“Summer breeze makes me feel fine, blowing through the jasmine in my mind,” wrote the late Jim Seals of the music duo Seals and Croft.  Can’t you feel a gentle jasmine-tinged breeze wafting through an open window?  Doesn’t the fragrance take you back to a simpler time – a time of catching fireflies and playing outdoors until the street lights came on?

Perhaps we can find that simplicity again as the Wheel of the Year spins toward the Solstice on June 21. Here are some ways I’m using to simplify, and I hope you’ll try them too:

1. I’m scheduling my time better and sticking to a schedule as much as possible.  For example, I’m writing in the mornings with my phone silenced.  That’s all I’m doing during that time – writing.  I’m giving up the futile attempt at multitasking.

2. Conversely, I’m also creating space for spontaneity. If a friend calls, inviting me for coffee in the afternoon, I give myself permission to go.  No “yeah buts….”

3. I make time every day to just sit.  Just sit on my porch and watch the birds.  Just sit on the dock and watch the sunset.  This is a great opportunity to expand my gratitude list.

4. I’m making simpler meals, wearing simpler clothes (and no shoes unless forced to!).

5. I’m reassessing what I really value.  I treasure my family and friends, and some “things” – but I’m working toward simplifying some of those.  I’m not a packrat, but I certainly could do with less!

I hope this list spurs you to approach the changing of the season with a calmness, a deep breath, that says “yes” to what you treasure and how you relate to the time you have each day.  I ask myself to pay attention.  Where am I putting my energy?  To whom am I giving my time?  What brings me joy and laughter?  What fills my soul and heart with sunshine?  As I answer those questions, my path toward the Solstice is clear, gentle, and lovely.

I wish the same for you.

Summer Sales!

Numerology Reading: A Written Record of Your Personal Numbers!

$125.00         Sale: $115.00           
June 17-23
 

https://debbowen.com/product/numerology-reading/

https://debbowen.com/product/animal-guides-reading/

Upcoming Courses!

Many of you responded so favorably to a course about Candle Magic.  It will be in August, so watch for details in my July newsletter.
 
Lots of you also have asked about my Tarot course schedule.  My introductory course, Unlocking the Mysteries of Tarot will be offered in August and my advanced course, Deeper Mysteries of Tarot will be offered in September. 
 
I hope you’ll join me!

Book of the Month: Mythology by Edith Hamilton

Sometimes I think it’s wise to go back to basics, so, with this book recommendation, I’m going back to the fourth grade.  Nothing I saw on our little black and white television could compare to the thrilling stories I read in this book.

Hamilton’s anthology of Greek, Roman, and Norse tales of gods and goddesses enflamed my imagination and took me to far away and mythical lands.  More than that – reading these accounts of heroic deeds – I was given a key into my future course of study, which will never end.

This cast of characters paved the way for brilliant theorists like Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell to explore commonalities we humans share with them, and lessons they teach us as archetypes along life’s journey.

From this book I learned that some days I am Persephone, and other days I am Medusa, and that I carry within me always the traits of the three Fates and so many more.  Perhaps this was one of my first glimpses into the notion that we all really are related.