think most of us can agree that 2018 was a doozy and many of us are hoping that the new year will usher in much needed hope and freshness. Every January I do an extended tarot reading for myself to see what I can divine for the coming year. One year ago, I came up with my own “New Year’s Spread,” which can be used at the beginning of the coming year, birthdays, or any time the rug has been pulled out from under your feet and you need some help figuring out what your new normal will look like.
Now, while I often feel like I have one foot in some ethereal astral plane and one in the human world, I am actually a pretty skeptical person when it comes to the divine and magickal. I always tell my clients that free will is more powerful than pretty pictures on pieces of paper, which from a cold and practical stance, is essentially what tarot cards are. As such, I have always given my own year ahead spreads a bit of a side eye because I generally believe that if we don’t like what is presented to us in the cards, we have the opportunity to change the course. Although some things are always going to be out of our control, such as other people’s choices, global and political circumstances, and phenomena in the natural world, we can choose how we react to even to the hardest of situations. I started 2018 by testing out my own New Year’s Spread, videoing the whole thing and reading it out loud like I would for a client. I went back and watched it about 5 times over the course of the year and it was spot on. My initial interpretations matured over time, with some cards having a different context than I originally anticipated, but it was eerily accurate. It foretold significant life changes, betrayal, growth in several specific areas of my life, and shifting priorities based on the needs of my family.
So, as a gift from my skeptical and mystical heart, I offer you the following opportunity to see what the coming year may have in store. I have tried to break it down so even those of you who are new to tarot can find it accessible. I recommend that you record your reading or take detailed notes. If any of the cards trigger confusing or negative feelings, sit with them. Write them down or make a note of them in your recording. Remember that the whole thing won’t make sense on Day 1. Revisit your reading a few times over the course of the year, with your final review one year from now. May it bring some light to the shadows, babies.
https://www.sterlingmoontarot.com|
Preparation: Close your eyes and take a few big breaths. Envision that you are surrounded by a perfect circle of light, any color that comes to mind. Ask out loud for your guides, ancestors, and highest self to assist you in identifying any information that may help you in the coming year. Thank them in advance for their assistance. When you feel settled, shuffle your cards and begin.
Cards 1-3: What 2018 brought into your life - You can read these as a cluster that tell a story or as individual components that likely represent the beginning, middle, and end of the year.
Card 4: Dominant lesson of 2018
Card 5: Health and wealth - This will provide a message about opportunities and challenges to how you make money and/or how you take care of your physical body.
Card 6: Ideas, conflict, communication - This will provide a message about opportunities and challenges to how you learn and ideas and “Aha!” moments you may have. It may also offer lessons about how you perceive and engage in conflict.
Card 7: Passions and ambition - This will provide a message about opportunities and challenges to what drives and motivates you. May also contain messages about your creative ambitions.
Card 8: Relationships and emotions - This will provide a message about opportunities and challenges to how you relate to others, how others may treat you, and your emotional landscape.
Cards 9-11: Themes for 2019 - Interpret each card on its own. They may tell a story by the time the year is over!
Card 12: The springboard to get you started in the best way possible - This is your final card meant to give you an immediate push. Remember - if it is a card that triggers a negative reaction, this could offer an opportunity to search for the proverbial silver lining or it could even offer a warning of things to avoid.
Love Letters From a Witch: Winter Witching
Winter Witching
Going inward or going underground to nourish the body, mind, and spirit is as necessary for productivity as it is feared. In this day and age the obsession with doing, doing, doing, and FOMO (fear of missing out) is silently killing our magic. Incubation, hibernation, sleep, and gestation, is not only a requirement for our well-being and the replenishment of our brain and physical body. It is an important and required way of engaging our creativity, emotions and recharging our magic. I encourage you to let your dreams and visions have time for rest. To integrate wisdom and living in the present moment with what is just right in front of you. Do not confuse this with giving up on your goals or being lazy. See it more like a moment to let things breathe. To create space that better cradles and supports being in the now. Just like an expectant mother will take in the nutrients needed and protective care for her soon to be born child, you must do the same for your manifestations and magic. While setting intentions and manifesting your desires are all the new age range, and can get you feeling like the energy is moving. The Wise Witch knows you don’t just dream up a big idea, sprinkle fairy dust on it, then call it a day. Intuition can summon forth an idea or project to be mused upon. Especially when it’s a monumental one meant to help on a larger scale. Whispers of inspiration begin to water and feed the dream with suggestions of activities that support the success of a vision. However, we must go back into the darkness, the void, the quiet to let it form as it should, if at all. When I feel a nudge of an idea, it also feels just as important to give it time and protective space to grow, evolve, and morph