Expression
A woman stands alone on a small stage. There is a single spot- light shining down on her. She is clearly nervous, her eyes scanning the crowd in the small make-shift theatre. All of her friends and mentors sit in the rows of seats, watching, judging. She begins to read the poem that she has written, and with each line, she removes an article of clothing. Line by line she reveals her vulnerable feelings, and line by line she removes more clothing. At the end, she stands fully naked, in all senses of the word.
A couple is in the middle of an argument. It is an argument that they have had over and over again. The problem with this argument, the reason it never gets resolved, is because one of them doesn’t fully express their true feelings. They hold back, hold it in, pretend it’s not hard on them. But this holding back is felt by their partner and it causes even more tension. With a breath and a brave heart, the silent one finally reveals their true fears—they express the heart of what causes this argument. All the tension leaves the room, clarity is revealed for the first time, and the couple is able to work through the argument with fresh eyes.
He sits down at the kitchen table with a pad of paper. His relationship with his mother has never been healthy, and he is tired of holding it all. Even after distancing himself from her and cutting off all ties, he still carries all the things unsaid—everything left unexpressed. His pen starts to flow across the paper, writing down all the things that need release. He curses loudly with certain memories. He cries at others. At one point he gets up, goes for a walk around the block, and then returns to the paper and pen. His mother will never read the letter, that’s not the point. He needs to get it out, clear his head, and release some of the tension. When the letter is done he steps outside and burns it, scattering the ashes to the winds.
All of the energy centers of the Beauty Pentacle flow through to the point of expression. The buildup starts at the beauty point in the top of the head. This flows down to the right foot at devotion. Then it moves up and across into the left hand with creativity. The power flows across the heart and into the right hand at the center of desire. The Goddess draws another line, leading down and across to the left foot, at this energy center of expression.
This is the point where you share your own personal beauty with the world. What is it that makes you special? What is your gift and offering to share? Expression is the point where the beautiful things you have witnessed and watched are shared with others. Through this point, the power of the Beauty Pentacle becomes more than a concept; it is a living action.
Expression asks you to show the world how fierce you are. Unlike the point of creativity, where you are encouraged to make art for art’s sake, the point of expression asks you to make art for the sake of others. It doesn’t matter if it is “good.” It doesn’t matter if it is “marketable.” What does matter is that you took the risk to give it away. What matters is putting your heart out there for the world to review. Yes, this is scary. It can be hard, harsh, and painful. But the most rewarding thing a human can do is share their heart with someone and have it be truly seen.
Honoring the similarities between the words “expression” and “creativity,” their energy is vastly different. Expression is speaking truth; it is a showing of your brave heart. This may be related to your creative endeavors, but it might not. With the Beauty Pentacle, the point of expression is meant for the world, for those around you. Creativity is yours, you don’t have to share it, but expression demands release. These two words have similar definitions on the surface, but once you start to work with them more in-depth you will begin to understand the deep differences.
The energy of the expression point also goes beyond art or creativity and into the heart of being human. How is it that you express yourself? Stepping into beauty is an act of bravery, but you have to be able to express yourself in order to be fully immersed in beauty. How easily do you say what you feel? How honest are you with your feelings—both to others and to yourself? When you express yourself, do you run roughshod all over others? Or are you on a slow and silent boil, never releasing what causes you hardship?
Opening up to the power of expression asks you to say the hard thing that needs to be said. Expression asks you to share your joy and pain. The flow of beauty energy through your body would stay forever insular if you didn’t take the step to express that beauty. Open your mouth, sing your song loudly (even if you can’t carry a tune), bang your drum, do that interpretative dance, tell people you love them, and cut off old toxic relationships.
The expression point is also a point of taking stock and inventory. What stays in your life? What is healthy, joyful, and beautiful? What is painful, hard, and too heavy? Is it possible to cut off some of the painful energy? Is it possible to increase the joy in your life? Express yourself in all the beautiful and challenging ways.
