Offerings to the altar of ripeness...
Happy Solstice
Full Moon and Solstice blessings ~
Today there are 15 hours and 15 minutes of daylight where I am. The longest day of the year. Earlier this week, the heat and humidity arrived. Everything is full, thick, ripe. The view out of every window is of lush foliage. There are so many birds, I find it hard to sleep past 4:34am when they begin their daily chorus. Summer has arrived.
At this unrestrained high point, I’ve come to contemplate the question, offered by a teacher on a summer solstice a couple of years ago:
What am I being invited to release to allow for what I am becoming?
Release is a powerful act on a day of such fullness.
Solstices can be our semi-annual invitations to make big changes by embracing the energy of the day, the far point in a cycle.
The days will become darker a bit by bit, starting tomorrow. This needn’t be worrisome, but rather, a spacious opportunity for a reset. If you’d like, why not treat today as the first day of a cycle of time. Sure, the first day of summer (in the northern hemisphere.) The first day of the rest of your life. At the very least: the first day of this next cycle of your life.
Each one of us, in all our complexity, has this same opportunity: to offer part of what once was to altar of what is becoming. What can you set down and walk away from? As simple and straight forward as that is, in my experience, this offering practice is often messy, confusing, and brutally devastating. It’s not like cleaning out your closet and donating what no longer sparks joy. It’s like saying goodbye to everyone who has ever said they love you, because one day you realize there was deep confusion about what that meant. It’s like walking around with no skin: trying to keep track of all of your organs and bones and blood as it all sloshes around, feeling raw and vulnerable and sensitive. It’s like walking around going “what’s that smell?” only to realize it’s parts of you that are composting. It’s like packing up and moving out of one home before you have your next home secured.
And yet, we can.
And yet, we must.
We cannot stop the becoming, we can only embrace it.
It’s always worth the risk to be a brave, loving, and compassionate person.
The other kinds of offerings…
Use code “medium” for $75 off a 75 min mediumship session. You can use this code yourself and share it with any dear ones who you think would enjoy a session (which will count towards free sessions for you!)
Tuesday June 25th, join me for a FREE workshop: All About Altars. 7pm ET on Zoom. We’ll ground our time by chatting a little bit about the ancestors and then answer the follow questions: What is “ritual technology”? How do you build it? Where do you put it? What to put on your altar? How to interact with your altar? How to maintain your altar? Plus have time for Q+A at the end. Recording will be sent out if you can't make it live. Sign up here.
Thursday July 11th, join me for (another) FREE workshop: Intro to Ancestral Lineage Healing. 10am ET on Zoom. A discussion of ancestral engagement including: animism as the larger framework, who are the ancestors, benefits and risks of focusing on blood ancestors, cross-cultural assumptions about ancestor reverence and ritual, five stages of the lineage repair work and overall intent of Ancestral Lineage Healing, a guided practice, and time for questions. A recording will be available for those who cannot attend live. Sign up here.
Sunday July 21st, join me and Shelby Valentine for a FREE Full Moon Women’s Circle for survivors of sexual harm. 7pm ET on Zoom. This event will not be recorded. Sign up here.
September 12th- 15th: Rewild 5.0: Bodypeace. A 3-night, 4-day all-women’s transformational immersion at the Sanctuary in East Haddam, Connecticut where we will explore healing the relationship to the body, the subtle body, sacral chakra, and the Feminine. Without distraction, phones, media, or video/photo capturing, we will deepen into our Being, bodies, and what it means to be embodied as souls at this time. Apply here.