into its true form. Too many times I have rushed into action. Telling anyone and everyone what I was up to before the idea even fully came into being. This kind of enthusiasm can fuel us but can be short-lived. As sharing your dreams too early can rob them of their chance to be better than you could have imagined. This doesn’t mean you cannot share your vision, just be mindful with whom and what you are sharing it with. Inviting only supportive ears and supportive energy to keep the momentum until you feel confident with accepting full responsibility for manifesting your wishes. If you have any hesitation, lack of faith, or fear it will also hear you. When these things hear you they let you know by reflecting doubt, fear, scarcity, and downright non-constructive criticism back. The act of deliberate stillness can fortify you. It can allow you to get clear about what is actually needed and available to foster the manifestation of clear intentions. It can also sweep away the static or distractions that have nothing to do with what you are creating but somehow ended up in the same room with them. With the quiet, you can be heard loudly by your guides, ancestors, and spirit. Ever notice how we often we ask “around” the topic of what we want? Inviting in crumbs because the idea of the whole loaf feels, “too big”. The best thing about the quiet is losing our inhibitions to our expression. We can be honest and state what it is exactly what we want and desire, unedited, without worry about it being wrong. There is space to work it out, to edit, to rewrite, and revise until it feels just right to reveal. We can get strong by regenerating in the peace without the noise of other people’s wishes for us. Which are often wishes for themselves? These winter months can be a wonderful time to go back to things we left unfinished, or perhaps abandoned because the busy life called us to fulfill an easier to reach a dream. It’s a time to slow down, and notice the details that need to be tidied up, the contacts list cleaned up, the energetic and psychic drawers sorted, while enjoying visitations of familiar spaces and places you once haunted to gather your thoughts. It is also a great time to peacefully come back to your own practice. To honor what you got here in the first place. By doing so you can energetically inventory what you are finishing up, and leaving behind, so you may move into the beginning of the New Year with no unfinished business. This is the grace of the quiet. The place to clear the decks and begin laying the foundation of a new era. It’s a beautiful time to honor darkness because here is where the light and flame is born within, ready to radiate out and set forth in a new direction. May you enjoy this peace. May you feel the grace within you in the quiet. May all your visions receive all that they require to grow, thrive, and be made manifest out of the dark and birthed fully into the light of your life.
-Marcella Kroll
instagram @marcellakroll
https://www.marcellakroll.com/
Conquering Your World with the Younger Futhork
The world can be harsh place, difficult to live in and nearly impossible to navigate your way to a life that makes sense. Despite the many reports that tell us we live in one of the most peaceful and prosperous times in human history, life is still harsh.
We also know the importance of having a spiritual connection that can help bring meaning a purpose to our existence. Yet, many of the spiritual paths today leave us unfulfilled because of the constant preaching of peace, love and light that simply do not work.
We know that life can be hard, and to get shit done, you want to kick some ass and make it happen. Sitting quietly, meditating on gratitude and peace feels nice, but just doesn’t work.
Finding Your Strength from Arcane Wisdom
For the ancient rune masters, survival meant enduring some of the harshest conditions. The runes they used reflected those conditions and what it took to survive them. Their wisdom and strength live on in the Younger Futhork runes.
Embedded in these mysteries are the secrets we can tap into to give us the strength and power we need to endure the conditions of life, today. Not to make the world a better place; not to calm everyone down and be complacent.
Rather, they can give you the strength you need to endure the toil, to rise above it, and make the world your place – rather than settling for a place made for you by someone else.
Tapping into these Secrets
If you are ready to tap into the secrets of the Younger Futhork, I recommend you start with the Old Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems, as translated by Bruce Dickins.
You can find them here - https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Rune_poems
Pull out a blank piece of paper, and with an open mind, scribe the shapes of the runes. As you draw each rune, contemplate the message of each stanza from the poems. What do these words mean to you, in your life and in your world today?
Don’t think of this as an exercise to build your divination skills. These runes are a tool for you to access different strengths you hold within that are uniquely suited to help face your daily challenges, and conquer them.
Look at the runes in this way – they are the connections between the subtle parts of your consciousness and the subtle layers of reality that shape the life you lead. When you connect to the runes, on this level, you now have powerful ways to insert your Will and intentions into the very fibers of existence.
Putting Them to Use
For example, take the first rune, Fe. The poems tell us that wealth is a source of discord. We must also know that the word Fe is the origin of our English word, Fee. It is also the first rune of the set, inviting us to engage with the opportunity before us.
In this way, Fe can be the rune of investing time, effort and energy into a project or new beginnings. Looking at it this way, you are invited to ask yourself, what are you willing to pay and endure in order to make things happen? Knowing that what you want will not come for free.
