Any Witches Here? Part 15

[speakout]

Or Wiccans. or Pagans? Or anyone who is interested in a magical path or feels some magical stirrings.

A place for support, learning, swapping ideas and magical inspiration.

I have actually considered moving out and getting my own little place leaving everyone just to get on with it! Oh this is a dream of mine and has been for a while.

makelovenotpetrol there are loads of recommendations for people just starting out in our previous threads.

Hills could be it's asking for your attention. Either randomly as a general hint, or more preferable for me as an explanation, more specifically at the time it does tingle, what do you need to also "see" (likely in a vibrational sense but possibly physically) that you're missing?

Another tired witch sitting down in my favourite comfy armchair by the fire in our cosy kitchen with a peppermint tea and a purring cat. Just the tonic. Lovely to see both old friends and new faces here (welcome ) and feel the energy of all who are part of our group, even when they can’t always post here.

It’s so good to be amongst like minds and take in your wise words and resonant perspectives. I’ve been reflecting on similar these past few days. I’m looking forward to watching the molly roberts video and very much like the idea of early morning self care, great message to the psyche too- this comes first, this is important. Lovely stuff, and a cottage of ones own, away from responsibility is a great place to generate in meditation or journeying even when it’s not physically possible I think. I’ve done this often myself, created a world to retreat to in my mind, or on some other plain. An advantage of the introvert mind to be able to do this naturally I think, sometimes I visit as I’m drifting off to sleep- the perfect resting place for the mind.

Which reminds me about the bedtime stories someone (Blurpblop? Sorry if I’ve got that wrong) recommended in an earlier thread. A lovely gift to yourself if you have a busy mind at bedtime

www.nothingmuchhappens.com/stories

Also this soothing piece of music (it’s a goddess invocation) for a few minutes of calm

All been mentioned before several times but feel pertinent now in case they can be of support to those who haven’t heard of them before.

I always think of speakout sharing something a yoga teacher (Hope I’ve remembered correctly too!) about the ‘work being in the wobble’ when we’re challenged to seek balance we are working on balance. Being aware of this helps me when I feel out of whack.

Sending love to all and a wish for pockets of calm and peace amongst whatever else is going on. May you have restorative, goddess blessed sleep ✨

This thread moves so quickly, I'm nodding along as I read as so much of what you're all saying resonates with me. I seem to be permanently tired at the moment, work is incredibly busy, but although I'm getting plenty of sleep and eating well, I'm struggling to motivate myself to do much else. I'm doing my best to listen to my body and the natural pull towards hibernation that comes with this time of year, but I'm battling against that nagging voice my brain which is telling me I should be doing more, pushing myself to exercise, making more effort to make plans with friends...I wish I could switch it off!!

I'm going to curl up by the fire now with my tea and catch up on all the posts. Sending love to you all.

Can I dip my toes back in? I was here a bit last year I think, but my internet use goes up and down. My tea is lemon balm and lavender flowers from the garden (and I really do recommend it for all those feeling the physical/emotional/spiritual exhaustion - I dried some self heal flowers earlier in the year as well and have been chucking those in in the hopes they’ll be vaguely restorative).

Was wondering if anyone here charts their cycle in detail? We’re just coming out of 2 failed frozen embryo transfers and I need to not get pregnant naturally (the ivf is to avoid a genetic condition my husband carries, so the frozen embryos are tested and clear of the wonky gene) but given the hideousness of ivf medication I am passionately disinclined to use hormonal contraception. We used the fertility awareness method to avoid pregnancy for a few years off-and-on before having our little boy, but am now trying to get to grips with checking a cervix that’s pushed around by prolapse and it does seem to complicate matters! I know there was talk earlier in this thread of keeping track of menstrual and lunar cycles and I thought there might be like-minded folk here with advice.

Sending calm thoughts and home-grown herbs to all who need them. We had a ‘quick’ walk in the woods today that morphed into 3 hours of letting the 4-year-old lead the way, and it’s done me a power of good. Also, at his suggestion I put my war against a tree branch to listen: had never thought to do this before but can heartily recommend it - incredible whooshing and booming sounds as the top of the branch meters above us moved and bumped against its neighbours in the wind.

Including some fungus, because it was so gorgeous.

*ear, not war! Autocorrect’s feeling aggressive tonight.

@Verbena87

Can I dip my toes back in? I was here a bit last year I think, but my internet use goes up and down. My tea is lemon balm and lavender flowers from the garden (and I really do recommend it for all those feeling the physical/emotional/spiritual exhaustion - I dried some self heal flowers earlier in the year as well and have been chucking those in in the hopes they’ll be vaguely restorative).

