Weekly reading

Fall Equinox is almost here!!! Do you listen to the messages animals share with you?

Happy Magestic, Magickal, Miraculous, Mischievous, Magnificent Monday!!! Whoot! Whoot!

Fall Equinox (Mabon) is almost here! I am wiggly, piggly, jiggly excited like a labrador puppy as I love this time of year and most certainly this celebration and the energy that comes with it. Yummers! In case you didn’t know Equinox or Mabon falls on September 22nd (my birthday!) and is a powerful time of abundance and celebrating the bounty you have.

The Autumn Equinox is the 2nd of only 2 days through the year when the Earth is in perfect balance. On the Equinox, day and night are equal. But in autumn, the sun is waning and the days are now shorter than the night.

Mabon is often referred to as “Witches Thanksgiving ” (no, it doesn’t mean you have to be a witch). It means it’s the third harvest festival on the wheel of the year, a time to give thanks for the bounty in your life, to release the things that you may have outgrown and to be grateful and count your blessings! Yes? Counting our Blessings is a powerful practice and something I do every morning on the beach or in the woods!

Not only do we count our blessings, it’s also important to take time to reflect on our triumphs from the year and acknowledge what we’ve worked hard to grow and harvest. We need to remember to feel proud of our accomplishments. However, in order for new growth to occur in the spring, things must die in the autumn.

Many of you have emailed and asked if there is going to be a Mabon Magick Manual this year, HECK YES! She is quite lovely and the perfect way to guide and support you into breathing in the essence of abundance, the change of season and awakening to all its meanings. Thus, if you are part of our wonderful email community you will be getting first access to it on Thursday!

Also, as Equinox is my birthday, I will have a gift for you (as I love giving pressies it makes my heart happy).

So I have a question – do you notice the animals that cross your path, or fly over your head or appear randomly? Or is that just a me thing?

I ask, as everyday when I’m out and about, either with doggo, friends or just myself I revel in the birds and animals that appear for me. Whether it is the wee hummingbird who dashes up over my head, the fat raccoon who chatters to me from an oak tree, or the large toad that hops across my path as I’m hiking.

And each of them comes with a message. For example hummingbird is Joy, Raccoon is inventor and creative, Toad is the balance between emotion and being grounded. (Just saying). And I jot them down, every day on my phone or day timer.

And you know the bizarre thing? When I am experiencing a “similar situation”, or stuck in an old pattern – I can flip back and see that that bird, animal, mammal appeared at that time. (When I say you seriously can’t make this shit up, you can’t!)

Many people have asked me how to find their “spirit animal” or “spirit totem”. I will be honest, that is a level of shamanic journeying I wouldn’t be comfortable facilitating for someone else. However, I have happily taken people out into the wild, or walking on the beach and all sorts of gorgeous beasties show up. Seals, Otters, Bears, Frogs, Herons, Eagles and a myriad of others.

So let me invite you to notice who shows up for you during the day and just take a note of what was happening for you and how you were feeling.

Thus, being quite “animal message” aware, I was thrilled when I was introduced to a group of new, glorious guides.

This is the Spirit of the Animals Oracle. So in case you may have never met them, let me introduce you. “Animal Medicine, Animal Totems, and Animal Mascots have had cultural significance throughout our history. Europeans adopted animals as tribal symbols that were later incorporated into crests for nations. China has an animal associated with every birthday. The Romans celebrated the eagle as the symbol for the empire. Our ancestors observed the appearance of animals as omens and signs. Shamans and mystics rely on spirit animal helpers. Native Americans have vision quests to discover their personal animal totem. School sports teams choose animal mascots. It is no wonder that the interest in animals as emblems and how they relate to us still persists. Animals as symbols live in our deepest memory.”

So with all the chuntering, let’s crack on. As you allow your breathing to slow down a tad, and come back into your body. I invite you to just BE and BREATHE, allowing everything else to just drop away for this moment. Then when you are ready ask your wise inner self which card to pick, which animal has a special message for you this week?

Then when you are ready – pick.

Let’s go see who wants to share with you this week.

Raccoon

Raccoon is nature’s problem solver. They teach us that if one thing doesn’t work, try something else. Their curiosity, dexterity and intelligence helps them discover new ways to live and survive. Raccoons are able hunters and know how to provide. They are dexterous with their “hands” and very tidy and clean.

Raccoon’s are clever, useful, fastidious, creative and confident. You always find your way

to your goal. You are playful and love the night. You can enjoy getting into a little trouble.

However, when Raccoon pops into your life you are being invited to look at the masks you wear. Raccoon energy is at play within all artists, to greater or lesser degrees. At best, it indicates talent, tenacity, and skillfulness. It’s shadow side points to an unresolved issue around self-image and success. Sometimes using a stage name or wearing a “mask” works in your favour. Other times, it limits creativity. Who are you behind the masks you wear? What if you’re ready to grow into something more.

Raccoon energy won’t let us off the hook until this creative ego fear is resolved.

Decide on what you really want.

You have the ingenuity to claim it.

Avoid being the trickster and practice integrity.

You have many roles and can juggle them well.

Lion

Lion is a symbol for royalty, mastery and power. It is also a strong female archetype and the master of the Fire element. A Lion personality dedicates their life to personal and spiritual growth. This dedication inspires some and intimidates others, therefore the Lion is respected by all but known intimately by few.

