Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) June/July 2020 Aspire Magazine FULL Issue | Page 41

OPENING PRACTICE:
Your Summer
Initiation
Materials: Three small bowls, at
least nine strips of old light-colored
cloth, fabric marker
The epic task of this first moon of summer
is to make peace with the practice of fierce
and intentional gratitude. Mind you, this is
not a call to be decidedly content and refuse
to strive, or to rush past rage, or to accept
the unacceptable. There is much wrong
with our wounded world, after all — and, by
extension, there is much that we cannot, that
we should not, force ourselves to be grateful
for. This is not an oversugared practice of
skirting around the magick and hoping our
thank-yous and our well-wishes are sufficient
to bring about change; rather, gratitude is a
true and often overlooked Witch’s skill.
When we practice gratitude beneath the
summer moons, we are inviting what we
already love to bloom. We are welcoming
greater boons into our world by using the
grateful heart as fertile soil, and we are
opening ourselves up to receive all that is
ours, all that our foremothers prayed for on
their many fire-tending evenings left alone
with the flames.
As the first new moon of summer dawns, begin
this gratitude-bowl practice. Consecrate
three small bowls in the elements, using
those already on your summer altar if you
are able; then choose three life areas with
which to work your gratitude magick. These
might be the same life areas as the cosmic
egg work from spring, but they need not be.
You might choose romance, parenting, and
art making, or you might choose money,
home, and travel; any life area that you feel
shifting right now will work, so long as it
holds meaning for you.
You might look to the writing from the
noonday reflection practice for inspiration,
but be sure to choose three life areas you
truly care about right now, in this moment.
When you feel ready, cast a circle, welcoming
the beloved ancestors, then hold the first
bowl as you face north. Ask yourself what
life area this particular vessel represents,
then ask yourself for what you are most
grateful with respect to this particular part of
your life right now. This might be a recent
memory or a more permanent feeling state
of gratitude, but call to mind at least three
things pertaining to this one life area for
which you are most grateful right now, as
you are, a Witch facing north and honoring
their place here on this earth. For example,
if the life area you choose to work with is
love and partnership, you might call to mind
gratitude for a heartfelt and fleeting moment
of intimacy, a sudden realization of what
you truly want out of a relationship, and an
understanding of your renewed wholeness
that allows you to authentically be in a loving
partnership with another human being.
When you feel ready, synthesize these
three gratitude points into three single
words or three short phrases, writing them
on the strips of fabric and placing them in
the bowl. Return this bowl to the altar and
choose another, now facing southeast and
repeating the practice: Ask yourself which of
the two remaining life areas this vessel will
represent, call up three points of gratitude,
write them on the fabric, then return the bowl
WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH
41