Hello dear soul,

For the past month, I have been working daily with the Japanese Sun Goddess Amaterasu. 
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“Working with” is a common term in pagan circles for focusing one’s energy and time on a certain deity. This is distinct from “worshipping” and in the Jungian world would be similar to doing active imagination with an archetype or myth. It sometimes has the quality of shamanic journey work or meditation.

She has been teaching me about the DISCIPLINE of self care.

Daily practice and daily self care take DISCIPLINE! They take repeated effort, they take willingness to slow down and look inward even in those moments when we feel we don’t have time or just don’t want to. For me, this has meant making time before my daily “to dos” to sit outside in the sun every single morning (when the weather has allowed).

If I picked up my phone to check instagram, I would hear “Nope. Put it down. Just sit. Let the sun be on your skin. Nothing else.” I would also receive this reminder whenever I was eating a meal, “Nope. No distractions. Just eat. Taste your food and breathe. Nothing else.” Reading, checking social media, watching something, these things can come later.

A few weeks of this has truly breathed the life back into me after a long and stressful winter! I feel more spaciousness to work one step at a time on my goals, and more capacity for fun and joy to bring into my relationships. I feel less fear of overwhelm, which has been a constant looming threat in my busy life.

​I’ve just returned from two glorious weeks in Japan, and boy this jet lag is kicking my butt! It’s teaching me some great lessons though about slowing down, which coincides quite nicely with the new moon this Sunday.

American culture is particularly afflicted with an addiction to doing WAY TOO MUCH! Leisure time, self care, and relaxation are not taken seriously as human needs here. The health implications of excessive stress are quite severe - stress pushes us into adrenal fatigue, depression, illness, inability to digest/metabolize nutrients, and so much more. I personally find that I often swing between extremes: busy busy busy getting so much done top of the world productive, and then CRASH completely immobilized. 

Do any of you relate to this?? I’m guessing yes. Perpetuating this cycle, rushing through our day to day lives and setting ourselves up for stress-induced crashes, is nothing less than committing an act of violence against our beloved selves, and it is up to us to put an end to it!

Wishing you all a joyous Spring Equinox today my loves!!

Today the day and night are of equal length, and signs of spring are beginning to boldly peek their way out of the cold soil here in Colorado. New life is begging to emerge after the long dark months of winter.

Yesterday I went on a long walk near my house. I was listening, as one does, to the audiobook of the Mists of Avalon, but about 10 minutes into my walk, the audio abruptly stopped and I couldn’t for the life of me get it to restart. So instead, I continued my walk au natural, paying attention to the sounds, smells, and sights of the little corridor of nature surrounding me. I was struck by the most wondrous of things. A scattering of long, graceful feathers led me to the remains of a bird recently eaten by a coyote or fox. I placed two feathers in the bark of a nearby tree to honor this event. The cows were itching themselves cathartically on the low hanging branches of cottonwoods along the creek, carving divots in the muddy banks in their attempts to reach further, more satisfying branches. The creek, oh the creek itself - as it flowed over rocks and branches, the water created such beautiful ripples and patterns that caught the sun at just the right angles to stun me with its beauty.

Hello dear ones!! It is with utmost excitement that I reveal the secret project I’ve been working on for some time now! Over the past several years I have built *many* websites and created numerous business plans on a similar vein, but none of them came to fruition as each one began to slowly feel horribly limiting to me. None of them felt like the full container for what my heart and soul are wanting to create! So I got really quiet and dove deep into mysterious and unknown waters. I realized that what I want to create cannot be contained within any existing box or shallowly defined singular archetype. I realized that this creation must be in service to that which is UNTAMABLE in us all. And so I give you [cue dramatic music]: Untamable Woman!

(FYI, for the men reading this - there will be things here for you too!)

Here I will host several offerings:

When I awake with purpose in my heart
I rise from bed with a smile
My morning routine feels like a ritual of preparation
for the magic making of my day

When I walk with purpose in my heart
each fall of my foot to the earth
is greeted with support
and I am encouraged to step forth again
and again
and again

Last night I sat in circle with some incredible women - we were discussing the warrior woman within the context of love and relationship. The topic of sovereignty, one of the great gifts of the warrior woman archetype, was brought up and a couple of us spoke about independence, and the ability to be self sufficient. Another sister chimed in and added that to her this doesn’t always mean being 100% self reliant or not needing anyone else, but in fact also knowing when to ask for support. This felt quite powerful to me, and led me into thinking about sovereignty in the sense of feeling empowered in exercising CHOICE in our lives.

 My dear one,
Sow your seeds
Get to know your seeds
Your seeds of inspiration

Fall under the spell of your seeds
Share the stories of your seeds
Tell your seeds,
You’re coming home to them.
No more wandering and wondering

You were right all along
You were impeccably created
Your seeds were impeccably made
From Beyond
From the Deep
Trust your seeds

Do you ever find yourself perseverating on something that you *know* is not serving you, but you can’t seem to quit? I’m talking about things like jealousy, stress, comparison to others, or feeling like a victim. Most of us struggle with these things from time to time, myself definitely included.

I want to share with you today a powerful journaling practice for emerging back into your joy when stuck in obsession and fear - or in other words how to break free of an obsessive downward spiral.

What you’ll need: Some quiet time and a journal to write your thoughts in if that helps you to process things.

​I recently spent some time camping in the desert in Utah alone - just me and the earth and the ever present awareness of my calling and devotion to the path of priestess and wild warrior woman. I dove into the visceral presence of the sacred and found myself in frequent communion with a deeper wisdom.

From HER to me to you:

What can I do? How can I help? How may I serve?

Be awake
Be aware
Be wild
Be open