1st of November is the New Year in the view of our (European) ancestors from long ago. And still for pagans.  Samhain marked the end of the harvest, the moving indoors to conserve the food, and clean and mend the tools. Time to release what we do not want to take into the winter months. Time to get ready for the long, dark winter nights, turning our eyes to the inside. We need to slow down before we speed up – so we start the New Year slowly.
This “New Year” is also the time to honour our ancestors– as the first thing we do on 1st of November (All Saints Day, Day of the Dead); until we have honoured the ancestors, including their teaching, their light, and their shadows - there is no new beginning.

So here is Grandmother Spider for you – soon she will pull in her huge, masterful web, find somewhere to hide, or hibernate, ducking away from the cold. She will still be weaving a bit – some ad-hoc webs somewhere in a corner, when she needs to hunt - but these are small, exploratory, just making sure the silk does not dry out… So this is not yet time for the big weaving, for the weaving of our new life. This will start at the time of Yule, Midwinter, when the Light comes back. During the 12 Days and Nights of Midwinter (the original meaning of the 12 Days of Christmas), we can fully release, connect, forgive, and start weaving our new Vision. But until then, we just explore formations with our silky threads. And give thanks. 

On my recent camping trip to Dorset, I climbed one of the coastal peaks at the end of the day, and found this Brother Tree. I decided to talk to him, and ask for teachings and here is the messages I got:
​Just keep growing...

 As I am more aware of these emotions, I am now mostly able to stop and step back for a second and get a better perspective of why I am feeling this way instead of acting on them straight away.
It has helped me to live with one relationship in particular which has been going on for over 5 years. Before I started Reiki, I found it very hard not to respond in a negative and defensive way to what was being said about me to my face and behind my back. Instead of taking each slight to heart I can see the pain in the person who is directing all her anger at me and because I know her so well I can see the hurt, anger and sadness inside her which does make me sad. It is also affecting her physical health. I know that I will be here for her when and if she needs me.
Reiki has also given me the confidence to do things I may have thought twice about or worried about doing. Like driving across Ireland in the dead of night in a storm driving a strange car and not knowing the roads or where I was going. Never in a million years would I have been able to do that journey without a great deal of stress. Reiki gave me a sense of calm while I was battling the driving rain and gale force winds.
I also now take time for myself just to be, which I haven’t done before. It’s funny but by taking time for myself I now find I am more present when I am with my family and others.

​We will have a small fire-ceremony at the Fireside Lodge; if you would like to give something to this fire please send it to me (fireside.andrea@gmail.com) . It could be something you would like to let go of, or a vision for the future that will be empowered by the heat, some words of forgiveness that will be honoured by the flames, or a prayer that will go to the universe by riding on the smoke …

After the light and darkness were still in balance at the Autumn Equinox in September, it is now time to step into the darkest time of the year – until the moment when the Sun (the light)  – is being reborn at the Winter Solstice. Darkness and death are important and necessary in the Celtic understanding of the years’ cycle; First of November is the start of the Celtic New Year.
The dark phase affirms new birth. Going through a time of reflection, remembrance, looking inside, connecting to your essence, letting go, seeking forgiveness – all these are necessary parts of starting the New Year, which then makes space for new visions and refreshed life-energy.

• You could use this introspective time of the year to take time for yourself every day; read a poem (or write one), listen to a long-lost song, meditate, light a fire or candle, play a slow song on your piano, sit in silence, tell stories to your loved ones, and listen to theirs.
• Visit the dark ‘womb’ space in yourself – where you find calm, earth-connection, and new inspiration. If you do not have a physical womb, you certainly have a spirit-womb, a deep and calm place in yourself that you can use as your little ‘bear cave’. This is the place of safety and trust. Connect to Grandmother Bear and ask her to take you to her cave. Cuddle yourself in her fluffy fur for a while and take a good rest.