Was wondering if anyone here charts their cycle in detail? We’re just coming out of 2 failed frozen embryo transfers and I need to not get pregnant naturally (the ivf is to avoid a genetic condition my husband carries, so the frozen embryos are tested and clear of the wonky gene) but given the hideousness of ivf medication I am passionately disinclined to use hormonal contraception. We used the fertility awareness method to avoid pregnancy for a few years off-and-on before having our little boy, but am now trying to get to grips with checking a cervix that’s pushed around by prolapse and it does seem to complicate matters! I know there was talk earlier in this thread of keeping track of menstrual and lunar cycles and I thought there might be like-minded folk here with advice.

Sending calm thoughts and home-grown herbs to all who need them. We had a ‘quick’ walk in the woods today that morphed into 3 hours of letting the 4-year-old lead the way, and it’s done me a power of good. Also, at his suggestion I put my war against a tree branch to listen: had never thought to do this before but can heartily recommend it - incredible whooshing and booming sounds as the top of the branch meters above us moved and bumped against its neighbours in the wind.

Including some fungus, because it was so gorgeous.

I am able to track my cycles naturally if I wanted to, I've never needed to for pregnancy reasons although I have had other significant problems with pregnancy. For me, I have ovulation pain on the days I ovulate and the consistency of my CM is thicker. It looks the way it does the day or two before my period iyswim. I also feel a bit low mood and scatty on those days. I can't check my cervix as it's in the wrong place after carrying my children but those are the things I always notice every month. I wonder do you have any of these?

I always know the lunar cycles but that's to do with mood not my period!!

Hello tired witches, new witches and returning witches.

@Verbena87, I remember you, welcome back. It sounds like you are having a difficult time, please remember to be kind to yourself! Some of us had chat up thread about tracking our cycles. I'm trying to track mine as I hope yo TTC next year, I only have short cycles which why I'm convinced my daughter came 5 weeks early. I'm trying to track them so, if I do conceive next year, I can have a mental idea of when the baby will be born as opposed to when the text books say so.

I'm very much in the tired witch club, as it's half term I've been sneaking in some naps during the day. My goodness do I need them.

Last night, I had a very vivid dream about a tiny magpie. I'm going to see if there is anyone known significance about this. Do you wise ladies have any ideas? I did notice lots of magpies this morning as I took little Toto to nursery.

makelovenotpetrol yes I’d use cervical fluid as well, plus basal body temperature (if it wasn’t for the genetic stuff I’d be ttc this way, but as it is it’s important to us to avoid, so I need my info to be fairly robust) - just previously always used cervical fluid, temperature and cervix so I could cross-refer.

Sorry pregnancy hasn’t been straightforward for you either - I don’t know any women whose path to motherhood (or a child-free life, for that matter) has been entirely easy. It’s a weird one at the moment because I am desperate for another child but having to try to avoid pregnancy - cognitive dissonance! Hoping that charting my cycles might help establish a closer relationship with my body after the upheaval of ivf hormones and feeling it let our embryos down by letting them go.

Hmmm, I've just googled magpie dreams and they seem negative. That definitely wasn't the vibe I had in my dream.

Bodies can trick us, so a barrier method might be safer. I have always used a knowledge of my dates and CM (although you can still get pregnant before egg white CM as sperm can survive up to a week). Last year I got tired, messed up dates and ended up pregnant (a longed for child that we hadn’t tried to conceive due to finances - very sadly ended in MC). So I’d say barrier method!

@TotoAnnihiliation my daughter loves magpies and sees them as friendly souls. Maybe a child’s perspective is purer than one filtered by society? I mean, they can’t help being carions!

@TotoAnnihiliation I had a magpie visit and tap on my bedroom window a couple of months ago! I am sure I was awake, mum is sure I was dreaming, my client that week who is pleasingly witchy said to look up magpie as a power animal and I had forgotten until just now. Am late for today's appt but will try and look and check back in later!

@TotoAnnihiliation i had my own experience with the symbolism of magpies a little while back (I think I posted about it). I found a magpie skull and then the day after I saw a magpie moth. It all felt like a very strong nudge from the universe, but in a positive way. There are lots of positive symbolism attached to magpies if you read around a bit. I think the more negative ideas took over a bit with Christian superstition.
For me it was definitely a signifier of a shift in my spiritual journey, pointing me towards finding 'treasures' in delving deeper into working alongside deity.
It did take me a little while to figure out what the magpie message was though.

Or farmers. Magpies can be very .... when there was a trend of ensuring baby was outside for a good time every day they used to have to cover the craddle or pram because otherwise the carrion birds (magpies, crows, rooks etc) would peck out their eyes and attack them.
I am not a fan of magpies because of their predator skills. And the over population of them and the local rook population. Which no one can do anything about after bloody Chris Pack(what a ma call him) got them protected under law. The decimate wiring on roofs, pull at roof tiles, pull up flat roofs, poop all over the place, dive bomb you when you are working in the garden, killed off the population of small wild birds. But with no natural predator and no means to control the population it is almost a scene out of hitchcocks film around here sometimes.

