'You are the Tree of Life - the pole between earth & cosmos - the axis mundi.'

A line from 'Rooting in with Asherah and Becoming the Tree of Life', my featured submission in the recently published new Girl God Books anthology Asherah: roots of the mother tree, which is available to purchase now @girlgodbooks & online stores.

More about the anthology ....

In these starless and shifting times, the relationship binding woman to tree lies between dream and memory. We have forgotten so much. Retreating within to unearth buried stories, rooted in nourishment, is a divine act.

Contributors to this anthology have shared their vision, creativity and surreal imaginings, all glorious and beautiful, whether written, chanted or drawn.

Asherah's story exposes exploitation, including sexual and environmental. She is calling upon those of us who weep, when trees are cut down, to rekindle our allegiance to Mother Earth.

Behind us is darkness. Ahead, if we take the right path, a new age of possibilities: pristine, joyful, peaceful, restorative.

#educateevolveembody #bodymindspirit
  

The hardest boundaries I've had to learn & set are with myself.

The ongoing internal #bodymind negotiation of not allowing my mind (it's pushy programming, rationalism & logical analysis but also its visionary, philosophical, connection-making brilliance) to dominate & override my highly sensitive, deeply feeling, vulnerable body (& it's instinctive & intuitive knowing).

Who oversees the negotiation? Wise self; essence; spirit; soul ..

#knowthyself #mindbodyspirit

​Part of setting boundaries for me has been getting clear on my values & practising energy discernment, learning what drains & what rejuvenates my bodymind & spirit.

In knowing these I can decide what I am and am not available for.

Examples 👇

Yes ✅ harmonising connections; creativity; hope-filled solution visioning; embodied ways of knowing, expressing & exploring ideas; conscious communities/individuals & interactions; depth; the language of the body & nervous system including feeling, sensation & emotion; meeting spiritual needs; holism; reciprocity, relationality & interdependence; aliveness & open heartedness

No ❌ combativeness; high-arousal, critical & conflict-driven interactions; exclusively analytical, logical & mind-dominant ideation & exploration; positioning mind ways of knowing as supreme; communities/individuals who lack awareness & a willingness to reflect & evolve; superficiality; the language of pathology; fundamentalist scientism; separation; individualism & extractivism; deadness & disembodied rationality

I also ask myself two questions in order to discern my response to a request, or a boundary regarding an action, person, community.

They are 👇

Is it aligned with & manageable for my ''I feel therefore I am' bodymind diversity?

Will it enable me to continue to fully 'feel' my life & to support others, who want to, to do the same?

#ifeelthereforeiam #bodyminddiversity

 

This was a really fantastic event - and I’m so grateful for the York St John University academics leading this challenge and disruption in academia.

Witches have occupied the academic imagination across disciplines and have in recent years become a rebellious feminist trope. From medieval trials to modern feminist reclamations, from folklore to popular media, witches embody resistance, transformation, and power. Whilst there is lively debate about the meaning and extent of the European and American witch trials and a burgeoning cultural milieu in which the trope of the witch is explored, there is also a growing interest in the practice of witchcraft as an individualised spirituality. 
​
This free interdisciplinary conference explored the figure of the witch in all its historical, literary, sociocultural, political, and spiritual dimensions.

Session 1: Gender & Resistance: The Struggle & Subversion of The Witch.

I was the first speaker in this session of the conference - challenging and disrupting - delivering a presentation entitled, Gender, Power, and Witchcraft: Women's ‘Spelling’ Lived Experience Storytelling.

My presentation …

Explored the motivations behind the four Girl God Books anthologies, which offer diverse perspectives on trauma, initiation, neurodiversity, and pain, reclaiming the feminine through storytelling and creative expression

Highlighted the power of ‘spelling’ - storytelling in reclaiming feminine wisdom, challenging patriarchal structures, and fostering spiritual healing

Centred embodied lived experiences - the writing, poetry, and art from a global network of women – to examine the intersection of witchcraft, Goddess spirituality, gender and power

"The pain stops me in my tracks.

