WORKING WITH CORRESPONDENCES AS AN ANIMIST WITCH
Correspondences in witchcraft have been misinterpreted as something to memorize, like multiplication tables in math. 3 x 3 = 9; 6 x 7 = 42; mugwort is good for dreams; cinnamon for accelerating; memorize it for god’s sake. But this approach not only favours practitioners of magick with a brilliant memory, it also isn’t a true indicator of how skilled the witch actually is.
COMMON QUESTIONS THIS ANIMIST-WITCH GETS
In my mystery school series, The Mystery Mentorship, the current Prayers + Devotions in Animism series, as well as my topical courses, I hold space for Q&As and relevant tangents. Many of the folks enrolled in the courses and series have shared how much these discussions have nourished and supported them in their spiritual journey and return-to-self.When I was asking the spirits what they would like to convey through me for June’s newsletter, they led me again and again to the Q&As. A few of the most commonly asked questions (and a few personal faves) are below.
WHAT ARE THE BEST PRACTICES AROUND SPIRITUAL PROTECTION WHEN WORKING WITH SPIRITS?
Instead of protective spells against "evil" or harm, what if one of the most protective acts we can engage in is to form authentic relationships with spirits? In other words, spirits ARE protection.
MY NOTHING IN THE BEGINNING AND NOTHING IN THE END ARE NOT THE SAME
Both the Fool and the Ouroboros as archetypes keep showing up for me this year. It's exhilarating and liberating, and the shadow self within also resists it at times, uncomfortable with changes that nudge, fearful of being swallowed, anxious of the Void.
WHEN GRIEVING
When grieving, it was the comfort of the familiar that anchored and lulled me.
The scrubbing of eggs stuck to the bottom of a pan, the wiping down of crusted sauce on a shelf in the fridge, the low hum of the washing machine.
WHAT REST IS
There is Day and there is Night.
There are Spring and Summer, and there are Fall and Winter.
There are Pause and Stillness, and there are Momentum and Activity.
LIN 林 MEANS FOREST
My name is Mimi. Family name is Lin 林, though also now Young (through marriage).
Lin 林 means forest, and I love how my Taiwanese ancestral story ties in allyship with trees, how there may be chapters of movement from land to land in search of safety, that trees speak a universal language of presence and companionship.
HOW TO USE TERRAIN ENERGIZED BODY OIL
Of allllll the CEREMONIE Skin + Aura Care, I use the Terrain Energized Body Oil the most. It’s been a life saver when I’m feeling raw, hectic, intuitive overwhelm, or experiencing sensory-overload; the plants lend their presence, while never numbing or distracting me from the necessary lessons and truths.
A few ways to work with TERRAIN:
THE DEAD NEED LOVE, TOO
The dead need love, too.
Rocks need contact, too.
Spirits need witnessing, too.
Trees need honouring, too.
Fires need tending to, too.
Water needs holding, too.
I WAS TAUGHT GIVING IS “GOOD”, AND RECEIVING IS BAD…
I was taught as a child (and throughout my life) that giving is “good” and receiving is “bad”. That sharing, especially as a host, is to be extended at lengths that can be defined almost as “at all costs”. Giving / sharing when expected to, when not expected to, as a form of not being able to feel what I feel, or to simply say “no” or even “wait”. I was taught to feel that receiving is greedy, shameful, weak, or that I’m “not good enough”.
Màn màn zǒu (Slowly, slowly walk)
慢慢走 Màn màn zǒu, they say.
Slowly, slowly, walk, they say.
Walk slowly, unhurried, easefully.
An expression commonly uttered by the living and by ancestors, the Unseen living.
Slowly, as our feet touches the ground tenderly,
Unhurried, as a blessing to be carefree,
Easefully, as each step is protected and guided.
As even walking is a devotional act of heart-mind-body, an act so ordinary and mundane for me, yet holy for my ancestors to care about.
SPIRIT COMMUNICATION TO RETRIEVE LOST OBJECTS
In this IG live, I shared how Remote Shamanic Readings and a prayerful spirit-connected life have provided crucial details for clients who book with me, requesting insights around lost object.
Allies that Help Us Love Better
Love, the real kind, the kind that sticks around and is with you when shit hits the fan, is present, responsible, genuine, and willing to meet us where we are. What gives us dopamine hits - the kind of ‘loving feelings’ that are intense, seductive, glamorous, fantastically projecting, distracting us from pain are often mirages, and far from actual love.
Spirit Communication and Afterlife Communication
If you have ever felt forgotten or unnamed, ignored or undermined, tiny or unimportant, know that connecting with the Unseen is the most expansive act of feeling seen again.
I was joking with a spirit one day, by teasing them, “Are you thinking about me, again?” when their scent psychically entered my space. To which they replied, “Still, not again.”
Emotional Resources for The Year of the Water Tiger
I don't think it was an accident that Venus and Mercury Retrograde preceded the arrival of the Water Tiger. So much churching, sorting, sitting still to let the murky waters settle and clarify, and then to make embodied decisions of sovereignty and authenticity.
It hasn't always been easy, but I am grateful for the reminders the spirits have shared with me: their messages of knowing myself, releasing parts too well known that are now ready to chart new waters, to feel and respond to the dynamic and often paradoxical energy of the Tiger.
And Do You Remember
And do you remember when you lifted me with one arm, as if I were a backpack filled with air, as we walked to the park with the big yellow slide down the road?
And do you remember how you marveled at the corollas of seasonal blooms, and how you would say that we should take our lessons from flowers?
Excerpt 2 from Honouring Our Menses
“Day 1 gloriously descends. And by descension, it is an arrival, a reminder that I am not a sterile, prepackaged being of a Barbie doll society expects of me. The blood can fluctuate from dark to bright, thin or viscose, and I bleed, bleed, bleed.