Each year at this time we come upon what is often called, ‘Eclipse Season’, which is when we have one or more eclipses each month, over a period of a few months. While today, we look excitedly to the heavens to witness these celestial events, in ancient times an eclipse was considered a very serious and ominous omen, one that could foretell terrible things to come, and so people ran inside hoping to hide from its effects, and escape the omen ‘touching’ or ‘marking’ them with its energy. Ancient astrologers used the eclipses in an almost divination-like way, foretelling both good and bad events depending upon the exact timing of the eclipse, and what astrological sign the sun and moon were in at the time of the event…

On every dark moon, we initiate and embark upon a six-month cycle that culminates on the full moon six months later. So whatever you vision for and dream of during the dark moon, you will see the results of this when the full moon is in the same sign, six months later. If you do not experience the results…

The ancient art of working with gemstones and crystals for each of the Zodiac signs is both magical and mystical, and is one of my favorite ways to work more deeply with astrological magic. Working magically, and astrologically with gemstones can be found in almost all cultures, along with the belief that gemstones and crystals correspond to planets, stars, and constellations…

As the earth turns upon her axis, and makes her way around the sun, we experience the seasons, which are the natural divisions of the year: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The seasons become evident by the ever-changing behaviors of plants, animals and the weather, as well as the amount of daylight hours that we experience each day…

The nature of your life is a series of ever occurring micro-cycles that mirror the many macro-cycles of nature, such as the phases of the moon, the seasons of the earth, and the movements of the sun, and planets. Your body, and your nature also mirror the elemental nature of this world, and you can move through life in awareness, and alignment with all of this, which brings in such grace and ease…

On this shortest day and the longest night of the year - December 21-22 for the Northern Hemisphere, we bid farewell to autumn, and celebrate the beginning of winter and nestle deep down into the cold, the darkness and the unknown. A time of mystery and magic—as are all times of seasonal ‘in between’, we call upon the goddesses of the crossroads, the underworld and the portals between this world and the next. Winter Solstice is a time of going within, a season of quiet and tranquility, and wonder…

I've been in the process of a deep personal experience for a long while now, allowing the many parts of myself that are no longer alive to drop off, like dead leaves falling from a tree. I have been letting go, and letting go, and letting go some more. I feel stripped bare, down to my bones, past my bones, and even further still. …

Moonlight is a very soft, very gentle and a very alchemically transformed, diffused version of the sun’s bright, strong and direct light, the sun’s nature is to illuminate, and the moon’s nature is to reflect. The sun governs our outer, public life, and the moon governs our inner, private life…

The moon cycle is a very mystical and magical way to work with the Tarot or oracle cards, as each phase has its own deep meaning and guidance, and the lunation cycle overall contains even more…

Seeds are the wishing tool of every farmer, hoping that as her hands tuck them safely into the soil, and as she tends to them, that they will grow, flourish and then nourish her. So too is our magical wishing, or spellcasting like an energetic seed that we plant deep into the cosmos, tending to it with our rituals, and magical workings, hoping that our wish will come true. Like the farmer, we plant seeds, and make wishes…

Long ago, for pagan worshippers of the earth as Mother, the moon as Goddess, and the sun as God, this equinox was called Ostara, and was a time to acknowledge the awakening of the sleeping land, welcome the growing light of day as the wheel of the year turned towards spring. It was considered a time of ‘greening’, when all living things began to awaken, push up from the darkness of the dirt and grow…

As we make our journey deep into the darkness of the waning lunar cycle, this is a time of seeking wisdom, insight, and understanding. The magic of the dark moon is the magic of the crone, the hag, the hedgewitch, the enchantress, the dark mother, the warrioress, the shamaness, the priestess, the wild woman, the moon, the night sky, stillness, darkness, shadow, decay, death, rebirth, suffering, deep healing, and powerful protection... and the dark goddess…

I call upon my ancestors for connection, and guidance. With quiet prayers, and soft tears I reach for them. Looking up at the stars, I wonder if they can see me. Teach me in my dreams, I ask them. Sing to me in my sleep. Come to me as intuition, as inner knowing and show me who I am…

As the earth thaws, and the light of the day increases, the great wheel of the year begins to turn. This is a time of quickening, which is a term used to describe the movement of the fetus in the womb and means that new life is on its way. At this of year, the wishes, dreams and ‘seeds’ of desire that you planted/set into motion in January, now begin to grow roots, begin to stir, and start showing signs of life…

Feel free to follow along exactly as the journal prompts and rituals are presented, or pick and choose which ones you like, and the timing that is best for you. There is no wrong way to do this, this offering is designed for you to thoughtfully experience the ending of this year, and the birth of the next one…

The calling down of sky energy has its roots in ancient times, when nature-based spirituality was most prevalent, and when people recognized the power of and had a close relationship with the earth, moon, stars, and all beings of life…

Winter is the season of midnight, and it is associated with the dark, still moon, and the archetype of The Goddess as the wise-woman, the crone, the dark mother, the elder, and the wild witch living at the hedge. It is also associated with death, dying, and the portal-place of endings and beginnings…

Take a moment during this season of thinning veils, and darker days to light a candle, burn sacred plants for purification, protection, as offerings to the ancestors, and for opening the heart. Go deep into meditation and call Her forth. Ask from your heart, for what is in your heart. Know that She will answer you, and bring to you that which is for you. She will bring this to you lovingly, sacredly and surely. It is so…

During the darker, more in-between times of the year I love to work with plants that help me journey more deeply into these seasons of the underworld. One of those plants is sacred cacao…

The Autumn season is a mystical, in-between time, when the world is poised between the light and the dark, when the veils between the realms begin to thin, and we are able to see past the illusions of this world, and into the clarity and truth that lies beyond…