I speak a firm counter stance on this and lay down strict parameters for those I am working with. There are only two.

1. All intention/healing/prayer work MUST focus solely on ourself
2. IF it is for another, direct, explicit consent must be obtained first
   *limited exception for pre-pubesent children

More often than not, these ethical parameters are met with resistance. Sometimes it is simply a matter of considering how to reframe a situation to focus on our own involvement only. The person who wants their partner to love them more (or differently) can shift their intention to simply feeling more love, for that is the root. In a card reading or healing session, instead of looking at what is up for another person involved, looking instead at what areas or energies the querent needs to navigate or adopt. It might even just be a matter of conditioning to take care of others before one's own self.

The part I really want to speak to however is the hard truth that we can't assume to know best simply because our compassion is engaged. Humans are incapable of fully understanding the complexities, intricacies, and ramifications of any given event, particularly as time unfolds or the different realms it may affect. Heck we can't even see a full range of light and colour. Not even hear a complete array of tones and pitches. Yet a common consensus appears to be that we can freely impose our will over another when we think it is for their "highest good" or that asking the person's "higher self" or "spirit guides" for permission makes it okay. Perhaps even we double check later with that person to find they appreciated it, providing fuel for justifying this habitual response.

Myself? I believe this way of thinking to be out of integrity and dare I say, downright sloppy.
Let me explain by sharing a few true stories:

• A friend of mine made the challenging decision to leave the church of their family and community for their own well-being and alignment. It is not the sort of decision made lightly and requires great strength while also feeling very tender. Remaining members of the church, believing they were acting for the highest good, set about a concentrated prayer effort for their return. My friend not only had to painstakingly rebuild personal beliefs and support systems, but also deal with a strong counter energy to their well-being.
• A social media plea for the safe return of a runaway teen received hundreds of supporters invoking reunification while not considering the damage staying in an abusive home environment might have. Of course, folks often don't know or refuse to acknowledge how bad a situation might be and assume being home with parents automatically means safety.
• For myself, I have shared with friends and within gathered circles that I was dealing with certain chronic ailments during check-in or while catching-up. "This is where I am at" sort of thing. In my practice I engage with many people, tracking and tending through energetic and spirit realm spaces. I cultivate a sensitivity of perception which requires managing streams of unseen influence in a good way and I choose the healing practitioners that I visit carefully and sparingly. When one, a few, or a group of people decide to send me energetic healing or start adding their own intentions as a kind help, it actually becomes more for me to navigate. Despite being well meaning, it can overwhelm my nervous system, increase pain, and inadvertently counteract carefully refined work.
• I host an annual talisman making gathering for intention setting. We begin by discussing the two ethical boundaries and give ample time to each participant to reframe and refine their intentions down to it's very root essence and to keep things focused on themselves. Periodically I have found later that one or a few people went ahead and added in additional intentions that were in direct contradiction to these two codes of conduct, bringing in spouses, adult children, or close friends. Once it even directly included myself even after I clearly expressed refusal ~ because they wanted to anyway. I didn't know until much later and honestly, I believe it had an impact in how the months following unfolded in my personal life.

You may be familiar with the story of the man who helped a butterfly emerge from its cocoon. Essentially the butterfly could not fly because its wings had not developed the needed strength provided by breaking free on its own. I am not one to "love and light" anyone's hardship, or tell someone in the thickest dark night of the soul that "everything happens for a reason", but I also wont deny someone the transformative insights or strength of character that can only be found in our broken places. Who am I to impose my Will on another person's situation without their knowledge nor direct consent? No matter how rotten, no matter the suffering, how would I know that isn't the divine plan, pre-chosen soul path, or the exact poison needed to deliver the most potent medicine? What if our collective prayers inadvertently remove a stepping stone leading to their best life? most suited partner? invaluable wisdom? Is it okay to infringe on another's free will because we tag on "for the highest good"? What if their higher self says Yes but they themselves say No? Are we 100% certain we haven't projected our desire to fix into that divination? Is it enough to go against a conscious dissent? 