Do the same for the next rune, Ur – as it is the ruiner of the harvest and a constant drizzle, what is it that can go wrong. What is it that can drown your best laid plans. Know, knowing that, what can you do to prepare so that doesn’t happen, knowing that it could? How can you best prepare for the worst, so that it doesn’t happen, or to mitigate the damage done?
Each of the runes presents you with these opportunities to face the harsh realities of the world before you, as well as mustering the strength and wisdom to overcome them.
Thus, the Younger Futhork runes become powerful tools for facing the harsh realities of life, finding the strength to hold your ground and gaining the power to push forward against all opposition.
Going Deeper, Gaining More
If you are ready to discover more, join us, at RitualCravt, Saturday August 11th at 5pm to delve deeper into the mysteries of the Younger Futhork and unlock their secrets for conquering your world.
Author: Kaedrich Olsen author of Runes for Transformation and founder of GaldraKraft, has been an ardent student of Old Norse literature, runes and mysticism for 30 years. Building upon the wisdom from the Viking rune masters, he has developed practical techniques for transforming one’s life. The people he helps learn to connect with and become the embodiment of their own higher being. In doing so, they surmount the blocks which have prevented them from achieving their ideal lives and become the creators of their own greatest reality.
Become the Sacred King
Can there be a seat of power that is not corrupt and despicable? Is it possible for you to rise the pinnacle of power, in your life, and not lose yourself?
What if it is possible to rule over the realm of your life, in a wise and powerful way that is beneficial to everyone in your life?
Sitting high atop the hierarchy of archetypal expression of the sacred masculine, we find the King. As a wise and powerful expression of the divine masculine, the King knows how to best make use of all of the sacred archetypes of masculinity.
Ordeal of the King
This is not as easy as it might sound. Connecting with the King means you learn to take full, honest stock of your own strengths and weaknesses. This includes learning how to reach out and ask for help, or delegate tasks to the appropriate source of help. It also means a willingness to buttress and fortify the weaknesses of those you hold dear, with your own strengths.
The King, much like Mercury, is the intermediary between the divine and the mundane. Connecting with your own inner King archetype gives you divine authority over your own domain in this world and in your life. And, more importantly, it gives you
permission to have your own domain.
Finding Your Values to Become the King
But first you need to take the time for introspection to contemplate what your values in life are, what ideals you hold dear, and establish an ethical code.
This may not come all at once, but as you learn how to engage this divine aspect of your being, and start to embody your own understanding of the King archetype, this code for living your life will become more apparent. This is where the Warrior aspect comes in, as it will give you the strength and power to act, honorably, upon this code.
Step Into Your Sacred Power
Join us, Sunday July 8th at RitualCravt, to learn how to step forward into the world with leadership, claim the domain of your life with wisdom and power, in order to become the divine authority to rule your own realm of life.
Author: Kaedrich Olsen author of Runes for Transformation and founder of GaldraKraft, has been an ardent student of Old Norse literature, runes and mysticism for 30 years. Building upon the wisdom from the Viking rune masters, he has developed practical techniques for transforming one’s life. The people he helps learn to connect with and become the embodiment of their own higher being. In doing so, they surmount the blocks which have prevented them from achieving their ideal lives and become the creators of their own greatest reality.
Fairy Tales are for Witches
Image- 'Tree of Life' by artist: Kako Ueda
Within our culture of information, it is hard to find secrets anymore. We share our daily lives and intimate details in public forums. If we want to learn how to do something, we can find a video for it. The world of secret knowledge is dissipating. But there are still secrets to be found in plain sight if you know how to look for them. Fairy tales hold some of our most secret teachings from a time we can’t easily access because they were created before there was written language, before the printing press, before the internet. These oral tales, passed down generation to generation, imbued the wisdom of our great, great, great, great, great grandmothers and grandfathers. Fairy tales are our bones, a skeletal system that is ancient and eternal, holding up the ideas about how the human psyche develops. Their themes span across literature, time, and culture, providing a guide to the universality of the human condition. Reading the tales for their individual symbolism leads us down rivers of blood, flowing through generation after generation. Some of these paths lead to the heart of it all, and some to small capillaries that reveal our own dead ends. It is in these stories that tales of human individuation are encoded if we learn to follow the signs.
As we first approach the fairy tale, it is best experienced the way our ancestors experienced it, orally and in a group setting. In Fairytale Circle, held each month at Ritualcravt School, we gather within this ancient circle and read aloud the tale, listening together to uncover its hidden mysteries. Parts of the tale surprise us, a mismatch to our expectations of what we thought the story told. Parts of the tale are as familiar as the color of our eyes, bringing back memories and feelings of nostalgia we long ago tucked away in our childhood - or calling to our ancestral memory. The first question we ask as we read the beginning of the fairy tale is what is incomplete, what is missing? This will give us clues as to what direction the tale might take in order to bring about resolution. Working with fairy tales asks us to look inside at what is incomplete in our lives and what cries out to be transformed. It tells us that we are not alone on this path and that generations before us have struggled with the very same things. It is memory held within our soul.
