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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in loss
Dreams: You Are Missing a Body Part

If you find yourself looking down in a dream only to discover that you’re suddenly missing an arm, a leg, a finger, etc., that can often be a sign of some kind of loss in your waking life. Whether the dream involves the traumatic loss of a limb or its simply disappearance, the symbolism is deeply tied to feelings of abandonment, helplessness, and sacrifice. This dream can stem from a fear of losing something or someone important to you in real life. The body part lost likely connects to something you felt was a vital part of yourself that you aren’t ready to let go of.

Last modified on

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Let It Mean Something

Visiting my mom in the old folk’s home is a lot like going on retreat. On retreat, the days can be long, as I sit, eat, and walk in a silence punctuated with my own restless thoughts. On my visits to my mom, we too sit, eat, and walk in a silence punctuated by her restless, repetitive questions (“Why did you come? Are you my guest? Why am I here?”) and my repetitive answers. Just as on retreat, there are moments of peace, stretches of boredom and periods of head-nodding semi-sleep, both of us upright in our chairs. For the days I’m there, nothing new is happening. Nothing much is being accomplished. It’s the same thing, over and over.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Ted Czukor
    Ted Czukor says #
    Thank you for this beautiful reminder, Archer. I used to wonder what was wrong with me, that I always seemed drawn to form relati
  • Archer
    Archer says #
    Wow, what an eloquent comment--I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. Yes we are here to make life less difficult for each other. What
  • Tyger
    Tyger says #
    Thank you for bringing this to us.
  • Anne Newkirk Niven
    Anne Newkirk Niven says #
    Archer, this story breaks my heart -- in the best possible way. Thank you for sharing it with us. Peace to you, your mother, and a
  • Archer
    Archer says #
    Thank you for these words Anne.

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
Celebrating what falls away

Letting go is often hard, and clinging seems obvious. We cling to habits, to possessions and to people, long after they’ve stopped having a meaningful place in our lives. We cling because we like what’s familiar and because loss can make us feel vulnerable.

Autumn is the ideal time to celebrate the process of dropping away. At this time of year, deciduous trees shed their leaves so as to better deal with the winter. A weight of snow on leaves could damage a tree, and those leaves act like sails and make the tree more prone to damage in winter storms. Further, there’s not enough light in winter to make leaves worth the bother. Tress let them go, and start over. Further, they do it with a display of colour and beauty that is easily appreciated by us human onlookers.

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Last modified on

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs

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I do celebrate Mother's Day for those who are mothers in my world. I do not celebrate it for myself. For me, it is a time of grief. You see, I was blessed with one of those wickedly funny Southern mamas you hear about. Mine was a firecracker when she got wound up. She was a fierce defender of her family. She was also a Catholic who loved her Wiccan child. I tend to shy away from the concept of being blessed, but in this I was. 

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Francesca De Grandis
    Francesca De Grandis says #
    Hi, darling, thank you for being willing to express your grief so nakedly. You are beautiful. I’m sure this blog will help many p
  • Arwen Lynch
    Arwen Lynch says #
    Thank you, FdG! I really appreciate your words.

Posted by on in Studies Blogs
Saying Goodbye in the Spring

I have been meaning to write a blog post on Goddesses.... lots of blog posts on lots of Goddesses, but that annoying nuisance known as real life has interrupted me numerous times. Today I slowed down. I slowed down a lot, and in so doing, I thought I was going to finish a much delayed post about the Norse Asynjur, but my heart is not in it today. I need to write about loss instead.

My beautiful 17 year old cat Bella is leaving us. Bella does indeed live up to her name as the many photos my husband and I have taken of her over the years will show anyone. 

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Jamie Okulam
    Jamie Okulam says #
    Oh, we know what it is to loose a cat! We have lost two in the last two years. I miss them so much. My partner and I were unfairly
  • Helena
    Helena says #
    Thank you! I am so sorry you had to leave your home!

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
Gifts Hidden In Loss

On February 21, 2015 my second son, Galen, was stillborn.

I wrote out the whole traumatic story, then found myself reluctant to share it.  I wish what happened to me would never happen to anyone else.  So I'm not going to share the details in blog form.  Maybe in my next memoir.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Ann Franke
    Ann Franke says #
    Thank you, Ashley, for sharing your wisdom from this truly painful experience. My condolences on your profound loss.
  • Lia Hunter
    Lia Hunter says #
    Thank you for sharing the beautiful lessons you learned from your community and from your son with the name of a healer. Another
  • Ashley Rae
    Ashley Rae says #
    Thank you, Lia.
  • Anne Newkirk Niven
    Anne Newkirk Niven says #
    This has to be one of the bravest, saddest, and more amazing blog posts I have ever read on this or any other site. My heart break
  • Ashley Rae
    Ashley Rae says #
    Thank you, Anne.

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
Blood Ties

The blood of many species
swirls around me
The blood of many mothers
runs through me
The blood of many generations
comes from me

The blood of earth
feeds me
The blood of the Goddess
holds me

We dance together
in an ancient ecstasy
blood deep
bone rich
holy, potent, and pure.

The blood of creation
The blood of inspiration
The blood of sacrifice
and renewal…

(originally posted here)

Last modified on

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