Four Abundance Rituals
Do you want to call in more abundance? You’re in the right place! Abundance can come in so many forms and means many different things to different people. Abundance could be time, money, freedom, or anything else that makes you personally feel abundant!In this blog post, I’ll be sharing four rituals to help you connect with the abundance that’s always available to you. Keep scrolling to read them!
Do you want to call in more abundance? You’re in the right place! Abundance can come in so many forms and means many different things to different people. Abundance could be time, money, freedom, or anything else that makes you personally feel abundant!
In this blog post, I’ll be sharing four rituals to help you connect with the abundance that’s always available to you. Keep scrolling to read them!
ABUNDANCE CRYSTAL GRID
Crystal grids are a beautiful tool for manifesting more abundance in your life! The ideal time to set up your abundance grid is at the new moon, and you can leave it up until the full moon.
Start by gathering your stones and cleansing them. Your abundance besties in the crystal kingdom are aventurine, citrine, quartz, moss agate, tiger eye, and kyanite! Try one of each stone, although if you have more than one, that’s great, too.
You’ll place your citrine stone in the center and arrange your other stones radiating out around the citrine in a way that feels good to use. Use the crystal grid in the Goddess Discovery Book or place your stones on a cloth or table.
As you place each stone, keep an image in your mind’s eye of what you’re trying to attract. Ask yourself how you’ll feel when you receive the abundance you’re requesting.
After all your stones are in place, trace your crystals with a pointed quartz. Imagine the quartz connecting your crystals and unifying their energy. Try to connect with your grid daily until the full moon!
ABUNDANCE SPELL BAG
Spell bags, known in Voodoo as “gris-gris,” or to Native Americans as “medicine bags,” are one of my favorite ways to make magick. The waxing moon is the best time to do any abundance spell work, so try to do each of these rituals then if you can!Here’s what you’ll need to make a spell bag for abundance:
Basil or a sprinkle of cinnamon
10 of Pentacles tarot card (or a copy of this tarot card if you don’t want to put the actual card in the bag!)
A knob of ginger
Honey calcite, pyrite, citrine, or green aventurine
Anything else that represents abundance to you. For example, if you work for yourself you might include a printout of an email where a client booked a session with you.
Spend some time with your spell bag to infuse your energy into it. Hold it in your hands as you meditate on abundance, and breathe into it before you pull it closed!
ABUNDANCE CANDLE MAGICK
You can work with the magic of fire to help you call more abundance into your life! If you’ve never done candle magick before, read this blog to learn how to get started.For this spell, you’ll need:
Green candle
Carving tool like a sharp point crystal, toothpick, or athame.
Tiger eye, citrine, and green aventurine
Patchouli or frankincense oil
Coins or money
Start by cleansing all of your items for the spell. This can be done by wafting herbal smoke over them or visualizing white light cleansing them.
For this spell, you’ll be carving the Fehu Rune into your candle. Fehu is a powerful symbol of abundance. If you’d prefer to carve a specific dollar amount or item you’re hoping to attain you could carve this into the candle too.
Anoint your candle with the oil of your choice. As you carve and anoint your candle, visualize your abundance goal.
Arrange your crystals, money, and candle in a place where you can leave it up for a few nights. Light your candle and meditate on the flame. Visualize your abundance goal clearly, imagine yourself reaching your goal and what it would feel like to attain it.
You can continue this until the entire candle burns or snuff out the candle and continue the same ritual each night until the candle has burned completely.
Bonus! You can get this spell as a free printable spell card (along with spells for love, letting go, and connecting with your intuition) here.
ABUNDANCE TAROT or ORACLE CARD SPREAD
Turn to tarot or oracle to understand your blocks to abundance and what you can do to connect to more abundance. You can create a ritual space by grounding yourself first, lighting candles, burning herbs or incense, or doing anything else that feels right to you.
Cards from the Journey Tarot Kit
When you feel grounded and centered, shuffle your cards while holding the intention to connect with the wisdom of your highest self. Draw cards for each of the following questions:
What belief system or patterns blocks me from the abundance I desire?
How to release this belief system or pattern
How to open myself up to greater abundance
My mantra for calling in abundance
Spend some time journaling with your cards and meditating on your mantra card. If you’d like, you can place your mantra card on your altar!
10 Ways to Increase Your Shakti Energy
How is a society that’s stuck in the patriarchy able to find balance? The answer lies in you. The answer lies in one person at a time increasing their Shakti energy.I’m sure you’ve heard the term “Shakti” before but do you know how to tap into this creative life force that is the personification of feminine energy? I’m going to share what this term means with you, but more importantly, how you can increase your own Shakti to help our world find balance. First, let’s dive a little deeper into what and who Shakti is.
How is a society that’s stuck in the patriarchy able to find balance? The answer lies in you. The answer lies in one person at a time increasing their Shakti energy.
I’m sure you’ve heard the term “Shakti” before but do you know how to tap into this creative life force that is the personification of feminine energy? I’m going to share what this term means with you, but more importantly, how you can increase your own Shakti to help our world find balance. First, let’s dive a little deeper into what and who Shakti is.
What is Shakti
Shakti is life, death, rebirth, destruction, and creation. Shakti energy is the divine feminine force coursing through the cosmos and all aspects of our reality. She is the ultimate Goddess and the creative energy behind all Goddesses. Even though Shakti is a divine feminine force, it is present in all life forms, male and female, though it may be repressed in some. The balancing force to Shakti is Shiva or masculine energy.
Who is Shakti
Shakti is referred to as the “Mother Goddess” in Hinduism. She is the Goddess that guides all other Goddesses. Shakti is represented in the Hindu Goddesses Durga, Parvati, and Kali. Each Goddess utilizes Shakti energy differently and can be called upon for different purposes.
Kundalini Shakti
If you’re familiar with Kundalini energy, then you have probably heard the term Shakti used here as well. Kundalini Shakti refers to the idea that every being has Shakti energy coiled up at the base of their spine, waiting to be awakened. You may have already had a Kundalini awakening and not even known about it! That’s another blog post for a different day though!
Here are ten simple ways to increase your Shakti. Warning! Shakti energy is INTENSE. Be mindful of this as you practice the following suggestions. Build in some time to ground yourself after practicing any of these exercises and if it feels like too much, take a break for a few days.
10 Ways to Increase Your Shakti Energy
1. Activate your sacral chakra
Your sacral chakra is your hub of creativity and feminine energy. This chakra is located below your belly button and above your pubic bone. Imagine it glowing orange with each inhale and exhale to awaken it. Learn more about activating your sacral chakra in this blog post.
2. Tap into the water element
The water element represents femininity, so it’s the element to focus on to increase your Shakti energy. Let the water element wash over you, literally, by taking a soothing bath. Learn more about yoga poses for the water element here and ways to represent the water element here.
3. Meditate, meditate, meditate
Meditation in and of itself will help increase your Shakti energy (check out guided meditations here) but here’s a technique to give it an extra boost. Visualize your Shakti energy coiled up like a snake at the base of your spine. With each breath visualize this snake-like energy uncoiling and traveling through each chakra, lighting it up and cleansing it along its path. Continue until you reach the crown chakra. This meditation can be very intense and energizing, allow ample time to calm and ground yourself afterward.
4. Call on Kali, Durga, or Parvati
Remember the three Hindu Goddesses I mentioned above? Kali, Durga, and Parvati represent Shakti in Hinduism, calling on any of them can bring some extra Shakti into your life. Each Goddess will bring a different kind of energy. Parvati is a Goddess of love, Durga is a warrior Goddess, and Kali is the destroyer who ultimately brings balance. Learn more about connecting with Kali here. Goddess cards are from The Goddess Oracle.
Goddess cards are from The Goddess Oracle.
5. Follow the Moon
The moon has long been associated with divine Goddess energy due to its correlation with our menstrual cycles and the Triple Goddess. Try charting your cycle or journaling with the moon to connect to this moon energy. Learn more about the Triple Goddess symbol here and more about rituals for every moon phase here.
7. Get in touch with your shadow side
The imbalance of Shakti in our society is a direct reflection of our own imbalances. We so often focus only on our light, while directly under the surface our shadow side is seething. Take time to explore your light and dark to find balance within yourself. Learn more about shadow work here.
8. Practice the Shakti mudra
Guess what? There’s a mudra dedicated to Shakti! Try using this mudra during meditation or your yoga practice to increase your Shakti. Breathe deeply and focus on Shakti rising from the base of your spine.