But fairy tales are not for the faint-hearted, and the fairy tale journey can be a long and arduous one. They deal with our most basic instincts and drives, those unconscious forces that lead us to behave in ways we don’t understand. Fairy tales are full of appetite, sex, and violence. Sometimes they are obvious, and sometimes they are in disguise, hidden in the imagery of the tale. Most of the tales illuminate childhood trauma, dismemberment, the devouring mother archetype, and death. For example, in the tale “The Girl Without Hands”, the heroine lays down both of her hands and lets them be cut off by her father to protect him from the Devil. In “Hansel and Gretel”, the old woman with red eyes built a little house made of bread and roofed with cakes to entice the children so she could cook them and eat them. In the tale “Mother Hole”, the heroine experiences a heavy shower of gold that covers her as a reward for her service to the old woman at the bottom of the well. (This might represent the fertility of the Gods showered down upon her, and there is an uncanny parallel to our current president’s situation in this archetype.) The hardships that the characters experience in the tales offer universal guides in how to cope with these hardships ourselves. If you want to learn about how to handle grief and loss, there is a guide in the fairy tale. If you want to figure out how to bring about regeneration and renewal, you can find that secret key in the fairy tale as well. How do your instincts create challenges in your life? When is it helpful to be guided by those strong energies, and when do they cause chaos in your world?
The maiden, the mother, and the crone are recurring figures within fairy tales, and the mysteries of their symbolism are woven throughout these stories. The young feminine is often the hero of the tale, struggling with the challenges of puberty and the patriarchy, such as “Little Red Riding Hood” who’s red cape may represent her sexual development. The mother archetype is often missing or is a ghostlike figure in the tales. In Cinderella, the mother archetype is represented by Cinderella’s visits to her grave and the feminine gifts granted to her by her by her fairy godmother. The crone archetype is often the agent of change in the fairy tale. Without this force, the heroine or hero will not develop and not move forward towards the sacred marriage at the end of the tale. She is essential for the transformation process just like she is the essential nature of the transformation process in our lives. We rejoice when she is introduced in the tale even if she has a reputation for evil because we know psychic change is coming. How does the Dark Goddess work in your life? What is your relationship to meeting her?
The magic of three is the number of synthesis. The heroine or hero must engage in activities that move them forward three times. The resolution will not come from the first attempt - those things are considered luck and not a sign of lasting change. The second attempt could be a coincidence and not a sign of commitment to the change. Transformation only occurs after it is a pattern of behavior, developed out of conscious decisions, represented by the third cycle. In “Rumpelstiltskin”, the heroine cries at the impossible task of spinning straw into gold to save her life. Her tears call Rumpelstiltskin to her, and she makes a deal with him three times. What deals have you entered into and what costs have they exacted? What initiations have you gone through that you have integrated into your being?
The change process is not experienced alone. There are always helpers and guides along the way. Often they can do the work the individual heroine or hero doesn’t have the capacity to do themselves. They can be special objects or animals, often representing ancestors, like the horse Falada in “The Goose Girl” who remembers the heroine’s royal blood even though she herself cannot speak of it. Sometimes they are mice, donkeys, white kittens, swans, or bears, but in whatever form they take, just like the white rabbit in “Alice and Wonderland,” when the animal appears, you follow it down the (w)hole. The reward for doing so will be gifts that can be gained in no other way. What animal guides are showing up in your life, and are you listening to their messages for your change process?
Often there is a resolution in the form of a sacred marriage at the end of the fairy tale for the heroine or hero, but there is almost always a horrific end to the antagonist. The sacred marriage is not about the saccharine sweet romance between a prince and princess. It is the conjunction of the opposites bringing together things that previously seemed incompatible. It is the celebration of the work that was done to create something new and vibrant from something ancient and decaying. It is the creation of the third way of being that is different from the path that has been traveled before, and it should resolve the problem that was presented in the beginning of the tale. In “Donkey Skin,” the heroine arrived at the palace in her beautiful dress, with her blonde hair all alight with diamonds and her blue eyes sweet… The king noticed the charms of his daughter-in-law, and the queen was delighted with her. The prince himself found his happiness almost more than he could bear. The kings of the surrounding countries were invited to the wedding, and they came mounted on huge elephants. Her father wept with joy, and her fairy godmother arrived too. The fairy tale ending means that one cycle of rebirth has been completed and, like the cycle in the spinning wheel of time, it will turn again. The fairy tale ending asks you to look at what you have completed in your life and to celebrate your accomplishments, banishing all those things that held you back. What in your life is ready to be released with the turning of the wheel?
