Pink Coyote

At the End of the Year

At the End Of the Year

The particular mind of the ocean

Filling the coastline's longing

With such brief harvest

Of elegant, vanishing waves

Is like the mind of time

Opening us shapes of days.

 

As this year draws to its end,

We give thanks for the gifts it brought

And how they became inlaid within

Where neither time nor tide can touch them

 

The days when the veil lifted

And the soul could see delight;

When a quiver caressed the heart

In the sheer exuberance of being here.

 

Surprises that came awake

In forgotten corners of old fields

Where expectation seemed to have quenched.

 

The slow, brooding times

When all was awkward

And the wave in the mind

Pierced every sore with salt.

 

The darkened days that stopped

The confidence of the dawn.

 

Days when beloved faces shone brighter

With light from beyond themselves;

And from the granite of some secret sorrow

A stream of buried tears loosened.

 

We bless this year for all we learned,

For all we loved and lost

And for the quiet way it brought us

Nearer to our invisible destination.

 

-John O'Donahue, To Bless the Space Between Us

 

 

Thank you, 2011, and to my beloved community, for all that was shared.

Love, Pixie.

Desire-able Giveaway and Live Lodge Day

Did anyone see the Moon last night? I can't recall such a Cheshire smile in a long time, if ever. Mischievous, full of rhetorical questions, and philisophical pontifications, I felt her nudging me into the new year as I sat under her. Are you feeling the nudge to take any risks in the new year? Broadening your vision and deepening your connection?

Maybe one of them is coming to Berkeley on Saturday, January 28th for a live-Lodge journey circle with me :) Teahouse Studio has graciously offered to host us for the day: catering our lunch and providing a cozy space for us to journey and unearth the little pieces of gold that will carry us through each season of 2012. It will be a relaxing day of communing in circle in beautiful Northern California. Here is a list of local hotels and distances from the event, as well as directions, if you want to make an easy weekend of it. Email me if you have questions about anything at all.

I have two copies of Christine Mason Miller's DESIRE TO INSPIRE on my desk, just waiting to land in one of your hands. The first chapter being, A Force of Good: When We Care for Ourselves We Care for the World, and one of my very favorite chapters, number seven: Plenty of Room for Everyone: Understanding Our Unique Place and Purpose. I was very lucky when I started my very first real business in 2000, to have a mentor teach me that I need never be frightened of any person of company imprinting my ideas or creating similar vibes or products as me.

He told me (bless you Drew Bernstein, pioneer of clothing for Fashion Freaks) that all I needed to focus on was staying true to me-that if my vision was what I alreay do and who I already am, I wouldn't ever have to worry about what anyone else is doing, in fact, I could freely help them-which is what he did, and what I learned to do and still practice. For those of you who are considering taking a leap with your art, your written words, whatever it is that is pulling to you-get some fortification under you so that you can feel confident that your expression is truly yours and impervious to being duplicated. Our visions are as unique as our DNA.

Two copies are ready for sending out. Tell me what the Cheshire cat is smiling about, or that you will take a chance on yourself in this upcoming year which I'm certain will set the record for Creative Fire. As women, just about everything we do can be a creative act. Taking a chance doesn't have to be externally big, risking it might look as simple as loving the Truth more than anything else, Trusting deeper than the Ocean, Loving, no matter what scares you about Love.

I'll select winners on Monday evening here in the wild West.

I hope to sit with you in Berkeley and see what comes to you: what peace, what comfort, which allies, what beautiful surprises are within you...

Finding Self by the Baba Yaga

Thorns and Thistles, Kelly Louise Judd

Sometimes it can be very difficult for me to receive a compliment. I wave my hand and make an oh-come-on-it-was-nothing face, just like my mother does. Go silent like just my Grandmother does, and look away not knowing what to say, then change the subject. I'm learning to just say *thank you* without qualifiers. I am not one who requires validation, (that sounds so weird to say, eh?) so I just keep plodding along on my path, trusting that the right road will keep rising up to meet me. We've been down this road before, you and me.

