Omen Days – Signs and Omen for 2022

December 2022 omen

I decided to wait until I had finished the Omen Days of the 12 days of Christmas before sharing anything I had picked up. All I am going to do is post the signs or omens I was given each day and what I was intuiting from these for the corresponding month. If you have been doing this too it would be really interesting to know if you see any patterns or what you found for 2022 so please share in the comments.

26th Dec – January

My attention was drawn over and over to groups of gulls, different species all hanging out together. There was a bit of space between them but they were still clearly groups. The message here was that life is too short to spend it isolating, hiding away to stay safe. Time now to start mingling safely 

27th Dec – February

Too wet to go outside but my attention was drawn to the pine tree at the bottom of my garden. The top 5/6ft of this is bare branches and all greenery some way below. So even when it looks like there is nothing happening and everything is dead or dormant there is much going on underneath the surface.

28th Dec – March

Walking down a country lane asking for clear omen I saw a traffic cone on top of a gate in a field which made me laugh and immediately got ‘expect the unexpected’. Further on I came across a road work sign only visible because the hedge had been tidied and then further on down a tiny lane was another one. From all of this I am getting to pay attention and expect the unexpected but it might be fun. 

29th Dec – April

On my walk today after asking for signs or omen I found my attention drawn to the colour yellow – broom in flower, autumn leaves laying on the banks, a yellow sign on a pole….I asked for a clear sign as I wasn’t sure if it was the items or the colour and then rounding a bend I saw in front of me yellow tape tied on a post. So today and for April it’s the colour yellow representing joy, happiness, new beginnings, sunshine and of course spring.

30th Dec – May

The omen today came right from the start with me waking to an unseasonal 11 degrees rising to 13 later today and with nature coming inside to meet me in the form of a wasp. We also have very heavy rain and dark skies which is not unusual but very much feels part of it all. With the wasp and mild temperatures being totally out of season here I am getting that May will be unexpected, unseasonal, out of time in some way, nothing quite how it should be. There may also be a chance for purification this month, for ourselves as well as the world. Wasp carries a whole lot of symbolism but this didn’t feel appropriate for me here, only the fact that out was out of time.

31st Dec – June

Today was all about sound. The sound of children playing, water rushing over rocks in a stream and a Robin singing it’s heart out. From this I feel June will be about really listening, being aware of what is around and the variety and meaning of sounds or what is heard.

1st Jan – July

The omen today was the wind; strong, blustery, pushing me forward, holding  me back, tipping me sideways and then not there at all. Then the realisation that it wasn’t the wind that was changing though but me changing direction as I walked. July may be changeable and not always easy but when it is hard or difficult it is us that needs to shift our stance or direction not whatever we are up against. 

2nd Jan – August

Walking today my attention was drawn to the unevenness of surface I was walking on, the amount of branches the gusting winds from yesterday had brought down and which I was having move around and the red berries of the holly that were strewn on the ground. Had I not been being aware and mindful as I walked these could all have been obstacles but because I was were not a problem. So for August there is a need to be mindful, to be aware, to keep an eye out for potential obstacles but know that if we do they will be easy to avoid and will not cause us any difficulty. 

3rd Jan – September 

Beach walk today. Blue skies, high clouds and a mirror like surface where the tide had gone out, these were the omens I was given as I walked. Calmness and serenity came with this. The wind of the last days was still present but instead of being blustery and difficult, today it felt steady and invigorating invigorating. Before I walked was aware of the dip today, counting how many more days were left to go asking for signs and omen in nature, feeling the weight of them, but I returned home feeling renewed and reinvigorated. 

4th Jan – October

The temperature today is half what it has been for weeks so winter with a bang here. Blue skies again but no wind despite it being crisp and clear. What really caught my attention whilst walking though was the stillness and how quiet it all was. So maybe we are in for a calm, quiet October or at least one in which we are able to stop, be still, reflect and gather our strength.