Personal Development
The next section of exercises is designed to connect you into the power of expression. Through this section you may be asked to say the thing that needs to be said; you may be asked to express yourself through different mediums. Not all of the ways that you need to express yourself may feel beautiful. Do it anyway. Beauty comes from the bravery required to express your needs and desires.
check-in
what is expression?
Take out your journal and make time to write on the topic of expression. What feelings does this word evoke? How does expression feel different than creativity? How is it that you currently express yourself? Are you able to express yourself clearly without stepping on others? Do you struggle to express yourself? Does expression feel like a sacred act or more trouble than it’s worth? Do you make space to express your needs, your wants, your desires? What does expression feel like?
Discovering Expression
Kosmesis 
Kosmesis is a Greek magickal process of ritual adornment. It is a type of glamoury that works to infuse magick into your day ahead based on how you dress and get prepared. Kosmesis has been written about in the ancient Greek stories, most often involving Aphrodite, Hera, and Pandora. These goddesses used the power and magick of kosmesis to seduce the men they were after.
We are going to take the patriarchal overlay off of this for a moment. Rather than thinking of kosmesis as a way to snare a man, let’s look at the ritual of kosmesis as a way to snare anything your heart desires. How you express yourself in your outer appearance will help you to achieve that goal. You could also look at it as donning your battle armor or dressing for the job you want, not the job you have.
For the next week, as soon as you wake up, determine what you want to manifest that day. Focus on your goal and then go about getting ready using the magick of kosmesis to help aid you. Adorn yourself in the clothes that will make your goal possible. Put on any jewelry or makeup that may help aid in your kosmesis spell.
Leave your house knowing that you will achieve your goals today. Your spellwork is strong, and anything you want, you will get!
Discovering Expression
A Day to Yourself 
How will you express yourself today? Pick one day this week that can be just for you. From the time you first wake up until you go to sleep, a day dedicated to you expressing yourself. You may want to be creative and make art. You may want to take yourself out to a natural place. You may want to go to a movie. It doesn’t really matter what you do—what is important is that you choose to do it as an expression of who you are right now in this moment.
The one caveat to this challenge is that you need to spend this day on your own. Don’t call a friend to go with you. Don’t invite a coven mate to come along. No bringing your spouse or kids. This is a day of your own self-expression, all on your own.
Do bring your journal along with you. Take notes throughout the day as you feel called to mark down anything interesting or unusual. Clip flowers or collect business cards or posters to include in your journal as well.
Practice kosmesis before you leave too. Have a nice solid intention to help your day of expression unfold in a way that is the most beautiful.
Discovering Expression
Beauty Affirmation 
It isn’t easy to stay in the flow of beauty all of the time. For some of us it requires a sustained conscious effort. A great way to help keep beauty in your daily life is with a personal beauty affirmation.
Spend some time crafting a statement—three to five sentences long—that evokes your connection to beauty and how you want to express it. This doesn’t have to be poetic or perfect. It just needs to be a few easy sentences that remind you there is beauty in the world. If writing out an affirmation feels like too much, start by going through poetry to help you find an affirmation. Poetry by Hafiz or Rumi are good choices for calling forth beauty.
Write out these words and post them on your bathroom mirror. Every time you look in that mirror, read the words as a reminder of the beauty in the world. At the very least you should see this message twice when you brush your teeth, ’cause you brush your teeth twice a day, right?
Discovering Expression
Breathing Through 
the Cauldrons of Poesy 
The “Cauldron of Poesy” is an ancient Irish poem that contains seeds of information on ancient Irish spirituality. It was preserved in church writings from the sixteenth century.29 There are several modern English translations of this poem. The writings refer to three energy centers in the human body and what these energy centers control. In her book Irish Paganism, Irish folklorist Morgan Daimler, referencing Erynn Rowan Laurie, says, “We are told in the Cauldron of Poesy that each person is born with three energetic cauldrons within them. The three cauldrons are: the cauldron of incubation, the cauldron of motion, and the cauldron of wisdom.” 30 There are ways to connect with the three cauldrons as a way to hold deeper awareness of yourself.
