Happy January, you beautiful babe, you! Now that we're a little more than a week in and settling into our routines, the shop witches wanted to drop a line with some tenderness and a few reminders. 

If you're local to Portland, you won't want to miss your chance to get together with other witchy babes in our upcoming:

Stitch n Witch Circle (where we are chatting sigils, visible mending, + more!)

Plant Medicine Circle (we'll be talking about St. John's Wort this month)

Community Tarot Circle for Feb (almost sold out for in-person spots!)

Everyone should also peep the amazing upcoming January digital classes:

Intentional Journaling: Cultivating a Spiritual Practice (Jan 13th)

When your journal is an altar, you can create pages that honor where you have been and where you are going. When your journal is an altar, your pages can become prayers: celebrating culture, tending to beloved ancestors, and inviting all that you'd like to see in your life, communities, society.

Join Erin Fairchild, MSW of Journal As Altar for a grounding and inspiring workshop that will hold space for you during these deeply difficult times and facilitate self exploration so you may establish your own heart and spirit led creative paper practice.

Embodying Your Ancestral Magic: Your Body Is The Altar (Jan 27th)

In Winter, season of Earth, we will connect to our bodies as the altar of the ancestors. Together, we will explore:

• just how expansive the concept of Ancestor truly is—and see how that expansiveness is rooted in our bodies!
• learning simple, grounded practices to strengthen our connection to our ancestors
• boundaries, sovereignty, and the right to choose differently than our living family or previous generations
• feeling into how truly innate, simple, and accessible this work really is

xo,

Maria, Ronnie, Liliana, and Rhea ♥️

TAROT FOR THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR

For the modern witch, the wheel of the year is not only a calendar — it's a compass, a landmark, and a magical container to hold us as we glide through the seasons with purpose. Much like the tarot, the wheel of the year is a collection of energies, symbols, and archetypal associations. Working with the wheel of the year alongside the tarot is a practice of embodiment, and as we emerge into a new year, we can begin to collaborate with both the tarot and the wheel of the year as co-conspirators in our visions for the seasons ahead.

The wheel of the year divides the year evenly with four solar holidays: the spring and autumn equinox and the summer and winter solstice. These four spokes also make up the four seasons, correspond to the four elements, the lunar phases, and delineate the four directions. At its core, the wheel of the year is a framework for understanding and healing our relationship with sacred time. The wheel teaches us to move at the pace of nature, honor the intuition and cycles of our bodies, and become more attentive to the language of change — just as the tarot teaches us to reflect more deeply, turn to archetypal medicine for support, and expand our understanding of linear time.

We start at the top of the wheel in Winter. Winter is associated with earth, the dark moon, and the north, carrying us through Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces season. In the northern hemisphere, winter solstice marks this first spoke on the wheel. The dark season begins with the shortest day and the longest night of the year, and with it, a period of deep reflection. This is a time to celebrate the manifestation of dreams and visions, look ahead towards the returning of the light, and slow the pace — we've made it through the darkest days! 

The next spoke of the wheel is Spring. Represented by the element of air, the waxing moon, and the east, Spring carries us through Aries, Taurus, and Gemini season. The spring equinox is an opportunity to awaken our magic and fuse our subconscious with our consciousness. During the spring, our energy is rejuvenated and refreshed. As the land wakes, the wheel begins to turn at a quicker pace, shaking free the frost of winter. Spring teaches us how to begin again, and that renewal is always available to us.

And the wheel turns to Summer. Represented by fire, the full moon, and the South, summer guides us through Cancer, Leo and Virgo season. The summer solstice marks the longest day and shortest night of the year, and the beginning of the summer season. This is a time to bask — the earth is resplendent with life, color, energy, and movement. It's also a time of deep grief; summer is the burning season, prying open the gateway between life and death.

Lastly, the wheel turns to Autumn. Represented by water, the waning moon, and the West, autumn sustains us through Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius season. The autumnal equinox signals the height of the harvest season and urges us to spend time in the abundance of community, being playful before the coming winter.

A Tarot Spread for the Wheel of the Year

The Strength card (the card for 2024) embodies the archetype of courage, confidence, compassion, self-confidence, inner power — this card is alchemy, is transmutation, is metamorphosis. When we transmute, we realign. We move, we shift. We shake off an old skin and grow a new one. We adjust our pace. Change is profound, and joyful, and revelatory. This tarot spread is an opportunity to vision ahead through the wheel of the year and ask for archetypal guidance as you plan for the seasons to come. Use only major arcana cards for this spread!

Winter

CARD ONE — Medicine of the season.

CARD TWO — Dream of the season.

CARD THREE — Challenges of the season.

Spring

CARD ONE — Medicine of the season.

CARD TWO — Dream of the season.

CARD THREE — Challenges of the season.

Summer

CARD ONE — Medicine of the season.

CARD TWO — Dream of the season.

CARD THREE — Challenges of the season.

Autumn

CARD ONE — Medicine of the season.

CARD TWO — Dream of the season.

CARD THREE — Challenges of the season.

As you reflect on this spread, remember that the wheel of the year and the tarot are eager collaborators. Give yourself permission to approach these frameworks as you would your own guides, ancestors, and supportive allies. The modern witch's most magical tools are those grounded in reciprocal relationship — developing intimacy with the wheel of the year and the tarot is the first step towards embodying their gifts.

New Arrivals!