People I Carry Wherever I Go

People I Carry Wherever I Go

I have my mother's hands and my father's fingernails, the pale half moons on my thumbs always make me think of him. I carry my daughter low in my sacrum, riding low on my hip like when she would cling to me as a toddler, always one hand free to carry the groceries. I can feel my grandfather in my lungs with every cough, every wheeze. Sometimes I feel my grandmother in my knees

While of course I carry my husband in my heart, he's also in my eyes and ears, the ways I perceive the day, what perspective to share, story to elaborate over dinner, some nuance, old joke, fond memory, any way to make a long story longer.

Everyday this week, even right now, I'm compelled to check my phone, waiting for the text, waiting for the call. I'm carrying Paul as well as Barb and Amber.

This coming new moon is my sister-in-law Carol's memorial. I carry the memory of touching her feet as she passed, the sounds of niece Wendy sobbing, the cool calm of the nurse as she continued to switch off the machines.

I have a litany of lovers that I say when I can't sleep, a rosary of remembrance. I carry all of their names, and my pockets are deep.

Caretaker

 I am

Taking care now

I am

Taken cared for

I am

The Caretaker

Four Elements Cleanse

Four Elements Cleanse

Start by filing a small glass jar or ceramic jar with kosher salt, Epsom salts, borax or plain table salt.You can add an aromatherapy oil like lavender or bergamot. Shake it well. Hold it in your hands. Infusing it with your intention by saying:

Salt of the earth.

I know my self worth

Crystal transmission

Help me with this transition

Take a pinch and sprinkle it into each corner of the room. Toss some over your left shoulder for good luck. You can also place rose quartz, silver dimes, or healing dirt in the corners, anything representing the earth and its' ability to transform on the physical plane.

Next, sprinkle holy water in each corner to clear emotions. This can be found online, at your local church, or make your own by leaving a crystal or glass bowl outside under the new moon or the full moon for 3 days. Holy water can be infused with crystals, flower petals, and/or aromatherapy oils, as well as your good intentions. Add photographs, power words, or tarot cards placed either on the top or bottom of the bowl. Use it in self-blessing rituals too. Affirm out loud:

Sacred water

Sacred feelings

Release old emotions

For sacred healing

For the element of air, many folks like to burn sage, cedar or pine for their cleansing properties for both the mental and spiritual planes. If you do not like smoke in your dwellings, you can grind the herbs or do pinches of tobacco in the corners. Alternatively, you can use a feather or a (fairy) feather duster to bless the corners. Whisper the words:

With every inhale

I breathe in relief

With every exhale

I breathe out release

For the element of fire, symbolic of your life force and energy, pick a new candle in a color that speaks to you on a chakra level, beeswax preferred. Take an athame (ritual knife) or just a ballpoint pen and carve from bottom to top what is being released from this space or your life as the candle burns it away. 

Then carve from the top to the bottom what you're inviting in as the candle burns down. Walk around the room and poke in the four directions. If you do not want to light candles, use a wand or sacred broom to sweep out the energy from each corner.

Sacred Fire

Come and cleanse

Release the old

And begin again

Stand in the center or power spot of the room. Bless yourself with the four elements. Say:

In the name of the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone

I'm here by myself, but I'm never alone

So the ritual is complete

And I am blessed from my head to my feet

Blessed be!

Love Each Other

 

Love Each Other

I want us to love "arch" other

As you would say

One day at a time

And string them together

Like the  precious things they are

Instead of trying too hard

Or expecting too much

Please don't always expect me

To always be good and kind

There will be times when

I will be hard to understand 

But it's only because if

It's that time of the month

Or one of my moods

Not that I loved you less

Please remember that

I loved you always

Baby Crone's Tarot Playbook

 Now available in hardcover!

Baby Crone's Tarot Playbook

or Laphrodite's Mini Mindfulness Meditations

Baby Crone's Tarot Playbook offers seventy-eight short practices for that tarot on the go feeling. Rich, full color images accompany the guided meditations to create a synthesis of right-brain and left brain activity by combining potent imagery with meaning words. Whether you flip to a random page for a quick hit, spend an hour using an image as a writing prompt in your journal, or dedicating yourself to delving deep into meaning and symbolism of each piece, this is a treasure trove of accessible wisdom.

Cosmic Giggles

 

Cosmic Giggles

Chuckling at the traffic light

Engagement ring in the sunlight

Catches it just so

I'm in my own private disco

     Opening my eyes

      To the morning surprise

     Throat throbbing with delight

      Hummingbirds ruby red flight

Best part of when I owned a cafe

Was spinning that mirror ball every day

Prisms scattered across the ceiling 

Espresso-ing a glittery feeling

     And by the way,

      Did you know

     Broken crystals 

      Cast the most rainbows

So put your violet fairy wings

Hover, sip and sway

And when the light is right

Just slip away

Chime

 

If I had known back then - Ada Limon

The bell rings three times. Notice

How long until the last note 

Declines

Would I have got that tattoo

Or the other

Bruises, stretch marks

Still have been a mom

Or just a housemate, Tia, aunt

Friend from long ago

Felt this close to you

Dying among your books

A few of mine

I would have said yes sooner,

As in, get it over with

Yank off the Band-Aid

Take off the blindfold

Disillusioned

Once

The bell rings

Two times

Follow the chime

Follow the 

Chime