PLANT SPIRIT MEDICINE SPOTLIGHT: WOMB SUPPORT
I work with common plants. The ones that you can consume often, find around on the side of the road, on lawns and other nearby areas. I hold great regard for entheogens, but my allies are usually quiet and unassuming. A few are listed here, today being plants that support the Womb (energetically and physically):
THE ETHICS AROUND “SCREEN CAP AND TAG” CULTURE
It starts with seeing an image you find inspiring or effective in communicating something meaningful. Screen cap, credit, and you post it in your feed with your own caption. It's a win-win situation, right? After all, credit is given to the artist, they are given exposure, and you get to share your words in your feed with a beautiful image. The digital age of social media is now universal and democratized, where anyone can have access to images and build their feed.
THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT IN MAGICK
If you’re new to my blog and IG feed, you may find my work seems serious, focused on heavy topics, and that I don’t always smile in my photos. But don’t let my serious face fool you, as inside joy and play are always at work.
THE DEATH MOTHER AND MY SELF IMAGE
There was a time when I believed I was so unattractive, that I avoided looking in a mirror and being photographed at all costs. The reminder of how I felt I looked was untouchably painful. This was my reality for all my adolescence and twenties. It had nothing to do with my waist size as I have always been slim, and I say this because while some may think that thin women have less to work through with their self image and self confidence, it was certainly not the case for me.
IT TOOK ME 40 YEARS TO BUY MY 1ST TUBE OF RED LIPSTICK
I am a Taiwanese Canadian woman. The colour Red in traditional Taiwanese culture symbolizes good luck, celebration, distinction, joy, and prosperity. It is the bridal, birthday, and new year's colour. When a womaan dresses in red, it is a sign of respect to her elders and spirits, her ties to honouring her ancestors and tradition, and a symbol that she embodies luck herself. Contrasting this, Red in the West is associated with sex, desire, seduction, menstrual blood, romance, courage, leadership, and danger (but mostly sex). The West deems sex as dirty, and thus, White is very much a preferred colour for a woman to wear, since it signifies purity and on a much more subtler level, obedience, though culture has disguised obedience as elegance. Think of those cotton white sundresses or the bridal dress of the West.
WHY WOMEN STRUGGLE MAKING DECISIONS AND WHY THEY SHOULDN'T CARE
What do these questions have in common?Do I study XXX or YYY?Do I relocate to LA / Tokyo / Shanghai / Paris / quiet place in the middle of nowhere?Do I have a baby? Or a subsequent one?Do I marry this person?Do I quit my office day job in a cubicle that pays fairly well and begin a new career in permaculture?
THE GODDESS WEARS MANY DIFFERENT FACES
The “Goddess look”, long, flowing hair, supple skin, round-breasted, full hips, ankle-length dress, gracious with flowers in hand, maybe a wild beast nearby, sunlight peaking through — You know the ‘look’...
HOW DO WE HEAL INTERNALIZED COLONIALISM?
Colonialism isn’t just about destroying and taking over an existing local culture, exploiting the land and people, and maintaining domination.
Colonialism is also about eradicating the people’s memories, exploiting and twisting those memories, and ensuring any effective connection to the past is severed so the conquered are left crippled and dependent on the dominating system. Let them forget who they were (past) so they do not know who they ever will be (present and future).This is most noticeable in the myth of the angry, jealous, and punishing, father god who cannot tolerate us having any form of connection to anything / anyone other than himself; he needed to invent an enemy - the devil - as a method to instill fear and preserve amnesia. What signifies the devil may differ, but common symbols are:
SENSING IN THE DARK
This Mercury Rx that has asked us to turn inwards, to swim in murkiness, to let uncertainty take the lead, to lose not in the sense of not winning, but losing in the sense of surrendering to ending cycles and embracing conditions of re-membering, redirection, and re-creation. This work is not just for Autumn and Winter. In fact, for me, this type of inner work often takes place during the Summer. Seasons aren't fixed and our internal landscapes do not just hold one archetype at a time. We can be Maiden, Mother, Wise Woman of varying degrees, of varying expressions, at varying times. Yes, we can enter internal rites of passages and initiations, but embodying archetypes need not be linear. They almost always demand incubation periods that involve some form of loss and surrender.