Lion invites you to use stealth and patience when pursuing your dreams for success. If you are a Lioness you are responsible, a great leader and provider. However, Lion personalities do have to look out for self-absorption and vanity.

Some mistake the Lion as hard to access or aloof, yet those with a keener eye know better. Lions are observant, stealth, and precise in their words and actions. They do not waste energy or resources. Call upon Lion for confidence, vitality and the power to stand your ground with confidence. And remember – self mastery is available to all, no matter where our quest begins.

You have within you all the courage you need.

Let go of the past and reclaim your majesty.

You will find success and contentment

With those by your side.

Make noble choices for your life and your tribe.

Black Bear

The Black Bear is the consummate mother. She cares for her offspring with devotion. Woe to the one who gets between a mother bear and her cubs, her honey or her ideals! Huge power can roar in Bear and demands our respect. Their calm, gentle demeanor with their young is juxtaposed by explosive, primal, warrior ferocity. This is the dual nature of Black Bear.

Bears hibernate in the winter and when they reappear in the spring they are renewed with energy and wisdom. They are revered for being shamanic messengers from spirit and dreamtime. Black Bear brings you fearless power, hidden strength and access to your dreams and intuition. This dualism of yin and yang, within and without, calm and ferocious is the balance and confidence.

Bear also represents an individual on the cusp of new directions and personal transformation. The initial weeks and months of this spiritual quest may feel tricky, cumbersome, and full of obstacles. But you have no choice. Call on the confidence and let your transformation begin.

Gentle and wise protector,

Give me your confidence and power.

Help me to protect the ones I love.

Awaken my intuition and guide me.

What glorious guides! How did your guide resonate for you? So delicious one, wishing you a week filled with seeing the animals that want to share with you (even if it is a mouse), and remember the Mabon Magickal Manual will be released on Thursday and I have a gift for you next week for my birthday! Big hugs and squeezes.

Birthday Month! Time For a New Story and Celebrations!!

Jenny Heston · 11:46 pm ·

Happy Melodious, Musical, Magickal, Miraculous, Magnetic, Majestic, Manifesting Monday! I know I said there wouldn’t be a reading this week, with it being a long weekend – but apparently my guides had a different idea! So who am I to say no, when they are uber clear (envision Doc Martin boots and a black tutu).

This is my birthday month and I am committed to celebrating it full out, creating different things, playing, and really revelling in the month (and there are going to be all sorts of gifts and things for you as well!).

Why?

I love September (I know for some that sounds weird), but I love the impending Fall, it’s a time of harvest, a gathering together. The mornings are crisper, the days are still warm, but there is that sense of change. Kids are going back to school, starting a new class and making new friends. The lazy, hazy days of summer are winding down and there is a shift in the energy that invites us to try something new (even if you aren’t school age) and to be willing to release the old that may be a tad too tight (like a kids running shoes).

There is also a sense of melancholy for some people when Fall starts to whisper with her crisp breath. The leaves are going to change and then drop from the tree and the days are most certainly getting shorter – and for some this can feel uncomfortable and lonely. Which I can totally appreciate. But it doesn’t need to……

Fall Equinox is almost here (and I love this celebration). It is known as Mabon and is the second harvest. This festival is a time to look at the seeds that you sowed in the Spring, on every level, and reflect on how they have manifested. Most crops are in and the fields are beginning to look brown and are slowly going to sleep for the winter (unless they are filled with gorgeous orange pumpkins). This is a time to celebrate the abundance and the harvest, as well as to make plans for the winter and to create community. But we will explore that more over the next couple of weeks.

The energy of September (according to the ever amazing Lena), is TIME FOR A NEW STORY. Remember in August was MANAGING THE SHI(F)T and July was TWO STEPS FORWARD AND ONE STEP FOOT BACK.

As Lena shares:- “We are certainly tired of the old one and feeling restless, irritated and ready to start something new. The future, however, is still intangible and unclear. We find ourselves often floating around in the shadows, making several much-needed trips back into the underworld to deal with karma, clear our past and release the attachments to old ways. September is not an easy month as we navigate the balance between what is pulling us back into recapitulation versus what is being offered as an opportunity to rewrite our story. It will do you no good to “wait it out”. The demands of this time require an interactive relationship between yourself and your story. In order to change it, you will need to step up your relationship with spirit, your guides and allies, and your authentic self.

So what New Story are you willing to create?

The first step in a new story is to let go of the old one without anger, disappointment or judgment. The more neutral you can be about what is leaving your field, the easier the process. We have come now to a place where it is near impossible to be in denial about what needs to change. There are influences that require a good look at what no longer serves as well as providing good (if not fun) opportunities to release, complete karma, and clear the decks. We are being worked by the inevitable and the quicker we all get with the program, the faster we will be able to manifest this new story. The discomfort and irritation comes from resistance to embracing responsibility for your own change.

Only you can create a new story for yourself.

Okay, I have chuntered a ton (not a surprise), so let’s crack on with the reading. When I went to the cards and asked who would like to guide this week, the glorious Faery Forest Oracle were adamant, which made me smile a lot. If this deck is new to you please let me introduce your guides (as that is always polite). “Let us enter the wild green world together, friend, the faery forests where the great trees speak with us, the moss soft underfoot, the light pure and gentle. The homes of the once Sacred groves of the Celts, the Saxons, and the Vikings…and to the people who were here long before we had names with which to call them to us – the faerie people. May the wild green world and the wondrous beings of this Faery Forest heal us, inspire us and urge us all to become more who we truly are meant to be.” Re-read that last line about inspiring and urging us…… totally ties into the energy of a New Story.

