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Exploring the Transformative Power of Women's Circles: Healing, Creativity, and Connection
387 Plays9 days ago
Welcome to The Bell Witch Podcast. 'Witching in the 21st Century'
In this episode host Swailes converses with Liz, founder of Soul Creative Circle. Liz shares her transition from teaching to facilitating women's circles focused on empowerment, creativity, and menstrual cycle awareness. They discuss the significance of holding space, creative journaling, and the transformative power of community. Liz highlights her work in energy healing, sound, and somatic practices, and recounts a profound vision quest experience. The episode emphasizes the importance of understanding one's cycle, releasing past traumas, and embracing intuition. Liz also shares her challenges in promoting her work and her future aspirations in shamanic practices.
Liz is always looking to collaborate with other witchy souls who seek to empower others and loves to connect, so give her a follow and drop her a message if you're interested in anything she offers.
You can find her on all Socials: Instagram: @soulandwomb Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/share/18vWKJn7kb/Linktree: https://linktr.ee/SoulCreativeCircle
Part of the Darkcast Network Family Podcast Network | Darkcast Network
Podcast Pals- And Then They Were Gone- https://open.spotify.com/show/3wz4NMMqTPDgfHr3Iup9mO?si=49df9642a9024eca
Creepy Tapas https://open.spotify.com/show/5Vq8eyYHlglMgoc5OguOH4?si=afe75d03960d406b
Made with love and magic by Swailes the Friendly Green Witch friendlygreenwitch | Twitter, Instagram, Facebook | Linktree
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#circles #spirituality #witchcraft #feminism #witch #pagan #community #healing
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Transcript
Introduction of Hosts and Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello, I'm Kona Gallagher. And I'm Ethan Flick. We're the husband and wife team behind the True Crime Podcast, And Then They Were Gone. We're a weekly show that covers unsolved missing persons cases. These are cases that you, the listener, can have an impact on.
00:00:14
Speaker
Some of the people you may have heard of, like Kristen Smart or Braceless Pisa, but we also bring you missing people of color and other cases that haven't gotten the mainstream attention that they deserve. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, GoodPods, or your favorite podcast app.
00:00:32
Speaker
Darkcast Network, bringing our indie podcasts out of the shadows.
Introduction to Bell Witch Podcast and Guest
00:01:12
Speaker
Hello witches and beautiful souls, you are listening to the Bell Witch Podcast with me Swales, the friendly green witch.
00:01:23
Speaker
I hope you're all alright out there in magical witchy land living your best lives. Blimey that full moon knocked me over. Gosh it would a heavy one wasn't it? I spent that weekend in bed because I was ill with this demoned coffin cold from hell.
00:01:40
Speaker
I was proper ill. And as you can probably tell I haven't recovered fully so it's only a quick intro from me. So what have I got for you today?
00:01:51
Speaker
This is a fabulous moot loot episode. butre on episode 54 I believe which is what is wild to me. Absolutely wild. And this one is with my lovely friend, who is a fantastic guest, Liz, and her Soul Creative Circle business. She speaks passionately about holding space in circles and the magic that happens there. And you can find Liz on soul and a womb, all one word, on Instagram.
00:02:24
Speaker
She doesn't plug herself at the end, but as she mentions, Liz was about to rebrand and the rebrand has happened. So now you can find her with the up-to-date correct information.
00:02:37
Speaker
Enjoy, witches.
Liz's Journey and Soul Creative Circle
00:02:42
Speaker
Welcome Liz to my little witchy podcast. I am really happy to have here because I know you like I know you. Liz is a friend of mine through and maternal journal and all the amazing stuff that Sally Gore lightly holds and we've both been trained in holding circles and Liz has come on to tell us about this amazing circle holding spaces that she runs oh yeah, thank you for having me. I wanted to come on and just chat to you, really, because why wouldn't I? I love your podcast and I just think it's an amazing thing. You come across so authentically and being authentic is my jam. So, you know, it resonates with a lot of people. and
00:03:23
Speaker
So I'm Liz. I run a business called Soul Creative Circle, which has been a baby of mine now growing for maybe... I think for five five years, something like that, it was born out of a desperation to leave teaching.
00:03:40
Speaker
um i was a teacher for a long time and I was desperate to leave teaching, but didn't know where to turn and felt very trapped. I experienced some grief and loss and it led me towards sitting in circles and then meeting Sally and creative journaling.
Activities and Empowerment at Soul Creative Circle
00:03:58
Speaker
it just opened this massive door for me. So my business is based space holding, empowering women and allowing women to understand the magic of their true nature and who they are.
00:04:13
Speaker
And that is through sitting in circles, but also through other offerings, I hold creative journal circles, deep soul, healing circles, and then I do cycle coaching as well. So my my business is a myriad of a a lot of things, but it is but it's all born out of a passion to help people understand and give permission to people to be who they are and drop their masks and really allow women to come back to knowing how powerful we are as beings in this world that we live in.
00:04:45
Speaker
And it sounds very witchy. There's a lot of witchiness going in on there. I don't really do anything in the the the standard way. So there's a lot of ritual in some of my circles. I live a very ritualised life anyway.
00:04:59
Speaker
And then, you know, I think. Leading people towards using their intuition is instinctively very witchy. Witches use our, we use our intuition to guide us, to help us work with the flow of life and nature. And so i bring a lot of that into my work. And a lot of the women who I work with have moved on to become very witchy themselves, which I find really beautiful. And I feel very proud about that.