What can we do?
Inquiring if someone is open to receiving your prayers or healing intentions, even if you have been friends for decades and you've done it a million times, shows respect and integrity. Every situation is different and what may have been okay before may not be this time. If it is someone you don't know well, or has beliefs other than our own on such matters, pay attention to the language used in asking for consent. If they think healing energy or divination readings are too "woo-woo" or aren't real, see if an equivalent that makes sense to them can be found. Even if it is something like, "Do you mind if I imagine you free from this challenge?" or "Are you okay with me meditating for an answer on this?"

It might be inappropriate or impossible to ask for consent leaving us with an uncomfortable feeling of "doing nothing", and sometimes we just have to sit with that. I like to check in honestly and ask myself if I am able to trust in knowing they have their own wisdom, their own senses, and their own journey in a matter or if I might actually be doubting or accidentally being condescending toward their natural abilities. Simply regarding, noticing, and appreciating someone is a powerful act. Quantum physics shows us the impact an observer can have in situations of all kinds from particle waves to ph levels of water. We aren't doing anything beyond witnessing something already present like their tenacity or the light of their life force. 

What about the exception I mentioned for young children?
I recognize that small dependent children turn to their parents for all of their needs and it is up to us to draw on our skills and supports to do so. Whether it is applying aid during an illness or keeping them safe. It is expected of us. Wanted. Needed. Prayers and healing work included. I say "limited exception" because in my experience folks tend to want to push those boundaries toward pubescent and full grown adult children or stretch into areas that are life or behaviour controlling. Removing a troublemaking friend of theirs during a fire ceremony is different than praying for their ability to make wise choices. It can be exceptionally difficult for parents to honour a child's autonomy, resiliency, and need to make their own way through the dark woods. It can be hard to know when it is right to hold their hand, when we should stand beside or behind, and when to plain stay out of it. Clarity is good. Ask them.

This has been a long one. Much gratitude to readers who have made it this far. It is an area that I am passionate about, aim to follow, and am quite firm on since it comes up so often in my work and gatherings. Of course it is not always appropriate to broach in the heat of a moment either. It was time to put it all in one place and share out from here.

In the lead up to our monthly circles I spend time listening, with all of my senses, for incoming messages that support our moving in a good way through unseen, "felt", energetic currents that are always present and perhaps go unnoticed.
Something that came up last week was the invitation for us to pay extra attention to the portals we pass through. The thresholds we cross. The transitions we experience. Everything from actual household doorways to shifting between sleep and wakefulness. The portals we pass through when we work with Spirit, the veils that we part, the auspicious moments in time... like a Full Moon or Samhain (or as the case is this year - both!) Have you ever walked into a room and completely forgotten why you are there? It is called the "Doorway Effect". Our brain is triggered into forgetting. There can be great medicine in forgetting, but there is also much to be had in remembering.

What came through was an invitation for slowing things down enough to reallllly notice - mostly that we are in fact crossing a threshold, but also, since we are noticing, to mindfully experience the qualities and stages of them a bit.
~ Standing at the doorway. Is there trepidation? Expectation? Preconceived assumptions? A leap of faith? I'm sure we all know the 'hand on the doorknob steeling up to actually enter' feeling, or that chest flutter just before declaring a final decision. Are We opening it or is something else? Can we choose to keep it closed? Did we prepare?
~ The sometimes very brief moment of being In a liminal state, neither fully here nor there. Is there comfort in this? Discombobulation? Can we hear/see wisdoms easier or feel more blind? Perhaps we are here longer than anticipated, it can feel dizzying and fast or sometimes a timeless limbo. Is it solid and sturdy or is our safety in jeopardy?
~ Emerging on the other side. Is it a jolt to the system? Do we feel welcomed and in the "right place"? Did we come out standing on our own two feet or crawling on raw hands and knees? Do we need a rest now or feel invigorated? Have we really made it fully through? Are we where we expected to be? Did we kick the door shut or did it lovingly, gently, click closed behind us?

Did we even notice?

We pass through so.very.many. Every day. All day.
But perhaps the great forgetting is upon us.

