2023 the year we learn to listen to life

Week 29--in which we ponder our artistic period

Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer,

On Friday morning, as I slowly began to surface from a dream-filled sleep, I did what I always do: I stayed perfectly still on my pillow with my eyes closed. In other words, I did nothing. I wasn’t trying to remember my dreams or solve a problem. I certainly wasn’t thinking about this Notes from the Field. I was just there, hovering, waiting to hear or see or feel whatever wanted to be noticed.

I’ve trained myself to do this every morning because invariably something wants to be noticed. Something that always takes me by surprise. Surprise is its signature calling card. I know something matters when I know it didn’t come from me.

This is the most delicious and important time of the day. Yet, it’s a time no one talks about. A time no one teaches.

Well, one person does. Me.

I’ve discovered that this precious moment, a time so important I’ve given it a name—Morning Theta—is a sacred portal.

A portal that our patriarchal systems, obsessed as they are with performance and control, do not want us to know about. Because, if we know we can cross that threshold as we lie still in the liminal space between sleep and wakefulness—the magical theta brain wave state—we will discover we have access to everything we need to live a life we can relish.

You’ve got to wonder, what is on the other side of that threshold that patriarchy is so afraid of?

Here are a few:

• direct mystical connection free of all theology and dogma
• knowledge of, and communion with, the past, present, and future
• opportunity to influence and be influenced across time and space
• eternal love and protection of our mystic family (group soul) through all time
• wild delicious creativity that sets our hearts afire and gives our lives purpose
• access to realm after invisible realm overflowing with just the information we seek

If this is such a pregnant threshold, why weren’t we told about it in school? Why were we told to sit still, pay attention, and memorize facts for the next test instead of being encouraged to dream, imagine, and create? If mystical connection happens in theta, why didn’t our religious instruction teach us how to get there? Why weren’t we told that when we pray the way our ancestor mothers prayed, the door between worlds flies open? No emissary required.

Why? Because patriarchy stays in power through two things: fear and control. And patriarchy desperately needs to stay in power.

As you become proficient in crossing that threshold in the theta brain wave state and learn to trust the information, connection, and creativity that comes to you, a day arrives when you realize that all those messages exhorting you to be afraid, obey the rules, stay within the boundaries, don’t push the envelope, and don’t think you’re special or strong or wise, are all lies.

That’s why activating, remembering, and trusting your innate ability to cross the threshold between worlds is THE foundational original sacramental gift in The Witch Sequence. All the others become possible when you become proficient at dropping into theta.

So, here’s what happened on my pillow Friday morning.

I have no idea why, but I was suddenly thinking about Picasso and his famous blue paintings. I heard “his blue period.” I thought that rather odd, but continued to lie still. Next, I heard “What artistic period are you in?”

Nothing more came. So, I jotted down “artistic period,” got up, and took “What artistic period are you in?” into deep soul writing. Where I had QUITE the revelation. Turns out, I have experienced artistic “periods.” I’d never asked myself this question or even thought about myself as having artistic periods, but in soul writing, I saw that my creative life has unfolded in distinct periods.

Periods. Did you catch the double meaning of that word?

Women have periods. Cycle after cycle, our wombs prepare to nourish and birth life and then let go and release our life-giving blood. It can’t be an accident that my voice whispered artistic period. I had to check the numerology. Period vibrates with the energy of 40. 4 is foundation. 0 is divine amplification.

So an artistic period is a time of wildly expanded creative capacity.

What about artist?

I never used that term until it was whispered in my left ear at 4am, the magic hour of Schumann Waves. Until that day I would never have called myself an artist. Writer, yes, but not artist.

But artist was so clear that I became obsessed with telling people that everyone is an artist. Everyone. Not just painters, writers, dancers. Everyone. For a whole year, I helped people tune into their own artist title. If you weren’t reading my letters back then, you might want to explore what kind of artist you are. Just fill in the blank in deep soul writing: I am a ___________ artist. If you’re not sure, ask the question as you fall asleep and notice what wants to be heard the next morning in theta.

Here are my artistic periods.

At first, I was surprised that I have had creative periods. As I looked at the list, I saw my life telling a story. A rather lovely story. I also felt a wave of relief. To make room for the next artistic period, I had to let go of the previous. Literally. Just last month, I let go of two dozen boxes of self-published books in my first project, Spiritual Geography. I felt guilty.

But thanks to making this list, I realized Picasso had to stop painting in Blue in order to explore the next thing that wanted his attention, Rose. And then he found himself interested in exploring African-inspired art. That period gave way to two long explorations in Cubism.

