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Halo Quin

~ Author, storyteller, witch

Tag Archives: choice

Limitations of Flesh

27 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by Haloquin in Dancing, Magic

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

challenge, choice, Commitment, dance, Determination, disability, gratitude, growth, hope, Imperfection, injury, Journey, learning, life, Living Life, Magic, moment, musings, paganism, process, spirits, Strangeness of Life

My knees are burning. My back is cramping. Tears stream down my cheeks in frustration. All I want to do is dance again. To move. To feel alive.

Wall of blank.

Exhaustion rises up, fog descends.

My mantra: I am lucky. This is temporary. This too shall pass.

I don’t believe it.

My body tells me that all there is is Now. Now is all. It might be correct.

I curl up on the floor. Empty.

I catch my breath. Numb.

Noticing, with strange detachment, that the world has become distant. That I’ve been a quiet automaton for hours, days… perhaps longer.

I breathe myself back into my body. Back into my feet. Back into the burning, aching flesh.

At least I feel alive.

I notice. Even restrained, even with the limits of movement, even with the fog and frustration, Here and Now, if I can keep my self in my belly, in my feet, in my hands, in my flesh… I can breathe and expand. The deeper into the flesh I go, the deeper into the magic. The deeper into the world I sink, the more I can expand, the more I am aware of. Oh it hurts, yes, but with each breath is life. With each prickly of goosebumps the wild spirits brush my skin with fingertips, tentacles, lips dripping in nectar.

The more present I am, the more present I am with Them. The gods stand behind me, the ancestors whisper in my ear, the spirits draw near. I can feel my edges, raise my shields, let down my hair, call out the cry of a Witch in the night.

The deeper into my body I can stay, when all my instincts are to flee, to float into painless disconnection, the closer the magic is.

Her and Now. Here and Now at the crossroads of every moment. Here and Now is where the web of Wyrd is woven, where the Power lies.

 

I am lucky, this too shall pass, this too shall return to the Fertile Darkness from whence it came, I am lucky, there are lessons here, if I can just stop running, just be Here and Now.

And in the stillness, I dance.

What happens when you’re honest?

29 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by Haloquin in Following Delight, Magic, Reflections

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Beginnings, choice, Commitment, creativity, Determination, gratitude, Heart, Honesty, Living Life, Magic, process, Strangeness of Life

Open your ears and listen. Take a breath and leap. Be vulnerable and open... and the world will respond in kind. This is magic.

The world fills with beauty.

I wrote a post last week about taking a risk and being open about myself in a situation where I’d normally have translated my language and edited things to hide those parts of my life which I fear rejection for…

This past fortnight I have practised not hiding those parts anymore…

I sang long and loud and in front of people, even when I messed it up…

I shared my dreams of pursuing a magic-based business… and openly claimed the title ‘Enchantress’ in front of ‘normal people’…

I spoke my truth, and got excited about the things I love…

And it worked.

No one reacted with derision. People asked questions, shared stories, made connections.

And I got even more excited and finally found some clarity on how to bring my passions together.

Magic happens when you’re honest, when you take a risk and open up…

What are you hiding from the world because you’re scared? What would happen if you shared it with the people around you?

What magic happens in the vulnerability of honesty?

 

Being a Creative Philosopher in an Analytic World.

26 Thursday May 2011

Posted by Haloquin in All Posts, Creative Process, Following Delight, Philosophy, Reflections

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

choice, creativity, Determination, gratitude, Heart, Honesty, Imperfection, inspirations, Intent, learning, Living Life, musings, Philosophy, Strangeness of Life

Emerging

Many things make up who we are - what do you share and what do you keep precious from the world? When do you ignore the 'sensible' and leap into what you love?

How often have I tried to hide?

I know it would be safer to keep my head down, to keep my lunacy separate from the rational academia in which I’m slowly-slowly carving a place for myself, and yet I also know that to hide is to deny myself.

So I shut my eyes and I leap.

I see a scary thing ahead, and I take a deep breath and tell my Sensible Self to close her eyes… and then the moon-kissed heart of me steps off the cliff and trusts the wind to carry her.

It’s never dropped me yet.

I know as well as you do the risks of being seen as crazy – it’s a not-so-secret fear of mine, you know? – if they see me and dismiss me I’ll be left out in the cold. If they think I’m crazy they’ll turn me away… I’ll lose friends and opportunities and it’ll all be for nothing.

So says my Sensible Self. She has good reason to believe these things, and yet I know that even if the worst happens, the Wind will not drop me. At least, he will not drop me far!