 
The time of darkness and death also calls us to honour our ancestors; many people visit cemeteries and put flowers down. But the power of ancestral work is about much more than remembering your known relatives. You can go way back in time, and not only explore your blood-ancestry, but also your spiritual belonging.

• You could take some time and create a little ceremony to give thanks for the gifts you have received from your ancestors. What did they create for you, what strengths run in your family, what resources can you still access that were created by your ancestors?
• It may also be time to reflect what kind of barriers and dysfunctionalities still run in your family. Can you create a give-away ceremony to let go of these blockages and break the cycle for yourself and your children? Forgiveness liberates the soul.
• Besides your physical ancestral line, what ancestral tribe do you belong to in the way of connecting to your ‘kindred spirits’? Regarding your profession, your passion, your identity … who went before you, and how can you honour this connection? I give you an example; my great-aunty was the first female social worker in my hometown; she gained a lot of strength by connecting to brave, unusual women of the past, even though they were not blood-relatives of hers. So, who is there for you? Who inspires you? Read their biography, learn from them, connect with them when sitting in silence, ask them to visit you in your dreams…

 
Many say “the veil is thin” in the time of Samhain – meaning that it is easier for us to connect to the invisible world, to the non-ordinary reality. Our society still remembers this – but does not really know what to do with it. An accepted way of acknowledging it is dressing up and going to a Halloween party as a fancy ‘ghost’. Some additional ideas:

• You could go on a walk in nature, ideally when it is getting dark, and re-connect to nature; Close your eyes a bit, what can you see? Listen…. Can you hear the owls? Do you remember the fairy stories of your childhood? Look at the trees, in which tree-hole or root would you find your gnome? Would you like to collect some autumn leaves and create a “painting” like there on the grass? Allow yourself to reconnect to your enchanted inner child in whatever way suits you.
• If people say on Samhain; “the spirits our out there, roaming”; that might be you! Could you play with the idea that you are a ‘spirit on a human journey’. That the magic and wonder of life is not somewhere ‘out there’, but that you are a living, walking part of it? Can you feel this deep, wise, sacred place in yourself that is the True You, that is your essence, your place of power and beauty? How would you honour this on Samhain? Sometimes we need to break free from our physical experience of being ‘stuck’ in our bodies and open our wings to fly. I will meet you out there!

Why are these times around Solstice and Equinox so special?

• Based on what is happening in nature (Summer Solstice; the longest day), there is generally extra energy around, and it has a content or focus – the longest day, the sun is strongest, nature is at its fullest, the strong growth of the plants produces an abundance of blossoms and fruit.
• Our ancestors have been celebrating these occasions for thousands of years. Even though we somewhat forgot how to do these ceremonies in our society, we still can connect with this ancient wisdom and ask for the support of our transcended ancestors.
• Many communities around the globe celebrate these occasions, so there is a great amount of light energy of people standing in circles and celebrating their connection to the universe, to each other and to nature. We can connect our circle with others to create a web of light.

 
Themes of the Summer Solstice

• The longest day, strong Sun power. Wildness, wilderness, emotions, passion, joy, abundance
• The playfulness and innocence of the Inner Child. We can heal and acknowledge this part in ourselves, which does not always have room in our busy life
• Nature is at its fullest. We can trust that there is abundance in our life
• Magic is in the air; we can connect to nature spirits and fairies; and we can bring the magic (back) into our life. We can dare to dream again and allow new ideas and passion for our path
• The spirit of the Water can take the burdens off our shoulders and carry them for us
• The Midsummer Fire burns strong and allows us to gather as a community – we stand in circle with ‘all our relations’: other people, the universe, plants, animals, elements and nature-beings. The Fire will carry our dreams, ideas, passion, and prayers to the universe.