The Cauldron of Incubation resides in the pelvic bowl. I have also heard this cauldron referred to as the Cauldron of Warming. This is the seat of our passion and energy. This is where we find our sexuality and security. The second cauldron is located in our hearts and is called the Cauldron of Motion. I have also heard this cauldron referred to as the Cauldron of Vocation. This is the seat of our work in the world. This is where we hold the power of how we love and how we connect to others. The third cauldron is our skull. This cauldron is called the Cauldron of Wisdom. It is how we connect to our god-self. This is the energy center of our spiritual being.31
For this exercise, lie down in a place where you can comfortably move your body. For example, the floor or a bed is best because you can move around a bit. A couch would not work.
Lie down and get comfortable. Inhale, and as you do, lift your pelvis upwards. Exhale and lower your hips back down to the floor. Continue this process: inhale—lift, exhale—lower. Speed this up. Inhale and exhale more rapidly. When your hips are on the floor, imagine drinking up earth energy as if through a straw in your perineum. Each time you lift your hips, take another sip of the earth energy.
With each sip, pull up the earth energy into your pelvic bowl. Let the power of the earth awaken the Cauldron of Warming. Take note of this energy center and how it relates to the Beauty Pentacle.
Keep breathing in, keep lifting and lowering your hips, keep pulling earth energy up. Once you feel your Cauldron of Warming fill up, continue drinking the energy up into your Cauldron of Vocation. Take note of this energy center and how it relates to the Beauty Pentacle.
Let the power of the earth fill up your Cauldron of Vocation and draw it up even further to your Cauldron of Wisdom. Take note of this energy center and how it relates to the Beauty Pentacle.
When all your cauldrons are full, stop moving your hips and let this energy fuel the Beauty Pentacle. Move through the points of the pentacle: beauty, devotion, creativity, desire, expression. Take time to write down anything interesting or important from your experience.
check-in
beautiful stranger
Pull out your journal and complete the following sentences:
• The word “expression” makes me feel …
• I best express myself by …
• My expression is healthy when …
• My expression is unhealthy when …
• Expression is …
• I like expression most when …
If you are feeling exceptionally brave, consider posting your responses on social media and encouraging your friends to answer too. The more that we share beauty with others and engage in these conversations, the more the doors to beauty are opened and our eyes are uncovered.
Discovering Expression Letter to the Future
Writing down our goals or plans can help to manifest them more quickly. When we take the time to put our thoughts down on paper, it gives them a more solid form. You can write letters to the past, to the present, to people you will never see, to your shadows, and even to yourself in the future. This working asks you to write a letter to your future self.
Get a loose sheet of paper and sit down to write yourself a letter. Ground and center yourself, taking several large, slow breaths to help you come fully into your body. Imagine yourself a year from now. You are immersed in beauty. You are awake and aware of all the awesome things around you. Your appreciation for the greater world is strong and continues to unfold on a daily basis. Let yourself feel how easy it is to be connected to beauty, how it is like a part of you.
When you feel ready, write a thank you note to this future self. Express your gratitude for the awareness that your future self holds. Write how important beauty is to your life. Encourage your future self to keep up the good work. Thank your future self for healing a part of you that was broken and disconnected from the magick of the world around you. Share why beauty is so important.
When you are finished with this letter, fold it up and hide it. Place it in a book or a journal. Tuck it in your underwear drawer or in your spice cabinet and try to forget about it. Down the road when you come across this letter, read it. Then hide it again in a different place and keep this going—hiding and finding your beauty letter over and over again.
Discovering Expression Honey Jar 
Although container spells have been found in cultures all over the world, sweetening jars appear to have originated in the United States through African American folk magick, which includes hoodoo, conjure, or rootwork. The idea is to use a jar (the container) with a sweetener to bring sweetness to a relationship or situation. In her book Mules and Men, Zora Neale Hurston shares her experience learning from the root doctors of the South. She wrote, “There was one jar in the kitchen filled with honey and sugar. All the ‘sweet’ works were set in this jar.” 32 Traditionally these are done for love, court cases, or to improve relationships with an employer or authority figure.
