Imbolc. A Time of New Beginnings

Hello again and welcome back to my blog.

It’s been a while, and I was on a sunny Greek Island last time I was here. Today I’m in rainy and cold Fleetwood my beloved home town.

I hadn't meant to wait for so long, but the newfound confidence in my writing ability that I gained in Lesvos vanished as soon as I returned home.

In Greece I had plenty to write about, new adventures, new friends, and a profound personal journey that going away on my own for the first time in over 30 years set in motion. Once home I suddenly developed writers block and felt I had very little of interest to share with anybody.

This of course is not the truth. I am blessed with a varied, colourful and Magickal life. I have a truly wonderful family and am incredibly lucky because I absolutely love what I do for a living. Despite knowing all this  and constantly working on my mental health with affirmations, meditations, shadow work etc there are still time when that inner voice insists on telling  me I have nothing to offer

However Imbolc is upon us and there is no better time for new beginnings , restarts, and setting intentions connected to our potential. What better time to start my blog again.

Imbolc is an ancient Celtic holiday celebrating the very first stirrings of new life–the first hint of spring. It is one of 8 Sabbats celebrated by many Pagans throughout the year.

Even though there may still be snow on the ground where you are, even if it’s freezing cold outside, we are beginning to feel the very earliest hints of spring rising in our spirits.

After the Dark months  which began at Samhain, traditionally a time of turning inward, of hibernation and rest, life is beginning to stir again.

Depending on where you are, you may be seeing the first spring flowers beginning to show signs of life.

Spiritually, this is a time of new life coming into manifestation. We may only be seeing the tiniest hints of life above the surface but things are really beginning to stir in the darkness.

Imbolc is one of my most favourite festivals, so full of hope and positivity. This year it feels particularly meaningful to me. The winter has felt long and hard. Again this year I found Yuletide a struggle and it reinforced one of the lessons I learnt on my many adventures last year,

‘You can’t run from grief ‘

2024 was, in many ways an amazing year. I visited Transylvania, Spain, and of course the wonderful island of Lesvos. I had a fantastic family holiday with all my children and grandchildren here in Lancashire, attended the beautiful Tribal Gathering again and reconnected with my activist/ anti-fracking tribe and even went to the Darts final at Butlins in Minehead where I discovered unexpectedly that I love the Darts. I saw several fantastic bands live and wonderful theatre shows, went to a Disco for adults with my old school pals  and  birthed my own drum. The absolute highlight of my year ( and possibly my life ) was getting to see Stevie Nicks live. Bucket list ticked, it was the most magical day from start to finish Stevie was spectacular and exceeded all my expectations.

On paper it looks like a most fantastic year and I do feel very blessed to have had all those experiences. What you can’t see on paper however is the sadness I have carried in my bones, the permanently heightened anxiety that seems to have settled into my psyche and the non stop negative chatter in my head trying to convince me that I’m pointless and of little value.

2024 was also a year of feeling lonely in a crowd, exhausted from fighting my inner demons and trying unsuccessfully to run from a grief that threatened to drown me.

I refuse to dwell on that or let it beat me so here’s the positives.

New years eve 2023 I spent alone on the phone to the mental health crisis team because the thought of facing another year felt too overwhelming. New years eve 2024 I spent alone by choice, had a very long bath full of essential oils and intentions, used my shamanic drum to drum out the negative old energy and welcome in new positive energy then cast my circle and did a gorgeous ritual to release what I didn’t want to carry into the new year and set my intentions for 2025. Perfect.

2025 began gently for me and my sole resolution was to be gentle with myself. So far so good I’m happy to say.

My New Years ritual was very personal and powerful and I just feel lighter as we embrace Imbolc season.

A Simple Imbolc Ritual for anybody to try

You will need

A bulb or seeds

Something to plant them in

Some potting compost or soil

Pen and paper

Tea light

Have a lovely bath or shower and set aside half an hour or so when you won’t be disturbed

Prepare and clean an area to work on.

If you like you can decorate it with images of Spring, Snowdrops, The Goddess Brigit, Fire, anything that resonates with you.

Light the Tealight and spend some time visualising what you would like to attract into your life in the coming season, imagine how you will feel when your intentions become reality and hold that feeling.

