![a missed solstice](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685656896263-DKHGC9CN95XYJU4N670Q/december-solstice-winter.jpg)
a missed solstice
The Winter Solstice has always been important to me but the year I moved to Portugal, somehow, I missed it. I remember I had planned walk to a waterfall to dip my toes in the freezing water. I would have said a prayer for the new year’s light. I
Why I am giving up opiods
!['The first fairytales were feminist critiques of patriarchy'](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685658272052-09VT7SYHBI9799R73DHU/3240%2B%281%29.jpg)
'The first fairytales were feminist critiques of patriarchy'
fairytales and patriarchy
![Perspective](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685657453617-JATXPBZ6RDXF5EK43DP1/SpiralGalaxy101.jpg)
Perspective
Everyone has a story
![interview](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1692989111501-1T441T6DEF9BPSY6261U/HEADSHOT8.jpg)
interview
![the sound of a question](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1689759083863-3F2ZOUTID10W97UR4E7O/Text_of_colophon_from_Sanskrit_Manuscript_on_medicine_Wellcome_L0015319.jpg)
the sound of a question
Sometimes we do not stop the flow of our thoughts long enough to allow the questions to float to the surface.
![Jungian Psychology and Tarot](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685655845730-K3N5DW1BIA7RLDTR8F0U/jung-and-tarot.jpg)
Jungian Psychology and Tarot
The bridge between formal science and spirituality gets ever more solid, wider and accommodating, and the interconnectedness of all disciplines, therefore, easier to discuss without the need for justification.
![the story of your life](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685654486994-HVCJMD5PA56HBC49Q5QA/image-asset.jpeg)
the story of your life
Which plot would your life be? ‘Rags to Riches?’?‘The Quest'? Maybe ‘Overcoming the Monster’?
Which would you like it to be?
![brainz. magazine](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1688469776195-FNQDU5JJK4IHT7RYQ60D/BRAINZ+BADGE+HIGH+RES.png)
brainz. magazine
I’ve been accepted as a contributor to Brainz Magazine!
![inherited stories:the juniper tree](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685655449943-RV5QML0U0M7LB7FWZ4Z1/The%2BJuniper%2BTree.jpg)
inherited stories:the juniper tree
She is told a story that she is to blame for something terrible. She believes it, as we do as children, and it colours her life. Yet, she still buries the bones of the lie and triggers a transformation.
![time](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685653076582-57LPJXLB6I6P5YDZ2EQS/26x20_green_tara_thangka.jpg)
time
We were watering the garden when the roof was on fire.
![Tarot and the question of symbolism](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685656765288-VEEQM8IT0ZWLTPBAHBDG/e59a3a5471388ed4676115719ca60b71.jpg)
Tarot and the question of symbolism
Over the last few years, I have been more and more drawn to what is called an ‘open reading’. in tarot. This means that we rely less on fixed or inherited meanings when we read, and more on the patterns or stories that present themselves.
![to rage or surrender?](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685652614358-GMCVRO2DECSY45T0MRE9/image-asset+%282%29.jpeg)
to rage or surrender?
I am struck by the idea of ‘raging against’ something. It seems it is not the done thing anymore. These days it is all about acceptance and grace. Usually, it is acquiescence, at least, that is called for, and at best, we strive to open our arms willingly to the changes that come our way, breathing, and bowing our heads in a wise and humble manner. Is there still a place for raging?
![my own liminal](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685652087039-7VH32C4TJF34XLYJBJ4U/IMG_8806.jpeg)
my own liminal
I often discuss thresholds, and the liminal, and rites of passage, with the people I talk with.
And suddenly, here I am, laboriously writing with one hand, catapulted, without warning, into my own in-between. In the space of weeks I have had the foundations shimmy away from under me as my relationship ended abruptly, and then my arm broke, and I now am forced to manage my life in the rawness of necessity. I am having to walk the talk like never before.
![Tarology, by Enrique Enriquez](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685658014100-P0H26MGB37HTU5MSPD6U/c07.jpg)
Tarology, by Enrique Enriquez
Tarology
![nostalgia](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685652312504-DO05AHAWGPWZ0QDF53G7/nostalgia.jpg)
nostalgia
To start building new neural pathways through imagination might heal some traumatic, stubborn patterns. You would think that would be a good thing of course, but I had a strange reaction to the idea I could invent a different past. Why did I feel so resistant to it, despite believing the science?
![Ah, distinctly, I remember it was in the bleak December](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685650792663-J8GFTUKM0KW58L0MWHSD/image-asset.jpeg)
Ah, distinctly, I remember it was in the bleak December
I sometimes work with clients on catching their mind as it embellishes a moment and builds it from nothing except habit and fear. Chasing a story where someone means something mean. A story where someone hates forever. A story where grief is permanent, where we are forever flawed, where we cannot mend.
![the one](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685650295037-Y68BL69OGCM5FCZKX91C/liebe_klimt.jpg)
the one
I've spent half my life either looking for ‘the one’, wondering if the one I'm with is ‘the one’, or deciding there's no such thing as ‘the one’. Several of my clients grapple with the same quandary. Do we settle? Do we wait to find this perfect-for-us person? Or do we look for another framework through which to see romantic relationships?
![impermanence](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685648820783-UEEZIU2PX23JMKRQN4EK/me%2Band%2BPea.jpg)
impermanence
“This body of ours is impermanent, like a feather on a high mountain pass. “
Machig Labdron
![Retreat](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6474f1a8cc2583450822cc9e/1685647341587-BHUHLDYRMK77NE51OL84/WhatsApp%2BImage%2B2023-03-15%2Bat%2B20.56.33+%281%29.jpg)
Retreat
Last week I was sent an invitation to a retreat. it was called “7 day ‘Create Your Life’ Self-Development Retreat” and it promised it would also be life-changing.