I read this today, and am sharing it with permission. It was written by an Elder who attended SouLodge this Autumn with a friend. I am always extremely humbled when a Grandmother enjoys anything I have to offer; I have always made my most longlasting friendships under the wise ones' wings. 

I feel proud.

My hope is that the Mystic Vixen will step and in remind me what was said about the effect western Woman would have on the world (if she will only learn to receive a compliment...)

This is me trying.

***

Finding Self

In this whole wild world of paths and streets and avenues and roadways we can easily become lost. I created this account a full cycle of flying around the sun ago.

Much has come and gone, been seen and heard and tasted and touched in that time.  And then I took some time and space for me and discovered this wonderful kindred spirit Pixie Campbell.

Pixie provides a space for wild women to truly howl and growl and re-member their whole true selves. A space of teaching and “permission” for journeying and communing with a circle of sisters within the context of nourishing our spiritual selves as well as companionship on this walk.

The path for a solitaire may seem rocky and untravelled but when we walk with others we see that the path is actually well lit and there are rest places for weary travellers along the way. Stories are shared at the fire, songs are sung, and sisters bring cups of warmth that strengthen and soothe our weary bones.
There are places along the route that feature huge brambles, that when you travel with others their eyes see the berries among the thorns. The thorns may rip at your hair and scratch your flesh, but the berries heal and soothe those wounds as they open your heart and eyes to their beauty and enchant your tongue with their flavour. You may feel that there are roots to trip you up and boulders that impede your path, but with companions there is always a hand to help you up from the ground or a foot well placed to provide the necessary “kick in the pants” to get you over the boulder.

Yes, SouLodge is a sanctuary for wild women who dare to be who they are, truly are, and it is also a place to find yourself in the company of others who are ready for the adventures of the path we have chosen to walk this time round.

***

Thank you, deeply, Baba. We also sometimes need a swift kick* of a reminder to receive a compliment with grace.

Additionally, thank you to all of you who have come over from SouleMama to have a peek around. I am so honored to have you here around the fire. Amanda's beautiful book, The Rhythm of Family: Discovering a Sense of Wonder Through the Seasons, is about to be well-worn around here, thanks to Santa.

Den-like Depths & Nesty Heights

photo by Brandon Campbell

Searcher, there is no road. We make the road by walking. --Antonio Machado

The light is making it's way back and the post-release hangover wore off in no time. It's been so energizing to read all of the posts that came in, to know that energy was being raised, consciousness committed to, and women and families in circle around the fire were gathering everywhere. Mission accomplished! When I birthed the idea many months ago, I had no idea how the video would be made, much less received. It was loaded over 25,000 times, which exceeded my dream to be amazed, by far. Thank you to all of you who embraced this ritual, some of you for the very first time.

It takes so much courage to create the road by walking.

Snuggling in with my babies for Christmas, I was reminded of just how little it takes for a young mind to be amazed. It's not even their dream to be amazed, and yet, it's so simple for them. For Miles and Ivy- being together, making platters of food, seeing Santa's cookie with a big bite taken out of it, being in awe at the lights and the laughter, pecking out Silent Night on the keyboard, having everyone in their tribe circled around them...I could see the wonder of celebration all over their faces-excitement for life seeping out of their skin.

Marking special occasions ceremoniously has a tremendous impact on the young and young-at-heart. Tribes of all cultures have been burning fires, even Solstice fires, for millennia. As I've taken the work of SouLodge narrower and deeper, into what it really means to connect to the Earth and the seasons, it becomes evermore clear that we are all connected by a distinct thread. This very tribe of rebellious moms, creative spirits and wild women burns so brightly that the thread is unmistakable, and oh-so-powerful.

The Four Season Pass has sold out of it's limited quantity-but there are still seats open for Winter SouLodge. I hope you'll take your commitment to connect and circle to new den-like depths and nesty heights with the howling pack, where we'll be focusing on deep restoration and care of Self and Earth during the quiet time of year, before bursting into bloom in the meadows of Spring.