Think of all the stories we have known, stories of ornate doors with missing keys, stories of secret words to clear blocked passage, the tunnels that are stumbled upon, fairy rings bumbled into, forbidden rooms that force one into an initiation of sorts, creatures of myth who cross boundaries and worlds and realms. These stories have long captivated our attention, and there always seems to be an aspect of "the human" and an aspect of "otherworldliness" to them.

This week and into the next, if you are inclined, I extend this invitation from somewhere trusted on "the other side", to notice the portals that you pass through. Be they your front door, a video call, into/out of meditation, spirit journeying, creative state, ritual acts, or ceremony space. Between daydreaming and presence. When you get in and out of the car. Heck even half asleep midnight bathroom trips.
We don't need to over analyze.
Just notice.

Unfortunately, unrecognized initiations occur in individuals and groups quite often. These are times when we move through life altering events that shake us to our core, without guidance of a medicine person or wise elder facilitating a conscious process, without knowledge of what is afoot, and without even a sense of preparation. It might be a near death experience through illness or accident, coming of age without stories of foretelling, becoming lost alone overnight in the woods, or even the untangling from a toxic relative or abusive spouse. If we are lucky, we at least have a quiet witness to the magnitude of a profound shift within us.

​Previously I wrote an article on the 3 Stages of an Initiatory Experience describing the phases as I know them to be. It paints a picture of a full and complete process from the initial stages of severance or removal from all that we know, into the discombobulating challenge of an intensity that brings us to the brink - be it facing fear, maxing out our physical strength and endurance, testing our faith, or near breaking of determination and will power - and into the final integration of the knowledge we gained from such challenge, where life is reassembled in a new, course corrected, improved, and harmonious way. Which is far from how light and easy that might sound.

The trouble comes when one begins this process, intentionally or not, and stalls or stops partway through. Usually when the going gets roughest, and most often when without recognition either from the initiate themselves or from a network or facilitator to help push through to completion. It feels like the bottom has dropped out from under our feet, circumstances become intolerable, but we don't make it to the other side with newfound resilience and instead stay in a painful place where the emotional wounds don't seem to heal, dysfunctional patterns continue,  and the shit just keeps getting kicked up without true resolution. We end up not knowing how to fully return from our challenge. We don't know how to process what we experienced or what to do with the thoughts that we walked away with. For some, it might even result in a chronic trauma response.

The sneakiest pitfall that I have seen many times over, is when the challenge itself runs its course, the initiate(s) complete their hardship in whatever form it took, the sigh of relief is breathed - and everything goes right back to the way it was when it all started. There is a false sense of completion. A lull into complacency just before the actual finish line. The wisdoms gained during the ultimate "moment of truth" is not applied to life After after all.
All becomes for nought.
There was no integration and we might not even know it.
The big game is talked, didactic pontification ensues, wounds are declared healed, and blindspots are cultivated and sidestepped.
Until the next initiatory experience brings another chance.

What I have had brewing on the back burner of my awareness, is no matter how easily or painfully we might be moving through these pandemic days, regardless of "enlightened" or conspiracy  concepts  as to the Whys of it all, despite any desire for or knowledge of potentially being in the midst of an initiatory experience - both individually and collectively - there is possibility of inadvertently missing those 3 key steps.
Severance. Threshold. Integration.

We have clearly said goodbye to life as we knew it. We appear to be at the threshold. How it looks and what we learn here is deeply personal and widely varied. If it is right, that these times are indeed following this ancient structure, integration will look differently for everyone. Some will actively work at it. Some will not even realize it. Let there be no sidestepping. Let us be guided by innate wisdom and latent medicines if not by Initiated knowledge keepers. Sometimes they seem far and few between. But at least if we get lost, we know these 3 steps.