5th Jan – November 

The icy cold on my face as I walked and the heavy frost on the ground, quickly followed by the sound of a plane (very unusual here), seeing its flight overhead and then a blackbird flying low and fast directly across in front of me. The sudden noticeable shift from stillness into movement. The movement was later reinforced by a flock of seagulls flying in the sun and the sunlight flashing on their bodies lighting them up. I was hoping the plane was a sign of travel ahead but my intuition is pointing instead to the sheer joy of movement during the month after the stillness of October/early November.

6th Jan – December

Out walking today in the strong and gusty wind, sunshine on one side, dark sky on the other and then the rainbow appeared. Faint at first but getting stronger and stronger against the dark sky. So for December it seems that there may be challenges but there are brighter things ahead. Not a bad omen to end 2022 🙂 .

The Cailleach

Although I have known of the Cailleach for a long time I have never felt draw to her or the need find out much about her but last year, as I sat at Samhain, I felt her very close to me for some reason. I have no idea why I didn’t share this blog then but having found it now, two days after Winter Solstice, still deep within her realm it seems right that it is shared.

I don’t know if this is the result of illness last year and a fractured foot this year both of which made me aware of my vulnerability and the fact I don’t bounce quite as quickly as I used to, or the government frequently talking about the old and vulnerable i.e. anyone over 65, but as I start to write this I can feel her tapping on my shoulder so I guess it is time for some research.

With the lockdowns in 2020/early 21 and having to be being extra careful this year, it really has been quite the time for reflection, for being still and going within, for lighting a candle and thinking about the ancestors so the Cailleach who felt appropriate in 2020 still feels so this year. It has after all been a time for slowing down, for reflecting on what is important for living for the moment and not being concerned about what comes next. This fills me full of peace.

In the Irish poem Caillech Bérri, also known as ‘The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare’, the narrator claims to be the old woman of Beare, a peninsula in West Cork in Ireland and is lamenting her lost youth and the pains of old age. Reading this made me realise that there is nothing for me to lament and I certainly don’t have the pains of old age much preferring the connection of the Cailleach to the idea of a wise woman.

In many ways this is quite comforting for it gives me a sense of where I am now. For many years a perpetual student with an interior age of about 17 it could well be a sign that it is time to grow up a bit. I am not afraid of the Cailleach, of the crone, it is just another phase in my life, a shift in my energy, a time to recognise where I am now and she draws near to let me know this.

I love that she rules the winter for this is a time I find difficult being a warm weather person who loves sunshine. Thos feels especially important this year as there have been no holidays, no real warmth or sun and we are now facing into many months of not being able to get away. Maybe now I will find a way to be at peace with the winter

The Cailleach is a seasonal spirit and is sometimes referred to as the ‘Queen of Winter’.

As the second side to the goddess Bridgit, she is said to rule the months between Samhain (the first day of winter marked on November 1st) and Bealtaine (the 1st of May and the first day of summer), while Bridgit rules over the summer months.

In some versions of the tale, the Cailleach is turned into a boulder on the last day of winter and waits out the warmer months in this form before transforming back into her human shape on Samhain.

The stone she becomes is said to remain moist despite the warmth of the summer months, because of the life force it contains.

One of the goddesses of early Ireland was the Cailleach (hag), a wild woman who wore a veil to signify her mystery. She had powers over the land, the birds and the beasts and could take on various forms.  

The southwest of Ireland was associated with the otherworld, especially that of the dead. Donn, the old Irish god of the dead, was said to live on an island off the Beara Peninsula in West Cork.  The Cailleach is usually known as ‘An Chailleach Bhéara’ (The Hag of Beara) and was said to live there also.  Her name was Boí which is connected with the word bó (a cow); at the tip of the Beara Peninsula is Inis Boí (later, Oileán Baoi) which was said to be her residence.

The Cailleach was venerated in place names and shrines throughout Ireland and Scotland where she was known as ‘The Old Wife of Thunder’.  She was to be feared and respected because whe was also the goddess of winter, which gave her the power of life and death over communities that were more than a few square meals away from starvation.  

She was ‘the daughter of the sun’ who grew more powerful as the days grew shorter and the weakened sun was lower in the sky.  She wielded a slachdán (wand of power) with which she could control the weather.  As the sun regained its strength the Cailleach would lose hers, before she was finally overthrown at the spring equinox in March, which was the ancient New Year’s Day.