What I have observed is that the onset of pain happens when I am too much ‘in my head’, serving others without reciprocation and/or neglecting my pleasure.

So, from that viewpoint, the pain is an ally, showing me that I am imbalanced, fractured from embodiment.

Our collective spiritual and physical immune system is reacting and saying NO.

Pain is a political and revolutionary statement from the body. A clear message that society, paradigms, culture and systems need to change."

Let's not get distracted or bypass this.
​
I ended my Gender, Power, and Witchcraft: Women's ‘Spelling’ Lived Experience Storytelling presentation at the superb Interdisciplinary Witch Conference @yorkstjohn with my words from the @girlgodbooks Pain Perspectives: Finding Meaning in the Fire anthology I co-edited (& one of four anthologies I spoke about) 

The Interdisciplinary Witch Conference: Culture, History and Society
York St John University @yorkstjohn Friday, 20 June

Super excited to be delivering a presentation, Gender, Power, and Witchcraft: Women's ‘Spelling’ Lived Experience Storytelling, discussing the four @girlgodbooks anthologies I co-edited, at this progressive & exciting event

Interested? Details & how to book a ticket below 👇

Witches have occupied the academic imagination across disciplines and have in recent years become a rebellious feminist trope. From medieval trials to modern feminist reclamations, from folklore to popular media, witches embody resistance, transformation, and power. Whilst there is lively debate about the meaning and extent of the European and American witch trials and a burgeoning cultural milieu in which the trope of the witch is explored, there is also a growing interest in the practice of witchcraft as an individualised spirituality. This free interdisciplinary conference will explore the figure of the witch in all its historical, literary, sociocultural, political, and spiritual dimensions

#educateevolveembody #embodiment #spirituality #depathologise #rehumanise #interdisciplinary #witch #storytelling #livedexperience

The alternative.

Reflecting on this month's series of posts addressing the intersection of consciousness, psi & psychic abilities, ESP, neurodivergence, trauma, nervous & sensory systems (yep it was lot ...scroll back through my feed), I've been considering what an alternative support, health & education service would look like.

The alternative to the mind/logic dominant, top-down, medicalised, pathologising, dehumanising, paradigm we have been operating & living within.

From my lived personal & professional experience, the alternative would include:

Earlier appreciation & understanding sensory (&extra sensory) processing & perception differences

Acceptance, validation, role modelling & mentorship around how to live well regardless of bodymind human diversity &difference 

To be neither labelled superhuman & gifted nor medicalised & pathologised 

To be taught from preschool through to university:

physical, sensory, social, energetic & psychic boundaries (& have them respected)

how our nervous systems work & how to support regulation

how to safely release survival energies & stress

how to ground - energetic & psychic hygiene

how I can contribute to society & where our skills would be valued

conflict management & resolution skills

To receive a holistic education that integrates mind, body, energy, & spirit—encompassing a variety of worldviews and accommodating different ways of knowing—from externally regulated, trained teachers who have both academically studied this modalities & possess lived experience mastery.

Rehumanising spaces across society - making places humane, hospitable, humanitarian, low-arousal, sensory-friendly

Integrating relational & regulatory principles into workplaces, along with the values of connection, belonging, creativity, flexible working arrangements, role carving, & strengths-based recruitment.

This would be a start.
​
#educateevolveembody #embodiment #spirituality #depathologise #rehumanise

The intersection of #neurodivergence #nervoussystem #regulation, and #psychic abilities is complex from my lived experience.

As someone who is multiple neurodivergent, I experience hyperempathy and mirror-touch synesthesia—terms that the current systems and services are able to recognise.

 But for me, these experiences are also part of my psychic abilities, such as clairsentience (feeling others' emotions) and clairtangency (feeling energies).

Living in our society as multiple neurodivergent has made nervous system regulation challenging. My body, mind, and energy haven’t always worked in harmony, and I’ve struggled with dysregulation and trauma, which has been a constant undercurrent due to sensory, social, and information-processing differences.

