This is an intimate check-in before the launch of my new project in the coming week or so.

I tell you all about what happened after I wrote The New Earth Witch series (spoiler alert: there’s a Bible next to me on the table 🫣) and how this project is going to form a culture-shifting movement!

Make sure you listen to the end (22:44) because I know you need to hear this message.

REFERENCED

@athenaofthewild on Instagram

The New Earth Witch: Part One

EXPOSÉ: Exposing the Darkness Disguised as Light

Seeking mastery, clarity, and direction? Join me for New Earth Embodiment: 90 min 1:1 council for women navigating the radical path. Entirely donation-supported. No woman turned away.

EMAIL ATHENAOFTHEWILD@PROTONMAIL.COM

The collective sentiment towards the witch is complicated. As we explored in part one, most of her archetypes have been fabricated by the Church, the men of the occult, and Hollywood. She’s been aligned with political and social agendas, and has proliferated through social media and the compounding effect of algorithmic echo chambers.

As we transition from an age of fragmentation and isolation, into an age of individuation and revillaging—self-identification and belonging have become massively important. Collectively, many people are experiencing a bit of an awkward phase as they fumble with the labels that they’ve—let’s face it—been programmed to identify with.

In my own extended adolescence I’ve also tried on many labels and experienced the crushing ego blows that shadowed their ultimate demise. Then I followed a call to purity. Not the distortion of purity we experience through perfectionism or neurotic Wellness™ ideology, but the clarity that comes from embodying who we are on a soul level—a purity of Old French purete meaning, “simple truth”.

Two years ago I shed all my labels and baptized myself in the lake, honoring my Self as the daughter of all the women of my lineage, and a daughter of God. I vowed to never again betray the simply truth of who I am within and without this human life, as the Creator made me.

Through devotion and purity I sought to re-identify the witch in her essence, with both one foot in her past and one foot in her future.

Part Two: Rebranding a Sacred Feminine Archetype

This treatise is dedicated to all the women who’ve died in the name of witchcraft, the women who’ve ever felt tarnished by the witch within her, and the women who’ve yet to know her true power.

MYTHS

We’ve already identified some of the myths surrounding the witch in part one, but I want to further clarify and itemize them here.

• Devil Worship | The longest standing myth about the witch is her involvement in Devil worship. This is due to the way her activities were brought into Biblical context by the Church in order to prosecute her without legitimizing her powers. Interestingly, the only quotations in the Bible concerning the word “witch” are found in the Old Testament, which was written by Hebrew priests and scribes. Witches were never directly named or condemned by Jesus in the New Testament, who “in both his words and actions…often rejected the subservient and separate position that his culture assigned women.” [Eisler]
  
  The myth was further promoted by people like Margaret Murray who adopted fiction and Church propaganda as the foundation for their invention of modern witchcraft.
  
  It should be noted that there are very real cults operating in the West in service to Satan that use the symbolism and ritual of popular witchcraft to carry out their mission. This includes motifs of 13, black candles and robes, the pentacle, and ceremony on seasonal sabbaths and the sacred days of Jesus Christ. These cults operate in deep secrecy, using fear and violence to control its members, and are involved in many of the high profile cases involving world officials, child trafficking, human sacrifice, and popular entertainment programming. This frequency must be condemned and collectively abolished.
  

• Religious Affiliations | Popular witchcraft has aligned the witch with a specific form and practice of spirituality. This association is illustrated through the modern Wheel of the Year and other random sabbaths, rituals, and deities cobbled together by men of the occult. This organized spiritual chaos is irrelevant to the New Earth Witch.
  

• Black Magic | The witch is largely aligned with practices that are an inversion of true power—which of course, isn’t power at all but force. Many seemingly innocent practices found on social media or channeled through the New Age are actually black magic by nature and are antithetical to the witch and her purpose.
  

• Aesthetic | The knowledge of our Hollywood and occult-programmed perception of the witch is well-known, but still difficult to resist. As the New Earth Witch gains her place, we’ll slowly release her from this imprisonment and allow her presence to be known by means that are True instead of vain.
  

• Popcraft | Most of what we see in the world of “the craft” today is what I call, popcraft—popular witchcraft. It’s the surface-level accessories, practices, rituals, and fashions that color the witch on the exterior without evoking real mastery, lineage, or authentic spiritual connection. Popcraft is an illusion that distracts the witch from the true source of her power.

HERSTORY

There’s a wide range of accounts that exist concerning the true nature of the witch, who she is, and what her powers are. It’s been widely accepted that the medieval witches were lay healers, herbalists, and midwives, but her story prior to this time becomes murky.

After exploring many texts, both academic and mystical, the witch calls us back to a time in which many theories and dreams are held about diverse societies living in spiritual partnership between men and women, the latter sex embodying important and respected roles for her community in a way that is foreign to us today.

Possibly the most peaceful and egalitarian times on Earth were forged during the Paleolithic eras—which overlapped with the previous Satya Yuga, or peak of our collective spiritual intelligence cycles—and spilled into Neolithic times. The world was halfway through the descending Daiva Yugas when Kurgan invasions brought the first wave of violence and domination to European settlements, carrying us into the depths of a dark age that would erase and distort the higher purpose of men and women for thousands of years.

Regardless of one’s personal beliefs concerning the details of what we can only assume about these ancient societies, the witch is an archetype that roots deeply into these mysterious times of peace, animism, and partnership. The witch predates a language or word to describe her because she was simply a default condition of womanhood that served fully within the safety of her people.

A NEW IDENTITY

Linguistically speaking, we can trace the origins of the word “witch” from the Indo-European root weik, which broke off into four branches of different languages with meanings that include, “sorcery”, “holy”, “to consecrate”, “magick”, and finally, “witch”.

Dictionary definitions of the witch are unsurprising and describe the assumptions and stereotypes that were crafted to serve various agendas.

Today we’re honoring a new definition that will bring clarity and modernity to her archetype and mission:

witch (n.) A woman who wields power.

This might feel too simple to be true. You might experience the urge to attach practices, spirituality, and values to it. You might want it to include an explanation of her history or a defense of her character. I promise you, I’ve tried it all. But this is where we land. The simple truth—a witch is a woman who wields power.

In order to fully understand and identify the use of power, please read my essay, How to Become a Truly Powerful Woman.

She is not an aesthetic or a black dress or a cord-cutting spell, or even an herbalist or a ritual-holder, and she is certainly not a Book of Shadows or a Satan-worshiper or a bringer of darkness.

The witch is a source of power only a woman can be.

By renouncing her myths and embracing the pure essence of her purpose, woman can once again fulfill the role that God intended her to serve within the dynamic and changing ecosystems of our times.

HER MISSION

The mission of the New Earth Witch is our mission. It’s the path we take to embody our complete and unfiltered role as women who alter the course of history just by existing in truth. It’s the path we walk in discovery of our Selves and the purpose that God has placed on our hearts to fulfill. It’s the path of being fully mastered in our joy, our faith, and our trials of life.

It’s on this path that we’ll encounter the grace and frequency that will anchor Heaven on Earth through us, not only for ourselves but for generations after we’re gone.

This summer, I’m launching a public project that will guide the women of this archetype along the radical path (i.e. the path that is “vital to life”).

Together, we’ll shatter the illusions of our programming, learn how to be an embodiment of power, become fully actualized in our purpose, and self-mastered in our lives.

We’ll take lofty visions of “Heaven on Earth” and learn how to fortify them into tangible experiences; the dangers and challenges of the darkness on Earth will no longer instill fear, but will fuel our momentum forward in all our beauty and grace.

In the meantime, you can still receive direct council from me by emailing athenaofthewild@protonmail.com. This 90 minute donation-supported session provides women with witnessing and techniques for mastery, clarity, and direction in their life. No exchange is too small. No woman turned away.

I look forward to a summer of awakening the witch in us all!

ALL MY LOVE

Athena Wilder

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FINE PRINT No part of this article has been written or copyedited using AI. Artwork has been sourced without explicit permission from Artsy.net. The artists are not associated with my work or any of the information and/or opinions shared. May their artistry be blessed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lilith: Keepers of the Flame by Mary Blue, 2015
He Came to Set the Captives Free by Rebecca Brown, MD, 1992
Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English, 1973
The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler, 1987
Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief by John Lamb Lash, 2006
Witchcraft: Out of the Shadows, A History by Leo Ruickbie, 2004

I was ripe to fulfill the Brooklyn Witch stereotype: young, “witchy” aesthetic, cool (or whatever), and naturally inclined to do things against the system.

When I first read Wicca, I thought it was everything I’d been missing in my life; a religion that centered nature? Somehow it was beyond anything I’d heard of before (this was long before the algorithm was pumping quasi-spiritual teachings and insta-gurus into our feed.)

I was sold. I leaned even more heavily into the archetype that everyone already knew I was my whole life—witch.

I did my best to make sense of what that meant. I experimented with lunar ceremonies, the Wheel of the Year, practicing tarot, and growing plants. But pieces were still missing and “the vibe” is really not enough to make the witch.

In 2018 I got pregnant, left my career, got trained and attended births as a doula, got “certified” in herbalism, attended women’s circles, got entangled with demonic leaders, navigated false teachings, lost everything, got sober, reached out to God, and in the end, learned how to become a masterful participant of my life.

When I received the directive to re-enter my work in a way that was True, I kept getting called back to the witch. I knew she had an important role to play, that she didn’t belong in polarity to God, and that she was more than what popular culture has taught us about her.

I’ve spent the past year meditating on the witch, asking, what is the true nature of her craft and how do we define her role within the context of the New Earth?

This two part series is going to answer those questions.

Part One: The Hidden History of Popular Witchcraft

The culture of postmodern witchcraft is diverse and heavily shaped by politics and social media. There are feminist witches, liberal witches, plant witches, candle witches, kitchen witches, witches who curse world leaders, purely aesthetic witches, and frankly, very very confused witches.

Core pillars associated with witchcraft include The Wheel of the Year, Book of Shadows, Moon gatherings, casting a circle, spell work, black cats, and dark aesthetics.

Many in the feminist and “wild woman” demographic have been targeted with the idea that witchcraft connects them to their ancestors—that by identifying as witches they can reclaim their oppression from the Church and State, and return to the way things were before the Witch Hunts.

But how were things really before the Witch Hunts, and what do they have to do with a Book of Shadows and spells from #WitchTok?

WHEN THE EARTH WAS PAGAN

It’s important to understand that the deep origin of what we now call witchcraft is actually a vast and multidimensional variety of cultures that were entirely specific to individual groups of people and the lands they inhabited.

These people are generally referred to as Pagans: members of a culture whose central orientation is to the natural environment. They tend to be polytheistic and animistic, honoring the spirit in all things.

Some historians attempt to link the origins of the witch to a particular culture or region such as Ancient Greece (although many of their Goddesses were repurposed from even older societies), but that would depend entirely on how one defines the witch, and whether or not she’s found amongst the ancient ancestresses of Paleolithic and Neolithic cultures.

In order to stay close to the timeline of popular witchcraft, we’ll keep in mind the Pagans who specifically lived in proximity to the Middle East and the Mediterranean—including but surely not limited to the Celtics, Druids, and Gauls of Europe.

THE CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE WITCH

These populations and their practices existed in direct opposition to the desires and goals of the churches organizing during the turn of the first century.

As humanity entered an ascending Daiva Yuga around the year 600, the Church struggled to gain control over the cultures that had the longevity of their years behind them.

The greatest challenge for religious authorities at this time was their own conflicting narrative that while witchcraft and magic weren’t real, they were still real enough to need to be eradicated.

This was resolved by reframing Pagan customs as being purely Satanic, thus bringing them into a Biblical context and enabling the Church to persecute Pagans as heretics.

Because many of the cultures previously mentioned placed women at the center of their religious, prophetic, and healing practices, women became a central target. The morally complex goddesses of the ancient world were reinterpreted to exclude any acts or services of benevolence, and became entirely associated with the underworld—a place once regarded as the realm of the ancestors and great wisdom, now a prison for demons and sinners. This inversion of cosmology provided a habitat for the Christian’s witch to dwell. To further illustrate their behaviors, the Church established the essentials of witchcraft which included: the pact, night-riding, the obscene kiss, orgies, human sacrifice, and cannibalism.

Even with this progression in propaganda, the Inquisition wasn’t fully empowered to seek and trial the witches until the 1400s.

Around 1485 Malleus Maleficarum or, the ‘Hammer of the Witches’ was published as a guide for identifying witches, judging the accused, and providing suitable punishments for their crimes. This guidebook expanded the hunt—which peaked from 1560 to 1660—far and wide across Europe, and eventually to the lands that would come to be known as the United States of America.

The last execution for witchcraft took place in England in 1682, with one of the latest reported executions taking place in Switzerland in 1782. In the end, estimates as to how many perished varies greatly, with as few as 40,000 reported to as many as 9 million, depending on the agenda behind the account.

The collective consciousness was largely influenced out of these practices by the educated men of the Enlightenment (1690-1790) who viewed the Witch Hunts as superstitious and barbaric.

Just as men were primarily responsible for the Christianization of the witch, they were also partially responsible for ending her persecution, and ultimately went on to become the primary reason that popular witchcraft exists today.

THE MEN WHO FOUNDED WITCHCRAFT

Sometime after the Inquisition ceased to be, secret societies developed out of growing curiosities in esoteric knowledge—societies such as the Rosicrucians, Illuminati, and Freemasons. While these groups met behind closed doors, public perception was being shaped though influential literary works of the time.

In 1862, historian Jules Michelet published La Sorcière, portraying the witch as a revolutionary and a symbol of spiritual freedom. It was produced in approximately two months and lacked true historical evidence.

In 1899 Charles Leland published Acadia, or the Gospel of the Witches, which he claimed was sourced from a manuscript provided by an Italian woman named Maddalena concerning a secret society of witches and their practices. The existence of Maddalena, the manuscript, and the society itself have not been well verified.

While these works (among others) had a prominent impact on shifting the collective awareness, it was another group of men who were forming the foundation for what would become the core practices.

These men founded the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a university of magic that wove together occult syncretism, the cabbala, Christian mysticism, Western Hermeticism, Eastern philosophy, and yoga. The purpose was to guide students into spiritual union with their “Higher and Divine Genius” by requiring demonstrations of their mastery of the techniques, and practicing Ceremonial Magic.

One of the Golden Dawn’s most eccentric and performative members, who came to be known as “the wickedest man in the world”, placed a stake in magic that would influence the realm of witchcraft for years to come. This man was Aleister Crowley.

It was he who first tried to establish a Paganism that could reach the masses. He wrote to a brother in the Odro Templi Orientis, providing an outline that included Full Moon, New Moon, Solstice and Equinox ceremonies. “In this way, you can establish a regular cult,” he wrote.

But it wasn’t until the work of Gerald Brouseau Gardner that Wicca was fully forged into the public consciousness. Gardner claimed to be a member of an ancient witch cult that still survived in England, even going as far as saying that he wrote on their behalf. What was ultimately discovered is that his works were completely fictional—much of it borrowed from other self-proclaimed witches with no true lineage or knowledge.

One of those witches included Margaret Murray, famous for enforcing an acceptance of what she believed the witch cults of Europe had looked like—organized Devil worship. She adopted the Christianized witch as a historically accurate figure, based her structure of the Sabbats (and other components) on scant evidence, and outlined seven steps to becoming a witch which were as follows:

1. Be sponsored by a member or approached by the Devil.

2. Renounce all previous religious vows.

3. Swear to obey the Devil.

4. Sign a pact to this effect.

5. Be rebaptised and take a new Witch name.

6. Be branded with the Devil’s Mark.

7. Wear a garter on the left leg (optional).

While Gardner borrowed ideas from his peers and predecessors, he outright plagiarized the work of Aleister Crowley. After meeting with Crowley in 1947—and thus gaining access to some of his private works—Gardner wrote his first draft of the ‘Book of Shadows’ and published “High Magic’s Aid” in 1949.

It’s evident that many of the elements commonly associated with popular witchcraft were not sourced from actual covens or lineages, but cobbled together from eclectic practitioners of the occult arts, and false witches—casting the circle borrowed from Freemasonry, drawing down the moon from Aleister Crowley, covens of thirteen inspired by theory and fantasy, the Book of Shadows a personal fabrication, nudity encouraged from repurposed Christian stereotypes, etc.

The swift exposure of Gardner’s work did little to deter the rise of witch culture.

