Weaving Spells of Belonging

How we create what we can't hold alone

I feel the mystery swelling in the crisp morning air and unseen communication stirring... my senses awakened by the smells of earth and chai. It’s the ‘thinning of the veil’.

As Samhain (Halloween) approaches, I feel the exhilarating strength of my creatorship: to weave, wield, and manifest.

A deep stir of intuitions awakens, and it feels very different from popular cultural beliefs around manifestation, often laced with unrealistic pressure to be perfect and to fixate on the self .

In this connected knowing, some of the most potent visions of manifestation I hold are not for myself, but for others... not in an altruistic way, but as a beautiful aspect of interdependence: because their flourishing is woven with mine.

This week, two close friends separately sent me voice messages of celebration and acknowledgment of my challenges over the past year. They felt like a precious balm, uplifting my spirit and life, leaving me witnessed, held, and loved.

In receiving their words, I remembered that offering to one another, and receiving in return, is an integral part of creatorship. It takes some of the pressure off, and allows us to create for each other what our humbly human selves sometimes can’t hold or see for ourselves.

Their words were a beautiful spell, casting light over my life, home and family. A prayer of joy, and a blessing of ease and grace.

They offered this because it’s their nature, an overflow from the wellspring of their hearts to me. When we get out of our own way, this current of Creation flows strong, and rises into the wind that fills each other’s sails with inspiration.

They offered words, but it could have been acts of sharing or care... For example, this week I made a new mom a hearty batch of soup and helped my elderly neighbor with her weeds. A kind act or word deeply touches in today’s world, and that act of giving holds an important dose of the fulfillment and humanity we seek. Offering to others rekindles a very natural codex and way we once existed together in belonging with one another.

I’m sure you’ve experienced how easy and obvious it is to witness a solution for someone or see their gifts, strengths, and way forward, yet we ourselves are sometimes blind or in the dark about our own gifts and way forward.

Within the tribes, communities, sisterhoods, brotherhoods, and families who thrived, we created together.

Yes, we look out for ourselves, but we are designed to hold and birth more than that, (stop, really take that in) to billow and overflow goodness to each other, spirit, and nature.

I feel how much our Western culture values independence and self-reliance. As a history lover, I’ve learned that part of this ideal came from Roman conquest and the later spread of Christianity, which displaced much of Earth-based ways of life across Europe. This shift cast a long shadow and separated us from the village and the Earth. I think we still carry an ancestral fear of gathering in circle and remembering the truth of our interconnectedness with each other, nature, and life itself.

Togetherness and mutual support are our power, as women, as men, and as peoples.

Each autumn, when the veil is thin, I feel an invigorating strength within myself because I’m reminded, through the palpable otherworld, that I am connected to the ancestors and women who came before me, to my friends, to community, to family, and to nature.

I pass on an traditional Irish blessing to you today, overflowing to you, who are near and dear to me in my community:

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rain fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

And God (or Goddess) hold you in the palm of His (Her) hand.

…

Bridget Nielsen is a Sedona-based retreat facilitator, spiritual artist, muralist, intuitive healer, and host of the Wild & Awake podcast. She has led more than 50 retreats worldwide over 15+ years, specializing in women’s embodiment and circles, and is passionate about bringing people together in person for connective experiences of humanity. Originally posted on bridgetnielsen.com