There are many times we might feel called to pick up a stone, feather, shell, or stick while walking in nature. These little friends might catch our eye or even seem to "call out" to us. We might feel a pull or even seem to audibly hear them. This is especially the case during meditation walks when seeking items for certain ceremonial working such as creating a spirit arrow or staff, when in need of a particular energetic or elemental medicine, gathering for a devotional offering practice, re-stocking Burlá Ghuí/Despacho kits, when creating medicine pouches, or simply wildcrafting herbal medicines, but we may also feel this urge spontaneously. Some of us may even develop a habit of collecting a particular item, heart shaped rocks or feathers are a common favourite.

There are a few important aspects to consider when gathering from Nature to ensure that we are doing so in a good way. 

• Do we need it? 
  When we have a long standing practice of working with a particular element or natural item it is easy to simply fall into the habit of collecting whenever we see one. They seem to always catch our awareness and our affinity for them finds us often happily tucking one... or five ... into our pocket. Sometimes this isn't really a call to gather More at all, but rather an invitation to work more closely with what we already have. Those heart rocks mentioned above are a great example. How well do you know the ones already on your window sill or piled in your garden? Do you know Why you are attracted to them? In what way are you actively working with them? I mean actively working with, not just lining a path or stock piling them because they look nice. Meditating on, dreaming with, or Journeying to the spirit of a stone may reveal some profound medicine ways to deepen your relationship. Stream of conscious journaling, even direct contemplation are also helpful avenues of discovery.
• Eco-friendly Harvesting
  We want to be certain that our collecting is not altering or harming the eco-system. The shell on the beach may have small, living barnacles on the back for instance. When harvesting plants, mushrooms, roots, lichen etc., do so sparingly and collect small amounts from multiple sources rather than all from one spot. Ideally, research the most harmless method as well. Take only what is needed and aim to avoid any waste or spoilage.
• Permission
  Often in spiritually minded communities we are guided to "ask permission" from the plant, stone, or feather etc. but not everyone knows what that means or how to ask. The intention is to bring ourselves to stillness and inner quiet while holding the question very present in both heart and mind. We might choose wording such as, "Do you agree to come with me for sacred use?" or, "May I have your permission to harvest some of your leaves?" and we must wait for any sense of yes or no. This may be a subtle feeling or come through very strongly. If clearer answers are needed, we might employ methods such as muscle testing or pendulum use. A coin flip would work in a real pinch. It may also help to be touching what we are hoping to gather while asking. The important thing is to be very honest with ourselves about if we have a clear Yes or not. Be prepared and accept non consent. Even if we reallllly want it.
• Reciprocal Exchange
  ​Another common protocol is to leave something we value or hold in high regard behind. This helps ensure that we don't inadvertently adopt an attitude of only take take take. We want to cultivate a reciprocal relationship with our helping allies, just as we would any friend. We don't only call up our friends when we need something, we show them we care for and respect them. Only instead of buying our friend a coffee or bringing them care packages when sick, we place sacred herbs down, channel reiki, radiate our love, sing a song, or one of my favourites - leave a few strands of hair behind. I have an affinity for the latter, particularly when gathering plant medicines, as it is an avenue for our ally to also know Us in an intimate way. Our physical self is being shared just as their physical self is. Be sure your choice of gift in return will not accidentally seed foreign plants, poison sensitive environments, or even start a fire such as is possible with clear quartz crystals left in the summer sun.
• Legalities
  It seems obvious to ensure that we are not on private property, in a preserve or estuary, or are harvesting rare or sensitive species, and yet it is still strangely a common occurrence. Please hold the upmost integrity here and keep feelings of entitlement in check. Do some research and double check information sources well. Many people are surprised to learn there are possession laws around seemingly innocuous items, removal restrictions or harvesting limits from popular destinations, or how once traditional culinary choices may now be endangered. For example, there are limits to seaweed gathering both seasonal and by weight. Picking a few Ghost Pipe stems from the same patch or even plucking just one fairy slipper flower will kill the entire plant.

Keeping all of this in mind, working closely and respectfully with plants, stones, the elements, trees, fungi, wood, and other such items, is deeply rooted in our history. Returning to these ways of being and bringing them into our spiritual practice and daily lives helps us re-connect with the natural world and reanimate forgotten traditions. If an aspect feels particularly resonant, perhaps seek out an elder or teacher to guide and deepen your relationship with these allies.

