What has this year been about?

Week 49–in which we pause at a year’s end before considering a beginning Beautiful Ones, You may have noticed that there is a theme for each year’s Notes from the Field. I don’t remember when the themes first began to surface but now, as December dawns, I can’t help but look back at the theme…

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“And waste my heart on fear no more.”

Week 48–in which we remember how our ancestors welcomed a new year Beautiful Ones, Here in America, the relentless drumbeat to buy, buy, buy is relentless, not just this week, but throughout the holiday season. And so, it seems to me, the wisest, smartest, holiest turn I can make right now is to hit the…

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What makes a Mandala so magical?

Week 45–in which we ponder the mysterious magical properties of a mystic mandala Beautiful Ones, Last Sunday, I talked about the power of looking back and the radical insights that surface when you look back at a whole nine-year cycle. If you missed that Notes from the Field, you might want to read it because it…

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Looking back with Mary Oliver and the Buddha

Week 44–in which we look back nine years and are, well, surprised Beautiful Ones, When I offer something—a book, an intensive, a prayer circle—I always go through the experience by myself before I try to talk about it. I didn’t learn this from anyone. Least of all any self-help teachers or books. Indeed, what makes so…

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Are we in mourning or morning?

Week 43–in which we explore the relationship of mourning and morning Beautiful Ones, On Thursday, October 16, we gathered for our final journey in ART 6 on Reverence and Devotion. During that intense mystical journey, Jennifer DeVille Catalano played the Song of the Labyrinth on her Crystal Tones Alchemy Bowls. The song comes from a…

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Seeding Magic in 2026

Week 42–in which we embrace the call to harvest the last nine years so we can seed MAGIC in the next nine. Beautiful Ones, As promised in last Sunday’s Notes from the Field, registration for The Lotus and the Lily to Harvest 2025 and Seed 2026 is now open to my entire subscriber list. From…

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Remembering how it feels to be seen and safe

Week 41–in which we remember how it feels to be seen and safe Beautiful Ones, Three weeks ago, in Notes from the Field #38, I listed five profound ideas that I brought home from my son Jerry’s wedding with his beloved Maura in New York City. I’m still living inside that experience. When I can’t fall…

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It’s time to enter the darkness–the sweet darkness

2024 a year of sacred memory, dreaming dragons, and original prayer Week 48–in which we enter the darkness–the sweet darkness  Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, Thank you for all your brokenhearted emails and posts after last week’s intense Notes from the Field. Although your words were a balm, reminding me that I…

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We are disturbed. And we must speak.

2024 a year of sacred memory, dreaming dragons, and original prayer Week 47–in which we ask ourselves what we have become  Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, I write a fresh newsletter for you every week. Usually on Saturday afternoon, just in time to land in your inbox on Sunday. Fifty-two Sundays of…

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The secret sauce to creating a delicious life

2024 a year of sacred memory, dreaming dragons, and original prayer Week 46–in which we explore the paradox of creating the future by looking back at the past  Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, In The Lotus and the Lily intensive that just opened we are looking back at all that has happened…

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Is this death throes or birth pangs…or both?

2024 a year of sacred memory, dreaming dragons, and original prayer Week 45–in which the shock of the moment pulls back the curtain and reveals something else   Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, It’s been a brutal week. For me. For everyone in my prayer intensive communities. And probably for you, too. But this…

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Feeling scared? Here are 2 antidotes to fear.

2024 a year of sacred memory, dreaming dragons, and original prayer Week 43–in which we remember two antidotes to fear Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, In today’s Notes from the Field, I planned on telling you another story about my annual The Lotus and the Lily prayer intensive opening on November 12.…

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How will you prepare for 2025, the first 9 year since 2016?

2024 a year of sacred memory, dreaming dragons, and original prayer Week 42–in which we take a moment to consider how to complete 2024 and prepare for 2025, the first 9 year since 2016  Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, First, an apology for not being here last Sunday. I was just back…

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Is another world possible?

2023 the year we learn to listen to life Week 46–in which we ponder how changing our one little life changes the world Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” Arundhati Roy I love…

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If Buddha walked a labyrinth

2023 the year we learn to listen to life Week 45–in which we listen deeply to the Buddha’s greatest teaching in a radical new way Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, The Lotus and the Lily—book and intensive—was born on January 1, 2010 when I read Thich Nhat Hanh’s short, powerful book, You Are…

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The Lotus and The Lily Q & A

2023 the year we learn to listen to life Week 44–in which we ponder two strange teachings of Buddha and Yeshua and ask a few questions Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, Thank you for your heartfelt responses to last Sunday’s Notes from the Field. That sentence from John O’Donohue—Let us waste our hearts on…

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“Let us waste our hearts on fear no more”

2023 the year we learn to listen to life Week 43–in which we ponder what it takes to welcome the life that wants to be lived amid a world imploding with violence and grief Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, By the time you read this, you will have been moved—dare I say, transformed—by the lunar…

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10 mystical truths in The Lotus and the Lily

2023 the year we learn to listen to life Week 42–in which we put our toes on the threshold, take a deep breath, and enter Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, I have spent the entire week preparing the closing ceremony for the second intensive in the seven-intensive series called The Witch Sequence.…

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What did the eclipse reveal?