00:05:25
Speaker
Your circle's called Soul Creative, isn't it? Yeah, Soul Creative Circle. So I'm based in South Wales, in the valleys. I work across Cardiff and all of the southeast southeast Welsh valleys. But I am a bit of a nomad. I'll travel on any anywhere to work if it is worth doing. And in terms of it's going to be a really good project for me to do. i work For myself, but then I also work for charities and organisations who want a little bit more of the standard size side of things that I do. i always eek in a little bit of witchy goodness. And, you know, even if it's just working with cycles and seasons and and nature's magic, um I'll always get it in there. But yeah, I do a lot of different things, one-to-one work.
00:06:07
Speaker
I'll basically work anywhere I can as long as it feels good for me
Challenges and Trust in Facilitating Circles
00:06:10
Speaker
to do. So what happens in your circle then? Could you run us through the type of circle? What goes on? Yeah, I run several different circles. So I run some creative journaling circle.
00:06:20
Speaker
I'd sat in women's circles where, you know, we're not creative journaling. But when I was grieving, i was led towards creative journaling. I found Sally and It enabled me to understand the power of creativity as a tool for understanding yourself, your emotions and your expression.
00:06:41
Speaker
And so I couldn't not start doing that. It was such a passion for me. um i just wanted everybody to do it because it had changed my whole life. It held me. it nurtured me.
00:06:53
Speaker
It led me down pathways I'd never even imagined going because I could let my imagination run free. And so I instantly thought I want to do this for people. And, you know, it's it's so lovely when you've got something that you know works and you're the living proof of it.
00:07:08
Speaker
But I stepped, it gave me the courage to step from teaching into the world of circle facilitating. I guess it was a safer option for me at first, but it's become very much more than that. I hold circles of 15 women,
00:07:21
Speaker
who sit together weekend can week in, week out. They're free to attend. They're funded by local councils and charities. And they are based around the theme of, I guess, a maternal journal circle. But we go in deep. We do a lot of shadow work. I work with whatever the women need in that circle space.
00:07:38
Speaker
And i give them prompts. And i give them some philosophy or some inspiration. And then we just create based on the theme of the week. And then we share our stories if they want to.
00:07:49
Speaker
um and it's a really beautiful thing I know you do it I know you've sat in circles like that so I know you know the power of it too I much prefer being in a circle as opposed to running them and this has come about fairly recently for me because I have I do have Friendly Coven um it's having a bit of a break because I kind of lost my way a little bit and it is quite hard like being a a felicitator I suppose one of my major fears is it just not going right and everybody's just staring at me going like, what are we even doing here? And we go, I don't know, I don't know.
Choosing Themes and Embracing Cycle Education
00:08:25
Speaker
I don't know. I've just got this innate confidence in my ability that um I guess standing in front of classrooms full of children gave me the ability to know that I can wing something if I need to.
00:08:36
Speaker
And so it was quite a transferable skill, luckily. When I first started my deeper circles that I ran, because i do my art journaling circles, but then I run deep monthly circles for women to come and do the deep work. And we really go in and I put out calls for women to come that are ready to go there. you know you you you You can't really play safe in these circles. you You've got to go in and be willing to explore your emotions and the parts of your lives that you might not elsewhere. And so I never really know how it's going to be taken because there will be women who come monthly and they know what to expect.
00:09:08
Speaker
But then there are people who come because they've never been to circle before. And there's no real gentle way into it. You know, it's very lovely space to be in But when I'm asking people about...
00:09:19
Speaker
There's shadows. it's You never know how it's going to be. But I just trust. I trust in the universe. I trust in like the goddess to guide me. And it's not failed me yet. So that's the way I work.
00:09:31
Speaker
Just work in trust. So inspirational. Yeah. And one of the things I do as well is I think about who's coming. And I sit down. i just have a minute. And I just meditate on it. And i've maybe have a cup of cacao before. And then just allow myself to drift. And I ask what theme I should be working with.
00:09:49
Speaker
Regularly we will work with the seasons, but where what angle am I going to take this month and why? and um it generally comes. And so there has been a time or two where I thought, oh, what am I going to do? don't know what going to next week.
00:10:03
Speaker
And um the next day I'll get some kind of inspiration. So i so far it's not that me fail it's not failed me at all. so It's such a trust fall. Yeah. Yeah.
00:10:16
Speaker
And I just think like, you know, in circle spaces, i did start off like really holding control and as time has gone on and I've developed and I've learned to trust the space, you don't have to hold it all because everybody in the circle is there to hold it too. And that's part of the ethos of the work.
00:10:35
Speaker
And so if something goes off pace and just flows somewhere else, then actually it's okay to do that.
Menstrual Education and Empowerment
00:10:41
Speaker
And you it's not a lesson plan I don't have to stick to it no one's assessing me and so i just think well I've got far worse critique and assessment working for the government so you're like this is a breeze I could take this yeah it's turned into that there are days where I'm a bit unsteady it might be where I am in my cycle because I work very closely with the energy in my cycle and I might be in the spring of my cycle be really tentative and
00:11:10
Speaker
be very vulnerable and it's where I'm the most uncertain in across the month and I might be questioning myself but then I've got a really supportive partner who keeps me in check and he'll just be like where are you in your cycle stop judging yourself or and I've kind of taught him to do that for me which is handy or I will sit down and just have word with myself and be like chili beans like these women love coming you will have a lovely time just chill oh it's such a good place to be and yeah i saw I think did you all the circle recently that was about menstruation and stuff yeah I work with cycles I am a trained menstrual cycle coach and educator it's another passion of mine i felt that like education around this for young women is just appalling and originally I led
00:11:58
Speaker
down that alley for myself because I wanted to make it better and I do feel that much of our shadow and our shame and all of the things that we hold begins at that age for us and I just felt like women need more they need spaces they can talk about these things we don't stand around the wash pot together anymore and you know spill the tea we don't have that space so I really wanted to bring that into my work and I do every single circle, regardless of where it is, I talk about where I am in my cycle so that other women have the permission to do that.