Related Resources:
How to cultivate a relationship with plant, stone, or crystal medicine - article full of easy methods
Stone Spirit Medicine - online course for those drawn to stones in personal healing and spiritual practice

Today's podcast guest, Juliette Woods, is an incredible mix of mystic, mother, spiritual guide, creative, and earth spiritualist. 

In our conversation we talk about...

• The concept of a 'slow-cooked' life and regenerative self care 
• Tending to ourselves by tuning into our innate capacities, seeking emancipation from the paradigm of overdoing
• The recognition that we are re-learning how to be in circle and the balance between patience, openness, compassion, boundaries, and...well, we'll figure it out eventually! 
• Considering what is means to 'hold space' or be 'sending' energy to someone #gettinspiritual #woohoo
• Recognizing the places we need to perhaps reclaim ourselves
• Cultural appropriation and a gentle invitation to be ever more vigilant with our language
• Making conscious transformations in your business - even when it's a bit challenging
• Being in service to LIFE through acts of connection and contemplation (and some good ole ironic humour) and Juliette's photo project and 'devotion of trash removal on the West Coast of Canada', Lost & Found. Please Claim.

We cover a lot of ground in this long-form conversation that feels like a lengthy stroll down the beach on a drizzly day...picking up wise little stones...giving the selkies a wave hello and wink or two...remembering the seal skin tucked away in our own closets.

To support this podcast :
You can engage in reciprocity with this show by supporting me - Amber Samaya - on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ambersamaya

An Initiatory Experience
An initiation marks a distinct time of "before" and "after". The kind of experience that, at its extreme, will feel like a complete life over-haul, almost like we have been reborn or achieved a new level of depth/height in awareness. Everything is somehow different or has shifted in a fundamental or cellular way.

Often it is a rite of passage, deep ceremony, intense personal medicine work, vision quest, or healing event that creates a significant shift in the way we relate to and experience the world. It steps us into a new phase of life or welcomes us into a community previously unavailable to us. It applies also to unplanned events like serious illness, accident, or tragedy, as well as natural life stages such as birth, puberty, menarche, labour/birth/parenthood, coupling/uncoupling, menopause, eldership,  and death.

As I have learned it, there are 3 distinct phases to an Initiation.
Severance. Threshold. Integration.
Others may have different names or words to describe them, but the essence seems consistent in my experiences and observances so far.

​Severance
The preparation phase. This is the lead up to the experience, and is when the healing work actualy begins. Sometimes as early as the moment when we commit to the opportunity. We go through a phase, consciously or not, of acts of letting go of our life as we know it, saying Goodbye to all that is familiar, releasing our grip on the anchors that make us feel stable - patterns, beliefs, relationships, perceived goals and desires, daily constructs, ways of relating, ways of being, ways of thinking - and cutting all ties to the way things are.

If you recognize you are in the Severance stage, you can support and deepen this process by:

• Bringing awareness to the phase you are experiencing
• Observance. Take notice of what theme is present. What situations might be at hand that bring you to this crux time? Are there synchronicities that you are noticing?
• Mindfully acknowledging the last time you touch something before you head off. That when you see it again, you will have a new perspective and be fundamentally changed from holding the medicine and wisdom of your experience. The same for when you see someone for the last time before you go. Part with them in a meaningful way. You are releasing all that "has been" to make way for the more harmonious.

Threshold
This is where we cross over from the "before" to the "after". It is the Experience that changes us or the culmination of experiences that leads us to a pivotal threshold or doorway to step through. It may be marked by ceremony, ritual, vision quest, dark night(s) of the soul, a period of deep healing, or it may not even be fully recognized while in the thick of it - particularly when without the witnessing of community or when the experience(s) are viewed as trauma without resulting gifts.