Ivy holds down the heartbeat of mama Gaia.

 

Solstice Hangover Remedy & Giveaway Winners

Do you have a Solstice Hangover? That is to say, did releasing into the fire leave you feeling like you labored long and hard and now deep rest and restoration are required just two days before Christmas? What?! You're not alone.

I read this at Jen Louden's site this morning as part of her 2012 Predictions For You:

"I see you showered with spunk, powered by verve, on fire with desire. Stuck and stagnant, my friend, are junk in the trunk you drop off at Goodwill. Bye bye."

I had to giggle at her perky outlook, on a morning when I feel...less-than-spunky, after having made the big drop-off.

There is truth around the need to igniting desire within me, as I have just left so, SO much behind in the fire that I burned for twenty-four hours solid, so much so that I feel completely emptied out and ready to refill with that which IS invited into 2012, beginning with taking very good care of myself and my family for the next few days through the Christmas holiday, which we celebrate.

I'm going out today for the last few items, unafraid of crowds, wearing a bit of light protection around me, planning to tune into what it will feel like to take my raw self out into the world before I put the key into the ignition. While in the midst of ceremony, negativity feels as though it can grab us-we are in a vulnerable state and must bring some grounded intention to where we're now at and what we need to do to move to the next step.

We need not take on negative energy from the outside world, as we move back toward life in a new way. If you're needing some support around what type of protection to carry, let me say that donning armour is a heavy load...love is lightweight and so portable.

Envision a source of light protection around you if you are feeling raw.

Give yourself a visual, auric, cloak of permission to travel among people without taking their releasings on. The toxic debris of others, shed unceremoniously on us through various forms of howlers, media and physical transmissions need not feel disruptive-you cannot block them from coming toward you, however, when standing in truth and love, you cannot be shaken or stirred.

The New Moon is here, and her timing couldn't be better. We cannot stay in the energy of letting go and releasing, it is time to move into a space of envisioning and calling in. If you create a space of Love around you, no one will be able to harm you. As darkness attracts darkness, as does Light attract Light. My teacher said to me, "If you're in anxiety, fear or resentment, you will attract that." The law of attraction is always at work, and her simple words and love were an affirmation to me when we spoke this morning.

Candle Ritual for Calling in Positive New Year Visions

If you are feeling groggy, unclear, or in a crash, move into this exercise gently:

Anoint a new candle, blessing it with prayers and oils. Keep the oil to the outside of the candle and not right up on the wick. Envision yourself in the new way, post releasing ceremony. Think of what wondrous experiences come next for you, and see it playing out as you light your candle.

The soul, like the moon, is new, and always new again.
—Lalleswari by my love Carla at Zena Moon.

When you feel complete with your vision for yourself, imagine how your vision will integrate with the cosmos and ripple out through your family and the greater human tribe. Note what feelings are hugged up around you.

When you're finished with this ritual, blow out your candle and save it for use only with this meditation, to fortify you each new moon throughout the year, or whenever you need a boost to lift you back into your fierce and powerful heartspace and vision.

******************************

The randomly selected winners for the Winter SouLodge passes are Stephanie Mitchell and Nina Ricker. Please send an email to [email protected] to let me know  that you are IN and ready to restore your soul in the North this Winter.

***

Blessings to all, and gratitude to the Big Mama Earth and Sister Moon for their ageless feminine wisdom that is available to all of us, right here-right now.

 

Solstice Goodness: Keeping the Fire Burning

It's a blessing like no other to feel so connected to you all this Solstice. As I sat tending fire from sundown until sunrise this morning (intermittently snatching catnaps), I felt immersed, trancelike, in prayer for many hours. I called in the four directions for guidance and protection around the fire, walking the wheel around the firepit. It's with so much gratitude in my heart that I stand in the sunshine today, knowing how many have been affected in this community by the Mother of All Releasings Ceremony. Thank you for doing it your way, creating your own, inviting your tribes, putting the call out to people in your community that you may not even know well, and having the courage to be positive Lightbringers at a time when dark energies attempt to cling. Stepping into a new paradigm of consciousness can be as simple as choosing it in this moment, or as ritualized as days of preparation and a roaring fire to commemorate the occasion in which you let go of your burdens. Whichever way you have chosen to celebrate-thank you for choosing the Light. There is so much fun and creation to be had in 2012.