The Cailleach appears to be connected with the Irish banshee and the ‘Welsh Hag of the Mist’, both of whom could be heard wailing on the wind when someone was about to die. Distant relations of these supernatural beings were the wise women who, until relatively recent times, would provide their communities with herbal remedies, spells and potions.

12 days of Christmas – Omen Days

It seems strange to be sitting here on Winter Solstice writing about the 12 days of Christmas but with the week that’s in, it if I don’t share this now it will get forgotten.

I have just stumbled across a way of divining the coming year using the days from 26th December to 6th January and rather than try and explain it in depth, am instead going to share Caitlin Matthews blog post on this.

According to Caitlin, historically these days were considered to be ‘days out of time’ and were used to observe the state of nature and from this divine the state of the year to come. Liminal times and places are often used in divination as it can be easier to access what is on a day to day basis beyond our sight so the use of ‘days out of time’ to do this makes sense.

It is well worth reading Caitlin’s blog as well as doing a Google search as there is loads of information online but basically using each of the 12 days to represent or symbolise a month of the year, you set an intention to find an omen. By observing the signs or omens during the day or at the time you have set you then use them for insight into the month the day represents. So 26th December would symbolise January, 27th December, February and so on.

I love signs and omens walks, where after asking a question I go walking and then the first three things that catch my attention are my signs or omens and will give me my answer or insight. Of course my job having received them is to make sense of them, to interpret them, to make them into a story as it were. This is the approach I am going to take with the 12 days. I am going to ask my question, go, or gaze outside depending on the weather, see what catches my attention and then make sense of it. I will record whatever I receive each day as there is no way I will remember it all. Once I have done this for all 12 days I should be able to see the story for my coming year as a whole, as well as one month at a time.

Others suggest using this method to draw Oracle or Tarot cards for the year but I always love working with the natural world for answers and insight so this is the way I will go.

These things happen

It’s strange because last time I was here I was writing about having been unwell and here I am again writing about things not being ok.

This time though it is a completely freak accident, one that would perhaps have been hard to avoid other than to have not been doing what I was doing of course. So what was I doing?

I was helping move a bookcase, a large pine one and yes it did need to be moved as the room it was in needed to be emptied out. I should probably explain here that this is a bookcase that I have helped move before without anything happening so I had no qualms about doing so again this time. I did though have the going backwards end and it was the going backwards that proved to be the problem. I stepped back, probably a little awkwardly and that was all it took – I now have a hairline stress fracture on the top of my foot, in a place where neither a boot nor strapping is of any use. The only thing is to rest it and try hard not to make it worse.

I wouldn’t mind but over the various lockdowns I have discovered the joys of getting fitter than I have ever been before through walking, QiGong and Zumba both online and on Zoom. I now of course can do none of these….or can I?

It seems I can up to a point. I can walk, in firm soled, supportive shoes (for me this is trainers) for a maximum of 30 mins before resting and I have been lent a pair of crutches by a friend which helps me move around without using my injured foot for weight bearing too much.

To be honest I’m finding the shoe bit really hard. As a child I would go out of the house wearing shoes, take them off and drop them in my bag when I got down the road and out of sight then pop them on again when I was almost home. As an adult I have always spent almost all the time barefoot at home and when I could get away with it, at work. I hate walking on a beach with shoes on with a passion and never usually have them on around the house or garden, so the wearing shoes bit is one of the hardest things for me and one I am failing at miserably.

As far as exercise goes today I discovered a seated cardio workout with weights that was cardio enough to record both fat burning and cardio minutes on my Fitbit and there are many more of these on YouTube thankfully. I also found a seated version of one of my current favourite QiGong practices, 8 Pieces of Brocade. None of these are the exercise I have become used to but I’ll survive. It’s only Zumba I haven’t worked out yet but give it time.

So do these things happen or could this have been avoided?

If I am honest I have been getting messages from my guides for a little while, about balancing the focus on my physical and mental bodies with my spiritual, which to be fair I have been neglecting quite a bit. OBOD Ovate work has been left to one side plus with retiring from seeing clients and training students I suppose I have paid less attention to my energy and shamanic ‘work’, but some of this is just my giving it space to find it’s place in my life after retiring. Honest.

