Welcoming the Dark with Dark
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in the U.S. where we just “turned our clocks back” then you cannot but notice that we have entered the time of darkness. Though the shortest day of the year is December 21, November often feels like the darkest month. Time to slow down and welcome the dark. Traditionally this is done by bringing in the light: lighting candles, putting up twinkly lights, but how about sitting with the dark in the dark and letting it greet your own dark? How about acknowledging the dark with dark instead of light?
Honoring the Ocean
What can one say about the majesty of the ocean and how its very life is being threatened in the same sentence? And yet, that is the situation we find ourselves in, the tension and contradiction we must hold in these times.
As Rachel Carson wrote in her beautiful tome to the ocean, The Sea Around Us:
“It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life arose, should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life”(xiii).
Water is life and the ocean gave birth to all forms of biological life on this planet. Strega Tree Apothecary offers this bracelet and the ritual that comes with it to honor the ocean and allow the wearer be reminded of its beauty and majesty, to hold the ocean in highest regard. There is a prescriptive ritual included at the request of the Kontomble that will take you to the water’s edge to lean more deeply into this connection.
Clearing The Inner Lens to Help with Seeing and Discernment
For this ritual you will need
Water: The water needs to be rain water, or water that has sat in the sun for a full day
A clear quartz crystal
A transparent glass jar with a lid
Dry white sage to burn
8oz Hibiscus tea
A journal or notebook
A local place where you honor water
The 6th chakra is often called the third eye—the place above and between your physical eyes. It is what helps us access the other dimensions, other ways of seeing, perceptions beyond the ordinary 3D. If it is foggy, our perceptions can be skewed on all levels. Often the 3rd eye can become cloudy and need clearing. If one feels they are muddled and unclear in receiving information, the following ritual helps to clean this lens.
The Milk Bath to Cleanse and Heal Violation and Transgression to Your Body and Soul
The milk bath is commonly prescribed for healing women of specifically female issues. Issues of violation, rape, incest, assault, transgression against our female body and being. This healing may be extended to an entire female lineage as one does it, biological or otherwise or to one ancestress in particular who would benefit from it. Offering healing through our physical embodiment for one who no longer has a body is a common prescription. Men who are transgressed against in this way may also use this ritual as a way to heal and cleanse these violations.For this ritual you will need:4 cups of milk (any milk you choose is fine)A bathtubCandlesOne raw eggWood ash or salt