This is my favorite pursuit of all time!

I am super excited to be preparing for the third annual Gaia and Magic Camp held every summer on the sacred lands under the regal eye of Mt. Shasta in northern California.  I really love this retreat because it gives me a beautiful outlet of creativity, Goddess spirituality, and women's community in nature!  Love. 

As you know, I am in a full time career path working in the public sector and I work a lot of hours!  A lot.  The assignment is stressful, interesting, tedious, exciting, and tough.  And, I like it.(most of the time)  In order to do that work, I must do this work.  This work meaning deep heart healing, inquiry-driven, intuition building, soul sister having, expressive arts, nature/creativity fun work. I'm sure that statement makes total sense. 

As it turns out, there are several phenomenal reasons to go on a retreat. Here are just a few:
    1. Be witnessed by a circle of amazing women who will hold space for the real you.
    2. Unwind, be still, be gentle, take care of yourself.
    3. Nature is the ultimate Divine Feminine; experience Her healing powers. In other words, you'll feel better.
    4. Honor your intuition, listen to your wisdom.
    5. Have deep conversations about deeply meaningful topics with brilliant women.
    6. Sacred sisterhood is righteous.
    7. Engage in transformative and evolutionary experiences.
    8. Authentic self expression.
    9. Access your sense of adventure.
   10. Experience a spiritual awakening and cultivate a deeper relationship with the Divine.
   11. Learn something new and exciting.
   12. Have one hell of a good time!

I attend two beautiful retreats every year and host the Gaia Magic and Art Camp every summer around the Solstice.  Without these time away from time retreats I wouldn't make it. My heart and soul need the sacred and I commit to the path that brings me to myself. 

This summer our theme is Sculpting Community as we bring our own personal story into form - art form.  We are making Mystic Mavens: Art Shrines for the Soul. We sing, dance, and create in a sacred community of women within the pine and cedar forest by the creek.  Absolutely no art experience is necessary. I would be delighted if you would join us. 

“The calling a woman feels to gather in Sacred Space with other Sisters starts first as a low and slow warmth that begins to burn. If left unfed, it rises quickly to a raging fire of desire. It will not be denied and can only be quenched by the nourishment of Truth, Candlelight,
Song And Sisterhood”
Ayla Mellani ~ Founder of Chrysalis Woman

As I may have mentioned a time or two I have been on a serious quest, for decades, for magic and mystery; the spiritual and the sacred. This quest has led me over continents and to the front doors of many a magic man. Actually, mostly magic women of great repute.  I have learned many strategies and participated in many activities and events for self care, stress relief, intention setting, deep visioning, star gazing, community building, art making, crystal balling, transformation searching, creativity building, earth loving, oracle listening, ritual creating, priestess embodying, research having, herb crafting, body working, clairvoyant seeing and more...

Yet, when I am so very stressed I don't utilize or engage in one single, helpful, soul saving activity.  When I stress, I shut up, shut out, and shut down. When I stress, I feel that all hope is lost. 2018 was a stress-full year. And the magic was gone.

2019 is looking up but there is work to be done. 

And, there is power in the knowing. There is power in women's circles. There is power in the creative process.  There is power in the sacred. 

There is great power in my ability to manifest magic. And, you have that power too. 

                                                             May your days be filled with connection
                                                                 May you see your own sparkle
                                                                     May your gifts be seen             
                                                            May your heart be overflowing with love 
                                                  May your life give you thousands of reasons to be grateful
                                                        May you manifest magic every day of the year

All right, I know.  That's a rather unusual blog post title but it's okay. 

Times are a changin', aren't they? I have a day job which is an entire universe away from my deep love of creativity and women's spirituality. I have intentionally kept my professional world and my personal quest very far apart from each other. And, there's a good reason for it. 6 years ago I was accused of being a witch and experienced a real live witch hunt.  But, that's another story.
Today, as I was walking out of my office one of the young ladies adamantly said, "I'm not a butt toucher." I looked at her quizzically while the other teens in the room started laughing. "Ummm, Meghan, are you okay?" I asked her. "Oh yes. But, I am not a butt toucher.  Jacob just told me that he thought I might touch his butt when he walked by and no. No, I would not do that."  she said with vehemence. "I believe you Meghan." I replied. 

Her statement both caught me by surprise and prompted reflection. Despite the ugliness in our society and the uncovering of awful and outrageous acts against women I believe strongly that we are witnessing the fall of the the patriarchy; one deeply rooted column at a time. In fact, Joe Biden just said that he will 'be more mindful of personal space'. That seems to be a ridiculous understatement and an indicator of how much has changed in a short amount of time. 

