The name for my blog comes from my daughter, who called my journal “Medicine Book” — without ever hearing these two words paired before. Writing is medicine. Good medicine.
Medicine Book
“Mommy, put down your Medicine Book.” It’s morning and my young daughter has toddled out from our co-sleeping bedroom into my office nook where I have my legs curled up under me and I am writing in my journal. I have not taught her these words: Medicine Book. I have never used them together as a phrase. Would never have thought to...
Wisdom from Chickens
I live in a farmhouse cottage in a once-rural town in the Pacific Northwest. The house is about a hundred years old and is situated on a parcel of land that produces more fruit than we can eat. It’s the kind of property that begs for chickens. My 9 year-old may well be speaking for the land, as she’s been begging for chickens since we bought the place…
Resilience in Bloom
Alongside the St. John’s wort, fuchsia, and gerbera daisies in my front garden bed, there’s a very special rose. This rose was planted from a clipping my daughter took from one of those tiny potted rose plants they sell at Trader Joes for $3.99. This tiny little rose flower clipping sat in a tiny little vase of water on a windowsill for more than a year. It basked…
The Illusion of Perfect Practice
There’s a compelling illusion that circulates in spiritual spaces. It’s that if you’re doing this or that spiritual practice “correctly,” then life is golden and you have no more problems. And if you have problems or feel feelings that are uncomfortable or socially marginalized than you must doing your practice “wrong”. Or worse…
Sourcing Power from Within
Once upon a time, I dreamed of being President of the United States. Not because I wanted to be of service, but because I wanted to be in charge. Growing up in a military family overseas, I was steeped in hierarchies of power. The higher your rank, the greater your power. President was the highest rank so that’s where I set my sights…
You Have Been Through an Initiation
The town where I live just West of Portland, Oregon got up to 118º this week. It was fierce. And while there are many places in the world that see summer temperatures this high on the regular, the Oregon rainforest is not one of them. Most homes here don’t have AC and the ones that do still struggle to meet the demands of a heatwave like this…
Flower Power
You probably already know that flower essences figure prominently in my work. While not every client resonates with or has an interest in what I call “flower medicine,” the essences nevertheless weave a matrix of invisible support in sessions and in the courses I teach…
Ask Your Angels
Flashback to 15 years ago… I had just signed the lease on the little Edwardian storefront that was to become my magical Goddess shop. It was located near the Panhandle in San Francisco, and I was living in a small town 30 miles or so away. The time it took to get into the City in the morning was brutal, so I was looking for a room to rent…
The W Word
When I was in my 20s, I was all about the W word. Witch, witch, witch. I had discovered my place in a magical world, and I went all in. There was not a closet that could hold my broomstick. I was out and proud. At work, on dates, everywhere. It even came up at a job interview once: How did you hear about this opportunity? I’m a witch, I cast a spell...
Memories of a Panhandle Priestess
Many people who came to my shop brought gorgeous loving energy. Some of the people who crossed the threshold came with deep emotional and spiritual needs. Whether they were there to buy or just browse, my customers were provisioning themselves with the beauty of the art on display and the sacred objects for sale, and with the healing medicine...
A Woman’s Spiritual Journey
I took my very first magic class over 20 years. Gosh, I guess I was 23 years old, three years out of college. My exposure to “alternative” spirituality was non-existent as a child. I was raised in a military family, was baptized Catholic, went to CCD (which I just had to Google, because I had completely forgotten what the acronym stood...
Hathor’s Milk
Goddess energy has been interwoven into the fabric of my life for more than twenty years. Over the years, I have called on Her by Her many names — during times of need and times of celebration, in times of gratitude and times of grief. And when I was ready to have a child, I called on Her, again. I petitioned Ostara, goddess of fertility...
Doubt… But Do
I’d like to share a story of faith and doubt. 10 years ago, I made a bold career move. Instead of fantasizing about how cool it would be to curate locally-created objets d'art and serve them up in a winsome retail environment full of magic and possibility — I decided to do something about it. I hired a coach. I wrote a business plan...
Gratitude and Healing
Gratitude is a universal panacea in New Age spirituality. “Be grateful,” say all manner of gurus. But inauthentic gratitude is really a lie. Smeared atop a bitter belief, aspirational gratitude is a haphazardly applied affirmation that prevents access to the psychic wound. To access the wound and to heal it require the same ingredient: space...
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