Fairy tales are not children’s stories. They are tangled and thorny maps into the woods that reveal ancient paths, dark secrets, and wisdom as old as the Witch’s world itself. They are our Book of Shadows, and they are our Grimoire. Join me monthly at Ritualcravt to explore the mysteries that they contain.
References:
Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales (1993) Barnes & Nobel Inc.
Perrault’s Fairy Tales (1969) Dover Publications
The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images (2010) Taschen
Kaplan, Sarah, What Fairy Tales Tell Us About Where We Came From. Washington Post January 21, 2016.
Liabenow, Alonna, "The Significance of the Numbers Three, Four, and Seven in Fairy Tales, Folklore, and Mythology" (2014).Honors Projects. 418. http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/honorsprojects/418
Shesso, Renna Basic Char-Tarot Symbols-3rd Session-Chart (2005)
Author: Amber Raye Ellis, MA, LAC, is a therapist and archetypal guide that has her degree from Pacifica Graduate Institute in depth psychotherapy. She uses myth, fairy tales and images to help people uncover the unconscious patterns that guide their life experiences. Amber is Hellenistic in her Pagan practice and has worked in dedicated coven environments for over a decade.
On Death and Dying
I first tasted death when I was very young. My birth mother had had a strong sense of social justice and walked the walk. She had no reservation about fighting for equality and she put her literal life on the line to meet injustice where it stood. She lost her life to a police baton. In that loss, her warrior spirit passed to me. I always look down at my legs and i know that her spirit is what keeps them strongly planted in the earth, never to shake in battle.
My sister was killed in a very public manner. Their were news stories, media on our lawn, phone calls and a film crew at her funeral. This was when I first called in the shadow of Mictecacihuatl. I asked to be hidden and embraced by death, and she obliged. I didn’t know who I was calling on at the time. But when timing was right we met a few years later. Since the night of my sisters death,
She has walked with me. Santa Muerte has been my companion in Death work before I could say her name.
Death and I broke bread multiple times in between 12 and 18. Denver used to be a very different city, pre gourmet cup cake shops. Violence often tore through the flesh of the night sky, claiming a son to be swallowed up never to fulfill the ancestral dreams. I still set lights for Them. Asking for nothing forever knowing I have a lot to live up to. Your ancestors aren’t only those that share your bloodlines. Sometimes they are the ones who’s blood fed the earth in order for you to survive.
At 18 my father left this plane. She came full of mercy and love. Muerte knowing She was taking an accomplished soul did so peacefully, leaving an offering that would memorialize his legacy endlessly.
She has been a constant accomplice in life.
Knowing She is forever the shadow I can call in, the warmth I can fall into, the warrior I can ride into battle next to, the magic I can loose myself into has been the most powerful feeding in this lifetime. I feed Death and death feeds me. She feeds my work, my magic and is my life’s blood. She makes herself known to all around me and invites those I love to fall into her embrace when needed. Working with the Dead will always be a place of power and a place of protection for me. Working in death is truly working with the most powerful and eternal form of life.
Author: Loretta Ledesma, founder of the Mile High Conjure Gala, is Santisima Muerte devotee and practitioner who has had a relationship with the Santa Muerte for many years. She approaches the work from an eclectic and close relationship with the dead. Loretta walks her spiritual path openly and comfortably with the less freely-talked about workings and brings deep knowledge and experience of this strangely beautiful wisdom to her teachings. Find her at Ritualcravt or follow her on Instagram @thedeathwitch
A Message from the Star
The past year, it has often felt like the world is imploding…and yet I feel hopeful. We’re in what feels like a neverending watershed of disclosures of abuse, assault, and harassment by those with power. Some of our icons have been taken down by the truth of their past actions. The shine of our everyday s/heroes has been dulled as they refuse to hold perpetrators they admired accountable. The noise of social media arguing has become deafening.
And yet…I feel joy. Because mold can only grow in the dark. It can’t survive the light. Now we know. Survivors don’t have to suffer in silence anymore. We know who is clinging to the old ways of thinking – “don’t let a person be defined by one mistake” – and we can decide to create something different. A world where our bodies of decision makers begin to reflect our communities. Where "America's Dad" is finally forced to face a small degree of accountability for countless rapes, where a Southern trans woman can win an election because she wants to fix traffic congestion on a state highway, where record numbers of women and people of color are running for office, and where, no matter how painful, truth that has long been hidden is finally coming to light.