00:12:31
Speaker
And then the conversations that come from it are really rich. But yeah, I work around the cycle and I'm currently about to put out there into the world a mother and daughter day where they're going to come together and we're going to work, do some cycle education, but in a ah more holistic way.
00:12:49
Speaker
earthy approach rather than the sterile approach that we get, which is very negative and starts us off really on the bad foot with cycles. So that's my next offering on the plate. There's a lot of them at the minute. Will that be like a red tent type deal?
00:13:06
Speaker
Yeah, it is. It is almost like a red tent. And there's also there's something out there called First Moon Circles, which is also really similar. This is my own blend of what I think is needed for young women.
00:13:17
Speaker
having been the person son who would deliver the sex education in year six in primary schools and thinking, God, they just deserve so much better. But having worked with lots of women who have daughters and how uncertain they are about speaking about these things and how much damage they may have from that part of their life, I feel like it's a space that needs to be offered. So it's a bit of a mishmash of red tent.
00:13:41
Speaker
And then we've got my cycle coaching going in there as well. And then some work around like the seasonal shift and how we are nature we're not just aside from nature so it's a bit of a blend and who knows how it will go but hopefully it'll be amazing oh it sounds lovely want to bring my flossy yeah if only we lived a bit closer or had a helicopter Yeah, helicopters wouldn't bad, actually. I'd everywhere.
00:14:08
Speaker
I mean, it's interesting about cycles. I think I'm quite unusual because I'm really different about my period. There's no shame. But then I also don't celebrate. It's just something that happens to me.
00:14:19
Speaker
And if there's something going on in my head, I go, ooh, am I due on? And I look at my calendar and it's like... Yeah, in three days. Oh, there you And I do the whole eco period stuff. And my kids do see my menstruation.
00:14:31
Speaker
Apparently that's massive. Like people see your blood. I don't really care. It's there. There it is. And my mum were the same, which is why I'm like this because she was just like, Yeah, get me tampon.
00:14:42
Speaker
Yeah, that's it. That's It's so rare. Honestly, you and i are rare in in that, you know, there is spoken about a lot more these days, but there's still so much shame and stigma around it. And I just feel like when I became a mother, I was really well, just before I became a mother, I was really involved in knowing about my body and and the changes and I just absolutely adored witnessing all of these changes and hormones and things going on and I found a power within me that led me down this route of um understanding the different parts of my cycle and how they link to the seasons outwardly and how a cycle how when you look at your cycle and you you document it daily even if it's just one word or even a colour
00:15:28
Speaker
um And you you, there are patterns and you understand that you actually are not an unpredictable being. ah you know, women for centuries have been told that we are crazy and hysterical and all of those things.
00:15:43
Speaker
And yeah, sometimes we are, but because we're fucking mad, because we're We've got things to be angry about or we're overwhelmed, we're overstimulated and we haven't rested.
00:15:53
Speaker
And so when you lean in to learning about your patterns and your unique cycle, it is so enriching to your life. You just understand yourself on a whole new level.
00:16:05
Speaker
And when I learned about that, i was just like, whoa, this has added a whole new level to my empowerment work for women. that everyone needs to fucking know about this. um And it's not always taken, like, you know, some people will, I'll say something like, oh, I'm bleeding at the minute. And even the mere mention of me bleeding to some people is like, oh, you know.
00:16:26
Speaker
We all fucking do it. It's amazing. I find that just hilarious. It's just comical. Yeah, it's mad. And it's interesting about like women together, even me and my daughters, she knows when I'm coming on because I'm basically bitch and like, and she is a bitch too. And my husband's there going, oh my God, I'm in a house full of women and you're all just mirroring each other with blooming hormones. Yeah.
00:16:52
Speaker
In your wild woman. You're like daughter and mother and wild woman. I grew up in a household where there were three females and a female dog and there were no men there was no male energy in that household in that respect. And if I'd have known about this now, it would have been so much easier. We just hated each other in that week. We were all in sync. Then my mother went into the menopause and that's a whole new ballgame again of feeling premenstrual all of the time.
00:17:17
Speaker
And I feel so passionately about people understanding themselves differently and not holding themselves to shame and blame when they have these times in their cycle where they flip out or get emotional or feel vulnerable or can't hold things as well. saw quote once about menstrual blood and it said, if people were as disgusted to violent blood as they were to menstrual blood, like the world would be a different place. And i thought, blimey, that's...
00:17:47
Speaker
That's a massive quote and a think about it like every week. Yeah it's absolutely insane isn't it like we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for menstruation we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that blood and that pain you know like I'm my mother's savage daughter just reminds me of it every time when I sing that song that you know like we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for all of that and that the shame that surrounds it is just, well, I know why and you know why. It keeps women away from their power and stepping towards who they actually are and um being empowered to actually just feel those emotions. But, yeah, I don't know where I'm going with that. but
00:18:27
Speaker
There's an amazing quote, actually, and it's a Native American quote, and it says that at Menarche, which is when you first begin to bleed, that a woman meets her power
Rites of Passage and Life Stages
00:18:38
Speaker
then. And then through your bleeding years and what they would call the mothering years, you are practicing your power. And then when you reach menopause, you become your power.