As Imbolc is connected with the element of Fire it’s a marvellous time to set intentions around  confidence, transformation , passion  and drive. This is your ritual however so your intentions can be anything you want.

Next write your intentions on a small piece of paper.

Remember when we set intentions we don't use words like 'wish' or 'hope' this keeps our desires in the future and always slightly out of reach. We always use present tense and refer to our desires as if they are already happening ;

For instance if more confidence is your desire, you wouldn't say "I wish I was more confident" replace that with " I am growing more confident every day" or " I am confident even in unfamiliar situations"

Fold the paper making sure you are folding towards yourself rather than away from yourself, and pop it in the bottom of the plant pot.

Add a little of the compost, then add the bulb or seeds and more compost to cover.

you can decorate the pot with paints or gems if you like just to make it more special but it's quite ok if you don't.

At this point you may thank the Goddess/ Universe/ God / Divine Cosmic Power , however this resonates with you , in advance for blessing your intentions, and for all the blessings you already have in your life.

Now all you need to do is care for and nuture your bulb/seeds. Each time you water it speak your intentions to it.

As it grows your intentions will manifest.

MOVING FORWARD.

So what will 2025 have in store?

Lots of exciting things happening here at The Witches Hat.

We have our gorgeous new Healing Hub and an exciting new programme of workshops and events.

We are looking forward to our retreat in June and lots of other Magickal events that will be revealed in due time.

On a personal level 2025 is all about self care and being gentle with myself. About cherishing time with family and friends and no longer wasting energy on people who make no effort with me.

At the end of May I am off to Glastonbury to do my celebrants training at the Sacred Celebrants Academy with the marvellous Dawn Kinsella, Priestess of Avalon.

Also I'm off back to Greece. In September I'll be spending a whole month in Lesvos and facilitating some workshops and rituals during the Womens Festival.

I intend to do this Blog at least once a month and sincerely hope you will join me..

Some folk have commented about how open my blog from Greece was, and some have questioned whether being open open about my mental health is a bad reflection on Witchcraft?

I see where they are coming from but one of the most important thing about being a Witch to me is being authentic, we own who we are and learn to love and honour even the parts of us that life has taught us are unlovable.

It’s incredibly empowering to accept yourself completely.

Does Witchcraft cure mental health conditions and disorders ? No.

Does it help you to live a fuller, more joyful Life whilst living with a mental health condition? Absolutely.

The practice of Witchcraft is by nature good for your mental health. For me personally some of the benefits of my practice are;

Do you get the picture ?

I could go on and on, being a Witch makes me feel powerful and authentic and as we always say to our Witchlings ;

“ A little Witchcraft makes everyone braver, kinder and happier”

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read this. I look forward to sharing and no doubt over sharing with you in the coming months.

Sending you the Brightest of Blessings,

Bex xxx

Day 13 and 14 The Sun Sets on my Adventures, Naked men and Sad Goodbyes.

I'm writing this round up of the last two days of my trip from the comfort of my own lovely bed. I'm happy to be back but before I get into that let me recap the final days of my amazing trip.

Day 13 began with me heading down to Scala for a workshop on Goddess Archetypes with Dimitra.

No taxis were available but as I was contemplating hitch hiking down I spotted my old pal Den Pirazi the elderly boob groper and he offered me a lift.

Happily there was no funny business this time but he was channeling his inner Lewis Hamilton this day and the lift was a white knuckle ride.

I wonder what it says about me that I feel such fondness for a pervy old speed demon ? If he was a younger man I'd have slapped his face and got out of his car but because he is as old as the hills I find him endearing. ?

I arrived in one piece at Sapphos palace, the beautiful location of the workshop. Sapphos Palace has recently been taken over by Dr Ruth Shwartz who runs The Conscious Girlfriend Acadamy . An online community supporting Lesbian dating and Love.

https://www.consciousgirlfriendacademy.com

As expected Dimitra fascilitated a profound and fascinating workshop about the Greek Goddess Archetypes and their relevance for modern women. The Greek Goddesses were independent women. The Ancient Greek Culture expressed the positive qualities of Women. Their Gods walked amongst the humans and expressed some very human qualities such as anger and vulnerability, which makes them all the more relatable.