THE EVOLUTION OF WICCA

During the end of his reign in the realm of Wicca and after his death, a number of figures stepped forward to continue developing the modern interpretation of witchcraft including Doreen Valiente, Robert Cochrane, Sybil Leek, and Alex Sanders. It was common for the influential figures of this movement to claim their lineage through unverifiable or outright fraudulent stories involving initiations, secret covens, and commonly, introductions to Aleister Crowley that likely never occurred.

Eventually, the greater culture was somewhat available for the witch’s aesthetic to be revealed in the light of day—one such method actor being Laurie Cabot or “the Official Witch of Salem”, who insisted on living publicly in black robes, a pentagram medallion, and black eyeliner; “a striking if arbitrary costume” as Ruickbie describes it.

Then came the waves of feminist witches who further molded this previously male-dominated practice to suit their own views and agendas. Popular witch Starhawk has said that witchcraft, “is not based on dogma or a set of beliefs, nor on scriptures or a sacred book revealed by a great man.” Ironically, the Book of Shadows was a sacred book revealed by a man, one who wanted it to be copied by all practicing witches.

The image of the witch was further stretched to encompass the Teen Witch archetype which was molded by works such as The Craft and Sabrina, The Teenage Witch through Hollywood—a male-dominated industry that saw a market opportunity in the demographic of young girls. This archetype clearly stuck, as any surface-level observation of digital content reveals the postmodern witch is most likely to be a female of maiden to mid-life years—her practices likely influenced by the long line of men who have come before her.

THE FRAGMENTATION OF THE WITCH

There is currently an exodus taking place from witchcraft—maybe you’ve seen it during the soon-to-close North Node in Pisces transit. Women who once participated in New Age and occult practices suddenly turning their backs on what they now view as Devil worship, while finding a home in Jesus Christ and Bible study.

As I studied Witchcraft: Out of the Shadows in research for this essay (full bibliography below), my suspicions regarding this exodus were solidified. What has been clung to is an echo of what our Pagan ancestors actually practiced. What we’ve been taught to believe is the craft, is actually a hodge-podge of rituals inspired by half-truths. What we’ve been told would reunite us with our ancestresses, is just an arbitrary system formed by men.

The shallowness of Wicca has left people confused and empty, still longing for something to belong to, to give our cosmology meaning, to make sense of why we are here and what is happening.

I am not ready to abandon the witch. I believe she yearns to be put back together again, properly whole, properly reunited with her true identity, and rebranded to suit her rightful place in the unfolding of the New Earth paradigm that lies before her.

The second half of this series, The New Earth Witch: Part Two—Rebranding a Sacred Feminine Archetype, will guide us through this process and ignite a movement worthy of the next Age of Enlightenment.

ALL MY LOVE

Athena Wilder

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UP NEXT

FINE PRINT No part of this article has been written or copyedited using AI. Artwork has been sourced without explicit permission from Artsy.net. The artists are not associated with my work or any of the information and/or opinions shared. May their artistry be blessed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lilith: Keepers of the Flame by Mary Blue, 2015
He Came to Set the Captives Free by Rebecca Brown, MD, 1992
Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English, 1973
The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler, 1987
Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief by John Lamb Lash, 2006
Witchcraft: Out of the Shadows, A History by Leo Ruickbie, 2004

HIGHLIGHTS & GEMSTONES

• The axiom, “energy can be neither created nor destroyed” applies to the body too.

• A “lack” of energy can’t truly be blamed on things like hormones, minerals, or metabolism (bigger conversation but stay with me).

• We all receive life force from a continuous infinite field of energy.

• The changes I made to redirect my energy and amplify my creativity.

• How to become a self-charging battery (no matter what your Human Design says).

• Little side note about what’s coming soon, but stick to the end for↓

• Where your health draws your boundaries.

Remember that you are a QUEEN. Act accordingly.

ALL MY LOVE

Athena

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In this essay, I’m breaking down some of the habits I’ve nurtured in order to steward wealth while repairing my relationship with money.

Although it can create a bit of repulsion, entering the arena of financial literacy is an excellent place for women to exercise healthy authority (i.e. control) in their lives, while simultaneously elevating their frequency to be able to hold and distribute abundance for future generations of the New Earth.

These habits are especially helpful for those at Level 0-1: getting out of debt or being newly out of debt.

Behavioral Habits

The tangible, 3D practices I use to manage my finances.

Hold Council

A financial priestess holds council for her wealth—attention facilitates intention, which creates change.

Having cyclical meetings to review finances is helpful for both money management polarities—if you’re anxious avoidant, it helps you face your finances at a rhythmic pace, and if you’re obsessive compulsive, it helps you create space in between checking your accounts.

Everyone’s situation is unique, but I wouldn’t hold council more than once a week or less than one a month. No matter who’s in charge of household finances, I believe it’s important for couples to meet periodically so they’re both aware of what their picture looks like and can make bigger decisions together.

In my partnership, we hold Kingdom Council every Quarter Moon (a meeting that covers our progress in wealthsteading, sanctuary building, and self-governance), and I take care of important financial tasks on my own about twice per month.

Build and Honor a Budget

A financial priestess always knows where her money is going—she does this by both managing and honoring a budget.

This habit is essential for preventing mysteriously low bank accounts, easing financial scarcity, and stewarding wealth.

There are many methods for building a budget, and the ratios between needs, wants, and investments depend entirely on factors such as your age, debt, and present “retirement” funds. Some examples include…

A popular budget from I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi:

50-60% Rent + Fixed Bills
10% Investments
5-10% Savings
20-35% Guilt-Free Spending

A conservative budget from Preston Seo of Legacy Investing Show:

50% Investing
40% Needs
10% Wants

Keep in mind how well the first one might work for a 20-year-old with no debt, and how necessary the second one might be for a 37-year-old with $8,000 in credit card bills and no investments.

Some other rules of thumb I’ve collected from those older and wiser than me1 include:

Rent → 30% of income ($1400 rent = $4700 monthly income)
Mortgage → 2.5-3x annual income (50K income = $150K mortgage limit)
Cars → If you don’t have the cash to pay for the car, don’t buy it.

The critical component in keeping a budget is—GASP!—honoring the budget.

Admittedly, throughout my twenties I was a professional budget designer, making all those pretty color-coordinated spreadsheets. But as soon as I stepped out of my apartment they seemed to evaporate—um hello Whole Foods and happy hour martinis. I did it again in my thirties after we’d just moved to Canada during the 2020 lockdowns—emotionally spiraling, not knowing how we were going to make money, afraid to look at the checking account (will you believe me when I tell you that despite all my spreadsheets, we were blowing $1,000 a month on organic wine?).

There are many years of budget dishonor in my history, but if I can reform so can you! Some of the habits below will help you with this. I definitely recommend the councils and identifying which budget tracking system works best for you (cash envelops? Apps? Spreadsheets?).

Discern Needs vs Wants

A financial priestess is able to discern the difference between needs and wants.

It never became more evident how distorted our general perception of this ability is until I started watching Caleb Hammer’s Youtube show, Financial Audit. The spending habits that were so fiercely defended were shocking!

This is likely a result of the unnatural and disharmonious consumer/convenience culture that’s programmed our behaviors, skewed our sense of what we truly need, and of course, implanted the idea that we can source our joy from without—or your money back guaranteed!

So what really counts as a need? I like anchoring in to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs2 as a reminder and guideline for what is truly important in life (you’ll notice that most of these things are immaterial).

PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS

The biological requirements for human life including air, water, food, shelter, clothing, sleep, and fertility (I would also add access to nature).

SAFETY NEEDS

The inherent need to experience a certain level of security and predictability, including financial, physical, and material.

LOVE & BELONGING

The emotional need to feel connected to others through relationships, intimacy, and aligned communities.

ESTEEM

The psychological need to experience self-worth, and receive respect and recognition from one’s communities.

SELF-ACTUALIZATION

The ability to pursue and expand into the fullness of one’s unique purpose and abilities in life (I would also add spiritual connection).

The tighter your budget needs to be, to more helpful it will be to understand what you can trim out of it.

At one point my only expenses outside of food and shelter were a $99-a-year flip phone service and the To Be Magnetic3 membership. Be brutally honest with yourself about expenses that you claim are for your good but aren’t (e.g. a gym membership you don’t actually use, a subscription that serves as a distraction, an addiction masquerading as a healthy need). Most of the things we’ve been conditioned to believe our children need are also entirely unnecessary (e.g. cribs, disposable diapers, baby lotions and soaps, baby food, toys, books, digital media, etc. )

Research Price Comparisons

A financial priestess enjoys the highest quality goods for the lowest investment.

The tighter the budget the more this habit matters! You want every dollar to stretch as far as it can go, and the time it takes to do some price comparison can save thousands of dollars a year.

The most common area I practice this with is nourishment. I buy the best quality I can afford at the lowest price between Thrive Market and Azure, and buy in bulk where I can (always be sure to compare the price per unit or weight).

Sometimes a good quality item at its lowest price is going to be offered by an organization we’d rather not support. Instead of feeling shame, guilt, or internally fractured by where you put your voting dollars, be fully supportive of yourself and what you need to do to get to where you’re going.

The greatest joy of financial priestessing is reaching the threshold where your abundance can be shared with the people and organizations you value most.

Leverage Healthy Credit

A financial priestess knows how to leverage credit cards to amplify abundance.

This habit only applies to people who have the emotional maturity to handle credit cards, meaning: credit card debt isn’t being accrued for irresponsible spending and balances are being paid off in full every month. Even if you’re in a season of getting out of debt, there are ways you can use them to help you. Below are some examples depending on your season:

ZERO-ING OUT DEBT

If you’re working with a large balance, it’s possible to save money by conducting a balance transfer from high interest credit cards to a 0% APR card. Compare what you’re losing on interest to the transfer fee, and make sure you note when the 0% interest will run out so you can make a plan to zero out the debt by then. Browse the top credit cards for this category.

GETTING BACK ON YOUR FEET

Once you’re out of debt and focusing on magnifying your funds, you can start working credit cards rewards so every purchase results in cash back. It’s best to choose cards that align with what you actually spend your money on, especially things like gas or groceries, so you’re not tempted to “spend money to make money” (which truly doesn’t work well in this department). Browse cash back cards.

ELEVATING YOUR LIFESTYLE

When you’re in the flow of managing your finances with greater ease and mastery, you’ll probably want to level up a bit! This is where you can start thinking about using credit cards in a bigger way, such as free travel opportunities and lifestyle rewards. To learn about travel hacking, I recommend 10xTravel which is a completely free course.

A little tip on getting signing bonuses if you can’t spend enough money to meet the requirements: purchases that are returned count too! We recently earned $900 in cash back rewards by buying and returning a very expensive gaming tower from Walmart in order to meet the threshold.

With this habit on hand, everything becomes an opportunity to amplify your dollars and transactions (and it’s fun too!).

Keep a Banana Stand

A financial priestess always has money in the banana stand.

This is what I call The Banana Stand Method! Named after the incredible debacle in the show Arrested Development, in which $250,000 was secretly lining the walls of an unassuming frozen banana stand.

Your banana stand can take on many forms—a hardly used Paypal or Venmo account, an envelop under the mattress, a jar buried in the backyard, credit card rewards, a coin jar in the corner of the kitchen, etc. (my Yia Yia once told me the story of a family whose descendants started ripping up the bathroom tiles soon after the patriarch died!).

The point of this method is to casually and habitually squirrel away money you’ll eventually forget about, and will ultimately add up to amounts that will surprise you.

No matter what happens, a financial priestess knows there’s always money in the banana stand!

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Energetic Habits

The emotional and philosophical practices I use to support my behaviors.

Practice Emotional Hygeine

A financial priestess understands that money isn’t energy, but energy moves money.

I know people are a bit divided on this one, but for me personally, everything changed when I stopped viewing money as energy. What I’m willing to bet is more applicable to your lived experience is that energy moves money—and by energy I mean, emotions.

They way people feel about money, and the way their emotions govern their behaviors around money, have the greatest impact on how money transfers in and out of their lives.

A financial priestess understands this, and practices healthy emotional hygeine in order to keep a clean relationship with her wealth management decisions.

Emotional intelligence is a huge topic in self-mastery, but some gemstones you can collect for this practice include:

• Recalibrating your system to feel safe managing money.

• Identifying where you spend money to simulate joy.

• Identifying where you spend money to cope with strong emotions (sadness, shame, guilt, fear, etc.)

• Using the numbers to neutralize emotional decisions (what makes sense in black and white?).

Adopt An Investor Mindset

A financial priestess doesn’t spend her money, she makes investments.

The meaning of “spend” includes “consume”, “use up”, and even “deprive oneself of”. When I’m in the mindset of spending money, I tend to feel like I’m actually wasting it, as if it’s slipping off a shelf and into an abyss of questionable purchases. But when I’m in the mindset of investing, every choice becomes a vote for the reality I want to manifest through that purchase.

What are you investing in when you go through a drive-through? When you visit a farm? When you buy art? When you fill up the car with gas? When you pay a membership fee? When you work with a coach? When you rent movies? When you thrift for clothes? When you buy alcohol? When you fill a prescription?

Review all your investments with neutrality; they are unique to you and they all have context. What kind of experience are you creating through them? Which timeline are you activating into reality? What kind of future are you funding?

Fall Out of Love With Money

A financial priestess doesn’t love money, she stewards it.

If you lay a $100 bill on the table and sit with it, you’ll find that it doesn’t care how much you love it, and it cannot love you back. Indeed, the bible famously said, “For the love of money is the root of all evil…” This is important because it’s not money itself that is either evil or good—it’s what we do with it that counts.

Money only asks that you steward it—or not, it’s up to you; that you learn how to respect and take responsibility for what it can do in a persons’s life. Through stewardship, money can be guarded, duplicated, shared, used to create, and used to solve problems.

Hold a Vision For Wealth

A financial priestess has a vision for the role money can play in her life and the lives of others.

This is where you tap into the why of your financial journey. Even at Level 0 you can practice holding your gaze higher than the immediate goal of, get out of debt and survive. Because beyond that is something so much more, and it requires vision to get there.

This is the habit of dreaming and thinking bigger than our conditioning. It’s the practice of believing in a timeline in which wealth is secured and passed down through multiple generations through Trust technology, and a willingness to tap into the mission that God has for you on Earth in order to steward prosperity for the benefit of the greater collective.

Circulate Generosity

A financial priestess circulates wealth and generosity with joy.

This threshold is crossed when we’ve learned to take care of ourselves, when we don’t have to worry about our basic needs, and when we rewire the mental programs that have created a disruption in our sense of safety.

It’s the ability to share all forms of prosperity and resources without a crippling sensation or a fear of not having enough for ourselves. Through this habit we bring ourselves into community with others and into right relationship with money.

A financial priestess knows the ultimate purpose of generating wealth is to be able to circulate it with joy, in amplification of Heaven on Earth.

Seeking mastery, clarity and direction? Join me for New Earth Embodiment: 90 min 1:1 council for women navigating the radical path. Entirely donation-supported. No woman turned away.

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In Review

A financial priestess:

• Holds council for her finances.

• Builds and honors a budget.

• Discerns the difference between wants and needs.

• Enjoys the highest quality goods for the lowest investment.

• Leverages healthy credit.

• Always has money in the banana stand!

• Practices emotional hygeine.

• Doesn’t spend, she invests.

• Doesn’t love money, she stewards it.

• Has a vision for her wealth.

• Circulates wealth and generosity with joy.

ALL MY LOVE

Athena Wilder

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FINE PRINT No part of this article has been written or copyedited using AI. Cited artwork has been sourced without explicit permission from Artsy.net. The artists are not associated with my work or any of the information and/or opinions shared. May their artistry be blessed.

FOOTNOTES

I was sitting on the floor in front of the back door, opened in the morning sun to reveal the mossy stones and fallen pine branches of the surrounding woods; the phone clutched by a tripod as I conversed with a particularly gifted dentist from Denmark (is she an emotional dentist? A witch?).

I told my story. She nearly interrupted me (as I always perceive it) to point out what’s been pointed out to me since my first counseling sessions in middle school—that I’m phenomenally hard on myself.

“Have compassion for yourself,” she said.

I bristled.

I do! I wanted to shout. I have compassion for the fact that I was meek and lost and couldn’t stand up for myself and fully deserved what I received, don’t you see?!

But I didn’t. I let her speak. And then, as if in slow motion, that final straw that breaks the back fell into place, and I was suddenly shifting under an enormously uncomfortable weight.

I thought of all the other times I’ve been told the same thing—every therapist, every friend, the scenes rotating through my mind like a Rolodex.

