Our ISP had some server issues which led to a 10 day internet outage that started on July 1st. Because we live deep in the country and nestled in a valley in the foothills, which means we do not get cell signal either when the wifi is down. It is the downfall of being the with in the woods – when the internet goes down, we are completely cut off from the outside world.
Besides a few trips to town to connect with my students and teach a Death Emissary class, I took this opportunity to do some deep reflections. I was reminded of how much time is actually in a day when you are not getting pulled in a million different directions and everything seems to be vibing for your attention. It was a forced silence but one it turns out that I needed. I needed to take a hard look at where I was really putting my attention and energy, because energy is the true currency in this life.
Community
Like most people, I am a part of a lot of different online communities. I love connecting and listening to the stories and experiences of others. It is a great way to get ideas and inspirations, as well as, have the deeper conversations. The reality though is a little different. Often it is the same conversations, sprinkled with some drama, and side helping of arguments about what is “right” and “wrong.” Don’t get me wrong, there are some good things too, and good conversations I’m interested in, but I find they get less attention and interaction. I used to wonder if it was the specific groups I was a part of, but the years of observation makes me think it is more about how people approach online interaction in general.
Community is important to me. Not the surface level appearance of it, but what real community has to offer us, especially those who are spiritual and magical practitioners. It gives us a place to participate in deep, philosophical explorations of these areas and see a lot of different variations that are possible. A place to share our experiences and hear about the experiences of others. To connect and form bonds with other practitioners. To create magical experiments and see the results of those from a variety of different practitioners, giving us a wider view of the magic. Then there is the aspect of being around and hanging out with people who just “get it.”
This forced break had me reflecting on this. How much energy I put in these space vs what I am gaining from it. Exchange is an important concept and one that applies with communities. Our communities should be enriching us as well. Some of these spaces though were taking my attention but not giving me much enrichment back, and that is a problem. It is not that the spaces need to change, others are getting what they want from them, but they are not ones I need to be in and feed my energy into.
Crane Practitioners Community
It also had me thinking about the communities I do run and their spaces. The Crane Practitioner group on facebook is a small group of practitioners, each forging their own path and magic, our foundation not being around a specific belief system, but the connections between us as practitioners. It started as an experiment to see how that kind of model could evolve over time. It is a great group, but also a fairly quiet one unless I am engaging/ teaching.
This month my new book Grimoire of the Crane will launch into the world. It is the structures, ideas, tools, and practices in Crane Tradition. Still keeping true to the need for creating and working within our own personal path and magic, while giving some foundations to start from and expand in our own growth. During this reflection period I decided that the Crane community needed to change a bit. I’ll keep the facebook group up for those who want it and want the lighter side of practice, but I want to go deeper. I want to be part of a group that is really focused, working, and advancing their practice. I want the deep conversations and explorations of magic, spirits, and spiritual practice. To experiment and keep pushing the boundaries. So at the end of the book there is an Invitation to a new community that we can build together and with that kind of mind-set.
This is where I want to put my energy.
The Death Emissary Community
This particular community is created through the Death’s Emissary course . Those who are walking the path of a Death worker, both in the aspect of Spirit work and Death Doulas. It encompasses the personal journey, transformation of the self through the process, with the knowledge, tools, and structures to develop their own path in the work.
A Death Emissary is more than just a Death Doula, one who walks with the dying. Death Emissaries work in many capacities within the life-death-rebirth cycle. They focus on transformations and spirit work of all kinds, including ancestral soul healing and alignment, mediumship, working within the Well, spiritual guiding, working with the unseen and unseen worlds, and more. We work and walk between the worlds, and thus both sides of Death and Life.
As people move through the course, they understand the depth of what transformation – death and rebirth – means. Not just literal, but all the ways Death work applies in the living life. A Student recently said, “It occurs to me that we are doing our own death work within ourselves–letting go of the old self, shedding the layers, and celebrating the growth of the new.” It is this personal experience that is what creates the most powerful Death workers and future teachers.
Due to the nature of the work and how the course is set up, deep bonds are forged between those who actively participate. Another type of community with a common bond. After the course, some will join the Sisters of The Well, others may join the Crane Practitioner community, and still others may just remain within their own class’s private community.
These are communities where I want to focus my energy. They are what feeds me as much as I am feeding them – there is real exchange and benefit for both sides.
*I recently made one class from the Death’s Emissary course available publicly because the content is universal and much needed in current times. Only the class part is public – the post discussion remains private. Not all classes are this kind of format but does give a taste of my teaching style as well. https://youtu.be/C0QDPIH8Fgg
My Magical Practice
This time also allowed me to reflect on where I am in my personal practices. The past year has been a whirl-wind, not so much in myself but in sharing everything I have learned and developed over the years. Teaching classes, writing, and public speaking. Now that the Crane book is done and a rhythm has set in for everything else, I want to spend the last half on this year just focusing on and going deeper into my own practices.
It is time to get back to experimenting and pushing the current boundaries of my magic to see how far it can go. There are some new types of magic my Guides are ready to teach now that the book is completed, and I am feeling that giddy exhilaration again to dive into that world with both feet. To move from a place where the main focus is sharing, to a place of discovery. To go deeper with my Goddess and Ancestral Soul. To do some work in The Well. To bring the focus back to me, my path, and the work I love.
It is not like it wasn’t there, but it was not at the forefront. I needed to complete the book, I needed to get the foundations ready to move into a new space with it, to move into the new community spaces with it, and not just lead – but be a part of them.
Silence is Necessary
Silence is necessary to discover the path forward. Harmonious inaction for the Soul to expand and move to the front of our conscious self.
It was a forced silence but a perfectly timed one. Do I think my Goddess was at play here? Yep, because our history together tells me so. What we would discover from the ISP company right before it came back up also gives a mundane aspect to that belief as well. In the end though, it doesn’t matter, I needed it.
I needed to do a deep reflection on where I was putting my energy and why. I needed to evaluate the actual exchange in those spaces – were they enriching me and moving me forward, or were they just distractions that I felt I needed in order to reach people? I am not a brand – I am a person. Yes, I sell certain things, I provide certain services, but at the end of the day that is work I do for my Goddess – it is part of our exchange, She Guides and teaches, and I share them. The people who want or may need it will eventually find it. We all need to make a living and the money I do make gives the space to continue doing all this work – but my energy is important to me as well. I need to be in spaces that also feeds where I am and where I am going, where there is more then just surface level connections.
Mine was forced, but it also reminded me I need to get back into the habit of logging out and creating more of these periods of silence and reflection. To refocus myself on what is truly important, and not allow others to make me feel like I need to be part of something or someplace just because they look at me as a brand.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In