When in this stage, you might support and deepen the experience by:

• Bringing awareness to the medicinal purpose of what you are experiencing. This is the dissolved, mush state of the not-yet-butterfly caterpillar in the cocoon phase.
• Being gentle with yourself
• Allowing the experience of ALL the feelings, sensations, thoughts, and flashes of intuition and vision. All the emotional highs and lows. All the physical discomforts and tangible revelling. Treating it all with the same level of honour and holding them lightly to more easily pass through and transform.
• Be wary of distraction. If at home this might look like Netflix binging, busy work, social media, imbibing in alcohol or unhealthy use of plant medicines, or otherwise keeping your awareness away from the raw and present. If away in ceremony, it might look like excessive note taking, or hours spent journaling. Perhaps checking the clock, talking to other participants, deflection with humour (not to be confused with healthy levity),  fidgeting or movement without purpose
• If fasting or a dieta is not part of your Threshold, eating foods that feel "clean" in your body and drinking plenty of water or herbal teas
• Draw on your personal spiritual practice. Seek council with elders and spirit guides alike. Rely on tools that are tried and true for you

Integration
Often considered the hardest part, and sadly too often overlooked - integration occurs when we are able to Return to our usual life and keep the gifts we have acquired intact. We are challenged with bringing our internal shifts outward to affect change in our day-to-day living and resist falling back into old ways of thinking, reacting, and being. Many times this transition isn't easy, might be messy, and perhaps feels a bit chaotic as things shake up in order to fall into more harmonious places. Touching in with any community, elders, or teachers that held us through the Threshold phase can be a wellspring of anchoring resources.
​
When in this stage, you might support and deepen the experience by:

• Making hard choices and having tough conversations. The theme or situations identified during the Severance phase is a clue here, notice if things intensify into intolerable levels and create the urge or push to make significant changes. You don't have to rush or force this one. If it happens, it will organically and deep down you will know what the answer is even if your mind wants to argue or complicate it.
• Keep reflecting back to the insights and medicines retrieved during the Threshold. Trust the work has already been underway and you are halfway there, or almost done.

A few years ago I wrote some practical, hands-on, tips and suggestions for integrating the medicines from the Threshold, and bringing all of the unseen, personal, inner work Out into our mundane living experience. If you would like more on the Integration phase, find yourself post-ceremony or have recently undergone a personal healing session, please read "Integration ~ the often overlooked time after soul-work".
If you would like personal and direct support as you move through any of these stages, you are welcome to send me an email at [email protected] or book a consultation.

7 Steps to building a Community Altar practice:

1.) Consider where your Altar will be and the length of time it will remain active. Helpful questions might be; Will your Altar be indoors or outside? Are you ready for a permanent feature in your home or will it be created only for a short gathering? An Altar is created with careful energetic intention on a designated surface - so choose a location that is easy to access and encouraging for you to tend to. Perhaps more than one person will actively tend to the Altar on behalf of the community - you get to cultivate this practice to suit your needs as well as those seeking to be included!
2.) Ponder the essential quality the Altar will be designed to represent and radiate. One might choose to support people’s hearts, invoke the sense of being held in the hands of divinity, promote their safety, clear ancestral wounds, encourage physical health, or tend to a need in the community that you identify with and relate to from  your lived experience. 
3.) Every item that makes up the Altar will be carefully selected and geared to contribute to the chosen energy and purpose. Consider them as energetic or spiritual ‘power houses’ such as specific crystals, images of deities or photos of deceased relatives, stones from significant and relevant places, plant medicines or dried herbs, all of which carry or support the chosen intention. An Altar brings together the individual energies of the objects with your aim to create a unified energy source that continues to “work for you” once set.
4.) Decide how you will represent people who want to be included. You might light a candle on their behalf and speak their name for long distance support or if they will be physically present you might ask them to bring a stone, photo, or personal item that resonates with their individual energetic imprint.
5.) When you have spent some time becoming familiar with the energy of the Altar, are clear on its intention and comfortable with tending to it; extend the invitation to your community to be included. One might offer to individuals who are already asking for support, post a general invitation on social media, or verbally encourage participants at a gathering you are offering.
6.) Be sure to hold the work your Altar is doing with utmost respect. Do not allow others to put random objects on it, keep it clean and organized, spend time in quiet reverence there, and perhaps move things around or change up the items to keep the energy fresh. You might sing devotional songs, make offerings, or speak invocations and prayers while tending.
7.) It is important to remember that as a working energy source, there are also times of rest needed. We can provide this rest by periodically laying a cloth over it and by dismantling it when no longer active. Blessing and cleansing the items with sacred smoke is also something to be mindful to do when the energy begins to feel “stale”. If out-of-doors in a public area, be sure to thank and close the Altar by removing personal items after each time of tending.