Although I often feel tired, I also feel inspired and I am ready to invoke the power of The Star in all I do. The Star brings joy, inspiration, and hope. She comes when you most need her, which may be different than when you most want her. Whether you are feeling helpless or ready for battle or simply numb, I invite you to join me in invoking The Star. May this tarot spread help you begin to illuminate the dark places and envision a brighter way of being.
3-card reading inspired by The Star
Card 1: What is the root of my joy?
Card 2: What is the root of my inspiration?
Card 3: What is the root of my hope?
Reader tip: If you pull cards with dark or challenging messages, do not get discouraged. Try to think beyond the literal meaning. You may have a block related to the message of that card and if you are able to work through it, you may be able to access something wonderful. Do you find joy, hope, or inspiration from helping others who experience tough situations? Are you inspired to do better when confronted with something awful? Have you conducted yourself in ways that you are not proud of and can you pledge to make amends and do better going forward? Sit with the cards if you pull something that makes you uncomfortable. There may be more wisdom there than you think.
Author: Sterling Moon has been reading cards for over 20 years. A friend’s sister gave her a deck when she was just a teenager, and she was absolutely fascinated by them. Her mom got her a book that took her deeper, and she was officially hooked. In 2013, she began reading and teaching professionally when she became one of the first instructors at Share Denver, a community craft space in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. Sterling has provided readings and educational workshops for a variety of individuals, businesses, organizations including the Horseshoe Market, the Denver Public Library System, Denver Yelp, and private parties. Learn more about her work at www.sterlingmoontarot.com, and come sit with her at Ritualcravt every other Sunday. To follow along with Sterling via Instagram @sterlingmoontarot
Interview with Loretta Ledesma of Mile High Conjure Gala
Loretta Ledesma talks to Ritualcravt owner Missy Luxe Rhysing about Conjure, organizing Denver's first annual Mile High Conjure Gala on Oct 28th this year, and what her personal spiritual practice means to her.
Loretta Ledesma has become one of Ritualcravt's most sought after instructors in the short time she has been teaching at Ritualcravt. In a class she was teaching last evening, she asked everyone to go around the circle and discuss why they are in the class. Everyone had a few reasons but all had one reason in common: to learn directly from Loretta and from her wealth of experience. This year, beyond her personal practice and teaching, Loretta has organized Denver's first annual Mile High Conjure Gala- a one of kind event bringing the world of Conjure to the Mile High City. I sat down with Loretta to discuss what this extraordinary event is, and why it is so unique to the Mile High City.
MISSY RHYSING: Thank you for this opportunity Loretta! So tell us, what is Conjure? LORETTA LEDESMA: That is a very, very deep question! Conjure is very at-home, use what you have kind of spiritual Work, that comes from a mixture of African American tradition, traditional African religion, mixed with Native American religion, mixed with Appalachian religion. It's this really beautiful mixture of things that work!
MR: Why did you decide to organize the Conjure Gala? LL: The Gala is something I've wanted to do for years. I feel there's this really large community of people that are rootworkers, people that incorporate rootwork and conjure into their practice, even if they don't know what to call it. But it's not a very widely represented community in Colorado. And not everyone can make it out to the event Cat Yronwode puts on in Forestville, to the Lucky Mojo event, including myself- although its something I've always wanted to attend. So I thought why not see if I can bring those teachers here! And bring community together especially in time where community is so important. Even if we don't realize it, as a community we are all conjuring.
MR: Tell us about Conjure Gala. What is it exactly? LL: It's gonna be amazing!! Well, first we will be doing the Conjure, then we will be doing the Gala! We are going to start that morning at 9am, let everyone come in, get familiar with the building, the teachers, and each other. We're going to do a brief history of the Inn (The Lumber Baron Inn) and why it's the perfect place for this event. We will then be doing an opening ceremony Mesa Blanca, ancestor work is done, ancestors are brought in, any type of messages that need to go out to attendees or any of us who will be there working, will go out through several of the mediums that will be present. I was talking to Ambrozine LeGare about the last time she did a Mesa Blanca and she said there was 120 people there and over 900 spirits came down! Then after opening ceremony we'll go straight into classes and workshops. There will be 6 workshops that day so it will be a day of a lot of learning! 3 of the workshops will be hands-on so we will be actually crafting as we are learning. 3 will be in more of a lecture form because it will be a lot of information to take in! We will have a little lunch in between those, and then after classes we will be doing The Dinner of the Dead. Traditionally it is a silent dinner, no salt, it's an ancestral celebration. Because a silent dinner on a large scale might be tricky, I have a friend who is going to be playing a harp during the dinner. It's going to be beautiful! Then after the dinner will be the Gala- a party, hors d' oeuvres, themed drinks, I have a couple of friends, Blondetourage, that will be DJ-ing for us!
