October: Between Worlds

In the Northern Hemisphere, this season marks our journey into the darker half of the year. For some, this is known as the time when the veil grows thin between the living world and the land of the ancestors—between the worlds of the seen, the unseen, and the unseeable. This season accentuates the ongoing fact that we spend most of our lives bobbing between different states: waking and sleeping, past and future, inhale and exhale, private and public—within moments, we can fluctuate between levels of inward and outward attention, contentment and discontent. What we learn in each of these worlds varies; and one could say who we are in each state is also varied. To be human is to be a bridge between worlds. Recognizing that we are able to bridge worlds can help us move more fluidly between our own identities, our changing physical and emotional states, and the often hectic pace of change in our lives. For those devoted to practices of healing, justice, magic, meditation, devotion, or the arts, knowing how to stand between the worlds is vitally important. It is in that place—right at your own center—where you can see the divergent paths, know the potential as yet unrealized, attune to the overlapping circumstances that are already in place, and welcome the arrival of that which always is.

About the spell

This is a spell about finding your center and letting multiple truths and possibilities move through you without knocking you off balance. The otters in this image have surrendered to the currents as they sleep, but they are holding onto each other—they are anchored as they drift. Working with this spell means finding your own most effective way to establish an intimate sense of security as you encounter the unknown. With this spell we encourage temporary retreats—allow yourself to turn inward, to get insight from dreams, to be held and supported by your loved ones, and to let information come to you without actively looking for it. Though working with this spell may sound like being passive, it actually brings us into our fiercest agency! By settling yourself at center, and anchoring yourself between worlds, you have the power to affect all worlds.

Meditation on Between Worlds:

For this meditation, carve out a little time and space for yourself to breathe. At first, simply rest your attention on the sensations of your breath. Let your thoughts be. Let your tension be. Let your breath be… Imagine yourself sprawling your attention out across your breathing body, like a tired animal settling on the earth. From birth, this breath has carried you between the worlds of expansion and contraction, receiving and releasing. Being carried through these worlds, you have had access to the conditions and momentum that are needed for your growth. For the next round of breaths, you are invited to feel into these different worlds—to feel your body and being as it receives, expands, lifts, and fills; to feel your body and your being as it releases, contracts, falls, and empties. More and more, see if you can sense into the effortlessness in these movements—the inevitability of them—maybe even the slow decay of your impulse to control them. Your breath carries you between worlds even as its power is anchored at the center of your body, right where your diaphragm hugs your spinal column. Can you feel your diaphragm slip up and down your spine with every breath? Can you imagine it rising and falling with the wisdom and the rhythm of ocean waves and ocean tides? Perhaps you can feel how the mighty forces we see in the world around us are the same powers that animate your body and give life to your mind… Finally, let the vision of your shining mind illuminate the landscape where inhale turns to exhale and where exhale turns to inhale. Over and over again, feeling the way your breath goes round and round instead of merely up and down. We know, from the very center of our being, how to move through a changing world, how to host the transformation that we are. When you feel distant from this knowing, tossed about in stormy seas, rather than swim harder and harder away from the storm, consider finding refuge in your breath and let the wisdom of your body be your raft—a place to rest—a place where you are always anchored to the center of everything, tethered to something so deep it could never be lost at sea.  

About the painting:

Corina: I identify strongly with sea otters. Drawing them this year definitely made me squeal. I was worried the end result might look a little too cute to bear the weight of this spell, but the dreamy and murky colors my sister used feel absolutely perfect to me. This is one of my all-time favorite images we’ve made together.

Jocelyn: I had a different outcome in mind for this image than the way it turned out—wishing for a translucence in the water that did not get realized. But those thick, fuzzy, half-damp otters were a pleasure to co-create. The spell for this month is dear to me—this is my season! And this spell is such a different take on the images usually associated with the season of the witch. I get such a thrill bringing new imagery and language to my favorite things.  

This month's offerings:

We've got a sale going on this image for the whole month of September! Buy a print of Between Worlds and get 15% off, using the coupon code FUZZYOTTERS

For those in the Asheville area, Jo is preparing for the 10th annual Marshall Handmade Market, which will be held Nov. 17 + 18, the weekend before Thanksgiving. Please come! We’ll have all our usual items plus calendars and greeting cards!!!

We’re also still hawking 2019 Calendars on the internet this month - you can order yours here!!

And, as always, you can follow our shenanigans at @abacuscorvus on Instagram. And you can find out what each of us is up to by following @corinadross and  @jocelyncorvus