Oh. I thought, punctuating the end of the memory-go-round.

I thought about the language I use to tell my stories. The way I love to highlight all my faults so I can prove how well I alchemize them into power. Constantly jumping up and down crying, Am I good enough now? Can you see that I’m good enough now?

This mode of operation, the I’m Not Good Enough Program, the I’m Not Loved Program, the Nobody Cares About Me Program; I met it in a way I wasn’t able to meet it before.

For so long I was trying to override it with perfection, with tools and techniques, but I was missing something. I was missing compassion. I was missing forgiveness.

I was missing a hand that reaches out and takes a younger me in my arms and says, “You were so brave. You were so strong. You were so loved.”

I don’t know if I’d finally heard it enough times, if it was the particular frequency of the crone who said it to me, or if I had simply arrived at the point in the work where I was ready to hear it—but I’m hearing it now.

All my life, I’ve been phenomenally hard on myself—up until this very moment, and maybe even into the next—but that’s okay. It’s perfect. And I don’t need to chose it anymore.

ALL MY LOVE

Athena

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I was living in body traumatized by a boundary-less childhood rife with co-dependent narcissistic personalities, and bolstered by chapters of adulthood with more of the same.

As I started learning how to function in a healthy capacity, it seemed that boundaries were a critical component of this thing we call, being human.

The problem was, it seemed to involve a lot of saying No and creating rules that other people were expected to follow.

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried telling abusive people what to do, but I can share from my own experience—it doesn’t go very well.

I invested years of time and energy trying desperately to control what other people were doing and saying, all in the name of healthy boundaries. My Sacred No was defiled and I didn’t find myself very much empowered in the end.

This is when I decided to approach the concept differently, and as I evolved with it over the years, my use of this pop-psychology term has become a technique that maintains a quality of life I didn’t know how to command just by saying No.

When No Means Nothing

Saying No is really only 5% of the work (not an official stat or anything, but maybe). Whether you’re declaring it to yourself or someone else, what comes after is what changes everything. It’s our behavior that manifests the No into reality, but most people get stuck after they utter the syllable.

Now, for someone just stepping onto the path, mustering up the courage to say No might be a really big deal. It might even feel like 99% of the work. If that’s you, I want you to celebrate that.

I also want you to know that if the No falls apart, it’s not because you said it wrong, or something’s wrong with you, or you deserve what’s happening. It falls apart because it’s only 5% of the work, and when you’re ready, you’ll have to take it further.

Rules For Thee But Not For Me

Another popular way to structure boundaries involves setting rules for all those naughty boundary-pushers in your life. It’s the practice of asking so-and-so, “Can you stop emailing me about family gossip because it’s really upsetting me?” or “Can you stop dumping into my text messages at 9pm?” or “Please don’t buy the children any more toys.”

The problem with this approach, is that the people who struggle with boundaries the most tend to be surrounded by people who don’t know how to honor them. In these cases, the boundaries fail to register with the offending party, who’ll likely be back at it a few days, weeks, or months later.

By asking other people to change their behavior, we’re actually attempting to control what is entirely out of our control, not to mention what is none of our business to interfere with.

I’ve experienced the most success in this department by flipping the practice to assert how I’m going to respond instead. For example:

“Can you stop emailing me about family gossip because it’s really upsetting me?” ➜ “It’s upsetting for me to read this type of information. If I receive it again I won’t be opening your emails anymore.”

“Can you stop dumping into my text messages at 9pm?” ➜ “I want you to know that my phone’s Do No Disturb settings will kick in at 6pm from now on, so I won’t be available to reply to evening messages 🤍”

“Please don’t buy the children any more toys.” ➜ “We don’t believe in allowing the children to have so many toys, so any new purchases will end up in the donation bin. We have lots of other ideas for gifts if you’d like a list!”

The more unwell or unmastered the receiving party is, the firmer you have to be. Stating these boundaries will be another 5% step—you are now fully responsible for upholding your boundary!

It’s All In The Follow-Through

Whatever the nature of your boundary—a simple No or a rule—how you practice your desired outcome is entirely up to you. This is where discipline and devotion play a role in your reality.

Depending on what you’re dealing with, it’s possible you’ll have to come up with new strategies to facilitate your success. For example, let’s say the family member doesn’t stop emailing you and their presence in your inbox is stressing you out and tempting you to go back on your word and start reading things you needn’t—maybe even get into some triggered exchanges? You could change the settings of your inbox so they’re all redirected to a separate folder. There’s no need to announce the move—your boundary’s already been stated—you’re simply doing what you need to uphold it.

By taking responsibility for your boundaries—which from here on out we’ll refer to as, standards—you enter an evolutionary process for personal growth.

Standards For Growth

Often times, the follow-through is also the stage where ugly truths about yourself can come to surface. You might realize that person in your life is actually there because you’re sort of...addicted to their abuse. Or that you’re just as co-dependent as your friend is. Or that one habit is actually not something you could easily quit “whenever you want to”.

When we pursue elevated standards for our life, we naturally have to challenge ourselves to grow in order to meet them. This includes the inner work necessary to align with the high self-worth that will make these new standards completely non-negotiable.

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Traps and Illusions

Other lessons I’ve learned along the way…

When we start exercising our voice it’s common to soften the blow of a No with reasons or excuses for saying so. This tends to become a trap, as the receiving party finds ways to resolve or diminish the excuse. For example: “I can’t host Christmas this year, I’m just too overwhelmed with the kids right now…” “Oh that’s okay, we’ll be there to help out, and besides, we haven’t seen you in ages!” Yikes. Remedy this by affirming instead, “I’m not available to host Christmas this year.” You don’t have to get into the reason why, you’re simply “not available” for it.

For those healing co-dependency, a common illusion in boundary-setting takes place when we attempt to keep an abuser in our life while applying all our new rules to the relationship. It might be a big step compared to being a total doormat, but it also creates a bit of a game that ends up playing itself out into a dead end. At first you feel like you’re forcing the relationship to change for the better—you may even get a rush from exercising control over someone who’s been hurting you. In my experience, abusers will alway find ways to trample the boundaries and cause harm, sometimes even after weeks or months of being “good”. In the end, when the standards are raised really high, these people just don’t belong in the picture anymore.

The push-back will be real. Even people who seemed boundary-literate have expressed disdain over my limitations. Not only will this practice challenge your self-worth, it will challenge your confidence and your ability to feel secure in your Self even as others cast judgements and have emotional reactions to your standards. It can be helpful to go into the field knowing this, so you’re not surprised or disappointed when you feel like you’re doing something really brave and good, only to be ridiculed, misunderstood, or disrespected.

Children are no exception to this practice! In fact, they may be some of the most important people for a mother to have high standards with (I’ve personally noticed that negotiating with young children is very similar to dealing with emotionally immature adults: “I won’t play the game if you use that kind of language with me. I see that you think this it’s funny. I’m going to walk away now.”) Children benefit from a home with healthy boundaries in that their entire lifestyle, and therefore physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health, are dependent on it. I wrote more about maintaining standards as the holy mother archetype in The Death and Rebirth of the Mother Martyr.

Becoming the Creatrix

Engaging with this practice will naturally elevate all your standards, allowing you to become less of a pleaser and more of a creatrix, manifesting her desired reality into life.

My “boundaries” are now standards I uphold for myself. Everyday in every way.

They touch how I take care of my body, who I give my energy to, what kind of behavior I want to be around, the media I allow into my psyche, the quality and beauty of the objects taking up space in my life, et cetera.

Work your way beyond the 5%. It’s the scariest part, but I promise the fun and the freedom found in the last 95% is worth it.

Seeking mastery, clarity and direction? Join me for New Earth Embodiment: 90 min 1:1 council for women navigating the radical path. Entirely donation-supported. No woman turned away.

Hit Reply or email athenaofthewild@protonmail.com to schedule your sit.

In Review

• Saying No is 5% of the work.

• Following through is 95% of the work.

• Asking other people to change is an attempt to control what is beyond your control.

• How other people behave is none of your business to fix.

• You can set boundaries more efficiently when you take responsibility for your own behaviors and solutions.

• You don’t have to give people excuses for your No (“I’m not available for that.” / “That doesn’t work for me.”)

• Some people are purely abusive or have such low standards for themselves that they just won’t belong in your life anymore.

• Expect push-back and practice being misunderstood or judged.

• Children need boundaries too!

• Boundaries are really the standards we uphold for ourselves.

ALL MY LOVE

Athena Wilder

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FINE PRINT No part of this article has been written or copyedited using AI. Cited artwork has been sourced without explicit permission from Artsy.net. The artists are not associated with my work or any of the information and/or opinions shared. May their artistry be blessed.

A few weeks ago while gazing out over the tundra landscape and a teacup of coffee, a question popped into my awareness that I considered “out loud” in a Substack note.

I didn’t think much of it, but within 24 hours it got more attention than anything else I’ve published in the Notes section.

Reading through the comments it was obvious that people were projecting a wide variety of beliefs and perceptions onto this question, as well as confusing what the words “power” and “responsibility” mean.1

Then came the inquiry I know many of us must have thought at some point since 2020, “‘Stepping into my power’ I don’t even know what this means. It sounds ridiculous to me.”

I thought of all the cultural distortions, myths, and lies surrounding power, and what women are teaching each other about what it looks like. I thought about all the potential that is lost when we misuse, abuse, or reject a concept that is simply misunderstood. I thought it was time to dispel and rebuild what it means become a truly powerful woman.

Myths in Power

Before we muse about and explore how to “step into your power” (forgive me), I want to dispel some myths that may be at the forefront of your conscious and unconscious minds. These are cultural scripts that shape perceptions and behaviors.

POWER IS HAVING RESOURCES AND MONEY

Power is often equated with how many assets one has, especially in regards to money and wealth; but money, like other kinds of property, is just a neutral resource. It doesn’t inherently give anyone power, nor is it “attracted” to power. Indeed, most of the world’s resources are currently concentrated amongst those with very little power at all (I know this doesn’t make sense right now, but stay with me).

POWER IS BAD

Power is consistently and subliminally equated with immoral behavior and even outright evil. Most of us are holding onto threads that have taught us that power is bad. The notion is even woven into everyday phrases such as, “the powers that be” (used while referencing the most nauseating of world leaders of course).

POWER IS ALIGNING WITH SPECIFIC VALUES

Power has—notably in recently years—become equated with specific values and lifestyle choices. You’re only powerful if you birth at home, stay away from doctors, grow out your body hair, and plant a garden. Behaviors that veer from this pre-scripted storyline become shadowed, banished to a shameful realm in which a woman must surely not be in her power.

POWER IS BEING IN CONTROL

Power is usually equated with those who are in control of other people and events, especially those of national and global scale. In the microcosm, influencers, abusers, “authorities”, or even those who are simply loud and domineering are sometimes viewed as powerful. The more control they appear to have over others, the more power they are perceived to have.

POWER IS FED BY EXTERNAL SOURCES

Power is sometimes equated with an entity that can be fed from without—that in order for power to be sustained or to grow, it needs energy from outside of itself, as in the form of labor, emotions, services, resources, attention, etc. Again, we think of “the powers that be” and predators-at-large. This is a clever inversion of the truth, as many of these myths are.

Power vs Force

Before continuing, it’s important that I name my primary source of influence when it comes to this topic—Power vs Force by David R Hawkins2. This text provides a great deal of clarification and will guide us on our journey into power. (All pull quotes in this article are sourced from his text.)

Based on the myths above—and many others unlisted—what most people perceive as power is actually force.

Just as the word evil is an inversion of the word live, force is an inversion of power.

Force is in motion, a movement, and is always moving against something. Because of this it produces a counterforce which generates a polarizing effect, naturally facilitating bifurcation.

Force manifests weakness, which equates with death, and is inherently anti-life. It’s naturally exploitative and always needs to be justified.

Force, because it’s so innately deficient, is incomplete on its own and has to be fed by external sources.

Power is not in motion and therefore doesn’t need to move against anything at all. Power rests in stillness and emerges from consciousness. This allows power to facilitate unity rather than division.

Power manifests strength, equating life and ultimately, spirit. It is life-affirming and never requires justification.

Power is complete on its own and doesn’t require anything outside of itself to be sustained.

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Power as Consciousness

Hawkins teaches that power “stands still, emanating from consciousness itself.” It’s not something we do as much as it’s something we feel.

Our power in the world is directly correlated to our emotional disposition—not necessarily our day-to-day oscillating emotions, but how we operate at our core. Someone born into their life calibrating at 150 (Anger) will be oriented to the circumstances and events of their Earthly experience through this lens. This emotional condition ripples into their beliefs and behaviors and composes the frequency of their energy field, impacting the collective level of consciousness just by existing. Although it’s very rare for a person to shift their level of consciousness, it is possible over the evolutionary journey of their lifetime(s).

Because power is so tremendously influential in light of force, it is claimed that one individual at level 300 counterbalances 90,000 individuals below level 200, with higher levels counterbalancing weak individuals by the millions. Additionally, the actions we take and the emotions we experience in our everyday lives have tremendous power in the web of consciousness.

A Powerful Woman

Taking this into context, what does it mean for a woman who wants to “step into her power”? What makes a woman Truly powerful? These are my ideas:

A POWERFUL WOMAN IS SELF-AWARE

The most basic meaning of conscious is “to be aware”. Since consciousness and power as so closely related, a powerful woman is aware of what takes place in her own mind, aware of her beliefs, and aware of her behaviors.

This is the foundation that supports other pillars of power and is far more rare than people believe, simply observing that numerous studies have shown that up to 95% of our behaviors and thoughts—and the population at large—are unconscious. Forceful behaviors and lower levels of consciousness are driven by those consumed in their own darkness and remain unaware of it.

By engaging in self-awareness, a powerful woman can shed lower vibrating emotions and behaviors—and the entities that attach to and feed off of them—naturally elevating her frequency, her actions, and her impact on the greater collective.

A POWERFUL WOMAN IS SOVEREIGN

To be sovereign is to be the highest authority over one’s own actions. This is very important to understand, because it distinguishes a powerful woman from those confused by popular narratives and propaganda.

A woman can be powerful even as she consciously makes a choice that is not aligned with the demands of radical influences or governing bodies alike. She is powerful because she is aware of her mind, her body, her needs, and her knowing, and makes decisions accordingly, regardless of the latest trends.

In her pursuit to discover the Truth, to honor her unique path in life, and to know her Self, she becomes positively ungovernable and deeply powerful.

A POWERFUL WOMAN EMBODIES HER VALUES

A clear indicator of the integrity of any person (or organization) is the alignment of their behaviors with their expressed values. An unconscious woman makes demands and outlines standards that she herself does not follow; because of this, she must use force to enact the change in the world she wishes to see. A conscious woman is a coherent and harmonious embodiment of her values and her ideals; she doesn’t need to force or even ask others to change—she simply is the reality she wishes to see.

It is, of course, possible that someone could align with weak anti-life values and fully embody those values, modeling both integrity and force. A powerful woman can only be so if her integrity is aligned with conscious values belonging to high energy fields.

A POWERFUL WOMAN SUSTAINS LIFE

At the heart of power is an inherent support for life. We see this in nature’s innate intelligence—a design so perfect that man-made imitations and replacements don’t come close in benefit or function, a design so life-affirming that it persists in spite of human force. This is the design of Love.

That which aligns with power aligns with the energy field that facilitates this Natural Order. It is aligned with healing, growth, and beauty, with seasons and cycles, with the four legged, the two legged, the ones who swim and the ones who fly, with the plants and minerals, with the waters, the earth, the fire, and the winds, and with the grace and glory of the Earth realm as God created it.

When a woman places herself in this web and applies her stewardship to its resources, she becomes a powerful affirmation of life itself.

A POWERFUL WOMAN PURSUES THE LIGHT

The human condition is one of imperfection and evolutionary progress. We must learn to exercise patience and compassion, especially towards ourselves, as we all make our way into the light.

A woman does not await her perfection in order to be in her power—she knows that by simply committing to a state of expansion, and the practice of Love, Peace, Grace, and Joy, she can align herself with principles of power and become a ripple of change in the Great Matrix of Consciousness.

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In Review

POWER VS FORCE

• Force is in motion, creating counterforce and polarization. Power is still and facilitates unity.

• Force is weak and anti-life. Power is strong and life affirming.

• Force needs to be fed by external sources. Power is self-sustaining.

• Money and assets are neutral resources and do not make one more or less powerful.

• Anti-system behaviors do not make one inherently powerful.

• The “powers that be” are actually forces of e-v-i-l (an inversion of what it means to l-i-v-e).

