SoulCraft

A Blessing for IMBOLC This is the quickening of the year Tuber and seed and root quicken Into the coming of the light... into the growing of the year. This is the quickening time of life The unborn lives await birthing in your darkness in your waiting ready to burgeon into being This is the quickening time of love We forge the arrows of eros and gathering strength We aim towards the light Of universal love This is the time of welcoming We welcome Brigid as virginal Bride Sovereign unto herself Slave to none The mistress of her Soulful forge We welcome Brigid as midwife to the world Initiator of the mystery Door Mother to the cosmos and sister to the stars We welcome Brigid as the Crone of the year She knows to take her time and surrender her veil At the perfect profound moment And as we take our light into the darkness tonight we call on the blessings of Brigid to guide us and illuminate all we cannot see in the dazzling brightness of the day. In silence and in reverence we ask that the world be born anew And that we be held safe in the arms of the mother who nourishes all We invite the quickening And the light of the bride into our hearts and into our homes and thank and bless her coming and thank and bless her love. Bride is coming bride is come Welcome Brigid to our homes Bride is coming bride is come Welcome Brigid to our homes Bride is coming bride has come Welcome Brigid to our homes Blessed Be Alison Skelton

Nature is our teacher, our healer and our spiritual sustenance. Our human psyche is inextricably connected with what is experienced in nature. In our northern hemisphere the light is now clearly returning, and in my corner of the world snowdrops are up, and the crocus soon will follow. The spirit of Februa is with us, and brings love, increasing light and the promise of rebirth as the quickening of the year is upon us. February first is the perfect time of year to launch a ne...Continue reading

No words...only awe.

There are times when the outside world and all the triggers of insensitivity get too much and overwhelm becomes all-encompassing. This is the time to allow you...r spirit kin close, really close, so they can support you from within. Open your inner eyes and let them in. Blessings (Art: Natalie Rukavishnikova)

Great gratitude for the many blessings.

The Crone is a woman who no longer menstruates physically, she is now a fully embodied wise woman. With many moons behind her and the experience she has acquire...d, she can now turn her attention to being a guide for the young. Being free in her body - no longer worried about pregnancy, pretense or deep fluctuations in hormones, she has come to a serene place of acceptance...an embodied dance with the rhythms and energetics of life. I have been guided by grandmothers with silver hair as magnificent as the moonlight for a very long time in my dreams, it has helped me develop a keen appreciation for the Crone, it has allowed me to see aging as an exquisite and delicate gift. It has helped me make healthy choices in the now and embrace with subtle anticipation the day when I too will be a grandmother to the children of our world. In ancient times and cultures, the Crone was revered. The Crone was consulted for matters of importance and well being of tribes. Children and grown alike would come for advice and storytelling to the skirts of the Crone. The gray hair was looked at as stripes of honor and the wrinkles as badges of courage and experience. When a woman’s blood flow would stop coming it was said she no longer needed it, as she had accumulated the wisdom of the moon enough to embody it and invite it to stay. These wise women understood the importance of death and renewal at such a cellular level they no longer needed to be reminded every month. In todays culture, the Crone is in great danger of being crushed. In a society where faster, better, younger is the theme and tattooed into our consciousness every day The elders are very often overlooked and seen as nuisance, annoying, slow, their beauty is smudged over and often shoved into care homes or confined to a bedroom in the house, Google has now usurped the throne of the wise one. We see Maiden archetype everywhere- the endless pursuit of youth.. From a multibillion dollar market of beauty products to the movie screens.. Everyone wants to be young, plump and fresh. We see the Mother archetype- the caring loving mother and as Lara Owen mentions in her book, although limited- it is even revered in religion. But the Crone...where is she? She is hidden, she is stashed away all that power hidden in her belly and nowhere to go. She has been pushed to abhor her post menopausal state, as though it is a condemnation rather than a blessing, as if not being able to birth children is now a curse that spills inward into a barren womb.. All that wisdom rejected, unacknowledged, dishonored in exchange for the pursuit of staying young and ‘fertile’ only to be ridiculed and mocked by a society that in paradoxical cruelty repudiates the Crone as well. No, the Crone cannot expect to be accepted without first accepting herself, knowing that her bones are indeed each day becoming more and more one with the earth... The silenced Crone cannot demand a place in a society where she too has helped exile this archetype. This is why we need to speak of Her, the Crone- the holy guide that lives and will one day emerge from you and when it does you will have a choice: will you let her in and feast on the banquet of your holy life experience or will you shut the door in her face and leave her out to starve in hopes that the maiden and mother, whom have left, will someday come back. Many times I have wanted to write about the Crone even create for it but I am held back by the misleading belief that I have to be one to speak of it. ‘No more...' my sleeping crone has whispered, ‘you must begin to pave the way for my visit.. planting seeds along the path that may bloom for my homecoming.’ Resting and gestating in me, she is harnessing strength to come and live fully, to guide, to teach, to dance, to remind, to slow me down, to make me softer, to be reflected on my skin and in my gaze when the time comes. So in the meantime, I will speak of the Crone to our children and to anyone that will hear - I will honor the magnificently wise women I am surrounded by, sisters hiding their beauty behind veils. I will remind them, I will whisper, I will nudge, I will invite. ‘Take off your veil! You are holy sacred wise woman, you are here, you are a message now is your time to guide!’ ~ Anabel Vizcarra: https://www.anabelvizcarra.com [Art: Red K Elders: http://www.redkelders.bigcartel.com]

Thanks Alison Forrester for this share!!

The Essential Wisdom of the Tarot Trumps 11 Thursday evenings on Zoom. January 7th to March 18th at 7:00 pm till 9:00 (or slightly past).I will provide the Zoom link in early January, once registration is closed. DM me for details This series of classes will explore the 22 "Major Arcana" cards using active imagination journeying to facilitate connecting with the archetypes on a deep level. Beginning with the Fool and concluding with the World or Cosmos, we embark upon the pat...h of the Tarot Trumps, as a means to access our powerful Creative Consciousness. The deck we will work with is similar in imagery to the Rider/Waite deck as this is the most universally recognized, and contains a richness of symbolism that is most satisfying to explore. Printable B&W PDF images of the cards for you to colour in will be included In the cost. Prepare to discover the power of creative consciousness as we navigate the realm of possibilities on this magical Fools journey. Immerse yourself in the wonderful world of Tarot, taking one card at a time to develop a personal relationship with these powerful transformational images. *Note this is not a How to read Tarot class, however if there is interest at the conclusion of this set of classes I may offer a further course on the Minor Arcana (Numbered cards and court cards) and include tips on reading and layouts. All the best and bright blessings for a wonder-filled Solstice Season, and I hope to see you on-line in January. See more