I spent much of last year deeply entrenched in working on myself. With help, working on body, mind and spirit, I sought to become a better me. Who else would I be, you might be asking? Yes, indeed. I didn’t always feel free to be myself. In times past and today in other parts of the world people have been imprisoned, killed, and tortured for holding my spiritual beliefs. Most of us spend our lives, to varying degrees, hiding who we are, not comfortable in our own skin. We get caught up in who we think we “should” be, what we think we’re “supposed to” do with our life. Are we afraid of what people will think about us if we go against the grain? Afraid we’ll wake up alone, unloved? Not possible, I tell you.

You would think all fear boils down to fear of death and dying, but the truth is, most of us really fear living more than dying.

In the Spring I went on a vision quest atop Mt. Palomar with the intention of facing death and facing my greatest fears. Exhausted from a long day of ceremony, as I settled in under the stars to try and get some sleep, I invited my fears to join me, so I
might learn from them, and release them.

I awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of my bag crashing on the tarp, behind my back. I was frozen in fear thinking it was some wild animal I wasn’t prepared to deal with. Telling myself there’s nothing to be afraid of, didn’t really help alone in the dark in the middle of nowhere, countless hours from daylight. I couldn’t breathe, my leg began to cramp, and I was suddenly engulfed in pain all over. My spirit guides (annoyingly) played right into it. “You don’t wanna see, you don’t wanna know!”

“Do I want to spend the rest of the night like this?” I asked myself. “No, this
sucks.” Okay, then. How am I going to deal with this? Obviously this is part of my experience, I’m meant to deal with this. I don’t know what possessed me, but I began to sing. Out loud. Songs my community sings in ceremony together and songs I sing when I’m driving or in the shower simply because I like to sing them. After several verses, I became aware that the tension in my body and my mind had let up a little bit, and I rolled over onto my back and I could see there was nothing there. Still feeling largely paralyzed, I sang another song, and relaxed enough to fall back asleep.

Sometime later I awoke to the sound of something crunching through the brush coming my direction. I didn’t know what it was. I thought to myself, worst-case scenario, it’s a large skunk and my carpool will have to drive back down the dirt road with the windows rolled down. Still, I didn’t want to know what it was. Perhaps it was a mountain lion wanting to snuggle up with me for the night. I sang to it. When I was certain it had passed me by, I looked up and saw a brilliant shooting star overhead! Confirmation from Spirit, “Yes, this is how you deal with fear! Sing to your fears, dance with them!”

This shifted the whole night for me. I began to see the beauty all around me. I was no longer afraid. Noises that had triggered a fearful “oh, what was that?” turned into a curious “ooo, what was that?” and I couldn’t get enough of my surroundings. I wanted to savor every moment of being in the wilderness, in the darkness!

At some point well into the morning hours I realized I had knocked my bag over, I had slid down the incline I was on, and slid right into it. Then I realized the creeping sound I kept hearing under my tarp that I imagined was a snake, was actually just my tarp sliding down the grasses.

The moon rose casting a glow over the land and I could see tiny leaves raining from the trees all around me. The breeze tickled my neck with the loose hairs that had freed themselves from my braids, and it felt good to be alive! And in those moments, I could feel the energy all around me, and I knew I wasn’t alone. Beyond my spirit guides chattering at me, the rocks were alive, the trees were alive, the land was alive, there were so many stars, and two bats in the oak tree above me … I was not alone. Then I heard a sneeze from a fellow quester some distance away, and was reminded I truly wasn’t alone.

So much happened that night, so many amazing lessons, but these were among the biggest truths I took with me from the experience: I create my own fear, shifting my perspective can change everything, and I am never alone in this world.

Fear has played a large roll in all our lives, for the last few thousand years, so it’s no easy task to release it all. As we peel back the layers, new fears are discovered and we are able to release more. And we don’t have to go through this process alone. We are connected with All That Is, whether we like it or not. We are loved by the Sacred Parents Mother Earth and Father Sky, unconditionally. We are surrounded by our spirit guides, angelic helpers, and ancestors, whether we know it or not.

I’m still a work-in-progress. As old habits die hard, I’m still practicing living without fear of judgement (which is really self-judgement). But I have awareness, and that is huge. And I remind myself, life always ebbs and flows, there is no static place called “perfection” that eludes me, I am perfect just as I am right now, in
my imperfectness.

