Letting Chiron Sing

I really enjoyed this conversation with the lovely Beth of Beth the Witch. Something that really cracked me open was how the practice of magic was so formative for Beth in her life. Whether or not you practice magic, I think the importance of having some spiritual practice of self empowerment is crucial in the healing journey. You can check out her work (which I highly suggest) by visiting www.beththewicca.com and/or following them on IG at @beththewitch_llc.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit samarjadecreative.substack.com

Mariele is the healer and energy worker behind Yinspire Me. You can check out her work at https://yinspire.me/. You can follow her on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@yinspireme.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit samarjadecreative.substack.com

You can connect with Naomi Wayne in the following ways:@thenaomiwayne on Tiktok and Instagramwww.NaomiWayne.com for her beautifully enriching blog posts and to book her for readings.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit samarjadecreative.substack.com

In this episode I mention Jonathan Koe's podcast, Healing the Spirit. The episode can be found here.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit samarjadecreative.substack.com

In this episode, I spend some time talking about the reach of the Wound of Disembodiment, how that can impact us and how Astrology and Focalizing can be tools of Self Liberation. I also mention the workshop coming up that is donation based: Embody Your Chart. You can get a ticket here. 10% of all earned will go to helping support a single, Black mother to stay housed. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1025172036157?aff=oddtdtcreator

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit samarjadecreative.substack.com

Many thanks to you for sticking through with me as a meander down this winding road that is a personal underworld journey. There are two more posts in this series that will follow in the next few weeks. In this post, I remember the wisdom of bell hooks’s “All About Love” and its connection to my understanding of personal power. Thanks for reading samar writes. ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.I revisited “All About Love” recently. If you haven’t read this book, it’s short, and contains so many delicious nuggets of medicine. While I don’t personally care for the dated references to gender, I acknowledge the fact that it was written at a time when language regarding gender was so very limited. It still doesn’t take away from the fact that writing about love in the way bell hooks did is still so incredibly relevant now. Why is loving ourselves so difficult? The answer to this is simple, but the healing process is complicated. It is hard to love ourselves because that requires a complete divorce from the imagination of the oppressive forces. And, while the answer is simple, the act of doing is a life long journey of unlearning the lies we were forced to ingest for a false sense of safety. But, what I want to talk about is how we are taught that lying to ourselves and others is what brings us happiness. “Ignorance is bliss”, if you will. Most people run in the other direction when confronted with inner healing. So many do not want to confront the wounds because the truth hurts. Even if we know the lie does more damage, we would rather remain asleep to the truth out of fear of perceived pain or discomfort. My form of running from pain has always been busyness. If I had a ton to do, there was no room for “the work.” I would always allow for the facilitation and growth of others. But I would keep myself boxed in. One of the most remarkable revelations that I encountered in this book was “we do not come here knowing how to love.” But, we do come here knowing how respond to being cared for. hooks goes into detail about the difference between care and love. Most of what we mistake for love is actually care. Most of us can locate the ways in which people, even our abusers, may have cared for us. This is one of the reasons why leaving abusive relationships can be difficult. Coming back to this with fresh eyes helped me have more grace and compassion for my younger self that sought out love in mentoring relationships when I didn’t know how to love myself. “[love is] the will to extend one's self for the the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.” - bell hooks in All About Love This quote hit me in the gut, y’all. Pow. Ooof. While care is “a dimension of love” it is not love entirely. "Love is a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust.” I didn’t know how to do any of those things collectively for myself. I knew to an extent how that might look for others. I would bend over backwards to make others feel cared for, respected, and trusted. I would make them my responsibility. I would neglect my own needs to show my commitment. But, my love was missing that grounded dimension of self love. At times, I neglected care for my body, mind, and soul. This is where it was easy for me to lose myself in my mentoring relationships. This is why it was easy to find myself in relationship after relationship of abusive partners, friends, mentors, and workplaces. Typing this has been difficult. I keep stopping and breathing deeply into my grief for my younger self. They had no idea. I imagine walking up to them and wrapping my arms around them, squeezing firmly. I look into their eyes and remind them that they don’t have to know, yet. But, we will get there. And, it won’t hurt. hooks also speaks about how we are conditioned from early on to lie. We are made to believe that telling the truth will only cause harm. In some cases, we may have even learned that the truth is dangerous. I’ve come to abhor the phrase “the truth hurts”. So what if it does? The pursuit of gratuitous pleasure at all costs will be the end of joy. More so, it is the running away from any and all discomfort in our lives that places us in positions where we choose suppression and oppression. This is not victim blaming. It is an acknowledgement of the seriousness of these acts that lead us to our demise. And, I do not use the word “demise” lightly. Our world is filled with countless examples of our choosing oppression over discomfort. Inevitably, this leads to serious harm not only for ourselves, but others as we scramble to hold power over one another. As I emerge from this underworld journey and look at my wounds, I see that the giving away of my power is complicated, and began with the lack of sincere love in my family home. Neither of my parents were capable of loving us children. Being a parent has taught me this. It is one of the most challenging roles in my life that I do not take lightly. It has asked more of me and not just because my kids deserve it, but even more so: I deserve this deep love.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit samarjadecreative.substack.com

