Tonight I sang an hour of original songs for the Festival of the Living Rooms, an online filk festival with a lovely community which I first performed at last December. I sang about cryptids, mermaids, the lost Welsh lands, hubris, curiosity, and community.
My heart is happy.
Ten year old Halo would be so proud of us. I’m so proud of me, especially after being bullied out of singing in m teens. It’s taken me a long time to get to this point, and I’m so very grateful that I have.
The filk community have a culture of sharing music to spread the love, so for those that were there and would like to sing the songs I shared, here’s the songbook:
Each song I write is intended as both an exploration of a story, myth, or theme, and an enchantment for healing and inspiring. With many of the songs I share in these spaces, my aim is to delight, because we need more of that in the world. So, in the spirit of play, let me know about your favourite cryptids! Write a verse or share a story and I’ll weave a verse for you…
Live Babalon Circle – Visions of Babalon –Our monthly magical working to connect with Babalon – Monday 17th November, 8pm (UK) – online – replay included
Upcoming appearances include: Ancestral Pathways Conference (online, 31st Oct), Earth Sea & Sky Conference (Cardiff, 1st Nov), music at the Festival of the Living Rooms (online, Dec), Glastonbury Occult Conference (Glastonbury, 14th Feb)…
Yesterday I finally did something I’ve been working up to for years. Literally years.
I sang my first solo concert.
Not just a song as part of a show or a choir.
Not just one or two pieces round a fire.
Not snuck in apologetically alongside a story.
An entire, hour long concert of my own original songs.
And it was AMAZING!!!
I had so much fun.
The Filk community (folk-ish written by and about fandoms, such as Doctor Who, Star Trek, Firefly, D&D…) at the Festival of the Living Rooms – a quarterly online festival organised and hosted by Blind Lemming Chiffon – are such a supportive bunch!
You know when you find people willing to just be people together? Imperfections and all? This is such a gift. Giving space for technological hiccups and the foibles of humanity allows each of us to just turn up as we are, to give from the heart, and to receive in kind.
It let’s us be human together.
It is so easy to forget, when most of the music we hear is polished by professionals, that singing, like storytelling, is a natural human expression open to all of us.
My heart is warmed and softened by being allowed to just share, imperfectly, joyously, in community.
And I got to sing! So happy!!!
Songs of magic and myth and silliness and love and heartache and becoming, choosing, yourself.
Thank you, Filker-folk, thank you.
Some of your asked for the lyrics. I’m delighted to share them with you here:
And for those of you who didn’t make it, I recorded my dress rehearsal for my Patreon patrons… you’re welcome to join them here at any tier to watch it. I mostly talk about magic, share meditations and musings, and storytelling… but more and more music is creeping in 🙂
It’s been a month of magic here, in the darkest coldest part of the winter I’ve been lucky to be conjuring love and light and warmth. Last night was my online book launch for “Crimson Craft – Sexual Magic for the solo witch” and it was an honour to share some magic with those that came (even with the tech trouble!)
Then this evening was spent hosting the local moot’s cocreated ritual, celebrating the growing light of love and inspiration. Brigid made an appearance, we sang together, and there was light, of course.
Imbolc is the festival where we mark the emergence of new life, from lambs to snowdrops to baby songs to tiny humans to the rising hope that we’ve made it through the winter, into the world.
This month is also FAWM – February Album Writing Month – a challenge to write 14 songs in 28 days. I love that it starts on Brigid’s day, the festival of Santes Ffraid (in Welsh), saint/Goddess/midwife of creating, healing, and, importantly, inspiration.
I’ve been secretly writing songs and been mostly too shy to share for years, and now I’m ready to change that. This past year, I’ve been practicing making the songs… But haven’t felt ready to show them to many people. I finally realised that truth, which is so often the case: we rarely feel ready. There is always something else to tweak, to edit, to perfect. And so, in the supportive space of FAWM this month, I’m aiming for 7 sharable songs as the light blossoms brighter.
I asked for Brigid’s blessing on this Imbolc night to overcome the perfectionism that holds me back from sharing the joy that arises when I make music, however unpolished it is…
And as declarations have their own kind of magic, let me be clear on my intention: Over the next month I’ll be sharing a little about my musical journey, the lessons it’s teaching me on magic, and, of course, some of my music.
This month I’m hosting a free Full Moon/ Imbolc ritual online for members of the Crimson Coven Collective, on Sunday 5th February ’23, at 7pm GMT. Join the Crimson Coven here to get access!
And I’m offering a new workshop rooted in the magic of the Crimson Craft on “Courting Divine Love” on 15th February ’23. In this workshop you’ll be guided by the gods in connecting to Divine Love, uncovering both self-love and self-trust within yourself, and laying the foundation to manifest the magical life your heart desires.