My work for the year ahead is already shaping up with more priestesses ready to come forward and claim their power, a new dance schedule, paring down physical possessions even further to clear space for new forms of abundance, and my allergies rearing their ugly head presenting an opportunity for deep physical healing … life is never dull, and I find myself somewhere between anxious and excited by the endless possibilities!

I wish for everyone, as well as for myself, much grace and ease,
and more dancing this year!

It’s the season to take it easy, regenerate, rejuvenate, hibernate, and dream. In this modern age of electricity we easily forget the dark of night informs our bodies it’s time to rest. Every year our consumerist culture has us running ragged with holiday preparations and we ignore the pull to rest and go easy on ourselves. Even when our bodies plead with us by way of illness, we don’t take a hint. We all need to re-train ourselves in what the holiday spirit is really about!

If you find yourself feeling stressed, it’s time to ground and center yourself. Then simplify your to-do list. Write a list of what this season means to you, and compare it with your to-do list. Note how each of these items on each list makes you feel. Perhaps you’ll discover that what you think you ought to be doing is contrary to your own values. Perhaps there are new ways of expressing your values, perhaps there are traditions that can be reinvented. Delegate if you have to, no one should be in charge of everything. If no one can do it, maybe it’s not supposed to be done. Sometimes the best thing you can give a loved one is not something you’ll find on a store shelf. Sometimes we just have to surrender and go with the flow.

Winter is the perfect time for introspection, to turn inward, to observe your inner thoughts, feelings, and aspirations. Think about where you have been over the last year. Acknowledge and release what no longer serves you. Count your blessings. Celebrate the victories, little and big. Reflect on where you are at right now and evaluate, are you happy? Dream about what would make you happy in the coming year. Imagine what your life would look like if you had everything you want right now. How would you feel?

My favorite symbol for this time of year is a star. They’re everywhere, including atop our Christmas/Yule trees. In the tarot deck, the Star card shows a light in the darkness of the night sky, and speaks about hope. It is the calm after the storm of life’s greatest challenges symbolized in the preceding card, the Tower. The Star reminds us to look to the future and be open to new ideas and growth. To trust that there is an inner light inside each of us that will grow if we give it some attention and nurture it. Through darkness we find the light.

When all seems lost in darkness, look for a star, and make a wish….

“In time overlapping, we now step into the center of truth and meet our combined destiny in Sacred Places that call to us.” — Maria Yraceburu

In the later half of July I went on the “Places of Vision” pilgrimage to sacred Native American sites around Santa Fe, New Mexico with Maria Yraceburu and community. I knew this pilgrimage would be part of a dramatic shift for me in my personal growth, having spent the last year in intense introspection, working on the physical, emotional, and spiritual levels concurrently, with intentions of self-improvement and healing. It also shifted my perspective on what I’m capable of achieving if I put my heart to it. I never thought I’d be able to go on a trip like this, but when I asked Spirit to make it happen, everything immediately lined up.

Sharing the story of my pilgrimage has been challenging to say the least … not only having to condense down all the amazing details to a reasonable length, it’s not unlike trying to describe a dream in a way that you might understand. Especially when it comes to passing along the stories I hear of prophecy. Stories of the heart are not meant for wrapping your brain around! I’m not a prophecy carrier, but to the best of my knowledge the tid-bits I pass along here
are true.

“Keep an open heart as it will
lead you where your mind can’t.”
— Phil Chavez

Maria Yraceburu, our Apache elder and prophecy carrier, had a dream, an omen to go and connect with the land there, her ancestral home and our spiritual ancestral homeland, in the desert Southwest. When she spoke of this with her elders, they confirmed that it would fulfill an ancient prophesy of the Apache twins bringing water back to the land, restoring life and energy.

Coming together

We began at Bandelier, ancient native dwellings in ruins, where human history stretches back at least 10,000 years. We climbed tall ladders up into the cliffs where we held ceremony in a small kiva to seek permission from the land and the ancestors to hold the ceremonies we’d come on this pilgrimage to do. A kiva is an enclosed ceremonial structure within the community dwellings, they are womb-like, often underground, connecting us with Esonknhsendehi, Changing Earth Mother. Upon our exit from the kiva we were “rebirthed” and we claimed haquini, our identity, in gratitude. And the land and the ancestors granted us permission. Our prayers were set in motion and the wildlife greeted us with confirmation at every turn… turkey vultures, butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, too many insects and birds to remember, rattle snake, garter snake, four deer including a doe and a fawn … and we were in awe.

