Emily at Wise Woman Witchery hosts a couple of virtual conferences a year: the Season of the Witch which is usually in October, and the Cauldron of Wisdom in Spring. These have become annual events and they are amazing for those who are curious about anything and everything to do with being a Witch. There were 9 workshops over 2 days, Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd April, and what a weekend it was! Each workshop also had a giveaway running with winners of each giveaway being announced on the Monday following.
Emily always starts the conference off with the opening of a circle and calling in the directions, but this was different because we also called in the spirits of the land. Because this is a virtual conference, those attending aren't living in the same area so we were invited to call in the land spirits where we are. I live in the Midlands of the UK, where the Catuvellauni Celtic tribe lived and I called on them for inspiration and assistance this weekend.
The first workshop was Numerology and it was led by Victoria Atkins. She was an absolute pleasure to learn from and only solidified my interest in numbers and how they can impact on our lives. She talked about the archetypal energy of the "master numbers" (from 1 through to 9) and how they can describe people as individuals. Then she moved on to numbers as universal years, Life Path numbers, and harmonic and stress numbers. She also touched on Pentacle and Challenge numbers. This was really interesting as each of the numbers that related to last year, this year, myself and my closest friend were all very accurate, even corresponding to my sun sign of Aquarius. I learned about myself and look forward to bringing this knowledge into my own Craft.
The second workshop was Mediumship 101, led by Sara Carlson. She spoke about her own mediumship experiences and how she developed her gift, including using a variety of tools to compliment her natural skill. Sara also spoke about the clair abilities: claircognisance (clear knowing), clairvoyance (clear seeing), clairsentience (clear feeling), clairaudience (clear hearing), clairgustance (clear taste) and clairalience (clear smell). What was really interesting was that some of the clairs can be objective having the experiences within the physical space, but some can also be subjective where the experiences are more mental or visualisations than physical. Sara spoke about the most common signs of contact with the spirit world as well as tools that could be used to assist with communications. The final part of the workshop involved a meditation that was guided for the first part, taking me on a journey to see spirits within my physical space although this was a more subjective experience than an objective one. I found that my mum was standing in a particular corner of my living room (near to where I have an ancestral altar for her), while a second female who appeared as a stereotypical Gypsy (similar to a character called Esmerelda) and I felt the confirmation that she is a Romani ancestor. There was also a phoenix that swooped down and perched on one of the arms of my sofa, cooing softly. I kept hearing a message to "keep learning, daughter", which I feel is a message from my Romani ancestor rather than my mum. This was extraordinary as I have never been able to connect with my mum on my own, perhaps because I wasn't ready before so it's interesting that she was part of this weekend for me.
The third workshop was called Embodying the Fool's Journey, and it was cohosted by Emily and Veronica Wade-Lewis. Together, they also co-host a podcast called The Witch Next Door. But today was a combination of speaking about the journey within the Major Arcana of tarot and a series of yoga poses that progress through the cards in a whole new way. While I could not physically take part (toothache which affected my mobility), I watched and listened, hoping that one day I will be able to move through this series. At the end there was a question posed about which card/pose resonates or challenges us most. For me, I like the energy of the Hermit while the Emperor is my least favourite of the Major Arcana.
The final workshop on Friday was Palmistry 101 which was led by Robbyn Raquel Wallace, who is an intuitive palm reader. Her workshop was so interesting and has only solidified my curiosity about palmistry. I've already added a whole bunch of books on palmistry onto a wishlist that I hope to acquire in the future. I discovered during the workshop that my Mount of Mercury (the mount at the base of the little finger) is barely noticeable which can indicate that I may have an underdeveloped ability to communicate, however, I can work on this over the course of my life.
On the Saturday, the day was kicked off with a workshop called Tea Spells for Manifestation which was run by Heath Wright Fitzgerald, owner of Tea & Tarot Boutique. This was a very interesting workshop as I feel like I'm developing a better connection and relationship with plants and the Earth. I have some herbal information to peruse outside of this workshop but I feel like it solidified my desire to create my own herbal tisanes or teas that I can use in the future. But this workshop also confirmed that if I don't have a massive amount of herbs around to make my own brew, I can always look at the associations of the ingredients of my favourite teas (or use up my stash of Witch Casket teas).
The second workshop was "Using Crystals for your Magick and Your Everyday Life" and it was run by Celena Marie Spolarich. She spoke about how we can use crystals for practically anything - from using their mineral make-up for physical symptoms of chakra/energetic imbalances, to the difference between Satin Spar and Selenite (they're in the same Gypsum family but have a different growth pattern). The best thing I will take away from this particular workshop is: don't underestimate the power of raw crystals. I've gotten quite a collection of crystals but most of them are polished rather than raw, which while they are still powerful, they don't quite have the same energy about them compared to the raw ones.
The next workshop was Devotional Poetry and it was run by Mael Brigde, author of "A Brigit of Ireland Devotional – Sun Among Stars". It was a very interactive workshop and followed a handout that was provided before the workshop started. It was all about developing unity with a deity through words and silence. Through two meditations, listening to some songs and two writing exercises, I crafted two poems. In the past, I've felt called to work with the goddess Diana so I asked for her guidance with my own poems. I did share one during the workshop but not both as I felt the second poem was more personal. I may share them here in the future but for now, I'd like to sit with them and meditate on them, and maybe write some more.
The fourth workshop was all about the Maiden Goddess Oshun and it was run by Tirra-Omilade Hargrow, founder of Goddess Inner Circle Community. She's previously run a workshop about the moon and she's truly a joy to learn from - her energy and passion is infectious in the best way possible. Tirra opened with the idea that working with Oshun in particular is something to be experienced and not just learned about, which I think is very apt when working with any deity, Oshun is associated with Spring and the planet Venus so there was a lot of information about the placement of Venus within an astrological natal/birth chart.
The final workshop of the entire conference was about Tarot Cards that Scare Us and How to Work with That Fear and it was run by Christine Michele, the owner of My Tarot Lady. While she didn't got into details about all of the scary cards but the main ones that the majority of people are scared of, like the Death, Devil and Tower cards. The main point I took away from this workshop is that the fear of any tarot card stems from an inability to accept the changes or truths that these cards indicate. Most of us are scared of change regardless of the form it may take because we are comfortable with where we currently are in our lives. But change is inevitable, just like the natural changes that happen with the seasons and there is nothing to be scared about with the seasons' changes.
This was such a full weekend of information that I thoroughly enjoyed learning about. I look forward to each one with excitement and anticipation of learning more. I cannot recommend these conferences enough, having done all bar one over the last couple of years. Working with and learning from Emily and all of those who have run workshops has only furthered my thirst for knowledge and piqued my curiosity even further. If ever you have a chance to do a workshop or work with Emily or any of the people I've mentioned with workshops, you won't ever regret doing so.
On the Monday following the Cauldron of Wisdom 2 Conference, Emily announced the winners of the giveaways for each of the workshops and I was honoured to be picked as the recipient of Heather Wright Fitgerald's ebook "The Secrets of Tea Spells"!! With everything that has occurred for me so far this year, I have a feeling I will be turning my magickal mind to herbalism and the power of teas in the very near future.
I hope my experience has inspired you and piqued your curiosity about the topics I've mentioned.
Peace and love to all!!
Komentarze