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This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match Limited by state law not available in all states hello friends. I thought that I would share a little sneak peek into the content that I offer on the Fan Coven, the Patreon tier that includes my Victorian Nightmare ad, free Victorian True crime extras and weekly witchy guidance. As I've mentioned on the show, I am a practicing Eclectic witch. I am also a practicing Theravadan Buddhist and certified in Vipassana meditation instruction. Not only do I love talking about creepy spooky stuff, but I also instruct folks on how to use meditation to work with and protect their energy. I also teach old and new philosophies and techniques of Eclectic Witch. If you are someone who has been interested in maybe starting or nurturing a witchcraft practice, I would be delighted to offer a little guidance. I also have an entire audiobook on starting an eclectic witchcraft practice that is part of the Fan Coven subscription. So if you would like more information about the fan coven, click the link in the show notes or Simply go to myvictorynightmare.com Foreign. Hello darlings, it is a little difficult to concentrate today. I don't know about you, but I spent a little while looking at information about world events this morning and the propaganda. The gaslighting lies and noise was literally dizzying. I felt lightheaded with the amount of grief I was holding in my chest. Sadness can really suck the hair out of you, doesn't it? So I put the phone down, I made a cup of tea and I took the opportunity to do something that you may want to try if you also have found yourself becoming overwhelmed and your wisest voice is becoming a little bit drowned out right now. Sit by yourself, dim the lights, maybe light a candle or put the YouTube fireplace on and speak the truth. Things that are true that you feel deeply. It may sound a bit like poetry when you start. I didn't expect that that would happen for me, but I began by saying, my chest is heavy. My home is clean. Terrible things occurring and here I sip my tea. Things felt deeply. They made me feel sick actually. And I looked around my room and took a detailed account of what was real, what was true. The paint is white and the corners decorated with cobwebs holding strong. All of this could be gone tomorrow. I started to cry And I asked the question, how do I meet these feelings? How do I meet each of these difficult things and release them? What herb do I burn? What spell do I cast? And a voice whispered back, you greet them. There she was. I am no expert. I am just a witch. I try to follow my craft, but I am a deeply feeling person. I keep myself vulnerable to all energies and do my best to stay in control, do my best to keep myself protected. But the nature of being a deeply feeling person is that sometimes even I get lost in the darkness and I have to find my way back. It isn't just the evil that men do that is overwhelming right now. The energy swirling around us between two eclipses is making the pain of this and all of our pain more deeply felt. And that is not a bad thing. We're being given the opportunity to meet this, greet this, to heal and to fortify. As always, if we are to be lights in the dark, if we are to counteract the vice, if we are to be of real help to ourselves and others in these dark times, we must continue to protect our energy, preserve it, so that we can help right the ship. And the way to do this is to accept what is here. All of the ashes, all of the pain, and all of the fear. With loving arms. We cannot shove the pain down. We cannot instagram or TikTok our way out of facing grief and helplessness. We can sure as hell try, but all of that yuck is going to turn you to tar. The eclipses that we find ourselves between are forcing us to confront what is here right now. And although there is so much evil out there, we are still waking up, Even though it feels like waking up in the middle of surgery, we are waking up whether we like it or not. So indeed, we must greet this. This fear, this helplessness, this chaos, this dis ease. This is shadow work. Shadows are not the parts of ourselves that are bad or mad or mean. They're the parts that we shove down, the ones that we do not want to welcome, the ones that we try to deny, the ones who make us ashamed, that scare us. So we tend to keep them hidden. Eclipse season is a time where our shadows come up for air, and we have a very hard time ignoring them. This upcoming full moon eclipse on Tuesday is already beckoning my shadows. It's already like the Thriller video. The dead are already rising from their graves, dancing around my apartment. And likely you will be experiencing something similar, if you're not already. So how do we welcome these shadows? How do we open the floor and listen to the monsters screaming and growling with an open heart and actually listen so that they feel heard and stop screaming. I have mentioned this technique before, but it bears repeating. Once we have spoken truth and we have a allowed our bodies and hearts to ground into the moment, the true real moment, we ask what wants to be felt right now? And sometimes the feelings come and we can further ask, how does it feel too, etc. How does it feel to see the violence that our own country inflicts? How does it feel to lose a family member? How does it feel to lose a job? Ask the feeling how does it feel so that it