Because of these challenges, I’ve had to rely on my extrasensory perception and psychic abilities—they weren’t “gifts” but rather survival mechanisms. They were how I could gather information, assess situations, and respond. 

These abilities are just one part of my overall bodymind experience, alongside embodied knowledge (feelings, sensations, emotions), logical/rational thinking, and ways of knowing through the nervous system (interoception and neuroception), as well as consciousness and awareness.

From my perspective, no single way of knowing is superior to another. 

The key is to support the vast diversity of human bodyminds and ensure they are seen, heard, and valued.

To do that, we need to open our minds (hearts & empathy), think holistically, and embrace a range of worldviews and ways of receiving and giving information—because, at the end of the day, that’s what communication is.
​
We need to depathologise and rehumanise.

Do I think I'm special, gifted or 'superhuman' in experiencing clairvoyance, claircognisance, clairsentience & clairtangency? NO!

Do I think that I have clear & direct access to these (very human) psychic abilities because I'm multiple neurodivergent? YES!

Do I think they are a pathology? NO!

Do I think that humans have a diverse range of bodymind experiences, abilities, skilled, senses across neurotype & life circumstances? YES!

Do I think they need 'treatment' or 'curing'? NO!

Do I think that trauma can 'activate' people's psychic abilities? YES!

Do I think they are a medical or psychiatric 'problem'? NO!

I could go on ...

Yes, psychic emergence can cause a huge amount of distress & destabilisation but these abilities are not inherently a problem or pathology.

It's societal attitudes & a lack of support that is the problem.

And the spiritual 'industry' - that's a BIG problem (for another post!) But unfortunately that's the only place people can go outside of religion and psychiatry at the moment - also the problem.

So, what to do?

Depathologise and rehumanise. Educate the person about what is happening. Help them make sense of the experiences & find meaning. Deescalate & normalise. Support regulation & embodied, felt-sense safety. Resolve trauma & educate about the nervous system. Ground & stabilise. Teach the person boundaries in relation to these abilities. Support mastery.

Bridge, anchor & root these abilities & skills into the mundane.

Encourage people & workplaces to integrate these abilities into their daily lives in practical, innovative ways - to support societal change & systems evolution.

Education, health, mental health, spiritual & community care services - DO ALL OF THIS 👆

#educateevolveembody #embodiment #spirituality #depathologise #rehumanise

It’s already considered taboo that I advocate for accepting, validating, and integrating embodied ways of knowing—the intelligence of the body, and the wisdom carried in our sensations and emotions—into education, healthcare, mental health, and spiritual care.

So let’s see what happens now that I’m openly speaking about the need to depathologise & rehumanise, validate & support, #psionic (#psi) abilities, #psychic experiences, and #extrasensoryperception (ESP).

As these abilities emerge a spiritual crisis / emergency can unfold. 

Practitioners who support need to have both lived experience expertise & be grounded, regulated, trauma & nervous system informed.

They need to anchor, translate, bridge & integrate.

#educateevolveembody #embodiment #spirituality #depathologise #rehumanise

Depathologising & rehumanising the Clair (clear) senses - our #psychic abilities

Clairsentience: clear feeling - The ability to perceive information from people, places, objects, through emotional, physical or energetic feelings and sensations.

I experience this.

Claircognisance: clear knowing

The ability to know and receive knowledge without logical processing or explanation.

I experience this.

Clairaudience: clear hearing

The ability to hear voices or sounds, words, music in our own mind's voice that are not physically audible.

I don't experience this (thankfully!)

Clairalience: clear smelling

The ability to smell or perceive scents that are not physically present, often with accompanying psychic insight.

I don't experience this (thankfully!)

Clairgustance: clear smelling

The ability to taste things that are not physically present.

I don't experience this (thankfully!)

Clairvoyance: clear sight

The ability to see visions, images, or events beyond the physical realm, involving the past, present or future events.

I experience this (& with appropriate boundaries remote viewing, lucid dreaming, precognition and retrocognition)

Clairtangency: clear touch

Also known as psychometry, this is the ability to receive information by touching an object, building, or living being.

I experience this.