I am a week and a half into a six week period of ‘taking it easy’ to let the hairline stress fracture heal. Maybe during this time I will find that balance as well as the place for my spiritual work to sit alongside the rest of my more active life. But am I willing to sit things out and not exercise? The answer to this is a firm and resounding NO! I just need to be creative for the next few weeks and see how it all fits together so nothing else needs to ‘happen’. This may involve a few more conversations with my guides, possibly a bit of shamanic journeying for guidance or insight, maybe some dowsing, who knows how it will pan out. What I am sure of is that there is always a way to make to all work if I put my mind as well as my intention to it and try.

Navigating Difficult Times with the Web of Life

These last months have been difficult ones for all of us and it stuck me today exactly how many of the adverts popping up on Facebook are for Mindfulness courses and how much most of us are in need of support right now. Today I also read an article in an online paper relating to the growing popularity of Tarot and the fact that in these times of uncertainty people are turning to ancient practices both through therapy and as a form of practical advice and guidance as well as to provide support and comfort.

I have shared here before the Moon Books free ebook Weathering the Storm which is a great source of support but until I read about Tarot today, had completely overlooked suggesting my own Moon Books Publication Web of Life as a means of support in these challenging times.

Web of Life is a way of deepening your connection to the world around you, a modern way of accessing the ancient wisdom of the medicine wheel but one that is personal to you. Within the book are exercises that help you to understand how you connect to everything, plus where and how you can find guidance that is specific to you. There is also a way of making cards for yourself that can be used for insight, to plan a path or to see your way through a time in your life or even a project.

Working with the exercises in Web of Life will help you to learn more about yourself, how you connect to everything around you and can provide comfort through helping you to know exactly where you are and giving insight into what is happening.

I’m going to share a few reviews here to save you trawling back through posts to find them:

https://solitarypath.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/new-book-review-for-web-of-life/

https://solitarypath.wordpress.com/2016/11/28/shaman-pathways-web-of-life-review/

https://solitarypath.wordpress.com/2016/06/13/shamanic-web-of-life/

And of course if you feel drawn to work with Web of Life you can find it both as an ebook and paperback at Amazon UK and Amazon USA

The Strangest of Times – Stay at Home Week 10

I am not sure how much longer I will keep writing the ‘diary’ now. I began as it felt important to keep a record of these times, what was happening, what I was going through etc for myself so I would never forget what it was like. I seem though to have reached the point where nothing much is changing week by week. I am still staying at home, still keeping within the 5km when exercising and still getting our food shopping delivered.

We are now in the second week of Phase 1 of our easing of lockdown. If all goes well and our R number stays low then further easing will take place on June 8th including the distance for non essential travel being extended to 20km. A good amount of a 20km radius from us will be in the sea, so again I don’t envisage a lot changing here although for others it may as they will be able to reach the beach for the first time in weeks. This is lovely for them but will of course will make it busier and potentially less safe for those of us who live here so it’s not all good.

Some non essential retailers and businesses are likely to be allowed reopen but at the moment I can think of nothing I would like to do less than go shopping for anything that isn’t essential. I certainly can’t imagine choosing to go browsing in clothes shops for example. Just the thought of handling things that others have handled and trying on things that others have tried on, leaves me cold. I was reading in one of the Uk papers about clothes and shoes having to be quarantined if they were tried on or returned and not being able to touch things in shops, if that’s the same here maybe the future of shopping looks nothing like the past. I can’t imagine the little clothes shop in our nearest town, run by a lovely Italian who imports beautiful clothes, being able to survive if it is.

I’m wondering if this is to be the new norm? The feeling of not wanting to do things that previously were the norm for example. Or as the virus has less hold on us will things change again and will we become less cautious? Only time will tell I suppose.

There were no deaths from the virus here on Monday but there are still new cases every day. Lower than they were but still there. The problem is we know county by county the number of new cases but Co. Cork where I live is a big county and includes Cork City. Early on we were told where clusters of infection were but now we never get this information so have no idea whether it is safe to relax our guard slightly or not. It does make things harder than they could be but on the other hand it does stop us being complacent.