(Scroll down for – A recap of 2022 – Some tips for navigating real-life plot-twists with the Witches Pyramid – and a glimpse of what’s coming in 2023)
“Oh gods, now this? Really?” ~ This pic is from about a decade ago when I played Miranda in the Tempest with the Longwood Players and, well, isn’t that play as full of surprises as life!
Ok, ok, so we’re 3 weeks into 2023, but we’ve just had the New Moon, kicking off the Lunar New Year (of the Rabbit!) and Imbolc is just around the corner with the new shoots of Spring.
Well, in case you’re not following me on social media, or have missed my emails on my mailing list, here’s the short version of the subsequent events of 2022:
Goblin Masquerade! Great success!
I had a couple of weeks off adventuring in Glastonbury with my coven, and then at an Aurora gig.
And then I ended up in hospital for a night in so much pain I couldn’t walk. Still not sure why.
Recovery. And more recovery. And very, very very slow walking. (I’m much better now, btw.)
I did mentoring for the NDSA (NeuroDivergent Self-Advocacy forum) and studied for my Life Coaching Certificate.
Aaand I learned songwriting and music production. I’ll be sharing more about that very, very soon…
As much as the world was opening up in 2022, I was back in hermit mode, adjusting, healing, rebuilding my foundations. As autumn went on and I got stronger I returned to teaching cycle 3 of Star Club (multi-disciplinary training for Magicians), opened a little space in the local market – The Rabbit Hole – and an online space, The Crimson Coven Collective. All with lots of rest-time factored in.
Adjusting Course with the Witches Compass
It’s not unusual to have to adjust course, for something unexpected to happen (plot twists abound!) and we can look for the story of “why”, or we can focus on the “next right thing” as the trolls advised in Frozen 2.* While this certainly felt like a stumbling block, I didn’t feel like I’d been thrown entirely off course, which is always a risk if you’ve got a dream.
Instead, I came back to my heart, my compass, my guiding star.
I definitely spent a bit of time wondering how the hell I was going to travel if I could barely walk, when one of my big dreams has always been adventuring and exploring the world, but I didn’t wallow in this too much. Instead I asked myself the questions that guide much of my life.
What do I dream of? How do I want to feel, today?
What can I choose, at this point in time, that feels like a step towards my dreams?
How can I take that next step?
Rather than relying on a set plan for the journey ahead, I follow my compass, my heart. Asking in each moment how I can make this now closer to what I most long to feel. Perhaps the next step isn’t the last one needed but allowing myself to be guided each day in what brings more joy now means I’m enjoying every part of my life as much as I can.
I invite you to try it. When life gives you a plot twist, look for how you can feel more like you choose to feel in this moment. Ask yourself what the next step towards your dreams is from here. Ask yourself what tiny change you have control over that will support you in your adventure-called-life and help you feel more joy today.
Not everything is fun and games – ouch, seriously – but when we carry our compass with us we can always point ourselves towards our True North, our dreams. Let your heart guide you.
The witches pyramid is a useful model to help with this, and is sometimes called the “witches compass” because it is a guide to the steps of our magic.
To Know, To Will, To Dare, To Keep Silent.
~ The Witches Pyramid
And that’s what we do when we find our path disrupted. We ask questions of ourselves so we KNOW what we dream of, and the feeling we desire that we think the dream will bring. What we long to feel. And then, we set our WILL toward it. We choose to orientate ourselves towards our chosen feelings and our dreams. And then we DARE to take that leap. The final step, of KEEPing SILENT, means we don’t reveal things before it is time. Often our dreams are tender things and there is a lot of pessimism that can encourage doubt before we take the steps we need, so they need the nurturing dark of the soil, the silence of the night’s sky, to hold them safely while we carry them into the world.
(*I finally watched this and I loved all the elemental stuff, the animistic environmentalism, the magic, there’s some fun music… it’s far from perfect but there is a lot I liked.)
What’s Next?
Well, firstly, you can join The Crimson Coven Collective where we’re exploring how to embody our magic more fully! There are journaling and creativity prompts, and online circles, and I’m active there every week.
From the group description:
“The Crimson Coven Collective is for magical, creative, and ritual exploration of embodied, sensual magic.
Do you want your life to be magical, filled with playful, pleasurable, practice?
Do you want to be curious, to get creative with your magic, to explore what feels good and learn how to feel what’s right for you?
We aspire to be…
* Open hearted explorers of wyrd, enchanted, possibilities.
* Creatives conjuring beauty and desire.
* Divine beings embodying sensual spirit.
* Witches delving into the darkness and light of magic.
Online Ritual: Full Moon/Imbolc ritual with healing meditation and feasting afterwards. Sunday 5th February ’23, 7pm GMT (Join the collective to attend!)
Halo Quin 