{"id":9470,"date":"2020-12-30T16:52:25","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T22:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/priestessyourlife.com\/?p=9470"},"modified":"2020-12-31T17:24:12","modified_gmt":"2020-12-31T23:24:12","slug":"2020-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/priestessyourlife.com\/2020-review\/","title":{"rendered":"2020 Review: Connection & Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

2020 was certainly a year of surprises, and an opportunity to grow my ability to adjust<\/strong> and adapt<\/strong>.\u00a0 Amidst it all, I felt well-resourced and incredibly blessed.\u00a0 Gord\u2019s comment was, \u201cCOVID has shown us the character of the rhythms and systems of our family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our rhythms are strong, and our systems are supportive…<\/em><\/p>\n

2020 was also a year of becoming more conscious of my white privilege<\/strong>, and how the majority of this resourcing and blessing is not any reflection of our efforts or intelligence or worth or anything like that, but rather, the natural effects of living at the top of the food chain<\/strong> in a system built on white, patriarchal, colonialist, capitalist, supremacist values.<\/p>\n

Now, what to do about this ongoing reality?\u00a0 The lifework of dismantling our conditioning<\/strong>, rewriting the story, and not taking too freaking long to do so (cos controlling the rate of change is part of our privilege).<\/p>\n

I also understand this year to be a completion of a three-year period <\/strong>(for us all), and have witnessed many threads that have woven through my life since the end of 2017 weaving their way to some kind of completion point (or ‘fresh start’ point).<\/p>\n

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Online Circles<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In March, COVID hit for real, and a whole new language emerged: \u2018social distancing<\/strong>,\u2019 \u2018self-isolation,\u2019 \u2018self-quarantine.\u2019<\/p>\n

This sat so ill with me that I felt compelled to embody the opposite as best I could (what’s that called, \u2018social advancing\u2019?!), offering several Circles of Belonging & Presence<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In an evolution I would never have predicted, what started out as a series of one-off circles turned into a weekly circle<\/strong> for the rest of the year!<\/p>\n

This was a defining experience<\/strong> of my 2020, as I hosted these circles even throughout our summer holiday roadrip, connecting with others across the other side of the world while I was in random places like La Pas or Carberry, MB!<\/p>\n

It was so rich<\/strong> to witness the themes of people\u2019s lives playing out over time<\/strong>, to wrestle with racism and #blaklivesmatter<\/strong><\/a> together, and to find ourselves reflected in the cosmic mirror of Sun, Moon and planets.<\/p>\n

We even co-created a blessingway<\/strong> for one participant whose pregnancy unfolded throughout our time together!<\/p>\n

I am so grateful<\/strong> to these dear hearts who said yes to journeying together through 2020 in this way, there was so much nourishment in sharing stories and time together.<\/p>\n

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Sandilands hike<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Creating Community<\/strong><\/h4>\n

2020 demanded that online connection<\/strong> become part of my offering to the world, and I not only hosted local and online circles, but also built a community platform<\/strong> (not on FB, thank gawd) so that the people who gravitate to this \u2018cyclical wonder\u2019 work can connect WITH EACH OTHER!<\/p>\n

Perhaps the very best thing I did in 2020 was host two online calls in January for users of the Cyclical Wisdom Journal<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 Some of these folk were based in Melbourne and arranged to hook up IRL afterwards.\u00a0 Of course, then COVID happened and IRL became a thing of the past, so they began meeting weekly via Zoom\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 and HAVEN\u2019T STOPPED SINCE<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

I have heard from multiple members of this group what a blessing it has been for them.\u00a0 Who can measure the self-care, the mental sanity, the solidarity, this space provided during the intensity of Melbourne lockdown<\/strong><\/a>?\u00a0 Absolutely priceless\u2026<\/p>\n

Not only that, but when someone in the PYL community was asking about circles in Melbourne, I was able to connect her to these people, and she ended up joining this group.<\/p>\n

So while I can\u2019t take any credit, this story stands out as a phenomenal example of grace and serendipity<\/strong>, and is evidence for me of the goodness that can flow when I have the courage to follow my small intuitive impulses \u2013 in this case, to offer my first ever group Zoom call<\/strong>.\u00a0 (What if no one comes??\u00a0 What if it’s really awkward??)<\/em><\/p>\n