9. Yoga asana practice
Let’s jump straight to the obvious here, Goddess pose. Remember when I said Kundalini aka Shakti energy is coiled at the base of your spine? Any pose that helps activate the base of your spine can help get your Shakti flowing, and Goddess pose certainly does this! Try to work different variations of this pose into your yoga practice or any postures that activate the sacral and root chakra.
10. Breathe Deep
Prana, your breath or life force, is Shakti. Any focused breathing can help increase your prana and therefore your Shakti energy. If you’re not familiar with any pranayama techniques, start with a three-part breath. Inhale, filling your lower belly with air first, then your middle section, and last your chest. Exhale in the reverse order. Practice this three-part breath 5-10 times and notice how you feel after you’re done. If you’re familiar with different pranayama techniques, try adding one into your practice daily. You can learn more about breathwork here.
You might find that you’re already practicing some of these things regularly. If you’re not, don’t stress! No need to start implementing all of them right away, in fact, I wouldn’t recommend it. Start small and start with the tips that sound most appealing to you. Learn more about your chakras system, the moon phases, and more in The Goddess Discovery Book.
When’s The Best Day For Your Ritual? // Days of The Week & Magick
You know all about the moon phases and the best phases for specific rituals and spells (if you don’t learn more here) but did you know that the days of the week also play a part in the energy of your rituals? Each day of the week has an energy of its own that will affect any rituals or spellwork you’re doing.Of course, it can be easy to become overwhelmed with all of these magickal “rules” but rest assured your spellwork won’t be ruined if you miss the perfect day. Think of using the energy of the days of the week as an added layer of energy. Just like a specific stone won’t make or break your ritual, the day of the week won’t either, but it can help push your intentions in the direction you desire most.
You know all about the moon phases and the best phases for specific rituals and spells (if you don’t learn more here) but did you know that the days of the week also play a part in the energy of your rituals? Each day of the week has an energy of its own that will affect any rituals or spellwork you’re doing.
Of course, it can be easy to become overwhelmed with all of these magickal “rules” but rest assured your spellwork won’t be ruined if you miss the perfect day. Think of using the energy of the days of the week as an added layer of energy. Just like a specific stone won’t make or break your ritual, the day of the week won’t either, but it can help push your intentions in the direction you desire most.
Each day of the week carries the energy of a planet, an element, and masculine or feminine energy. These factors give each weekday its magickal energy. Here’s a rundown of the energy each day of the week carries.
Want to adorn your space with a beautiful reminder of the energy of each day of the week? Click here to receive the printable featured below!
Sunday
Planet: Sun
Element: Fire
Energy: Masculine
Key Words: Growth, personal power, goals
Get excited! Sunday is your day to plan big and expect to conquer all of your goals. This is the perfect day to set the wheels in motion for anything you’d like to accomplish in the week ahead. Set up your special altar, start your candle spell, or place your crystal grid on Sunday to get the energy of your intentions set in the right direction.
Monday
Planet: Moon
Element: Water
Energy: Feminine
Key Words: Intuitive work, increased psychic abilities, emotion
Want to hone your intuitive abilities or connect with spirit on a deeper level? Monday is your day. If you’re planning to do a ritual with the moon, try to implement it on a Monday for an extra boost of moon vibes. Save your special oracle or tarot card readings for Monday to connect with the special intuitive energy it brings.
Tuesday
Planet: Mars
Element: Fire
Energy: Masculine
Key Words: Strength, courage, leadership
Invoke your inner warrior on Tuesday because this day is all about fire and intensity. Feeling stuck or need some inspiration? Try a ritual or spell to light your internal fire on this day. Maybe you just need an extra boost of energy, try lighting an orange candle on a Tuesday. The strong fire energy of the day can help give you the boost you need.
Wednesday
Planet: Mercury
Element: Air
Energy: Masculine
Key Words: Creativity, change, communication
This is your day to express yourself. Let your words, needs, and desires flow freely from you. Have you been holding back with someone, not letting them know how you really feel? Try to schedule your hardest convos on Wednesdays. Have a spell or ritual based around making a big change that requires you to speak up? Wednesday is your day.
Thursday
Planet: Jupiter
Element: Earth
Energy: Masculine
Key Words: Abundance, wealth, success
Smile, Thursdays are all about happiness and harvesting your desires. Save all of your abundance rituals for this day to take advantage of Thursday vibes. Whether it’s money, a new house, or an abundance of friends you’re looking for if you’re looking to multiply something in your life this is the day you’ll want to plan your magick work for.
Friday
Planet: Venus
Element: Water
Energy: Feminine
Key Words: Love, romance, fertility
Friday is the perfect time to slow down and offer some love to yourself or another. Try drawing a luxurious bath for yourself and lighting a pink candle to invite more love into your life. If you desire to have a baby, Fridays are the ideal time to set an intention to be open to new life dwelling within you.
Saturday
Planet: Saturn
Element: Earth and Fire
Energy: Feminine
Key Words: Protection, cleansing, endings
Saturdays are the ideal time to cleanse your space. Invoke both the Earth and the Fire element by burning herbs to cleanse yourself or your home. If you intend to perform a ritual for protection Saturday is the ideal time to do this. Any kind of cord-cutting or detachment ritual could be performed at this time too.
Again, don’t stress too much over the day you perform your rituals. It’s certainly better to devote some quiet reflection time to ritual any day rather than not at all! Your timing will sync up perfectly at times, sometimes it won’t, and that’s OK. Perhaps you’ll even be inspired by this list to plan some rituals for specific days.
Benefits & Uses of Rose Quartz
Rose quartz is a stone known as the ultimate self-love crystal…making it one of our favorites over here and of course, a great stone for February!But rose quartz isn’t just about self-love. It has a whole slew of benefits and uses, which I’ll be sharing in this post. Keep scrolling for some of the major benefits of this stone!
Rose quartz is a stone known as the ultimate self-love crystal…making it one of our favorites over here and of course, a great stone for February!
But rose quartz isn’t just about self-love. It has a whole slew of benefits and uses, which I’ll be sharing in this post. Keep scrolling for some of the major benefits of this stone!
Unconditional Love
Rose quartz is associated with the heart chakra, helping you open your center of giving and receiving unconditional love.
Energy Muse states, “According to [ancient] myth, Cupid, the Roman god of desire, or Eros, the Greek god of love, bestowed the gift of love to humans in the form of a rose quartz.”
Rose quartz can be used to cultivate unconditional love of all kinds: self-love, romantic love, friendship love, love for the earth, love for family, and more.
Compassion
Along with unconditional love, rose quartz helps cultivate compassion. By opening the flow of love throughout your body and energy field, it helps you connect to the interconnectedness of all beings, creating more love and compassion for the people around you and even those you can’t see and will never meet. I’d love to get rose quartz into the hands of every person in the world and watch how the world changes!
Restores Trust
In the heart chakra, we store fear, anxiety, and broken trust. Rose quartz can be used to help us accept past hurts, forgive ourselves and others, and ultimately restore trust.
Softening & opening
Sometimes our hearts get hardened. This often happens when, as I mentioned above, our trust has been broken, our hearts have been broken, or we’re holding and carrying past pains and hurts with us.
Rose quartz is your ally to help you gently soften and open this center of love. It’s here to help you soothe and break down the walls, opening yourself back up to connection, love, and vulnerability.
Gratitude
Gratitude comes from the heart chakra. When our heart chakras are closed, it can be difficult to experience gratitude and really feel the depth of all that we are grateful for. Rose quartz can help you release blockages here and open up to a flow of gratitude, helping you love your life for all that it is.
Cleansing
This stone is associated with the element of water and is thought to be very fluid, helping wash out stuck emotions, toxic energies, and negativity to return you back to your pure, divine essence: love.
It works slowly and gently — think more of a softly flowing river than a crashing ocean wave!
Venus energy
Rose quartz carries with it the energy of Venus. Venus is the ruling planet of the signs Libra and Taurus, and connects to the Empress card in the tarot.
We can think of Venusian energy as the energy of lushness, self-care, receiving, beauty, and flow. If you’re wanting to up your self-care game, open yourself up to receiving, and release stress — work with rose quartz!
Uses of Rose Quartz
Now that you know some of the benefits and meanings of rose quartz, how can you actually incorporate it into your life? Here are some suggestions but as always, use your intuition! You can also meditate with rose quartz and ask it how it wants to work with you.
Add rose quartz to your altar to call in Venus energy.