We had elders on the journey with us, in addition to Maria of the White Mountain Apache, we were alongside Phil Chavez of the Jicarilla Apache, Lynda Yraceburu a Romani Chovani (gypsy healer), and Happy Pahia a Hawaiian Kahuna. They each shared with us their stories—of the land, their personal stories of who they are and where they’ve come from, stories of their people’s histories, and prophesy, stories of where we as One Humanity are headed. This was a bridging of cultures, the bridging of hearts, symbolic of all peoples coming together as one.

Part of our pilgrimage was to see what it means to be in community. What does it look like to know all of your neighbors, and support one another? To live together, work together, and celebrate life together? We visited Taos Pueblo, where they still strive to live as traditionally as possible in community, with no indoor plumbing or electricity in the hand-built adobe pueblos. We also had the pleasure of being welcomed into the home of Flo and Sal Yepa, traditional potters and elders of the Jemez Pueblo. They welcomed us with arms wide open and embraced us each as family. They would tell us, “Our home is your home and you will always be welcome here … if you need to take a nap, please lie down on the couch!” We spent the day hearing their stories and honoring all our elders with giveaway (giving traditional gifts of the heart), and for each gift given, there was a story gifted in return. There was so much wisdom being gifted, we were literally dizzy by lunch time, and the riches continued well into the afternoon.

Healing the past, moving into the now

The mixture of indigenous spiritual beliefs and Catholicism among the modern-day pueblo peoples was strange to me. The Virgin Mary has greater presence than Jesus Christ because of her association with Mother Earth. We visited a couple of churches, including El Santuario de Chimayo, a chapel built on ground that has been sacred for thousands of years. Many have literally been healed with the earth beneath the chapel, and there’s a hole in the sacristy floor behind the altar where one may take some of this dirt. It was also the first church founded in the Americas by the Ortega family, founders of the California Missions that served to convert the native peoples to Christianity.

Normally I think of religious iconography from any path as beautiful, and I was surprised at the disdain I felt as I looked around. Perhaps for the atrocities committed against the indigenous, perhaps because of my own past of not feeling at home in Christianity, although I thought all those feelings were well behind me. I fully support the idea of blending spiritual paths, I walk a blended spiritual path (hence “Eclectic Tradition”), so this really caught me off guard—another layer of the onion exposed, so to speak. Perhaps my past was behind me, yet as a representative of the greater community I was tapping into hurt and anger much larger than myself—for the opportunity to heal it?

A fellow pilgrim was called by Spirit to do ceremony on this day to heal this past, not just healing for a people that had never known disease, enslavement, or war, but healing for those that inflicted the pain—they all suffered. This pilgrim is a descendant of the Ortega family and told us her story of having traveled to Mission San Juan Capistrano, where she connected with the spirit of a Friar who was in pain—from the atrocities he both committed and sanctioned—and was in need of healing. She picked a spot by the river near the chapel for the ceremony. I was reminded that every walk of life has experienced persecution at some time or another in history. Who has not been the bully, the bullied or the bystander? When the ceremony concluded, any that still harbored sadness was instructed to pick up a nearby stone, breathe the last of our sadness into the stone, and throw it in the river. All of us, now in tears, did just that.

Fulfilling an ancient water prophecy: Harvesting the water

Unplanned miracles took shape as our itinerary wasn’t working out in so much detail. We didn’t have time to make it to Chimayo Springs, so we walked up the river a ways to perform the water harvesting ceremony, the first step in our ceremony to bring water back to the land. Off in the distance we could see wild horses, at the foot of a nearby mountain across the river, who appeared to take a break in their grazing to watch us.

“Uncle” Phil, Child of Water, drew water from the river, to be carried by “Aunty” Pahia for the first part of this two-day ceremony, the bridging of the Land of Aloha and Turtle Island, North America. The elders told stories of prophesy about the origins of humanity on this earth located where the Pecos ruins still stand. Pecos was once a thriving trade center in the Southwest, abandoned for unknown reasons after the Spanish took it over. They spoke of prophesy about the Apache twins that are said to return home and bring the people back together again, and how their elders had only recently confirmed to them that Maria and Uncle Phil are the two fulfilling this prophecy. When we finished singing songs of honoring the earth, we looked up and the horses were directly across the river from us, intently watching us!

