{"id":106,"date":"2016-07-19T15:34:18","date_gmt":"2016-07-19T23:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/tempest\/?p=106"},"modified":"2016-07-21T09:55:44","modified_gmt":"2016-07-21T17:55:44","slug":"the-witch-the-ocean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tempest\/2016\/07\/the-witch-the-ocean.html","title":{"rendered":"The Witch & The Ocean"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

(Sorry that I\u2019ve been MIA for the last few weeks \u2013 I was finishing up my 5th coloring book project, Witch\u2019s Brew<\/a>, then was off to the East Coast for a long overdue visit with my family, came home to do a local festival, and then I had to get the final draft of The Witch\u2019s Cauldron into the publisher \u2013 no rest for the wicked! But I\u2019ve got a slew of blog posts brewing!)
\n<\/em>
\nI\u2019ve spent many a year alongside the Pacific Ocean and visited much of the land it touches. I respect it, understand it, but it\u2019s not my ocean and we both know that. \u00a0We make polite small talk and keep up the courtesies well enough, but I belong to the spirit of the Atlantic.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Atlantic Ocean always calls me home. \u00a0According to legend, I was formed on its shores, practically born in it, and raised at its edge for most of my young life. \u00a0I know what it looks like at all hours of the day and night and can read the moods of her waves and currents like a language. I am deeply familiar with the patterns she etches on the beach and the life that teems within it and alongside it. \u00a0I\u2019ve seen her sparkle full of diamonds on bright clear mornings, churn and froth with hurricanes, and sing like a siren under the eye of the full moon.<\/p>\n

The other week, I spent a lot of time alongside and in the Atlantic Ocean, being welcomed back, enjoying the company of my family and my beloved. \u00a0Yet my favorite visit was the evening I walked down to the ocean by myself, as the sun began to sink from the sky, arriving at the beach as the veil of dusk descended.<\/p>\n

\"ocean-view\"
Photo of the shore at dusk by the author<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve spent countless hours of my life visiting the ocean at this hour. \u00a0The sky, the ocean, and the beach all take on a luminosity not seen at any other time. \u00a0It\u2019s as if the whole world is made of mother-of-pearl \u2013 iridescent, ethereal, otherworldly. \u00a0There\u2019s a quiet sense of introspection \u2013 no one you encounter at the beach at this time is here to chat or play.<\/p>\n

The sand still holds the heat of the sun from the day, while the ocean seems to meet the temperature of your skin as the night air cools. \u00a0You become acutely aware of being in a liminal space that has just been opened before you. \u00a0We are between night and day, time and space, this world and the next.<\/p>\n

All the marks and sigils you draw in the sand are gently erased by her\u00a0bubbling\u00a0fingers. Everything said\u00a0to the ocean is pulled away gently in a loving embrace by the waves, word by word, drawn to the heart of her. \u00a0And then she speaks.<\/p>\n

She has been here before and always. \u00a0She has seen it all, seen so many of us come and go. \u00a0She will continue on without us, swallowing us up again, reaching into our souls. \u00a0She is endless, timeless, birthing and destroying simultaneously. \u00a0She creates and steals dreams. Our lifetimes are but a blink to her, but she still makes us, owns us, loves us.<\/p>\n

\"self-portrait
self-portrait by the author<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The wisdom of the ocean says that no matter how hard we try to forge a lasting mark on the earth, eventually everything<\/em> is erased and forgotten. \u00a0BUT in that brief moment \u00a0we live, we are individual specks of sand that make up a shoreline\u00a0that borders the timeless. \u00a0We matter to those we come in contact with, forming patterns as the waves wash against and with us. \u00a0In the liminal space between earth, sky, and water, we are all diverse individuals marveling at the wonder of the world, both alone and together. \u00a0We are unique, yet the same from afar. As tides change, we may feel that we are or are not of a community, but yet regardless we\u2019re all there, intermingling and weathering the waves. \u00a0We are alone by design and by our own minds, yet never alone \u2013 as we\u2019re all there at the edge, accepting the kisses of the ocean.<\/p>\n

Listen, listen underneath the noise, can you hear her? \u00a0She roars, she screams, she sings, she calls, and she whispers all at once. She tells us of all the offerings, wishes, and tears she has taken into her, and of\u00a0every gift that she has given. \u00a0Everything ebbs and flows, gives, and takes, advances and recedes.<\/p>\n

Breathe in the dampness, taste the salt, feel the spray against your skin and the silk of the sand beneath your feet. \u00a0Feel the breakers flow around your legs, rushing softly to the shore. \u00a0Sink gently in the sand as she pulls back, and allow the waves\u00a0to take away the burdens of your heart and mind. \u00a0As the next wave advances, feel the bounty of blessings flowing around you, refreshing your heart and mind. \u00a0Be filled with the magick of the moment and give thanks.<\/p>\n

Even when you are far away from her, the ocean will hold you in her heart. \u00a0She knows you will be back. She\u2019s seen it all before.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The wisdom of the ocean says that no matter how hard we try to forge a lasting mark on the earth, eventually everything is erased and forgotten.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2676,"featured_media":107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,12,13],"tags":[65,24,52,63,26,64,7,4],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metaphysics","category-modernpractice","category-myth-and-folklore","tag-beach","tag-community","tag-magick","tag-ocean","tag-pagan","tag-shore","tag-witch","tag-witchcraft"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Witch & The Ocean<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The wisdom of the ocean says that no matter how hard we try to forge a lasting mark on the earth, eventually everything is erased and forgotten.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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