 

​In these times of the ancient festivals, there is a lot of extra collective energy ‘in the air’ – and you can use it for your own purposes, as an individual and with your community. This positive change energy comes from the change in nature, from the ancestral lines (these ceremonies have been celebrated for thousands of year) and from the communities around the world who still celebrate them now.
So – what can you do with the May-day energy? It is a strong Water and Fire energy; the Water can help you clean out all the remaining ‘dust’ of the winter half year. Open your windows and your heart, connect to the spirit of water, and just let it flow through your metaphorical ‘dusty corners’. Then you can use the power of the Fire – the Sun - to get some warm and light energy into your space, your body and mind.

In the old days, the villagers would light the community fires after sunset on the 30 of April – after all the family fires had gone out or were lowered down. So, if you have been working a lot on keeping your own fire burning – if you have given a lot with your own fire to others in these difficult times; now is the time were you can sit and relax and connect to the symbolic community fire. It is mended by the ancient Firekeepers, so you can just surrender to their caring energy.

The tree of this time of the year is the Willow; the Celtic tree of Enchantment and Mysteries, a feminine tree connected to the Moon. A tree that can help us with intuition, clarity, inspiration and new Vision. So, if you like to vigil for part of the night; Connect to Sister Willow and ask her for support. One gift of the Willow: it can re-grow from the smallest stick that is put into the Earth (and funny enough, it does not matter which side of the broken stick you put in the Earth; its drive to re-grow is very powerful and it just produces roots from every part of itself). So – here is your power of renewal and regrowth. Connect to Willow to harvest some of it.
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And for those of you with medical interest: Bitter infusions with Willow Bark have long been used as a remedy for chills, rheumatism, colds, and fevers. The active ingredient of these ancient remedies is salicylic acid. It was isolated in the 19th century from the Willow bark and from the herb Meadowsweet. 1899 this substance was synthesized as acetylsalicylic acid and given the name “Aspirin” by the pharma company Bayer… since then it became the world most widely used synthetic drug.  

Important before you even start: The ethical side

• No questions about others! (unless you were invited to journey for them): You are NOT supposed to poke around in other people’s life through journeying. If you feel challenged by another person, journey about your part in this, how you can create a better relationship or how you can create better boundaries. But do not ask why the other person “acts like this”, or “how they could change”. Even well-meaning questions, such as "how could this person heal her depression?" are not appropriate unless you have received permission of the person to journey about this question.
  

Good questions

• One intention/question per journey. Do not overload your intention with …and… and… and…
• Use open questions (inviting answers that are not just 'one word')
• Questions that look at both sides of a story (Please show me the potential of my path if I take this new job and show me the power of my path if I won't take this job).
• Ask for general strength, healing, transformation energy or new inspiration for your current issue. Do not be too detailed in your requests.

Avoid the following questions

• Closed questions (with just one word for an answer)
• Yes/no questions
• “When” questions (time has no meaning in the parts of non-ordinary reality we visit on our journeys).  
• Don't ask: "Should I..." or "Shall I...".  (Why 'should you' to begin with? There is not context for this in the universe. State your goal and ask about the potential of your options. For example; Instead of asking "Should I go on this climbing holiday?" you might want to ask "I would like some guidance on how I can connect more to nature and how this holiday relates to this goal" or "what potential is in it for me if I go on this holiday?".

Summary

• Don't be too detailed. Your answer will come as a metaphor or a general 'feeling' in most cases anyway. The universe usually does not give you concrete details, such as 'numbers', 'geographic locations' etc. For example, if you like to move to a new house but do not know where to go, it might not be very useful to ask about your future post code (it may work on occasion, if you have really good journey skills). Rather ask for some general ideas about what kind of environment might be good for you, or ask for more energy or clarity to make a good decision. You can also ask to be guided to your new place in the next few weeks through some omens (signs in nature, specific events, people who show up in your life).  

What is the “Soul”? It is our Essence, our Life Energy. It is what lives on when our physical body is gone. Under certain circumstances, we can lose a part of our Soul, a part of our Essence, and we need to re-integrate it to feel fully alive, healthy and whole.