Bio: Britten LaRue, MA, is a public astrologer, author, teacher, and mystic. A self-described “recovering academic,” she left behind a twenty-year career in art history to reinvent herself at mid-life. Britten is known and loved by her community for modeling what it looks like to live from one’s dream field. Creator of Emergence Astrology, Britten’s deepest calling is to be a midwife for those in the process of birthing their own inner knowing, healing from shame, and learning to trust themselves again with the reckless freedom they deserve. Her first book Living Astrology: How to Weave the Wisdom of the 12 Signs Into Your Everyday Life was recently released in March 2024. She’s a Pisces Sun, Capricorn Moon, and Aries Rising. You can find Britten online at brittenlarue.com or @brittenlarue. Her new year long astrology course Emergence Astrology Year One begins at the summer solstice. You can find the book on Amazon, Bookshop.org, and at my website. 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit samarjadecreative.substack.com

There are a couple of people I mention in the podcast. One is Dr. Rua Mae Williams. Their work centers disability studies, and I think you should check it out. Rua Mae Williams at Purdue University. I also mention my teacher and mentor Britten LaRue and her Unshaming the Signs series. I also mention the free focalizing sessions I am offering as I work towards certification at the end of the month. You can book here. To learn more about this gentle, somatic practice please take a look at my teacher, Nick Werber's website.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit samarjadecreative.substack.com

I mean, of course y’all know I was gonna be out here in these streets for this major astrological transit of Mercury conjoining Chiron in Aries. I speak on this episode about why Chiron as an archetype has been so pivotal in my own discovery journey, as well as my journey in accepting my trans identity and living with a chronic illness and disability. CW: I do mention HIV/AIDS as well as STIs when speaking about my personal journey as a young human living in the conservative South. Here is the text to the poem I read in the episode at the end:Venus in LeoFire goldsrun deepin blood redstake on the sunweave its essence into your sinewsso that the fibers underneath skinmight glowand burn away your doubtof your own divinityif you would only allow yourselfto ingest your own magnificenceallow it to poison the deep well full of the questions that keep the lies etched in the muscles of your heartNot mentioned on this episode (because I forgot): The upcoming workshop I am holding on “Discovering the Archetype Ereshkigal in Toni Morrison’s Sula.” Tickets can be found here.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit samarjadecreative.substack.com

In this episode, I speak about the emergent topic of scarcity. It has come up in many of my circles. It is what happens when we meet the threshold of death and loss. We feel afraid nothing will come back to us. Some things mentioned in this podcast:Sign up for Alchemic Oracle, the Newsletter here. You can also sign up for news as well. My 1:1 re-birthing 3 month container has evolved. Stay tuned for that release in the coming weeks. If you would like to book a reading, you can here.My energy exchange tiers can be found here.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit samarjadecreative.substack.com