THE COVEN
Don’t ask what the world needs
Ask what makes you come alive
and go do it.
Because what the world needs
is more people
who have come alive
– Howard Thurman.
Welcome!
In week 4, as we honour the returning of light, we welcome the future and tune into our capacity for creativity. We invite life to speak to us, as we allow ourselves to dream into the oncoming cycle…
Dreaming
A guided embodiment practice to support visioning for 2021
I offer you a phrase “all my relations” as a backdrop to the visioning. A phrase from Native people of North America honoring the interconnection between all of life and guiding humans to live in reciprocity, respect and harmony with all forms of life – other people, animals, birds, insects, trees, plants, rocks, rivers, mountains and valleys.
Which goals and intentions do I have for this year in the realms of:
> Personal
> Relationships with others
> Professional
How could I be more loving to others?
How can I be more loving to the planet?
Journaling Questions
What nourishes my soul, that I want to invite more of, into my life?
What makes me come alive?
What matters to me the most? What do I want my guiding north star to be?
How do I want to reshuffle my priorities and what things do I set the intention to do differently this year, accordingly? How might my life look different, when I take these into account?
Which learnings of the past year do I want to take with me and anchor into this year?
What do I feel ready for?
What do I feel guided to embody more of?
In which ways can I use my sensitivity to make life more wonderful?
What do I want to make more time for?
What would I like to allow more in?
Rituals & Creative practices
Using our heart (and our capacity to feel) and our body, supports the anchoring of our dreams and visions into manifestation…
Desire Meditation
A powerful way to connect with your dreams is to do a desire meditation. This is most easily done in pairs (we will do this together on the community call on January 2nd, if you are part of the online community).
Choose someone you feel safe with, as this can be quite an intimate experience.
Each person has a turn. If it’s your turn, you can either sit or lie down, and close your eyes. Your partner then asks you the same question over and over again, giving you space between each time, to answer.
The question is:
What is it you desire?
Sometimes the desires might bubble up quickly, or sometimes they may take a while. Accessing our desires can feel like peeling away the layers of an onion, and can take us to some. very deep places. You may also reach a place ‘beyond desire’. Pay attention to the feelings in your body as you feel in and answer each prompt, and pay particular attention when you feel strong emotion. Our feelings are like rocket fuel for our desires, supporting their manifestation!
When it feels complete, you can change roles.
The power of words
How do you want to feel?
Meditate and enquire into what three words you would like to bring with you into this new cycle. Write them on pieces of paper and add them to your altar (and your magic box – see below).
You can also write your own personal manifesto, that you can keep coming back to, which helps you live life fully and in alignment with your values. Read it every day for the first week and then as often as you need to.
.
Some suggestions:
-
Make it uplifting & focused on the positive
-
Be clear (not wishy-washy) and make it short enough that you can read it every day
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Write it in the present tense
Make a magic box
Create a little box for your altar that you can place your dreams, or words or letters for your future self in!
Playlist
A selection of music to support dreaming…
Creating a Vision Board
Whether it’s painting, drawing, a collage or a noticeboard, carve out time to get creative with your dreams!
Begin by creating the container for yourself: light a candle if you want, adjust the lighting, smudge and have inspiring music playing. Take a moment to quieten your mind and center yourself, and offer a prayer from your heart that you offer yourself as a vessel for dreams!
Connecting with your future Self
Meditate and invite your wisest, most loving future self to connect with you and see what they have to say. Write a letter to yourself from that place.
Tara Mohr has a ‘connect with your inner mentor‘ guided meditation that you can access here.
You can also write love letters to your future self, which you could for example read on the Summer Solstice, or this time next year. These can also be short, or even words, that you can keep on your altar, as gifts for your future self.
Connecting with and creating gifts for your future self is powerful magic!
Create your own personalised ritual
Once you have come into contact with a particular dream, how can you get creative around anchoring it into reality? How can you combine it with movement or an action?
While there is always the possibility to follow someone else’s instructions or idea, you have an inner witch/magi within you, that can tap into inner guidance!
Here is some inspiration, but see if you can enquire inside and get creative! There is no right and wrong.
* Create a container for yourself (set aside undisturbed time, prepare the space & set the intention) and then use music and movement and dance your dream until you feel it in your bones.
* Invite the feeling of your dream already having manifested. Explore doing an every day action with that embodied feeling.
* Choose to wear clothes for a day/period of time that connect to your particular dream (e.g wearing yummy underwear if you’re dream is to call in a lover!)
* Have an abundance themed dinner to call in more connection to abundance
* Create a power object (see Chapter 3) or a piece of art while connecting to your dream and place it on your altar
Planning for the year ahead
Get practical! What would be a gift for your future self if you were to plan ahead? What do you wish you’d done last year in your planning that you can now do?
If you struggle to feel a balance between work and play and free time, how would it be, to already commit to and block time off now?
Sometimes we might plan time off to rest, but what about time specifically for play or learning?
You could also block some time off around the Summer Solstice to do a mid-year assessment of how your year is going.
If you realised throughout the Coven journey that you wish you had less to do around this time, write it in your planner for 2021.
Do you get annoyed that you miss people’s birthdays? Put them in your calendar along with reminders now!
If you have a menstrual cycle, you could also plan ahead and organize your diary accordingly, to suit the needs of your body (the next round of Know Your Flow will begin on January 28th, if you’d like to find out more about how to do this!)
Past traditions of these times
The Raunächte
The Raunächte continue unti the 6th of January (see Chapter 3 for more details – it’s still a great time for smudging & decluttering!).
It is said to pay particular attention to your dreams during this time, because they will come true in each corresponding month (December 25th represents January and so on until January 6th). Keep a diary and note down everything that happens to you during this time as it all has signifance, even if it might seem unimportant at first.
The 6th of January
This date is celebrated by many different cultures around the world and marks the 12th and final day of Yule.
In earlier times, this was a big time of celebration where big parties were had, where often the roles in society were reversed with the servants being served by the rich people.
The modern Italian Panettone is thought to be based on a Twelfth Night cake, which was eaten on this day. A dried pea or bean was cooked in the cake and whoever found it was the Lord (or Lady) of Misrule for night. The Lord of Misrule led the celebrations and was dressed like a King (or Queen). This tradition goes back to the Roman celebrations of Saturnalia.
In Italy, the old crone Befana delivers gifts to children, while in Germany the three wise men who came to visit the infant Jesus and bring gifts of frankensence (symbolzes birth and beginnings), gold (life) and myrrhe (death and endings) are honoured.