• Controlling people and circumstances is not a sign a power, but a force of weakness.

POWERFUL WOMEN

• A powerful woman is self-aware; aware of what takes place in her mind, aware of her beliefs, and aware of her behaviors.

• A powerful woman is sovereign; in her pursuit to discover the Truth, to honor her unique path in life, and to know her Self, she becomes positively ungovernable and deeply powerful.

• A powerful woman embodies her values; as a coherent and harmonious expression of her ideals, she doesn’t need to force or even ask others to change—she simply is the reality she wishes to see.

• A powerful woman sustains life; when a woman places herself in the web of life and applies her stewardship to its resources, she becomes a powerful affirmation of life itself.

• A powerful woman pursues the light; by committing to a state of expansion and the practice of Love, Peace, Grace, and Joy, she aligns herself with principles of power and becomes a ripple of change in the Great Matrix of Consciousness.

Seeking mastery, clarity and direction? Join me for New Earth Embodiment: 90 min 1:1 council for women navigating the radical path. Entirely donation-supported. No woman turned away.

Hit Reply or email athenaofthewild@protonmail.com to schedule your sit.

ALL MY LOVE

Athena Wilder

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FINE PRINT No part of this article has been written or copyedited using AI. Cited artwork has been sourced without explicit permission from Artsy.net. The artists are not associated with my work or any of the information and/or opinions shared. May their artistry be blessed.

FOOTNOTES

Eight years ago, my Saturn Return rocked me onto a path I was in no way prepared for. I found myself pregnant at the height of my career in New York City, fully tethered to a distortion of the spirit realm through alcohol and drug use, and only loosely connected to my Self (that True and higher frequency at the center of the soul’s consciousness).

I knew I was facing a fork that would change my life forever—I could release the soul that was choosing me to harbor its life and return to my earthly pleasures, or I could receive the lessons that awaited me on the radical path and be initiated into my Dharma.

I’m certain you’ve been faced with this opportunity before, sometimes over and over again as God gently—and not so gently—knocks on your door, waiting for you to be willing (because let’s face it, you’ll never be ready). Maybe you’ve said yes many times already, or maybe you’re still toeing the threshold. There’s no judgement and there’s no right or wrong choice about it.

In many ways, my yes was a big leap into an abyss, only to look back and find that for some reason I was still gripping the edge of the gateway, making sure to keep a few fingers in the past, clinging onto old habits, familiar identities, and fragmented pieces of my psyche. I could never blame myself; I set fire to my career, birthed my daughter at home, started a business, moved in and out of the country, was ensnared by peak Free Birth Society, lost all my friends, closed my business, got sober, rebuilt my finances and my identity, and made medicine of it all with very little support.

Most of the time I felt like I was walking on hot coals in the dark, a sensation you’ve probably felt while navigating being, you know, different.

The point is—I know what it’s like to just feel so fucking alone in it all.

And I know that it isn’t normal to be initiated in this way; that in an integrated society—elders, mentors, guides, and councils are there to witness you into your becoming.

Yes, you can do it alone, but that doesn’t mean you should.

As my purpose in this life comes into clarity, I’ve been urged by God to be of service to the vision of Heaven on Earth in a specific way; to gift the medicines I’ve made, as I continue my practices and studies on the path of initiation.

I’m not yet an expert nor a master, and I won’t pretend to be for some time, but I am a woman who may be a few steps ahead of you in the dark, holding up a lantern so you can find your way.

This is the support, the clarity, and the direction I’m offering in New Earth Embodiment: 90 min 1:1 council for women navigating their own radical path in life.

To service your becoming, I draw upon my skills in psychospiritual energetics and techniques, ritual and ceremony design, Evolutionary Astrology and Human Design, and my lived experiences in addiction, abusive relationships, identity shifts, financial collapse, mystical mothering, and spiritual practice.

This offering is entirely donation-supported. No woman turned away.

Hit Reply or email me at athenaofthewild@protonmail.com to schedule your sit.

ALL MY LOVE

Athena Wilder

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FINE PRINT Cited artwork has been sourced without explicit permission from Artsy.net. The artists are not associated with my work or any of the information and/or opinions shared. May their artistry be blessed.

Suddenly, what should be a very natural extension of motherhood becomes an overwhelming block. Aside from some fundamental shifts I believe most women need to prioritize (such as caring for themselves first1) one obvious through line has been the absence of an aligned and healthy community—what was once very naturally present as the village.

A lack of village support is of course a modern dis-ease that has been carefully cultivated through an endless list of oppressive systems and further fractured by generations of the individual. Most people don’t even find common ground with their own families anymore, and the elders are too physically, emotionally, and spiritually sick to service their legacy.

Since the totalitarian flex of 2020, many people have attempted to jump into some form of intentional community as a resolve. This was of course very reactive, and highlighted the deep shadows and handicaps that prevent these ideas from actually working. I joined one such community myself, experiencing the intense burn that comes from denying red flags in order to “fit in” and feel “safe”. I was given a unique gift through that experience in that I came to know a severe distortion of what it is we are all seeking, especially from a dysfunctional, hierarchical, and abusive environment innocently described as Yurt School.

I learned that true community requires a level of emotional maturity, self-knowing, and communication that most of us were not taught how to cultivate, and that in order to experience the joy and pleasure of trust and play, a certain amount of organization and mutual responsibility need to be present.

Separately, as I’ve witnessed my own daughter grow up, I’ve continued to dismantle almost everything I thought I knew about what children need, and what childhood education is really about—all within the context of a crumbling yet expanding planetary society on the precipice of great change and potential.

And so I’ve arrived here to present a possible solution for a new paradigm on Earth. One in which we learn again how to recreate the village—instead of scrolling pathetically on our devices wondering why we feel so alone. This is a vision and an experiment, and my hope is that women reading this—out there and everywhere—will be inspired to take this idea and make miracles happen.

If you’re interested in forming a village with us, please read to the bottom where you’ll find our info.

Section 1. A Homeschooling Blueprint for the New Earth

Declaration of Intent

To create a model for childhood education that serves the needs and evolution of humanity’s present experience on Earth.

Definitions

New Earth: the incoming paradigm shift that will change how humanity lives and thrives in right relationship with one another and the natural world, an expansion of collective consciousness that will result in a new Golden Age in history, a restructuring of all utilitarian systems including medicine, education, agriculture, law, government, economics, technology, spirituality, etc.

Revillaging: the process of forming healthy, interdependent communities that mimic, and yet evolve from, what was ancestrally commonplace and what remains biologically, emotionally, and spiritually appropriate for humans today.

Philosophy

This New Earth childhood education model is guided by several key beliefs:

1. Appropriate childhood learning, growth, nourishment, and development does not take place in institutions, whether public or private, governmental or alternative.

2. Children belong with their mothers and fathers, families, and communities, where their education arises naturally through their experience of life within the context of those cultures and environments.

3. There is no model of education, no matter how alternative, that works for every child; each child is intellectually, emotionally, physically, and spiritually unique and has their own needs, interests, and requirements.

4. The health and development of every child is interwoven with the health and development of their mother and father.

Revillaging Framework

This model is based on the formation of healthy, interdependent communities or “villages” that collectively pledge to uphold their values and guidelines. Participation is voluntary and should be naturally inspired rather than fueled by obligation. The function, form, and wellbeing of the village extends beyond the education of the children, as each family genuinely enjoys supporting one another in all aspect of life.

Forming the Village

At least three actively participating families are recommended, but many more can be accommodated. Any single family can become the catalyst and founders of their local village, and can adjust the values of their village to suit their vision and needs.

In order to form a village, the founding family must establish:

1. Their own version of this declaration including any unique values and guidelines they are seeking to share with other families.

2. Geographic requirements including how far they are willing to travel to reach participating families.

3. How they are going to find and accept interested families into the village.

Once two families have committed to their vision, a village has been formed. From that point on the entire village must participate in accepting new families and making decisions.

Receiving New Families

In order for this model to work, it’s imperative that the families are a correct fit for one another and genuinely enjoy being with and supporting each other. At least two visits should be hosted, first at the interested family’s home, then at one of the village family’s homes. The environment of the interested family’s home should match the feeling and values of the village, and everyone must be comfortable with the idea of one day dropping their children off there and leaving. If those visits go well, the interested family can join the village on a trial basis. Three to six months is probably acceptable. Each family in the village needs to feel good about any new families that join in order to avoid problems down the road.

Releasing Families

Interested families who are not a good fit for the village should be notified respectfully and may be given a reasonable explanation. If a family who's already been accepted into the village begins to reveal that they are not a good fit, they may be highlighted at Village Council (see below). Perhaps they have stopped participating or are not behaving in alignment with the village values and guidelines. Clear and curious confrontation may give them a chance to shift and try again. If the issue continues, the village may decided to release the family from the commitment.

The Village Council

Once per month the village will come together to hold council in order to solve problems, make decisions, plan events and activities for the children, and of course, witness and support one another. This gathering can be fun and casual and can accommodate the children as long as they have a separate place to play. Older children or teens may be interested in attending or contributing. Ideally, the families will be able to rotate who hosts. Emergency councils can be called as needed, and council may be held for older children and teens who need guidance and wisdom from their elders.

A volunteer will record the minutes at the monthly councils, and the group should have access to a central place in order to reference the events and commitments, such as a group text, email, or virtual calendar. A sample agenda for a Village Council might be as follows:

1. Clear the Air: Is there anything that needs to be aired before going into the meeting?

2. Village Planning: Work on the calendar for the upcoming month or season.

3. Community Support: What are the families going through? Does anyone needs witnessing, solutions, or support?

Rather than a democratic, majority-vote format, a consensus model shall be used for village planning to ensure that the workings of the village are in agreement with everyone’s needs. This requires some training but the basics are as follows:

• Council members do not vote Yes or No, rather proposals are made and members can either consent, stand aside, or block the idea.

• Giving consent is a willingness to support or act on the idea.

• Standing aside is for those who don’t necessarily support the idea but don’t want to prevent it from taking place. They may not have to participate and are noted in the minutes.

• Blocking is used only for those in serious disagreement with an idea, and an unwillingness to support it. In this case, it is suggested that the proposal doesn’t align with the values and guidelines of the village. At times, this may reveal that the family is in actuality not the right fit for the village.

In order to move forward with an idea, everyone in the group must consent, with a certain percentage of the group allowed to stand aside. If anyone is blocking the idea, it cannot move forward. Conscious communication and group creativity is encouraged to work through disagreements in a way that improves the village experience for everyone.

Finances

At times the village may want to do things that require financial investments. It’s up to each village to be clear about what their unique policy will be and how it will be handled when some families don’t have the resources that others have. It would be ideal for village celebrations and events to be conducted in such a way that no one is consistently forced out due to their finances.

If the families are well studied in Trust technology and management, it’s possible that the village can be run as a Private Trust, with each family contributing finances that will be stewarded and multiplied to serve the explicit benefit of the children. This requires a special level of trust, maturity, and wealth consciousness. The Art of Passing the Buck by Charles Arthur is required reading.

Privacy and Sovereignty

Although this is a village-oriented model it still honors the importance and privacy of the nuclear family unit. There is never an obligation to share experiences with the village that a family decides must remain private. Additionally, the privacy of the families and their children must be respected, and there should be clear boundaries regarding how the families feel about sharing information, names, and photos on public sites such as social media.

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Section 2. The Village of the Minor Arcana

The section outlines the details of the homeschooling village I am co-creating and opening a call for aligned families to join. The declaration can be lifted, duplicated, and modified freely by other families endeavoring to create a similar experience in their local areas.

Name

The Village of the Minor Arcana (i.e. little mysteries)

Location

Must domicile within a one hour drive of Sunapee, New Hampshire.

Age Range

Currently seeking families with children under the age of 10.

Intent

To co-create a community matrix that supports the needs of New Earth families including the mothers and fathers alongside the children incarnating through them at this unique time in human history. To facilitate the growth, development, health, and multi-dimensional intelligence of our sons and daughters, and position them to become well integrated adults who can bring the full essence of their light to this world.

Values

Critical values for our village include self-governance, freedom and privacy, self-sufficiency and personal responsibility, self-healing and self-knowing, and having a non-dogmatic spiritual practice that honors the Divinity in all things. We believe in our interconnection with nature and honor our role within the living ecosystem of the Earth and cosmos. We honor the bodies that our children are born into and do not entertain gender ideology or encourage mutilation in place of self-acceptance. As a village we believe in serving as sacred guardians of all the children within our community, and will look after each one as if they were our own. We know we are here to break societal molds and are willing to stand powerfully in what is correct for the sake of our children and their future.

Philosophy

We believe in weaving a variety of teachings and philosophies into the village that support our intent, including attachment parenting2, conscious parenting3, unconditional parenting4, do-nothing parenting5, the biological plan of “the magical child”6, and the energetic imprint of the natal chart and Human Design. We honor our children as intelligent beings, not extensions of ourselves that should be controlled or used to service our unconscious wounding. We believe our job is to witness them into their becoming, and to serve as neutral guides as they navigate their unique path in life.

Curriculum & Childhood Needs

For children below the age of 11(ish) we believe primarily in the importance of unstructured playtime that isn’t clogged with an excessive presence of toys or pre-fabricated activities with step-by-step instructions. Children should have access to raw materials and nature, in order to inspire their biological intent to create and to experience knowledge. We do not believe it’s appropriate for children to have their own devices (smartphones, smartwatches, tablets etc.) and they should not be available for use during playtime.

Providing opportunities to learn specific topics or facilitate special experiences will be a co-creation between the children and the mothers and fathers of the village council. Some ideas that illustrate what we’re interested in exploring are outlined below.

• Creative Self-Expression (music, dancing, movement, art, etc.)

• Risk-Aware Play (nature play, adventure playgrounds, etc.)

• Body Literacy (non-fear based approach to the body and its natural intelligence)

• Emotional Intelligence (healthy expression, alchemical practices, etc.)

• Self-Sufficiency Skills (cooking, cleaning, home repair, etc.)

• Self-Healing Skills (“the rules”, nutrition, sunlight, herbalism, first aid, etc.)

• Survival & Nature Skills (fire-building, plant identification, sky mapping, etc.)

• Traditional Skills (farming, candle making, wood working, etc.)

• Spiritual Practices (encouraging a connection to God and nature, honoring rites, etc.)

• Psychic Intelligence (intuition, the greater senses, protection, energy work, etc.)

We believe our children have the right to be supported in the areas of natural interest to them, and do not need to be forced into institutionally-expected skillsets such as reading, writing, or mathematics before their own inclination to take on those subjects. We believe they have the right to fulfill their soul’s evolutionary intent, to pursue their purpose in life, and to be who they are without judgement or interference. No matter our desires or curricula, the children will be able to show us the way.

Rites and Rituals

We honor the importance of ceremony and rites of passage in a child’s life, and anticipate the village will gather around our young ones for thresholds such as solar returns, births and deaths, coming-of-age transitions, etc. Seasonal and spiritual rituals are also important and may be shared with one another and gathered around in order to foster a connection with the greater matrix.

Our Rhythm

An example of what the village commitments might look like include the monthly Village Council, seasonal celebrations including the equinoxes and solstices, Full and/or New Moons, Sunday dinners, and special play and learning days with the children.

We are looking forward to being in collaboration with our village and solidifying ideas together as a community!

Our Family

A TERRIFIC TRIO STARRING…

PAPA (ALEX)

Gentle Aries and dynamic Manifesting Generator. New Paradigm Creative Director and Founder of BLAK SALT Studio. Reincarnated Chinese monk with a deep heart and inner determination. Cherishes the natural world, the I Ching, and his family.

MAMA (ME)

Fiery Leo and ever-integrating Projector. Greek witch found in front of the hearth and communing with plants. Fiercely committed to sovereignty and being peacefully unfuckwithable. Devoted to God and fulfilling her Dharma.

FAUNA

Spirited Pisces and illuminated Generator. Bossy yet endlessly generous and caring. Artistically talented, natural storyteller, and ritual enthusiast. Loves children, animals, and matters of spirit. About to pass through her 7th Solar Return, and hoping very much to become a big sister soon 🤍

Let's create Heaven on Earth: athenaofthewild@protonmail.com

Starting a Homeschooling Village in your area? Let’s create a network! Add your info to the comments so other families can find you, or DM me on Instagram @athenaofthewild

ALL MY LOVE

Athena Wilder

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FINE PRINT No part of this article has been written or copyedited using AI. Cited artwork has been sourced without explicit permission from Artsy.net. The artists are not associated with my work or any of the information and/or opinions shared. May their artistry be blessed. All other images are my own.