00:18:48
Speaker
And, you know, a lot of the time we see women when they get to menopause, society will portray that you're done, you're you're not of no use anymore. But actually, how many of us witchy women can't wait to get up to that age so we can be even more in our power and we see that and I think it's a really it's a lovely quote and it's it's an ancient quote as well the crone state yeah I you know I remember seeing women growing up and they'd have long gray hair and my mother would be like oh why hasn't she cut her hair she's too old for that and I'd be there going I want that I want that
00:19:25
Speaker
I don't dye my hair anyway, so look forward to grey hair. Yeah, exactly. Me too. I see it as like a ah rite of passage, really. You know, a lot of the work that I do is around rites of passage as well. You know, when you first begin your your period and how that affects you. And then when you move into your know mothering years, even if you don't want to become a mother, it's where you can create and you can be. And then you you move into your menopausal years and your chronic stage and That's where you are No shit's given. and And that's where women feel they've got the permission to be like that as well, which is quite sad because every month we can be like that too.
00:20:03
Speaker
And you learn about that at your circles. Yeah, absolutely. So I have a lot of different things we do. I've run some menopause and perimenopause sessions where we've looked, I've worked with a lady who did um ecstatic dance and she put a playlist together for every season of the year. And then we would work through the season. so We would teach the the seat the first season of your life is spring, where you are young and you fresh born and you become a teenager and you're just blooming and blossoming.
00:20:33
Speaker
And then we've moved into the summer season where we were high energy out there, very, very extroverted and just living life and creating and creating.
00:20:48
Speaker
Then we moved into the autumn year where the autumn part of the year where the leaves are falling off the trees. And it's like when you move into perimenopause and everything kind of is falling apart for some women and they feel like everything is crumbling around them. But actually what's happening is that all of the things that have masked who they are in society crumbling away and the bare bones of the trees are,
00:21:15
Speaker
are beginning to show and that's very scary for some people but using the analogy is very powerful for reclaiming and understanding that oh actually a lot of those leaves weren't me and so then you move into your winter where you know it'd be very magical but also you need rest.
Dance and Emotional Exploration
00:21:34
Speaker
unless you're menopause. I've been hearing about this dance. You'll have to explain exactly what it is because it keeps popping up on my radar. Yeah, I go to a moon an ecstatic moon dance every month outside in um like a country park that go to.
00:21:49
Speaker
um It's a playlist, silent headphones, and we all just go and dance in the dark. And that is the most magical thing. And it's led by a pocket rocket of a woman that I adore. She's a very good friend of mine. Her name's Fiona Winter and she is like in her 60s and she is the most vivacious character I know.
00:22:06
Speaker
And um she puts together very, very soothing playlists. They are a mixture of, you know, popular music and then more ethereal tracks. But then I have also been to other long term ecstatic dance where you might be dancing for quite a good few hours. You start with cacao and then you just let loose and you just you're in the moment. You let go of everything that you're holding on to and you come out on a natural high. So there's no bad thing on a natural high, is there?
00:22:33
Speaker
And there's some rules, isn't there? Is there like you're not allowed to, and don't know, it record, you know ah you've got to have your your shoes off. Some, yeah, when they're taken very seriously. i think when there's cacao ceremonies and it's done on the very spirit on a very spiritual sense, I think that it's that where you have to have eyes closed a lot of the time as well or even masks on so that you're really on an inward journey.
00:22:58
Speaker
But then the the ones I go to, are less there's less rules. I don't really like rules. I think we should just do what pleases us as long as we're not harming anyone else. I find rules like that quite off-putting.
00:23:10
Speaker
Yeah, but not the recording when I get that because to be yourself, you have to be free, don't you, from judgment and ridicule. Yeah, absolutely. That completely makes sense. I need to get on board of it. It sounds well good. I think I'd be just so self-conscious in the beginning and then like anything, it'll just melt away.
00:23:27
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I've been with friends who would be like, oh, I don't know going to take this. I've only ever danced when I go out and I've had a drink. And I'm like, honestly, you won't care. Half an hour in, your eyes will be closed. A track will come on. It'll take you somewhere. And you'll feel the same as you do when you've been out. I mean, I'm an ex-raver. Well, not an ex-raver, but I don't get out very much these days.
00:23:46
Speaker
And like you feel the same. This is a lovely, lovely thing. But I've done some of that in one of my circles, actually. and did a ah wild woman circle. And I took them on a bit of a journey for 20 minutes through some tracks that I love, but are wild.
00:24:01
Speaker
Yeah, it was, they most of them say, when you going to do it again? But I'm not an ecstatic dance teacher. So I will leave that to them.
00:24:11
Speaker
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00:24:58
Speaker
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00:25:09
Speaker
What's your favourite type of circle? Do you even have one?
Shamanic Apprenticeship and Circle Magic
00:25:13
Speaker
Is that too much? Yeah, I mean, I love but i love yeah no i love my art journal and circles. I absolutely adore them. But I also have to stay on more of a... I wouldn't say surface level. We go in deep.
00:25:24
Speaker
But I have to make sure it's... I guess a little bit more on a level than if I do my deeper soul circles where the call is, you need to be ready to do this work if you're going to come.
00:25:37
Speaker
And there's, you know, obviously work in a trauma-informed way, but equally we do need to speak about these things and we we do need to not feel like we can't speak about the things that have been really challenging to us in our lives for fear of triggering somebody else.
00:25:53
Speaker
And so I like those spaces because I don't really do the surface very well. Like the depths of things for me, the walking through the shadows, the sitting and being emotional and being witnessed in that is what adore. And I often put the caveat out that I am not here to make you cry, but you might. And if you do, good, because a lot of people don't.
00:26:17
Speaker
And that's something I've discovered in the work that I do is that a lot of people don't feel like they can cry They feel ashamed for crying. They feel like it's weak. Redefining that is a really powerful thing.
