December: All Ways
In the book Sensitive Chaos, Theodor Schwenk explains that waves, unlike particulate matter, can co-exist in the exact same location with other waves. Different ocean currents move inside of and through one another, just as light and sound waves do. These overlapping currents pass through one another, they influence one another, yet somehow remain distinct.
We begin and end this year with spells about water. At the start of 2019, “This Way” cast a spell like a mountain stream, that we may remember how to meander and let go, how to use less effort and trust in natural forces, like water flowing downhill. “All Ways” shifts our scale from the macro to the micro—a single drop as it falls into a bigger body of water. Here we see an individual, caught in motion, just before it joins a greater whole... the impact will ripple out like a wave in all directions, co-mingling with all the other waves it meets.
About this Spell
We long for clues and road signs, markers to help us determine which way to go, which path is the right one to take. When things seem to be going well, we assume we’re moving in the right direction. When things fall apart, or we get fooled by life’s trickery, it’s as though we’ve failed to catch those markers that would have steered us back on course, away from disaster. Our emotions are like weather patterns that ride the ridge lines and sweep the shores. Our thoughts follow these grand movements, telling stories out of recycled parts, pretending to know what is happening. But experience is prismatic, full of refractions, and made from more dimensions and possibility than we can consciously track. Our being is intelligent and grows in understanding with each experience. ...what if there is actually no such thing as being off course?
“All Ways” is a spell to help us drop into an underlying wholeness that holds our successes and our failures in equal measure. This month, we ask you to sensitize yourself to the waves you make in the world. If you’re only focused on doing the right thing, you may wind up quite burdened by having to know what the right thing is. Working with this spell, we abandon what’s right in order to more rigorously study what is true. What are these ripples we create as we live in this world? What are these ripples the world creates as it lives in us?
Meditation on All Ways
For this meditation, please find a place and time to rest your attention on your body as it breathes. Try not to direct it anywhere in particular; just notice the wave that your breath naturally makes in your body. Watch your breath as you would the ocean shore and feel the nourishment of the inhale travel into you and the deep release of the exhale easily leave you. See if you can notice all the places where the breath goes and study the feelings of your body breathing. There's the in and out of it, and the up and down of it... There's the way it fills us up and empties us out. We can think about how and when we want to breathe and where we want to direct that breath—but most of the time it just happens on its own, choreographed by deeper forces than our conscious will.
If you are able to stay with your sensations and let your breath deepen, you are probably feeling relatively safe in your body and your mind and your environment. If that’s the case, see if this conscious association to safety can help you sink deeper into the calm and still of your living body, simply breathing. Do this for as long you'd like, knowing your state will change again as you move about your day. It will always be changing.
If this practice is a challenge for you, see if you can first acknowledge that struggle wth kindness. If you’re not feeling relaxed or safe, most likely you are feeling something else that really deserves attention and care. Notice if there is a sense that you must be or do something different before you can.. take a deep breath, relax, get the support you need, etc. See if you can summon the courage to let this meditation be a letting go of this pressure. Can your breath help you wash away the sense that there is some “right” thing you need to do in order to earn or deserve comfort? You do not need to do this meditation for any length of time, or until you feel some kind of ideal release. You do not need to stop being angry or confused or anxious in order to meditate. If you are yearning for a path to follow, simply follow your exhale to the very bottom of its course and watch the inhale come on its own. Welcome whatever thoughts and feelings appear on the way and return your attention to the exhale as it leaves. Let this meditation be a chance to be kind and gentle with yourself and your capacity. You are always deserving of care.
About the painting:
Corina: I think for this painting there was a small, sisterly part of my mind that wanted to see if I could give Jo a real challenge. And she was game. This is also a painting that teaches me its own message—it’s not among my favorite paintings, but it has a role in the spells of this year and it plays it. As artists, we take risks and sometimes end up in weird, watery places like this one. Giving ourselves that freedom to go to unexpected places, even if what we make there isn’t our absolute best work, is vital to our creative collaboration.
Jocelyn: This one is so strange to look at—I remembered being so confident in the spell “All Ways” and so confused about how to depict it. We had elaborate diagrams before this of images that could express the entire water cycle, and I find it meaningful that we landed instead on a single drop of water. Artistically, I agree with Corina, it is not one of my favorites. But it was an exciting challenge and, now that we’ve articulated the spell within it, I think it’s perfect!
This month's offerings:
We are just about sold out of calendars, but there are many stores who are not yet sold out. For starters, Firestorm and Flow Gallery are good places to check, and if you’re not local, give ‘em a call as they may be willing to ship them to you. And finally, if you’re able to wait until early January, we usually get a handful back from our distributor and will send an email about how to order those.
This past week was a rough one for us — we'll be sending another email out soon with more details and information about how you can be a part of our recovery. Thanks in advance for your continued support of our process!!
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
~ In It Together~
Jo & Corina