Week 3--in which we must not look away

Beautiful Ones,

Today, Sunday, January 19, feels ominous.

And not just because it’s the eve of what many of us perceive as a victory march of toxic, hyper-masculine, abusive power. We mystics, witches, myrrhophores, priestesses, and oracles remember. Somewhere deep in our bones, we remember what this kind of self-righteous, uncontrolled, almost celebratory power delights in doing to women and children, the marginalized and the poor, and to Mother Earth herself.

Sunday is also the first day of a cease fire in Gaza.

At least, as I write this on Saturday evening, I hope it is. But is it wrong to even use that word hope? We have seen the devastation. And our eyes and hearts simply cannot take it in. It’s so painful and exhausting that you may have given up even following the news. But I know I must not look away.

Yesterday, I read that when President Biden pushed Netanyahu to stop “carpet-bombing these communities,” Netanyahu shot back, “Why, you did.” And we did. The US carpet-bombed German cities, dropped two atomic bombs, and decimated Vietnam with Agent Orange. The paper did not report what Biden said after that. I wonder.

I do not know what Sunday will bring for the fires in Los Angeles. They will not be contained by the time you read this, but there is hope that the winds are abating. The pictures of what the fires have left behind are unbearable. But we have no right to look away. This is what we humans are doing to our magnificent blue and green planet.

So what do we do?

Looking away is dishonest. Looking closely is unbearable.

When I feel like this, I turn to the poets. The writers. The ones who are willing to look. And in the looking, speak the words that must be spoken.

As I sat here staring at the wall, wondering who could help us sit in this sacred space of bearing witness to the unbearable, I remembered something James Baldwin wrote while the United States was bombing Vietnam. This feels necessary and important and downright holy to me today.
Every bombed village is my hometown.
And every dead child is my child.

Every grieving mother is my mother.
Every crying father is my father.

Every home turned to rubble
is the home I grew up in.

Every brother carrying the remains
of his brother across borders
is my brother.

Every sister waiting for a sister
who will never come home
is my sister.

Every one of these people are ours,
just like we are theirs.

We belong to them
and they to us.

--James Baldwin

And that is why we must not look away.

That ominous feeling is real. It hurts. It’s also an invitation.

It’s an invitation that we witches have been answering since the first ART intensive in March of 2023 to awaken our body’s natural intuitive senses. That intensive had quite a few secrets to reveal starting with the fact that there are actually seven essential WitchArt gifts, and they mirror the energy of the chakras, and we can activate each one as we walk the seven circuits of the original feminine womb labyrinth.

With each successive ART intensive, the labyrinth has revealed more and more of her secrets. One of her most amazing and sacred revelations is that humanity first honored and served the mysteries of death by walking the dead home on the labyrinth.

Once we realized the ancient relationship of the tomb and the labyrinth, we put it into practice.

We walked the dead of Lahaina home on a labyrinth. Then, the dead of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. We have also held labyrinth ceremonies for beloved relatives and pets.

So when the fires began in Los Angeles, I turned to Cathy Stevens Pratt, who creates the ART intensives with me, to talk about not only holding a death ceremony for the dead once the fires go out, but holding a prayer gathering now while the fires are still burning.

We sense fire has something to say, something important, something we can only hear when we gather in community and get still.

Members of all ART intensives will be invited to upcoming labyrinth and fire prayer gatherings.

If you wish to be a part of these holy healing gatherings and have not yet been in an ART intensive, you are welcome to register for any of the first four between now and the end of February.

All four are on sale. Click on this intensive link, then the second column for On Demand. Peruse the ART intensives, put any you wish in your cart Then enter the coupon code ARTSALE to receive an additional 22% off the already reduced price. If you have any issues, write to me. I can send you a personal invoice,

When I get your registration, I’ll send word about our upcoming witch cafes so you can meet everyone, and date for our fire prayer gathering, and future labyrinth death ceremonies.
Intensives On Sale 

to honoring the call to not look away, 

Janet
website: janetconner.com

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