Did you notice a disturbance in the force last week? That things weren’t hitting the way they normally do? Did you feel the reverberations of some old energy – exes, estranged family, imposter syndrome, even old injuries – making a re-appearance after you felt like you were already done with it? For me, it was a week of triggers that led to profound realizations about my past self, which allowed me to set better boundaries around the healing my body needs. For others, they might have had reminders of past traumas that they felt they had dealt with already or old habits souring their thinking, temporarily robbing them of the joy they earned.
You’re not alone. And while the effect was positive, let’s be real – it hurt to dredge all of that gunk up. The temptation was to settle into a helpless stance, screaming into the void, “Why now? Just when everything is starting to pick back up in my life and out in the world? Why am I being derailed by this AGAIN?” And even though I know that issues are like a spiral of deepening wisdom, feelings of defeat (see Intrusive Thoughts post from last week) stopped me in my tracks more than once.
Well, welcome to the Aries New Moon energy combined with the influence of a conjunction with the “Wounded Healer”, Chiron. Not only are we at the start of the astrological year, but with this conjunction with Chiron, we’re given the opportunity to start our new year with some #RadicalReflections to check in on the deeper healing we need to do. It was as if we were being given the opportunity to affirm and declare that we don’t need these old energies anymore. Almost as if they were present to remind us, very directly of how very done we are with these old issues. (Read more about that influence at Moon Omens.) And while this influence might have been painful, by confronting the emotions, using the tools we’ve alchemized our pain into tangible healing. And believe it or not, that allowed us to control and minimize the emotional impact of those old wounds.
And at its core, that’s what Chiron and the wounded healer are all about – using our hard-earned, lived experience to inform our path, to show others how to heal. In fact, you could probably see the influence of the wounded healer throughout all of my writing – this is what I try to do with my pain – transform it into healing energy for others. While we still have painful things coming up in our lives, they don’t wound us nearly as deeply as they used to, which means we have a thicker skin to take on the deeper threads of healing that still need to be tied up, like forgiving ourselves for how the wounds may have harmed us or harmed others through us. This deeper shadow work is needed across the world if we want to make a better future – and no matter how much we try to avoid it, we must have the courage to face our ickiest, most monstrous selves.
It’s really popular right now for people to avoid this process – the current manufactured debate teaching critical race theory and the “don’t say gay” bill are great examples of this avoidance. This package of “anti-woke” legislation attempt to prohibit the kind of reckoning, reconciliation, and rebuilding that are actually quite crucial to our survival right now. Confronting our wounds – both those inflicted upon us and those we’ve inflicted on others – is essential if we’re to create a world that generates trust, cohesion, and compassion. By avoiding this work as a matter of law, we are only hurting those future generations with prolonged, unconscious shame, embedded generational guilt, and sustained systemic trauma.
Only in making room for all of us to confront and understand how we contribute to systems of harm (even, and especially when, we have been harmed ourselves) can we transform all of that accumulated pain into true healing. If anything, our laws and rules should be making space for that healing, not shutting it behind a Trump-infested ego-wall of fraidy-cat patriarchial judgments disguised as superior pearl-clutching objective morality. There is nothing superior about people who stand in the way of others’ healing – they’re just jealous, inept goblins addicted to their own illusions of power.
The Aries message of the week is to celebrate the courage we’ve shown in our own healing. The traumas of our past can no longer hurt us. Not only have we healed, but by standing tall despite the reminders, we have shown that we’ve transmuted our pain into bravery – the bravery to stand up to anything that comes our way and to call it like it is. Because the real power, the only true power, that can shape this world is to defiantly and bravely confront our own healing in order to live as our most authentic selves.
This week I used the Sacred Forest oracle deck to delve into these energies and get the affirmative messages of healing, gratitude, and affirmation to start our week off right.
See more below…
Where we are this week
Bluebell Fairy
When old things start bubbling up, we find often that the only way to weather those storms is to focus on our gratitude for the small things. Even if the entire day has turned to shit, there is always something, no matter how small, that reminds us that there is still beauty and goodness in the world. This Bluebell Fairy card reminds us that just like the dewdrops on bluebells at first light gives us a renewed sense of hope, a refreshing reminder that certain things, like the constancy of nature, are always there simply existing as they are, full and complete. It could be a flower defiantly growing out of a crack in the pavement or a playful squirrel teasing the dogs next door – there is always something to be grateful for – in fact, it is often the only way to ground ourselves when all else is in chaos.
Gratitude in the small things.
Messages from our Guides
Storm Spirit
For weeks, our guides have been warning us about intense change. We’ll have to make some hard decisions soon about what should and should not be in our lives. We have been warned kindly but consistently about sudden change entering our lives. The storm clouds are gathering. We really cannot afford to be sitting on the fence anymore. Soon we will have to surrender to the chaos of change. And while it might appear to be chaos, in reality, this is a natural cycle of cleansing, allowing us to activate the healing we need, the healing we can bring. Step into the chaos and embrace it.