I’ve friends who have seen me star-struck and moon-kissed and standing on edges. I’ve friends who’ve stood beside me as I’ve opened doors and boxes which Sensible Me says would be better left closed. In leaping I’ve found people who encourage me to fly, even in the most unexpected places.

Those who shake their heads and sigh do not need to know my heart, but as long as I follow it, the Wind will carry me when the ground falls out beneath my feet. Those that know what flying means will soar with me, even if they ride another breeze.

And only those that understand dreams of flight are worth sharing my secrets with. Only those who already share a spark will understand what I say.

And so I come full circle.

No longer do I hide, but neither do I need to tell everyone I meet my deepest, brightest secrets. That those lights guide me is no reason to announce it to the world.

My dreams, my passions, my obsessions filter into my academic work, and you’d be amazed at how often people ignore the bits they do not understand. It’s not easy to have a touch of the irrational in a world of rationality, but they feed each other and both grow stronger from it.

I am me. Every day I learn to be more me, I am always becoming, and I do not hide…

But I do keep secrets.

***

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Pearl Pentacle – Wisdom

11 Monday Apr 2011

Posted by Haloquin in All Posts, Magic, Pentacles

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Art Craft and Beauty, challenge, choice, Devotional, Heart, inspirations, Iron Pentacle, Journey, Living Life, Magic, musings, Pearl Pentacle, Suggestions, Tools

Pearl Pentacle - Wisdom

Wisdom

When we are free, what will we do?

When we stand in our passion, what will we choose?

With all the choices of the world before us, to what do we say yes, and no?

 

 

A deep understanding of the flow of our feelings, our passions, our emotions and our loves, leads us to something precious… Wisdom.

 

There is a time for yes, and a time for no.

A time to dance, and a time to sleep.

A time to reach out, and a time to curl up small.

 

These moments, these choices, are not dictated by the outside world or by our intellect; they are the choices of our hearts.

 

Are you living the life that feels right to you?

Are you making the choices that are true to your heart as well as your thoughts and words?

Are you saying yes when you choose to, and no when you need to?

What would life look like if the answer to these questions was ‘Yes!’?

 

I am passionate about many things, things that feed my heart and soul, things that flash a grin upon my face and draw me out to dance in the sunshine with joy. And sometimes I say no to them, through fear, or the life I’ve crafted which isn’t quite right, or some other choice I make that isn’t in tune with my heart but makes sense elsewise… but when I say yes, my world is set alight, my heart blazes and I fly.

 

What makes you fly?

What do you need to do to craft your life into something that allows you the space you need to light up your world?

When do you need to say yes, and when, no?

 

This is the sixth post of seven on the Pearl Pentacle, part of my Pentacles series, which started with the Iron Pentacle. I’ll be posting on the points of the Pearl Pentacle for the next few Magical Mondays.

Pearl Pentacle – Knowledge

28 Monday Mar 2011

Posted by Haloquin in All Posts, Magic, Pentacles, Reflections

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Art Craft and Beauty, choice, Commitment, Heart, Honesty, Imperfection, inspirations, Intent, Iron Pentacle, Journalling, Journey, learning, Living Life, Magic, musings, Philosophy, Suggestions, Tools

Knowing

Knowing

What do I know?

What are my skills?

What have I learned in my time incarnated?

 

We all know something so well we forget others may not understand it.

We all have skills we have learnt to help us survive.

When we begin to know ourselves, we begin to know what we know… Who we are includes our skills and knowledge, and who we are is expressed through that which we have invested much energy learning about. We are, in the world, what we do; our actions are a true reflection of what and who we are… Even when we wish we were different.

 

What do you know?

How do you express that knowledge?

When you act from what you know you express that part of yourself in the world. Only you can share that knowledge, those skills, that understanding in that way.

Know what you know, and know how you express your knowledge, and you will know who you are… And, perhaps, what you need to change in your expression in order to become the best you that you can be.

 

Know your self.

 

Know your skills.

 

Know your role in your world…

Pearl Pentacle – Law

14 Monday Mar 2011

Posted by Haloquin in All Posts, Magic, Pentacles, Reflections

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Balance, choice, Flow, Iron Pentacle, Law, Magic, musings, Pearl Pentacle, Pentacles, Pride, process, Tools

Pearl - Law
Balance and Flow
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference.
~ Reinhold Niebuhr*

 

The law of the land, natural law, rhythms, cause and effect.