00:26:29
Speaker
um being witness crumbling is powerful when you've got that circle around you who will hold your energy so that you can do it. So yeah, that's my fate that is my favourite type of circle. I'm just about to complete a year-long shamanic apprenticeship in womb healing as well. So And bringing more of that into it. There's a lot more ritual in my life around the um the shamanic world than there was.
00:26:55
Speaker
And the honouring the ancestors and bringing in those energies. So I'm able to do that in those spaces because it is purely my own work. It's not for anybody else. I'm not paid by council who you know might not really want me to do rituals such a bunch of witches yeah i know and it's beautiful and I love the fact that people come along and they just want to come along to meditate and sit in circle and they're they're open to anything and by the end of it they're like wow I'm way more witchy than I I was and I'm like yes you we all I love that moment when people realize like oh turns out i am a witch and I'm like damn right
00:27:35
Speaker
I could see it a mile away. And also, like attracts like, doesn't it? You know, i'm special in many ways and I attract similarly special people. And I think it's really beautiful that, yeah, that works and and you... you You repel the people who aren't for you and the people who are for you come towards you and it makes real magic and it feels like alchemy when I'm holding those spaces. i can see things happening. I've seen people meet in front of my eyes and become a couple down the line and I've seen it happen. Yeah, I've seen so many things, you know, people getting into relationships, breaking free from relationships, changing their lives through jobs and by others sharing their stories and
00:28:20
Speaker
sitting in that energy is this so powerful so powerful is this around a fire and i'm kind of visualizing it around a fire there's a metaphorical fire in some of them i did used to work um i did some nature journaling sessions in a beautiful space that had a celtic roundhouse and i felt so at home in that space i'd set the fire we'd all sit around it on hay bales or on the floor And that was that was a magical space to work in. But it's not a space I can work in all of the time. And so I hold my circles in in nice well-being venues, really, that rent out space.
00:28:55
Speaker
And I set an altar and I make sure there's plenty of fire. And we have a ah few burning ceremonies but outside. You do actually do magic in your circles.
00:29:07
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, it depends what the theme is really. And sometimes i I kind of have to look at what the women who are coming need and think, oh, right, they need to let they need to let go here. They need some letting go of some shit. so I'm holding the circle tomorrow for Involk and I want people to look at their inner flame and I want them to look at how their inner flame is currently burning and what's dimming their light and what they need to let go of and for their flame to grow.
00:29:35
Speaker
And so they are going to hand me slips of paper and I'm going to go outside and burn it with them tomorrow. I've got a space I can do that in. So that's nice. um And then we're going to come back and we're going to do a candle lighting ceremony and sit around and reflect on our lights growing and picturing what's going to be. And it's all it's all magic, isn't it? It's all witchery when you're doing all of those kind of practices.
Community and Inclusivity in Circles
00:29:58
Speaker
It is, yeah. Rituals and spells, so powerful, especially when you're together. I always think I'm mostly a solitary witch, but when I do magic with other witches, it is just so much more powerful.
00:30:10
Speaker
Yeah. And I think, again, I keep saying the word witnessing, but witnessing and one another in doing it, it helps to dispel the witch wound and, you know, it enables people to start coming out of the closet a little bit more and, like,
00:30:27
Speaker
being like, oh, actually, I'm really interested in these things. and then a lady today and she won't mind me sharing, she came to Circle today. I've been working with her for quite a long time now. She's a wonderful, beautiful soul.
00:30:38
Speaker
And I don't think she'd say she was a witch, but she came today and she brought us all lentil soup and she made this lentil soup for abundance. And she was stirring it with putting ah her abundance spell into it. And she brought me the book that she'd got the spell out of.
00:30:54
Speaker
And she gave us all pot of this soup today. she She's not a lady who would claim that she is a witch in any way, shape or form. But for her to do that in that space was really lovely. I'm not sure she would do that externally.
00:31:09
Speaker
Kitchen witch. Yeah. That's what that is. So beautiful. It's such um a language of love. I always think people cooking for each other. It is one of my favorite things.
00:31:23
Speaker
I can't cook. It's my major weakness. But it's such my language of love when people cook for me. I really, really, really love and appreciate me too.
00:31:34
Speaker
You go to all these camps and circles and stuff and people cook for you. It's just like, oh, you're speaking to my soul. Yeah, like I'm not a baker. So I know a lot of people who run facilitate circles, they'll they'll bake these beautiful, you know, organic, this, that and the other vegan cakes. And for me, I'm like, I'm just not trying. The last time I tried to but to do a cake was a disaster. And it wasn't for a circle, it was for a birthday party. And it was like a slab of rock.
00:32:02
Speaker
And so it's not, it's not. It's not the thing for me right now. I might hone that skill later in life. Who knows? haven't got time to hone that skill right now. But I have got women who bring, you know, they will bring because they are, that's their thing. They're good at it and they like to offer and they feed and they feel good about that.
00:32:21
Speaker
um and And that's beautiful. I think for people to feel that they can do that in a space that's facilitated by someone else is also a really, it's not something we do everywhere, it? You jabby dodger are well jealous.
00:32:33
Speaker
Yeah. no All this for food. I know. yeah I know. What do we do, eh? what If my husband didn't feed me, I don't know what, I'd survive. I'd just be on cans of beans all the time, eh?
00:32:49
Speaker
Honestly, i am that mad. I'm a really good cook, actually, but I just don't like it. i just don't like doing it. I don't find joy in it. But I am in the midst of a kitchen renovation that's been going on for like three million years.
00:33:03
Speaker
So maybe that's why. Three million years. Like January. Yeah, since last July. It's doing my head in now. Oh, my God. So your circles then, in terms of who comes, who would you say circles are for? Who can come?