We pilgrims were asked to carry a crystal on this day, and my mind had immediately jumped to one I had brought with me from home. My heart leapt when it was revealed what we would do with them. I had brought the quartz crystal pointer I used in my healing work and as “talking stick” for many of my events—it contained the energy of my community and my service to them. But listening with my heart, the crystal told me, “I’m the one.” Trusting there was a greater purpose I couldn’t yet see, each of us imbuing our crystals with our prayers of gratitude—gratitude for our lives and for our healing—we tossed them into the river, into the healing, flowing waters. And then I knew it was the right crystal, with the energy of my community behind me, in turn receiving the blessings I received. Sometimes we have to give up something precious to show just how much we honor the sacred parents, Esonknhsendehi, Changing Earth Mother, and Yusn, Giver of All Life, and show just how serious we are about creating healing.

Confirmation that all we had done, was as it should be, also came to us in prophesies remembered by our elder Judith Moore, guardian of the headwaters of Chimayo Springs, who joined us mid-ceremony. In great detail she related to us how the nearby mountain was connected with Pecos, and so many more details I couldn’t retain in conscious memory.

Blessing the water

The ceremony was completed the following day at Chaco Canyon, a very dry and desolate place. There was little shade and it was very hot when we arrived. We were guided through Tlish Diyan, Snake medicine, Earth rites of passage amongst the ruins, fulfilling more prophecy about reconnecting ancient Star Nations with humanity, about how we are community coming together, coming home.

When the proper place was found, the water was poured into a ceramic pot made especially for the purpose by Flo Yepa. It was “planted” half-buried in the ground, along with our offerings, prayers, and blessings, to bring water back to the land, to heal all that was buried in our collective unconscious, a healing ceremony that would be far-reaching. Uncle Phil and Aunty Pahia closed the blessing of the water with songs of honoring, in their respective traditions. At the precise moment when we completed our ceremony it began to rain. Not a heavy rain that required raincoats, but a light rain the Hawaiians call a blessing rain.

Understanding on a heart-centered level

Those of us that went on this pilgrimage, were meant to go and participate in this, on behalf of our community, on behalf of the world. The steps we traced, from one sacred site to the next, followed along the tracks of our ancestors. The ceremonies we enacted were beautiful in their simplicity, and reminded us we are all children of Earth, we are One with All Our Relations.

So much about this pilgrimage hit me on a deep level and resonated in my my soul, truth unfolded before me on a pilgrimage of the heart, and there is just no intellectualizing it or analyzing it. My heart understood with perfect clarity what we were there to do, why we were there, and why it was so important. And yet my brain still cannot grasp any of it! The experience was … hmmm … hard to sum up. But I feel more at home on Earth, in this life.

Click here to read about my experiences preparing for this pilgrimage »

The dance didn’t come easily to me, but the process of learning the movements was challenging in a way that felt really good.
Being fully present in my body, watching
myself in the mirror, I began to see I could recreate the same moves that looked so good
on other dancers, and I looked good doing them—in a way I never thought I could look so good.

This dance has really brought me to an understanding that my body, mind and spirit are indeed connected. It makes me feel good from the inside out in the way no other practice has.

Then I began to notice physical changes. I was dropping weight (I lost 35 lbs. with belly dance and making healthier eating choices!) and getting muscle definition in places I’d never seen. Then came awareness of emotional changes.

Belly dance has had a significant impact on my self-image and my self-esteem. I began to feel really good about myself and my body just as it is. Even today, I feel really good dancing, and I always feel good after a class or performance—no matter how I felt beforehand.

When I discovered a style of belly dance called “American Tribal Style” (ATS), I felt like I’d come home to a place I’d never been. There is no choreography to memorize, it’s all improvisational. ATS is a vocabulary of movements and combinations that are cued in a follow-the-leader style. It’s earthy, it’s spontaneous, and freeing, and to me it speaks to a time when the tribe came together to dance or celebrate.

What is it about being so connected to our body that puts us more in touch with our spirit and our divine connection to All That Is?

I love that there are no mistakes, it’s not supposed to be perfect, it’s supposed to look natural. There are times when the dancers aren’t even supposed to be in sync. If the lead dancer does something “wrong” then all the dancers do it “wrong” because we are like a sisterhood that supports each other.

This particular belly dance style enables performing with dancers you’ve never met before, or someone you haven’t danced with in a long time. And on the flip side, over time I have found there’s a true psychic connection that develops between myself and the women I have danced with many times, I seem to know exactly what move is coming next!

Click here for more info on belly dance classes with Jennifer Masters»

Feed your spirit

Overworked and underpaid? Too many people making too many demands of you? Need more than 24 hours in a day? I can’t emphasize the importance of having a regular practice enough!