This all sounds a bit doom and gloom so I apologise for that. I think I just needed to take the time to reflect a little on where things are at the moment.

Having started this blog post by saying nothing is changing I have since discovered that is not true at all. I could have gone back and rewritten everything but then it wouldn’t have been a true reflection of where I am in any way. So I have left it as it was.

As part of Phase 1 we are allowed to meet up outdoors in groups of up to four people as long as we stay socially distanced and of course stay outside. So, one day this week we went to  lunch in the garden of some friends ,which was really lovely and the first time we have seen anyone, other than in passing by when out walking, for weeks now. I also met a friend for a socially distanced take away coffee. Perched on a wall near the coffee shop we spent a happy half hour catching up. We had been talking throughout on WhatsApp but there is nothing like a catch up in person to make things seem more normal. We had another invitation to call to friends who have bought a new table and chairs so they could have outdoors catchups. We couldn’t go as the shopping delivery was due but it’s there for another time and of course we can also have return visits. This is all a huge change and even though it is not normal in any way we are really lucky to be able to do it and to be blessed with amazing weather so we can comfortably be outside. Long may it last.

Being at home more means I am spending more time noticing changes in the garden, one of which is that we now have a tiny baby bunny. It turned up early in the week and was right down by the conservatory door, all alone. It has entertained us nibbling anything and everything it has come across, things that are growing and leaves on the ground from where we had the hedges trimmed. It’s clearly not fussy. We saw it the other day, half way down the garden with an adult rabbit so it is safe and being looked after.

I have also been amazed at the number of different shades of Aquilegia there are this year, maybe they are like it every year but I am too busy to notice. We have purple and white, pink and white, pale pink, deep maroon, dark pink, plain purple, lilac, white and purple and I am sure some I have missed. They are nearly gone over now but the foxgloves are on their way. Between the two they do kind of take over the garden, dwarfing some of our pots but I would hate them not to be there so am happy to put up with the overgrown areas for the weeks they are in flower and let then seed so we have some next year before tidying up. Were have tried transplanting then to the world area but they aren’t having it at all 🙂

The other plus of being home and not being able to work is that I have managed to get back to my Ovate training with the OBOD. Looking back I can see I began this 5 years ago and I am at best half way through. The saying that it is the journey not the destination couldn’t be more appropriate than it is here.

Of course one of the highlights this week was the space launch of Crew Dragon which we watched live on television before standing out in the garden to see if we could see it pass over. I saw a flash of light about 8.40pm which would have been right and then at 10.10 we watched the space station fly overhead but sadly didn’t see the Crew Dragon again. Nice to simply know it was there flying high above us though.

And finally to finish on a note of positivity, many of the restaurants and cafes here are opening at weekends to provide take away meals. One such cafe ‘Cracked’, in our nearest town is celebrating opening six months ago. Their food is lovely and we are all delighted to see them still in business having opened and then had to close due to the virus. To celebrate their six months they had an Facebook draw for a picnic box for 4 people and I won it. I never win anything so I am delighted. On the grounds we have seen enough people this week it will feed the two of us for the whole weekend 🙂

The Strangest of Times – Staying at Home Week 9

I like siting in the garden and quite enjoy doing ‘big’ things like building a new bed, a path or a wall, but hate the fiddly stuff, so as a non gardener I am fascinated by the fact that this year I am lovingly nurturing lettuce. They were purchased, planted in small pots and have now been transplanted to larger ones so they have room to grow. The photo is an early one and some are now big enough for us to be taking leaves for our tea. Some lettuce plants are also in a small bed in the garden and I visit daily monitoring their growth and comparing the potted ones with the garden ones. Now it seems it’s not only lettuce I am growing. A few weeks ago I had a conversation with some friends online about growing coriander from supermarket seeds. We all took a different approach. Both of them bruised their seeds as recommended by his Indian father, one soaked hers and planted hers in a pot, the other planted his straight in the pot. I researched online and placed mine between sheets of wet kitchen towel and waited for them to sprout. After about two weeks of nothing happening I got fed up with watering mine and with nothing happening, threw them away. At the weekend I was sent pictures of both sets of coriander plants, tiny little shoots peaking above the earth. So I have now bruised seeds and have them planted out in pots. Three weeks time all being well I should have tiny shoots appearing. If I am still writing this blog by then I will let you know.

