All the fear has left me now / I'm not frightened anymore / It's my heart that pounds beneath my flesh / It's my mouth that pushes out this breath - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, credit Sarah McLachlan
In the photo above, I'm at the High Country Music Festival, newly divorced and feeling free. I had just published by eighth book and expected that my newfound liberation would drive my success in the literary world.
My imagined story did not happen. Instead within the next few years all my father figures died, cancer invaded my mother's breasts and the daily grind seemed to crush my spirit.My artistic free-spirit nature survived by taking road trips.
There are many fables about what's good and what is perceived as bad.
In time, I allowed myself to fall in love again and moved to the mountains where my days are filled with hammock swings, writing, throwing pottery and hosting travelers. And now I am stumbling toward ecstasy in this mass confusion as we try to understand our humanity. Let's keep being the light we want to see in the world. After all, when ever did anyone promise us life would ever be anything but consonantly evolving uncertainty?
Thank you, Light Workers.
Jamie Della
Diving in Deep
Three events: 1769 Spanish Colonization, 1848 Mexican-American War and the 1936 Citrus Strike weave through me as a complex and beautiful composition of my matriarchal bloodline. As an empath I have have memories that are not my own from whiplashes in the Catholic missions to police beatings in Anaheim to the joy of a fandango. Through oral storytelling, DNA memory, and intense fact-checking, I have spent much of my life studying belonging, power, and racism through generational memory and terrapsychology. Each layer I unpeel blossoms into a new essay or another nuance in my memoir.
9,000 copies sold in bookstores. Third print run. Available at Target stores, Barnes & Noble & Amazon
"I loved this book from the second I opened it. It’s more of a self help book, but in a very non traditional way ;) I bought one for a friend so we can work on some “spells” and personal goals together! Great gift!" - Amazon review
We filmed a wonderful book talk for The Book of Spells with Rebel Hearts Books in Jacksonville, Oregon on June 21. This zoom call will be turned into videos that will be available on my website.
My Herbal Journeys column in Witches & Pagans Magazine and Herbal Allies essay, featuring interviews with my plant sistas, will appear in Sage Woman Magazine in their upcoming issues
I am partnering with Witch with Me for some exciting new ventures, including a new column and courses
By Victoria Bearden - Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto, oh my! The world continues to reverberate from the monumental shift in consciousness precipitated by the conjunction of Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn this past January. The life-altering events that continue to unfold during 2020 are a result of centuries of “karmic” buildup. Although many of the transformations we are going through might seem harsh, there is definitely a silver-lining, if enough people raise their vibrations and push their thoughts towards the greater good for humans, and the beautiful planet we live on, and all of her beings.
There are many important developments yet to come this year, and as I like to say, remember that we are making it up as we go along, so to speak. The future is not set in stone. Astrology and spiritual wisdom give us a cosmic weather report of sorts. Then, it is up to us, collectively, and individually, to act in accordance to the higher truths that are being revealed. Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn will begin to separate this Fall, giving us a chance to break free from old patterns, once and for all. Jupiter and Saturn will align on December 21, 2020, the Solstice, giving us enormous insight and inspiration to replace outworn structures with new and progressive forms. So, get ready. We have a lot of work to do!
The Madonna of Black Butte by Holly DeFount is the Mount Shasta Goddess Temple’s devotional representation of the Black Madonna. Situated in the Temple’s Siskiyou County landscape, against the backdrop of Black Butte (a satellite cone of Mt Shasta), the image includes iconic details in homage to several different historical Black Madonnas: the scars from the cheek of our Lady of Częstochowa, the rays of light emitting from Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the colourful robes of Sara-la-Kali. At her feet is a rattlesnake native to our region, not being trod upon or treated as evil, but curled in a harmonious infinity symbol at the feet of the Great Mother, symbolising her eternal love for the Earth and all of its sacred creatures. On her right side, red roses grow, and on her left are white Shasta lilies. The two flowers alchemically represent the sun and the moon, or the red and white tinctures that ultimately give rise to the Philosopher’s Stone.
From now until August 1, the Mt Shasta Goddess Temple will dedicate the proceeds from print sales of this image to Black Mamas Matter, an organisation addressing the needs of Black mothers today. From their website: “Black Mamas Matter Alliance is a Black women-led cross-sectoral alliance. We center Black mamas to advocate, drive research, build power, and shift culture for Black maternal health, rights, and justice.”