The crystals that were insistent to join are:- Lemurian Seed – healing is remembering our spiritual self and that time is an illusion of physical incarnation, showing how to move beyond all that is. Black Snowflake Obsidian – helps to draw emotions to the surface and to examine harmful thought patterns. A good choice for past life work, heals old karmic patterns and helps in examining harmful thought patterns. Chrysocolla – a stone of communication. Its very essence is devoted to expression, empowerment and teaching. The serenity of its turquoise-blue color discharges negative energies, calms, and allows truth and inner wisdom to surface and be heard.

Okay, take a moment and come back to your body. Just breathe yourself back. Allow in your mind’s eye the desires, goals and yearnings to flood up. What is your New Story? Breathe it in, welcome it in. If you need a bit more support there is an easy and quick guided visualisation for you.

Ready to pick?

Shall we go look?

SHE WHO LAUGHS

There is within your life now a great heaviness, an earnestness, and a sense of great gravity to nearly every situation unfolding. Yes, this is of great importance, and yes, there are consequences to consider. But it is time for you to receive the healing power of laughter, the power that lifts the darkness and releases energy that is stagnant, cold, and heavy from our energy field, indeed from our limbs and cells and hearts.

For you, this laughter is as necessary as surgery at this moment, as it will shake loose the cords strapping you tightly to burdens you no longer need to carry.

Let the light break through, and laugh – as without laughter, there can be no perspective, without laughter, there can be no movement forward, without laughter, there can be a sense of deep abiding resentment. Lift this!! Let She Who Laughs begin to help you seek out moments, people, and situations that stir the sense of the ridiculousness within you, and let the healing and the release of laughter roll through you and lift away the pain at the centre of your being.

Its time is passing. It will melt away with tears of laughter that fall and cleanse and free you from the past….For now, the sun breaks through, and your eyes shine once again with mirth and joy.

Welcome back to the world of delight, friend. It’s time.

THE ANCIENT

The Ancient is so old she is almost beyond time. She is able to speak the truth without compromise – as are you. She is so old, has experienced so much, learned and taught so many lessons, that she has become powerful and influential, just as you are becoming, too. So too are you growing older, coming into wisdom. She knows that while others are now going to come to you for advice and guidance, she sees your humanity – your faults and your flaws and your feelings of unworthiness. She wishes to reassure you.

Others will come to you, seeking knowledge, awaiting a blessing, an initiation, and oblivious to the consequences of the path they wish to walk. Wisdom, true wisdom, understands complexity, and you have developed this quality. The Ancient is honourable and human, and yet more than human, and she is courageous and has made sacrifices – as have you. She sees straight through comforting illusions – as do you.

She represents ancient tradition and the challenge of defining the self, yet remaining with a tradition that you value – and this too is one of your challenges. So take responsibility in your life. You will face the battle of choice, and you will be the antidote to gurus and dominant personalities who claim to have all the answers. The Ancient recognises the challenge of being a teacher. This immersion in a world to learn the ancient arts and venerate wisdom and old ways can be expressed in many forms, but everything you are now learning has value. She is the repository for ancient secrets and the contact between worlds. She is wise – and she has learned to consider every word that falls from her lips, even as she longs to call out for freedom.

ASTRILD

When we love, we can gaze directly into the soul of another human being for a while. This in-love sensation reminds us of who we can truly be when we connect with our own self-love. We feel complete, adored, and we open wide to the experience. Energy surges through us, we crave the touch of the beloved.

We are, for a time, quite mad. The love fire has been lit within you, and you are being asked to allow your own self-love to ignite in return. You are feeling sensual, ready to make love, to explore the boundaries of physical sensation, and you wish reality would simply leave you be for a time so you can fully explore this craving and desire.

About you is the sensation of fulfilment, of satisfaction, and for a time, you will live between the worlds while this powerful experience shakes you to the core. And all the while, this faery being gazes into your heart, willing you to remember that not only do you love, you are worth loving. Astrild’s cool green gaze observes the fire within you, and will remind you again and again that to love yourself, and to love another with all of your heart, is a kind of baptism, a blessing, a ritual, and a trial by fire.

Passion is your whole world. Let the fire embrace you, purify you, and keep walking through the flames of love.

Wowzer, some delicious energy and guidance there! So gorgeous one, take some time this week to think about what you want your New Story to Be, use the energy of this delicious New Moon to do some reviewing and releasing and play! Enjoy the crispness, the smells, the beginning of the leaves changing and we will explore more of what Fall Equinox brings next week. Have a fabulous week and huge hugs and squeezes!

Full Moon, How do you Tap into Inspiration, and Bring on Fall!!

Jenny Heston · 5:43 pm ·

Happy Magickal, Musical, Magnificent, Mysterious, Manifesting Monday!

Yesterday was the delicious Blue Sturgeon Full Moon, packed with all sorts of wonderful energies to play with, did you take some time to do so? It could be as simple as lighting a candle and reflecting on the traits within you that are like the Sturgeon. Remember, we talked last week that Sturgeon are strong and impressive. They’ve survived millions of years by adapting and persevering through many different challenges. You are just as powerful and resilient whether you realize it or not.