FOOTNOTES

“Sometimes it feels like the quiet before the storm. I feel too peaceful, too faithful, as nothing happens at all. Of course there’s no such thing. I know big things will happen this year, as we are still very much midwinter, I know there will be some time until the seeds we have planted will blossom. But I do not feel anxious or worried or impatient. I feel calmed by the certainty that Spring will come.”

– January 28, ☿

HIGHLIGHTS & GEMSTONES

• We welcomed Solar Midwinter as the ☉Sun entered ♒︎ Aquarius on 2/3.

• In Biodynamics this time of year is the “in breath”.

  • My Biodynamic Planting Calendar by Stella Natura.

• Eclipse portal is open from 2/10 to 3/10.

  • ●♒︎ New Moon Solar Eclipse in Aquarius 2/17

  • ○♍︎ Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Virgo 3/3.

  • The eclipse portal will close as ♃ Jupiter goes direct.

• Midwinter is when we draw our energy inward, cultivating and fortifying our vital force so we can direct it with precision at the new year in March. The eclipse activations will give us a little jolt as we're offered a taste of Aquarian energy followed by Virgo poised and ready for clean up and reorientation.

• The Spring Equinox will arrive on 3/20 as ☿ Mercury goes direct, opening up the field for aligned action.

• My current practices for midwinter fortification:

  • Tending to the wood stove and practicing facial massages in front of the fire (more effective than any red light panel—a truly tragic product highlighting our dissociation from the natural world). I find it very important that this be a moment of genuine pleasure, not a wellness task to “move lymph” or “prevent aging”.

  • Journalling daily, even if I only record a few sentences. I can’t express enough how much this helps me stay grounded and clear, especially when reflecting on recent entries.

  • Warm salt water, especially upon rising. My current ratio is approximately 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt per 10 fl oz of spring water.

  • 3x daily warming “hot chocolates” of about 50% ginger powder and 50% cacao powder. Instead of plain boiling water I'm currently using a dandelion and burdock root decoction as a base, but have used chaga decoctions as well which are quite delicious.

  • Daily spinal care and mat pilates with Melissa Wood Health.

  • Turning off any artificial light sometime between 6 and 7PM. We primarily use oil lamps after sunset.

  • Getting into bed phenomenally early in true Projector fashion. Mostly to rest and read books.

Both recipes have been crafted to suit my constitution and adjusted over time as I observe how my physiology responds. Always listen to your body!

HAPPY WINTERING!

Athena

I’ve tried very hard to make digital calendars work for me, but I always end up dropping off from updating them and ultimately forget they exist altogether. So the past decade or so has seen many experiments in using various pen-and-paper planners and calendar styles.

I now have a unique approach to weaving the things that are most important to me in one place. As a result, managing my calendar has gone from a dreadful administrative obligation to a magickal daily practice.

The Book

Moleskine is by far my favorite notebook company to date. They offer planners in a variety of formats, sizes, and colors, but my tried and true is the Hard Cover Classic Weekly Planner in XL.1

The Setup

The first thing I flow through the planner are key astrology events, major transits that will hit my chart (this year I’m working with Saturn square and Nodal Return energies), and my family’s Solar Returns. I do this for the entire year ahead in gel ink.

KEY ASTROLOGY EVENTS

The events I’m tracking this year, in chronological order (Eastern Time). This is coming out late, so some January events are omitted. Seasonal and lunar events are bolded—these are great energies for beginners to start with.

1.19 ♒︎ Aquarius Season
1.21 ☿ Mercury Cazimi
1.23 ♇ Pluto Cazimi
1.26 ♆ ➜ ♈︎ Neptune enters Aries
2.02 ○♌︎ Full Snow* Moon in Leo 5:09PM
2.03 Midwinter A solar Imbolc on the “Wheel of the Year”.
2.03 ♅ Uranus goes direct
2.13 ♄ ➜ ♈︎ Saturn enters Aries
2.17 ●♒︎ New Moon Solar Eclipse in Aquarius 7AM
2.18 ♓︎ Pisces Season
2.26 ☿ Mercury Retrograde
3.03 ○♍︎ Full Sap Moon Lunar Eclipse in Virgo 6:37AM
3.07 ☿ Mercury (R) Cazimi
3.10 ♃ Jupiter goes direct
3.18 ●♓︎ New Moon in Pisces 9:24PM
3.20 ♈︎ Aries Season • Spring Equinox
3.20 ☿ Mercury goes direct
3.21 ♆ Neptune Cazimi
3.24 ♄ Saturn Cazimi
4.01 ○♎︎ Full Seed Moon in Libra 10:12PM
4.17 ●♈︎ New Moon in Aries 7:51AM
4.19 ♉︎ Taurus Season
4.25 ♅ ➜ ♊︎ Uranus enters Gemini
5.01 ○♏︎ Full Flower Moon in Scorpio 1:22PM
5.05 Midspring A solar Beltane on the “Wheel of the Year”.
5.06 ♇ Pluto Retrograde
5.14 ☿ Mercury Cazimi
5.16 ●♉︎ New Moon in Taurus 4PM
5.20 ♊︎ Gemini Season
5.21 ♅ Uranus Cazimi
5.31 ○♐︎ Full Blue Moon in Sagittarius 4:44AM
6.14 ●♊︎ New Moon in Gemini 10:55PM
6.19 ⚷ ➜ ♉︎ Chiron enters Taurus
6.21 ♋︎ Cancer Season • Summer Solstice
6.29 ○♑︎ Full Strawberry Moon in Capricorn 7:55PM
6.29 ☿ Mercury Retrograde
6.30 ♃ ➜ ♌︎ Jupiter enters Leo
7.07 ♆ Neptune Retrograde
7.12 ☿ Mercury (R) Cazimi
7.14 ●♋︎ New Moon in Cancer 5:44AM
7.22 ♌︎ Leo Season
7.23 ☿ Mercury goes direct
7.26 ☊ ➜ ♒︎ North Node enders Aquarius
7.26 ♄ Saturn Retrograde
7.28 ♃ Jupiter Cazimi
7.29 ○♒︎ Full Thunder Moon in Aquarius 10:36AM
8.03 ⚷ Chiron Retrograde
8.07 Midsummer A solar Lughnasadh on the “Wheel of the Year”.
8.12 ●♌︎ New Moon Solar Eclipse in Leo 1:36PM
8.22 ♍︎ Virgo Season
8.26 ☿ Mercury Cazimi
8.28 ○♓︎ Full Grain Moon Lunar Eclipse in Pisces 12:19AM
9.10 ●♍︎ New Moon in Virgo 11:26PM
9.10 ♅ Uranus Retrograde
9.22 ♎︎ Libra Season • Autumn Equinox
9.26 ○♈︎ Full Harvest Moon in Aries 12:49PM
10.03 ♀︎ Venus Retrograde
10.10 ●♎︎ New Moon in Libra 11:49AM
10.15 ♇ Pluto goes direct
10.23 ♏︎ Scorpio Season
10.23 ♀︎ Venus (R) Cazimi
10.24 ☿ Mercury Retrograde
10.26 ○♉︎ Full Hunter’s Moon in Taurus 12:11AM
10.31 Samhain
11.04 ☿ Mercury (R) Cazimi
11.07 Midautumn A solar Samhain on the “Wheel of the Year”.
11.09 ●♏︎ New Moon in Scorpio 2:02AM
11.13 ♀︎ Venus goes direct
11.13 ☿ Mercury goes direct
11.22 ♐︎ Sagittarius Season
11.24 ○♊︎ Full Frost Moon in Gemini 9:54AM
12.08 ●♐︎ New Moon in Sagittarius 7:51PM
12.10 ♄ Saturn goes direct
12.12 ♃ Jupiter RX
12.12 ♆ Neptune goes direct
12.21 ♑︎ Capricorn Season • Winter Solstice
12.24 ○♋︎ Full Cold Moon in Cancer 8:27PM
12.31 ☿ Mercury Cazimi

*The Moons carry many names, depending on the culture and geographical region of those who observed them. I use the ones that relate most closely to the climate and seasonal rituals I experience.

Do you know what your personal transits are? I love working with these energies for spiritual growth! Find out what Soul-level evolutionary lessons and opportunities are waiting for you. I have $100-$200 reading styles available.

Next, I configure the blank pages in the back of the planner for manifestation purposes. As most of you know, my manifestation practice is facilitated by To Be Magnetic2 and God. Although my communion with the divine is a daily experience, TBM runs particularly potent challenges around the Winter Solstice, which happen to coincide nicely with my planner ritual.

You can still catch this year’s challenge, Return to Magic in the TBM Pathway membership (only $25.50/month when you use my affiliate link below).3

The key components from the TBM framework that I keep on hand include:

• My Authentic Code: A series of four words or mini phrases that identify my core values.

• The List: Where I brainstorm and channel both Earthly desires and the missions I believe I have a Divine assignment to fulfill, plus a running list of the manifestations that come to pass.

• Tests + Triggers: A running list of experiences that activate me, press on core wounds, or make me feel small. I use this list to identify patterns that need unblocking and see where I’m being initiated.

• Pings: A running list of intuitive hits that I need to act on or remember.

More on how I integrate my Authentic Code in a minute.

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Then comes self-accountability for financial priestessing (which is officially a thing, by the way)4.

Every First and Last Quarter Moon I host what and I call Kingdom Council—time set aside to check in on wealthsteading (family finances and legacy building), sanctuary mindset (our unique approach to prepping and self-responsibility), and self-governance (legally exiting the false matrix and securing our privacy). Councils get penciled in for the entire year ahead.

As the Energetic Marketing Strategist at I also make sure to pencil in our Quarterly Financial Reviews for all four seasons as well as our Summer Solstice mid-year review (I cannot emphasize enough how much changes when you have business meetings on the calendar ahead of time!)

Now, onto my weekly setup.

One of the reasons I love this particular planner so much is the weekly calendar format on the left-hand page, followed by lined right-hand pages. I have enough room in the calendar boxes to fit all I need, while customizing the blank page as follows.

I keep a running list along the edge that break into two categories: life (✩) and “work” (the studio). In the life section I note my Inner Season and list each pillar from my Authentic Code. If something is in my life that doesn’t fit under one of these categories, I get rid of it:

• Magick + Mastery: self-care, inner work, spiritual practice, etc.

• Homemaking: mothering, tending the animals, cooking, gardening, medicine-making, etc.

• Wealthsteading: financial priestessing, legacy building, preparedness, etc.

• Beauty + Artistry: curating an “heirloom life” (term coined by ), self-expression, embodiment as a living work of art, etc.

I also make sure that I’m touching each pillar through either joy or responsibility on a weekly basis.

4 Techniques for Cyclical Creativity

It’s 2026 and no one needs more productivity hacks, so I’ll share with you four things I’ve been doing that have really changed how I show up for myself and my family with far less stress and more fun.

1. Ditch the Running Mega-List and Schedule To-Dos in Advance: I used to have one of those to-do lists that seemed to go on forever; and whenever I thought of something new to add, it would just get tacked onto the bottom. To make things worse, I carried over the entire list from week to week, facilitating a perpetual state of, “I didn’t get everything done, there’s still more to do.” Now, I scan my calendar for idea dates and Inner Seasons that would be a good fit for what I want to accomplish, adding the task to that week’s list and forgetting about it until I get there.

2. Count Progress as Completion: As long as I touch the long-term projects or pillars on my list, I mark it as done until the following week. With practice, progress will start to feel just as rewarding as completion.

3. Time Block the Scary Stuff: There’ve been quite a few things on my list lately that inspire a bit of contraction, so I started experimenting with time blocking: setting a timer and committing to just 30 minutes of progress. Every time it motivates me to get started, and every time I don’t want to stop when the 30 minutes are up!

4. When It’s Done, You’re Done: I keep my lists pretty sparse these days, and between scheduling advanced to-dos and checking things off for progress alone, I often get everything “done” before the weekend. A former version of me would have used that as an opportunity to squeeze more things in, but now when the list is done, I’m done. The only thing left to do is whatever brings me joy or pleasure.

The postscript here is that it took me years to be able to facilitate this way of doing things. I was overloaded with psychic programs concerning perfectionism, survival trauma, not-good-enough-ness, and a physiology calibrated to chaos and stress. I truly believed that without that never ending mega-list, I wasn’t safe, I wasn’t good enough, and I’d never get anything done. But the opposite can be true. For all of us.

ALL MY LOVE FROM SNOWY NEW HAMPSHIRE

Athena Wilder

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FINE PRINT No part of this article has been written or copyedited using AI. All images are my own.

FOOTNOTES

Old paradigm family dynamics pedestal the archetype of the mother martyr.

Many of us have been witness to her presence for as many generations as we can remember—mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers. Maybe you’re even the mother martyr yourself.

She is a woman groomed by thousands of years of cultural programming, religious control, and patriarchal standards. A woman taught to make herself small and unheard. To bear children in honor of what men can control, instead of what she can create.

In modern society she’s the burnt out woman, the dysregulated woman, the woman with “metabolic disorders” and “autoimmune” conditions. The woman with too many responsibilities, not enough respect, and no idea who she is. A woman who places herself beneath her family, instead of at its center.

martyr (n.) “one who willingly suffers death rather than surrender his or her religious faith”

Even in “progressive” cultures affording more freedom than we’ve experienced in centuries, the frequency of the mother martyr has become the faith that women are willing to die for—both metaphorically and literally. It’s a faith I too was prompted to worship, but chose instead to transmute into something else—something high, something holy.

I come from a long line of mother martyrs. My great grandmother on my mother’s side was the only woman in my family I’ve known to die at 100 years old without any major health problems. She exuded the serious expression of someone who lived through war and loss and immigration and the Great Depression. Her hardy physiology was the essence of what would come to be diluted, as each generation that followed her tolerated less and less—revealing more and more of the truth of what was present. From my father’s side, it’s been said many times that Yia Yia would exclaim to her son, “Take my blood!” when she felt she had nothing left to give.

I hold these women close in my heart and have thought of them often as I walk my own path through motherhood—one that doesn’t leave the mother martyr behind, but witnesses her as she ignites into brilliant flames, falling to ashes before her grand rebirth as the holy mother1.

I’ve done this for myself many times, and of course with each revival I carry a little bit of my grandmothers with me, healing the women before me and the women to come.

This is an alchemical process that transforms the overstretched, underserved, self-victimized, and prematurely graying modern mother into a powerful emanation of her divine predecessors—a critical practice for womankind and New Earth embodiment.

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My Holy Mother Non-Negotiables

I’ve collected six of the most impactful principles that have risen me from my ashes and put me back together again—the standards that I refuse to compromise as I challenge what it feels like to witness the mother martyr into her rightful place as holy mother of her home.

Before I begin, I want to be clear—this process is not a luxury for the well-off. I run my household for less than $3,000 a month. I live in a studio-sized cottage in which the only room with a door is the bathroom and there is virtually no privacy. I do not have nannies, house cleaners, day cares, or even family members nearby to help me. I do not have the budget for healers, massage therapists, acupuncture, or wellness gadgets and supplements that promise stress relief, better sleep, or more energy (you will see quickly why none of these things are necessary.)

I’m “just a mom” who works, lives, and plays at home with a wild child called Fauna. I’m able to embody the archetype of the holy mother, not because she is a woman of privilege, but because she is a woman of sovereignty.

1. I honor my cycle and center my family’s lifestyle around it.

This was the cornerstone of my path to the holy mother. It’s a foundational place for women to start because so many of us weren’t raised with body wisdom or respect for the sanctity of our blood. Doing this work as mothers is especially powerful because it allows us to embody the importance of our cycles in front of out children, who will grow up believing this level of awareness is normal.

I truly believe that many female health complaints originate from the rejection of our biology and the refusal to live in accordance with her needs. A mother’s blood is a reflection of her health, which mirrors the health of her entire family. The expressions (also known as “symptoms”) of my ovulations, luteal phases, and bleeds have directly guided me to major confrontations and changes that needed to take place not only within myself, but between myself and my partner, and our family’s boundaries.

Our commitments are strategically planned around these inner seasons in order to maximize their powers and facilitate appropriate rest.

The holy mother’s cycle is honored as the soil from which her family’s wealth grows, the psychic compass from which her family takes direction, and the internal clock from which her family aligns its affairs.

2. I don’t subscribe to “obligations” or “shoulds.”

As I came to establish a better sense of Self and personal boundary work, it became crushingly apparent how many things I was performing on from a sense of obligation—an affliction that tends to impact mothers, as women are often programed to be people-pleasers.