Here are some warm and yummy Solstice related posts for you to enjoy:

Creative Living Experiment

Gypsy Forest

rich hippie farm

Owning My Truth

Deeper Than All Roses

Love and Light

One More Time

Owl & Crow

Goddess Guidebook

Journey by Lampelight

 

 

 

 

 

Letting Go by ericatheartist

I have to share this with you. For those who are starting your fires tonight, or burning them tomorrow, I wish you light, ease, heart and love.

Thank you, Erica. I'm awestruck.

 

*The actual moment of Winter Solstice is supposed to occur on December 22 at 5:30a.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). PST to GMT is -8 hours, so here on the West Coast it occurs on December 21 at 9:30pm. Many celebrations took place this weekend, but if you want to make your fire on the darkest night of the year, the 21st or the 22nd would be the best. My calendar says that the first day of Winter is December 22nd. However the sun rises at 5:25am and sets at 5:15 on both the 21st and 22nd, so they are equally short days! The 20th-25th are all equally short days, according to sunrisesunset.com.

Fire Mama Sistah

photo Brandon Campbell.

She's graceful, fierce, a huntress and protector. She doesn't take any shit.

Giveaway to Winter Lodge

In my haste and delirium last week, I was not clear about WHEN the drawing for two passes to the upcoming Winter Session of SouLodge. Thank you, Jodi Crane, for bringing it to my attention! I indicated last week that I'd be giving the passes away on Friday, when what I meant to say was that I'd announce the giveaway on Friday, drawing to be done on Thursday of this week.

Sweep, sweep the den. Housekeeping details!

So yes, please do share the video at your blogs and comment to enter. I'd also love to know if there is anyone who would like to sponsor another woman's journey around the Medicine Wheel. Winter's Session focuses on Restoration, recharging and drawing energy up from the deep, warm Earth. I expect it to be...cozy, fluffy, winter nesty, warm, supportive, elemental, wise, centering.

 

There has been such a tremendous response to this video of ritual and letting go. My heart is bursting with joy at the thought of women on a path together-that so many of us are unified by how we gather and release, receive and give away-the cycle that bonds us in many different ways. I have loved hearing how your partners are sneaking their slips of paper into your bundles before they surrender and just make their own, how your children stood by fires this weekend, patiently awaiting the magic moment to let go of what was holding them back-to speak this to you is a huge gift in itself. I have loved seeing your altars, your feathers, your magic tools, your faces firelit.

 

Mother of All Releasing, Arizona from Latisha Guthrie on Vimeo. Thank you, Herbmama, for shining your light and sharing your gathering with us!

I'd love to share some of your images, if you would like to point me to them.

Photo courtesy of Mother Rising. Wendy, you give beautiful Solstice gatherings!

A warm and cozy Monday to you...

Women In Circle: THE MOTHER Of ALL RELEASINGS CEREMONY

Thank you to everyone who made this video come to life. My hope is that it brings vitality and energy to your Solstice ceremony, sacredness to your season, Trust in your process, and a shared belief with the women who participated that Women deserve a circle.

Ritualizing release is a way to "bind the medicine" of moving beyond the past, the pain, the obstacles, the resistance, the old traps, the excuses. I'm so grateful to lead us into the new year and into the flames to be rebirthed for 2012.

Please share this ritual in your tribe, with your family and friends, or enjoy it in sacred solitude. If you share the video with your online tribe, please comment here so that I can enter you into the giveaway for one of two seats in the Winter Session of SouLodge. It is my gift and pleasure to circle with you.

Aho, sisters. Blessings to all my relations.