Tips to remember:

• Do what works for you. This practice is an act of service yet it is vital to not let it draw too much energy from you and become a burden. Make this as easy and enjoyable as you can.
• When I include community members, I envision them glowing with their own divinity, in their "highest healed state", or full of vibrancy and joy. We want to invoke wellness and not focus on any ailments or troubles that they may have shared with you.
• Be certain to only include people you have direct expressed permission to include. Generally parents of small children can speak for on their behalf as kids tend to ask their parents for help in any matter, however, we must be diligent to not assume for others. If someone is nominating a sick friend, or loved one going through a challenge - be sure they have specifically asked and received direct consent from them. It is unethical to infringe on another’s free will, even when we think we are helping. We cannot assume a best course of action for another no matter how one might 'justify' it or how strong it tugs on our heart strings.
• Draw on your interests or ways of working that you are excited about bringing into your practice. Crystals, herbs, plants, bones, images, stones, your own art, can all be brought into your Altar creation. Use your intuition, or tune in to the energies when choosing items. This is an aspect to cultivate and explore!
• If you have children with you, don’t be shy to include them. My children automatically know when candles are lit on the Altar set to the essence of the Divine Mother, that there are people asking for support. Sometimes they ask to light their own candles or whisper words of encouragement for those represented. It has simply become a normal, devotional act of compassion in our household.
• Remember you need not go out and buy anything fancy! A simple cloth on a shelf with a few items that you already have or find in nature is all it takes. 

An example of a simple yet powerful Altar as an inspiration for your own might be to dedicate it to the "Good Neighbours", and include a central rose quartz sphere representing your love and appreciation for house sprites. Perhaps a fairy quartz in included with the points radiating outward and interlaced with small images of Fairies that are particularly attractive to you. You might decide to work with the creative, impish energy of this space by reciting a daily invocation stating your desire to connect with the Fae, Brownies, House Elves etc on a more reciprocal level. This could be helpful in homes where items regularly, and inexplicably, go missing or when it feels like your house is "playing tricks" with you. Visitors to your home who would like the same intention could be welcomed to leave shiny coins, milk, oats, or chocolate as gifts on the altar when they come for tea with you.

Another example might be an altar for our Grandmothers, perhaps created on a piece of lace at a Samhain gathering. Adorned with an inherited favourite tea cup, some black and white photos, and a brooch your Great Great Grandmother wore. These would establish the connection to matriarchal lines and brings in their energy. If the intention is to heal a history of abuse for our Ancestors, including crystals that transmute dense energy, repair heartache, and impart strength placed with the intention of safely surrounding the Grandmothers creates a powerful healing purpose. Guests could then bring their own photos, heirlooms, and written prayers for healing their lineages.

You might be surprised how many people ask to be included and share with you a real, felt sense of being supported. The simple act of someone caring is a profound sentiment let alone the supportive medicines included with, and invoked by, your Altar practice. It's free, takes little time, creates a strong feeling of community, and isn’t impeded by distance. I invite you to begin and have fun!

If you would like more in-depth wisdom to explore about Altars & Shrines, the differences between the two, their purpose, nuances, and best practices, it is a topic we cover during the first month of the Return to Reverence immersion program and continue to work with throughout.
​Registration opens each June and we begin each October.
Do you have Altars ALL over the house? Here is something to consider that is often overlooked.

Regarding climate change and the despair many of us feel, Pieta Woolley asked if I would share a quote of Hope for us this Spring. Here is a lovely collection of inspiration during these challenging times of renewal and new beginnings...