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Holding the Heart: Making Meaning of Magick & Initiations

Holding the Heart: Making Meaning of Magick & Initiations

Last updated on: March 28, 2020 at 2:40 pm by Irisanya Moon

Holding the Heart: Making Meaning of Magick & Initiations 2020-03-28T14:40:58-07:00 Irisanya Moon

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Returning from magick is a precious time. The moment when the final circle comes down is a moment of sweet relief and weariness. After holding a container for up to a week, the depth of the work travels the length of my bones and starts to arrive as new ways of moving in the world.

Informed. Inspired. Ready. And yet…

Photo: Tasha Kamrowski via Pexels

Initiations, Seasons & Wide Open Wondering

When I returned from Witchcamp, I felt restored by the magick we created, that we invited. Working with the story of Gullveig thrust me back into initiation, with its challenges and its gifts.

What does it mean to be burned and reborn? To me, it means rises to the challenges that greet us, welcomed and not. To me, it speaks of resilience and courage, and speaking up even as your voice shakes.

Initiations are everywhere. They arrive in the moments when you least expect. The moment when you have to say the hard thing or make a wiser choice to stay silent. The moment when you need to balance the needs of your body and the needs of your community.

The heart travels to the gates and leaves behind a little bit of innocence with the step forward and through.

As the days have passed since returning from the land of snow, I feel the shifts in my body. The way my feelings are closer to the surface and then way I almost hugged someone at the grocery store when they said something I needed to hear.

And I came back to the feeling of spring. The magick of flowers blossoming and petals flying through the air on the breeze.

I journaled about the time between time. About the way it was metaphor and mystery, how it fell into the cracks that have been aching for relief.

I let it all be quiet and unclear. The work of making meaning does not come with a timetable or a checklist. The meaning comes when it comes. In dreams. In actions. In the way I responded in a different way.

In the many naps and showers and tears.

I returned to drying roses at the altar from Valentine’s Day. I left chocolates and prayers for healing and holding. I returned to the way things transform and shift.

And I looked at my luggage, unpacking all the pieces and trying to find where they would fit now.

Meaning will arrive. It always does.

reclaiming witchcraft

About Irisanya Moon

I’m a Witch. I’m a writer. I’m a priestess, teacher, drummer, feminist, and initiate in the Reclaiming tradition. I serve the gods, my community, and the Earth. I’ve called myself a Witch for nearly 20 years, and my life has been infused with magick. I am interested in shifting stories – the ones we tell ourselves and the ones that are told about us. I’m continuously inspired to engage as the storyteller and the story, the words and the spaces between. I am a devotee of Aphrodite, Hecate, the Norns, and Iris. I seek to find love and to inspire love by reminding us we are not alone, while also meeting myself at the crossroads, holding the threads of life, and bringing down messages from the gods. I am a Witch. You can read more about the author here.

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