So I don’t know about you but this week has been rather funky. It “seems” as if the world is going absolutely bonkers and there is a lot of blaming, shaming, judgement and mixed messages. Let alone what Mumma Earth is kicking up. And yet we are being “encouraged” to just go back to normal, don’t rock the boat, just be normal. (Yet what the fuck is normal? Lol)

What made it more “interesting” for me, was in an interview, for a wonderful Summit of amazing women, that I had at the beginning of the week I said “What do we do when we are feeling good – we throw the tools out of the window and forget about them until next time.” Yes – I did say that outloud on an interview lol.

Interestingly enough, after I said that – my next time came quickly after that interview as I noticed I felt edgier, drained, things felt sharp and my Intuition and Inspiration had gone into hiding. So much so there was a day where I was wondering what was happening as I had zero energy (and if you know me, my energy is super high, like an Energiser bunny!) I felt a total lack of inspiration, which was triggering my Virgo tendencies in a huge way as we are in the midst of an amazing transformation of how Creatrix Circle is going to be and a few other wonderful goodies that are coming out. So needless to say the “to do lists” were calling persistently like an old relationship that didn’t realise we had broken up!

Thankfully I have friends who will be “real” with me and they all said “Step back, you’ve taken on the collective and need some rest time.” Gulp. Thus, I popped myself into the amazing macrame hammock chair that I made and made self care the number one item and guess what came up?

Inspiration (which as we know is tied to Intuition). The word “inspiration” means “breathing in.” The Hebrew word ruah and Greek pneuma mean both “breath” and “spirit”. To get inspired, we must breathe in spirit. Well that makes total sense don’t you think?

So as I swung in my chair (putting my logical/analytical mind in a box on the garden table), I turned to the breeze that was blowing around me and my breath for wisdom and got quiet. Just letting the thoughts arise and blow away like leaves in the wind and as I did this Inspiration drifted gently into the stillness I had created.

Yes!!!! It was like a gorgeous river of amazing images and words filled with fishes of Intuition. There was just the breeze that made the chair swing gently, the rustle of leaves, me and spirit. It was so delicious I stayed there for 3 hours (and I can’t normally sit still for that long). My Inspiration, Intuition and Magickal well being felt nourished and heard. The next day I grabbed a plethora of Sharpies, a huge sheet of paper and everything was mind mapped out – not from my ego brain, from my intuitive heart brain. It was magnificent!

So let me ask, what are you doing for yourself to fill your Inspiration tank? What does that look like for you (as well all do it differently). Is it sitting and breathing in spirit, is it writing, walking, going to the gym, having a great conversation with a friend. What Inspires You?

Okay, enough chuntering – let’s crack on with the reading. The cards that flew out and at me this week are the amazing Divine Circus Oracle, which made me laugh my soxs off – as the world does feel like that right now, circus like.

Now, if these guides are new to you, please let me introduce them (as not to would be rude!)

“What is life if not a Divine Circus? Life might seem ordinary at times, yet when we look more closely, it is bursting with creative diversity, constantly evolving, pulling rugs out from underneath our feet (usually just at the moment we think we have everything under control) and opening doors we couldn’t even see were right there before us moments earlier. Life is magical, thrilling, sometimes strange and even scary. It can inspire you and touch your soul, inviting you to discover the unique magic within you, to dare to live it, to express it, to play with possibilities and embrace what sets you apart from the crowd. “

Thus, I invite you to breathe and just BE with your gorgeous self here at this moment. Take a few lovely, rich, nourishing breaths and let the cares of the moment slide off like wee little raindrops. Then when you are ready, pick the card or cards that call to you.

If you need some help and support releasing the “shoulds”, the weight of energy around you I have a lovely guided visualisation for you. It’s fun, we are going on an explore!

Did you remember to pick?

Let’s go look!

STEAMPUNK PRIESTESS

Appearances can deceive; yet when the time is right, incisive intuition slices through the illusion and the truth hits you between the eyes. That is the perception of reality behind the illusion. You know it when you experience it and you know that you have to trust in what you see! So give yourself permission to acknowledge and accept the power of those insights. Don’t talk yourself out of the truth. Intuition might only last for a second; and yet it can change the way you look at things forever, setting you on a more authentic course and allowing for changes to take place that you might have previously believed were impossible.

You might need to look closer to understand what is happening, or to trust in what you are already perceiving, even if a part of you doubts it because the truth of the matter in such cases would be so at odds with superficial appearances. Trust in your insight, no matter how startling, surprising or shocking that intuitive hit might be.

Get focused on what matters to you, then you won’t lose precious energy by either worrying about what could go wrong or trying to sort something out in your head. When the time is right, even the most confusing situation is going to come into focus, and your understanding of the matter, and what you need to do or not do, will be crystal clear. Set an intention for clarity and trust in what you see!

THE PROUD PIERETTE

If you were proud of who you are and everything you have learned in your life, free from shame, guilt or judgement, what would you choose for yourself today? The choices you make for yourself from a place of feeling good are going to be more loving and helpful than anything from a place of self-judgement. You’ve nothing to regret, you’ve learned a lot and you are a beautiful unique being on a wild divine journey. Be kind to yourself. Keep your head up! Then it will be easier to keep growing and glowing.