MR: So what kinds of things will be taught at Conjure Gala? LL: All the best things!! (laughs) The morning class is going to be doll babies, which people are sometimes unfamiliar with. It is working with figures that are constructed out of moss, sticks, corn husks... A lot of people have this idea of what a doll is- Hollywood has put forth this idea that it's a negative thing for cursing a baneful work. And while that is true as a part of traditions that we do honor, but it's also use for healing, love work, self love, all sorts of beautiful work. So Co.Meadows, who's lineage goes back to Vudoun, will be teaching Doll Babies. Then Michelle Jackson, this amazing powerful woman, she is the most sought-after bone reader in the world! She will be teaching an introduction to bone reading, which normally you have to be invited in to learn about. It is a secretive, respected form of divination- so to even have her here is just amazing, we are so honored! Ambrozine LeGare does a radio show on LMC called Liquid Libations, and at the Gala she will be teaching Spiritual Bathing. She is our Master of Ceremony, Candelo's, Goddaughter, so she is also baptized in Palo Mayombe. She will teach about Protection and Bathing- Spiritual Bathing goes so far back and is done in so many traditions to cleanse, to bring in, to bless. Then Professor Ames, who lives in Colorado, will be teaching Mojo Bags. Ames is a funny, esteemed professor, highly knowledgeable Rootworker, yet very approachable. So we are so excited to hear about his very traditional way of building the Mojo. And we can all use a little mojo! (laughs) MR: All of these classes are so amazing, it's all the things I want to be learning.. Just.. thank you!! Thank you so much for doing this!! LL: (laughs) So then after Ames we have Professor Porterfield, he has his own radio show called Now You Know on LMC. He will be teaching Playing Cards, which is also not very widely known or taught. Divination with playing cards, but also how to use them in your conjure work. And to be honest I don't know a lot about playing cards so I'm going to be a student just like everybody else! And then Candelo Kimbisa... Candelo is going to be teaching Spirit Work. Crossing With Spirits. There are so many traditions that Candelo is initiated into- Palo Mayombe, Ifa... he is very well known in the community. Crossing With Spirits will be all about how to work with spirits to work with you, and to help you in your work, to get past road blocks, to get things out of your way. And he will be the Master of Ceremonies!
MR: Can you tell us a little bit about your personal spiritual practice? LL: Yeah! My personal spiritual practice is a bit more eclectic. I work mostly with the Santa Muerte- she is a somewhat misunderstood deity, but she dates back to the Aztec religions. She is technically a death deity, she is who we all meet, and she aides us in our transition from this life to the next. Death has always been close, I lost my sister when I was 12 and it was a very public event- there was reporters, it was all over the news, and being at that age I didn't really want to deal with it. So I asked to be able to be hidden and I was able to call this very comfortable cloud up whenever I needed to, especially in those weeks following my sister's death. I didn't really realize what it was until I was about 15, and I saw an image of Her and I knew instantly that is who it was. So in my work with the Muerte I have really learned how to embrace death, and not in the morbid sense, but in the sense of it just being the flip side of the coin. Within my work with Her, I have been able to build this romance with death which really helped me when my father passed away when I was 18. After that is when I became really deep into the work, and then She opened roads for me to other paths that I needed. And that's where rootwork and conjure came in. I also had just had my daughter when I was 18, and I didn't always have access to the botanica, and there was no Ritualcravt then, and it was really hard to get things that were needed. So finding rootwork- it really is about finding what's in your kitchen, what's in your yard, what can you find to help you get this task done. There are things that I incorporate into my every day- from the mojo bag that I hide in my kid's backpack, that I wear, pieces of jewelry that speak to me, and I really believe that part of my purpose in this life is to be able to use these spiritual paths to help other people. MR: Well, you do. You totally do.
MR: So how do you recharge? From teaching, practicing, all that you do? LL: That's a good question... Honestly, I do it more. There's something about sitting in front of the altar and allowing yourself to go into that other space that is recharging. There's something about looking at someone's face when you're telling someone things that are helpful, and seeing that hope in their eyes, that's recharging. Or walking into the store and seeing everyone at Ritualcravt... it's recharging. The magic itself- it's a cycle of energy that is constantly giving and that's really what I see this community and this family that you've build as being- it's all very recharging.
MR: Do you have any recommendations for folks beginning to learn about magic and these spiritual paths? LL: Yes. Definitely go to the Conjure Gala! (laughs) And don't ever be discouraged, it's something that even now, 20 years in.... Sometimes I feel that I don't always understand things or that I'm not good enough for this or that I'm not going to have these talents... But eventually we all get there. Be open to seeing the magic in everything. It really is everywhere. And it's ok if you can't buy a certain book or if you don't understand a deck of cards, or if you don't memorize every stone, or don't know the use of every herb. If you remember one- that's huge! And get into walking around at night under the full moon, take walks in your neighborhood and you will start to see plants growing, signs in everything. The second that you're open to magic, magic will find you.