Use in self-love rituals and spells. Find a rose quartz ritual in The Ritual Deck.
Create a gratitude or love crystal grid featuring rose quartz. Find grid and crystals for a love crystal grid in The Goddess Discovery Book.
Meditate with rose quartz on your heart to help you open your heart chakra and let forgiveness flow through you.
Wear rose quartz as jewelry to carry its vibration with you wherever you go.
Create a self-love spell bag with rose quartz in it.
Incorporate a rose quartz facial roller into your daily routine.
Place rose quartz in the corners of your home to open the flow of love throughout your space.
Heart-opening Yoga practice & breathwork to cultivate self-love
Every February, we’re reminded of the love that already exists within us. While there are so many different kinds of love in our lives, it all starts with us: from a place of deep self-love. In this blog, I’ll be sharing a heart-opening yoga practice and a Kundalini breathwork meditation to help you cultivate self-love.
Every February, we’re reminded of the love that already exists within us. While there are so many different kinds of love in our lives, it all starts with us: from a place of deep self-love.
In this blog, I’ll be sharing a heart-opening yoga practice and a Kundalini breathwork meditation to help you cultivate self-love.
Kundalini Breathwork meditation
This Kundalini yoga breathwork meditation is said to help give strength to your heart and open up your heart center.
Find a comfortable seat and extend your arms straight out in front of you. You want them to be parallel to the mat with your palms facing down. Close your eyes and focus your inner gaze at the center of your chin. Start to take long, slow, deep breaths, holding your arms steady in front of you.
Hold this breathwork meditation for three minutes. Then, move into our asana practice below.
Yoga practice
This yoga practice is focused on heart-opening yoga poses because heart openers, like the name suggests, help balance and open your heart chakra. Your heart chakra is the center of giving and receiving love in your body. Opening this center helps open you up to a flow of unconditional love within and outside of yourself.
Heart bench
As someone with chronically tight shoulders, heart bench is my favorite restorative pose to start off a yoga practice. For this pose, you’ll need two yoga blocks. If you don’t have blocks, try getting creative with stacks of books or a rolled yoga mat under the shoulders.
You’ll take your first block at either its low or medium height and place it lengthwise along the spine between the shoulder blades, opening the heart. The second block will go under your head at whatever height supports a long neck and open throat.
Breathe into your heart space here, visualizing each inhale sending breath into the chest and each exhale softening, opening, and expanding your heart chakra. Stay here for 3-5 minutes, breathing deeply.
Half-pigeon variation
To transition out of your heart bench, lower all the way onto your back, bend your knees, and press your whole back into your mat. Feel your whole back grounding into the Earth, resetting the spine.
When you feel ready, cross your right ankle over the bottom of the left thigh (right under the knee). Then prop yourself up on your forearms and roll the shoulders back to open the heart as you energetically push your right knee away from you, stretching the hips. Spend a minute or two here, breathing deeply into the heart center, and then repeat on the other side.
Low lunge
Slowly find your way to downward-facing dog and pedal out the feet. When you feel ready, inhale to step your left leg forward. Lower the knee onto a mat or blanket, and create enough space in the hips so that you can really feel a stretch into your right hip flexor. Inhale to lift the arms overhead, bending back into a crescent lunge.
After a few breaths with this arm variation, stack your palms over your heart and breathe into your hands, keeping your back bending.
Stay here for ten more breaths, then repeat on the other side.
Mountain pose flow
From your lunge, step the back leg forward into a forward fold at the top of your mat. Hold opposite elbows to help pull your chest to your thighs and find a few breaths here.
When you feel complete, release your arms and inhale to a flat back, palms to shins or thighs. Exhale to fold forward. Inhale to roll all the way up to stand, reaching up and back. Exhale to fold all the way forward as you chant “YAM” (pronounced YUM), the bija mantra for the heart chakra.
Continue to flow with your breath for at least 10 complete cycles. Let yourself find a rhythm and find softness through the face, the knees, the heart, as you move.
Dancer’s pose
After your last exhale, hold in your favorite version of forward fold for a few more breaths. When you feel complete, inhale to roll up through your spine and find mountain pose with your arms at your sides.
Create a stable foundation by grounding down through your left foot, pressing into all four corners of the foot and through each of the toes. Bend your right knee and take the ankle into the right hand behind you. Inhale to lift your left arm over your head.
Feel free to stay here. If you’d like to go deeper, use your next exhale to slowly kick your right foot back and hinge forward at the hips, opening your heart and your right hip flexor. Stay here for at least 10 breaths. If you find yourself feeling unsteady or falling out of the pose, practice talking to yourself in a loving way and come back into the pose without judgment!
After ten breaths or whenever you feel ready, use an exhale to release everything back down and take the post to your other side.
Cobra pose or upward facing dog
From mountain pose at the top of your mat, fold forward, and step back to downward-facing dog. Inhale to shift forward to plank and exhale to either lower halfway or lower all the way onto the belly. Inhale to lift into cobra or upward facing dog. Stay here for a few breaths, rolling the shoulders back, pressing into the tops of the feet, and firming through the legs. After a few breaths, exhale to shift back to downward-facing dog.
Repeat this sequence one to three times, then stay in downward-facing dog for a few breaths.
Child’s pose
Inhale to lower your knees, and exhale to shift your hips back into your favorite variation of child’s pose. Let this child’s pose be a place of deep presence with yourself — with your breath, with any feelings or thoughts that are coming up to the surface. Practice speaking to yourself lovingly and tending to yourself with care. Stay here for about twenty breaths.
Cat/cow flow
From child’s pose, inhale to lift yourself into tabletop. Start to move through a cat/cow flow with your breath, using your inhale to lift your tailbone and open your heart, and your exhale to round through your spine and tuck your chin. Feel free to add in any other movements that feel good to you, like opening up through the sides of your body or incorporating hip circles.
Heart to Earth pose
When you feel complete in cat/cow, find your way back to a neutral spine. Start to walk your palms out in front of you, keeping your hips stacked over your knees, slowly lowering your chest and forehead all the way to your mat.
This intense pose invites us into a place of deep surrender. Keep your awareness on your breath, sending it into your heart space, and let yourself be with whatever comes up here. Stay here for at least 10 breaths, but feel free to stay longer if that feels right for you.
Bridge pose
Slowly shift back into tabletop and all the way onto your back, bending your knees and planting your feet on your mat. Inhale to slowly lift your hips and lift your arms all the way overhead, backs of palms touching down behind you. Breathe here in this bridge pose variation for 10 breaths, using an exhale to slowly lower your hips and arms back down.
Find a counterpose after you come down by walking your feet wider than hip’s distance and releasing your knees to rest in on each other. Place your palms on your belly and rest here for 5-10 breaths.
Reclining cobbler pose
Find your savasana in reclining cobbler’s pose, bringing the soles of your feet together. Rest one palm on your heart and one palm on your belly, letting yourself rest, relax, and integrate the benefits of your practice. Stay here as long as you like, but make sure you let yourself spend at least three minutes here.
Explore more blogs to help you cultivate self-love here:
How to Get Started with Spiritual Activism
If you’re reading this, you probably have a desire to make the world a better place. But you may feel like you’re not sure how to go about it in a way that aligns with your spiritual practice and values.Your spiritual practice and your activism aren’t separate, they’re one. They can be, and I think they should be— because the world needs you, as an activist, to show up as a spiritual being...and as a spiritual being, to show up as an activist.
If you’re reading this, you probably have a desire to make the world a better place. But you may feel like you’re not sure how to go about it in a way that aligns with your spiritual practice and values.
Your spiritual practice and your activism aren’t separate, they’re one. They can be, and I think they should be— because the world needs you, as an activist, to show up as a spiritual being...and as a spiritual being, to show up as an activist.
This means that not only are we meditating on healing the world, manifesting collective healing, and whatever other healing practices you have…but we’re also bringing that work into how we show up in the world as agents for change. We show up as our whole, spiritual selves when we call our senators and representatives. When we march, when we protest, when we volunteer, when we donate, when we organize, when we listen, when we post on social media.
That is spiritual activism.
COMPASSION
One really important piece of spiritual activism is compassion for yourself and for others. It’s really easy and often justified, to get caught up in your feelings and forget that the person you’re engaging with is also a human being. A human being who may be really offending you right now, but still a human being.
Remember that your feelings are justified. And of course, you don’t have to continue to engage with someone who is hurting you. But remembering some of the truths that are likely part of your spiritual practice, like compassion for all and the idea that at the core of it, we are all one, is just as important in these situations as it is in others.