This week I actually managed to do a live online yoga class. Really gentle yoga that worked on the psoas muscle. I have had an ongoing abdominal injury for well over a year now. The ‘it settles, I do something and it goes again’ kind of injury. Nothing serious but annoying enough to stop me doing lots of things such as a lot of exercises in the gym and also now Zumba which I am really sad about. Anyway, the psoas muscle connects to the abdominal muscles and by the end of the session of slow stretching, the right side of my body which is where the injury is, had felt tight at the start had loosened a little. So far so good 🙂 I woke up the next day and was aware my ribs were sore, by the end of the day I could hardly move. I couldn’t get out of the chair, cough or laugh without it hurting. Not an injury but muscles that hadn’t been used for the last months being woken up. So much for slow gentle yoga! I am doing it again as soon as this settles enough for me to move 😉

We are now a few days into Phase 1 of easing the lockdown. Online there were pictures of queues at DIY shops and MacDonald’s which opened 6 of its drive throughs in Dublin. For me though the only difference it made was that the small garage in my village opened and I was able to get my car serviced and so keep the warrantee valid 🙂

I tried to do Yoga Nidra this week, something I usually love but found it hard to settle in to. I am used to doing it at the end of a yoga session and not as a stand alone so this may have been part of it, maybe it wasn’t right for me today, or maybe I am just too scattered to relax in to it at the moment. I’m going to let it go for now and come back to it another time, see how I feel then. Like everything at the moment it seems best to simply acknowledge it, let it go and move on.

On a positive note I have managed to read not one but two books recently which is a huge improvement on how I was a few weeks ago. My concentration seems to be improving as far as reading is concerned at least.

I am still working with Air which is the energy that connects to the mind and so governs the intellect, reasoning, memory, thoughts, knowledge and comprehension. It is interesting that I have now begun working with yoga which focuses a lot on the use of the breath, the inhalation, the exhalation and the sigh, the cleansing breath to release as the body is allowed to settle.

I’m not sure how long my Air phase will last but I am certainly less ‘scratchy’ than I was last week, a little calmer and feeling a bit more like myself.

 

Weathering the Storm by Moon Books

 

One of the things I have been involved in over the past weeks is writing a contribution for the latest Moon Books Collective ‘Weathering the Storm‘.

This is a collection of articles by over 20 Moon Books authors,all of whom have given their time freely, which we hope will help you to weather the storm we are currently experiencing. It is particularly aimed at those who are isolated or lonely but in fact has something for everyone.

It is available in e-book format only and the cost varies according to the country or outlet but on average is around one pound sterling.

You can download it from most outlets on Friday 15th May or by following this link 

So go on what are you waiting for?

Still undecided? Then just to give you a flavour of what is inside the ebook:

Weathering the Storm

Contents

Part 1 – Psychology Matters

Life in Crisis – Cat Treadwell
Cultivating Resilience in Dark Times – Irisanya Moon Anxiety and Paganism – Nimue Brown
Loneliness: a journey – Elen Sentier
Happy Birthday to Me – Melusine Draco
Transpersonal Therapy; Crisis and Growth – Natalia Clarke Bobbing in the Sea of Uncertainty – Frances Billinghurst Weathering Transformational Trauma – Kenn Day
Staying Strong in a Time of Crisis – Yvonne Ryves
Hall of Mirrors – Imelda Almqvist

Part 2 – Spirituality Matters

The Reconnection Point – Mabh Savage
Everyday Magic for Difficult Times: Healing Our Relationship to Nature, Self, & Our Natural Rhythms – Maria DeBlassie
Help from the Ancestors at times of crisis – Danu Forest
Energy Connection-Energy Healing – Chris Allaun
Spiritual Journaling in Difficult Times – Andrew Anderson
Guided Visualisation: Weathering the Storm – Lucya Starza
Finding Calm in the Chaos: Crystal Allies for Easing Anxiety – Robin Corak Blessings of Solitude – Dorothy Abrams
The Signs of Hope in Urban Nature – Lucya Starza