For the Beauty Pentacle, create a honey jar to encourage sweetness for yourself. The following recipe contains only items that are edible and won’t spoil the honey. Use the honey anytime you need a reminder of the Beauty Pentacle. Add the honey to a special tea that you intend to drink for magickal purposes. Take a tablespoon of honey to remind you of the beauty in the world and in yourself.
Ideally start this working on a full moon night. It will need to sit for thirty days or a full moon cycle.
If you are vegan, allergic to honey, or can’t use honey, choose another type of sweetener. Molasses, maple syrup, or even a bowl of natural sugar will work just fine. If you are allergic to any of the ingredients listed below, leave them out. There are many items available for sale that call themselves honey, but they aren’t natural honey. Make sure you read ingredient labels before purchasing.
Ingredients
1 jar real honey
¼ cup dried rose petals
½ teaspoon dried damiana
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 pinch chili powder
Stir in all of the herbs, chanting the points of the pentacle as you stir: beauty, devotion, creativity, desire, expression. Say this:
Each spoonful of this honey is infused with beauty.
Many drops of anthophilous devotion.
A luscious reminder of my creativity.
A taste of my own sweet desire.
Saturated with a love of personal expression.
Using a spoon, draw the Beauty Pentacle three times into the honey pot. Say this: By the power of three times three, as I will it so mote it be.
Set this honey pot on your beauty altar. You can burn candles on the top of the jar when you want to infuse sweetness into any other magickal working. And after thirty days, you can eat the honey as needed or desired.
Discovering Expression Sing 
The challenging things that need to be expressed can sometimes get stuck in our bodies. When you notice yourself struggling to express your feelings or opinions, you might consider shaking things up by vibrating your vocal cords.
Singing engages your voice, which engages your communication center. The literal vibration from your vocal cords can help you to shake up stuck energy and make more space for you to express yourself more clearly.
To help activate the point of expression, I want you to sing. It doesn’t matter if you think you can sing—you can sing. For the next week, incorporate singing into your daily practice. There are lots of ways that you can do this. It doesn’t have to look any one way, but here are some suggestions to get you started:
• Find a chant that you love and spend ten minutes every morning reciting that chant. This could be a Pagan or Witchy chant, or if you feel so inclined, check out some Eastern mantras and chant along with them. There are thousands of them on YouTube.
• Play music that you enjoy and sing along—it could be spiritual music, pop music, rock, or whatever. The type of music doesn’t matter. The singing does.
• Tone. Sometimes the only noise you can get out of your mouth is a tone. Hold a note for as long as you can, take a deep breath, and keep going.
• Sing in the shower. It seems that most people are comfortable with singing in the shower.
Open up your vocal cords and let it go.
Discovering Expression
Self-Talk
How do you express your feelings to yourself? We all have messages that play in our heads. These may come from childhood programming, messages from our parents, hardships from the past, or unresolved wounds. I refer to these messages as “old tapes.” Old tapes are messages that we are holding onto because they were created from particularly painful moments in our lives and are hard to let go of. Old tapes tell us things like we are stupid, clumsy, ugly, too loud, too much, unlovable.
Most often the voices aren’t our own. They are the voice of a teacher, parent, or other authority figure from our childhoods. We may know this and even be able to hear that it’s not our voice, but often, the old tapes become so ingrained into our talking selves, in our egos and psyche, that we can’t differentiate them from our own inner voice.
Shutting off these tapes is very difficult work. The first step is noticing them. Begin by taking note of your self-talk. How do you talk to yourself when you are alone? What do you say to yourself when you make a mistake? What are the words that you use to refer to yourself when you are triggered or hurt?
