She stands at the crossroads between worlds. In one hand crooked fingers hold a glistening key, in the other a glowing torch. She guards the imperceptible veil spread so thinly between this realm and that. Gathering souls into her cloak of mystery, she summons her pack of hounds and beckons; daring you to step into the space beyond, promising to light your way across the threshold, into the darkness, and through the landscape of the liminal…
She is Hecate, and she guides us this month through the shady depths of Samhain, where spirit world and material world softly meet, conjuring images of the witch, the dead and buried, the spirit, the ghoul, and the shadow realm.
This month I invite you to explore this mysterious time of year as an invitation into your own inner landscape of change and transformation. I include a wombspace meditation and ritual practice below for you to do in your own time. But before we dive in, you may wonder what the wombspace has to do with anything?
The Goddess Oracle by Amy Sophia Marashinsky
The Wombspace Between Worlds
We now know that the body and mind are intrisically woven. What the mind cannot process, the body stores to allow us to function in daily life without being overwhelmed. We hold memory, trauma’s, childhood experiences and even ancestral patterns and information in our tissues.
This is especially true of the wombspace. Our wombspace is like a deep internal sancturary where unresolved experiences get lodged and can stagnate, often leading to menstrual, sexual and fertility issues.
Pelvic and vaginal tension are extremely common and under-researched. We are not taught about the pelvic bowl, in fact we are not taught about women’s health in general! There is a HUGE gap in clinical information which, hopefully, is beginning to be filled in. But suffice to say, we’re not taught to place any focus on this area, plus it’s not exactly easy to relieve the build up of stress symptoms as we might with back tension through popping to the local massage therapist!
The wombspace is a threshold space, a cauldron if you will. It is our inner portal between worlds - whether you have a physical womb or not, you can work with the energy of the wombspace through visualisation, meditation, breathwork, sacral chakra work, and touch. This is the terrain where spirit becomes matter, idea becomes creation, soul becomes human, and potential becomes life.
First we must tend to the tensions, traumas and shadows held in this place designed for creativity, clearing stagnation through intentional and guided care.
Then we can begin to work with this vital and sacred space as a deeply connected and attuned resource for health, wellbieng, wisdom and creation.
It is where we can alchemise, inviting true and lasting transformation, not just for ourselves but for our lineage. The ‘red thread’ genetically links us to our maternal grandmother - when a female foetus is fully formed, she aleady carries all her eggs. What is carried through us will potentially also be carried through to our grandchildren.
Hecate’s Mythology
If you’ve been here a while you may remember my April blog where we discussed the multidimensional Goddess, Persephone. Hecate, on hearing Persephone’s screams, eventually found her in the dark and guided her through, not as a way to save her from this journey she must embark on, but to shine a light in the moments between identities, relationships, life stages or ways of being.
Hecate’s myth is entwined with Persephone’s and her mother, Demeter’s. They are often cited as a divine feminine archetypal trio with Hecate as Crone, Demeter as Mother and Persephone as Maiden.
Although Hecate is often associated with the Crone, in more recent exploration she is described as a triple Goddess, embodying all aspects - Maiden, Mother and Crone - see this blog for more info on archetypes.
And in fact, I like to view her as all and none of the above. Instead she is the wisdom that accompanies us through all life’s transitions; from maiden to mother to wild woman and crone. From matrescence to menopause, pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum, from marriage to divorce and all the juicy lessons that happen between and beyond.
She waits for us at the crossroads as we venture unprepared into the underworld, journeying through the various rights of passage involved in the path of the feminine.
She knows the secrets of the dark and helps us see more clearly.
Hecate is one of the older, original archetypes of ancient mythology, before the Greek Gods of Zeus and the pantheon. Her Goddess wisdom is ancient and revered. These cycles of death, rebirth, and the liminal space between, are as old as human history and tales are still being told to help us navigate the terrain from dissolution to wholeness.
This Goddess is often represented by crossroads, symbolising her ominous presence at times where life is uncertain, clouded, or undefined.
Where a decision or path has not yet become clear.
When change is knocking at your door, but you cannot walk all paths at once…
Samhain - When The Veil Is Blurred
This idea of a thinning veil between worlds may sound familiar to you. We are approaching Samhain, the old Celtic festival cited in literature from around the 9th century, that is now largely celebrated in the western world as Halloween. Samhain encompasses the original Celtic root, using the name Samhain firmly lands us in Europe and honours the history and origin. Samhain became conflated around the 19th Century with the Christian adaptation, All Saints Day. The name Halloween is an American interpretation of ‘All Saints’, or ‘All Hallows’ Eve, shortened to ‘Halloween’.
