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Halo Quin

~ Author, storyteller, witch

Tag Archives: Dancing in Wales

The end of a chapter

19 Saturday Feb 2022

Posted by Haloquin in Creative Process, Following Delight, Magic, Philosophy, Reflections, Storytelling

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

ADHD, Adventures, Author, Bardic, Celebration, Commitment, Completion, courage, Creation, Dancing in Wales, Diary of an Adventuress, disability, elemental magic, Empowerment, Enchantment, Faery philosoper, Festivals, freedom, goblin circus, goblins, gratitude, learn magic, learn witchcraft, Living Life, Love, online course, Pagan, PhD, Philosophy, Plants, Power, Pride, process, Self Empowerment, steampunk, Stories, Storytelling, Strangeness of Life, The Enchanted Academy, Wheel of the Year, Workshop, writing

And that’s it. This month, on Imbolc eve, I finished my PhD corrections and submitted the final FINAL version. This week I got confirmation that it has been accepted!

I’m officially Dr Halo!

The thesis! Yes, I have a theme… “The power of storytelling to re-enchant the world” fits it quite nicely, don’t you think?

I celebrated with a trip to the bookshop, hot chocolate with friends, dinner for one and a movie… Then cuddles from my fella the following night, of course!

I started by letting my brain decompress and dealing with those bits of life that now need dealing with, like clearing out some old books to make space for the new ones! And contemplating where I go from here… With a foxy companion for Imbolc reminding me that spring is emerging from the dark, just like me. 🥰

If you’re on my mailing list you’ll know that I’ve got a whole bunch of monthly discussion based classes that I’m offering through Patreon, or which you can sign up for individually if you’d rather, starting with an online elements of magic workshop next month, on 16th March at 7pm GMT. (And in April I’ll be kicking off a ten week course working with them too…)

Find out more here
Uncover your inner witch - magical workshops in 2023 with Halo Quin - background image of lit candle on a beach at night.

And the Goblin Masquerade is coming together! Last autumn I was chatting with fellow changeling poet Kate Garrett, and somehow got the inspiration to host a goblin market followed by a Masked fairy ball this spring. Everything is coming together and we have music, talks, dancing, and even the steampunk debut of an Ominous Folk of Hopeless Maine show. It’s going to be a lovely day of community and play, and I’m considering it my party for escaping studenthood with a Doctorate at last!

Flier for the Goblin Masquerade in Borth, Ceredigion, Wales, 12th March, from 1pm. Free afternoon market, evening ball £6. Click for more details.

I’ve also been researching ADHD and neurodivergences… There’s so little support for adults with ADHD and we can do amazing things with the right help! So I’m writing occasional thoughts on that over here… On the newsletter “Living with Squirrels” not sure where it’ll go but you’re welcome to sign up if you like.

Living with Squirrels

So I guess I do know where I’m going next… To play with the goblins and re-enchant the world!


PS: If you want to get workshops, extra posts, advance access to material, and more things as and when the goblins inspire me… And support my adventures so I can keep building the academy into something sustainable you can sign up to my Patreon here:

Patreonise me! 😉

On Earth, and a Free Class

23 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by Haloquin in elemental magic, Magic, Witchcraft 101

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Belly dance, Breathing, Community, Craft, Dancing in Wales, Devotion, Druidry, earth, elemental magic, elements, Empowerment, Energy, fire, Fire Magic, Herbalism, learn magic, learn witchcraft, Magic, Meditation, neo-paganism, Neopagan, occultism, online course, Pagan, pagan workshop, paganism, Reclaiming, Ritual, Self Empowerment, Spell, Spellwork, Spirit work, Witch, witchcraft

I’ve been working a lot with Earth this past winter, getting into my body, experimenting with herbal medicine, grounding the magic. Focusing on the practical, manifest steps of the day by day, and the sensual nature of living as an embodied creature of the earth.

Physically embodying divine aspects of myself as Priestess.

Growing up I spent a long time in the realm of air, escaping into imaginary landscapes and worlds woven of words. I even studied philosophy, a subject known for residing firmly in the domain of the mind. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love words and the space in which air manifests, but coming back down to earth has its own pleasure and gifts… And I struggled with it!

Dance helped me with enjoying being in my body a lot, but working with the element of earth has been key to really getting into a healthy relationship with the physical realm. Each time I return to this work, I feel more at home in my body and in the land, and my material life improves. (Yes, by this I mean money, home, and physical health!)