MR: Last question! What are your six month goals? Where do you see yourself, where do you go from where you are now? LL: Six months from now I'd like to have my conjure oils package and out, ready to go. I would like to be planning the next Gala! There's so many things I'd like to be doing! One really important thing would be traveling- I want to get to New Orleans and Salem, Los Angeles... I think those are the big things. I would like the Gala to be twice a year... That's honestly what I'm really pushing for which will be a full time job, as I'm currently learning!! (laughs) MR: Well if you're saying that in the middle of planning this one, then you must be doing something you love! LL: Yeah, I love it so much!! There's nothing more in life, outside of my family, that I love more than this work. <3
View the full schedule, descriptions, teacher bios, ticket purchasing options, and more for The Mile High Conjure Gala taking place on Oct 28th, 2017 at www.conjuregala.com. View Loretta Ledesma's teaching schedule at www.ritualcravt.com/learn, and find her on Instagram at @thedeathwitch. Ritualcravt is a proud sponsor and vendor at the first annual Mile High Conjure Gala.
Author: Missy Luxe Rhysing is the owner of Ritualcravt and a Hekate devotee.
Find her on Instagram at @ritualcravt and learn about her shop at www.ritualcravt.com
Vesta: The Priestess
Vesta
Glyph:
Archetype: The Priestess
Color: Dark Rose
Symbols: Hearth, Datura, Sacred Flame
Gemstones: Fire Opal, Black Sapphire, Snowflake Obsidian
Element: Fire
Signs: Virgo, Scorpio
The brightest asteroid in the sky is Vesta. She is representative of the sacred flame- from a tiny spark to the fiery core of the Earth. Vesta (Hestia, in Greek mythology) is associated with the hearth, a symbol for warmth and the center of the home. It also means “focus.” Vesta understands that it takes devotion to sustain passion and life-giving energy. With humility, she cares for the internal fire always, creating sanctuaries of hospitality and protection for whom she encounters.
Vesta is commonly associated with the Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome, the priestesses who tended to the ever-glowing fire beneath the city. The punishments for breaking their chastity vows or allowing the fire to go out were severe. It is important to note that the essence of the word virgin has been distorted to mean celibate, or untouched. “Virgin” originally meant unmarried, and not legally bound. Thus, virgin was an expression of someone who was “self-possessed”, not belonging to anyone but themselves. According to Âsteroid Goddesses by Demetra George, prior to becoming Vestal Virgins under Rome’s authority, moon priestesses associated with virginity were sexually independent. Their desire was primarily to transmit the energy of the Goddess.
Vesta's symbol, the sacred flame, symbolizes the secret powers of transformation. When one commits and devotes to their goals, reclaims autonomy, and engages with spirituality, the Vesta archetype can thrive. Vesta rules over areas of life including: social service, sex work, modern priestesses, and fire/candle rituals.
Contact leah@moonlightofferings.com or visit www.moonlightofferings.com for an astrology reading or to learn more about this archetype in your birth chart.
In Astrology, Vesta is associated with Virgo and Scorpio, two of the most complex signs in the zodiac.
VIRGO
In the Virgo archetype, Vesta focuses on her work. Virgo ethics include dedication, discipline, perfectionism, and service. Purifying and cleansing rituals, such as bathing in natural springs, were utilized by Vesta's moon priestesses. Vesta in Virgo needs the opportunity to fulfill their sacred and authentic calling. Whether it be due to societal pressures, discrimination, and/or sacrifices for family and relationships, there are many barriers to achieving a self-directed path. Even so, Vesta types will always maintain that spark of life and desire to pursue their passion.
SCORPIO
Scorpios are connected to the serpent, a symbol of psychic and regenerative power. The passionate qualities of the Scorpio Vesta are best expressed when uncovering the secrets that intimacy reveals. It is the power of having ownership over one’s own desire. Scorpio’s energy is also linked to imagery of the phoenix rising from the ashes. Vesta’s connection with the element of fire is related to the alchemical process of calcination, the act of reducing a substance to ashes. Saturn, Vesta’s father in mythology, rules over the calcination process. This process ignites introspection and burns away what stands in the way of becoming a more authentic soul.
Author: Leah Samuels is an astrologer, artist & intuitive.
Find her on Instagram at @moonlight_offerings and learn about her offerings at www.moonlightofferings.com.
Reference: The Asteroid Goddesses by Demetra George
Image 1: h_desneiges found on on Flickr