PLANT SPIRIT HEALING SPOTLIGHT: HERBAL INSECT REPELLENT
It's camping season. I just returned from a beautiful time away camping in the Cuyamaca Mountains, and though the creeping, crawling, and flying critters offer medicine of their own by asking me to pay attention, my preference is to be able to pay attention to other things by not having to constantly swat at them and itch my skin. For this reason, here's a remedy that I have found to be effective, without needing DEET formulations. I also list energetics of certain plant beings.
RESPONSIBLE MANIFESTATION
For the last two months, I've been probing the shadow side of the spiritual notion called the 'Manifestation Principle', and the potentially dangerous misuses of the Law of Attraction, particularly by leaders, healers, and teachers in the wellness and spiritual community. (For those who are just joining this discussion, feel free to read April's story HERE and May's story HERE).
THE SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLE THAT MOST PEOPLE NEVER QUESTION – BUT SHOULD
Perhaps the most used word that ‘woke’ people use these days – whether they are in spiritual circles, wellness circles, or even personal development / business coaching circles – ‘manifesting’ is the ubiquitous buzz word and ever the dangling carrot for many.
PLANT SPIRIT HEALING SPOTLIGHT: PATCHOULI
If you’ve experienced quality patchouli essential oil, you’d know it’s a different animal compared to what’s commonly sold. The cheap Patchouli is clear, lacks body, and has a musk that is crude and loud. The note offers no subtlety or modulation, like an one note instrument or a speaker without volume control.
THE DIVINE FEMININE AS A 'TREND'
We can all agree that patriarchy wants to silence, control, and exploit the Divine Feminine, but how about examining healing and the Divine Feminine as a “trend”?
When we dress or adorn ourself or our physical spaces in a certain ‘Priestess’ aesthetic are we attempting to silence and control, or exploit Her?
A LITTLE ABOUT ME...
My name is Mimi Young, and I am the owner of Ceremonie and a spirit medicine practitioner. I smell things. People's auras, spirits, messages, warnings, omens, and things I am still not totally clear on. The term to describe this is called clairolfaction. (If you hang around with me long enough, you may find that I sometimes ask those in the room with me if they smell something in particular. I ask this because sometimes it’s unclear to me whether the scent I pick up is actually a physical aroma that belongs to the environment - say smelling coffee at a coffeeshop, or not, say smelling a distinct tree that is tied to specific spirit or ancestor that no one else in the room will perceive). My experiences in shamanic journeying didn’t start until I was well into adulthood while on bedrest while pregnant with my second child. (More on that HERE).
WHAT IS A HOME?
What is a HOME?
Well, I would say it’s not about the walls, the square footage, the furniture, the styling, the neighbourhood, the property value.
A home is about the warmth that is found there. Home is acceptance. And nourishment. And affection. And a place of allowing. Home is where you can create beautiful memories in solitude and with others. A place where you can let yourself completely fall apart because there are loving arms to catch you. Home is also where a celebration is held for you because you’re you. A home is a place where you can manifest the expansion of your heart by making space for others. HOME is heart.
2018 to 2019: Ring Out The Old, Ring In The New
Empty glasses are scattered around, evidence of the mirth in our home these past few days. Messes were made; every pan, wooden spoon, and bowl in the kitchen was used. Today, with strong tea, was a cozy day in, the kids out to play since Vancouver is having a mild winter so far, and the adults at home (my partner and I), are transforming leftovers into soup, lazily reading new books, and leisurely packing for some days away in the woods, with the laundry machine's hum as a playlist of sorts.