00:33:19
Speaker
My circles are open one to anyone who defines themselves as a woman. um and we do a lot of womb work.
00:33:32
Speaker
um I've had the question before of, do I need a womb to attend? No, if you've had your womb removed, you still have the energy in the space. And We can work with that. um The majority of people who come to my circles are women, i'd say, between 30 and 60.
00:33:48
Speaker
That seems to be a demographic that I'm working with. And it's not a market that I've particularly targeted, um but it is it's where I'm going. And it's led me to believe that that's the the type of work that's needed for healing people.
00:34:03
Speaker
and allowing women to unpick all of the things that have been pushed towards them for the first 30 years of their life. So that's kind of who I work with right now. But anyone over the age of 18 is welcome into my deep soul spaces and my um art journaling classes.
00:34:21
Speaker
um It is it is a I'd say, a female only space. um I've not had anyone from the trans community ask if they can join at the moment, but I'm really willing to work alongside that and see what happens. I'm open and willing. And yeah, if i that happened and I had to cross that bridge, I would love to. And I would love to learn and develop that too. But right now I'm very much working in a very female centred world.
00:34:46
Speaker
um And I mean, women who were assigned female at birth. Yeah. So, you know, i'm I'm open to doing other things. I also I would love to work with men and I would love to hold mixed circles. But I think that's for another lifetime. Not yet. I need to keep to this baby first.
Feminism and Gender Balance
00:35:04
Speaker
It's interesting how there's not much of that around. I don't think like mixed circles. I've never come across one up here in Yorkshire. The only spaces I know that to be in are maybe retreat spaces that are specific to, you know, bringing in the masculine and the feminine together and working on healing divide.
00:35:25
Speaker
Or there's down in South Wales, there's a few spiritual communities that are off grid. And they invite people in. And I know that they do very much mixed work, but they also have women's lodge lodges and men's lodges and they do the separate work as well. So I don't know a lot of it going on. I do think it would do the world a lot of good, but maybe the world's not quite ready for it yet. And that's why it's not happening because there's individual healing to be doing first. I don't know.
00:35:51
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good point. I do feel like there's, I've definitely had conversations with men who say to me, oh, well, your work is all about hating men. And I'm like, it absolutely is not about that at all. It's about us feeling empowered to be the best that we can be, but also to work alongside the masculine in our lives and ah nurture you and allow you to be the best that you can be as well. And They're like, oh, right, okay. I think there's a really strong argument to say that maybe feminism in the 80s and early 90s led to this man-hating vibe that
00:36:28
Speaker
women who work in the women's world have but for me it's not that at all like unity is everything yeah balance you need balance as a pagan i work with both goddess and god on equal you know you need the light and dark and it's so it's so commonplace for people to be like oh I've been a feminist you hate men it's just like that is just so not how it is anymore it's so old-fashioned Because being pro one doesn't automatically make you anti something else. You can be both things. Not everything has to be opposite, does it? And it's a right a right conversation to have there. Yeah, and like that patriarchal like notion that, yeah, the separation of things. It just doesn't have to exist, but it does exist.
00:37:11
Speaker
And so I'm here to make sure that that doesn't exist much longer.
Intuition and Personal Growth
00:37:15
Speaker
I've got a big job to do. Massive. Absolutely massive. But you're not on your own. with I know I'm not on my own. There's a huge army of us wonderful people who are out there and know that there's living in love and...
00:37:27
Speaker
and hope and joy is, you know, the way to be. And dudes, we do need you around. We just need you to like tell other dudes off for us when they're being pillocked. That's what we're asking. Absolutely. You know, when I met my partner, I'm going off on a tangent here, but when I met my partner, we've been together 20 years and we very much have grown up together over these last 20 years. And he would banter with his mates, you know, and we would we were kids of the, we were going out in the 90s, you know, and We were fed all of this like ladette culture and lad culture. And so I guess we were kind of like that. But as we've evolved and grown, like he's now a man who works in a very male centred organisation. He works for the Rail Network.
00:38:09
Speaker
He's in management there, but he's on the menopause support team. He speaks up when the men in the office are saying things that are derogatory and full of misogyny. And I just think like, oh, it just makes my heart absolutely sing when I know that there are men out there who do this. and And we need you. We need you all.
00:38:27
Speaker
I'm so proud of him. Yeah, me too. Me too. You're so embarrassed. I've said that. Oh, bless him. No, we're so happy to have you. I remember over New Year's, I was talking to a friend, like my husband's friend, and I was saying, you're a feminist, you know, and he would go, no, I'm not, no, I'm not. and I'm like, you are a feminist because I've told you about stuff and you've changed your behaviour.
00:38:49
Speaker
not just around me but like completely because I've said to you that's quite assaulting and you were like well that doesn't mean I'm a feminist it's like it does it does that's not bad thing no I know why has it got this eye well we all know why but ah again it's just keeping things keeping us small isn't it but it's some beautiful beautiful to witness and the label of like denouncing no I'm not no I'm not it's it's the same with witchery I've got friends who I've said you're a mega witch you are and they're like no I'm not but someone come out the cupboard a few years later with a broom and just think that you know we work in this world and we've been led to I'm going off on one end to be honest but it's fine it's what podcasting is all about we've been led to just not follow our intuition and use other people's stories and all of the things that gets that seep into us for all of
00:39:41
Speaker
these years before you actually know who you are. If any of us, male and female, whoever you want to be, whatever you are, as long as you follow your intuition, you know, that can only lead you to good places. And we've all been led away from using our intuition
Somatics, Energy Healing, and Vision Quest
00:39:56
Speaker
for a long time. So the more spaces that can be provided for any anyone to connect with their intuition is the better for me.
