If ever I was going to write a post about Baba Yaga, Friday the 13th would be the day to do it. 13 wasn't always so famously unlucky. Before patriarchy, 13 was an auspicious number because it represented the Goddess in that there are 13 moons in a year.

You know how sometimes you have a dream and it seems rather far-fetched, so it just sits on the periphery of your vision? Just drifting out there in wild space, like the moon, orbiting your awareness. You hardly think about it, but still, it floats past every now and then creating a little sparkle in your chest…

Progeny of the Earth. Offspring of the stars. See how our mother retreats into herself now. She is pulling her power back in after a long stretch of growth and harvest. She effortlessly surrenders to rest. Together we’re crossing the threshold into the season of decay, of release, of slumber and renewal. Now at the midpoint of Autumn, we begin our descent into darkness - into the unknown. We are given an invitation for release here as we journey deeper inwards, calling back our energy.

A short and sweet meditation you can follow to help you feel relaxed and connected again...

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Reiki helps us to feel connected (which is our truth) and leads to healing (which is our nature). As it stimulates the body to heal, it can trigger the release of stored emotions. A Reiki treatment is a very relaxing experience which often creates a welcomed meditative state where inner wisdom is revealed. The Reiki practice provides a reunion between our severed selves (human and being) and in this, we become truly whole.

How very profound this work is; it seems as simple as the laying-on of hands but that is a small picture of the eternal place we touch. It begins with connection and goes as deep as our awareness will allow.

Reiki comes from within you, the greatest you, the part that remembers not only where you came from, but who you are, right now. You are powerful. You are vast. You are connected. You are unlimited, unbound and unbreakable…

This month I’m celebrating 20 years of being a student of Reiki and 7 years as a teacher! I’ll forever be sitting at its feet and listening to its wisdom. Teaching Reiki is my soul’s sweetest calling and it has become such an integrated way of being alive. I wish I could kiss its cheeks sometimes.

A prayer and meditation to cultivate Loving Kindness for all.

I love to mark the change of seasons with simple rituals that are created spontaneously with Mother Nature, symbolising whatever my life is calling for in that moment. Rituals are an act of empowerment, a tangible way of marking the sacred gateways that punctuate our lives…

The Tao Te Ching (the way of virtue, or the book of the way and its power) is such a beautiful book and holds so much wisdom for Reiki practitioners. Who or what is doing the healing in Reiki sessions?

As my foot lifts over fallen leaves, moss and lichen, the river's magnetising presence brings the winged creatures, the fish and the scurrying ones I hear but do not see. We're all moving through this forest, through this life, together. I am a daughter of the Earth. Here, with all my siblings. Who could be lonely?

The token emblem for Earth energy, for life itself, is found in the kanji for Ki – rice, surrounded by steam. Hidden behind this image is a fire. Fire is the yang element, while water is the yin. In the picture of Ki, we see the alchemy of fire, earth, air and water. We see the dance of yin and yang. The fire lifts the water so it can transcend its earth-bound state and rise to the air.

Your feelings are little children, begging for your love. They want to be held, acknowledged. They want to be heard and held and healed of their wounds. Stressful thoughts have gravity. Emotions and more thoughts come to orbit them, and a whole universe of confusion is born. The principles allow us to sit with the first stressful belief and look at it, before the galaxy of suffering matures.

We want to know ourselves as the One, so we look for ‘the one’. Yet all the time, we were that. The One is all of us. It shines back through every reflection. It emanates from every pair of eyes if you know how to look. From some eyes it pierces through all the veils to connect.

To enter mindfulness, we must first remember that the present is right here - a state of peace and acceptance lives at our fingertips. At first this remembering feels like I’m forgetting all my problems. It feels like an escape. The cloud whispers in my ear as I attempt to shift my awareness…

We find such profound awe in the metamorphosis of nature. It looks inspirational. Poetic. An earth bound creature grows wings from nothing? It is a perfect metaphor, this metamorphosis.