Joining us for Journey Circle or not, I want to encourage you to find a regular spiritual practice if you don’t already have one. Daily, weekly, or monthly,
the important thing is to stick to it no matter what! Life has a way of knocking us off the bandwagon, and we cling to a seemingly unlimited supply of excuses. But we have the choice to allow this to happen, and we have the choice to simply get back on. Find a way to motivate yourself, even if you have to make a deal with yourself, offer yourself a reward, or set a time-limit (i.e. for the next two weeks, I will meditate every day for 10 minutes, no matter what. If I’m successful, I’ll treat myself to…).

Make the time, create the space

How much time do you spend checking your email in the morning or channel surfing at night? Sit in silence, don’t try and force anything to happen, just sit and focus on your breath for 5 minutes (away from all electronics). Finding the time without distractions can be really tricky, sometimes you just have to go with what’s ‘good enough.’ Keep doing it NO MATTER WHAT, and eventually you will learn to practice through the distractions and chaos. Do it in your car after you’ve dropped the kids off at school, or when you pull into the parking lot at work. A daily practice can be easy—I dare say it’s easier than a weekly or monthly practice! Because being consistent and creating a pattern is the best way to create a habit. It only takes 21 days to form a new habit.

So why not start today? How about now?

And so I read something about the “Places of Vision” pilgrimage to sacred sites near Santa Fe, New Mexico with my Apache teacher Maria Yraceburu and community, and I no longer remember what I read, but it was one of those moments when I knew I had to go! And I didn’t know how it was supposed to happen. But within days of dreaming about it, everything lined up, and the money was there. Sure I could have done the responsible thing and paid down the debt and bills … but I thought to myself, the bills will always be there, this is a one-time thing! And with my husband’s blessing I set out to go on pilgrimage.

In preparation for our pilgrimage we were told to go on a day quest. That’s right, this wasn’t a casual sight-seeing vacation, we pilgrims had homework! We were to go out and be on mother … spend a day isolated in nature, seeking vision. Devoting time to sit in stillness, give offerings, and ask questions about our task before us, watch for signs of confirmation. We were to bring a friend to serve as guardian to attend to our needs, watch for signs, and keep people away if need be.

I always try not to hold expectations

My day quest didn’t go anything like what I expected. It was very difficult to find a secluded a spot, I asked around, I even hiked one location ahead of time to scout out a spot with no luck. Running short on time, I decided to go with my guardian’s suggestion of Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve. Everyone I mentioned it to, said there probably wouldn’t be anyone there on a weekday. I felt the need to be near water and there’s a stream that runs through it. From what I had heard about the place I was expecting we’d hike maybe an hour in and be able to find a place next to the stream, off the trail, and be fairly secluded.

After much scrambling and crawling through bushes and trees, we dead-ended at many a wall of poison oak. It was EVERYWHERE. It was certainly an adventure, and we encountered so much wildlife it’s difficult to recall everything … lizards, birds, squirrel, insects, spiders, blue dragonflies, something dog-sized (never saw what it was, but coyote and raccoon crossed my mind)…. Approximately three hours, two unconfirmed spots that didn’t grab me, and 4 miles later (Ugh! For those that don’t know me, that’s a LOT of hiking for me!), we ended up at the top of the waterfall. We needed to rest, so off the shoes came and we waded around in a small pool surrounded by massive volcanic rocks, next to a short waterfall, above a tall waterfall. I stood in a little section of ‘beach’ shaded by a boulder, and it suddenly felt right. Just as I muscle tested ‘yes’ a bee decided to join me. Bees represent community. Now that’s a sign even I can’t ignore. Later that night I read my guardian’s notes, “When I came down and sat in the water I knew that this was a sanctuary … Jennifer decided this was the spot.”

The bee hung out for a while, soon there were two bees. Large blue/grey dragonflies were chasing each other all over the whole time we were there. Hikers began showing up, although no one directly bothered me and I couldn’t hear much above the sound of rushing water, I did my best to ignore them and tried not to be annoyed–thinking this was ‘the spot’ so maybe they’ll go away. I spent some time consciously unwinding, relaxing, and connecting with the earth. I don’t know if I fell asleep or dropped into deep trance–it was one of those times when it didn’t seem like I fell asleep. At some point I snapped back into consciousness. I distinctly received the message, “there shall be no questions today.” I thought, really? Can I get confirmation on that? And in an instant a couple more hikers came scrambling down the rocks and sat on rocks about 5-6 feet from me. My guardian had written, “A son and father came very close, but I did not say anything this time, I heard Spirit say it’s okay. This is a symbol of family, this shows the love of father & son.” I was told I could ask questions when I do my daily meditation in the park three blocks from my home (which I haven’t been diligent about doing lately) over the coming week.