2023 the year we learn to listen to life Week 41–in which we ask, voices breaking: what can we do, what can we do, what can we do? Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, Last Sunday, I promised that in today’s Notes from the Field, I would open registration for the upcoming The Lotus…

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My 20-year love affair with a dead man

2023 the year we learn to listen to life Week 40–in which we look back and ask: was that a prayer or a spell? Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, I spent the last week preparing to open my annual intensive The Lotus and the Lily. This will be the 13th time we’ve gathered to…

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The Theatre of the Miraculous reveals her true colors

2023 the year we learn to listen to life Week 39–in which the Theatre of the Miraculous reveals her true colors Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, On this first day of October, a day that whispers a hint about the magic of the year to come, I’d like to tell you a…

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I looked back. And was shocked.

2022 the year we learn to listen to love Week 47–in which we stop and look back at what happened in 2022–and are startled Friends, soul writers, mystics, witches, and lovers of prayer, Do you know who’s most surprised by what happens in my intensives? Me. You might assume that because: I’m the one who…

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What did you read this year that cracked you open?

The year of the body–Week 48 in which we remember the books that mattered Friends, soul writers, mystics, and lovers of prayer, Thank you for all your sweet supportive emails and comments on Facebook and YouTube about my experiences moving through this massive birth portal time of eclipse and looking back. It’s lovely to hear that…

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You’re not exhausted, you’re being birthed

The year of the body–Week 47 in which we let go of the life we thought we wanted and enter the birth canal into the life we really want  Friends, soul writers, mystics, and lovers of prayer, Are you feeling exhausted? Bone-deep exhausted? There’s a reason. Ever since I stepped off the corporate hamster wheel of…

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Listen as 2021 sings her song on a labyrinth

The year of the body–Week 46 in which we listen carefully and hear 2021 sing her song  Friends, soul writers, mystics, and lovers of prayer, The 12th edition of The Lotus and the Lily opens today, Monday, November 15. After leading 11 groups in this magical process starting in 2010, you might assume I understand this 30-day…

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Do you really know what happened in 2021?

The year of the body–Week 45 in which we ask ourselves what really happened in 2021? Friends, soul writers, mystics, and lovers of prayer, Do you know what happened in 2021? You’ve walked through almost 11 months of this five year. What has it all meant to you? Before you attempt to answer that question,…

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Your mandala is far more magical than you realized

The year of the body–Week 44 in which we discover the mandala is far far more magical than we ever knew   Read the blog, as always, or watch me read the blog below! To subscribe to Notes from the Field on YouTube, click here. Friends, soul writers, mystics, and lovers of prayer, When I announced…

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You are not praying, you are being prayed

The year of the body–Week 42 in which prayer whispers the great paradox and mystery of prayer   Friends, soul writers, mystics, and lovers of prayer, Something happened during The Return of the Witches pilgrimage this summer that dramatically altered how I construct my prayer intensives. For the 5th gathering for Marguerite Porete, Marguerite’s champion got…

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There is one question that must be asked

Has this not been the week to cap all weeks? And not just for Americans. I’m in several international groups and everyone everywhere has been holding their breath. On Saturday at noon, as Celtic author Sharon Blackie welcomed 300 people around the world to the second class in her Your Witch Will Come course, she…

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Now, about that bat bite…

Well, this has been quite the wild week, hasn’t it! How much misery and mystery can one week hold? In the Misery department: The US government admitted that the parents of 545 immigrant children can’t be found. And anyone with a heart cried. A judge who is the diametric opposite of everything Ruth Bader Ginsburg…

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A Lotus and Lily like no other

The emails have begun. I get a flurry of them this time of year from people anxious to register for The Lotus and The Lily prayer intensive that opens in mid-November and always sells out. But this year your emails have a more frantic tone. For 10 years, mystic souls around the world have gathered for 5 weeks starting in mid-November…

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The Queen’s Love–a mystical prayer for a mystical day

Today is such a fun day. It’s the numerology joke of the century. Actually, several centuries. Today is a palindrome. When you say “February second” you might miss the fun, but when you look at the date written out like a credit card expiration: 02-02-2020, you can’t miss it! Today’s date reads the same backward…

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