Embrace the chaos of change.
Messages from Lady Gaia
Forest Temple
The earth is waking up. Blessings are sprouting up all around us. The miracles of rebirth are happening before our very eyes. Lady Gaia this week invites us to her private temples hidden deep in the forests. Seek entry to her place of worship, to draw in the sparkling wisdom and blessings of all she has to offer to us. Even if it is standing under a tree with your bare feet among the tender shoots of grass, find wisdom in the offerings provided through nature this week. What were the messages carried by the birds on your window sill this morning or the gentle shifts of wind as you were walking back to your car? Keep your ears open for the messages carried by Lady Gaia’s hand.
Enlightenment through nature’s blessings.
Messages from our Ancestors
Phoenix
Over the past few weeks, our ancestors have been talking a lot about legacies, challenging what we mean by “leaving a legacy”, and thinking beyond traditional views of what “family” means to us. We’ve had to examine our responsibility to heal the wounds inflicted by those who came before us so that we make life easier for those who come after us. Some have taken this time seriously, looking especially at the wounds of imperialistic, authoritarian, patriarchal oppression. The past cannot hurt us unless we choose to blindly carry its toxicity into the future. We must embody the courage to not only face our painful past but to transmute it into healing for others, becoming wounded healers of humanity.
Transmute pain into magnificent healing.
Messages from our Future Selves
Dragonfly Spirit
This card brilliant reminds us to stop taking our personal futures so damn seriously. Tethering ourselves to dreams we created when we were little just won’t work in the world we are living in. Our futures are not set in stone. It’s okay to flirt a little, skim the surface of what is possible for a spell, before landing on a spot that feels supportive and nurturing for the long term. We need to release ourselves from the obligation of visions that were based on a more narrowly defined world than what we have now. Changing our minds about our path isn’t the shameful thing we’ve been led to believe. We all will change and grow and accumulate more knowledge and wisdom along the way. It’s okay if a wiser version of you comes along and changes direction. In fact, life is even more joyous when we give ourselves permission to change.
It’s okay to change our minds.
Message from Mother Mary
Aspen Spirit
Never one to beat around the bush, Mother Mary urges us to remember our courage. She calls in the Aspen Spirit, a tree very near and dear to my heart as a Colorado brujera. First impressions of the aspen tree, with its quivering leaves and soft, white bark, lend themselves to fragility and weakness. But aspens are deceptively strong, once used by Celts to make shields. Nor is it a solitary tree – there is never just one aspen. They are linked by a network of their kin through an elaborate root system. They are the definition of resilience: they are the last to burn and the first to spring back. And here our Lady is affirming that our resilience matters. That we’ve already demonstrated extraordinary courage in our survival, but that truly, we need to find one another and make each other stronger for the journeys ahead. Only in connecting with our spiritual kin, can we realize the true strength that resides within. It is time to summon our courage to reach out and find connection.
The courage of connection.
Final advice:
Spirit Guardian of Autumn
Letting go of our old selves.
Willow Spirit
Remain flexible to the winds of change.
Much of what we’ve been letting go of the past few months, even years, are older versions of ourselves. Old dreams, old identities, old fears, old beliefs. Just like a tree sheds its leaves to prepare for winter and rebirth, so too are we shedding the costumes of our prior selves. Honor them, for sure, but be deliberate in what we harvest from that process. What are we carrying with us? This week look for undercurrents of decision-making and opportunities to let go without drama. It is okay if that friendship falls by the wayside – we all grow and change at different rates. It is okay if that old dream doesn’t get revived – we are refining our dreams without being encumbered by them. Whatever it is, let it go with the blessings of the natural cycle of death and rebirth all around us.
As we have found, we can be easily influenced by the energies around us. This week, it’s wise to just remain flexible and have a sense of humor. If we were feeling the impact of all this energy, just imagine how difficult it is for someone who doesn’t have an internal awareness of how their wounding impacts others. We can have compassion and be understanding of these forces while still maintaining the boundaries we need for our safety as well as others. Recognize the potent energies at play and make room to adapt, expand and flow through the week with ease and without all the drama we might normally see or feel.
Blessing:
May this week remind us of the enduring courage that has gotten us this far. May we celebrate our accomplishments, while stepping back from ego long enough to let go of the once-precious dreams, beliefs, and limitations that no longer define our experience. May we find the bravery within to reach out and find our spiritual families, connect to the shared resilience we need to alchemize our pain into true and real progress that helps us all.
I am with you always in love 💖
So may it be.
Specializing in readings for LGBTQ+, non-monogamous and “it’s complicated” situations
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Pexels.com
I offer A VARIETY OF READINGS & REIKI SESSIONS including:
- Reboot relationship(s)
- Check-in with the body’s chakras
- Uncover hidden talent & treasure
- Clear emotional blockages
- Channel messages of Divine Love
- Step up as a leader
- Harmonize past lives
La Madonna Rosa 