Part 3 – Practical Matters

In the Kitchen – Rachel Patterson
Plague Diary – Ellen Evert Hopman
Herb Magic – Alaric Albertsson
Growing Sacred Food in a Small Space – Luke Eastwood Soap Making and Self-Care Recipes – Rebecca Beattie Self-isolation Survival Kit – Scott Irvine

Upcycle / Recycle – Rachel Patterson

Internet Resources – Debi Gregory

Now what are you waiting for?

The Strangest of Times – Stay at Home Week 6

 

I was reading in the paper about some of the things people are looking forward to when this is all over. This is something I have been trying to avoid doing as, at the moment, there is no telling how far ahead ‘when this is all over’ will be and also because I am not at all sure how good it is for my mental health it is to be looking ahead for things that might not be possible, for months, or even years. It also goes against my trying to be in the moment, to focus on the here and now and so at the moment there is nothing I am letting myself dream of in the ‘future’.

Having said all of this, a friend posted a picture on Facebook of the fish and chips that had just been delivered from their local chipper and I immediately thought how lovely a plate of really good fish and chips would be. Simple things perhaps 🙂

I have noticed that when I get stressed at the moment I feel it on a very physical level. My body tenses, I feel the tension in my muscles and my jaw and it takes a while for me to get my body to relax again. This would likely be in keeping with something I saw online where a someone was talking about a trauma release exercise she had been taught and how physically her body reacted when she did it, even though she had been unaware of any trauma. I suspect that by the time this is all over, we will all be holding stress and trauma in our bodies, storing it up bit by bit. On the grounds that it is better to release things sooner rather than later I have been spending time sending Reiki to myself to release any stress and trauma I am holding now.

One thing I must keep in mind is that I have found when I share the fact that I am not ok, that I am finding something difficult or stressful, then the stress actually drops away quite quickly.Ok rant over. Sometimes it is just good to get it out rather than bury it. Burying anger or resentment is something that can make us ill over time so is never a good thing to do. It is also healthier at the moment to get this out, either out loud to someone, or if that is not possible, then in writing somewhere and so release it energetically.

There are many of good things that have come out of the lockdown, one of which is the amount of online classes, workshops and advice to be had, including those on mental health and dealing with stress. I think as time moves on and restrictions keep being extended these will become more and more necessary.

At the moment I am being extremely selective about what I watch and how much time I spend online but am delighted that Earth Soul Yoga, the yoga centre in our nearest town is now doing these. I have already tried the gentle Somatic Yoga session for my spine and am really looking forward to Yoga Nidra. I am rubbish at watching any of these live normally and much prefer to catch up when it suits me but I will make an exception for Yoga Nidra.

My husband, presumably fed up but me saying I should have got some months ago when I saw them in Aldi, has been making me home made ‘dumbells’ this week to use in my ‘gym’. So far I have dumbells of varying weight made from a plastic water bottle, an empty liquid detergent bottle and most recently an empty olive oil container. These are all different weights so will make things a bit more varied for me 🙂

In the past when I could still get materials easily I made shamanic drums. I have several that ‘belong’ to me but for some reason have neglected them for quite some time. This week though I have been drumming a lot and at Bealtaine I lit a fire in the fire pit in my stone circle, called in the spirits and drummed. I am glad to have found my way back to this part of my practice and of course, now I have, cannot understand why I have neglected it for so long.

Another part of my practice that I have found again is my work as an Ovate with the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. I am not very far back into it and having been here before, have no idea how long I will stay this time, but it’s nice to be back anyway.

With only 2km to exercise within we have been unable to take our usual walk to the woods that, this time of year are filled with wild garlic and bluebells. Instead we explored the woods in our village which we discovered are full of bluebells. This was such a wonderful surprise and had it not been for the restrictions we would never have found this.