Samhain is a threshold festival, marking a period where the the mortal and spirit realms merge. It was seen as a time when ancestors would visit from the other world seeking hospitality and bringing wisdom or lessons, often a place would be laid out for them at the table for the honourary feast. Ancient burial sites were seen as openings to the spirit realm and people would light bonfires as a form of warmth and protection.
So October is the perfect month to embrace the Goddess Hecate’s wisdom. She may guide us as we navigate the seasonal shifts from autumn to winter and shed our leaves, preparing to empty the nest for, eventually, something new to be reborn.
Where the veil is famously most thin between worlds, so too might we embark on a personal journey into the darkness and meet the parts of ourselves we have banished into shadow, perhaps unearthing important insights.
The Witch, Womb and Womanhood
I personally feel very drawn to the mysteries of witch. Many modern accounts of Hecate consider her witch or hag, which, rather than synonyms for evil, are originally symbolic of the wisdom of womanhood. These words certainly carry all the stamps of womanhood - including a troubling history of being misinterpreted, overlooked, tortured, mistrusted and condemned, instead of honoured in her complex majesty.
I seek to reclaim the sovereign, magical nature of a woman’s path, a woman’s body. And as I find myself right on the cusp of a great life transition - the journey from maiden to motherhood, I look to Hecate to help me navigate this liminal space between what is here and what is to come. I am gently, and often uncomfortably, learning to assimilate these versions of myself - what I was, am, and what I will become in a month’s time when my baby comes along. The absolute unknown.
During this mysitical time of year, perhaps we can all take a moment to honour the passage into darkness, into the underworld.
May we learn the ancient wisdom of the Goddess Hecate - to reconnect with the spirit realm, to assimilate mystery and mundanity, ethereal and tangible, soul and body, shadow and light, death and rebirth.
Honouring Hecate as the night guide through periods of grief, loss, fear, inner change - those bits where we do not yet have the information we need to make a decision or a plan, so we wait it out, with trust and reverence for life’s criptic lessons, and meet with the mystery head on.
Perhaps we may use this time to honour the wombspace as the portal between worlds, being present with our own inner divinity and potential for great creativity, abundance and joy. Holding our own bodies as sacred, precious vessels carrying us through the world. And remember, where your attention goes, energy flows… ✨
Ritual Suggestion
Before you perform this ritual you may wish to go out on an autumnal walk and collect something for your altar to represent this time of year - perhaps a pine cone, a conker, a feather or a beautiful autumn leaf. Whatever you find to honour the season.
Bring some paper and pen.
Take some time for yourself in a quiet, cosy spot - make yourself your favourite seasonal drink. Light a candle or some fairy lights. Bring your pieces to the altar, both the pieces you’ve collected and the pieces of yourself. Have them placed around you. Set the scene…
Find a comfortable seat and take one hand to heart space, one hand to lower belly - to wombspace. Breathe deeply into your lower hand, filling up your torso toward your upper hand. Breathe in for 5 counts, breathe out for 5 counts. Imagine a glowing orange light travelling between wombspace and heartspace with your breath. Breathe in ‘I love and accept all parts of me’ ; breathe out ‘I let go of what I don’t need’. Say this at least three times.
Now take your journal or paper and answer these four questions:
🐦🔥 What uncomfortable parts of myself have been trying to be seen lately?
🐦🔥 How can I learn to accept them as part of me?
🐦🔥 What am I ready to let go of?
🐦🔥 What am I ready to embrace?
Free Wombspace Activation
Here's a free somatic wombspace meditation to help you cleanse stagnant energy, release blocks and invite vitality into this powerful energy centre. Lead from your heart, embrace your womanhood and celebrate the unique essence within you. You will be added to my monthly lunar newsletter 🌕
Each full moon, I send out a newsletter with free information, exercises, breathwork and meditation videos, healing tools, yoga, and more. Subjects range from feminine embodiment, healing, sacred cycling, breathwork, sacred womanhood, archetypal wisdom, womb work, witchwork, mythology, sacred sexuality, energy healing, feminine empowerment, shadow work and more.