In my work world, I witness the way teens treat each other and how they are communicating clearly what will be tolerated and what won't. I see boys more affectionate with each other than ever and I see girls coming together to support one another instead of tearing each other down. Unfortunately, what they are witnessing in popular media is a different mindset altogether; one filled with despicable and disgusting behavior. Every single one of us will need soul healing to recover from the damage done. 

In some cases, these are subtle changes but they are evident if you're paying attention. I serve in a leadership role where most of my counterparts are male; I am paying attention. I am absolutely confident the tide is rising and I'm proud to be a part of the most important culture shift in the modern history of women. 

The children in our communities are profound and brilliant. Support them, protect them, and model outstanding behavior. They deserve the best as they are changing the world. 

I gratefully commit to participating in the fantabulous Effy Wild's Artfully Wild Blog challenge; one blog per day for the month of April. And, of course, I skipped yesterday. Such is life.

I have also committed to several other personal projects and activities for the month of April; all connected to my quest.  I learned last week about the attributes of my moon sign as well as what it means to have my south node in the 3rd house and my north node in the 9th house. I learned that my life long sense of the quest was in the stars from the beginning!  Although I consider myself a serious spiritual seeker astrology was not something I endeavored to dive into. After a long weekend with the priestess collective on the magical Whidbey Island I feel enamored to do so!  Yes, part of the quest.  The book, Astrology for Yourself, by Demetra George was recommended.  I referenced Demetra's book, Mysteries of the Dark Moon, in my thesis on the Dark Goddess so I imagine her book on astrology ought to be pretty good.

At this same retreat, my interest in the tarot was rekindled. I've always been very drawn to the imagery but never quite connected in a way that 'fit'. I have felt strongly that I would connect if the imagery was my own.  So, I have a personal goal to create my own deck at some time.  However, I determined that I would do a much better job at this if I had a deep understanding of how to use the cards. Several of my retreat sisters have an expansive knowledge and each have several really cool decks.  So, I guess they have justified my purchases! To that end, I've also committed to 21 Days of Tarot through the Daily Om.  I'll be adding my revelations throughout the month of April. I've decided to use the Wildwood Tarot for this inquiry.  Yesterday, I pulled The Journey card with its message of death, rebirth and letting the bones be laid bare. Okay - let's just start with the serious, shall we?

Coincidently, (if you believe in that) I started a one month trial membership to Marcella Friel's Women, Food, and Forgiveness.  My relationship to my body and food is intensely personal and serves as a significant burden.  Over the last few weeks I am understanding that the journey I am on is about healing.  This, of course, comes after the revelation that my dissertation topic needs to shift to that of healing women through Goddess Consciousness and the Creative Arts.

So, for the month of April I will do my best to post daily about the ongoing inquiry and the never ending quest.

I admit, 2018 was awful. Although I committed to several significant events as part of my intention to further personal transformation, it didn't work. I committed to BIG events and paid big bucks for the opportunities. I traveled to New York four times last year.  I'm still paying.  I was convinced at this time last year that 2018 was going to be a great year complete with a career change, travel, and inspiration. Wrong. It got to the point that I lost all inspiration and was resigned to the fact that my dreams of a creative life were done. Events on the world stage seemed to mirror this depression.

2019 has arrived with a bang; tremendous change for the positive.  I learned, during my master's degree program in Women's Spirituality, about the power of Women's Wisdom - let things unfold in their own time. For a self-professed control freak this was a big lesson for me. I'm still learning to trust at the cosmic level. And, I still have my very full time career in public education which can be quite challenging and sometimes very rewarding too.  To my surprise, I'm getting ready for a local art show where my work is featured with two other local women in a show called Illuminated. Gaia Camp 2019 is almost at capacity and the women attending this year are epic!  I'm attending the Glastonbury Goddess Conference in August with the Mt. Shasta Goddess Temple.  I'm participating in a year-long priestess shaman program - last year I had no such interest. I'm making progress on my dissertation about Goddess consciousness, creativity, and community. And, studio space has been offered allowing me to offer mystic creativity playshops as well as a dedicated space for my inquiry process with art, creativity, and community. I'm quite delighted overall and quite taken with the fact that this all feels so.... right. 

I'm noticing that something huge is happening in the universe - tremendously big changes are happening right now.  I'm not an astrologer but I bet cold, hard cash that their is massive planetary movement right now. Feel free to chime in - what is going on?