What a difference a few days makes though, in this case from the start of the week to the end. We have now been told our space to exercise will, from Tuesday, be extended from 2km to 5km and those over 70s who have been cocooning have been told they may now exercise outside or go for a drive up to 5km. This feels as if it will give people a little more room to breathe now as the lockdown has been extended for another two weeks. I know people who are already planning the places they will drive to; the woods or the coast to sit and watch the sea for instance. We have also been given a plan of how the lockdown will unfold slowly, so have been given the light at the end of the tunnel, although everything of course depends on the virus being under control.

The Strangest of Times – Stay at Home Week 5

I had a tough few days last week for some reason, maybe it was the weather as we had thick sea mist, low visibility and sometimes rain, although this doesn’t usually bother me over much if it’s relatively short lived which this was. Maybe it was the way ‘the future’ is being spoken about in the news, no end in sight, talk of 2021, 2022 or even never. If I was a decade or so younger I don’t think this would bother me the same way but in my mid 60’s with a husband a few years older, taking one or two years away from us seems huge. There are all kinds of implications regarding our health, fitness, both physical and mental, and our ability to continue doing what have always loved to do which is to travel long haul to explore and have adventures. I actually resent the fact that this may never happen again and that what is left, what we have now, as good as that is and as lucky as we are, may be as good as it gets. I have toyed with the idea of shifting how I am feeling which I can do relatively easy but for some reason to feels important to experience this fully. No doubt at some point I will realise why I need to do so. Right now the purpose escapes me so I am just going with it for the time being. I have since discovered that a lot of people were feeling the same way around this time, seems we all ran into the same wall.

OK the doom and gloom lasted until I did a Reiki distance swap with a friend who was feeling the same way. We both described seeing and feeling a huge cloud being lifted from us which was amazing. All good again and back to normal now 🙂

I actually think we owe it to ourselves to be able to have off days, days where we feel low or overwhelmed and to acknowledge these for what they are. To have light we must also have dark, there is always duality in everything and if we force down or hide the dark times and try to always be in the light, to pretend everything is always ok, it can have a detrimental effect on us. The challenge we all have though, is to keep from getting dragged down into the dark, to accept it, to acknowledge it for what it is, to let it stay while it needs to and cheerfully wave it goodbye as it leaves.  I am obviously not talking about real depression here which is something else entirely, but the ups and downs of living through a period of uncertainly which can be stressful, even for those of us who usually shake off the stress. It is ok though not to be ok.

What I had lost sight of over the last few days had been living in the moment. I had been looking ahead which I realise now is fatal. I will be trying as hard as I can not to make the same mistake again. Taking each moment at a time, each day at a time, is really the only way I am going to get through this. Just for today do not worry is a Reiki principle to really try to live by in these times it seems.

As is show gratitude and today I am grateful for

• insight
• awareness
• someone to swap distance Reiki with
• the sunshine and warm breeze
• walking in the fresh air
• the apple blossom in the garden
• bees

 

 

 

• my new camera
• springtime
• new life 

 

One thing I have noticed this week is that when I get stressed it seems to be by things that wouldn’t bother me usually such as our online shopping arriving an hour and a half after the booked time, my computer only working when its plugged in or my headphones working on my husband’s computer but not mine. This is possibly something to do with not having an alternative, the need to be reliant on others and things that are out of my control. I suspect the further we go in to this, the more not being in control will come up for me. The whole situation is outside my control though, so yet again I am back to the need to live only on the moment, letting everything else go.

A new thing I have realised this week is that I am not really reading books which is completely unlike me. I can easily read one in a day or two and when I get a new Stephen King have to ration my reading to make it last. I can only put this down to my attention span being much shorter than usual. I am flitting between things, not staying anywhere long and so concentrating to read a book is much harder than say reading something online.

We should have been in Singapore now celebrating my husband’s birthday with afternoon tea in Raffles hotel. As we can’t be there, or anywhere come to that, we are celebrating with an afternoon tea at home instead. I ordered a small birthday cake from a local baker and having collected it this morning have to say it looks delicious. There are home made savoury chou pastries, and eclairs, shop bought cakes and I will be making some finger sandwiches – smoked salmon and proscuttio await, plus there are strawberries and champagne. I’d say we will be more than ok 🙂