Literally feeding your body is earth work…

I’m looking forward to starting the elemental magic course on 10th March, and I thought it’d be nice to share some pointerd with you lovelies before that kicks off, so 7:30pm (GMT/UTC) next Wednesday, 3rd March 2021, I’ll be hopping onto discord and hosting an introductory chat on the elements of magic and my relationship with them, including a guided meditation for you to tune into them and hints for getting started with them (or revitalising your practice!) Sign up to my mailing list for the invite!

Sign up to my email list below to get the invite to join the conversation. You’ll get access to a forum for chatting with other like minded souls too. And there are still spaces on my Elemental Magic course starting Wednesday 10th March if you’d like to join us for 10 weeks packed with practical magic!

Elemental Magic course includes weekly materials, Fortnightly chats, group support, theory & practice.
Sign up to my mailing list here!

Put on Your Dancing Shoes – or take them off, it’s less slippery!

19 Sunday Oct 2014

Posted by Haloquin in Dancing, Following Delight, Reflections

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

ATS, beauty, Belly dance, challenge, Commitment, Dancing, Dancing in Wales, Devotion, FatChanceBellyDance, gratitude, Journey, Living Life, Strangeness of Life, Tribal Unity

I’d like to share something I’m very excited about right now and the story of how I’ve found myself shimmying round my day-job-shop when customers aren’t looking!

I’ve always known that I wanted to dance, but could never find the right style.

As a child I tried tap dancing, in my teens I attempted a contemporary dance class – which I mostly remember as running from wall to wall, over and over, never quite got where that was going – throughout my life I’ve read Gabrielle Roth’s books over and over. I tried salsa, which I couldn’t get my feet round… In fact, the only thing that worked for me was whilst at uni when I would go out, step onto the dance floor as soon as the doors opened and only leave to down a pint of water before returning to the dance for as long as the music played.

Until now. Last spring I had five weeks of tribal belly dance classes in the Black Sheep style. The teacher, Lyza, became a friend of mine through connecting afterwards to share dancing. At that point I suspected it would be another phase. A subject I would be excited about for a month or two and then would fade into the background. A few core things have stuck with me long-term but many many other passions come and go. I was secretly certain this might be one of those…

But that excitement didn’t go away. I researched the histories of belly dance. I practised what little I’d learnt under my own steam. I kept hoping to return…

And then Wendy launched an ATS(r) class in March and I couldn’t go! It clashed with the teaching course I was on and the seminars I ran. I looked at it every week, waiting for the course to finish so I could join in. In June, finally, I walked through that door and into a new tribe, Tribal Unity Wales.

I dash to class each Tuesday with joy in my heart. No other hobby  has ever had me this excited. Just two months of dancing with Tribal Unity and I managed a fortnight camping and trekking round Amsterdam, bookended by two 16 hour coach journeys, without back pain. (It was our honeymoon, and yes, it was fab!)

And it has so many layers! There is crafting and aesthetics for costuming, researching history, learning new steps, the challenge of getting to grips with them, constant opportunities for improvement, performance, the endorphins of exercise, music, self-expression, the flow of energy, stories, community and friendship, shows to watch, events to explore, cultures to investigate… and there are many different styles to learn about (and perhaps learn one day).

With so much to play with it is no wonder I’ve found myself thinking about it almost constantly!

This Friday we performed at Lampeter’s World Dance festival. I made so many mistakes, almost fell over with soft shoes on a slippery floor, missed cues, got confused… and yet could not stop grinning. I loved it. Dancing with these lovely ladies, sharing something that has brought me so much delight and returned my strength, and challenging myself to improve all combined to fill me with delight. Tribal style belly dance has utterly enchanted me and I feel like I’ve come home.

Friday’s performance, my first time dancing in public:

The moral of this story? Keep looking, keep trying, keep putting that desire out there even when you don’t know exactly what it is you want. Eventually the Universe will bring you to precisely where you need to be. And even if you make mistakes and feel like it is all going wrong, it is still beautiful and the world doesn’t end! It is preparing you for what is to come next…

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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

Recent Posts

  • OUT NOW! Crimson Craft – sexual magic for the solo witch
  • Happy 2023! (and where I was in 2022)
  • The end of a chapter
  • Book Review: Sekhmet
  • Book Review: Intuitive Magical Practice
  • Book Review: The Bird Atlas
  • An Ode to Books
  • Still a Witch
  • NEW HOME FOR TEA!
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NSFW – Twisted

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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