Imbolc is this Saturday - really, my favorite Holy Day. Every year, I put my prayer shawl on the grandmother apple tree in the yard knowing that Brigid will be around on the eve of Imbolc to bless the shawl with Her healing energy.  I will use the shawl all year long for healing myself and others.  This is such a beautiful gift and an act of the sacred. Brigid is a Goddess of Creativity making Her one of my favorite Goddesses of all time and places.  For the first time in a long time I care. I really can't tell you how much better this makes me feel. 

I'm sending sparkly stardust and magical moonbeams your way.  Brightest blessings to you!

Sincerely,
​Jess

I just finished my first online art workshop; and the learning curve was something else!  Just the same, I enjoyed it very much and I'm already planning for both improvements to the process and my next topic.  Special thanks to Jenafer Joy for providing the tech teachings.  The image above represents the end product; She is the Goddess of Desire.  I am doing my part to help change the paradigm that women are living in under the patriarchy.  This is peaceful activism; won't you join me?

Gaia Magic and Art Camp begins next Wednesday and I am absolutely delighted with the lovely ladies that have said yes! We will commune under the trees and stars for magic, creativity, and nature!  Many of these beautiful, talented and strong women are returning campers and I am so excited to see them again.  There are amazing workshops scheduled and a moonlight ritual led by a super magical high priestess, Brita Dinsmore from the Qeen's Ranch, that I am so honored to call friend.  There is still room for a couple more women who are ready to access their own sense of adventure and engage in transformation.  Won't you join us?

I am giving away one camper spot.  If you are able to join us and interested in adding your name to the hat please share this post and tag Creativity and the Divine Feminine in the process; please leave a comment below so I can look for the post and add your name.  I will let the chosen woman know tomorrow morning so she can pack her bags and join us for the fun!

Sparkles to you!,

Jess

I feel compelled to let you know that you are Divine, delightful and totally amazing.  The world needs you now; chin up, chest out, forward!!
​
It may be that I need to hear these words so why not put it out there myself?  

Even though the 'day job' has been rather challenging I'm delighted to say that I'm working on my first online art/creativity workshop.  Here are the details to date:

                              The Goddess of Desire: Asking for what you want

Use Intentional Creativity concepts to create your own Goddess of Desire. Explore that it meant to express what you want whether they be wishes, dreams or straight out desires!

* Practice voicing what you want
*Bring your story into form
* Start a daily practice of desire
*Play with mixed media techniques to increase your creativity
*Choose symbols that reflect your dreams
*Create an image of the Divine Feminine to represent your desires

Women interested in the use of art and creativity as a vehicle for self expression and personal transformation are invited to take part in this workshop. Like ourselves, we will create an image of the Divine Feminine layer by layer with each layer a foundation to the next. We will explore the expectations of modern society on women to be demure, selfless, and to always put others first through journal prompts, discussion and inquiry. No previous art experience required.

**This is my first round in this adventure; any feedback or input would be most appreciated. I hope to have the process completed by the end of June so stay tuned if you're interested. 

I spent about 6 hours today working on my dissertation.  Although it can be tiring I really appreciate the scholarship and ideas generated by the great minds in my areas of interest: feminism, artists, activists, authors and thealogians. I'm working to define Goddess Consciousness and one major aspect of Goddess Spirituality that I appreciate most is the invitation to engage in activities that encourage intuition and invite the possibility of magic. Other ways of knowing such as art, music, poetry and intuition are grounded in the feminine. This doesn't sound like scholarship you say.... you might be surprised. 

I reread this quote today by goddess author Michelle Skye: "Sometimes, when we look at the big picture, we lose the importance of the details. We ignore the subtle brush strokes of salmon pink and lilac purple that contribute to the creation of a wonderful, beauteous whole. Beauty is minute, stored in the smallest of spaces, shining from the littlest crevices light. So, when choosing to work, magically and mundanely, to better the environment, it is very easy to lost oneself in the giant causes and issues and concerns of the day, forgetting that sometimes the tiniest action makes the biggest difference."  This is such a beautiful sentiment and an important reminder. My office space looks into the backyard; past the maple tree for sweetness, to the apple tree for magic and into the cedar, pine and oak forest that sits at the base of Mt. Shasta. I'm blessed.

I also accessed by Goddess Guidance Oracle cards by Doreen Virtue and drew the beautiful card of Hathor.  Her message is of receptivity - "Allow yourself to receive. This will increase your intuition, energy, and ability to give to others." No surprise, this offering resonates deeply.  I'm reminded to be present to magic, listen like a mystic, and create beauty for myself as much as others.