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Thorn magic
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It’s late October, and the rosehips are ripe.
The firethorns are bright red on their bushes.
The bramble leaves are starting to turn
I think of Autumn as thorn season, when the world, and our energy, starts to turn inwards.
Thorny plants are plants of protection, for obvious reasons: it’s impossible to get too close. In gathering ocotillo, you have to carefully place your hands while chopping down a branch. I’ve emerged from the desert with a harvest having shed blood to the land many a time over the years. Blackberries, wild roses, devil’s club, blackthorn, hawthorn, they’re all the same in this regard: you have to exercise the utmost of care in gathering and preparing them, and in exchange they take care of you, in a sense, offering that same protection in kind.
Almost as though, in taking the time to treat them right you pass a boundary of sorts and they let you in. Which is, of course, a metaphor for boundaries in the first place.
But boundaries aren’t just about keeping the world out. Goodness, that life would be boring.
When most people talk about boundaries, they stop here: the thorny thicket that keeps you safe. But, but, but.
There is more to life than being safe. There is more to life than having everything around you under your control.
There is vibrancy and joy and connection and relationship. There is the magic of knowing that you’re safe out there in the unknown. That life can surprise you, that people can delight you.
THIS is what boundaries are truly about.
Not turning in, away from the world,
but turning out, towards the world.
How?
If you stop looking at a ‘boundary’ as a solid wall that protects you from the world, and instead as a filter, membrane, hedgerow, that allows you to open. Open-hearted. Soft. Generous. Kind.
The hedgerow, or filter, is the things you need in place in order to remain open.
This will look different with every person; every situation. Some situations you might need to remove yourself from in order to remain open-hearted to the world. Some situations might only need a tweak here and there, in order to remain open-hearted in their direction. It’s an ongoing dance; a growing, living thing. An ecological wonderland full of beauty and mystery. One that you get to cultivate.
The payoff is the magic: you start to feel safe in the world, in relationship to other things and people. Imagine that though, relationship being safe.
That’s the magic of thorn medicine. Not that you feel safe in protection, turned away from the world inside a fortress, but that you feel safe turned out towards the world. Stepping forwards, towards, towards, towards.
Towards each other. Towards relationship. Towards healing. Towards connection.
The Thorn & Blossom box is a hedgerow. Literally and metaphorically.
The intention at its core is for you to feel safe in opening your heart to the world. For that, you need thorns.
Blackthorn. Bramble. Rose. Hawthorn. Firethorn. A touch of ocotillo, a visit from devil’s club. Thorny friends with varying degrees of sharpness, with these beautiful, fragrant, shining hearts. Teaching you both how to firm your edges, and how to soften and open, turn towards the world, over and over.
I’ll be making 4 products: an energetic picture to immerse yourself in.
Shipping the second or third week of November.
Get yours HERE.
Big hugs,
Rebecca
ps. If this is a topic you want to explore more, stay tuned because I have something even bigger coming :).
pps. Constellation boxes and all orders are shipping on Friday.
Hi! I'm Rebecca
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