00:40:03
Speaker
Yeah, connect with intuition and also don't centre yourself. I always think this, again, and it's a balance, you know, like when somebody keeps you accountable, don't automatically be on the defence going like, oh no, really sorry, I didn't mean that. you know, it's not my intent. It's like, well, we understand that, but just sit with it and unpack it and view it from the other perspective and then you'll learn and grow. And that's where I am at the moment now.
00:40:26
Speaker
as an almost 40 year old. I mean, it's been really hard to get there. But the past, I would say, probably nine years since I've been Florence, yeah I've started to really question myself about all kinds of reactions I have. And, you know, like triggers I have. And it's like, well, I need I need to work on this myself. I can't just blame the world. I've got stuff I need to work for inside and also outside. So is it is again, it's all about balance, all about the balance.
00:40:53
Speaker
Yeah, and taking accountability for ourselves as well. like I'm also nearly a 40-year-old and I feel like, you know, this is obviously a magical time for us nearly 40-year-olds in that we are stepping across a precipice, really, into really taking responsibility for yourself and what you put out into the world. And if you can do that in these magical, mystical ways in community, that's a really beautiful thing.
00:41:22
Speaker
And it's really powerful. It is true as well. We get so defensive, don't we? We we do You know, it will hurt, but you you can hurt and not be a victim. you see what mean? As millennials, what a right mess.
00:41:35
Speaker
It's because we're such a weird generation, like bridging across yeah no internet and masses of internet. We are that weird little foot in each life type.
00:41:46
Speaker
i know. can tell you to the kids today, like this is a, This is what a a video is. What's a video? It's such a strange time. And also, i think in our lifetime, we have learned so much about ah mental health and what goes on inside and what's stored. You know, I've been led down the world of I've always been interested in working with wounds and menstruation, but I got led towards um working with a wonderful teacher called Willow Jordan. and
00:42:16
Speaker
who has led me through a whole year of shamanic womb healing. And she's taught me various techniques um using energy, sounds, sonics, rattles, drums, all manner of different things to help us shift the things that we store in our womb.
00:42:36
Speaker
To be led into that direction, again is, ah it's just been so powerful for me. I don't know why I started to telling you that, but agree that. But yeah, just being like I was, I think it's because I was trying to connect together the dots of like intuition and why that's so important for me to push people towards using it is that we store not our intuition gets blurred and it gets muddied by these stories and also by the things that we hold and we store. And so I feel really strongly about us using somatics and energy healing to,
00:43:14
Speaker
remove the things that we no longer want to hold that we don't even know we're holding. And I've had some mad experiences whilst on the course as well. Are you going to share share one? Share one. Yeah. I mean, i recently i had, we had our penultimate weekend where we had a bit of a celebration weekend.
00:43:30
Speaker
And I went and we did a mini vision quest. It was minus four degrees. And we went out. They've got a woodland. You go to a house for the weekend over the year. You do it quite a lot times.
00:43:41
Speaker
It's like a retreat when you've got children. So you get cooked for, but you do all this magical learning. So we did a mini vision quest and we went out into the woodland. um We just sat in the darkness, in the freezing cold.
00:43:53
Speaker
she did allow us to have a chair because it was so cold and we were allowed to wrap up but we had nothing else and I had the most trippy experience and I remember when you and I were on retreat together and we saw visions of soldiers uh I think it was like was was Roman soldiers me made it was yeah yeah were open i know similar similar things were happening there was a woman behind a tree and I said to her come out she was dressed all in white and I said to her come out from there and she said no I can't because there's a man over there on a horse and he's going to get me and I was like oh okay are you feeling okay she went yeah safe here and I was like oh okay and then I did see a figure of a horse and I was like wow I'm tripping balls here and um I asked her what the conflict was and she told me it was to do with um
00:44:41
Speaker
the Welsh and the English because it's right on the border where they live and so um I was like all right okay but there was also the fae came in I saw all manner of things going on there and I don't feel like I necessarily would have been in a place to be open to that that evening because I wasn't in a good space when I when I arrived at house that weekend And we'd done a lot of healing work. I'd received a healing treatment myself. And so it like let me let go of all of the crap that I'd been holding for the last two months.
00:45:12
Speaker
And then I was open to receiving in all of that abundance and magic out in nature. That's a plant medicine thing, is it? No, I was completely sober. Oh, were you?
00:45:24
Speaker
Yeah, but it felt like i was tripping balls. Oh, my God. Amazing. Yeah, it wasn't plant medicine. Yeah, but because I'd let go of all of the stuff I was storing by receiving, I had um a womb healing treatment, which was an energetic. it's It's a bit like Reiki mixed with shamanic healing techniques.
00:45:43
Speaker
So I had that done by one of my sisters who I was working alongside. She wanted to practice on me. And then we had we held Circle together and we did a lot of releasing and deep.
00:45:54
Speaker
There was a lot of crying in the Circle and ah a lot of us had been holding a store in a lot. And so I feel like if I just started the Vision Quest at the start of that weekend, there's no way I would have had all of that come to me. and I wouldn't have had the room to even notice it.
00:46:10
Speaker
But because I'd released all of that through the treatments I'd received over the weekend, I had space to see the wonder and the joy and receive that. A vision quest? Is this an actual thing? Yes, shamans go out. I mean, it's a bit of a, I'm not going to lie, like we didn't do we didn't do a vision quest, but we went out on the land for a good few hours, completely our own, in the middle of the woods.