I decided to make the best of the day connecting with nature, just BE-ing. I began to explore the pool–this was one of my favorite things to do as a child, explore creeks and rivers, wading, crawling over rocks–which was reserved for summer camping trips as I grew up in the low desert. I waded across intending to lean on a rock to look over the tall waterfall and nearly stepped on a crawdad. We stood there staring at each other (he was trying to back into a rock), and then I began to see more. I sat on the rock and lost count of how many there were (while trying to figure out how I was going to get back across the pool!). The largest one was maybe 6-7 inches altogether, with pinchers about as big as its body. Later I managed to wade over to a large, sloped rock in the middle of the pool and lounged on it for a while, feeling its warmth, taking in my surroundings.

The return hike only took two hours

We were exhausted and dizzy, and it was a good day for both of us. My guardian had written about how there were two boys playing in the pool above us, and she began to observe the people as the creatures that were drawn to this watering hole, rather than treating them as intrusions. She saw me standing in the center of the pool gazing down into the water and cracked open Maria Yraceburu’s book Legends and Prophesies of the Quero Apache and read, “Child of Water and the Origin of Healing” and decided to read a bit of it. “Perhaps the following story will assist you in remembering the eternal link that binds us all, and the infinite source of healing. The people had begun to forget that they were one, All Our Relations.”

Reflecting back, I think I was trying too hard to find a secluded spot, to get away from people. The day became easy once I decided to just be, be childlike, and energetically invite the hikers into my experience rather than treating them as distractions. It’s all about family–family of spirit, humanity coming together, and remembering I am a child of the sacred parents, Mother Earth and Father Sky. Remembering that we are All Our Relations. I am part of a larger whole and we must learn to live in harmony, walk this earth together.

So I guess it should have come as no surprise when we were informed that this pilgrimage would be about bridging community, and part of our role would be to ‘pray rain’ bringing water back to the desert Southwest with a water blessing and offering ceremony. This would be carried out with the coming together of the Hawaiian and Southwest Natives, simultaneously fulfilling an old puebloan Water Prophecy as confirmed by elders of the Hopi and Jemez.

And the adventure was just getting started…

Click here to read more »

Samhain marks the end of Summer. In Northern Europe it is the final harvest
before the land grows cold and the landscape dies—in old times it was the last of the crops we would have to sustain us through winter, the season of death, hibernation, and dormancy.

In keeping with the season, it is a time to honor the dead and the process of death itself. After all, death is a part of life. It is also the time when the “veil” between this world and the world of spirit is at its thinnest, and therefore is a great time to communicate with the spirits of the dead, our ancestors.

It is a time to recognize and release that which does not serve us anymore. A time of letting go and turning inward, to begin dreaming, seeking to understand ourselves and our spiritual journey.

It is a time to honor the Crone Goddess. Crone is the third stage of a woman’s life, post-menopausal. Her creativity has turned inward. Some believe a woman’s menstrual blood is very powerful (it’s the power of creation, after all), and at the Crone stage, she keeps that blood within her instead of releasing it, and thus becomes more powerful.

The Crone is wise, introspective, and contains within herself all the powers of the Maiden and Mother, is independent, sexual, and creative. She owns the power of a full life and its wisdom.

The Crone is the agent of change and transformation. She understands the mystery of death, of endings and letting go into the darkness. She is the Goddess Hecate,
The Morrigan, Grandmother Spiderwoman, Kali, Hel, Oya … and many other names.

With death comes room for new growth, for regeneration. Letting go of the old clears the slate and makes room for the new. After Yule, in mid-December, the days will become longer. This sets the stage for new life, which we will see the first spark of at Imbolc, around February … and the cycles of life continue.

This image of a witch comes from a couple thousand years of the Christian church trying to demonize any path that wasn’t Christianity. The idea that someone could be in charge of their own spiritual path, and have their own relationship to the world around them, was likely a threat to the early church, with its hierarchy and partnership with the ruling powers, struggling for economic power. Looking back now, it seems that any path that didn’t adapt to the patriarchal, fear-based attitudes of the prevailing culture became evil. Everything that was once considered sacred became associated with sin.