Are you kind to yourself in moments of weakness or are you cruel? Do you say soothing things to yourself when you make a mistake, or do you call yourself stupid? Begin to take note of these moments and how you respond.
When you catch yourself being unforgiving or mean, stop the tape. Press pause and offer kindness or compassion instead. You have the power to turn the tape off. We are often much crueler to ourselves than we are to other people. What if a friend, child, or lover came to you looking for soothing after doing the “stupid” thing that you did? How would you respond to their need for comfort? How would you help them to pick themselves up and move on?
If it is easy for you to offer compassion to others but not to yourself, this is a place to start making changes. Only through compassion in our self-talk can we begin to shut off these old tapes and start creating more healing and helpful messages. Imagine recording a new message of encouragement and compassion. Spend a few weeks keeping track of the messages on your old tapes. Write them down in your journal; see if you can pinpoint the moment that message got stuck in your psyche or when that message was officially recorded on your tape.
The process of collecting your taped messages may be emotionally challenging. This can bring up baggage from the past that you may not be fully, consciously aware of. Be kind and patient with yourself as these messages come forward. Remember that these messages are not your truth; you don’t have to hold them. You control the message machine.
One of the messages on my tapes is: You can only depend on yourself. This message was repeated to me over and over again in my youth. I had to take care of myself. I couldn’t rely on a relationship, friend, or anyone else to get it done. It was up to me.
I logically understand why my mom gave me this recording. Her goal was for me to not look for marriage to give me stability. She wanted me to find my own path and make sure that I had my own money and would know how to take care of myself. However, this tape morphed into me believing that I have to do it all, be it all, and take care of it all. It has led me to become an island, thinking that I can’t trust anyone else to do what needs to be done.
Over the years, there have been so many moments where this message has been reinforced. And when that happens, I can hear my mom’s voice in my head: See, there you go. I told you so. To be clear, I don’t blame my mom. She was doing her best, and how the messages have recorded into my psyche is not her fault. It’s just my interpretation.
I’ve since changed the message of this tape. When I slide into my isolation tendencies, I play my own new recording: You are surrounded by people who support you. Then I call one of those people. One of those people happens to be my mom.
Look at your own tapes. When you feel ready, pick one of the messages that you are ready to change. Write it down in your journal. We need to reframe this message. How can you shift the message from a negative into a positive? Cross out the old tape, maybe using red pen. Write the reframed message underneath it.
Once you have completed this part, find a place where you can sit comfortably for at least twenty minutes. Close your eyes and visualize a tape recorder. Press the play button and listen to the old tape. Allow yourself to listen closely to the true voice this message came from. Take time to notice where you feel this message in your body.
Visualize pressing the stop button on the tape, winding that message back. This time press the record button and say your new message out loud. Repeat your new message over and over again until you can feel it alive in your body. Once you feel it is alive, press the stop button, rewind the tape, and listen to your voice with your new positive message recorded on the tape.
There may be times that the old tape starts to sneak back into action. When you notice this happening, close your eyes, take a breath, and press stop on the tape. Rewind that tape and then play it again with your voice and your positive message. Remember, you control the messages; you can change the tapes.
Discovering Expression Who Are You?
The following exercise is inspired by the work of Joanna Macy, who has written several books on reconnecting to the world and coming into greater conversation with the needs of the planet. In one of these books—Coming Back to Life—she offers an exercise, believing that “persistent inquiry helps participants to free themselves from socially constructed self-definitions and attain a realization of the inherently unlimited nature of consciousness.” 33
This work is best done with another person. Choose someone you trust to go through this process with you. It doesn’t have to be someone with Witchy inclinations, but that could be helpful. This work can be hard or uncomfortable, so don’t give in to fear and pass it by. Pick someone and go for it.
Sit in front of each other, close enough that your knees are touching. Set a timer for five minutes. When the timer begins, have your friend ask you the following question: “What is your identity?”
