Ambrosia Hawthorn's Blog, page 3
September 22, 2020
July 28, 2020
The Dog Days are Over (almost): Seasonality in the Workplace
Photo by Kristijan Arsov on UnsplashWhen you think of the “dog days of summer,” do you hear Florence and the Machine streaming through your car speakers as the sun blares down on the highway before you? Does it make you want to get out and do something? Is it Florence, or is it that subtle shift that starts to happen in August?
Have you started to feel the shift? Does your energy do a little uptick in late summer before the autumnal descent?The energy in July is typically a little stagnant.
All starting with the rising of Sirius (the dog star) at dawn. The Greeks and the Romans associated these days with intense heat, drought, bad luck, and general lethargy. I’m with them on the lethargy part, I’ve been doing what I must and nothing more, just simmering steadily with the sun’s heat.
Now I’m watching those lazy, hazy days stretching out behind me in the rear view mirror. I’ll savor them for just a moment longer, and then I’ll let them go, grateful for the slowdown; I needed that time to recharge.
Now, something magickal is starting to happen.I’m ready to get on with the work, whatever that work might be. These feelings aren’t unique to me, they are human and animal nature, and they don’t stop when we walk into the office or log into our virtual workplace. When we accept this changing energy for what it is and work with it, higher productivity, innovative thinking, and happier colleagues follow.
Riding the current and embracing the cycles and seasons of nature allows life to flow a little more freely.Tips for working with the shifting energy of summer:Slow down during those actual dog days. Take a vacation. Encourage others to take time off. Schedule fewer meetings (trust me, your clients are experiencing the dog days too.)Work with the energy of the day. Schedule high energy meetings for the morning when it’s cooler. Keep the afternoons low key.Tired? Try a thirty-minute cat nap. Use a recorded meditation (one of my favorites is Drawing from the Well by Philip Carr-Gomm) and set your alarm to avoid sleeping for too long.Try a cooling, serenity tea to refresh the body and spirit — think citrus and mint. See recipe below.*Gradually start increasing both your physical and mental activities come mid-August.Back to school shop for yourself. Just a new pen or new bullet journal can get the creative and productive juices going!For an extra push to restart, carry clear quartz that has been charged under the full moon. This gives me an extra boost of full moon energy when I need it most.Does your team need an extra boost? If those dog days still have their tentacles wrapped around your team, try an uplifting spray to your meeting room well in advance of the meeting. I like palo santo (that’s ethically sourced) for this purpose. The key is using the spray well in advance to avoid any reactions from colleagues with sensitivities. Alternatively, if you work virtually like I do most of the time, smudge your workspace and your laptop before the meeting. If you’re not on video, try it during the meeting if the energy is low. I also use sage to calm and clear energy during virtual meetings, but that is a topic for another day.
*To create a jar of my favorite summer tea, Serenity Now. Mix the following in a 32 oz jar:
Spearmint — 2 cupsPeppermint — 1 cupLemon balm — 1 cupChamomile — ½ cupRose petals — ½ cupLavender — ¼ cupWhenever you want to enjoy a cup of Serenity Now tea, scoop 1–2 teaspoons and steep for 5–10 minutes. Add sweetener to taste.
The Dog Days are Over (almost): Seasonality in the Workplace was originally published in Wild Goddess Magick: Witchology Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
July 2, 2020
Broomsticks and Business Suits
By UnaWhat happens when you’re a middle-aged executive in search of a deeper connection with nature and life and everything magickal that this glorious world has to offer?
You become a witch, of course!My life of gradually becoming intertwined with this crooked path has been an internal evolution for about a decade in the making. It started by connecting to and trusting my own intuition, then using tools like tarot and pendulums to bring clarity to my decision making and finally incorporating spell work into the repertoire of my daily life. I consider myself a Woman Influencing The Course of History through both my physical acts and the magick I make. I have never felt more alive and so good wearing this hat.
Like so many others, this isn’t the only hat I wear.I lead an organization in the muggle world, and while I haven’t spoken publicly about my witchy ways, I do talk about them with those who inquire. I’ve found that while the broomstick path is still a little unnerving to some, many find it fascinating.
One of the questions I’ve been asked is:
How do I reconcile being a witch with my career?Well, for one, I don’t practice overt witchcraft in the office. You won’t see me casting a circle and calling in the elements at the beginning of any business meeting. You won’t see me chanting for success or burying a spell jar in the company parking lot. That said, I bring magick into every aspect of my life, including the workplace.
Just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.If you are going to practice witchcraft, then practice it to influence and improve all aspects of your life.