Dear wild one, have you felt like you’ve lost your footing? Got a bit clumsy? Made a mistake? Have you been second-guessing your choices? Don’t you dare doubt you! Be proud of all you’ve done and how far you’ve come. Never be ashamed of who you are, or the journey you’ve taken.

If you feel that life is getting you down, or you should have, or could have, made different decisions in life – be reassured, you are doing a great job! You are meant to have learning experiences. What matters is that you choose to learn. And you do! In your own time and your own way, you make sense of things, and you grow wiser and stronger as a person.

If you feel any ridicule, judgement or shaming is coming from those around you – trust you are stronger and wilder and more beautiful and true than any of that mean-spirited fearfulness. Let the mud that is being slung slide right off or remain stuck in the hands of those throwing it your way. Keep your sense of inner dignity intact. Never make yourself smaller to placate the fear in another’s heart. Take pride in who you are. Be proud to be you! And know that this is a way to respect and honour the creative loving power of the universe that created you!

GUEST OF HONOUR

Have you ever felt like you were on the outside, looking in – maybe like everyone else has found their place, really belonging to someone or something, having set themselves up for life, with you still working out how to just get past the security guards at the front gate? It’s time for your outsider status to change.

There are times to break free from the crowd, to stand alone and have the courage to be the outsider. If you are brave enough to endure the times when you feel like you don’t fit in, you gain a precious treasure. This is the ability to know who you really are and to learn to love that self. When you are solid in your self-esteem, and your self-knowledge, the powers you have developed as an outsider – including different viewpoints and ways of understanding the world – can be brought back to the rest of the world to be shared, to create a better world for all. It’s a bit like a soul version of sharing your holiday pictures with the family after a big adventure, opening up their minds to other worlds and maybe even inspiring them to take their own journey.

But if you’ve spent long enough on the outside, on the fringe of life, perhaps leaving people behind, it can take some intention and attention to change course. You might have become used to being the lone wolf or standing so apart from the crowd that there’s no-one else around you. That will have served a purpose, but you are invited to shift your ways now – from setting yourself apart – to returning with that wisdom to share with others. It means believing you can sail straight past the security guards at the door, straight into the most deliciously wonderful party and into the VIP room at the centre.

You have learned to accept yourself, so you’ll not hand your power over to others, as though their approval means more to you than your own self-possession. You can be amongst the crowd, and take your rightful place there, yet still be an individual, very much at home, belonging and sharing your treasures with others, still exactly who you are in truth.

It’s time to take pride of place in something that matters a lot to you. Accept it. It is your time to feel as though you have been chosen and that you belong.

Oh wow, what gorgeous guides for this week! Seriously, you can’t make this shit up! What matters to you, be proud of who you are in your real/raw state and get ready to step into a place of community and connection. Whoot! So most gorgeous bean, wishing you a stupendous week filled with tapping into what you truly value and need, appreciating how far you have come and of course INSPIRATION!

Can you Feel the Shift in the Air? What does the Blue Sturgeon Moon ask of you?

Jenny Heston · 10:57 pm ·

Happy Magickal, Miraculous, Magnificent, Manifesting Monday! How are you? We are already into mid August, can you believe it?

When my kids were smaller this was a frenetic time of trying to squeeze in the last bits of summer and yet start preparing for the upcoming school session. I personally love this time of year as Autumn is approaching!!! For me, Spring and Fall are my favourite seasons by far. I mean, yeah summer is nice with the longer days and the heat, but we have had unrelenting heat, blazing sun, forest fires, smoke andI’m rather done with it and am feeling dried out from the inside out!

On the weekend I hosted a family and friend dinner gathering out in the garden and was tickled pink to actually have to put on a second layer as the sun went down. We also had to play “dodge the acorns” as the garden is in the midst of a Garry Oak grove and all the trees had obviously decided that Fall was approaching and so every few minutes 2 or 3 large acorns would come flying down to either bounce on the grass – or on someone’s head!

There’s definitely a shift in the air and a promise of something deeper, richer and more inward turning as Fall approaches.

This upcoming weekend we welcome the second Full Moon in Aquarius (if you remember the first one was last month). This delicious Full Moon is a Blue Moon and is known as the Sturgeon Moon.

Great Jen, but what does that mean for me?

The Sturgeon Full Moon of August fully embodies the final days of summer and signals the harvest season. Our first harvest celebration was Lammas at the beginning of August. Deep within us, anticipation starts to stir, we feel it quicken just beneath the surface. You’ll notice the days start to feel a bit shorter and the sunlight has grown a bit weaker. You may even observe a few fallen yellow leaves.

August’s sweltering lazy summer days inspire dreams of pumpkin spice lattes and sweater weather.

We’re beginning to reap the rewards of some of our crops, either literal or metaphorical. However, we need to be patient as we wait for our hard work and creations to fully culminate.

The Full Moon of August is named the Sturgeon Moon to symbolize and represent the freshwater fish that were easily caught during this hot summer month in North America. Have you ever seen a Sturgeon? They are so frigging impressive and look prehistoric and can be traced back over 200 million years!

Sturgeon can grow to be quite large in size and often live to be over 100 years old.

So – align your spiritual intentions this month with the strong and impressive sturgeon. They’ve survived millions of years by adapting and persevering through many different challenges. You are just as powerful and resilient whether you realize it or not.