These obligations or “shoulds” run the entire spectrum: birthing plans, childrearing styles, family visits, religious expectations, education and medical standards, and even the kinds of toys and clothes that accessorize a child’s life.

You’ll know you’re participating in a should when:

• You’re doing it to make someone else happy.

• You’re doing it to control how someone else perceives you.

• You’re doing it to avoid feeling “guilty” or “bad.”

• Doing it makes you feel small, angry, or bitter.

• You don’t really want to do it but you feel like you “should.”

Shoulds erode a woman from the inside out. They’re the low self-worth behaviors that create fractures within the psyche—impacting our bodies on a spiritual, emotional, and physiological level.

As a self-proclaimed “radical”, “wild”, and “sovereign” mother (take your pick) with entirely unsupportive to outright abusive family members, and a surrounding culture that is shockingly ill and confused, I’ve made a lot of choices that go against the shoulds. I was not always this way, not even close, and it took a lot of bravery and reprogramming to align my actions with my needs and desires. This is another act of generational coding, as our children witness our ability to stand in our power no matter the consequences.

The holy mother doesn’t fall for the illusion of obligation—her choices and boundaries purely reflect the values and needs of her family.

3. I consider access to myself and my family a privilege.

There is perhaps no greater magnifier of the ingrained belief that one has an inherent right to your energy than the condition of pregnancy and motherhood. Most women feel this strongly while navigating the birth and postpartum portal, as family members clamor to invade the field of the motherbaby dyad with little regard for the energetics that are taking place. It’s often subtly implied that because they’re family they have the right to invade your aura and pass around your newborn infant like an inanimate trophy. It’s not even unheard of in Western culture for a freshly postpartum mother to host her family members while they do nothing more than ogle the newborn and leave behind a pile of dishes. This is a disgrace.

Beyond this threshold exists a near infinite number of ways that people (and entities) can gain access to you and your children, particularly in the world of technology, social media, weak light bodies, and compromised psyches. But this is where I place the power shield back in your hands, because the truth is: you choose who and what has access to you.

You say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ you dissolve or facilitate boundaries, you ignore or engage in psychic protection, you pick up or turn off your phone, and you decide who and what has the privilege of accessing you and your children.

The holy mother is the guardian of her and her family’s energy, allowing in with correct timing who and what has her permission to be there.

4. I regard my needs as equally important as my daughter’s.

I learned very quickly that I’m of little use to my child when my needs aren’t being met. This reality was amplified through my unique challenges upon entering motherhood—my conception was a divine intervention that interrupted 15 years of alcoholism and an extensive history of disordered eating. It took several blackouts during her early years for me to finally admit that (maybe) I had a problem. I’ve had chronic healing expressions since she was born as my body benevolently cleans up the mess I created, and in 2021 I went through a complete nervous collapse and couldn’t get out of bed for more than a couple hours a day. Things look very different now, but only because I saw the value in choosing myself as often as I chose my child (if not more).

I started doing the inner work when she was one and got sober when she was five. I spent the past four years reprogramming everything I thought I knew about “natural” health and started aligning with the kind of healing that required me to change my life. In addition to having more restrictive needs, I’m an Emotional Projector, and my daughter: a true Sacral Generator.2 All things combined, I’ve had to reframe and work through some pretty common traps that mothers find themselves in. They are all self-imposed and they are all bullshit.

1. Guilt: one of the lowest vibrating emotions—just a notch above Shame which the body likens to death itself. Women love guilt. You can read that again. The mother martyr feeds on it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Those who once punished themselves with diets and razors now throw themselves willingly onto the bonfires of guilt. Guilt says, “I’m a bad person and I have the receipts to prove it.” This is a construct entirely of our own making. I could have spend the rest of my life operating from guilt (which is counter-productive to healing of course). Instead I take full ownership of my mistakes, needs, and capacities—honoring that they all feed a version of myself I have yet to meet.

2. Selfishness: the quality of a person who lacks care for others. This word stains the work of the holy mother, whose choices are misunderstood by the mother martyr and her propaganda. We believe that perhaps a woman who doesn’t bend over backwards for her children is somehow selfish or uncaring—distorting the fine line between ego or wound-driven behaviors, and the healthy boundaries of a woman with a spine.

3. Worthiness: the meter that judges us from the inside-out. What does it take to be a Good Enough Mother? Is it how many homeschooling activities we plan? How many hours spent in the abyss of playtime? How little screen time we can brag about? At some point I had to question the rule of measurement I was using to judge my own performance, knowing that everyday was different and I was always doing my best.

Beyond the pitfalls listed above, the medicine that eased this principle into place was the art of compromise and collaboration. Everyday is an experiment in meeting both our needs and I remain shamelessly adamant about my non-neogtiables. This doesn’t always look the way I want it to: meditations are often interrupted, pilates is filled with butt pats and giggles, and I frequently throw out my plans to practice matching her spontaneity. No matter their age, we can practice flexibility in order to weave the needs of both mother and child together into an appropriate lifestyle that benefits everyone.

The holy mother values her needs with equal importance to that of her children while expertly designing a lifestyle that supports them both.

5. I scale the vision, wealth, responsibilities, and size of my family in direct proportion to my honest capacity.

Within the frequency of modern feminism woman are told, “You can be anything,” and hear instead, “You must be everything.”3 It’s the conditioning behind why so many women are at the end of their rope when they could be thriving—why they end up with a full time job, an “entrepreneurial” side gig, a husband they mommy, and multiple children to care for. Not surprisingly, many of them are also “trying to heal” at the same time.

I’m a Rising Sagittarius who wants so much out of life. I’m also human, and in spite of all the New Age Instagram bios that promise my limitless potential, I most certainly have limits and I have met them personally.

Whether your aspirations include the expression of gifts, the creation of children, the growth of wealth, or the expansion of commitments—your physical and psychic vessel must be fortified enough to hold these responsibilities. Without that foundation in place the vision cracks, remaining un-actualized entirely or bargained for at a very high cost.

The holy mother scales and manifests the vision for her family legacy in direct proportion to her physical and psychic capacity.

6. I respect and leverage my partner’s ability to take control for me.

For most of my partnership I operated from the inherited belief that, “If I don’t do it, no one else will.” This naturally became a self-fulfilling prophecy as I chronically took on more than I needed to, only to feel alone and helpless.

After doing some much needed polarity work and internal reprogramming I was able to place more and more onto my partner’s plate. At first this was accompanied by anxious hovering, but eventually I was able to stop worrying and fall into trust.

Sometimes this meant things wouldn’t be done as I would do them—meaning done perfectly, of course!—but I decided my joy and energy were more important than perfection.

Women who find themselves in single motherhood may have an even harder time asking for help, simply for the lack of a village ecosystem. My vision for the New Earth is one that will erase this collective tragedy, and my hope is that through our embodiment we will correct it.

The holy mother refuses victimhood through the wisdom of asking for help and the willingness to respect her masculine counterpart.

Meeting the holy mother through my own healing and self-mastery has been a gift that begs to be shared for she has so much to teach us—and I’m still learning!

With each mother martyr that’s guided lovingly through the alchemical flames of rebirth, entire bloodlines with heal and our families—once dysfunctional and warped by curses—will become anchors for heaven on Earth.

ALL MY LOVE

Athena Wilder

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FINE PRINT No part of this article has been written or copyedited using AI. Artwork has been sourced without explicit permission from Artsy.net. The artists are not associated with my work or any of the information and/or opinions shared. May their artistry be blessed.

FOOTNOTES

In spite of all the praying that was going on during Sunday mass, I perceived my elders as lacking faith, peace, love, and direction outside the church pews. I tried to explore religion in my own ways, attending a Born Again Christian experience, reading the bible (that one time), and ultimately wondering if the atheists were right.

When spirituality began weaving into my life—beginning with Buddhism during my early attempts to heal from addiction—I was still quite a stretch from understanding “prayer.”

I would often turn to what I thought was prayer in my darkest hours, confused about who I was talking to but ultimately desperate enough to beg for assistance.

Then, outside of religion—and even spirituality—I met my own frequency of prayer. It was through the process of meeting my Self that this became available to me, and has shaped my understanding of this powerful practice.

The Meaning of Prayer

In its oldest sense, “to pray” means, to petition, ask, request, and even, to beg.

We might associate prayer with an establishment or authority intermediary between ourselves and God. We might view it as a means of belittling ourselves in order to ask for forgiveness or salvation. We might assume that we can use it to alter the course of our destiny or to control the behaviors and beliefs of others.

Through this guide we’ll explore other possibilities and perspectives on the purpose and utility of prayer—beginning with a novel definition.

Prayer: an energetic attunement to protection, guidance, and healing from the unseen realms, and the divine.

The Authority to Pray

Everyone has the authority to pray because the act of praying involves the use of the body’s inherent technologies and energetics. Essentially, the Creator designed us to be capable of praying and accessing higher realms of consciousness. Any attempt to separate someone from prayer is a violation of their birthright as sovereign men and women.

As direct throughlines to God, a scripture, religion, authority, guru, or priestess is not necessary to experience a connection, and since prayer is aligned with “good” or high intentions, it’s not dangerous to open that channel of communication even if you don’t know what you’re doing.

When it comes to praying for others, you can be fully confident that you have the authority to pray over your children or other living beings within your care and stewardship.

When praying for anyone outside of that boundary, it’s helpful to ensure that we only use prayer to send them uplifting vibrations, clean energy, and well wishes for their protection, health, and peace, as it is correct for them and their highest good.

To “pray” for someone to change who they are, to behave in specific ways, or to distort their beliefs, is more closely aligned with manipulation (i.e. black magick).

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Energy as Prayer

My most powerful experiences with prayer have come from sourcing my own energy field in order to cultivate protection and come into alignment with the divine realm. We are made in God’s image, and therefore we have the ability to perform miracles and provide our own guardianship as God would do for us.

It’s very important to understand, in this regard, that worrying is not praying.

When we are bent over the bed of a healing loved one—or holding their image in our mind’s eye—as worry and fear swarm through our bodies, we project onto and envelop them in that frequency. In order for miracles to take place, we need to invoke Eternal Love, in spite of what we think is happening, or what we fear may happen in the future.

Heart Field Prayer: Close your eyes. Allow the corners of your mouth to curl into a peaceful smile. Feel the natural warming energy of this smile melt down from your Crown to your Root. Hold an image of your loved one in your mind’s eye, in perfect health and safety. Feel the energy of your heart space expand as you begin emanating love and joy for this vision. Allow this energy to travel beyond your physical body, enveloping whomever needs it, however far away.

Prayer through pure energy makes this practice accessible to those who feel uncomfortable petitioning higher authorities or deities, and is essential for enhancing traditional prayers that rely on invocations.

Living Prayers

We can quite literally live in prayer, without having to be in a sacred space or meditation, just by operating from an elevated emotional frequency. This will naturally fortify your field, providing psychic protection while facilitating healing in the body.

This endeavor can’t be faked or achieved through bypassing—the only way up is through.

Experiencing “negative” emotions may feel temporarily threatening or weakening, but feeling them fully is the only way to release them from your field.

When emotions are suppressed or repressed, they build homes in our bodies. Most people know and anticipate that this creates physical symptoms over time, but there is another byproduct as well.

These “homes” become altars for demonic attachments and portals for psychic attack. This attraction can perpetuate cycles of behavior, lifelong emotional patterns, and chronic “bad luck.”

By practicing emotional intelligence and regularly “cleansing” the emotional body by feeling and releasing emotions, the frequency of one’s field naturally elevates and is no longer a target for predators. Instead, we walk through life fully protected in living prayer.

Offerings as Prayers

Another powerful way to engage with prayer is by making offerings in exchange for requests. Reciprocity is a natural law, so praying through ritual offering is an active and engaging way to be heard by the unseen and to feel safe receiving.

An offering can be nearly anything that expresses a sacrifice or shared resource, ranging cross-culturally from food and drink, to tobacco and botanicals, to candles and incense, to our own blood and hair.

An altar can be made as a portal between realms where offerings can be given and received, but this isn’t necessary as the Earth plane itself is a living altar where we can interact with the divine.

Offerings may be chosen intentionally to reach specific deities or spirits, but the gesture of making an offering of any kind can be used to acknowledge and thank the One Eternal for its presence.

Good Rising Prayer: Prepare the beverage you ritually consume upon waking. You may encode a prayer into the liquid by stirring clockwise and reciting a mantra either internally or out loud. Step outside and gaze at the Sun or sky. Allow the medicine of simply being alive another day to fill you up—you do not need riches or good fortune to experience gratitude, just the air in your lungs. Pour a splash of your beverage onto the Earth in thanks for this incredible opportunity.

The more habitually offerings are made, the stronger their power and medicine becomes. Potent opportunities include the rising and setting Sun, Full and New Moons, Equinoxes and Solstices, Solar Returns, transitional rites of passage, and other spiritually significant days.

An offering need not be confused with proof of deservingness—you will always be deserving of God’s love and guidance no matter how deeply you have strayed into darkness. Your willingness to receive the light is all that is necessary.

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Prayerful Invocations

The vibration and frequency of our words carry significant influence in our lives, and can be used to reach the unseen or invoke our own innate power. Some prayers and mantras have extensive lineages and carry the charge of being used for thousands of years, others are created by our own making and may remain private.

When first working with a prayer it may feel clunky or foreign depending on your current relationship with prayer, but if it’s correct for you, repetition will begin to forge an authentic connection.

If you’re unsure where to begin, choose something that feels familiar and relatable since your belief in the prayer is essential for change to take place.

My Go-To Prayer: Mother Earth, Father Sky, Lord Jesus Christ, and the Most High, [your request]. And so it is.

Other invocations include the calling of the directions, Guardian/Spirits/Ancestors of the North, South, East and West, the petition of the angels, angels above, angels below, angels within, angels without, and of course, the great Mothers, Mother Gaia/Sophia/Mary/Pachamama.

You may find inspiration for prayer in your blood lineage, past lives, and in the languages spoken by your ancestors.

Singing in Prayer

And of course, nothing carries a prayer quite like the gift of song. This is so by the very frequency of the music itself, and by the vibrations of your own voice activating the nerves and receptors in your body, and moving out stored emotions to make way for the light.

So if all else fails, sing.

ALL MY LOVE

Athena Wilder

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FINE PRINT Artwork has been sourced without explicit permission from Artsy.net. The artists are not associated with my work or any of the information and/or opinions shared. May their artistry be blessed.

Two years ago I opened a very public portal to my preconception journey titled The Cosmic Conception Diaries.

I shared openly about topics spanning health, finances, generational trauma, and relationship challenges.

I published my fertile moon dates and fertility transits.

I held very little back from both the public and paywalled material, fancying myself as a wayshower of sorts (and undoubtedly seeking an “authentic” marketing opportunity to support my offerings in fertility astrology.)

But in 2024 I began my descent into true authenticity—the kind that takes root in the middle of the night when no one is looking. The kind that we resist, even as God is taking our hand and reassuring us that it is safe.

I shed the obligations of my public persona—built around misdirected business advice no less—and started the excruciating process of walking back home to my Self.

Which is why the portal to my preconception is coming to a loving close.

Turns out when I’m not trying to monetize my stories, I see things that are better kept sacred.

Maybe it’s my years, the precious hours spent with my only daughter, the nights communing with the divine, or just my humanity re-illuminating—but my reverence for the process of anchoring new life onto this Earth has massively expanded, and it’s time to seal that energy into its rightful place.

I consecrate my intention to conceive as belonging only to myself, the Mother, in coevolution with my divine partnership, and with God.

To no other does this business belong.

And so it was. And so it is. And so it shall be.

FINE PRINT Artwork has been sourced without explicit permission from Artsy.net. The artists are not associated with my work or any of the information and/or opinions shared. May their artistry be blessed.

I’ve since been studying the history of ancient Greek priestesses and have discovered that their duties were of such import, I’m now suspicious bookkeeping might have actually been beneath them! None the less, I’ve felt a strong resonance with the vision of female spiritual leaders having a say in such matters.

The possibility restores some autonomy to the blanket assumption that the women of antiquity were largely powerless in the realm of finances and property; and for me, it builds a bridge between two seemingly unrelated yet quickly expanding areas of my life—financial literacy and spiritual practice.

The Programming

As a child, money was elusive and unpredictable—here today and gone tomorrow. I watched silently over the years as my parents fought about money, lied about money, and generally seemed to ping pong between wealth and poverty (both in mindset and in assets).

