It’s good to hear if the ways everyone is nurturing themselves, essential work more than ever right now I think!
speakout that is such good news about the woodland, thank you for sharing the result with us- a joy to hear.
rivierliedje Another one here who would like to say thank you for bringing Tristan Gooley’s work to my attention- it looks absolutely fascinating 🙏
Elphame I also love hearing about your potions and had a similar image of your kitchen in my mind to the others!
BlankTimes it’s lovely to see you here and I love the sound of your homemade skincare products too. I’ve ventured as far as bath salts, oil blends and body scrubs and did make some body cream with coconut oil as a base but nothing more advanced than that so far. I’d be interested in any recipes or tips you are willing to share 
Violet thank you for the podcast link- another one on my list! I love listening to podcasts and audio books while I potter
RosesandIris it’s lovely to hear more about your interests and path.
Like you I’ve always felt connected with the natural world, animals and the elements. I have a particular affinity with water (inherited from my dad’s side of the family who will all take any opportunity to get in or be near wild water!) and have had to learn to connect more with earth.
I was fascinated as a child by the divination practices of the women on the maternal side of my family- tea leaves and playing cards, sharing’knowings’ and intuitions. Despite being brought up in a Baptist christian environment, some of my mother’s side of the family were spiritualists and this always intrigued me. They also passed on folk traditions in terms of simple practices, remedies and talismans for luck, protection etc. I still have an actual rabbits foot somewhere that was the ‘lucky charm’ of my grandmother 😳 others were less objectionable to me- crafted items made with particular intentions. The baptists and evangelical Christians, for all my personal issues with what I see as oppressive structures (that’s another story!) , do contain threads of connection in terms of reading signs and symbols, working with intuition etc I think. I just strongly disagree with the source and the practices that I feel are dangerous and damaging. That’s just my opinion based on my own experience.
During my teens, following a definite rejection on my part of my christian upbringing, I became more interested in rituals and spellwork- found that they knitted together in a complementary way with the practices that I’d picked up from family members. Organised structures and different schools of thought and witchcraft really interest me but due to the aversion created by my early experience of organised religion, they are not for me personally.
As I moved through my career (working with people) and became interested in psychology, I became interested in links there too- the similarity between the principles of CBT, flow psychology and manifesting results through focused intention and shifted mindsets in spell work for example.
So these days I weave small practices throughout my day, enjoy seeing links between different schools of thought (I always think of it pops up in various belief systems then it’s worth exploring!) have learned to trust my intuition more and still like rituals and spell work when I feel the inclination.
Following the wheel of the year helps me feel connected and part of something bigger. I think there’s special magic in things we pour our intention into- from potions to talismans, cooking, washing etc. I’m happy with my path and being amongst like, and accepting minds here has given me so much.
So that’s me! I love it how we all have different stories to tell and how our paths weave together and in parallel, everyone bringing their unique understanding and experience. I never tire of hearing others stories, they always spark interest and inspiration and I think this is particularly powerful in the context of this supportive space we have here.
I hope everyone is finding some magic in their day 💫