 

 

A Week for the Books

This is the week of all weeks. I'm pleasantly stunned by all that is being released around here and in the ripples that surround me.

This Friday, December 16th, is the day I'll be sharing the beautiful video made by twelve women and I to share with you as an offering for the Winter Solstice. The Mother of All Releasings Ceremony feels so big. There are so many women, tribes, and families who are stepping forward, lighting a fire and tossing in the un-needed, most of which is hinged on FEAR. This week I'll be baring my soul, making my request of the Universe, asking all women to open up and LET GO. If you are hosting a Solstice party or gathering this weekend, the video will put some swirl in your skirt and bring some sacred to your space in preparation.

I will also be giving away two passes to Winter SouLodge on Friday. You heard me right. Class begins January 16th. Tee hee.

This Thursday, I'll be attending the official launch party, with an enormous collection of my friends and community, to celebrate the release of Christine Mason Miller's book Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World. THE WORLD. Putting our creativity to work and living our vision has the power to CHANGE THE WORLD. Yes, it does. I'm so proud to have shared writings and a project in this book.

 

Christine and I have been friends for eleven or more years, when she was manufacturing a greeting card line (Swirly) and I was manufacturing sleepwear (Napcake). We collaborated on pajama designs then and I knew I would want to work with her for as long as she'd have me on her team. At the time, my mission was to create a beautiful permission to rest and Christine totally got it-we were taking big leaps of creative faith at the same time. Jennifer Louden, another super-shero from back in the day, has interviewed Christine at her blog, and reading it reminded me how far it's possible to come in such a short time. From artist to visionary doesn't take long when you line your head up with your heart.

Also on Thursday, the new Squam Art Workshops website is going live. Oh, yes. That is all I can say.

I've created a foundation course for SouLodge, which will be available as a PDF e-Lodge this weekend. Wheeeee and awrooooooo! I've been feeling called to do this since the Summer session ended, and because we covered so many wondrous basics, that I thought it would be really helpful to those just coming in, and answer many questions that come up around what's helpful to know while waiting for a session to begin, or to work the lessons in solitary before coming into the community fully present and accountable. For all of you who have asked for this, thank you. You push me to keep my muzzle to the grindstone, and birth what is ready to be received.

I'm also taking a really huge leap of faith. I will tell you about it when the time is right, but please hold a light for me as I release something I didn't think I was going to, and embrace something I thought I was going to let go of. I am clearing the way for something I once thought impossible. Crazy risky. But crazy good.

I have so much passion for this community, this sacred women's circle. I have a vision in my mind each time I come to this space: I see women with babies on their backs, bread being kneaded, water being carried, the sun drawn down, poetry sang to the rising moon, the fire in the center of it all, skirts swirling, women trusting, letting fly with the spiral dance...this vision comes to me every time I come to write here, and I feel flooded with gratitude every.single.time.

photo by Christine Mason Miller

 

Sneak Peek Video for Mother of All Releasings

Anne Carmack slipped this to me this morning. Enjoy, and tune in on Friday for the real deal!

 

Mother of All Releasings Ceremony, Winter Solstice 2011

Elke May, releasing fear.

Who: YOU, and if you wish, your circle, tribe, family, or village.

What: A fire ceremony, to release the old year and shift up into the new.

Where: In your backyard firepit, on a bonfire beach, around your fireplace, (even in your kitchen sink if you can make it scout-safe with a fireproof container).

When: Winter Solstice, December 22nd, 2011.

Why: We release what no longer serves us on the Winter Solstice, because it is the darkest day of the year. We let go so that we can step freely into what is waiting for us, as the light begins to grow brighter with each day. We're doing it as an extended community to raise the energy level of letting go, together!

How: Make a releasing bundle. Gather friends and family around a hearth (or do this in sacred solitary), set the bundle safely aflame, and let the alchemical element of fire transform the old, as it knows how to do so well. Feast on Solstice treats and celebrate the return of the light. Tune in here after December 16th to see the video created around my tribe's ceremony.

