Spiritual strength in times of challenge

There are times when my soul is literally writhing — it can’t get comfortable.

When the problems of the world feel so immense that any contribution I make seems lacking, insignificant, almost belittling in the face of the avalanche of suffering I imagine ahead for my children, and for humanity’s children.

My Healer self goes into overdrive.

If that wasn’t enough, I then look at all the people who appear to have more resources than me, who are also trying to make a difference — and who feel equally frustrated. Which leaves me facing an uncomfortable truth: even if I achieved the very zenith of my current dreams, it would still not be enough.

So I go back to the basics.

I name the wounds. I face the shadows.
The discomfort of my Seer.
The frustration of my Healer.
The escapism of my Mystic.
The overthinking of my Sage.
The distractibility of my Magician.

These are old friends. I know these places.
This is terrain I have walked before.

And when I am wandering the world without my true magic, that is something I can do something about.

This is the self-soothing – the finding of spiritual strength – that needs to happen every single day. Not just for me, but for everyone. Because no one person is the answer. And yet, every person could be the tipping point that humanity transform from being the problem into the solution.

In this time of mid-winter, the central runes of the storm Aett are active: the harvest and long labour of Jera, and the deep endurance and eternal life of Eihwaz.

Yule was never meant to be a season of frenzied buying, eating, traffic jams, and tinsel. It is a time for togetherness, for belonging, and for giving to those in need – and that begins with remembering how to tend the sources that sustain us.

I cannot hold a centre of togetherness, belonging, and generosity if I cannot offer these things to myself.

The medicine I need is connection — to my spirit guides, to my land, to my ancestors.
Stories of hope that feed the soul.
Time for rest. Time for reflection.

Accessing spiritual strength is not an act of willpower.
You cannot think your way into it, or fake it.

And it is not a luxury — something to fit in after everything else on the to-do list.

It is the foundation from which everything else must grow.