What big ambitions did you have last Winter or early Spring that you most desire to see accomplished? Let the Full Moon of August’s energy encourage you to push through the final hurdles to complete your goals and intentions. Allow yourself to admit if you’ve fallen off track, and then dust yourself off, and try again.

Remember progress over perfection! It’s ok if things aren’t working out exactly as you envisioned. Allow yourself to go with the flow and trust that the universe is also working hard to help your intentions come true. Consistent effort and hard work will always pay off, even if it’s not exactly as you planned. Stay open-minded, but don’t give up!

If you want to dive deeper into this energy, explore the concepts of harvest, gratitude and flexibility or go play with water!

Water is the perfect way to cool down during the warm August days and nights. Spend some time by a lake, ocean, river, or your favorite watering hole! Fully submerge in the cool water if you can. Let it flow around you and relax. Allow any anxiety or worries to slip away with the current or tide. Imagine yourself as the water trusting and flowing freely. Let go of your fears and know that whatever may happen, you will find a way to make the best of it.

So with that glorious energy in play let’s crack on with the reading. When I went to the glorious cards and asked who wanted to guide and support you this week I was delighted to see The Oracle of the Shapeshifters. As we are all shapeshifting in some shape or form right now.

If these glorious guides are new to you, let me please introduce them (as that is the polite thing to do)! “These are the magickal familiars, once the companions of shamans, witches, wizards, and wise ones – and now they are here for you. Now is the time for you to undertake a great quest – to rebirth yourself within this lifetime and this quest of evolution does not need to be faced alone. We change and we change again. We fear change. Yet it comes. For us to fear change is as foolish as winter crying for the coming of spring. Change is. Fear corrupts. These guides are here to support, encourage and help you through transformation and to teach you to let go of fear. True , deep change must take place for you to fulfill your soul contract. You may have turned from possibility to what you have convinced yourself is probable: You diminish your possible self, reduce who you are, and dilute your spirit. But even when you have sought to remain invisible and hidden away, and said yes to everyone else, life will find you – and transform you. You are never alone with these beings.” Phew! So there we have it, are you ready?

Take a moment to align with the wonderful, strong, ancient sturgeon. Let that glorious energy fill you as you breathe and then when you are ready pick the card or cards that call to you this week.

Did you remember to pick?

Let’s go see, shall we?

THE MERMAID OF IMMERSION

It has come time to completely involve yourself – you have been holding back, only going so far with a new project or with a commitment to yourself, always pulling back at the last moment from taking the step. You are holding a part of yourself back, watching, judging, always assessing whether this is right or wrong. You are surrounding yourself with what you consider to be protection and what humans call buffer zones. And you claim you want change. You claim you wish to understand. You claim you wish to have this done!

If this is true, then the time has come to take a deep breath, dive off the edge of the cliff, and immerse yourself fully in the waters of change. Go underneath, to the truth of what has happened, and surround yourself only with what supports that change. The time has come to remove the buffer zones and to have enough faith in your friendships and family relations to know that if they are meant to be, they will be there when you return. You need not take this plunge. It is not compulsory. But it is what you have claimed you wanted. Come with me. I will teach you how to breathe underwater. And then, finally, the truth you have claimed you have been reaching for will be yours.

It is time to release procrastination, making excuses and staying in the land of excuses and old ways – the deep underneath, your soul is calling for you. Break free. Dive in. Dive deep. Be surrounded by and belong to the beauty you wish to become!

KITSUNE

“Trust me,” people say. “Over here,” they beckon. “I love you,”others croon. But who of all these beings seeking what you possess speaks the truth?

I, Kitsune, can hear their true voice, and I can see the consequences of their plans before they have a chance to unfurl. While it can hurt to know the truth, it is best to know the heart of those who would win your trust, your love, your resources. These precious gifts of yours must be protected. Your tender self must only be given where you will be honoured. There are some who wish to deceive and maniu;ate you, and yet you do not know who they are. By welcoming me in for a time, I will act as a powerful undercover agent, and I will expose the tricks and falsehoods of others. I will never advise you to be false, but I will clearly signal to you when to stay silent, whom to avoid, and situations that need not be your concern.

I may appear in the guise of a helpful stranger or an insightful encounter – or as I do here. Regardless of my form, I am your friend, and I will tell you the truth – and show you where the trickster plays.

STRANGE COMPANIONS IN STRANGER PLACES

Einstein, one of your wise ones, said that imagination is more important than power. How true this is. There is nothing on this planet that was not born of a dream, or a wayward thought – including we two, who were born out of separate imaginations but who live on and grow more and more powerful thanks to the millions who believe in us and our stories and whom we, in turn, inspire!

So now, like us, you find yourself amid strange times and places.

You have a great power within you – the power of your creativity, your imagination, and your dream self! You are going through great changes, and it seems to you like you have no power. But if you use your imagination, if you get truly creative about how to deal with new people and places, who you can be, and what you are capable of, you will shine.

You also have beautiful, strong allies who have accompanied you on your journey and who will not leave your side. They may bring inspiration for drawing, for daydreaming brilliant stories, for knowing how things should look, for being able to write the most ethereal music, or for dancing as light as a feather. Whatever your gift, use it to head into and become more familiar with this new territory, and explore this strange new place where you have chosen to begin a new life for yourself.

