Seasons of Moon and Flame by Danielle Dulsky

Author:Danielle Dulsky
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781608686438
Publisher: New World Library
Published: 2020-01-23T16:00:00+00:00

The Sea Hag laughs then, an eerie and tinkling sound echoing from her chest more than her mouth; your feet touch the cool surface of the water, and you are left with a deep and wordless knowing that you are home.

Opening Practice: Your Autumn Initiation

Materials: Three candles and a secret location

There is a natural progression from our gratitude magick in summer to our grief ceremonies of autumn, and the bridge between the two are those tender and aching places that we attempt to shun or hide for fear of seeming too weak to exist in our hard-hearted society. Feel into the spirit of autumn now in a secret place where you can be alone. Depending on your location, you might sense the leaves dropping or the frost weighing down the most stubborn flower petals. You can be inside or outside, but do be in a place where you are not fearing the judgments of others. This is your time. Here, you are wild. Here, you are Witch.

When ready, you might cast a circle or simply give a nod to the four directions, to above and below. Let yourself be held by this place, wherever you may be. Ponder three tender edges now as you are here. In Anam Čara, John O’Donohue writes: “Transience is the force of time that makes a ghost of every experience. There was never a dawn, regardless how beautiful or promising, that did not grow into noontime.”

Grief is the ever-present force that allows simple poetry to spark tears, a poignant word from a dear friend to crack our hearts wide open, and keeps us just on the edge of a beauteous and fertile mourning. We grieve not only for what we have lost in our personal lives but also for what our ancestors have lost, for what nature has lost at the hands of humanity, and the many, many myths that have failed to bear fruit.

Name them, these three griefs of yours. Is there a dream that is, as yet, unmet? Is there a long-held myth you are realizing holds no truth? Is there a wounded land you cannot save or a creature who will not love you the way you want to be loved?

Shed your armor now, and free-speak these three griefs, lighting a candle for the first and beginning with these words: I am a child of the earth, and here, I feel tender.

This is not defeat or retreat. This is looking life in the eye. Let this be a ritual of space making, of untethering binds. Do the same for the other two griefs, lighting a candle for each and then free-speaking a eulogy of sorts. Permit some ice to melt around your heart here. Let something move. Bid your body respond if it feels right, curling into grief shapes, then moving in ways that feel expansive and liberatory. Become a potent mourning. Wail if you like, and stay with this for as long as you can. Move into and through the rawness. Do not try to control or overcome.

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