Exiting Hermit Mode for the Fall Equinox
an update on my health, spells for Mabon, future offerings and more!
What’s up swimmers? Happy Fall Equinox! Happy Mabon! Happy however you’re ushering in a new season! Happy not ushering in anything at all!
It feels like a million years since I’ve written you a love letter. Hi, hello. Since the New Moon in Leo and then the two year anniversary of Blasphememe Sunday, I’ve been offline and largely in hermit mode, which in many ways is a (Virgo) seasonally appropriate place to be. But now, the sun is moving into Libra, and so here I am. Hi, hello!
I do have some fun stuff to share today: Ideas for observing the Equinox/Mabon, an extension on Early Bird Pricing for the Gathering of the Witches next month, and a little tease of what’s to come here at SITS later this year and beyond!
But first, I wanted to be transparent about what I’ve been going through this summer, which has intensified in the last couple of months, and has contributed to my digital absence. I’m sharing this not for advice, pity or attention, but rather to speak on my experience in ways that push against my inclinations to isolate and disappear. That being said, I am always open to responses! I love to hear from you! Just please consider what you’re offering before you press send.
TW: Body pain, treatment, and unanswered health questions
After our move, I caught a bad case of tendonitis in both wrists, plus a couple of injured thumb joints. Unfortunately, it made sense to me—I’d packed, and unpacked, and traveled, and lifted, and hauled, and built, all with my own two hands in a relatively short amount of time. But by the end of August, the pain had spread throughout my shoulders, back, hips, and knees to the point where I’ve had trouble walking for the better part of a month.
It’s been shocking and awful and frankly unbearable at times. It’s not only taken over my day-to-day life, but the life of my wife and other loved ones as well. It’s revealed all of the ways in which I still struggle to care for myself, and accept help from others. I feel like a broken record of chiropractic massages, adjustments, acupuncture, blood draws, “normal” bloodwork results, talk therapy, rinse and repeat. Plus, worry and upset and pain and more appointments than I’ve had in my life.
And there are still no answers.
Nest week, I’m seeing a rheumatologist, and the search will continue.
One of the hardest parts of this whole ordeal for me has been my inability to work. I know that might read as silly when there’s something bigger going on, but I promise I don’t mean this in a capitalist hustle way. The truth is, I love to work! I love to be of service! I love to make things! But recently, the energy that I do have has had to go to my freelance gig (so that I can continue to afford medical care in our terrible system), and my continued care.
Though I’ve been plugging away at a proposal for a new witchy book, a draft of a fiction novel, and other projects that are taking up happy space on my plate, it’s been going a lot slower than I would like. It’s also fucked with my spiritual practices, my faith, and the illusions of control that still exist within me.
It’s also made me grateful for the love and support I have in my life. It’s shown me the privilege that I’ve enjoyed for the last 31 years of having a functioning and healthy physical body. It’s clarified what truly is important and of value to me.
For now, I’m being held together by ibuprofen, hot water bottles, epsom salt baths, walks with my dog, and the hope that it won’t always be this intense. It’s not quite the beauty that I expected from this Libra season, but it is teaching me that hyper-individuality really is an impossible way to live. Our bodies and our health are an amalgamation, a collaboration, and a community in and of themselves. It’s already taken many hands to get me this far, and it will take many more.
Thank you to the healers who’ve already shown up, and thank you to the healers still to come.
Thank you for reading. I love you. I hope you are well, whatever that looks like for you right now.
The Witch’s Wheel of the Year encompasses the yearly cycle of the eight festivals, or sabbats: the solar equinoxes and solstices, plus the midway points between them. Though it has roots in many schools of religious and secular thought, the Wheel as we know it today was dictated by neopagans and Wiccans in the 1970s. It’s a man-made amalgamation of various themes and traditions, which we can still work with in our magical practices.
Mabon, also known as the Fall or Vernal Equinox, falls opposite Ostara on the Wheel of the Year, and is thus, another instance of a perfect balance between night and day. The second of the harvest festivals, Mabon has big 10 of Pentacles energy, ripe for feasting, giving thanks, and praying for an easy winter ahead.
You must calculate the exact date of Mabon in any given year to find the exact numbers to work with, but generally Mabon rituals include autumnal spices like cinnamon, ginger and star anise.
Create a dried spice blend to burn as incense or a spiced tea to drink as the sun goes down. Ritualize Mabon with a feast! Invite loved ones over for a meal of harvest foods and share in a hearty toast with red wine or pomegranate juice.
In 2023, Mabon falls on September 22: 9 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 0 + 2 + 3 = 20, 2 + 0 = 2.
Tailor your spells to the Peacemaker!
Usher in this seasonal shift with love in all of its forms. Create plans of care and compassion. Identify and release the inner critic. Devote yourself to peace and harmony, both within and without. See the magic in yourself first, and then notice the magic in others. Give thanks.
It’s not too late to snag Early Bird pricing for….
I’m thrilled to share that I will be a part of the third annual Gathering of the Witches, a weekend of magic, inspiration, and transformation happening online from October 20th – 22nd!
Join me and other magical teachers including Judika Illes, Arin Murphy-Hiscock, Linda Star Wolf, HeatherAsh Amara, and more for an immersive weekend filled with workshops designed to deepen your magical practice.
I’ll be leading a workshop on The Magic of Numbers: Enhancing Your Witchcraft through Numerology, which is scheduled for Sat, Oct 21 at 11AM CDT.
Get your Early Bird tickets by October 1!
Last, but certainly not least—I’m cooking up something new for us here at SITS!
An official start date is TBD, but things are percolating for:
THE YEAR OF YEARNING: 12 LUNAR CYCLES, 12 TOPICS OF STUDY
yearn·ing (/ˈyərniNG/): a feeling of intense longing for something, typically something that one has lost or been separated from. from the Old English giernan, from a Germanic base meaning ‘eager’.
That’s really all I can share right now, but I’ll pop back in with more details as timelines shape up!