can pour itself out and not hold back. But that doesn't always happen when we ask what wants to be felt right now. Sometimes something funny happens when you're crawling with difficult or overwhelming emotions. When you sit down and you say, okay, I am listening to anyone who has something to say. You unresolved grief over a lost loved one. Do you have something to say? What about you despair over the seemingly endless loss of innocent life at the hands of my government. What do you have to say? All of a sudden they can become totally mute. One minute they're screaming from inside of you, but as soon as you say, okay, everybody come to the floor, let's talk, they get tongue tied. Stage fright, just like you would if that happened to you. If someone shoved a microphone in your face and told you to pour your heart out, you might freeze up as well and that might seem like a nice moment of silence. But no, they have important things to say and they are just going to start screaming again as soon as you turn your back. So we will do a gentle meditation to make shadow work a bit easier and maybe help open you up a bit to be able to welcome the shadows in a way that makes it easier for them to express themselves and free you of some of that tar that build up, that background noise that occurs when we keep these shadows stuffed inside. Again, shadows are things we don't want to feel, selves we don't want to accept, realities that are too scary to sit with. Or so we believe. Or so we have been told by some of those same shadows. Don't you dare try to feel this. This is too overwhelming. So says the shadow that enjoys screaming, feels powerful when screaming, and doesn't feel in control when it's asked to speak calmly. Some are shameful, some are embarrassing, most are painful. So what we will do together is a gentle, releasing, heart opening meditation. We will not be confronting anything together. We're just going to be opening our hearts to every part of us. We're going to greet whatever is here. And when we're done, you can decide if you feel comfortable enough to ask a shadow what wants to be felt. I just want to help guide you into a state where that process is easier. But you get to decide if you want to go deeper. This will just be a opening, relaxing and releasing. I highly suggest that you make yourself as comfortable as you can be. Roll out the red carpet for your feelings. Maybe light incense, dab yourself with lemongrass or lavender oil. Maybe grab a cozy blanket, dim the lights. Whatever makes your environment feel welcoming to you, do that first. And when you're ready, close your eyes, relax the forehead, release it, drop the cheeks, unclench the jaw. And despite all of the chaos, all of the darkness, if you can muster it, maybe invite a gentle, comfortable smile. If it makes you happy that you are sitting in the presence of presence of your wisest self, the self that wants to take care of you, the self that is taking time to open their heart in a dark world, you sit in the presence of this loving spirit. Maybe gently bow to this spirit and know that they are bowing back. Now breathe in deeply and let it go. A breath in through the heart. In, up and out. On your next inhale. Inhale. Feel your ribs expand as far as they can and release. Release the belly. Open it up. Pull air in through the belly. In, up and out. One more time. In, up and out. And now with affection. Watch your feelings and sensations the way that you may affectionately watch birds or butterflies. Begin with the head. What is here? Maybe a dryness on the lips, the sensation of swallowing. And now to your chest. Can you affectionately watch the feelings that live here? Watch where they go. Like hummingbirds, hearts like busy bees. Welcome them no matter what they are. And now move down to the belly. We tend to hold a lot of feelings here. What is here and what wants to be felt? Just watch with curiosity and breathe. No stories. Don't write a story about what you feel. Just feel it. And now, anywhere in the body, if you can locate a pain or feeling that feels sad or mad, a feeling that you tend to shun. Can you in your heart say to this sensation, I see you, you are welcome here. I will not push you away and let it speak. No need to use more words, just let it feel. Now bring your attention to your breath and simply follow with the same affection. Each in breath and out breath with curiosity, no judgment. Sam. Feelings may still be feeling while you are focused on your breath. Let them feel. Know that they are there. But don't allow them to pull you away from your breath. If the mind wanders away, say come back to me. Then drop the words and return to the breath. One more nice deep releasing. Breath in and let's let it go now. If you would like to ask a particular shadow how it feels, now would be a good time. But I will leave that conversation for you and your shadow again. Asking how does it feel to lose someone? How does it feel to see X, Y or Z? Is a question that tends to get the shadow to open up. That's just a reminder. I hope that all of this has been helpful. Please take care of your sweetheart. We are in the weeds. Ice cream and bubble baths, my darlings. Until next time, be kind to yourself and blessed be. Close your eyes. Exhale. Feel your body relax and let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh my gosh, they're so fast. And breathe. Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order. 1-800-contacts.