ANGER
Ask yourself:
How do I want to feel?
How do I want others to feel around me?
List these answers out, and think about how they apply to your activism. If you want to feel inspired, open, safe, joyful, free, loved, whatever it is — you probably want other people to feel that way around you, too.
How can you approach your activism in a way that holds space for that? How can you approach your activism in a way that makes yourself and the people around you feel that way the majority of the time?
A note about anger: you probably want to create change around two things: things that break your heart, and things that make you angry. In some dialogue about spirituality, anger is bad. It’s something to be stifled and ignored.
But anger is human, and I think the only thing that makes it bad is repressing it. You’re going to be angry about injustice. It’s what we do with our anger, how we express it, and how we channel it that can help or hurt us.
So instead of repressing your anger or using it to lash out at people, I invite you to channel your anger into productive change, remembering that compassion and anger aren’t mutually exclusive.
START WITH YOU
When it comes to activism, start with you. It can be hard to wrap your head around at first but understand that you are not separate from the problem. You are not separate from these oppressive systems.
As a white person, racism isn’t about someone else. It’s about me.
As a cisgendered person, violence against transgender people isn’t about someone else, it’s about me.
The list goes on.
Ask yourself: in what systems am I an oppressor?
You can be oppressed in certain systems, like gender, and be the oppressor in others, like race.
This is where we get into the idea of privilege.None of this is about berating yourself for being a bad person or being complicit in these systems. You’re not a bad person! But the point of this being the first step is that when we know better, we do better. But we can’t do better if we don’t immerse ourselves in the “know better” step first.
Ask yourself: what privileges do I hold?
(Ideas: able-bodied privilege, white privilege, cisgendered privilege, straight privilege, thin privilege, in your country legally, etc.)
Take some time to really think about how those privileges manifest in your life and how they’ve become systems of belief. For example, what beliefs have you absorbed about people who don’t hold the privilege of being documented, or who don’t hold thin privilege?
What can you do to root down, shift those beliefs (which always manifest into actions even if you may not realize it!), and create more equality in your own life?
How is this spiritual activism? I think it comes back to the idea that healing yourself is healing for the world. I think most of us can probably get behind that. In this sense, cleaning up your own baggage, the ways in which your hurt and oppress is the most important thing we can do.
RELEASE
These days in this political climate I think it’s really important to have an embodiment practice to help you release trauma, anger, and other emotions you’re storing up from your cells. Tapping, breathwork, and a good old-fashioned scream are great ways to release.The practice can look like anything you need it to, but choose something that’s a physical release.
Getting Started with Intuitive Eating // 6 Tips
Most of us are inundated with conflicting messages about food for our entire lives.We’re told to count calories, to eat certain portions of this or that, that this food is amazing for you and this food should be avoided at all costs.We’re taught to trust everything but ourselves when it comes to food (and actually, this is true in general, too!).Intuitive eating is a kind and compassionate return to trusting yourself with food. It’s an anti-diet way of eating that focuses on connecting with your intuition.What does your body need? What would truly nourish your mind, body, and soul in this moment?The truth is, your body knows what you need. You just need to listen to it!
Most of us are inundated with conflicting messages about food for our entire lives.
We’re told to count calories, to eat certain portions of this or that, that this food is amazing for you and this food should be avoided at all costs.
We’re taught to trust everything but ourselves when it comes to food (and actually, this is true in general, too!).Intuitive eating is a kind and compassionate return to trusting yourself with food. It’s an anti-diet way of eating that focuses on connecting with your intuition.What does your body need? What would truly nourish your mind, body, and soul in this moment?
The truth is, your body knows what you need. You just need to listen to it!There are 10 simple principles of intuitive eating from one of the leading books on the subject, Intuitive Eating.
1. Reject the diet mentality. We’re inundated with information about diets from the time we're kids. Weight Watchers. South Beach. Atkins. Paleo. Keto. Grain-free. They’re all based around the idea of restricting food. How would it feel to reject the idea that you have to eat other than how your body naturally wants to?
2. Honor your hunger. When you feel hungry, eat. When you feel satisfied, stop. It’s as simple (and as difficult) as that.
3. Make peace with food. Remember that food is not your enemy, to be fought with. It’s fuel, it’s nourishment that is here to support you and help you live the life you want to live.
4. Challenge the food police. These are the rules like “You have to eat three meals a day,” “carbs are bad for you,” and you’re “good” for eating a salad for lunch. You don’t need the food police. You can trust your body.
5. Respect your fullness. This is about eating more consciously. Listen to your body’s signals that you feel full and satisfied. Try pausing halfway through eating to check in with how you feel.
6. Discover the satisfaction factor. You may be physically full but still not satisfied. That’s okay. Discovering the satisfaction factor is realizing that when you eat what you want, you’ll likely feel more pleasure, more satisfaction, and overall more content.
7. Honor your feelings without using food. Sometimes we use external things like food to numb out when we don’t want to feel what we need to feel. Try finding other ways to cope and comfort yourself that don’t involve eating.
8. Respect your body. We’re taught from a very young age to have a lot of judgment around our bodies. Many of us have a constant critical dialogue running in our heads, especially around food. Learn to love and accept your body as it is right now.
9. Exercise - feel the difference. Moving your body isn’t about exercising to punish yourself, or burn enough calories so you can eat the thing you want, or to look a certain way. Reframe moving your body as a way to feel your best and nourish yourself.
10. Honor your health. Be gentle. Connect with how certain foods make you feel and remember that it’s about the consistency of what you eat over time— one meal or one day of eating won’t cause you to be unhealthy or gain weight.
Ready to get started? Below are six tips for intuitive eating.
1. Take an inventory of your social media presence.
Are you following any accounts that are helping create a toxic relationship with food? Do you follow fitness accounts that make you feel bad about yourself whenever you see their photos pop up in your feed?After you purge your social media feed, can you bring in some more body-positive Instagrammers whose feeds and relationship with food inspire you to have a more loving relationship with your body and your plate?
2. Discover your physical signs of hunger and fullness.
What does it feel like to be hungry? What does it feel like to be full? To start connecting to these feelings, try placing one hand on your belly before you get to the table and taking a few deep breaths into your stomach. Your belly is where you feel hunger and fullness first, so taking a moment before and after eating to connect to those feelings can help you eat more intuitively.
3. Give food your full presence.
Oftentimes, we’re eating on the go or while we’re reading, scrolling on Instagram, or working. See if you can give food your full presence. Eat each meal slowly and mindfully without distractions, really savoring each bite, chewing it thoroughly, and paying attention to when you feel satiated. Think of it as an eating meditation!
4. Notice your food self-talk.
Is there a voice in your head that declares you “good” for eating vegetables and “bad” for eating dessert? (Spoiler alert: the answer is most likely yes.) Start to notice those thoughts (it can be helpful to write them down) and reframe them.For example, a thought like “Eating dessert makes me lazy and weak” can become “Eating dessert has nothing to do with who I am as a person. Eating sweets fills my soul and I am free to eat them as I like.”
5. Notice how foods make you feel.
Start to make the connection between certain foods and feelings. For example, certain foods may make you feel:
Energized
Sluggish
Cranky
Creative
Uninspired
Light
Tired
Or a variety of other feelings.
6. Don’t forget pleasure and satisfaction.
We aren’t machines. Food is deeply connected to memory, to pleasure, to joy. We don’t always need to eat the “healthy” thing. The key is to remember that those foods you often restrict and then binge on are limitless. You don’t need to binge on them because you can always eat more tomorrow. There are no restrictions. When your body wants dessert, see if you can offer it dessert without judgment or attachment to what you think “eating dessert” may mean.Here are some journaling questions that can help you get started with a more intuitive way of eating:
Think about your current relationship with food. Describe it and then describe how it makes you feel.
What would you like your relationship with food to look like and how would you like to feel about food?
What foods make you feel amazing?
What would eating mindfully look like for you?
What is one thing you can do today to start eating more intuitively?
Intention Meditation for the New Year
Each morning we rise with the promise of being able to start over, and no morning is better suited for a reset than New Year’s Day. The New Year is a time of rebirth and so, finds many of us setting our intentions for the next year. The trick is setting intentions that feel authentic to who you are and promise to bring real change to how you approach every aspect of your life.