As an adult, money was something to make as much of as possible—you know, because we’ve got things to prove and stuff to buy—but also something that could easily turn “bad” if you had too much of it.

I never viewed the process of making money as a spiritual endeavor, especially in my career’s home base of New York City where money seemed to equate corporations, corruption, or just plain evil.

Then came my stint in political activism accompanied by some light brainwashing around who was allowed to have money, who deserved to get money for free, and who was supposed to foot the bill.

In spite of it all, I managed to spend my twenties keeping my head above water, all while overspending, avoiding retirement plans, and loaning money to abusive boyfriends, but never ending up on the street or in debt.

Then, the very thing I was convinced would never happen to me did, and I found myself repeating a familiar generation pattern of sudden and “unexpected” poverty.

The Collapse

Between 2020 and 2022 we (this is where my fiancé joins my story) went from having a net worth of $30K to being $6,000 dollars in credit card debt and collecting food stamps. You could blame it on a lot things from that time, but really it all came down to poor emotional mastery, risky decisions, and outright financial illiteracy.

All the security I thought I had—the disposable income, the bullet-proof career path, and the illusion that I would never repeat my parents’ mistakes—evaporated.

As painful and traumatizing as it was, I needed those years to show me the truth of my strength—or lack thereof; I was able to realize what I’d been hiding behind for so many years, thinking I was responsible just because I had a paycheck and never charged my designer shoes to a credit card.

The Intervention

When we hit rock bottom we had nothing left to do but turn things around, and yet I was still in the mindset of thinking, “If I just had more money I could fix it.” This is of course a common place for people to land, and I was just shy of understanding that the solution for too little money is actually not more money, but a shift in consciousness.

Then one day, while I was helping a dear friend clean out her garage, a blue and yellow box with “Financial Peace University” written across the top landed in my hands, “We already watched it a long time ago, maybe it will help you.”

The Awakening

We spent the next few weeks dutifully sitting down for our dates with Dave Ramsey, realizing with each DVD just how little we knew about money. It wasn’t necessarily earth-shattering information—and truth be told I’ve outgrown a lot of his teachings—but the simplicity of understanding things like, how to actually keep a budget or what a credit score really means, is a big deal for someone starting at level zero.

Around this time I was synchronistically connected to the Youtube channel of Caleb Hammer who became my reality TV addiction of choice. As soon as Financial Peace University came to an end I filled my free time with episodes of Financial Audit1, intentionally pollinating my unconscious with budgeting advice and a bit of smack talk on the importance of making sacrifices “like an adult.”

The Voice

My willingness to pull us out of victimhood—and my in-law’s basement—soon took me to an energetic dimension of this journey. It happened one day while driving through New Jersey traffic. I was sitting at a red light looking out the window at an abandoned house, complete with broken windows and sagging walls when I suddenly received the thought, “We could live there.”

We could live there? What in the ever-loving cosmos was I thinking? I gripped the steering wheel in shock at my own inner voice and realized in that moment that there was a spirit of poverty inhabiting my field, and it needed to be banished for good.

The Manifestation

The next few months were a deep trial of my nerves, faith, and self-worth as we tackled the seemingly impossible task of finding an apartment hundreds of miles away, in a state with a 99% occupancy rate, and no employment to speak of.

I was devoted to every level of self-hypnosis and neural reprogramming you can think of, and for the first time in my life, truly began the process of getting to know my personal intuitive design in a way that cracked open a gateway to higher dimensions of consciousness.

Five months later we moved into an off-grid cottage that became the nesting ground for our family’s healing and expansion.2

The Beginning

Determined not to repeat the mistakes we made when we moved to Canada in 2020, Alex started applying for work as soon as we confirmed a move-in date. It wasn’t soul-nourishing work but it paid the bills and directed a regular cashflow into our bank account.

Now we really had something to work with, and I was able to put all my financial studies to use—budgeting (and honoring it), paying down debt, and opening a High Yield Savings Account for our emergency fund.

The trauma of our chaotic adventures was still fresh, and in spite of being relatively secure, our chemistry was still in survival. I spent many days chanting soothing pep talks about how perfectly safe I was, that nothing was wrong, and that my home was here to stay.

We started passing financial tests with greater ease, and as time went on we got used to the idea—no, the truth—that through it all, we always had enough. Enough money, enough food, enough love. There was always enough. And it was time to embody that.

The Shift

The course of that first year shifted a lot of things. I received a very clear directive to bring the chapter of my small business to an end—committing to the very uncomfortable territory of putting down an immature and insecure girl boss persona that needed desperately to prove her worth through “work” and learning how to cultivate trust in the male archetype as a provider.

I felt powerless. Useless. Stupid. I struggled to hold back commentary and control while I watched my partner navigate his personal mastery, his bridge job, his business, and even his men’s circle.

But as many times as I “failed” I kept getting back up and realigning with the frequency I knew was possible. I witnessed more, nagged less, found my worth in just being, and turned my attention to the metaphorical hearth of our home, where my inner priestess came alive.

The Parallel

It may have been a coincidence, but spiritual expansion and financial mastery became parallel tracks that ran through my life side-by-side, inseparable and speeding towards a dawning light with equal tenacity and enthusiasm. As my connection to Self, God, and the unseen realms came online, my ability to be in right-relationship with money expanded.

I unchained myself from the ideology that money is “energy” desiring love, magnetism, and worship—instead coming to know it as a neutral resource similar to the Earth element and requiring little more than respect, responsibility, and stewardship.

Alex was liberated from granular financial decisions and budget meetings as I leaned fully into managing our affairs. Food, clothing, firewood, and dollars alike—nothing went to waste, nothing was unaccounted for. I took the stewardship of our resources as seriously as the energetic housekeeping of our home. Both served a role in providing safety and protection for my family. Both were of practical and psychic importance.

The End

Within 16 months of establishing financial independence, we made our last debt payment. Before we were even “ready” I severed our contracts with SNAP and medicaid, cutting a cord that once taught me how to ask for help, but now represented an entity that no longer had any business with us.

I was enveloped in a field of grace, gratitude, and abundance, always having more than I thought, always having more than enough. As I embodied my worth as a child of the Creator, I felt the presence of the Eternal in my physical reality and was fully implanted with the understanding that in a reciprocal ecosystem, there is no such thing as lack.

I shifted out of strategizing how to survive, and into envisioning how to amplify our wealth.

Wealth (n.) mid-12c., welth, "state or condition of happiness, well-being, joy", also "valuable material possessions; prosperity in abundance," from wele "well-being"

The Matrix

Meanwhile, in the background of these chapters (since “The Beginning”) I was cultivating a next-level awareness of the financial matrix. I started learning about fiat currency, how it’s designed to be a debt-based system, why it creates inflation, and the truth that…it’s not money.

As stated in our constitution, only gold and silver coins are legally considered money (a beautiful reflection of my Earth element theory)—the U.S. dollar is not actually “money” but a negotiable instrument, as are bills, mortgages, student loans, traffic tickets, and a number of other things.3

Just to break my brain even further, I learned it’s not just the big bad banks that can use these instruments to generate credit—anyone with the knowledge of how these instruments work, and the ability to make an indorsement (i.e. a signature), can create credit and make “payments” on debt.

It took many months to integrate this information, and even more before we started putting it into practice, but the liberation it brought me was (literally) priceless. My awareness expanded to encompass a reality in which debt and credit scores were things I’d never have to fear again. They were just functioning parts of an artificial matrix; and now I understood how they worked.

The Trust

If there was one element to this entire journey that I could name responsible for sending me straight to the heart of wealth consciousness—it would be the Trust. Not “trust” as in, believing in something, but Trust as in, “An ancient system used to pass wealth.”4

You might have heard of Trusts before, and may even have preprogrammed scripts running through your mind as you read this, assuming they’re for the rich, the greedy, the big and the bad. Indeed, the majority of the wealth that’s been hoarded in this world has been done so using Trusts (we’re talking the Rothschilds, the Royal Family, the DuPonts, et al.)

But as I spent months getting bleary-eyed over hundreds of pages worth of this wisdom, I became enlightened to a new perspective: the only reason why “the big and the bad” have so much, is because we know so little.

We, the "99%”—duped by public education, possessed by poverty consciousness, and manipulated by massively fractured and distorted narratives about money.

Weaving the threads of wealth consciousness and Trust technology together produced a vision for my future that was as secure as it was sacred. Using Irrevocable Common Law Trusts5 I could steward resources in a way that would benefit not only my family for the next foreseeable generations, but my communities, and the New Earth itself, yearning to be witnessed into reality.

The Priestess

Here my story comes to completion, but it is far from over. My reality continuously expands as my heart and consciousness learn to hold more than I ever thought was possible for me—more liberty, more money, more health, more joy.

I invoke the archetype and the mastery of the priestess to guide me in stewarding our resources, directing the vision of our family legacy, and cultivating the psychic, divine, and elemental powers that are present to support us.

This is where I’ve found the intersection of spirit and finance.

May you too find your way to wealth, in peace and prosperity for all.

ALL MY LOVE

Athena Wilder

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FINE PRINT No part of this article has been written or copyedited using AI. Artwork has been sourced without explicit permission from Artsy.net. The artists are not associated with my work or any of the information and/or opinions shared. May their artistry be blessed.

FOOTNOTES

These steps are encased in the offering, A Guide to New Earth Embodiment as they are, in many ways, not only what is required of one’s emergence from a Dark Night of the Soul, but of a cultural shift.

Here we will explore and provide an answer to,

“WTF is the New Earth?”

I am not an authority on this concept and don’t pretend to be, but for the purpose of providing context and clarity to my work here, it’s important that the variation and meaning I’m referring to is understood.

My primary tool for mapping where we’ve been and where we’re going is the Daiva Yugas1 (meaning “divine ages that join”, or “divine union” in Sanskrit). They are approximately 24,000 year cycles that represent a fractal of Hindu cosmology based on the work of enlightened sage Manu and further developed by Sri Yukteswar.

These cycles track the journey of the Earth through universal matter as it spends 12,000 years approaching the Galactic Center, then another 12,000 years separating from it, and then the next 12,000—you guessed it—approaching it again.

The Galactic Center is believed to be a source or portal to God, the Most High, Unity Consciousness, the Creator. It is to some, the yoni of the universe.

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This process facilitates a rhythmic dance between contraction and expansion as humanity pushes and pulls itself closer to and away from its Eternal parent.

Much like the contractions of birth, these cycles influence the continual rebirth of our consciousness as we learn the lessons buried in the depths of our lower minds in order to alchemize them into higher states that align us with nature, consciousness, and God.

The closer we travel to the Galactic Center, the more expanded human consciousness becomes. We experience at the peak, an Age of Truth in which the spiritual Self is actualized and our ways of life reflect our oneness with nature and all that is.

The further we travel from the Galactic Center, the more we become separated from our natural order and fractured in our spiritual intelligence. Yin and yang energies are disharmonized and humanity plunges into a Dark Age of separation from nature and divinity.

Although it may seem cruel and unnecessary to press humanity through repeated cycles of suffering, it’s important to acknowledge that even in the microcosm there doesn’t exist a hero’s journey in which a consistent, upward trajectory carries one to victory. No—the beauty and evolution of life includes, and is supported by, the darkness in between.

It’s worth noting that humans spend roughly 40% of their time in the golden ages of the Satya Yugas—more than any other yuga. This aligns with the belief that we live in a universe orchestrated by a benevolent creator, rather than a punishing creator.

So where are we now?

DAIVA YUGAS

Most Recent Satya Yuga (Age of Truth): 15900 BC - 7100 BC
Most Recent Kali Yuga (Age of Darkness): 600 BC - 1600
Current ascending Dwapara Yuga: 1900 - 3900
Next Satya Yuga (Age of Truth): 8100 - 12100

ASTROLOGICAL AGES

Age of Virgo (Pisces): 500 - 2500
Age of Leo (Aquarius): 2500 - 4500

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The Ascending Dwapara Yuga in the Age of Virgo2

In the ascending Dwapara Yuga we anchor into the “steady” heart as we emerge from the Dark Ages and begin to remember who we are on a soul level. This is the beginning of a long journey and it’s where I want to be clear about my understanding of our timelines.

Many voices and personalities in the New Age community give the impression that the “Aquarian Age” is here now, powering our light bodies and promising various opportunities for salvation—including alien interventions, among other things. There are threads connecting the concept of the “New Earth” to this narrative and its imminent crescendo.

I don’t currently align with this perspective and I want to encourage us to think differently about where we are, where we’re going, and what the New Earth means for humanity.

The turning point for our collective here on Earth—in which we pivoted from the process of contraction to expansion—is still very much in our rearview mirror (around the year 600, just a couple hundred years after Hypatia—an esteemed and initiated woman in the Mysteries schools of Alexandria—was brutally and publicly murdered in the name of what we now know as Judeo-Christianity.3)

We are expanding into a “New Earth,” simply based on our current location in the Daiva Yugas, but we are also in an embryonic state of this process—and the lessons that need to be integrated are vast and many.

During the Age of Virgo, its polarity (Pisces) was buried in the unconscious of humanity, distorting our understanding of God and our role as spiritual beings seeded with divine intelligence4.

We are still playing out those distortions, and with the presence of the internet, self-appointed superiority, and 30-second-media machines, information travels quickly, is copied quickly, and permeates the collective consciousness with truths and falsities alike.

What I’m proposing is that we anchor ourselves into the humility that we actually know very little about this enlightenment, that our study and embodiment of the reemergence of diverse spirituality be as integral as possible, and that we honor the reality that we will not live to see the Golden Age that we are all dreaming of.

I point this out not for the purpose of your discouragement, but for your encouragement (just because we’re on an ascending trajectory, doesn’t mean we can’t still make a mess of things (unless we make the necessary descension into our hearts.))

In the year 2500 we will enter the Age of Leo, of which Mary Blue says, “The release and emotional assimilation of the knowledge within the divine seed will accelerate collectively in the Leo age, setting the stage for the rebirth of the devotional heart [in the following Tetra Yuga] as the individual self begins to rediscover its true identity as an individualized reflection of its universal Self.”

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The New Earth

The New Earth is a time of great reorganization and re-illumination. It is a timeline encompassing thousands of years to come, and yet it is also now.

The New Earth is an expression and revival of the laws of Creation (nature) and our birthrights as sovereign children of God.

The New Earth is humanity’s unique unfolding as it’s never been done before—not a revival of ancestral living, but an evolution of what they had to teach us.

With all the concrete experiences of fallen empires, cultural shifts, technological advancements, and more, it’s important to know that the New Earth is also a frequency—one that anyone anywhere can attune to at any moment. And this is where the work comes in.

The process of making this attunement—and aligning our beliefs, thoughts, and actions with it—is what the Guide to New Earth Embodiment is all about.5

You are powerful enough to do this.

Not only for yourself, but for our children, and for the many generations to come after them.

May we carve a path in the wilderness so they will know the way.

ALL MY LOVE

Athena Wilder

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FINE PRINT All dates and terminology have been relayed with my highest ability and level of awareness. I welcome respectful corrections! No part of this article has been written or copyedited using AI. Artwork has been sourced without explicit permission from Artsy.net; Emily Weiner is not associated with my work or any of the information and/or opinions shared. May her artistry be blessed!

FOOTNOTES

You can only heal the world as deeply as you have healed yourself.

It’s been approximately 10 years since my sense of reality was first shattered by overwhelming evidence that the events that took place in America on September 11th, 2001 were not what was advertised.

If this wasn’t your gateway to a new vision, then perhaps 2020 was your wakeup call—a series of global events so aggressive and blatant in their anti-life agenda, that although it seemed to coerce the world into hypnosis, it also shook thousands out of their trance.

Even after opening my eyes wider and wider to what was hiding right in front of me, I was blind to the tyranny that existed just as plainly in the “light.” I fell for an illusion of the New Paradigm1, and in doing so I learned a few things that my previous obsessions with conspiracy could never teach;

I learned how to heal.

When it comes to unlearning perceptions, fear-scrolling and info-bingeing are a common occurrence. We become rooted in a freeze state, unable to do anything about what we’re discovering—or catapulted into a panic state, frantically making decisions that don’t actually make any sense.

Ironically, the shadow figures we come to fear are usually symbols projected into our lived reality through a screen. They become elusive entities we believe to be plotting our slavery from behind closed doors; and that may be, but let me ask you—when was the last time Bill Gates showed up at your door and force-fed you GM corn? Or a nanotech inoculation?

