This month on Propolos (and on the blog) I have been thinking a lot about the importance of creating the right structures, the strongest containers, for our energies in the new year. January 2024 is *big* new year energy. There’s some nifty Pluto-related astrology things happening that I’m assured is the reason the shift feels so big, and why I’ve been feeling it coming for a while. A lot of old stories are ending now and the new directions begin now in January. (I am not an astrologer but Saturn is now in Pisces and Pluto is moving from Capricorn into Aquarius and that means *change*. It means get your life order, tie up loose ends, before we step into something very new. Check out the Esoteric Sky channel, he’s my intuitive astrologer of choice.)
Anyway, something big is happening and those of us living life on a path of healing and spirituality are very sensitive to those collective shifts. The guidance I’ve been giving to my students this month are mostly about preparing to step into what our roles will be at this time, and to do that we not only have to let go of what is no longer necessary, we also have to build the new structures that are required to house this new life, this new role, this – dare I say it – new self. More accurately, a truer version of ourselves.
It all sounds quite hippy, doesn’t it. Yuck. But – much like my last blog post about living 2024 On Purpose – the invitation here is to go beyond these vague and grandiose ideas and get on with the real, practical work that’s available. With every shift that comes we are offered the choice of healing, or not. We can hold on to what we think we know, or we can drop into a deeper knowledge and self awareness. We can choose the path to ease and more happiness (note: it might not be instant but there is great forward movement available), or we can keep holding on to the old ways of doing things, that were hard.
I say let’s use our skills as healers and magical people to do what matters and move into a brave new world. To do that, we have to know what it is that matters. We have to understand Need.
What does Need have to do with healing?
Understanding Need is essential for creating lasting change in our lives – so whether your spiritual path is a healing one or a magical one, this is knowledge you must gain in order to do the big work.
This week I have been sitting with Nauthiz, the Need Rune, to learn more about the true and unmet needs that lie underneath the areas of my life that cause me discomfort (or Distress – another literal meaning of the Nauthiz Rune).
This all sounds very Dark Night of the Soul, doesn’t it? But when better to kindle a flame, than in the dark of night? As a priestess of Hekate I can tell you: there is no better time.
I am not currently in a Dark Night of the Soul, thank the gods – though it’s not that long in the past that I last had one. I am, however, keenly aware of some further changes that I need to make. When we sit with the Nauthiz rune, so often referred to as a “negative” influence in a reading, we are invited to feel our unmet needs. To sit with the feeing of “lack”. Half-assed interpretations of the Law of Attraction will tell you that we should avoid those feelings and be positive vibes only. This is bollocks, and you should avoid all positive vibes only healer-types. Healers who are scared of darkness are no good for the real work.
Luxuriating in the bad feelings obviously unhelpful but avoiding them altogether is to miss the message contained in discomfort. That feeling of Lack is hard to sit with, but there is something underneath it. Underneath it is the Need. The real need: what is truly essential for us to be happy and to find healing. The deep necessity. The Desire. The Longing.
What is the need fire?
A deeper, richer reading of Nauthiz goes beyond the need itself and into the kindling of the Need-Fire. The ever excellent Maggie Rose Cunningham describes the rune as two sticks to be rubbed together to create a spark, and that the fire we kindle in the darkness is one of hope. You can read her full description of the Need-Fire rune here.
For my Propolos students, who are all deeply committed to the path of healing, I have invited them to sit with that empty feeling – what Maggie calls “the hard hollow of lack” – and find the desire underneath, kindling a fire in the summoning of what must come.
Where are you feeling lack in your life?
Rather than shying away from that feeling, what could that unmet need be telling you? What’s underneath it?
If you were to kindle a fire of hope in the dark, what would you fuel it with? What would you summon with the flames?
How would you begin to transform Lack into Hope, and Desire?
Ways to get what you Need
If this has sparked a desire to go deeper, here are some offerings:
- Join Propolos. For £18 a month you get Healing Path readings, New and Full Moon healing recordings and regular shamanic teachings, all to support your path of self healing. This month includes a lesson on Need and why the Nauthiz rune is a portal to healing, as well as a guided meditation to the Need-Fire with drumming and rune-singing, all recorded in real ceremony. It’s a deep one.
- Join me and Rune Genius Maggie Cunningham for another one of our free Instagram Lives on Tuesday 23 January at 8:30pm (GMT), where we go even deeper deeper deeper in to the importance of the Need-Fire. Follow me on Instagram to see it.
- Get in touch with me to arrange a proposal for your own unique mentoring sessions – the 6-week Oak Programme. This is a mix of live one-to-one teaching and remote shamanic healing, and usually focuses on a mix of your healing business and the personal healing work you need to make it happen. I am opening up for one new person from the week beginning 29 January, and then am more open from the second week of February.
- Bring the elements into balance – join me and Sorita d’Este for a 5 week course to harness Air, Fire, Water and Earth to transform your life. Book onto Elemental Transformations here – we start on 04 Feb and run every Sunday night for 5 weeks.
Kay Gillard 