2012 is a powerful year to let the old ways go and step fully into creative self-expression and abundant support for our dreams from All That Is. It is a time for visionaries to create reality.

Thank you, sisters. I'm so grateful that you and your energy is rippling out into the world!

 

 

What I'm Releasing: Lacking Full Expression

In sticking with this theme, and preparing for big changes to come, I'm going to keep pitching out ideas of any and all areas ripe for letting go. Here's the latest:

 

Letting go of things: I've been holding onto an entire shelved closet full of art supplies, which has continued to accumulate since I've been in this studio. When I go to do a clean-out, I save things that I think the kids might like to play with later, or that I enjoyed making a certain piece with. Fabrics, wool roving, paints, leaves and twigs, found objects and hardware, glues of every shape, size, and tackiness, collage papers... So I ask again, what's going on underneath it all when I know I want to slim it down by over half and I can't seem to do it? The feeling that comes up is, Oh, hello, fear again. My thoughts around this one is that I won't have what I need when I have an ignited idea and need to execute it with urgency. I'm going to let go of my fear of Not Being Able to Be Fully Expressed.

What bit of skin is sloughing off of you today?

What I'm Releasing: Scarcity Thinking (among other things)

The video for The Mother of All Releasings Ceremony is almost complete, and I'm so excited to share it with you I can hardly wait. The incredibly artful and meticulous Anne Carmack is in the final editing stage and we're chomping at the bit to talk more about releasing and raise the energy around this auspicious Solstice day on December 22nd. I'm imagining what it will be like to have fires burning all around the world, with women and their tribes tossing in what is absolutely not invited into 2012. Find out how to make your releasing bundles here.

I've been enjoying reading about conscious transition over at 13moon, and really love hearing what Mayan elders are saying about this time in history. Doomsday prophecies are a real bore, and Eden Sky has a bit of positive spin on the hype around the Mayan 2012 prophecy that takes the fear out of change.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if a huge congregation of us could step more consciously into unity with each other and harmony with the Earth, even if we're just inviting baby steps into this new way of being? Leaving fear and worry behind, we can truly risk our dreams if we can see them extending out and beyond us for the next hundred years.

What changes for you when you put down the five year plan, or even the twenty year plan, just momentarily, and embrace the idea that what we do now, what we're already doing, and what we're capable of, is to leave a legacy that ripples out from our core and into the future beyond our lifetimes?

I've been busy here, as per usual, -this is my scurrying time of year, nesting, holidaying, sending out orders, and planning retreats for soaring into the new year- but in the crevasses I step outside and breathe in the chilly air and consider what it really is I'm letting go of. I hold even when I don't think I'm holding, and I see it showing up quietly, a bit sneakily, and so I'm wanting to call it out and ask what the heck these little inner weights are really about. I'll start with a biggie for me, and share some more as we draw nearer to Solstice.

Letting go of this house: I catch myself switching on the light in my big ole pantry that we designed six years ago and thinking, dang, I'm going to miss this thing. Bit of grief, and longing attaching itself to me. While it's not wrong in my mind to anticipate *missing* something or someone meaningful, this is a pantry. What's it really about? Why am I projecting into the future unconsciously? I think that I'm carrying fear that I won't have enough space in our new digs, which we'll be moving into just after the Christmas holiday. And maybe that's really about general scarcity worries. This pretty much happens in every room of the house, when I do my banking, when I work in my calendar: space, time and money flow. So I'm going to let go of Scarcity Thinking to make room for clarity and abundance.

I'd love to hear more about what's coming up for you!

Interview with Jamie: Creative Living

I'm really thrilled to share that I'm featured at Creative Living today :)

Listen to the podcast here.

Jamie Ridler has an irrepressible enthusiasm for life, and leads creativity workshops through her website, Creative Living. She is a contributor to Desire to Inspire, the inspiration-packed book that Christine Mason Miller is launching this month, which I also contributed to. I love being linked to her this way! Jamie's stories, contributions and passion for life (and especially dancing-she has a blue belt in Nia) lifts me.