Black Friday Alternatives
Ways we can be / do instead of feeding into the frenzied consumption of Black Friday:
Paint and Sustainability
I recently relocated, and the need to paint walls came up. Initially, I had a couple of questions that only produced more as I began the research. Paint is often perceived as an almost intangible layer of pigment on walls (and some other surfaces), and not viewed as a substance with much environmental and health impact. However, paint is just about used in every indoor space; it's extremely rare that drywall is left as is in its raw state; one cannot avoid using paint in some shape or form.
HOW I DO THINGS (HINT THERE IS NO SECRET)
Don’t know how; try it anyway.Never went to school for it; give it a shot anyway.Didn’t fit the specs and profile; do it anyway.Lack the experience; learn it anyway.Didn’t fundraise; risk anyway.They might say no; ask anyway.Left or right— no idea; turn anyway.Fall hard; get up anyway.Have no community; create it anyway.Doubt yourself; believe anyway.
WRITING WITH SPIRIT Winter Retreat
The WRITING WITH SPIRIT RETREAT welcomes an intimate group of 13 attendees to explore the intersection of writing and the supernatural by unwrapping the words that are already contained within and to call them forth with clarity and boldness. We’ll discuss supportive writing techniques, powerful esoteric tools, and will be actively collaborating with our intuition and the Great Mystery. Open to anyone who is needing space, desires a heightened embodiment, and a safe container to focus on their inner (and outer) work.
NON-EXTRACTIVE BUSINESS PRINCIPLES
WHAT IS EXTRACTION?
Extraction is a perspective, a behaviour / set of behaviours committed by systems of colonialism, exploitation, hierarchy, and homogeny. Non-extraction is a value system that naturally de-centers mechanism of dominance, accumulation, and exploitation, to restore traditional, indigenous, and circular cultures. In the context of business and project creation, here are some principles to return to:
Plants For The Witches New Year
There are plants who settle, who calm, who awaken, who invigorate, who quench, who stir, who help recall, who help inspire...
THE MYTH OF EFFICIENCY
We are told that multitasking will allow for us to complete more tasks in less time.We are told that efficiency is paramount in work culture. That more is more, not less is more.
That fast is efficient, that fast is competitive, that fast is sexy, that fast means mighty.
For what, though?
Say it til you know it...
Say it til you know it…
We are the People.
We are the Love.
We are the Change.
We are the Archetypes.
What October Means
October is a month when witches recognize the veil between the Seen and the Unseen is thinnest, and for this reason, ancestors are connected with, spirits communed with, deities adored. Those who honour the lunar calendar may see October as the latter half of Autumn, having just celebrated the Mid Autumn Festival on September 21 this year. October is a month that holds endings and beginnings. And for this reason, I wanted this issue to hold you in the ways where you may feel flux. I've included some remarks on the symbolism of home, notes on my favourite plants to cross thresholds with, a hearty carrot cake with adaptogens recipe, a transcription of a conversation between Lisa Anderson Schaffer and myself on the topic of longing.
The Void of Yin
I need concentration, without distraction, without interruption. Creation exists in the Void of Yin, in her Womb.
Sitting with Tea: Tea As Teacher
Tea, my Teacher, my Medicine, my Sister. With you, I enter into stillness. Penetrating clarity. Acute listening. Shivers of recognition. Tender exhales. Scents of what is to come. Conduit of flow.Interpreter of ancestors. Vapours of daemons. I venerate your companionship.
Cha Ye Dan (Chinese Tea-Brined Eggs)
Eggs are one of my favourite go-tos when I wish to stay anchored, reconnect with my ancestors (since there are so many egg dishes in my heritage), and warm my body up as the weather begins to cool in September. I'll be sharing a family recipe for Cha Ye Dan (Chinese Tea-Brined Eggs) in September's issue of UNSEEN Magazine. They are delicious on their own, or added to a bowl of congee (recipe also in next month's issue)!
Fast Magick and Slow Magick
There’s fast magick, and there’s slow magick. Both have their functions - much like our two thinking faculties. I love the intuitive and emotional aspects of fast magick, and I also love the more deliberative, patient, and thorough power of slow magick. The slower build ups, deeper roots, sturdier with its layers as it grows above ground, more anchored in, immovable by pointless urgency — these remind me of the overlooked capacity of slow, and how slowness is a gift. Another comparison— magick and love — there’s loving fast, and there’s loving slow— and of course, love is a current that magick accesses. Relishing in slowness now.
The Animal In Your Heart
Do you know the animal that lives in your heart? Is it the fun-loving Monkey? The ethics-minded Horse? The serene Snake?
Evoking Your Project + Business Course
Conjure, activate, and expand your new or existing business by learning essentials-only business skills, with the support and alignment of earth-based and supernatural principles and practices. Neither seeking permission from toxic establishments nor nor participating in them,, and you have an inner longing to birth your business or passion project in a way that is intuitive, spirit-collaborated, anchored-in, and self-honouring all the while also being viable and meaningful.
When You Say I Look Good For A Woman Over 40
When you say I look good for a woman in my 40s…
Do you mean I look younger than expected?More toned, less worn, less wrinkled?
Why I don't want to empower you
I don't want to empower you.
I want to help you understand I already see your power; your inherent power that cannot be learned or earned, your power that simply is.
An Online Retreat on Ancient Chinese Divination and Chinese Astrology
If you've been studying with me in the Mystery Mentorship, particularly in the Wood + Metal Module, you'll know that a critique I have about the "new age" communities that most practices done in the West are still coming from that extractive theme of objectifying rather subjectifying. Whether it's the studying of Tarot, tea leaf reading, dream work or even astrology, the main objective is "what's in it for me / tell me what I need to know / how I do manifest the life that I want". Put it another way, learning esoteric practices, accessing ancient wisdom is not meant to function as your genie. It is not meant to be, nor can it ever truly be, colonized. The Unseen, the Great Mystery were around far before any of us arrived on the scene.
Happy Friday the 13th!
The thing with working with spirits and the Unseen in general, is that some days, I am drenched with unspeakable longing. I am left unreasonable and crazy-eyed. Yet, rooted into an unperturbed knowing, emitting pheromones of radiance. Happy Friday, the 13th. Celebrating the Mystery, the Lucky, the Magick in you, with you. The part of you that cannot be shaken by challenges, the fickleness of public opinion, trends, mimicry, or co-opted originality. Celebrating your rootedness in the Integrity of the Unseen.
BROKENNESS: AN ANCIENT PERSPECTIVE
A Yin line according to the I Ching is visually represented by two dashes. — — Oftentimes, it's referred to as a broken line or a yielding line.
To compare that to a Yang line that is visually represented. ___It's a solid line that does not have space as an interruption.