Weaving Words
“We are woven
into the heart of all that is
into the heart of all that is
we are woven.” —song by Meg Yates
May and her abundance song. May and the buzzing rises from every blossom tree. May and her wildflower strewn fields. The opening, the unfurling, the bloom. May and her devotion.
If you are in the southern hemisphere, we find may and her descent towards the inner fire, the inner hearth. A journeying to bone mothers and between the veils ancestral songs.
Either way, we hold the cross-quarters of the year.
I am blessed to work in a Waldorf inspired school in Sedona, where we celebrated our May festival last weekend. We sang the song listed above (it’s so beautiful!) and the children danced ribbons into a beautiful weave —from the youngest to the eldest -there were Morris dances and sword dances, simple weaves and complex weaves.
I’m grateful to know this festival in my bones now, as we gather year after year, to dance round the pole, to weave flowers in our hair, to chase old man Winter away, and welcome in lady Spring. I have witnessed my daughter simmer in these seasonal, quarter and cross quarter holidays since she was a wee babe. She knows the truth of the wheel of the year in her soul and in her marrow.
Being woven together during seasonal celebrations is a blessing for children and adults alike. Coming together in an act of celebration, in a celebration of spring, in a gesture of belonging, in a circle of song is a gift in these times in which we live. We need belonging. We need circles . We need multicolored ribbons in our hair and in our May poles, to remind us of the beauty, goodness and truth that it is to be human.
Being human can look like many different things. I’m grateful to pause on the beauty of the spectrum from time to time -in a world that is being divided -in a world that is in war -in a world that is in post traumatic stress syndrome -in a world that is exiled from soul. Beauty brings us back home. Beauty can be healing and rekindling and in its simplest essence, is a doorway to gratitude and healing.
Throughout history, cultures have celebrated and enacted rituals that reflect the patterns of nature and the seasons of the year, or that mark transitions for individuals and groups. Rites are a necessary part of our human inheritance, to make sacred with the divine, to make meaning, to create union with the divine.
Festivals bring community together and enrich the soul of each individual. When we celebrate the passage of seasons through art, music, story, writing, dancing, singing we strengthen our connection to the rhythms and the soul of the seasons and nature.
At our recent MayFaire celebration, we offered a basket to the community, with watercolor painted strips of paper, where all individuals could write wishes in words, upon the strips, and plant them in the basket.
When we plant our wishes, something blooms in our crowns and soles (souls)/and inner soil too. We fertilize an inner garden with truth, goodness and beauty.
What wishes are you writing this time of year? What wishes are you rite-ing this time of year? Have you taken a moment to celebrate the wheel of the year -individually or in community? How can you show the spirits of nature, the wild, wonderful wisdom of creative intelligence at the heart and soul of every living thing, that you too, are alive? When we step towards rite-making, when we write our intentions, our wishes, our multicolored satin ribbon’d and hawthorn flower’d blooms in words we weave something between our hearts and the heart of Gaia -we weave our imagination with our mundane reality. We weave the sacred with the profane. We weave in words, our intent, and offer our prayers to something greater than us. Who knows how these wishes will be received, and how they will rain strength, beauty, goodness and truth upon us. Perhaps in the night as we sleep beneath stars that we cannot see beyond our ceilings. Just because we can’t see it -just because we cannot see the invisible things that weave between our words, between our worlds, doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Write your way into the season. Rite your way into the season. Right your way into harmony with self, divinity, love and truth.
If you’d like to season yourself with a deeply sacred writing container -please contact me. I have one partial scholarship available for one woman for Crack open the Story -a twelve week writes of passage journey through place, body, memory and imagination. We gather Sundays (beginning 5/5) from 9:30 am pacific till 11:30. Please reply to this substack for more information. This writing program is more than a memoir or life story course —it is also a map making, meaning making journey into the wisdom of fairytales, and finding one’s self in fairytale and myth. It is a weaving of the worlds -inner and outer —imaginal and practical —human and divine —self, and deeper self at the center of the self. It’s a reclamation song, a homecoming, a writes of passage return journey with your stories, transformed into art, as the beautiful elixir.
What women are saying:
"Stasha Ginsburg's workshops have been a transformative journey for me. Her storytelling prowess and writing guidance empowers my imagination, leading to a profound transformation in my writing. Exploring the depths of my psyche with Stasha has heightened my energy and provided me with new perspectives. A journey with her is truly worth savoring." —A.S (an American artist/writer/poet in Morocco)
“You’ve etched runes in my heart with ink as red
as the blood that runs through it
My deepest gratitude to you, The Wild Matryoshka
for the tender light you shared in the darkest of woods.”
,-Jessica Starfire, Ritualist and Storyteller, The Moth & Key
“Sometimes our own truths aren't easily revealed.Sometimes we're not ready, open, or aligned to sit with our inner wisdom. Sharing, listening, embodying, and holding sacred space for all of our stories - the playful, the challenging, the vulnerable, the hidden...Stories have a way of bringing out truths to the surface. Unlocking the little mystery boxes hidden in our souls.
In our parts. In all of our being. Since the dawn of time we have used stories and myths to reveal our inner truths, to show us our own magic. To de- mystify our"why" - what makes us uniquely us? What drives us to behave in certain ways? Why we said that thing we said so long ago...Maybe sometimes it's easier to embrace, accept and honor our own truth when we hear it in a story...share some tea with a character that seems all too familiar... or even a magical creature from a surreal tale. Maybe then, we feel Heard, Witnessed, Authentic and Whole. Maybe at the very core that is the ultimate gift that story medicine offers to us.
There is no one to better guide you and hold sacred all of your stories than Stasha Ginsburg from The Wild Matryoshka. With an open heart, an open mind and a warming embrace, and a gentle nudge, she witnesses your stories as they are revealed. Soulfully, she weaves together myths and fairytales, exploratory prompts, rituals and affirmations, poems and inspirations.
Working with Stasha has been transformative on a personal, professional, and deeply spiritual level. I am so very grateful and honored that our paths have crossed.”
-Dr. Liana Gerdov~