When you know your place, your role in the world, you know your place in the flow of things…

Continue reading →

Feyhearted – Pixie Kiss #12 – Gratitude and intention

18 Friday Feb 2011

Posted by Haloquin in All Posts, Faery

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

choice, Faery, Feyhearted path, gratitude, Heart, Intent, Living Life, Magic, Suggestions

This is the twelth post in a series of suggestions for re-enchanting your life, one pixie kiss at a time. The introduction is here, and you can watch the path unfold here.

 

To live an enchanted life, we must choose to be enchanted, and we can choose to be enchanted by the positive parts of life.

Continue reading →

Iron Pentacle – Passion

16 Wednesday Feb 2011

Posted by Haloquin in All Posts, Magic, Pentacles

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

choice, Heart, Honesty, inspirations, Iron Pentacle, Living Life, Magic, Passion, process, Strangeness of Life, Suggestions, Tools

Finally, on the Iron Pentacle, we come to the point of Passion…

What has happened to our world that means expressing how you feel is seen as weak?

What has happened to our world that means we settle for years of a life we are less than passionate about?

What has happened to our world that means we hide our passions from others and ourselves?

Passion is simultaneously seen as good and evil, due to its perceived chaotic nature. Crimes of passion are thought to happen when someone’s passion is out of control. Passions are thought to drive us, to ride us, to wear us out and make life unpredictable… it is safer to be boring and in control than to take a risk and follow our heart.

Passion, like each of the other points, includes more than one perspective. The point of Passion includes our passions / emotions, and what we are passionate about. Drive and direction.

Our emotions guide us through life, disclosing how we feel about choices, about situations, about people, and helping us to know what choices would feed us, which would drain us, and which we can let go of. Knowing how you really feel about any part of life allows you to make an informed choice based on how it will affect you and your happiness, as well as what you know and can rationalise about the situation.

Your feelings, those passions that live deep within your self, reflect who you are. Owning them as part of yourself, accepting them and expressing them in healthy ways makes it possible for you to be yourself with all parts of yourself on board. Denying what you feel, or constantly burying those emotions leaves you conflicted and acting in contradiction to what makes you happy, without knowing why.

And your passions, your emotions, show you what you are passionate about. Those things you would choose to do if there were no barriers, or that you long for, that inspire you and make you happy.

If you know, accept and express your emotions in healthy ways then you can follow your emotions to find that which feeds you, that which you are passionate about! Following your passion and acting on your passions lifts your mood, gives you strength and makes the world a better place. As you follow your heart you find the world shifting to make space for more of what feeds you, as you act on your passions you become more passionate!

We have a finite amount of time on this planet, in this life, doesn’t it make more sense to risk being happy than die only knowing tedium? Not to mention the health risks associated with bottling up emotion until it explodes or eats us from the inside!

What are you passionate about? What activity makes you smile all the way through from bones to sky? What do you do that you finish feeling happier than when you began?

Listen to your emotions, what are they telling you?

What is your Passion? What makes your heart sing?

Can you make some time for that this week, can you give yourself this as a gift? This thing that truly makes you feel good, that feeds and strengthens you, that you love?

Can you make time to be positively passionate today?

Iron pentacle – Power

15 Tuesday Feb 2011

Posted by Haloquin in All Posts, Magic, Pentacles

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

choice, Heart, Iron Pentacle, Living Life, Magic, Suggestions, Tools

In this series of posts on the Iron Pentacle I have written about Sex, Pride and Self, and now we cross from Self into the point of Power, the right hand point. When laid on the body the path from Self to Power flows through our heart… which tells you something interesting about Power, does it not?

How often have you felt powerless?

How often have you felt that you are at the mercy of life?

Its true that the world is beyond our control, that others act in ways we do not like and cannot defend against, and we simply cannot do all that we would choose to.We are not omnipotent beings.

And how often have you had someone hold their position of power over you? A boss, a parent, a teacher, an acquaintance? Someone who has deliberately denied you the option to act, who has blocked your path simply because they can?

Power is tricky… since we all have the potential to be Powerful people. Not holding power over others, not using force against the world, but having the internal strength to make choices at each turn in lifes path according to our own Will. Willpower.

How often have you chosen to stand up for yourself? To make your own choices? To act, in whatever way is open to you at that moment, to follow your heart’s desire?

How often have you felt: ‘I can do this!’ ?

Power-from-within is something we can hold or give away. It is not something we take from others, not an imposition of our will by force or manipulation. Power comes from that state of being centered in oneself, while knowing oneself, understanding your place in the world and your own value, and knowing what you need. Power is the ability to say yes and no when it is needful for you, not because you feel you should say one or the other.

And Power is also the ability to say yes, or no, when you know you should, because you choose to at that moment.

