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The Minnesota Foot-Tap
How to Get into a Car: Summer
(Beltane to Samhain)
How to Get into a Car: Winter
(Samhain to Beltane)
Here is a wonderful way friends can help each other get rid of fears, creative blocks, and the shrill voice of the inner critic. Ideally, this spell is done during the waning moon or on November 1 or December 31—the witchy holidays when the veil between worlds is believed to be thinnest.
Get a metal kettle and an outdoor firepot or little grill, and for each of the friends you have invited, a pen and two pieces of paper. Sit around the fire, relax, and talk about what challenges you face in attaining your artistic goals. Write on a piece of paper what comes up for you. Go around the circle and read from your list of blocks. Then, with great intention, place each paper on the fire. After everyone is done, silently meditate, and write your hope for the future. Now, reversing the order of speaking, go around the circle and share your dreams. Fold the paper and carry it with you in your purse or wallet. Your vision for the future will take on a life of its own.
Call it the Northern Mandate.
For some, Spring Cleaning is an annual rite.
But here in the Uttermost North, we have Fall Cleaning too.
During Summer, our attentions and efforts are outward-directed. We're out doing things. (Quickly, there's not much time.) Doors and windows are open. In-house work gets neglected.
But now it's Winter. Our attentions and efforts turn inward. Windows and doors are closed, and we're facing the prospect of being shut in with all this for the next six months.
It's only natural to do what you can to undo Summer's lapses: to make where you are as bearable as you possibly can.
Well, the White Ravens have flown. Yet again we give in to the age-old urge.
This Winter Solstice, I suggest getting in touch with your shadow side. This is the season to become introspective – and with the weather often urging us to spend more time indoors – this is the perfect time to look inward.
Meditation:
Brew some good spiced herbal tea and burn some frankincense and myrrh incense on your altar. Light red and green candles and turn off the lights. Get in a comfy spot and slow your breathing. I have found the best way to completely relax is to first contract, then very slowly release all of the muscles in your body, starting with your head and working your way down to your toes.
Sit cross-legged or lie in the corpse position on a yoga matt on the floor. Start with scrunching up your facial muscles, furrowing your brow. Then relax your face in slow motion. Do the same with your shoulders, hunching them up. Tighten your arms off the floor and make your hands into fists, then release down the length of your arms, starting with your shoulders, and unfurl each of your fingers, one by one. Repeat the exercise with your chest muscles, stomach and lower belly (these Navel and Root Chakras can store an awful lot of stress, so take extra time to release the tension here if necessary). Tighten your legs all the way down to curling your toes under, and very gradually relax these muscles as well.
To clear your mind of tedious recurring thoughts and worries, concentrate on breathing in deeply through your nose, letting your diaphragm fill and let go while taking your time. Be sure to keep the deep breaths coming from your belly, not up in your chest. Count down backwards from 20. Repeat several times, until you feel your mind clear and open.
When you feel ready, meditate on your shadow self. What are the sides of yourself that you keep hidden? Could any of them be positive that you are hiding from the rest of the world out of fear, or any other reason? Whether it is something really adventurous – like trying downhill skiing for the first time, or simply attending a community event you've been curious about – give yourself permission to explore that. Think about the ways you could nudge yourself out of your comfort zone, and discover one of your hidden shadow selves more fully. When you've settled on one that particularly speaks to you, resolve to act on it between now and the new year.
Send an image of yourself participating in and enjoying this activity out to the universe, thank the Goddesses and Gods of your choice, and when you are ready, carefully roll up to a standing position. Gather a bit of icy snow from outside and sprinkle it in the candles to put them out. Drink your tea and experience gratitude. Peace.
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It snowed in the Blue Mountains, where I live. It's always colder here than in Sydney, the mountains - which are not really mountains at all, but a plateau pushed up from the sea one hundred and seventy million years ago - are a kilometre above sea level and have their own weather. Which means that, although it never snows in Sydney, it does sometimes snow up here.
I was coming back from Sydney, on the train and I watched as the rain drops falling outside the window somehow seemed to get lighter, to become blown about by the wind, I watched them becoming snow as the train moved higher and further west. It was late afternoon and out the window I saw small dips in the land filled with ferns carrying a delicate blanket of snow on their fronds, like icing, it was truly magical. I stared and stared.
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