No more hiding – the adventure is one which is taking place now, and you are a part of it all. All is well – how could it not be as you live this new life in this full and wonderful way, with your great creativity and your courage in full bloom?

Wow, glorious strong messages for this shift and time. How did it feel for you? Wishing you a fabulous week filled with cool mornings, clear skies and the strength of the Sturgeon! See you next week.

Grief, Lammas and Blessings

Jenny Heston · 12:53 am ·

Happy Magnificent, Magickal, Moody, Melancholy, Manifesting Monday! How are you feeling with the energy of the Aquarius Full Moon swirling around?

This is a longer post as we have a couple of things to explore this week, two sides of the coin so to speak. Thus, if you aren’t willing to come and play in the messiness of human life, which can be real and raw, I highly suggest you skip this section. We are melding Grief and Lughnasadh (aka as Lammas) – which is about abundance and harvest.

Yup I did say Grief and and often classified as “taboo” in our Western Culture. As most people don’t know how to deal with it. Let’s be honest, over the last year and a half with the lovely pandemic many people have experienced loss on so many levels including people transitioning and not being able to be there when it happened.

Which got me thinking a lot about how we’re all just muddling through life. Honestly, it’s a wonder that any of us have the energy to reach out to others when we all have such complicated dramas playing out in our own lives. Add in the overwhelming stress of losing someone we love, and the volume gets turned all the way up.

The trouble, of course, is that as humans we’re not meant to be isolated. We are built for community, so even though it would be easier to wrap ourselves in cotton wool (or perhaps a duvet) and hide when we’re hurting, the real healing happens in relation to other people. This has been a huge challenge in the pandemic and this was something that I struggled with for a long time two years ago.

Two years ago I spent the month of July in the UK helping my big sister and best friend Fi to die. It was the toughest thing I have ever had to do so far in my life, she was one of my touchstones and I didn’t want her to leave at all, but she did. It was transformative, painful and powerful all at the same time. And fucking sucked!!!

When I returned back to Canada, numb and empty I struggled as all I wanted was to be alone. It felt primal. I wanted to wear soft clothing that felt cosy against my skin, I didn’t want to talk. I wanted to sleep and curl up, eat comforting food and drink hot tea. As after all it is difficult to be our most raw, broken selves in public. Grief, to me, felt like having a limb chopped off. How was it possible that my sister – my best friend – was gone from the world in such an irreversible way? The shock of her absence followed me around for months, like an empty space where my shadow should have been. And dealing with other people! Oh my Goddess – I had to remind myself that other people were trying their best. Even when they seemed to say or do precisely the wrong thing.

So last year when July came around I didn’t realise how it would gut me. To remember that on her birthday, July 28th, she started leaving us and died 3 days later. Staying with her 24×7, the candles, the music, the stories that I would tell her in the hopes that she would open her eyes and would be totally fine. It knocked me for seven to be honest.

Two years later I am a bit wiser and made sure to clear space and time to feel the feels. Yes, grief does lessen – in other words it doesn’t walk with you every day, but when it floods up it is as intense as it ever was. Thus, on Wednesday I am going to fully celebrate Fi’s birthday and do all the things she loved to do and make glorious lemon lavender loaves (as she liked a nice piece of cake and a cuppa). Then on Saturday – her death day (still not too sure what to call it) – I’m going to go sit and chat with her and be alone as to be honest – it feels raw and if another daft person says “It’s been two years”, I can’t guarantee that I will be pleasant by any stretch of the imagination.

And as a gift to all you wonderful beasties, on Wednesday (if you are part of our email community) and in honour of my most magickal, wise, amazing sister there will be a glorious Lughnasadh bundle available for free. Why?

On August 1st (Sunday) Lughnasadh or Lammas happens, it is the first of three harvest festivals. A time of appreciation, gratitude, abundance and it is a time of awareness that the strength of the Sun (Lugh) is beginning to wane and there is a shift and change afoot. Active growth is slowing down and the darker days of winter and reflection are gently and slowly raising their heads.

I love Lammas as it’s such a glorious celebration of food, first harvest and gathering. All things that Fi loved and understood.

You may not think you have anything you are harvesting in your life. You may not be able to name what, exactly, you’ve been growing & tending this year. BUT I PROMISE YOU, simply being a human being living through the uncertainties & upheaval has caused you to stretch & grow in ways you may not realize yet. And that growth is GOING TO bear fruit in some way.

One of the most beautiful lessons Lughnasa teaches us is to TRUST.

So make sure you snag the Lammas bundle when it’s released this coming week. It is filled with lore, stories, rituals and glorious things to make and do to honour YOU. (Yes You!) And how wonderful you are and all the ups and downs, the hiccups and the accomplishments you have experienced. There is also going to be a delicious guided visualisation for you for this time.

Now enough chuntering from me, let’s crack on with the reading. When I went to the cards to ask who would like to be present this week it made my heart smile to see who showed up. The amazing Faery Blessing guides were most adamant. As after all, who doesn’t need a Blessing?

Now if these guides are new to you, please let me introduce them as it would be rude not to.

Faeries are present in every droplet of water, every blade of grass – they are everywhere there is a trace of nature – thus every field, flower, and forest is theirs. They inhabit the wild rainforests and the old castles; they dance within standing stones and burial mounds; they are on the top of mountains and within the grove deep in the valley; and they appear in the cracks in the pavement and beneath the cities in the old, tangled tree roots. Faeries are part of this world, and they were here before we were born into this world, and they know us better than we know ourselves.