There are three main aspects of soul loss (we should call it “soul part loss”, as we never loose our whole soul – but I stick to the common terminology).

​1) Soul Loss through trauma
Experiencing trauma is subjective can be connected to experiencing the war. And it also can be triggered by seemingly small things (such as being barked at by a dog when you were little). When we experience trauma, a part of our soul splits off – this is a survival mechanism – as if the soul part stayed in this difficult situation, it would become damaged or traumatised for good. Soul parts often come back on their own accord; when we are in our joy, when we love, when we dance, when we feel connected to nature. But sometimes a shamanic practitioner needs to ‘journey out’ to find the lost soul part and bring it back. The shamanic practitioner works with her spirit helpers (there is often a ‘specialised’ spirit helper for soul loss) and ask to be guided to the lost soul part. Then – sometimes after some dialogue or healing action – the soul part is brought back to the client and blown into the crown and heart chakra.

2) Soul theft
Somebody can take a part of another person’s soul. This often happens unconsciously. It can happen in a conflict situation, but also if people ‘love too much’ or want to ‘borrow’ some of the other person’s livelihood. I had a case where a father took a soul part from a teenage daughter, because he witnessed her stepping into her feminine power as a young woman; and he wanted to keep her small and innocent based on his fear that something might happen to her.
It is possible to meditate and claim your soul parts back when they were stolen. Just use your way of meditating and connect to the True Self of the person who you think has taken your soul part. Talk to this person from a heartfelt space – and ask for the soul part to be handed back to you.
If this does not work, you may need the help of a shamanic practitioner, who can go and ‘negotiate’ with the soul thief in a professional manner. This is to the full benefit of the soul thief, as holding on to somebody else’s soul part will make the soul thief weaker over the course of time. And we believe that people cannot transcend to the light after they died when they hold on to soul parts.
If you think you are holding on to somebody else’s soul parts, commit to giving them back, and ask for a ritual how you can do this. Don’t feel ‘guilty’ about it – it can happen to all of us that we take somebody’s soul part – just commit to making it right and release the soul parts back to the universe. They will find their way back to the person whom you took them from.

3) Voluntarily giving away soul parts    
This happens rather often when people ‘love too much’ or are in co-dependent relationships. Sometimes it also happens when a person is suffering and/or dying, and another person tries to keep them alive – or ease their suffering or help them die peacefully – by giving away an essential part of themselves. Unfortunately, again, such an act of ‘soul sharing’ has no benefits for the people involved, neither for the receiver nor the giver. We need to have a full, whole, undamaged soul to be fully in our power and health. And the receiver cannot access any of the energy of this Essence/soul part. If our soul was a jigsaw puzzle, and we miss a soul part - a puzzle piece; a puzzle piece of another person just does not fit in the 'hole' in our soul.
The way to deal with this is calling the soul parts back that were given away. This can happen in a small ceremony. You can meditate and ask for a ritual that you can do to claim back your soul parts. After this, it might be a good idea to check on a regular base whether you have given any soul parts away (or you are holding on to soul parts of others).
I had a client who – as a young teenager – had given a part of her essence to her mom and dad, as they were going through a divorce and she experienced them as ‘sad’. She wanted to cheer them up and make sure she would stay connected with both of her parents. The healing here was a rather long process of the reclaiming of her soul: The young lady would ‘journey’ to the True Self of her parents and explain what had happened. Still working in the invisible world (non-ordinary reality), she then asked them to return the soul part. Then she would state how else she aimed to remain connected with her parents, without actually ‘giving up’ her deepest essence. This exchange was then acted out in a ceremonial way, moving several crystals and other symbols of her soul part around on a sacred blanket.        

Outcome of soul retrieval
After the soul parts are re-integrated and ‘welcomed’ home, people often feel a surge of energy and other healing methods they are using start to work much better. If the full soul/essence is not ‘home’, there is no real receiver of healing present.