Each morning we rise with the promise of being able to start over, and no morning is better suited for a reset than New Year’s Day. The New Year is a time of rebirth and so, finds many of us setting our intentions for the next year. The trick is setting intentions that feel authentic to who you are and promise to bring real change to how you approach every aspect of your life.
Intentions Are Naturally Expansive
Intentions truly have no limit. If you decide that you would like to feel balanced and happy every day, there’s no end to that. You also can enjoy the flexibility of not having to hit a degree of happiness each day. If today you’re just a little happy, while yesterday you felt like you were flying, you’ve still achieved your intention.
Goals are wonderful to have, and it’s tradition at this point to set New Year’s Resolutions. But here’s the thing: goals can make you feel like you’ve failed at something. If you don’t meet a goal, it’s easy to feel bad about missing it.
So, if you’re a more goal-oriented person, start with setting an intention, then set your goal, and be sure to add some self-compassion to keep things positive.
Have No Regrets
It’s natural to look at things that you didn’t do, relationships that came to an end, or other events that you perceive as being negative. But I challenge you to shift your thinking about last year so that you can set yourself up for success this year.
Ask yourself the following questions:
How was last year's healing?
What freedoms do I feel now that I’ve let some of the junk go?
When did my choices honor my true self?
What bad habits did I overcome?
How far have I come with ____?
A Meditation Script for Setting Intentions
The following script will guide you through a healing meditation that focuses on setting intentions. Use it as a rough guide in your practice or record yourself reading it on your phone so you can play it back whenever you’d like.
Before you begin, have an intention in mind, either a new one or one that you’d like to renew.
Taking a deep breath in, I invite you to close your eyes and notice your body in this space.
Notice how the breath moves in through your nose and out again. Let’s take ten nourishing breaths here.
As you continue to breathe, notice that you can direct your attention anywhere you’d like it to go.
I invite you to draw your attention to the center of your head, imagining going deep into the center of your consciousness, about eye level. Any time your mind wanders, bring your awareness back to this spot.
Still breathing, I invite you to recall the last year. Is there anything that you wish to release?
If so, imagine that energy, memory, or even regret coming together in a ball of light floating in front of you. Allow this process to occur at a pace that’s comfortable.
What color is that energy? Do you feel the old year releasing out of different parts of your body?
What does it look like?
Still breathing, I invite you to release that ball of energy. Perhaps it floats off into the sun to be burned up in its rays. Maybe you imagine an angel coming down and carrying it safely away. Or maybe it just disappears.
As you watch this energy leave, how do you feel? Take a few moments to enjoy the expansiveness of this release.
Now, let’s fill in those spots that housed that old energy.
Consider an intention you would like to set – either a new one or one you’d like to renew.
Maybe you imagine writing the intention down in your journal. Perhaps you imagine what it would be like to hear it spoken aloud by a favorite person.
If this intention also looked like a ball of energy or light, what color would it be?
Would it be warm or cool?
I invite you to imagine a beautiful funnel over your head. This golden funnel simply floats above your head and invites only the best, most beautiful energy into your body.
At this time, imagine that funnel draws the energy of your intention into your body, filling up all the empty spaces where the old energy from last year resided.
If you feel a physical sensation, like a tingling or a twitching, that’s okay. Your body is simply responding to the shift in energy.
When it feels as if this energy has filled your body, take a moment to close off your funnel, knowing you can reopen it at any time to invite only the best energy into yourself.
Let’s take another ten nourishing breaths here and sit in this space with renewed, intentional energy.
When you are ready, you may end your meditation at your own pace.
If you enjoyed this meditation and want to learn more about meditation check out more blog posts on meditation here.
How to journal with the moon phases + 10 journal prompts
Your mood, physical body, and spirit body all go through phases, and journaling with the moon is an ideal way to track all of these. You may find that you’re more synced with the moon than you thought!
Your mood, physical body, and spirit body all go through phases, and journaling with the moon is an ideal way to track all of these. You may find that you’re more synced with the moon than you thought!
Why You Should Try Moon Journaling
Wouldn’t it be nice to know which moon phases make you feel the most intuitive, expressive, or reserved? The way you relate to each moon phase is reflective of you alone and experiences will vary from person to person. You may find that your diet, intuition, and menstruation are affected by the phases of the moon. Keeping a moon journal will enable you to track any patterns to better understand all of your cycles.
How Often Should You Write in Your Moon Journal?
Take notes in your moon journal as often as you like! Journaling once a week will ensure that you hit each of the main phases of the moon: new moon, waxing moon, full moon, and waning moon. Moon journaling twice a month, on the full and new moon, can also be enlightening.
Starting out, I suggest making a quick note in your moon journal for 30-60 consecutive days. Making a quick note daily, in the beginning, will help you catch any obvious patterns right away.
What You’ll Need to Start Your Moon Journal
You’ll need a moon phase calendar, digital, or a hard copy.
You’ll also need a writing utensil and a journal or notepad. That’s it!
10 Topics for Moon Journaling
Here’s a list of suggested moon journaling topics. Read through the whole list. What topics call out to you the most? You can journal on all or some of these topics, it’s completely up to you.
Start your moon journaling by recording the date, the moon phase, and the zodiac sign for the phase (optional).
Record how you feel emotionally. Check-in, do you feel content, happy, sad, jealous, excited, energized, grateful, anxious, or angry? Record your mood for the day or overall week. This can be as simple as writing one word.
Record how you feel spiritually. How connected and intuitive do you feel? If you meditate regularly, was it easy for you to “drop-in” or did you find your meditation to be a struggle (this is always a good indicator of my spiritual well-being).
Record how you feel physically. How are you sleeping, your energy levels, and your diet? Are there any particular foods you're craving? If you exercise regularly, was your activity easy or more forced?
Record when you start and end your menstrual cycle. You may also decide to notate what each menstrual cycle feels like to help unearth patterns. If you’re particularly in-tune with your cycle or trying to conceive (or not conceive!) you might also find it helpful to track your ovulation with the moon.
Note any goals, intentions, and manifestations you’ve initiated and when they manifest. New intentions are best to set on a new or waxing moon.
Note any habits, people, outcomes, or things you’re trying to let go of and when you feel you’ve shed them. Releasing and letting go is best to initiate during a full or waning moon.
Notate the zodiac sign the moon is in. If you want to take your moon journaling to the next level you can notate what zodiac sign the moon is in. The moon is always positioned in a zodiac sign and cycles through them every 2-3 days. The sign the moon is in will also have an effect on you too. Try looking for even broader patterns by notating what sign the moon is in when you journal. I like this online resource for tracking the zodiac sign for each moon phase.
Track your triumphs! Did something happen that was totally out of the blue and made your day? Maybe you received an unexpected promotion, landed your dream job, or ran into an old friend, write it down!
Track your worst days. Did you have one of those days where nothing seems to go as expected and you just can’t shake it? These days aren’t as fun, but being able to estimate when they may come up can sure be helpful.
Note your dreams. Dream journaling is an insightful activity on its own. Notating the moon phase for your dreams can shed even more light on what your subconscious is trying to tell you. You might be able to identify times when your dreams are most active so you can plan to have a notepad ready on your nightstand.
Moon journaling can be as simple or in-depth as you’d like and can be tailored to suit your needs and schedule.
4 Ways to Honor the Winter Solstice
The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year, and so we traditionally associate it with darkness.But it’s also the beginning of the waxing phase of the year, as the days start to get longer and nights start to get shorter. We are reminded that light always follows dark. The balance begins to shift, the wheel of the year turns back again.
The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year, and so we traditionally associate it with darkness.
But it’s also the beginning of the waxing phase of the year, as the days start to get longer and nights start to get shorter. We are reminded that light always follows dark. The balance begins to shift, the wheel of the year turns back again.
This sabbat, also known as Yule, is a time for us to connect with our darkness and alchemize it into lessons, into medicine, for the year to come.
Below are some ways to honor this sacred holiday.
Journaling prompts
Create a quiet, safe space (candles are recommended!) and let yourself free write to the questions below with no editing. No one’s going to read your answers but you!
Write a love letter to your darkness.
What am I most ashamed of? How can I transmute this shame into a source of power and love?
What part of me do I want to feed and grow?
Tarot or oracle spread
Pull out your tarot or oracle deck and set the intention for your highest self tospeak to you through the cards. Give them a shuffle, and pull a card for each of the questions below. I recommend writing down the spread and the cards you pull, as well as your interpretations of them.
What shadow wants to work with me?
How does it want to be worked with?
Advice for moving through shadow
What wants to be born from my darkness?