Again, I'm saving what I've gleaned from Dimitra for a standalone blog. We had a nice chat afterwards, and I'm excited that she is interested in collaborating with The Witches Hat/Daughters of Danu in the future. I'm going to chat with Witch friends of ours who are very knowledgeable on Norse and Native American archetypes, and along with our badass Celtic Goddesses, I'm envisioning an incredible online resource which, in my head, has the working title of "Here Come the Girls."

Whatever you are going through, there is an archetype you can call on. We are all born with these archetypes already within us, so all that is needed is to awaken them.

I can personally testify to the transformative power of working with Goddess archetypes. In a world where the main patriarchal religions have no empowering, positive role models for women, reclaiming them is of vital importance right now.

One part of the workshop that made me emotional was when we discussed Hestia and what nesting means to us.

I haven't really ever experienced the feeling of being secure in a home environment. When I was younger, I think that feeling was so uncomfortable to me that if I began to feel secure, I would subconsciously do something to ruin it. For a large part of my life, I found the feeling of not having security easier than the thought of losing it.

Therefore, this was a complicated subject for me, and all I could contribute was that I have always told my children that I am 'Home,' whether that be a tent or a castle. Wherever I am, they will have a home. My way of nesting is to be the nest.

A good workshop will always bring up things for you to think about and work on. This one was no exception.

I also chatted with a marvelously inspirational author called Tina Laningham from the USA. A former political journalist and speechwriter, Tina was in the middle of cancer treatment but had taken a break from her chemotherapy to come to the festival. A warrior archetype right there in the flesh.

After the workshop, I went to meet one of my German friends, Karin, on the beach for my last swim in the beautiful Aegean and, of course, a beer.

Then I took myself home to process what had come up for me at the workshop, pack my two enormous cases (I probably wore less than a quarter of what I took, lesson learned right there), and have an early night.

Day 14 arrived with a mixture of sadness to be leaving and a readiness to come home. I've really come to understand how important familiarity and a sense of home are to me and that I do have everything that makes me happy here on the Fylde Coast. How blessed that makes me feel... I've learned a lot about living in the moment, even if it's a difficult moment. Something that's easier to preach than it is to practice.

I spent a leisurely day finishing my packing, cleaning the house, and had a last trip to Scala to pick up a few souvenirs.

I had to be back in the village by 5 pm because I had decided to treat myself to my first-ever Hammam bath and massage.

Nestled away in the village of Eressos is the 4-bedroom Errision Hotel and Hammam Spa.

It's a peaceful little haven and I began to relax as soon as I arrived.

I was greeted by Dimitri who showed me to the changing rooms and where the bathing room was and told me to get naked and get ready .

Feeling glad I'd been practicing a lot of nudity and body positivity I got ready and waited to meet the lovely Greek lady who would be doing my treatment.

Imagine my surprise when Dimitri came back into the room wearing nothing but a towelling loin cloth and head dress.

I am so grateful that I have been doing my self love ritual every day. Every time a negative thought popped into my head, I had plenty of positive affirmations to counteract it. It was easier than I expected to settle into it and I began to feel a bit like Cleopatra as Dimitri vigorously scrubbed off my tan .

It was a wonderful experience. I was steamed,scrubbed, had hot and cold water poured on me, washed with some sort of bubbles that felt like I was being kissed by 1000 Angels and then had the best massage I've ever experienced . Dimitri had very firm hands and at times I wasn't sure which part of his body he was using to massage me ( not that part for the filthy minded!! ) It was blissful and I could feel the knots undoing as he worked.

I will be researching my nearest Hammam at home. It was incredible and at the end I got to relax with a delicious iced peach tea and turkish delight. Perfection.

After my Hammam I practically floated back home to change for dinner.

There was only one way I was ever going to spend the last night on Lesvos and only 2 people I wanted to spend it with.

The women who have made this trip so much more joyful and fun, who have showed me so much kindness and friendship it has made my anxiety about travelling alone so much easier.

I am of course talking about my Germans Anya and Karin. I know these women are always going to be in my life now and I've so much love and grattitude in my heart for this crazy pair.

We spent a lovely last evening having a meal in the square and then some drinks on the patio at my house. I'm going to miss these two so much.

