Fearless Creativity Happens In Community
My shadow against my neighbor’s beautiful rainbow flowerbed, which features pansies, coeopsis (I think) and a gnome
After I led a tarot reading and at Drive-By projects a few weeks ago, my partner asked me how I thought it went. “Great,” I said, sighing in satisfaction and tiredness.
“What did you like about it?” he asked.
I shrugged. “What I like about all group rituals - that everyone shows up and they’re kind of tight and surface-y, and then by the end of the ritual they’re being really present and open with each other. I get to see a whole other side of them.”
“That’s good stuff,” my partner said. “You should put it in a newsletter.” Voilà.
I think what I said to my partner connects to overcoming creative fear. Rituals are in-the-moment, co-created group projects. If this sends a clench to your stomach as memories of fifth grade math and stressful summer camp improv games flood your memory, you’re not alone - the words “group project,” without further explanation, do the same for me.
Whether the experience is joyful or stomach-clenchy depends on how we all arrive in a space, how much we actually want to be there, and why. This is why I love group rituals: everyone wants to be there.
When I arrive in a ritual space, none of my attendees are quite sure what is about to happen. They’re tentative, and unsure of whether I’ll deliver on what they’re hoping to experience. They probably don’t know what exactly they’re hoping to experience beyond feeling good and connecting to nature.
I think this is like most creative projects: we arrive willing but tentative, wary of our own ability to make the process fulfilling and see it through. We need a guide in the form of our best selves, a spirit companion, or a mentor to help us keep going. Day by day we connect with the creative process in ways that fulfill us and keep us coming back for more. By the time we’re deep in a project, we’re more open and present.
When folks arrived at a ritual, we gather and chat before starting. This is the “what’s about to happen, anyway?” portion I mentioned. Eventually we all settle into the ritual space. When my participants are all comfortable in their chosen spots, I make eye contact with everyone - not aggressively or methodically, but as a way to show myself, “Okay, these are your people today, let’s be with them.”
People make tentative eye contact back with me, and we’re off.
I start every ritual by talking about the purpose of it. Many of my rituals are seasonal, tied to the solstices or equinoxes or other celebrations of the turning of the wheel. I ground us in the moment we’re experiencing so that we become aware of the natural world, both in our minds and bodies. This slows our pace and allows us to become aware of our nervous systems as microcosms within a larger picture, a picture that includes the other people in the ritual.
Once we’ve landed together, it’s time to tune into what this seasonal moment means for us. Much of this is energetic, but picture standing in a circle in a woodland clearing with a group of people, and realizing that you can find the meaning of this season in your personal life, and so can everyone around you.
For example, in February, I talked about how the moment when seeds emerge from their pods underground is a perfect moment to plant a figurative seed for something you want to grow throughout the spring. At my upcoming spring equinox rituals, I’ll talk about how the equinox is a moment of clarity, balance, and reveal, and how we can ride that wave of clear understanding through the spring and summer.
At this point in the ritual, everyone is locked in. They’re inside the moment, and focusing feels good, even easy. This is when I ask my participants - what are you finding in this moment?
I guide my participants into the seasonal energy, but from there, the discoveries and revelations are their own. I ask them questions about themselves, their lives, questions I’ve channeled for the specific ritual moment, and they allow the answers to flow through.
When they have those answers, we do a secret third thing, something with natural materials, to embody my participants’ revelations in a way they can touch. The specifics vary by ritual, but some I love are: seed magic, natural-material altars, fire clearing, dirt magic.
Then I close our circle, and we’re done. This is the moment I get to see a whole other side of my participants: we talk about what they discovered, and how the world has opened. They’re laughing and relaxed, their eyes light up when they chat with each other. This particular delightful flavor belongs solely to group rituals.
We can make beautiful things in our individual creative holes: novels and paintings and potent self-expression. But whether we share our creations with others or savor them in solitude, intermittent connection with those around us feeds our souls, opens our hearts, and reconnects us to the shit that makes us want to create in the first place.
I have two upcoming rituals:
SPRING EQUINOX at PLUCK FARM
Join Pluck Farm and your village witch Isabel O’hara Walsh for a spring equinox ritual about growth, blossoming, and balance!
We’ll walk to a quiet clearing in the woods where we’ll align our inner growth with the growth of the spring season.
We’ll do a witchy ritual for the equinox, the moment when light and dark are equal, which will lead us to view things from both sides, understand multiple perspectives, and see pathways we’ve never seen before.
Arrive ready to walk in the woods, talk with new friends, play with natural materials and get your hands a little dirty.
Ritual to be followed by relaxation, play, and the option for a 20-Minute Witchy Life Coaching Session on the grounds of Steel String Brewery at Pluck Farm ✿
spaces limited
SPRING EQUINOX RITUAL at A NIGHT OF FEMALE EXCELLENCE
Join the Raleigh Women’s Arts Collective and your village witch Isabel O’hara Walsh for a spring equinox ritual about growth, blossoming, and balance.
We’ll meet outside at the intermission of this showcase to align our inner growth with the growth of the spring season.
We’ll do a witchy ritual for the equinox, the moment when light and dark are equal, which will lead us to view things from both sides, understand multiple perspectives, and see pathways we’ve never seen before.
Arrive ready experience badass performers, express yourself, and meet new friends.
Ritual to be followed by performances, more witchiness, and the option for a 20-Minute Witchy Life Coaching Session
And I’ll have more coming in April and May! If you’re like “Hey I don’t live near you but I’d really love to attend a virtual ritual,” reply and say just that. It’s something I’m considering.
Hope to see you there!
Next week will be Village Witch’s Corner, and then we’ll do our last week on overcoming creative fear with a story time about a client who embodied that process.
Love,
Isabel
The last remaining blossoms on my (other) neighbor’s beautiful and fast-transitioning magnolia tree
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