Advice for birthing whatever needs to come through
Message from my inner child at this time
Lay out the cards in two rows of three like so. The deck featured here is The Ritual Deck.
Create an altar
Creating an altar is a beautiful way to honor any sabbat. Let this be an intuitive, creative process and place anything there that feels good to you! Some ideas to spark your creativity are:
Your Death and Temperance tarot cards
A Yule log or branch
Holly or mistletoe
An evergreen wreath to symbolize the wheel of the year
Any red, green, or white crystals that you’d like (I love carnelian for red, selenite for white, and moss agate or malachite for green)
Ash, frankincense, and any other sun herbs you like
Pine cones
White and silver candles
A representation of something in your shadow that you’d like to honor and alchemize this year
Painting
One of my favorite ways to work with my subconscious these days is intuitive painting. Get out your paints, paper, and allow whatever wants to come through you as you focus on the winter solstice and what it means to you. Try not to focus on how it looks— no one needs to see it but you!
After you finish, you could place it on your altar.
Below is an infographic with a visual representation of rituals for Yule
Want to learn more about the different sabbats on the wheel of the year? Click here to learn more about the wheel of the year and download your free wheel of the year printable.
6 Ways to Support Your Goddess Sisters
Our society has a long history of pitting women against each other. Of making us fear each other and compete with each other. Of creating division and separation between us.But we can choose to end that cycle. It ends with us. It ends with us every time we choose to uplift, love, and hold the women-identifying humans in our lives.
Our society has a long history of pitting women against each other. Of making us fear each other and compete with each other. Of creating division and separation between us.
But we can choose to end that cycle. It ends with us. It ends with us every time we choose to uplift, love, and hold the women-identifying humans in our lives.
Below are some ways to support the women in your life.
Hold space for them
Holding space isn’t just your regular conversation where we mostly just wait until it’s our turn to talk. There are a few important keys to holding space:
Give your full presence
Give your full presence with deep listening and eye contact. Your friends can tell when you’re not really there with them (and you can tell when your friends aren’t really there, too!). Put your phone to the side and really focus on what they’re saying.
Non-judgment
Offering non-judgment to others starts with doing your own work on not judging yourself. This may be part of your shadow work process—click here for 5 simple steps to help you get started with shadow work.
Asking questions without giving advice
Try not to give unsolicited advice. Asking helpful questions to deepen your friend’s understanding of her own situation is so much more helpful because it allows the answer to truly come from her—not you.
Facilitate their growth
Sometimes we get stuck in fear patterns. Sometimes we want to shrink out of our fullness, our magic, our bigness. When your sister is falling into her fear, wanting to shrink, help facilitate her growth. Help remind her of her magic. Don’t give her your permission to shrink.This is about being honest and constructive. This is about not always telling your friend what she wants to hear. They may not appreciate it at the moment, but they’ll likely appreciate your honesty in the long run.
Support their connection with their intuition
You give your community a beautiful gift when you support their connection with their intuition. Our society loves to make decisions based on logic alone, and looks down on things seen as “impractical.” But by validating your sister’s desire to listen to and make decisions based on intuition, you help shakti rise.
The Goddess Discovery Books are a great tool to use for improving your intuition and are even more fun to work through with a group of Goddesses!
Understand and respect their boundaries
Have a clear, open conversation with your sisters about their boundaries. What is an acceptable way to handle disagreements? What do they need from you to feel safe and supported in your friendship? What do you need from them to feel safe and supported in your friendship?
Strong boundaries can keep your relationships strong. Respecting each other’s boundaries can help set the expectation for strong boundaries in other, more difficult relationships as well.
Celebrate their successes
When they rise, you rise. It’s easy to feel threatened by the expansion of someone close to you but remember: it’s not a competition.The world is an abundant, infinite place and one woman having something you may want doesn’t mean you can’t have it, too. Celebrate their expansion, their growth, their wins.
Create community
Grow together. Meditate together, do moon rituals together, cast spells together, go to talks, or do courses together. Gather together and share wisdom. Gather together and connect with your intuition. Support each other by not allowing each other to stay stagnant.
Start out by implementing one of these tools each month to get used to doing it and add on from there. Before you know it your circle of supportive women will be flourishing!
Healing with Meridian Tracing
Meridian tracing is a form of energy healing that just about anyone can do.The meridians are energy pathways in the body that traditional Chinese medicine has studied and worked with for centuries. These pathways allow the flow of energy, called Chi in Chinese medicine, through the body.
Meridian tracing is a form of energy healing that just about anyone can do.
The meridians are energy pathways in the body that traditional Chinese medicine has studied and worked with for centuries. These pathways allow the flow of energy, called Chi in Chinese medicine, through the body.
There are 12 major meridians, and each one works to support and nourish a specific organ system. If the flow of energy in any of your meridians is too strong or too weak, the associated organ system may be disrupted. I’ll be covering eight of them today.
Meridian tracing can be a powerful self-care tool to add to your toolbox. Using it regularly helps keep your Chi flowing freely through your body, releasing blockages and revitalizing you.
Scroll down to look through eight of the 12 main meridians in the body and learn how to trace them to balance your flow of Chi.
How to trace your meridians
To trace your meridians, start by simply moving your open hand (either an inch or two above your body or directly over your body) along the course of each meridian. Visualize the energy flowing freely through the meridian. That’s it!
Take your meridian tracing a step further by tracing them with a favorite crystal. If you’re unsure, clear quartz is always a safe bet. Point crystal necklaces make the perfect wearable tool to practice this self-care technique.
Meridians
Read through the list of meridians below to find one that suits your needs. The eight meridians below are mirrored on the other side of your body. So, for example, a meridian that runs down your left leg also runs down your right leg.
Liver meridian
When this meridian’s energy is imbalanced, you may experience issues with menstruation, blurred vision, jaundice, irritability, or depression.
Heart meridian
Imbalance in the heart meridian can show up as chest pain, shortness of breath, hot flashes, heart palpitations, insomnia, irritability, anxiety, depression, and lack of joy in life.
Spleen meridian
An imbalanced spleen can manifest as diarrhea or constipation, lack of appetite, fatigue, bloating, brain fog, and absentmindedness.
Stomach meridian
When your stomach meridian is imbalanced, you might struggle with feelings of worry and nervousness.
Lung meridian
An imbalanced lung meridian can manifest as infections, upper body inflammation, excessive sweating, issues with your nose and sense of smell, and skin conditions.
Kidney meridian
This meridian rules willpower, determination, and the ability to cope with difficulty— so an imbalance here could manifest as a lack of any of those skills. Physically, an imbalance can manifest as backaches, asthma, and urinary disorders.
Bladder meridian
Emotionally, an imbalance here is associated with suppressed anger and an inability to express your true feelings. Physically, an imbalance is associated with neck and shoulder tightness, headaches, and urinary issues.
Pericardium meridian
When this meridian is imbalanced, you may experience difficulty expressing your feelings. Physically, you might have issues with your heart, chest, or stomach.
The best thing about this self-care tool is that you don’t need any tools to perform it. Meridian tracing is a simple practice that can give you an excuse to pause during a busy day to focus on your body and energy.
If you’re trying this practice with crystals, make note of how you feel after using different gemstones, as they’ll each offer you a different kind of energy.
What crystals, symbols, and scents do you need most?
It can be overwhelming to know what crystals, symbols, scents, and other tools to rely on for different purposes. Here’s a quick guide for a variety of situations you may be seeking support for or, perhaps, you have a friend who needs support in a specific area?
It can be overwhelming to know what crystals, symbols, scents, and other tools to rely on for different purposes. Here’s a quick guide for a variety of situations you may be seeking support for or, perhaps, you have a friend who needs support in a specific area?
Happiness
Who doesn’t want to be happier? Scroll through the tools below for symbols, crystals, scents, and herbs that can help you cultivate more happiness in your life.
Symbols & tools
Wunjo Rune is the rune of joy, pleasure, and harmony. Get The Ritual Deck to get your Wunjo Rune oracle card, a great reminder of joy to place on your altar or carry with you throughout the day.
Crystals
Citrine, a crystal of happiness, emits positive energy and can help you stay positive, attract your desires, and be more present in your life. That’s where the joy really comes from after all, right?
Scents & herbs
Brahmi, an ancient Ayurvedic herb, can help promote feelings of well-being. Try burning it in the morning as you do a gratitude meditation.