It is a gift that should be used. One of my favorite and most subtle ways of infusing magick into a situation is through my relationship with stones. If you see me with my citrine necklace on, stand back please, because I plan to be a commanding presence in the room. If I’m sitting next to you and you happen to see a piece of black tourmaline sticking out of my pocket, you may want to check your negativity at the door next time. And in this world of virtual work, I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve smudged my laptop before a virtual chat!
Being a witch doesn’t have to mean wearing the proverbial hat.Not every witch wears a pentacle around their neck or has a cool metaphysical shop on the outskirts of town (although I wish I did). Some of us are there in the cubicle next to you or in the upper left corner of your zoom meeting. We can slip on a business suit in the morning and stir our cauldrons by moonlight. We don’t need to reconcile the various hats we wear, because each hat is one instrument in the best symphony of ourselves.
We use our witchcraft to set our intentions on fire, whether in our personal lives or to seal the next big deal.
This witch has a closet full of business suits, a cauldron on the hearth, and a broomstick at the doorway. All peacefully coexisting and making her life and the world around her a better place.
How do you integrate your witchcraft into your muggle life?
Broomsticks and Business Suits was originally published in Wild Goddess Magick: Witchology Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
July 1, 2020
The Faces of the Goddess
By Subbotina AnnaThe Triple Goddess is arguably the most important deity in the vast majority of Pagan and Wiccan pantheons. She also is often one of the most misunderstood. Robert Graves called her by a few different names:
Mother/Bride/Layer-outMaiden/Nymph/HagMaiden/Mother/CroneThe Goddess: Three Deities or One Deity?The Triple Goddess also references three aspects of one being which can be seen in cycles found throughout mythology. She symbolizes the separate stages in the female life cycle and the waxing moon, full moon, and waning moon phases. Common references to a triple deity are:
ThreefoldTripledTriuneTriadicTrinityIn Greek Mythology, an example of a trinity of deities are Artemis, Selene, and Hecate. Whereas Artemis is the Waxing Moon or Maiden, Selene the Full Moon or mother, and Hecate the Waning Moon or Crone. These distinctions mirror the trinity or threefold nature of the triple goddess throughout other pantheons.
In Norse mythology, you’ll see reference to the three Norns, while in Celtic mythology it’s the single Morrigan. According to Mythopedia:
The Morrígan was a shapeshifter who took many forms; she would often appear in multiple forms throughout a single story. The most common of these forms were a shapely maiden, a battle ready warrior-queen, an old crone, and a raven.
Learning about the roots of the Triple Goddess, and exactly what her “faces” are, can help you better choose how you want to connect with her during your magickal workings.
Honoring The Goddess honors the feminine divine in us all, no matter our gender or phase in life.The Maiden
Also known as The Huntress or The Virgin, The Maiden is the first in the cycle of the three faces of the Goddess. She is generally portrayed as young and innocent, and is seen in the Spring. The Maiden is often used in magick relating to all kinds of new beginnings, like new jobs, new living space, pregnancy, birth, etc. She is symbolized by the color white and the waxing phase of the moon.
The MotherThe Mother aspect of the Triple Goddess tends to be the one that the majority of magickal practitioners can relate to the most. She is the matron, the teacher. She represents the high point of the Summer, fulfillment in all areas of life, and sexuality. The Mother is best called on for magick related to childbirth, fertility, marriage, and other major life decisions. She doesn’t have a specific color associated with her, but can generally be represented by most rich colors. She is also symbolized by the full moon.
The CroneThe final aspect of the Triple Goddess, The Crone, is far less understood and far more slandered than both The Maiden and The Mother. This is likely due to how most society’s view aging and the elderly, as a kind of dirty secret to be hidden away, but that couldn’t be further from the case when it comes to The Crone. Also known as The Dark Mother or The Wise One, she is often portrayed as being a “hag.” She has experienced much and has plenty of wisdom to impart. The Crone is death, winter, deep mysteries, and darkness because life always has to come full circle. Her color is black, and she is symbolized by the waning moon.
A Fourth Category?In some Neo-Pagan circles, The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone are worshiped alongside a fourth face of the goddess; sometimes called the Enchantress or Queen. This fourth face represents those who have grown out of the Mother phase but are not yet in the Crone phase. This relates to the Autumn season and the waning energies of summer and life. By adjusting for the fourth face of the goddess you can have:
New Moon — Winter — CroneWaxing and First Quarter Moon — Spring — MaidenFull Moon — Summer — MotherWaning and Last Quarter Moon — Autumn — Queen/EnchantressNo matter how you choose to work with The Goddess (either together or separately), always make sure to honor and respect each phase. Honoring The Goddess honors the feminine divine in us all, no matter our gender or phase in life.
***
Wright, Gregory. “Morrigan.” Mythopedia. Accessed on July 1, 2020. https://mythopedia.com/celtic-mythology/gods/morrigan/.
