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I’ve been sober for 16 years today and tomorrow is the sixth birthday of my firstborn child, the magical synchronicity of the timing of that birth never leave me, as each year for the past six now the focus has shifted from self to her.. I feel ridiculously blessed to have a family who have only known me as a sober wife and mother. The woman I have grown into is one that I am proud to be, my priestessing path is serious and real and a precious practice has grown around all that I offer the world as priestess. Being a wife is a challenging and fulfilling spiritual path and one that I longed for for many moons before meeting my Beloved. Motherhood has knocked my socks off, finally I found a space to put the depth of passion, devotion, loyalty and I'll-die-for-you offering that this scorpio soul always searched for. Life is sweet, it is content, it is peaceful for the most part, it is a warm little dream. And so, at 16 years sober, spiritually fit with a loving and full home I took notice when I felt a stirring within the pit of my stomach, a hungry, growling, dangerous, enlivening stir.

"Just breathe"

Such a simple statement. A reminder to just breathe. Why do we say that? Does it really help?

Equinox is next week, and Samhain will be on us soon. As we enter autumn its good too to set our energetic houses in order, in preparation for the new season. Equally there are times in life when the next stage, the next move to make in life is unclear. Stress, worry, negative energy can come into our lives in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons, and sometimes the only thing to do is be prepared to wade through some deep dark waters for a while- or even dive deeper trusting in the journey that in time you will come through to easier times. However, while struggle, and even a lack of clarity is all part of the rhythm of life from time to time, there are always pro-active things that can be done to help re-set and re-connect with the navigating forces in our lives once more. Whether its illness, depression, money worries, politics or a whole host of other challenges, there is always something we can do, to just make a small shift, that may set up some positive ripples in our energy.

We don’t have any seriously dangerous spiders here in the UK – they can bite, and bites aren’t delightful, but on the whole our spiders are harmless, friendly creatures who like to hang out in our homes. Autumn seems to be spider season. I always see more of them at this time of year, and the larger ones tend to appear more often now.

Spiders eat all kinds of other things that may get into your home to do you no good at all. They’re allies, and will take out things like clothes moths, mosquitoes and other bitey, unpleasant visitors. If you live somewhere with dangerous spiders, there’s a decent chance that a less dangerous spider might actually help you keep the scary ones out, even!

It's hard, but I've adjusted to so many changes in my life. Job changes, starting a business, two high school graduations, son going to college - but doing so online. Then this hits me, my middle daughter, the one that has been nicknamed the emotional support child for so many - including me, has left for college. 

She is my artist (painted the picture above), my crafter of jewelry, may painter of cups/ornaments/bowls, and has gown into my coffee/tea date, coworker at our shop, picker-up of emergency groceries, taxi for the youngest, and often comic relief. She was the one who was never going to leave me, telling her dad and I the dreams she had of building a house right next to ours and "borrowing" our land so she could have a couple highland coo and sheep.

I chose not to follow crows today,
but turned away
to follow the mist instead,
descending down a rocky hill
and into an underworld of my own making,
in which I laid aside
the pressures of pleasantness
and considered how it would feel
to lay my drive down
across the stones too
and walk away,
leaving it gasping in surrender
between a flattened cracker of frog
and finality.
I knelt beside blue chicory
with a cloak of white fog across my shoulders
feeling weary of smiling,
thin of patience,
and with only a thread of faded magic
beating feebly beneath my skin.
I pondered messages from purple asters,
gravel beneath my knees,
and resisted reaching for rosehips
through the ebbing bowers of poison ivy.
An unripe persimmon, gleaming purple-red
below the bright white sky,
rolled into my path
and as I made my way back up the hill
two vultures rose silent and hulking from the trees,
so close I heard their feathers whispering together.
I felt an ember quicken quietly
beneath my breast
and on the gliding motion of broad wings,
I was reminded that we can always
choose which way to go,
and that even thin and tattered magic
is worth
savoring.

 The County rolls on … shifts, moves, roars around me as I write at The Regent Cafe. The County I’m referring to is that of Prince Edward, in Ontario, but locally it’s simply known as The County. It’s the end of July, end of the Strong Sun Moon and the island is buzzing with tourists. Many come to camp at Sandbanks Provincial Park, a fourteen mile stretch of white sand beach that includes constantly changing sand dunes as hurricanes and unusual phenomenon occasionally grip this island in Lake Ontario. The new moon that begins soon is the Ripe Berries Moon, but in Ontario and other places the two moon cycles seem to have amalgamated. The berries have been ripe for ages. Blackcaps, raspberries, blueberries, mulberries and wild gooseberries. My favourites are raspberries, pungent, flavourful, and sweet; the red color a good one for someone postmenopausal.

You have likely heard that the Earth's speed is shifting. It’s not revolving at 50 KM anymore, it’s spinning much faster. My spirit guides have announced that the magnetics on earth are swiftly changing. This has been predicted many moons ago by the Aztecs, Mayans and me, a Mennonite lass. I wrote about these times of awakening and Earth changes and how they will be accelerating in 2004, in a book, titled, AWAKE! A Spiritual Primer. It is still in print in 2019.