Grounding & Protection
There are so many reasons grounding and protection are important. For those of us who do energy work and psychic work, grounding can help us bring our energy back into our body, back into the lower chakras. Protection can help protect you from absorbing the energy of others, either in spiritual work or just in general as you go about your life (especially for anyone who lives in the city!).
Regardless of your work with magick, grounding and protection help bring you back into your body, feeling safe, supported, and cared for.
Get more tips for psychic protection here.
Symbols & tools
There are many symbols of grounding and protection in the magical world. Some of my favorites are:
Algiz Rune, the shield rune for protection
Salt, a tool that has been used as protection for centuries
Root chakra, your energetic center of safety and grounding
Dark moon, an invitation to ground into your body and shed negative energy
The Ritual Deck includes representations of each of these symbols, which can act as energetic stand-ins in rituals or on your altar.
Crystals
Use snowflake obsidian, a stone of cleansing negative energy and releasing blockages, or smoky quartz, the ultimate stone for grounding and balancing.
Scents & herbs
Clove is your go-to for protection. Spruce will help you ground, bringing you deeply into the present moment.
Anxiety Relief & Peace
Many of us struggle with anxiety in the modern world. It’s so easy to get caught up in what has happened and what might happen or could happen. The tools below help you relieve anxiety and connect with a sense of inner peace.
Symbols & tools
Blue is a soothing color that can help restore tranquility and peace. Try lighting a blue candle or working with the blue candle card in The Ritual Deck.
Crystals
The crystal kingdom has an abundance of stones to help soothe your anxiety and restore your inner peace. We love blue lace agate for its calming vibrations, labradorite to keep you from absorbing too much of other people’s energy, and howlite to help relieve stress and get better sleep.
Scents & herbs
Lavender can be used as aromatherapy to soothe mild anxiety, and chamomile has long been used to reduce stress and anxiety.
Abundance & Wealth
Who doesn’t want to call in more abundance and wealth? The tools below will help you connect with the abundance you desire to manifest in your physical reality.
Symbols & tools
The color green is associated with abundance, wealth, good fortune, and success. Light a green candle on your altar or work with the green candle card in The Ritual Deck.Fehu Rune is your Rune for bringing abundance of all kinds into your life, whether it be financial or other. Fehu can also be used as a useful tool to tap into the abundance already surrounding you. If you’re having a difficult time tapping into gratitude for all of the gifts you already have, Fehu can help fill your heart with gratitude. Check out a ritual to work with Fehu in this blog.
Crystals
Citrine is also known as the success stone. It’s associated with the solar plexus chakra and can be a powerful aid in manifesting wealth and abundance.Green aventurine is another stone well-known for attracting abundance, success, and luck. It’s also associated with the heart chakra, helping you to open to receive the abundance that is on its way to you.
Scents & herbs
Cinnamon has its roots in many cultures as a powerful plant for attracting abundance as well as success and healing. Try adding it to your coffee, blending it in your smoothie, and sprinkling it over a banana or your favorite dessert!
Love & Compassion
Turn to these tools when your heart chakra needs some healing. They’ll help you cultivate unconditional love and compassion for yourself and others. Find rituals to cultivate self-love here.
Symbols & tools
Use a pink candle when you’re working with self-love and compassion, or a red candle when you’re working with passionate love involving someone else.
Crystals
Rose quartz is your crystal ally for unconditional love and compassion. It’s a gentle healer for your heart chakra, a space where we can store so much fear and doubt.Carnelian is another beautiful stone of love, as well as faith and devotion. Use carnelian when you want to devote yourself to a healing practice or when you need to deepen your faith and trust in yourself.
Scents & herbs
There are many scents and herbs that help promote love and compassion! Try hawthorn, rose petals, lotus petals, or motherwort. Mixing a few herbs together into a tea or a bath can be lovely.
Cleansing Negative Energy
Sometimes, we’re not able to protect ourselves from negative energy. Life is life, and negative energy is sometimes inevitable. Use the tools below to cleanse yourself and your space of negative energy, especially after a difficult conversation, a break-up, or a stressful day.
Symbols & tools
Salt is an amazing natural tool to absorb negative energy. Use a representation of salt from The Ritual Deck, take a salt bath, use a salt lamp, or place a bowl of salt in your space.
Crystals
Black tourmaline, a dark stone for protecting and cleansing, is your go-to for cleansing negative energy. Try meditating with black tourmaline, visualizing all of the negative energy being absorbed into the stone.All-purpose quartz, the ultimate balancer, is another great crystal to have on hand for cleansing negative energy. Learn more about the magical properties and benefits of clear quartz here. Labradorite is also available to help you cleanse your aura. If your aura is weak, has tears, or holes in it labradorite can help. Keep your aura squeaky clean by meditating with a piece of labradorite or going around your entire body with a piece of it in your hand.
Scents & herbs
Rosemary and cedar can all help you cleanse negative energy. Burn them over yourself or in your space to cleanse, purify, and release.
Intuition & Psychic Abilities
These tools will help you open your third eye chakra, to connect with your psychic abilities and center of intuition. (We have a whole slew of blog posts to help you in these areas as well -- check out 5 Quick Tips to Improve Your Intuition,You Are Psychic! How to Determine What Psychic Gift You Have, and 3 Daily Actions to Improve your Intuition to get started.)
Symbols & tools
Your third eye chakra is the center of your intuition. It’s associated with the color purple, so try burning purple candles or connecting with the color in other ways like wearing it or including it in your space.
Crystals
Amethyst is a classic stone for your third eye chakra. It’s like a cool bath for your intuitive center, gently opening and awakening it to deepen your connection.Labradorite connects strongly to your third eye, making it ideal for honing your intuitive abilities. It can also help you connect with spirit guides and angels, and open the doors to the other side by helping you with astral travel. A multi-purpose stone for your intuition and psychic abilities, indeed!
Scents & herbs
Experiment with mugwort, lavender, juniper, and bilberry to open your center of intuition.
Connecting to the Moon
Symbols & tools
Work with representations of the moon in all her phases to connect with the lunar, divine feminine energy of the moon. The Triple Goddess is also here to connect you with the moon and its cycles, as well as the mother/maiden/crone cycle of life. Download your Triple Goddess free printable here.
Crystals
Moonstone, just like the name implies, is your crystal ally for connecting with the moon. It’s a dreamy goddess stone that channels the energy of mama moon into your energy field.Selenite received its name from the Greek goddess of the moon, Selene. Selenite offers the water element, connecting you to emotions, intuition, your highest self, and of course, the moon.
Scents & herbs
Mugwort is your go-to to harness the intuitive and psychic power of the moon. Burn it in your space to connect with the moon’s energy and your own inner Selene.
Femininity
Symbols & tools
The Earth element, represented as an upside-down triangle with a line across the bottom, and the Water element, represented as an upside-down triangle with no line, are both beautiful representations of the divine feminine, womb healing, and receiving. Work with the representations of these elements in The Ritual Deck.
The triple goddess symbol that I mentioned above, shown by two crescent moons with one full moon between them, is another beautiful symbol of the divine feminine. Besides the phases of the moon, it also represents the phases of womanhood we cycle through: maiden, mother, and crone.
Crystals
Rainbow moonstone is here to connect you to your inner goddess and divine feminine energy.
Strawberry quartz can also connect you to feminine energy as a gentle, loving stone here to fill you with the healing energy of love and open your heart center to give and receive love unconditionally.
Scents & herbs
Hibiscus, the flower associated with the Hawaiian goddess Pele, connects you with Pele’s fiery, passionate, and yet nurturing energy.
The lotus, whose petals represent the yoni, can connect you with your feminine energy and feminine center, the space of creation within you.
I hope you find this guide helpful for quickly finding tools to help you!
7 Rituals to Help You Sleep Like a Goddess
Want to skip the sleep meds to get your best rest? Much of getting a good night’s rest has to do with repetition, which is why adding ritual around your bedtime is a perfect way to train your body into falling and staying asleep peacefully.I’ve struggled with insomnia on and off throughout my life and have personally used all of these methods, most of them altogether. As a bonus, several of them have some science backing them up! I protect my bedtime ritual fiercely which has enabled me to stay off sleep medications and sleep well throughout the night. Of course, I still have the occasional sleepless night, but now they’re far and few between.
Want to skip the sleep meds to get your best rest? Much of getting a good night’s rest has to do with repetition, which is why adding ritual around your bedtime is a perfect way to train your body into falling and staying asleep peacefully.
