The Resistance In The Dark
Sitting quietly in the dark watching the moon set with warm coffee and a fire, listening in the dark.In October, they say it’s the season of the Witch, but November dives us deeper into the darkness, and for me, that’s the season of Spirit. In spring and summer we are so focused on the demands of the physical world – the growing season of the Land & kin takes so much of our energy. We are planting seeds, tending, harvesting everything in our lives – from dance recitals, school activities, book launches, and, yes, pumpkins in the garden. It’s hard to get quiet and just listen, connect, and contemplate with Spirit.
This is the season where the dark literally lets me spend more time in the studio practicing all my craft, from writing to spirit work, and planning for the growing season to come. Sitting quietly, breathing, holding a simple intention like, “Help me listen with clarity,” as a small prayer to my guides, to the ancestors, and to the Land – has become some of the deepest spiritual comfort – I’ve found, especially given the energy of the current times we live in. Practicing this simple act as I do is both daily ritual and mundane resistance. A calm, deliberate practice can be a quiet refusal to surrender your attention, compassion, or hope. A grounded witch is a powerful one.
Election day is tomorrow (go vote!) and in a couple weeks the United States denotes a thanksgiving holiday. Both mean change to me. Election day chooses a direction, but we’re offered an opportunity at thanksgiving (or Fallow Thursday, as I like to call it) what we’ll do together once we’re on this road. And the roads are slippery with black ice this morning, and the season of storms is upon us.
A season of shift sure is bright for it being so dark.As I write this and stare out the window, the leaves are gone off the birch trees, but the highland cranberry is a brilliant red and the rainbow garden’s maple is an ombre of brilliant yellow in the morning sun’s glow. It’s definitely a season of shift. – I feel the change in energy all around me. And it’s not because it’s now freezing when I rise to do barn chores, but the buzz of that Spirit realm is definitely louder. And let’s be honest, it’s always loud, but we can take the time more pointedly to listen this time of year. Stillness can create space to listen carefully, not just to Spirit, but to others, and especially to the voices often ignored. Quiet reflection can help someone hear their own values beneath the blaring of your neighbor’s hate-filled talk radio program.
These distractions of what deserves your focus – what you choose to pay attention to – are weakened by the simple act of pausing. The pressure to react immediately is an external expectation that is weakened, if not completely repelled by taking a breath before responding, answering, or getting on the internet. The pressure to react immediately is rampant around us – answer the phone, get the new technology, jump on the new outrage bandwagon – but a simple practice of just pausing and taking a breath to quietly listen resists these types of demands. Your choices of where you work your energy is not less important. Given a quiet moment to connect with Spirit, regularly shows you this repeatedly.
Grandmother Willow is still going strong here on Villa Westwyk, meanwhile the birches are bare. During the next few weeks, I am wishing you some of that quiet resistance to help preserve critical thinking, hope, truth, and care of the people acting in those values – kin and otherwise. Many of my offerings coming up can help with this type of practice or be a witchy springboard to a deeper connection with Spirit, self, and community.
Here’s a brief look at our witchcraft learning here #OnTheCovenstead:
At The Garden Gate: Thresholds and Liminal Spaces; Warding Your Gate
Front-Porch Sitting: The Rebirth of the Witch Activist; Ancestral Family Dynamics
Under The Willow: Moon-day Rune Pull (New Moon); Walking The Path of The Elder Futhark Lesson 3
In The Witch’s Garden: Diversity in Practice, Wild Covenant Lesson 2
At The Witch’s Table: The Mysticism of the Hearth; Cooking from the Garden; Belly Magic Lesson 2
Dream Circle: Dream Interpretation – Why You May Need Outside Help; Dream Record Check-In
Studio Spirit Squad: Creativity Prompt; Spellcraft in Art; Creativity Workshop
Thank you for reading.
Do Good; Be Magic,
~R