This flow is the natural lifecycle of creativity. No wonder we see creativity and the muse as a feminine. It is!

1. 1997-2006          Spiritual Geography
   my first mystical writing project. I slowly learned to write but this self-published project was not financially successful
2. 2006-2010          Writing Down Your Soul
   my first manuscript and published book opened the door to a financially viable writing life
3. 2011-2018          Your Soul Wants Five Things
   heard this rather startling news in morning theta in January of 2011 and once I got over the shock, committed to write the books and teach all 5 courses for the next 8 years
4. 2018-2020          Prayer Artist
   first time I ever called myself an artist. It was scary but I said yes and prayer artist completely changed what I offer and how. And my creativity exploded.
5. 2020-present    Mystic Witch
   witch dropped into my life out of the blue three years ago and has been directing the show ever since. Witch is far and away the most evocative, thrilling, exciting—dare I say ecstatic—artistic period of my life.

So, my question for you this beautiful Sunday is the question that wafted to me in morning theta: What artistic period are you in?

Are you in an artistic witch period?

I think I can help you answer that question. Here are seven massive clues.

Speak these aloud, pausing after each one, and your body will vibrate like a pendulum letting you feel your yes:

1. I want to expand my subtle senses so I can hear what wants to be heard and see what wants to be seen; I want to trust my intuition, knowing it is clear, accurate, and strong
2. I want to know how to cross the threshold between worlds where fear and control can have no hold on me; I want to dance in The Mystic, swim in sacred possibility, and confer with my muse in delicious creativity; I want to be the artist I came here to be
3. I want to fall in love with prayer; I want to remember the joyful ways we prayed before patriarchy sucked out all the magic; I want my prayers to be powerful spells with the power to bless the present, release the past, and create the future
4. I want to embody anointing, the Magdalen’s original sacrament of remembering; I want my touch to be her touch; I want to once more, stand in the wisdom tradition that serves the mysteries of life, death, and rebirth
5. I want to awaken the oracle within, she’s been silent and hidden for too long; I feel her rising in me, asking me to remember my natural ability to be a sacred voice for what is true, holy, and good
6. I want to remember the Goddess, the Sacred Feminine, She who came first; I want to remember Her life-giving stories; I want to honor Her countless faces, finding Her once more in the land of the earth and the land of the body, including my body; I want to feel once more that I am Her sacred treasure of life
7. I want to shed every lie I’ve ever been told about the feminine, sin, and evil in this lifetime and in all lifetimes. I want to cleanse my body and the entire wasteland of their garden of lies, stand in the truth about Her serpent, Her dragon, Her sacred groves, and, with my sisters and brothers, create Her Garden of Reverence. This is how She returns—in and through and as me.

My whole body is vibrating as I write these. I can just imagine how yours feels speaking them aloud for the first time.

This is the art of my witch period.

This is what I came for. And this is what I now invite you to experience for yourself. There are 7 original sacramental gifts that identify a woman or man as a sacred witch, a leader of the community, a culture authority, and the embodiment of the holy.

When I said yes to witch, I didn’t know it, but The Witch Sequence was slowly coming around the corner to beckon me to step into the wildest and most delightful artistic period of my life.

And of yours.

In two weeks, on Sunday, August 6, the 2^nd prayer intensive in The Witch Sequence opens with a sacred labyrinth ceremony.

Please visit the page I created for this intensive.

There is a lot of information on:

• Mystica InnerVersity
• The Witch Sequence
• our7 Original Sacramental Gifts
• the original feminine labyrinth
• detailed description of all we'll be exploring together in this theta adventure

Watch the video and peruse all this alchemical adventure can bring you. But please don't wait long to register.

On Tuesday, I'll send the Welcome email with links to all the preparation materials I've been creating. I'll also open our private FaceBook group that day so you can begin to bond with your fellow Mysticans and Magicians. There are a lot of us sharing a witch artistic period.

If you are too, please join us. You will make lifelong friendships. The link to the intensive is just below the school shield.

The A.R.T. of Becoming a Witch

2nd Mystica Inner-Versity intensive
2nd Original Spiritual Gift
2nd walk on The Witch Sequence labyrinth

How to Awaken, Remember, and Trust
Your Innate Ability to Cross the Threshold Between Worlds

to dancing in the magic of the mystical theta brain wave state

Janet

PS: If you've missed any of my recent Notes from the Field about this intensive, you can read them all as blogs on my site 

website: janetconner.com

facebook: janet conner prayer artist

YouTube: Janet Conner