Lets face it, history wasn’t written by the losers, it reflects the dominant culture. Due to so many years of fear-driven persecution, witchcraft existed in secret, if it indeed survived at all. There aren’t enough facts for us to prove (or dis-prove) anything, but there is evidence that witchcraft was practiced for at least hundreds of years before the Common Era (BC). So today we don’t truly know how closely the practices of the modern witch resemble those of the past.

Yet, there is an inner knowing that the core principles of flowing with life’s cycles and seasons, and living with a reverence for nature, probably haven’t changed much over time. Perhaps the knowledge of our ancestors has survived disguised as old wives’ tales and folklore. The hustle and bustle of our modern capitalistic twenty-four hour convenience now-now-now society has separated us from nature’s cycles. Electricity has allowed us to forget the significance of the light from a full moon. Hot houses have allowed us to take for granted the cycles of agriculture, the planting, growing, and harvesting of crops we now eat year-round.

Generally speaking, a witch lives his or her life in harmony with the land and their surroundings, with nature and its cycles and seasons. This isn’t to say they live without modern conveniences, but they strive to be aware of nature’s cycles and how they relate to our modern lives. The full moon becomes a time to see a project through to fruition, while the dark of the moon is a good time to take it easy. Practicing Magic (sometimes spelled “magick” to differentiate from stage magic and illusion) or casting a spell is not unlike an interactive prayer, a means of co-creating reality with the forces of nature, harnessing the energy of the universe and directing it towards personal goals.

It is more appropriate to call the craft a way of life than a religion—it is very much a personal path, centered around the individual. There is no unifying leadership body and no two witches are likely to share exactly the same practices, so it’s difficult to get more specific on what a witch is or is not in this short space.

So is being a witch and a wiccan the same thing?

Maybe. It depends on who you talk to, one can be either or both. There are commonalities, but there are also differences. Wicca is more like a religion based on witchcraft. Like the craft, the exact history is subject to speculation. It doesn’t begin to come together until somewhere in the middle of the twentieth century. While perhaps less structured than conventional religion, it is more structured than witchcraft, with common rituals and practices. There are various traditions of wicca that have their own specific rituals and practices, and there are solitary practitioners, whose paths and traditions vary per individual. Some claim to practice Eclectic Tradition Wicca, drawing their practices from various sources, wiccan and beyond. Each path is valuable and beautiful.

Like the craft, it is a “nature-based” or “earth-centered” spirituality. There are eight holidays (holy-days), called Sabbats, that mark the changes of the seasons. These are occasions to celebrate life, usually with community and ritual. They fall on the summer and winter solstices, the spring and autumn equinoxes, and the mid-points in between. A common analogy is “the wheel of the year”, each sabbat marking a spoke on the wheel that is the ever-turning solar cycle (takes the earth one year to revolve around the sun). Esbats are also important dates, the lunar cycles celebrated on the full moon, and sometimes the new moon, or dark of the moon (the darkest days of the cycle right before the new moon first appears).

Wiccans honor some form of universal energy that weaves through everyone and everything, a common source. Usually this is honored as the dualistic form of God and Goddess, masculine and feminine principles. Some wiccans are pantheistic and honor nature/universe/god as synonymous, while others are polytheistic, honoring deities that have been venerated in many cultures through history (often recognized as different aspects of the same whole—in other words, if “God” were a diamond, all the many gods and goddesses would be its facets, each a different side of the same entity). Often the sun and sabbat celebrations are associated with masculine energies, the god, while the moon and esbat celebrations (monthly cycles) are associated with feminine energies, the goddess.

Many witches and wiccans today have reclaimed out-dated symbols of the public’s fear of the unknown, hanging halloween decorations donning green hags in their home, sometimes year-round. They remind us that just beneath the surface of our modern holiday traditions, lies a hidden truth, and we smile with an inner knowing that not all has been forgotten.

The Temple Priestess recognizes that her body is sacred. It is a temple which houses her spirit. It is a perfect representation of the Goddess incarnate on earth. She knows it is a gift to explore, conduit through which the world is experienced, and the vehicle through which she expresses herself and the will of Spirit.

She acknowledges the connection between body, mind, and spirit. She is able to be present in her body, to be in the moment. She knows how to listen to her body and take care of herself. She recognizes that her body is a conduit for healing others, through touch, movement, dance, telling herstory—even her mere presence. She knows her humanity is not perfect in the common sense—but nature in its most perfect state is imperfect. She leads by living her life in example, and strives to do her best in all things.

She knows that she holds the power to be herself, to be free from judgment, from self and from others. Everything she needs to be a whole human being, she contains within herself. And she recognizes that she is part of a greater whole, that all of life is connected, we are not separate and alone.