Blanktimes i think you are right, there has been a theme of that a lot lately. Apparently i am a very slow learner but i am not sure what the program is that i am supposed to be getting with. I will figure it out eventually i guess i need to start listening and blind faithing a little.

@TotoAnnihiliation, as others have noted, the Magpie can be considered a 'witchy' bird, along with other corvids. I was in a bad place a while ago, a place of fear, and a beautiful magpie came right up to my window, looking in. As many do, I thought 'bad omen', but when I really meditated on it, it forced me to face some demons deep down and work with that dark place, rather than against it.

Very windy here, I think of it as Witch Weather, because energy is easier to send and receive and new perspectives can be blown in on the breezes. Like everyone upthread, I am struggling with all the spinning plates, but know if I let my self-care slip, it all eventually slips, so I do tiny things throughout the day to keep myself topped up - washing my hands with a beautiful soap that has been blessed, re-arranging some crystals to absorb their energy, even just standing in the rare slices of sun that pour through the window, these all help me feel whole.

I hope everyone has a restful day, and if there are things that need doing, may these run smoothly for all xxx

@Trenzalor sorry for your loss, that’s so hard. We’ve always combined FAM with condoms apart from 4-days post thermal shift up to cycle day 1 so quite a conservative interpretation of the rules. Will keep thinking round it - we’ve one frozen embryo left so will be back in hormone chaos at some point, but I need a break to get my head right first and just trying to get back into my body and feel in tune if that makes sense.

@TotoAnnihiliation I remember you too - VAST congratulations on surviving the term so far, it is a killer with covid and the dark mornings! We had plans for half term (both work in education) but we’re mostly just pottering from home as we’re so drained.

Hello again sisters

It was a rough ol’ ride through Mercury’s retrograde, arguments and fallings-out left, right and centre which left me feeling very bruised and battered. The mental effects took their toll physically which made me feel even worse and it all spiralled in on itself. Thankfully, it made me stop and regroup, plus I’ve had a session of Bowen therapy which - IME at least - works on an emotional and physical level.

The right help always turns up when it’s ready, I’ve found. As a case in point, my car broke down last week and a lovely chap stopped to help. It was only when I thought back afterwards that I remembered the angel wings painted on the back of his 4x4…

So, the regrouping continues and I’m finding the space and time to do more stuff I enjoy, and enjoy the stuff I’m doing, rather than feeling like everything is a chore. And I’m gearing up for Samhain (mini gourds are being collected this week for my altar!) with an eye towards Yule (the purchase of my favourite clementine and pomegranate candles, and the purchase of the River Cottage Christmas book for inspiration).

Taking of books, I’ve just finished Finding The Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard, about how trees connect and communicate. Fascinating stuff and it made me think of you all.

Hoping to be able to check in a bit more now I’m less discombobulated and scattered…

Brightyellowdaffodil Bowen therapy is amazing isn't it? I'm always telling people about it, it's so gentle and non-invasive, yet so effective. It's like magic!

Things have been so busy recently, I'm not planning to do much for Samhain this year, although I will light a candle and spend a little time making a connection with my ancestors. DS is away with friends from Friday until Sunday, I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to having the house to myself!

Toto do you remember anything else about the dream? Seeing one in a dream could be interpreted in many ways, it can help to know a bit more about what was going on in the dream.

@VioletCharlotte It’s wonderful stuff, I’ve used it for my horses too - not only do they react so powerfully to it - my horse will be busy staring over her door or trying to rummage in my pockets, then the therapist will find a sweet spot and my horse will go all quiet. On one occasion she went really “into” herself then suddenly “woke” and started doing stretches by herself. On another she flopped and exhaled so much when the therapist was treating her spine, I thought she was going to fall over! It’s bloody brilliant and I recommend it to everyone.

Thank you for all the thoughts on my magpie dream. It really was a strange one. It was. Tiny tiny magpie that was living in Mini Toto's hair, she liked it and kept calling it baby magpie. The magpie could talk but I can't remember what it could say.

I woke up thinking, this magpie is important.

I made some soup today, butternut squash and apple. Lovely! I wish I could offer some round to all of you.

Wish me luck today sisters. I have a day ahead of mixed feelings, a big event, it will be bittersweet, full of busy, crowds, battling rain and parking in the city. A day I should be celebrating but is full of sadness and loss for me too.

Just lighting my morning candle Speakout will use it to send energy your way for you to use as you need today x

I am sending some calming and nurturing energy, @speakout, may you emerge unscathed x

Fortitude and solidarity Sister-Witch, we stand together, unseen but present.