My intention in 2021 is to lean in<\/strong> even more to these gut whispers, even when they appear crazy.<\/p>\n

Case in point: making crazy pictures!\u00a0 Promotion as play!<\/p>\n

As Mary Oliver says, “You must not ever stop being whimsical<\/strong>.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

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Priestess Your Life<\/strong><\/h4>\n

My PYL work continued to evolve with year, as I offered more astrology readings<\/strong><\/a>, kept up my usual bi-weekly newsletters, crafted forty-eight \u2018lunar prayers<\/strong>\u2019 and corresponding journal prompts, and birthed the 2021 version of the Cyclical Wisdom Journal<\/strong><\/a> (better than ever, IMHO)!<\/p>\n

My favourite part of my work is the privilege of hearing people\u2019s stories<\/strong> and affirming the \u201cunseen order<\/strong>\u201d of their current experience.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve spent a lot of time CREATING connection<\/strong> and CREATING content<\/strong> on the computer, but I\u2019m finishing 2020 with the clarity that I also want to keep CREATING with my hands!<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s been an utter delight to finish the year following another intuitive impulse, creating the Cyclical Wonder Club<\/strong><\/a>, a playful gathering point for those keen to keep reflecting, wondering and creating together.<\/p>\n

Living with unapologetic intention, creating art, having fun while doing so, and honouring the hard times as well.\u00a0 Doing this together… it’s called oxytocin!<\/p>\n

I so look forward to seeing where this leads in 2021!<\/p>\n

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Holidays!<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

School of Shamanic Womancraft<\/strong><\/p>\n

My work with the School of Shamanic Womancraft<\/strong><\/a> continues, both as teacher, workshop facilitator and webwitch.\u00a0 Really, that final \u2018hat\u2019 was the only one I could wear this year \u2013 I put out dates for my first workshops here in Manitoba in March, right when COVID arrived, and had to pull the plug on that foray for now.<\/p>\n

This year I helped the School set up an online learning site<\/strong>, in preparation for significant new offerings in 2021.\u00a0 I volunteered my time to convert the main site to Elementor<\/a><\/strong>, largely for my own sanity (means I can do my job much more efficiently and create beauty more easefully!).<\/p>\n

Best of all, Arahni and I facilitated two whole-school<\/strong> Zoom calls, for the first time in ten years, which were very well received!\u00a0 This really is a one-of-a-kind community, and I’m keen to do what I can to keep nourishing our connections over the coming years.<\/p>\n

Feels like we’re mobilising for something<\/strong>… to be the change, of course… to be what’s required in these times…<\/p>\n

Once again, it\u2019s the building of connection and community<\/strong> that most calls to me, in part because this is my own personal lifework: how to be in sustainable and nourishing relationship with others?\u00a0 How to create space for our differences, without losing our connection?\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

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Soul Retrieval<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Three years ago, I finished a three-year apprenticeship with the SSW and graduated as a Teacher of the Four Seasons Journey<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 Then I promptly moved to Canada and had to surrender all aspects of that identity.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t even know if I\u2019d find people over here who are interested in this \u2018shamanic\u2019 work, by which I mean \u2018listening intently, ear to the ground<\/strong>, to Life unfolding in every moment and what it is inviting us into.\u2019<\/p>\n

This ‘womancraft’ work, by which I mean alchemising enough of our stories<\/strong> so we can live our wild, true, sensual, embodied nature<\/strong>.\u00a0 Living “full of ourselves.”\u00a0 Midwifing ourselves and each other through our rites of passage and our evolving experience.<\/p>\n

This lifework of being apprentice to transformation<\/strong> and all it requires of us…<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also felt complex bringing this work here in ways that aren\u2019t culturally appropriating<\/strong>.\u00a0 I\u2019m still in a process of feeling my way, in this regard.\u00a0 But very slowly, pieces of this part of my identity are being restored, it seems.<\/p>\n

A Yule\/Solstice ceremony with friends\u2026 drum journeys with friends\u2026 plans to head out on Wilderness Solo<\/strong><\/a> in 2021, supported by my man\u2026 and more conversation to be had with those who are keen to drop deep within themselves, held by intention, ceremony, solidarity and the unfailing presence of Mother Earth and all her beings.<\/em><\/p>\n