Although incremental changes in the culture are happening all around us, the truth is, if you look back on your life, from let’s say 2010-2019, and deleted all the attention you gave to the media, all that invested emotional energy, how impacted would your life had actually been by these entities?

For a long time I lived enveloped by the frequencies of information and imagination, but my lived experience didn’t change too much—at least not enough to force me into an embodied shift.

Then, I made seismic decisions to move (flee)—first to Canada in reaction to the 2020 tyranny unfolding in NYC, then to North Carolina to be in community with women, another reaction out of my own lack of personal agency and to the 2020 tyranny unfolding in Montréal.

The experience of relocating such long distances with a young child, losing my sense of Self, allowing fear to posses my consciousness, being perceived as an anxious, incompetent Mother by a leading advocate of Matriarchy, having the back of an entire community turned on me, losing my homes, and collapsing into financial ruin was the initiation that taught me how to adapt and thrive in the face of abusive leadership.

It’s worth highlighting that microcosmic experiences of abuse (within cults, family dynamics, communities, etc.) are fractals of the macrocosmic abuses that take place on a global scale.

Through these experiences, which I can only describe as walking on hot coals in the dark of night, I’ve cultivating skills that I believe will become ever more valuable—and necessary—as we move forward in this time on Earth.

Contrary to what many New Agers believe, I don’t share the romanticized notion that the old systems will simply crumble away as the New Earth rises from its ashes into the 5th Dimension, never to experience suffering and duality again—never mind the next descending arc of the Daiva Yugas, but I digress!

Yes, the old paradigm will fall simply because it is not sustainable—a mirror of our current position in the ascending Dwapara Yuga of the Age of Virgo (Pisces)2—but that doesn’t mean the New Paradigm won’t require our effort, participation, and mastery. After all, when the empire collapses, will we not need leaders, farmers, healers, teachers, artists, builders, and many others, rooted and at the ready to take its place?

The following guide provides a working set of instructions that can be used to ease the transition from old to New; to repair from what has been done, before becoming active participants in what is yet to come.

It isn’t Truth by any means, but a humble suggestion; a collection of skills inspired by my personal evolution through the Hero’s Journey, and a roadmap-in-development as we discover and embody the New Earth3 together.

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A Guide to New Earth Embodiment

Version 1.0. Written within the context of repairing and rebuilding after being deeply affected by abusive systems and leadership, both small and large.

Although these “steps” are outlined in numerical order, you may reshuffle them to suit your needs, and will likely find that they weave in and out of one another in waves and pulses.

1. Facilitating A Sense of Safety

It’s through my personal experience that I’ve become a deep advocate for facilitating one’s personal sense of safety in the world. The human mind becomes highly dysfunctional, and the body unable to heal, when we perceive ourselves to be in persistent danger. If you’ve been directly impacted by abusive relationships, oppression, tyranny, financial instability, homelessness, unhealthy family dynamics, etc., recalibration may be in order.

This path is going to look different for everyone. Establishing a safe home environment and being financially stable were critical components in my journey back to safety. It was only then that I could reprogram my emotional condition and my nervous system to what was true, rather than allowing it to grip to illusions from the past.

If you don’t feel particularly effected by any traumas per se, I invite you to scan your emotional investments in current affairs, fear-based media, or even damaging and vampiric personal relationships and environments. How easily are you destabilized by these forces? Where do you need to recollect yourself?

By rooting into safety I was able to springboard into the following steps in ways that were simply impossible when I was constantly ping ponging between freezing up and spiraling out.

2. Healing the Physical Body

There’s a meme that often goes around saying essentially, “the world needs you as you are—don’t wait! Just ‘do it’”. Perhaps there’s nuance to it, perhaps it’s speaking to perfectionists. If not, let me provide a novel interpretation: The world doesn’t need you as you are, the world needs you whole.

Notice I’m not suggesting that you aren’t perfect as you are, nor meant to be exactly where are, and all those good things. I’m speaking within a specific context here.

My rocky transition from career powerhouse and alcoholic to motherhood was a tidal wave that didn’t hit me until it collided with the shockwaves of 2020-2022 described above. Driven by survival impulses, I tried to keep going as if my life wasn’t taking place—but beneath my dissociated behavior I was fried, depleted, exhausted, and overreactive, unable to sleep properly or digest food.

Do you think that woman prospered by continuing her entrepreneurship “as she was”? Do you think that woman felt embodied in the New Earth frequency “as she was”? Do you think that woman thrived in a position to lead, create, steward land and resources, or give birth to new life “as she was”? Fuck no—that women needed to lay the fuck down!

The New Earth is built through us and within us. It requires strength, resiliency, clarity, and other qualities which source their nutrients from the soil of the body. You cannot bypass your healing when the only thing your body has ever known is survival in a world acting in error.

I’ve since made myself the most important person in my life—yes, even more important than my child, who requires my wellbeing in order to thrive—and am focusing on the natural laws we must all dance with in order to facilitate healing.4 This has been a beautiful journey that is truly transforming me into the women the world needs me to be.

3. Making Meaning out of Trauma

Integration begins the moment you start to question what happened to you. It is quite literally, the "act of bringing together the parts of a whole."5 In many ways this process never ends, as we continue to mine the events of our life for meaning until our time of dying.

Like the previous steps, this an extremely personal evolution that no one else can facilitate for you, and requires perhaps, the most amount of courage.

Integration requires a willingness to feel (all that we need to), to understand (why we had this experience), and to forgive (everyone involved, including ourselves).

As you move through this process you’ll find familiar triggers begin to neutralize. There are fewer nightmares and fewer possessions by the spirit of victimhood. You’ll discover the profound meaning of your story and wouldn’t want it written any other way. Eventually, Peace and Love will find homes in your heart.

This is the freedom that awaits the weary traveler on the path of integration.

4. Rediscovering the Self

Victims of trauma usually come out on the other side of their experience stunned and fragmented. It is likely that in many ways they don’t fully remember who they are, especially when exiting from verbally abusive or manipulative relationships.

Growing up in a society that is still suffering from a version of the Dark Ages is enough in itself to nurture a fully grown adult who doesn’t feel truly connected to who they are!

Part of your healing is going to include the rediscovery of the Self. This is in essence, the most exalted expression the Soul came here to experience—including its Dharma, its purpose, its Divine Mission, and even the transmutations of its shadows, its Karma, and its evolution.

Although it sounds lofty, this discovery begins wherever you are, with the smallest things that makes us whole. It begins with reestablishing your self-worth, aligning with your true values, and following the path of your calling.

5. Developing Emotional Mastery

To develop emotional mastery means to build one’s personal sense of intelligent awareness over their emotional, or feeling, body. It is the process of coming into energetic coherence through the proper utilization and release of all emotions, and the ability to take ownership of one’s own emotional condition.

It is here we emerge from the darkness and into the light—where deep tissue healing takes place, where manifestation (coevolution) finds its wellspring, and where consciousness expands and ripples outward in a beautiful cosmic dance.

Your safety, healing, and integration will all require a beginner’s dose of this step, but New Earth embodiment will require more. This is the bridge that takes you from the inner work to the outer world.

It’s my own personal observation and belief that the reason New Earth communities rank so highly in their apparent failures and dysfunctions is (partly) because people lack the emotional maturity necessary to contribute to co-operative spaces.

Emotional mastery unlocks the intelligence behind all sensations, the ability to experience them fully, and the willingness to release them from your field when their time has come.

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This guide is but a fragment of the meaning I have made of my life. It is here to serve you.

I know that the steps are not necessarily How-Tos, but rather, introductions to what is possible. I will likely create expanded material on each one in order to be more directly helpful. Please reach out to me if you need support or further resources:

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You are seen. You are heard. You are loved.

Athena

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FINE PRINT No part of this article has been written or copyedited using AI.

FOOTNOTES

Can you persecute one unlicensed midwife without persecuting them all?

This question has been a point of deep contemplation for me as I consider the actions being taken against prominent women in the free birth movement—who have no doubt inflicted harm on others for reasons unrelated to a woman’s ability and will to birth at home should she choose—and yet, are being held up to the burning cross for “practicing medicine without a license”.

The apparent double-mindedness of this behavior seems to be lost on everyone involved.

The belief that the people are free to practice medicine—or midwifery—without a license from a governing body is an absolute principle, meaning: you can’t have a little bit of it.

“Industrial medicine doesn’t belong in birth, except when someone is being a bully.”

“Women are smart enough to make their own decisions, except when something goes wrong for them.”

“Take radical responsibility for your life, until you choose a path you don’t want to take responsibility for anymore.”

The same women who have beaten the drums for all the underground midwives currently in jail, are now taking actions that can add more to their ranks.

Can you persecute one, without persecuting them all?

Without the force of governing bodies (systems of slavery), what does it actually look like when a sovereign people take matters into the own hands?

What BEAUTY can be created when we are not resolving injustice by asking for MORE punishment and MORE oppression and MORE control?

Should we not rise to meet the challenges of our times with our values intact, instead of crumbling under the weight of the learned helplessness we have all been claiming to alchemize?

Irony is found in the witch hunt whose torches are carried by the witches.

Originally posted to Instagram.

I want to take advantage of the spaciousness of Substack to provide further context to my statement.

My family was one of the first to be invited into the Hayesville experiment conducted by Emilee Saldaya of Free Birth Society.

We were living in Canada during lockdowns, after making a series of decisions that resulted in our financial instability and vulnerability. In the midst of my helplessness I was offered a lifeline—the opportunity to move into an idyllic community that centered women and children, and provided protection against the tyranny of the world. Despite all my previous experiences with emotionally manipulative individuals, I fell for the “love bombing” that poured from this international leader in women’s rights.

We spent the better part of a year preparing for our transition—buying a car, selling our things, moving back to the states, traveling hundreds of miles.

While waiting for our yurt to be fully constructed, a disagreement occurred with the first women to occupy her land and lawyers got involved. Emilee expressed that she felt like she “didn’t know who she could trust” and responded by creating a new layer of inner circle women.

I was invited to join this circle—the curated Mother’s Council which required weekly Marco Polo updates and monthly calls amongst the chosen participants in order to facilitate vulnerability.

In March of 2022 our $1,700 per month tent was ready for move-in. We lasted four weeks before being told we weren’t “compatible” with her vision.

The reasons were numerous and confusing. Many of them were extracted from my very transparent shares within the Mother’s Council (you know, where we were supposed to be “vulnerable”).

We were “too broke”. I was “too anxious”. My mothering was called into question, including my decision to continue breastfeeding my then three-year-old daughter.

I was removed from the Mother’s Council and fired from my staff position for the Matriarch Rising Festival. In a state of shock I continued attending community events, partially attempting to prove that I wasn’t anxious at all and could totally hang (a.k.a. still trying to earn approval from my abuser). When I ultimately pulled my daughter from “Yurt School”, canceled my FBS membership, and stopped attending gatherings, I was accused of being weird for “hiding” and was gossiped about to the other women in the community.

For weeks we tried in our state of duress to find work and another place to live. As many of you know, we ultimately chose to move in with my beloved’s parents after MRF came to pass and we still had no idea where to go.

I spent the following months having lost my direction, my “friends”, my sense of Self, and my dignity, in complete shock and devastation.

Numerous details are missing from this version of the story, but I know the patterns are there, and many of you will see yourself in them through your own experiences with this organization.

It’s now 2025, and I’ve spent several years processing my story and rehabilitating my family in isolation (although it’s now in vogue to go public about Free Birth Society, it wasn’t for a very long time).

I’ve discovered in my journey profound lessons in personal growth, in spiritual fortitude, in healing the inner realms. I’ve learned that revenge doesn’t burn down anyone other than me. I’ve developed an appreciation for the perfection of life and all it’s actors. I’ve seen the vision for what is possible when we are integrated, and masterful over the direction of our energy and attention.

I know women are struggling to find meaning in what has taken place. I know women are hurting. I know women want justice.

Don’t lose faith in the values that guided you to the dream of the wild woman, just because its leader was shrouded in darkness.

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Throughout the years of my life thus far, the moment of The Birthday has often been a time of great tension and obsession. Our culture emphasizes the day of our birth, the acquirement of possessions, the expectation of perfection, and the drama of the party.

Then as a new Mother, I began acknowledging the forgotten Women for whom it was also a birthing day, often refusing to bring gifts to small children’s parties, and opting instead to provide a gift for the Mother.

This year, my relationship with this celebratory occasion evolved yet again as I tapped into my Solar Return—which marks a “year” of life on Earth—as a portal that activated soul frequencies within a 5° (give or take) conjunction.

It was not lost on me that the instructions I received to “return my frequency to myself” [If you’re not caught up on this, read about it here.] came at the onset of Leo season, and I believe deeply in the divine timing that orchestrated what followed as I couldn’t have possibly designed it on my own.

I held the awareness that the Sun would be channeling Leo energy as I shut down my offerings and embarked on my quest, and I knew that a series of rituals were necessary for me to alchemize what was needed.

Solar Return Water

I began with the simple process of making Solar Return Water. This technique was taught to me by esteemed astrologer, Judith Hill and remains to be one of my favorite yearly rituals. Surely you know by now the way in which water is programmable, and this is essentially the natural law that we utilize when we make Solar Return Water.

I was able to manifest a crystal bowl specifically for this ritual just a few days prior to the conjunction, and set it on a decorated outdoor altar on the day of my Solar Return (with Fauna’s assistance). I enabled the spring water to be calibrated by the Sun’s rays throughout my Solar Return as well as the time of my birth. I also placed a written mantra under the bowl to further assist with the intention of my mission, “I love and accept myself without guilt or shame”.

Ironically, I’ve been working with this mantra since the start of the new calendar year, and never imagined that I would be able to absorb it in the capacity that I have (more on that as my story develops).

I collected the water at the day’s end and imbibed in my own frequency as well as saved a small amount of it in an apothecary jar for a future ritual.

New Moon Burial

The New Moon of Leo season takes place in the sign of Leo, the sign that also happens to house my South Node, a marker of our past and our karma. I decided to use this alignment to bury quite a large collection of my own hair, which I had been saving without knowing exactly why or for what purpose. Much of the hair carried my life before baby and the traumas of the recent years. I had lost a majority of it after competing a healing response in 2021 during a tense and awkward season between life in Montreal and life in North Carolina. It represented for me a period of darkness and self-betrayal. I was ready to release it. On the day of the New Moon I walked up our mountain road and tucked into a hidden place beneath the pines. I let the Earth Mother absorb my pain and allowed her to alchemize it.

Full Moon Baptism

Sometime at the start of this portal I began receiving instructions to conduct a baptism. I envisioned a dress and found it immediately online with beautiful brand Avy & Co, but when the expected arrival date was past my birthday I knew there must be a more appropriate alignment for me. I reviewed the upcoming transits and saw that Leo season would come to a close with a Full Moon in Aquarius just 2° from my North Node, which represents our dharma and where the soul is evolving to in this life (in observing this I also realized that Uranus has been squaring my Nodes since around the start of the TBM Challenge that I wrote about in my previous entry!) I fully accepted this as the correct date for my ceremony, and began to design what was needed for that event (if you follow me on Instagram you’ve been along for the live updates).

In releasing my expectations over the things I could not control—shipping times, location, weather—the experience itself came together with total ease and perfection. Organically we found ourselves at a lake just minutes before the exact conjunction was taking place and without much planning, I gave a short speech about the significance of the ceremony. Although the word, “baptism” is often associated with organized religion, the etymology of the word itself refers to the purification, dedication, and naming of something. And so this is what brought me to the edge of a lake in a white dress on a Monday.

I announced my intention to purify all energies and frequencies from my field that did not belong to me or were not True to my Self, to dedicate my path forward to the exploration and expression of my True purpose, and to name who I am—Athena, daughter of Susan, daughter of Catherine, daughter of Krisoula, and of all the Mothers who came before them, until the Great Mother herself; all other labels, titles, jobs, and Instagram bios are mere accessories to the human experience. I submerged myself in the water and was renewed.

When I embarked on a mission to return my frequency to myself, I anticipated that I would spend the better part of a year healing and reprogramming in some long, serious commitment. Instead, I have moved phenomenal amounts of energy, held incredible recalibrations, and arrived at a deeply peaceful sense of completion in one zodiac season; completely humbled by the miracles of life, God(dess), and my own Self knowing.

There is another layer to this journey, which involves the Heart Work I’ve been doing, in large part for my cosmic conception. That story will be told in the next entry, in which I’ll share about my experiences with Cacao, Motherwort, flower essences, Kava, and community.

As always, thank you for witnessing me.
Athena

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