The Faces of the Goddess was originally published in Wild Goddess Magick: Witchology Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
June 12, 2020
The Magick of Using Flowers In Pagan Wedding Ceremonies
Flowers and romance have been linked as far back as people have been declaring their love for each other. It’s only natural that they…
May 22, 2020
How to Create a Unique Handfasting Ceremony
Every relationship is unique, bringing two different people together in one, loving unit. When you’re ready to make that union official…
April 30, 2020
How To Celebrate Beltane From Home This Year
There are several ways you can celebrate Beltane from the comfort of your own home, and they are just as loving as they are valid.
April 25, 2020
Practicing in Passing: Finding Time for Magick When There is None
Photo by Charleigh Clarke on UnsplashI have a habit. I complete my work before I complete any self-care or self-growth, like connecting to my spirituality. I have to admit that’s how The Tiny Cauldron started. I had all this dormant knowledge of green witchcraft I collected over a decade, but I could never stay consistently tuned in. I wanted to though.
As college turned into graduate school, and that turned into motherhood, my self-care and time dwindled. I knew that in order to focus on myself, I had to turn my spirituality into something I was obligated to do. In essence, I found a Sarah-loophole: I knew I wouldn’t focus on it for myself, so I found a way in which I had to. And in that obligation, I knew I would grow personally. I conned myself, plain and simple.
As a result, a lot of the time I have to devote to growing as a witch is the time I actually spend tending to my daughter, orders, orders, buying supplies, editing and more orders. What gets ignored, then, is the hour of yoga I’d like to do. The anointing of candles and meditating. The reading of new books.
Making time for my own magick, then, involves having to practice it in passing sometimes. Well, a lot of the time. And if you’re like me, you’re probably doing the same. From one frazzled practitioner to another, here are a few of my tips to Practice in Passing.
Kitchen WitcheryKitchen witchery is an easy way to incorporate magick since we all have to eat. Why not multitask? The natural way to perform Kitchen Witchery in passing is to incorporate food correspondences, but that’s not where it ends. Much of magick is intention, and intention-building requires being mindful of how you’re constructing those intentions.
In that vein, I ensure that if I am stirring, I am stirring clockwise for prosperity and growth and counter-clockwise for banishing or removal. I focus on my senses, because sense-awareness is mindfulness: What are you smelling now? Feeling now? Seeing now? This allows you to be in the moment, where you need to be, to focus on manifesting intention.
Breath-workIn my spirituality, breath-work is important, but I confess I don’t practice it enough. It’s a concept I became aware of to limit my anxiety, and I grew more familiar with it as I began my yoga experience. But breath-work allows for mindfulness as well; you’re in the moment, stilling the body and mind so that they can focus on intention-building. There are many ways to incorporate breath-work, depending on what you want you want to do (build confidence, ease anxiety, etc.)
Random Bits of YogaDue to coronavirus, I can’t venture into the yoga studio, and I struggle (hard) with finding time for my yoga practice in everyday life; it’s difficult for me to complete a full yoga session in my bedroom when there’s other things that need to be done. And I have my favorite poses, which tempts me to focus on those only.
So to remedy this part of myself, while I’m in the kitchen, I ooze into a Warrior III pose or Lord of the Dance while I wait for food to finish. I’ll do tree pose or downward dog when playing with my daughter.
When I started my yoga journey, I noticed that these little practices actually improved my balance during class sessions.
Sneaking Some ReadingThis one is hard for me, since I have a chatty daughter who is my shadow. I also have a mind that has a terrible short-term memory and I have to go over something several times before I commit it to long-term memory. So when I read, I take notes, and when I get a few minutes, I go back through those notes. Lately, I’ve been shuffling through the 8 limbs of yoga and some (dry) historical information relating to traditional witchcraft. It’s not much, but I do find that I am able to remember it. That’s important for me because if I can remember it, I can practice it, or at least meditate on the ideas (for a couple seconds).
Practicing in Passing shouldn’t make you feel any less of a practitioner; practicing the path is sometimes like boating in a bumbling river, with so much time and energy to devote to the path that we swim in the abundance of knowledge and practice. Sometimes it’s walking through water that barely skirts the toes, and the most completed was a candle spell. Keep walking through that water by Practicing in Passing. It’ll be waist-deep soon.
Practicing in Passing: Finding Time for Magick When There is None was originally published in Wild Goddess Magick: Witchology Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
April 23, 2020
How I Became a Witch
Some people grow up in the spiritual craft, some find it by accident, and some do years of study before finally claiming to be a witch.
April 22, 2020
Connecting to Magick Through Life and Ancestry
The natural world is forever intertwined in story-telling and magick.
Continue reading on Wild Goddess Magick: A Witchcraft Blog »