00:46:36
Speaker
But shamans traditionally will go out and they will sit on the land for um a week, six, seven days, sometimes longer, and they'll all only have water. They might not even have a water source. They might have to source that and they go out and they just sit with nature and their mind and vision and see what comes to them that's amazing it just sounds just so I want to do it I'm scared but I want to do it and I get this with a lot of spirituality yeah
00:47:07
Speaker
The fear, though, like, you know, I think part of it is working through your fears.
Future Directions for Soul Creative Circle
00:47:11
Speaker
And like I definitely grew up with a bit of a fear of the dark. And I so still is in there a little bit somewhere. And um I knew this weekend was coming. And I thought, oh, what am I? i'm I'll throw myself into anything.
00:47:23
Speaker
But I was like, I wonder what's going to come for me. Is that fear of the dark going to be the thing that I sit with most that evening? and when I was there and I'd made peace with my surroundings,
00:47:36
Speaker
and was like okay where am I going next it just went and I was astonished at myself that ah that fear actually is more just a little niggle of my imagination rather than deep rooted and that was quite nice to to know that and I'm sure you know other people might work with other fears that they have about being alone and you know being vulnerable Well, maybe the fear of the dark is because from a young age we're sort of taught to feel the dark, aren't we?
00:48:07
Speaker
I was never scared of the dark. I was an unusual kid. I quite like the dark. It's like snakes. I love snakes and loads of people are scared of snakes. They don't even know why. They just are.
00:48:19
Speaker
Yeah, know. I know, like I definitely couldn't say that I'm the hugest fan of snakes, but like it's the same with spiders. I'm really learning. Like as I'm building, as my spiritual journey is running, I'm learning to know that none of it is here to be feared. And actually throwing yourself towards your fears is is a really good thing to do because that's where magic can happen. And that's where things can really change and shift for you and your relationship with yourself and how you behave and all manner of things.
00:48:50
Speaker
It's huge. is. It's huge going towards your fear, not just facing it, but like running towards it. in it Yeah. Full pelt. Yeah. We have been recording 50 minutes. I mean, you'll have to plug yourself. Yeah, I should plug myself. It's not something I'm really good at. I'm quite modest. I'm really confident. And I know that what I do is amazing. I'm not going to lie. I do know that. I get amazing feedback.
00:49:12
Speaker
I know that people love it. They know that the space is real and raw. and But I find plugging myself a challenge just because I don't really think before I speak.
00:49:24
Speaker
So if you want to come and attend my circles, that you can come and you can message me on Instagram or Facebook. You can just have a chat with me and see what I offer. you know, I've spoken about so many different things here, but i offer random different collaborations and workshops as well as as my regular circles.
00:49:41
Speaker
And so dipping into my my social media is probably the place to go, first of all. can find me at Soul Creative Circle. However, I am currently in a space of rebirth and I do feel like a rebranding is is really on the precipice for me. to encompass everything that I do, not just the creative stuff.
00:50:01
Speaker
But you can find me at Soul Creative Circle for now. And my name is Liz Thomas, so you can always find me if you Google me there too. Have you got a website, have you? No, did have a website. When I first started my business, I was a digital coordinator in school and I was amazing at technology and I created a website for myself.
00:50:19
Speaker
But I then... lost the thread with it couldn't be bothered. and it's something that I just keep putting on the back burner. But it is on my vision board. It will be being created because I went through all of the different things that I offer now from one-to-one journeys, cycle coaching, helping people to understand their cycles, whether that be their menstrual cycle or their life cycle, um you know, do a lot of like soul cell retrieval work.
00:50:46
Speaker
many many things really but I haven't got that all in one place so you know a savvy business person would put it all in one place I just go with the flow and I've realized that yes maybe I do need to be a bit more savvy this year because I don't actually put all of my offerings out there yeah something else want to talk about is so retrieval we could do another one on that yeah well I've been studying it this year i received it and was the most beautiful thing where I was just reclaiming pieces of me. I created this beautiful temple in my mind's eye and parts of me I didn't even know had gone, came back.
00:51:23
Speaker
Oh, it just, it was a bit of a game changer in realising that the things that were there that were holding me back and were keeping me small. And um yeah, retrieving those parts of me has only catapulted me further into my world of wounds and cycles and creativity and empowering women to be whoever the hell they want to be.
00:51:47
Speaker
You'll come back on book and tell us all about that, won't Absolutely. If you want to know about shamanic work, I'm into it. I'm just currently doing my case studies and yeah, I'd come back in a year's time once I've done some more of my deeper work.
00:52:01
Speaker
Always, if you want me, if you want my rambles.
00:52:07
Speaker
You have been listening to the Bellwitch Podcast. Created with love and magic by me, Swales, the friendly green witch. I love to hear from you and I absolutely love, love, love, love to celebrate you.
00:52:22
Speaker
if you have a podcast or a business, a witchy business, a pagan related topic you love to talk about, you can reach me on the bell witch podcast at yahoo.com.
00:52:34
Speaker
dot com send me a trailer and i will absolutely play it because there is magic in sharing audiences amongst podcasts music by jeff harvey of pixabay the official bell witch photographer is the lovely beverly thornton thank you so much for choosing the bell witch podcast to fill your ears stay magical witches
00:53:06
Speaker
Welcome to Creepy Tapas, where we do the opposite of deep dives and bring you tiny tastes of terror connected by a common ingredient. True stories to haunt and chill you and the pop culture they inspired.
00:53:18
Speaker
Or at least the movies and books that remind us of them. Join us as we descend into darkness. Beginning with the lighter side of our weekly topic. And wrapping with a full dark, no stars account of terror, madness, murder, and more. It's Creepy Tapas, y'all.
00:53:32
Speaker
Creepy Tapas