For humans, many of us have lost our sense of play, our sense of relationship with nature, our courage to be ourselves – as well as our hope, creativity, and personal power. We have looked outside of ourselves and nature and the sacred ones for answers, and in doing so, we have become quite lost. The blessings of the faeries can bring us back into relationship with ourselves, back into relationship with the elements and the elementals, so that we can become more at home within the world, while creating a personal world which supports our dreams, our wishes, and our purpose.

Yes! Positively perfect!

So gorgeous one take a breath. Just a normal breath and then as you carry on breathing allow it to slow down. Breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. Allow in your mind’s eye a gorgeous rainbow swirl to form, this pattern is made of loss and abundance. It holds any grief you may feel about a person, place, situation or thing and it melds with the abundance and appreciation of who you are. As you breathe just let it swirl, you don’t have to control it.

Then with this energy pick the card or cards that call to you. What Blessing is for you this week?

Did you remember to pick?

Shall we go look?

A BLESSING FROM QUEEN MAB

The Faery Gift of Being the Ruler of Your Own World

With this faery gift from the formidable and enchanting faery queen, Queen Mab, comes the blessing of being the owner of your own life. This is a powerful blessing indeed, for with this blessing comes the most precious gift of all, that of knowing that your life is yours to live.

With this blessing, let you now take up the reins of your life, let you decide what it is you do, and who it is you are, and who you are now becoming. It is your life, this wild and sweet thing, to be lived only once, and it is rare and priceless. You shall no longer be owned, nor forced, nor pushed, nor pulled, for with her gift comes the solidity of determining your own fate – for you are a being who has often been pressured to give away the crown that declares that you are the sovereign. With this blessing, it is returned to you.

Let yourself be a queen, a king, and know your world is as great as any other person’s. Your life is a jewel, and no more shall you spend it pleasing others. When this blessing comes to you, all who you know you will love and support you, and you will now take back the power that you gave away. You will climb the stairs to your throne and look upon your world and know that you will be a strong leader of your own soul. And you will inspire others to do the same.

With this gift from Queen Mab will come the sure knowledge of what is wise for you to do, and what would be foolish, and to know the difference between pleasing others and doing what is in the very best interest of the path of your soul.

You faery friend, are a magnificent being, and your life, your world, and your very being are royal. Be most loyal to your ownself, and know now the gift of great and deep self-respect, and of choosing what is right for you.

Blessings of the great and good Queen Mab to you, friend.

BLESSED BE

A BLESSING OF A FAERY GUARDIAN

A Faery Gift of Magickal Protection and Lifelong, True Loving Care.

At your birth into this world, human child, a faery came to you and offered you the blessings of your soul. For each of us, this blessing will be unique, created especially for the journey we are destined to take in this lifetime. So, with this blessing, may you know again the beauty and sweetness of your own faery godmother, your faery guardian. For she is still with you, helping to ease the way and remind you, as often as she is able to pierce the veil, that you are her charge, and she will remain with you all the days of this life.

May you now feel the presence of her love; may you feel that sense of being looked out for, that there is one being from the elemental world who works with your soul and helps you at all times.

When this blessing comes, tune in to her presence and know that all about you there is comfort, and goodness, and a way to move through all difficulties. Yoru faery guardian has always been with you this lifetime, and will remain until you have journeyed on. Know you are her most precious charge, and when times become troubled, and life seems bleak, know there is a being whose duty it is to bring you back to hope, to optimism, to the sense that you are a gifted, cherished being. Feel now the love of the faery guardian, your own faery godmother, and believe again in your own blessedness.

BLESSED BE

A BLESSING OF CLEAR FORESIGHT

The Faery Gift of Knowing what is likely to come from the dimension we humans call the future.

A gift is given this day to you, a blessing of the faeries true. This gift is that of the long vision, the ability to see the consequences of actions taken in the present and, indeed, the outcome of decisions of the past. With this blessing of clear foresight, may you be blessed with the ability to see the lasting influence of what it is you choose to do – what will you be granting to the future of this world, to the children, to the ones who come after.

May you understand, therefore, what would be best for you to do, not only for your own self – though it is good and right for you to think of yourself – but of what is best for those you love and for those who come after us all. For the faeries love long, and see many a human unable to contemplate beyond their own needs – and, in that moment, unthinking of consequences, create a future they do not wish to inhabit fully. With this amazing faery gift, this enchanted ability to see further into the dimension of time, you will make the best decision for yourself now and for the future and the future of others. Time unfurls before you, a green scroll unwritten upon, but one upon which you can see what could come.

Take this blessing and use it wisely, for the fae, for the human children, and for the betterment of your own precious self.

Faery blessings of the long foresight to you, friend.

BLESSED BE

And so it is. May your week be filled with Blessings galore. If you are walking with Grief, please know that you are not alone – I see you, I hear you and you are so loved. I won’t tell you it will pass, as it doesn’t – but the gap where your shadow would be does lessen. To celebrate you and the fact that you are here, muddling through life and doing your best, do make sure to grab the Lammas bundle when it comes out on Wednesday. Huge Blessings and I will see you in two weeks as it’s a long weekend coming up here in Canada.