I’ve struggled with insomnia on and off throughout my life and have personally used all of these methods, most of them altogether. As a bonus, several of them have some science backing them up! I protect my bedtime ritual fiercely which has enabled me to stay off sleep medications and sleep well throughout the night. Of course, I still have the occasional sleepless night, but now they’re far and few between.
Sleep deprivation can be serious or indicate a bigger problem, so if your lack of sleep continues, take care of yourself and be sure to talk to a health professional. If you want to try a more natural route first, here are seven rituals for getting better sleep.
Use the same scent every night
Scents create a potent cue for our bodies. Try rubbing the same essential oil (with a carrier oil) on your chest and neck or diffuse your favorite scent every night. There are a variety of essential oils that are ideal for priming you for sleep, and the act of using the same scent every night as a ritual will help cue your brain and body that it’s time for sleep. Here are a few scents that will help calm your mind and prep your body for rest:
Lavender
Bergamont
Vanilla
Crystals on your nightstand or under your pillow
If you’re sensitive to the energy of crystals, placing one or two on your nightstand or under your pillow makes for a nice visual, as well as a tactile reminder to get in the sleep zone. Here are some of the most soothing gemstones that can help your body calm down and sleep better at night.
Howlite
Take this ritual a step further and try holding your sleepy time crystals in your hands and meditating before bed.
Salt lamps or other soft orange light
Around 9:30 pm all of my screens and lights start to go off in my house and my salt lamps and soft orange lights go on, annoying as it may be to my husband. You’ve probably already heard the bad news, but the light from your cell phone, tablet, and computer are blue lights. Blue lights tell your brain that it’s time to wake up, which is one reason why it’s important to set good boundaries with your screen time.
Soft orange lights, like salt lamps, will signal to your brain that it’s time to start getting ready for bed. You’ll also enjoy the bonus negative ion benefits from using a salt lamp. Having a ritual in place of scrolling on your phone while in bed can help you detach from your beloved sleep time. Try making a special place where you charge and power down your phone every night that’s out of reach.
P.S. Salt lamp night lights are a thing, and they’re amazing! Learn more about the benefits of salt lamps in this previous post.
Herbal tea before bed
Indulging in a cup of sleep-inducing herbal tea is a great way to get your sense of taste in the ritual action. The more senses you can recruit for your bedtime rituals the better! Aside from the taste sensation, there are a variety of herbs that are ideal for calming your mind and body for sleep. You can use them on their own or get creative and make your own blend. Here’s a list of sleepy-time herbs to try in tea form before bed.
Chamomile
Valerian root
Passionflower
Lavender
Lemon Balm
Don’t like drinking tea? Try finding a tincture using any combination of the herbs above for a quick sleep-inducing tonic.
Check out this blog post for more herbal remedies.
Rest for your pineal gland
Your pineal gland controls your circadian rhythm which helps your body know when it’s time to sleep and when it’s time to be awake. Your pineal gland loves a healthy dose of total darkness at night. Once you’re ready to catch some zzz’s, turn off any remaining soft lights or salt lamps and try to minimizing light pollution in your room. Try shutting out all light from the outdoors, and any inside lights to give you some pre-sleep time in a light-free space. Cohabitating with someone who reads at night or won’t abide by your new nightly ritual? Try a sleep mask.
Learn more about the pineal gland here.
Regular meditation
Your meditation practice goes beyond mindfulness and also directly correlates to the health of your pineal gland. Yep! The same teeny gland that controls your circadian rhythm. That means your morning or afternoon meditation practice goes beyond peace of mind throughout the day and can actually help you get better sleep at night too! You can also work a meditation practice at bedtime if it suits you, just know that meditating anytime throughout your day will benefit your sleep habits.
Make your sleep space a sanctuary
How do you feel when you walk into a cluttered space? Probably not like you want to go to sleep! Your body and mind will benefit from making your bedroom a clean and calm respite. This is especially true for the energetically sensitive and empaths. All that clutter carries energy, so if you’re sensitive to it, it will certainly disrupt your sleep.
This is my new favorite sleep ritual! After moving recently, I decided to make our bedroom as minimal and soothing as possible (turns out this is a lot less costly too!). I protect the cleanliness of our bedroom fiercely and I can’t believe the difference it has made. If you didn’t just move and want a quick fix for your sleep space, try cleaning your room and then cleansing the energy of your space with herbal smoke.
8 Herbal Remedies You’ll Want in Your Cabinet
This planet is amazing.Mother Earth, Gaia, whatever you want to call her—she has given us so many gifts and such an abundance of medicine right here in her forests, mountains, oceans, and plains. Her air, her waters, the plants that grow from her soil.Think of how nourished you feel with the earth between your toes, the sun on your bare skin, your head bobbing in wave after wave, flowers in your hand.This is part of the medicine of Gaia.
This planet is amazing.
Mother Earth, Gaia, whatever you want to call her—she has given us so many gifts and such an abundance of medicine right here in her forests, mountains, oceans, and plains. Her air, her waters, the plants that grow from her soil.
Think of how nourished you feel with the earth between your toes, the sun on your bare skin, your head bobbing in wave after wave, flowers in your hand.
This is part of the medicine of Gaia.
Another part of her medicine is herbal remedies, which is what we’re talking about today.
Why herbal remedies?
Sometimes, it’s possible to reach for a nourishing plant ally instead of a chemical created by Western medicine.
Below are some simple herbal remedies you’re definitely going to want to have stocked in your cabinet.
Cough syrup
Use this herbal aid just like you would a cough syrup: to ease coughs and colds. If you’re not vegan, you can substitute raw honey for maple syrup.
You’ll need:
1 cup maple syrup (or use honey if not vegan)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Sage
1 tsp Horehound
Combine all of the ingredients and stir them together over medium heat until they simmer. Once simmering, remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Then strain the mixture, bottle it, and store it in the fridge (where it will last for several months).
Digestive aid
Spearmint is cooling and calming, and it actually stimulates your digestive enzymes, making it the perfect tea or tincture to help digest a big meal and ease stomach issues and bloating. Keep it in your cabinet as a tincture or simply drink it as tea whenever you need it. If you’re lucky enough to have fresh spearmint nearby you can also chew on a spearmint leaf for a similar effect!
Tincture Tip: Learn how to make a tincture by scrolling through this previous blog post about healing your heart chakra. It’s near the bottom, so keep scrolling! You can apply the same directions for the “Hawthorne heart tincture” to any of the tinctures mentioned in this post.
Headache remedy
Chamomile and feverfew are both great remedies for headaches and migraines. During the evening, opt for a relaxing chamomile tea. During the day, bitter feverfew will help your migraine without putting you to sleep. Just remember that it’s not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding people! If you would like more herbal tea remedies, take a look at this previous post.
Insomnia remedy
Keep lemon balm on hand for those nights when you just can’t seem to fall asleep. It soothes and nourishes your nervous system and reduces stress. Try mixing lemon balm essential oil with the carrier oil of your choice to rub on your chest before bed.
Cold & flu syrup
The basis of this recipe is adapted from The Hippy Homemaker and the main ingredient is elderberry, thanks to their high antioxidant content and multiple studies showing their effectiveness against flu and colds. Try this syrup when you feel yourself starting to get sick!
You’ll need:
A half-cup dried elderberries
2 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves
2 tbsp fresh ginger
Zest of 1 orange
1 cup maple syrup (or use honey if not vegan)
Combine everything in a saucepan over high heat, bringing it to a boil and then letting it simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the syrup from heat, strain it through a mesh strainer, and bottle it up! Stick it in the fridge, where it will last about 6 months.
First aid remedy
Plantains are a must-have for any first aid kit. You can use its leaves for bee stings, bug bites, itchy skin, and infections. Keep plantain on hand and when you need it, make a poultice by chewing the leaves up (you can also use a knife or food processor if this grosses you out), putting it on the affected area, and covering it with a bandage.
Wound powder
This recipe is from Mother Earth News, and it’s so good!You’ll need:
1 ounce of barberry or goldenseal
A half-ounce of comfrey root
1 ounce of juniper needles
A quarter ounce of rosemary leaves
Mix the ingredients in a food processor, then powder the mixture in a clean coffee grinder. When you need it, simply sprinkle it over your wound!
UTI herbal remedy
Juniper berries work like a charm for urinary tract infections. Simply make a tincture of them and take at least 10 drops per day when you’re working with a UTI.
Try stocking your medicine cabinet with some of these herbal remedies so they’re ready when you need them! Learn more about herbal magick here.