You can choose to do what you ‘should’, or choose to do what you ‘shouldn’t’, either way Power comes in when it is a choice.

And Power, which comes from the ability to choose how you are going to react to a certain situation, grows when shared with other people.

When you allow and enable others to also choose in alignment with who they are when they are at their most healthy, even when their choices may conflict with yours, and you hold the ability to do so yourself, then power grows. This is shared Power, working together in relationship.

Sometimes, however, this does involve stepping up and acting to change the rules, working to stop actions you disagree with, defending friends and family. You can stand in your own Power and choose to act against others. This is different to holding youself as powerful and them as powerless, which is what happens in cases of ‘power-over’.

Today, right now, take a lesson from a lioness and feel powerful. Imagine it if needs be; feel the power to know and choose your own destiny, whatever the odds. Feel that power in your bones, that power that comes from the heart, that is connected and therefore acts from a place of compassion. If you understand your own value and the value of others you can be both powerful and compassionate. And I’ve seen this reflected in people throughout my life, the most powerful people I know are both effective in their life and extremely compassionate, which means they support others coming into their own power, rather than encouraging them to wallow in any messes they may have in their life.

Today, feel what it would be like to be able to stand in your own power, to make your own choices because you choose them, and to act from a place where other powerful people support you, and you support them.

This state of power, which comes from within, which works with others, is the strongest kind of power there is.

Breathe.

Center yourself.

Feel the earth beneath you, and the sky above.

Choose to be powerful, to live your life like a lioness who is whole within herself and works with others who are also powerful.

Trusting

30 Sunday Jan 2011

Posted by Haloquin in All Posts, Magic

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

choice, Honesty, Imperfection, Journalling, Living Life, Magic, process, Strangeness of Life, Trust

There is no such thing as coincidence.

Everything is connected.

The number of times this past year I’ve been worried about something, and the minute I let go and hand it over to Aumakua, my Godsoul and the Godsoul of the universe, when I hand it over to Spirit, God Herself, the Universe, when I just let it go and trust… and the solution arrives.

When I ask for help, it comes.

When I said: I don’t know how I’ll find a new home in the place that I love, but that is where I want to be… paths opened.

When I said: I don’t know how I can afford to live in Wales again, when there seems to be no work there, but it is what I choose and I trust that it will be ok… the next day a way for it to work arrives.

When I said: I have no idea how I can pay these bills and get through this month without landing in a mess… a cheque for a tax refund from 5 years ago arrived in my hand.

This is part of being a witch. I sit with myself and reach an understanding of who I am and what I Will. I make a choice. I Trust that it will all be ok. I step forward. The Universe steps with me.

And other people are doing the same, creating the world. Sometimes my choices are inc onflict with others. Often my choices are in conflict with what I actually Will because I’m not clear enough. I don’t ask for everything I need because of complexes and beliefs which get in the way. I compromise on what I’m askign for because I’m scared to ask for the big thing I actually want.

And I journal and muse and sit and listen. I breathe and connect and hope.

And I’m learning to trust.

Since I began on this path I’ve had message after message – let go. Trust. Leap.

I’m learning to, little by little.

And trust is rewarded in very practical ways.

I am so grateful. Big love to all those beings out there who guide me gently, who push me firmly, who point me at the cliff and remind me that I have wings to fly with.

 

 

***

For a practical discussion of a clearly laid out method for putting ego to one side, getting clear on what you want, and asking for it in a way that gets results, I’d recommend The One Command by Asara Lovejoy. A friend leant me a copy and reading it illuminated exactly what I’d been doing. This stuff works.

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Meet Halo

Snow Pixie

Welcome to my world!

Halo Quin is an author, a storyteller, and a practicing witch with a lifelong relationship with the spirit realm (faeries, deities, and the primal powers of land, sea, and sky, specifically) who aims to share magic through experience. Halo lives in wild West Wales, right by the roiling sea, and loves to sing, dance, and otherwise enchant through performance. She also runs the local storytelling circle, and an ADHD resource centre, and ultimately encourages self-knowledge, self-acceptance, self-healing, and self-enchantment through everything she does... leading to:

Beauty ~ Magic ~ Delight

Re-enchanting the world, one story, one song, one spell, at a time.

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I'd love to hear from you! Email me at haloquin@gmail.com Or find me on Twitter!www.twitter.com/haloquin

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And for the over 18s… My alter-ego, Ms Quin, writes erotica, kinky poetry, on sacred sexuality and the like. You can explore some of Her writings and poetry readings, and find her sexy book of poetry via links at Twisted Ms Quin.

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