Shifting, Changing, Summer Turning to Fall

bike & blackberries

Have you noticed a shift in the wind?  I sure have.

Yesterday after I came back from riding my bike by the bay, I sat on my back deck drinking water and writing in my journal. A breeze suddenly whipped up, and soon yellow alder leaves were dancing in the wind and scattering all over the ground. Douglas fir cones tumbled off the awning, pushed off by the breeze. This morning I rose at 5:30AM and it was still dark enough that I had to turn on the light to walk downstairs. That’s the first time I’ve had to do that in months.

I love the Lammas season in part because it is such a liminal state, this time of Summer-Turning-to-Fall. Both/and. Shifting. Changing.

Along with the shift in the natural world comes a closure to summer “vacation.” This was the first time in years that I did not teach any workshops or e-courses between early June and early September. I did this in order to focus on my creative projects and to be able to enjoy the luscious island summer. Oh my I have had such a wonderful time! I have completed 97% (more or less) of the book I’ve been working on for quite some time now (I may finish it today!), and I am gestating ideas for a few new tarot and/or oracle decks. (Crazy! I thought I’d never do another deck after the Gaian.)  I also took two classes this summer in encaustic (painting and collaging with beeswax) and am completely smitten with this medium.

encaustic play

I flew down to San Jose, California last weekend for SF BATS (San Francisco Bay Area Tarot Symposium). I had not been for a few years, and it felt to good to be back. My favorite part of events like this one is the creative conversations I have with so many people, sparking ideas that lead to clear guidance (what else might one expect in a group of 200+ crazy creative diviners?). Some of my ideas crystallized, new ones arose, and I got great feedback on others. Sigh. I love my tarot tribe.

I gave a presentation called “Reading the Book of Nature,” which was attended by around 50 people and seemed to inspire a lot of them. I was thrilled. I taught my method for going on a medicine walk (or Wisdom Wander, as my friend Carolyn Cushing calls it) and reading the auguries and signs in nature. This is the method I’ve developed over the last year for dozens of people as I create my “Mama Ocean Blessing Bags.”

May the winds of change bless you as the seasons turn.

6 thoughts on “Shifting, Changing, Summer Turning to Fall

  1. So much goodness! What an exciting and fruitful time. So looking forward to Spinning Gold. It’s bringing back exciting and fun memories of school anticipation 🙂 I love your encaustic pieces. <3

    1. Thank you Robin. I’m looking forward to Spinning Gold too, and I’m so glad you’ll be there too. Hugs & blessings!

  2. How wonderful–more decks???? That is SO exciting! And I love, love the idea of ancestor prayer cards. Think I’ll sign up for one or 2 of your 30-day classes, to. Keep those creative juices pumping, Joanna!!! 🙂

    1. Thanks Katie! Honestly I think it’s the time off that has really helped to keep the cauldron bubbling, more than anything else . . .

  3. Your Mama Ocean Blessing Bag is still blessing me – more and more and more unfoldings – especially after my Rio Grande Rift time this August. There is a shift – and it is more than the wind – it is a structural reorganization of people taking back their relationships from social media powerhouses. Thank you for continuing to be the lighthouse faithfully shining out into the interwebs reminding us (me) that we have choices – they are not always easy – but we have choices.

    My appreciation knows no depths,

    Julie in the shifting times of questioning resolving to gratitude

    1. I’m so glad to hear that the Blessing Bag continues to unfold its gifts for you, Julie. And (I think you know) I am continuing to grapple with Facebook, MeWe, et al . . . where and how I want to use my online time. Now that the big writing project is done (for now, until revisions begin), I think I’ll have more writing juice for blogging. That’s the plan, anyway. 🙂 Love & Blessings to you.

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