I also said goodbye to my cat gang who may be strays but have a pretty good life in Eressos where they have a decent spaying programme and everybody seems to feed them.

So there ends my first but definitely not last trip t0 the Magickal and Free spirited West coast of Lesvos.

I've so much to unpack ( and I don't just mean my enormous bags ) and process. I've taken so much away with me from this trip which I would love to share with you in a day or two.

Writing this blog has been so cathartic and both challenging and enjoyable . I've so much grattitude to you all who took the time to read about both my trip and my inner trauma. I've rediscovered a love of writing and will definately be doing a weekly blog moving forward.

But for now I am going to rest a little and soak up the joy of being back in my beloved Northern Seaside Town.

There really is no place like home and Fleetwood out of all the many places I've lived in my life has always been the place that has put its salty arms around me and made me feel like I belong.

No prizes for guessing where I am going tonight . Ginette Evans if you are reading this get your mascara on love, we are going to the Pub.

Much Love and Brightest Blessings Bex xxx

Day 12 Let go and Let Goddess

Day 12 is a little late coming to you.. Yesterday i just needed time away from the lap top. Despite these blogs being on average a 5 minute read they take at least 2 hours to write and upload the pics etc . I'm sure if I was 30 years old it would take 5 minutes but I'm not.

I've been winding down a little as I reach the end of my trip. a lot to process and let sink in about the last 2 weeks. I feel a bit sheepish sometimes as I've been on a Greek Island for two weeks, it's hardly roaming the Andes, but for me it's been a voyage of discovery about myself. Sharing it has been very cathartic and I have such deep appreciation for everyone who has taken the time to read my words.

Day 12 as you know began with a bit of a hangover. Only 1 in 2 weeks so I'll have that as a victory. I pottred for a while then joind my German friends at Rock Ink by the beach. As always I enjoyed their company and then took myself off to the neighbouring taverna. One for my daily lunch date with myself and two, to avoid the body percussion workshop that had just started in the bar.

These lunch dates with myself are something I've really come to enjoy. Just me, delicious food and my thoughts.

I enjoyed listening to the singer whilst I had my lunch. One thing I love about Scala at this time of year is that there is always someone singing or playing an instument. It's a fabulous vibe.

Later I spent some time alone on the beach, watched the sun go down and did some releasing work on the fear that I have identified as being one of my biggest blockages moving forward.

Much healing has begun here on the beach it is here I have felt closest to the Goddess and have had many deep conversations with her.

So here I am full of a renewed sense of self-worth and a deep understanding of the parts of me that are crying out to be healed. My 60s are fast approaching. Bring them on I say. I'm genuinely excited about what comes next.

I had a little wander around the Village taking in the festival and the wide diversity of women from around the World.

Is the festival my cup of tea ? In honesty although I will definately return to Scala next year where I've already organised doing some workshops I won't be buying a wristband for all the activities next time. I've done less than a third of the things I intended to do and I'm at complete peace with that.

For me, the necessary healing process couldn't start in a group setting. I feel overwhelmed and anxious with too many people, experiences, and activities in succession. This might not change, and I'm okay with that. While I've enjoyed participating in various things, both solitude and spending time with my wonderful German friends have been integral to my healing journey.

Do I believe the festival is truly valuable, significant, and fantastic? Absolutely. Witnessing numerous women having a joyful time in this unique and safe environment is amazing. Particularly touching are the older women who vividly recall a time when being a lesbian wasn't always safe or accepted.

Every time I bump into Adriana, the New Yorker who came out at 71, she has been radiant with happiness. This, to me, underscores the immense value of this annual Women's festival.

I then came back to the house to spend a wonderful evening with my Tarot cards and the Moon.

I asked 5 questions of the cards and got 5 profound answers that I will share when I am back in Blighty. It was one of the most profound readings i've done for myself ever.

These have been such precious times , I will miss this little house and patio. I've come to terms with a lot of stuff here just me and the Moon.

Apologies for the quality of this video, I've not gotten used to my new camera at all yet. i saw some wild symbols in the clouds however and I'd love to know what you can see.

my next blog will be when I get home as I will be travelling all day tomorrow.

I'm sad to leave but also really happy to be coming home.

Sending you much appreciation, love and blessings Bex xxx