She is the feminine counterpart to the equation, working in partnership, in balance with the masculine, the priest. One cannot function without the other. Yin and yang, receiving and giving, magnetic and electric. She recognizes that we all have both masculine and feminine energies, and our outer relationships can be just as diverse as our inner selves. A priestess is not just about one religion or spirituality, she is the element of the sacred feminine in any religion or spirituality—something that has been largely ignored, left out or forgotten in mainstream religion. She celebrates her femininity not despite or in contrast to masculinity, but in connection to it.

Every woman is a priestess in her own spiritual journey, but in a more formal sense, what defines a priestess is the willingness to step into the leadership role. A priestess is a position of leadership when she holds feminine strength and power while acting in service to others, holding sacred space within which anyone may come into connection with their divine source. A leader is a person who guides or inspires others (inspire = in spirit) to pursue that which is in their highest good. A true leader is someone who isn’t afraid to be different—she can stand by her principles, stand in her truth, regardless of what others do or think.

The path of the priestess is to lead the way into a life more abundant, more joyful. It is about how to be a woman in balance, and about living one’s life fully, being more in tune with her self, her body, her relationships, and her world. This is a state of being that each woman—all shapes, ages, cultures, and creeds—already has within her nature, whether she is conscious of it or has yet to explore. The priestess illuminates the path of self re-discovery.

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Solo or with a group, ritual is often performed at regular intervals. The general intent is to celebrate life’s cycles and seasons, connect with community, and with God/dess. There are many traditions of Wicca, and each has its own established ritual observances, rites, and practices, but it can vary from group to group, person to person.

In the case of an “open ritual” the public is invited to attend and newcomers are welcome. A group ritual is a time for community, and everyone present, even newcomers, will be encouraged to participate rather than stand back and watch. The energy of each individual contributes to the ritual, and it is expected that some attendees will be nervous or reserved.

There is no absolute standard, but the following set of guidelines are very typical for open rituals:

1. All ritual participants are expected to abide by the Wiccan Rede, “Do what you will as long as it does not harm anyone.” We cannot always assume everyone shares the same ideas about what is and is not acceptable behavior, so always extend the same courtesy to others as you would want. As in all things in life, use common courtesy and good sense. Keep an open heart—no matter how separate and different we believe we are, we all have our humanity in common with each other.
2. Whether it’s your first ritual or you’ve been doing this for years, each and every participant has an important role to play: stay focused and present to what’s happening. If you are ready to take your experience further, you can help by contributing your energy to what’s happening simply by focusing on it. For example, help cast the circle by trying to visualize the circle in your mind’s eye. Use your imagination! I’ve got news for you, your imagination is your psychic sight. Also, look to those who are leading for cues on how and when to join in chanting, drumming, dancing, etc. so that you will contribute to the build-up and flow of energy. Ritual need not be solemn all the time, but be aware humor and playfulness are used purposefully.
3. Check ahead of time whether the ritual will be suitable for children, and if they must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. When the ritual is appropriate for children and families, this adds an extra dimension of possibilities for distraction, but this is expected. Talking to your children ahead of time about what will happen is often helpful.
4. Once the circle has been cast, generally, enter or leave it only in emergency or necessity. Bouncing in and out of a circle will disperse the energy, and can distract the other participants. Arriving late is not encouraged, but if you arrive late, please stand by outside the circle and wait for a facilitator to cut you in (a symbolic way of cutting a door in the circle with a ritual knife) before joining the other participants. If you must leave, wait and ask a facilitator to cut you out. Children who are not old enough to know any differently, may come and go as they please. If they don’t understand they are breaking the circle, they are not breaking it. They are usually more connected to what’s really going on and don’t have as much trouble tuning in to these energies like we adults do.
5. Ritual tools, including drums, are personal and powerful—please ask the owner for permission to touch, handle, use, or play with any ritual tools.
6. Illegal substances are not welcome, and if a participant is obviously impaired by alcohol or drugs, they will be asked to leave.
7. Do not let anyone pressure you into doing anything you are not ready for.
8. Asking questions is the best way to learn, the only silly question is the one that wasn’t asked! There is usually time for questions before and after, and for questions that may arise during ritual, hold them until an appropriate moment.
9. There are no mistakes. So don’t worry about ever making one! Self-criticism has no place in a ritual. Remember the bit about not harming anyone? This includes yourself. Nature in its most perfect state is naturally imperfect. Ritual is entirely about good intentions and doing your best!