Immediately answer the question with the first thing that pops into your head. Don’t pause, don’t think about it, just speak. As soon as you have finished speaking, your friend should then immediately repeat the question: “What is your identity?” Again, answer with the first thing that comes to you. Repeat this over and over until your timer goes off. After the timer goes off, sit in silence for about a minute. If your friend is up for it, switch roles.
Take time afterwards to process anything interesting or surprising that came up during the questioning. Make sure that you write anything important down in your journal.
Interpersonal Development
The next section’s exercise is designed to help you release baggage around your relationships with others. You may find that you desire approval or acclaim. By working with the expression point, you will begin to shift the need for others’ approval to a focus on yourself and your own needs.
Discovering Expression
Release of External Validation 
It is not wrong to desire the approval of others. It is not wrong to want to be noticed. In fact, it is very human to want to be noticed and appreciated. However, when all of our motivations are based on the need to be seen, we are not operating from a place of wholeness. Rather, we are looking to the external to fill up what we may fear we are lacking.
All humans have shortcomings. How utterly boring would the world be if everyone was perfect at everything? None of us are perfect, and we shouldn’t be. Letting go of the need for external validation, or for looking to others to fill us up, is ongoing work. This won’t shift after one exercise or ritual, but stepping into the process of healing and changing negative patterns will slowly right the ship and bring you into a better place of wholeness within yourself.
Sit down and write a list of all the ways you seek out external validation. Remember that not all of these reasons will be bad. Getting validation for what we bring to the world is important. Write them all down. Review your list and pull out those places where you are seeking external validation for unhealthy reasons. Places where you would rather release the need for validation and feel more complete and whole within yourself.
Supplies: Fire-safe container, lighter, your beauty mirror, your list of external validation-seeking behavior, and some cleansing herbs like sage, cedar, palo santo, or copal.
Set Up: Put all of the above supplies on your beauty altar.
Ritual: Set up your beauty altar, fitting in all of the supplies. Breathe, calling in all of your parts. Continue to breathe, slowly and intentionally, until you feel fully present. Visualize placing an energetic rose in the top of each corner of the room as a boundary of protection for your working.
Pick up your beauty mirror. Read your list of external validation- seeking behaviors out loud while looking at yourself in the mirror. Do this process slowly, taking note of any areas where you feel hurt, triggered, or upset by the words you are reading. Take your time with this process. Let yourself feel the feelings as they come without judgment.
When you are finished, say the following while you burn the list:
I release what no longer serves
I step into beauty and power
I release what no longer serves
I call up my own tenacity
I release what no longer serves
I acknowledge my own strength
I release what no longer serves
I am all that I need
When your list has finished burning, light the cleansing herbs and use the smoke to clear out your aura and your altar space. Visualize the smoke clearing out anything that no longer serves from your spirit body, taking it away as the smoke rises. Continue to cleanse until you feel settled.
Draw back the roses that you energetically placed in each corner of the room. Speak out loud your gratitude for the space holding you.
It is done.
Community Development
In the following exercise you will have an opportunity to use the power of expression to help your community. The problems in the world may seem daunting, but you can take small steps in your local community to make changes. The small changes will lead to major shifts and changes in the greater world.
Discovering Expression
Seed Bombs
I’ve made hundreds of seed bombs throughout my life. I learned this process through the Reclaiming Tradition of Witchcraft, but its origins are ancient. It is believed that seed balls were made to help propagate crops in the Nile River by the ancient Egyptians.34 This process was “rediscovered” by Japanese perma-culturist Masanobu Fukuoka.35
Fukuoka spent a lifetime watching plants, both in a strict traditional farming style and in a looser and more natural perma-
cultural one. Over time he discovered that planting in a more random style with less measured lines, rows, and structure worked better for the health and vitality of the whole ecosystem. Masanobu would scatter seeds, allowing plants to take root in random places. But he was cautious to scatter seeds of plants that would support each other. Instead of rows of plants, the gardens he created were lush and natural. Seed bombs were one of the ways he would landscape difficult places to reach.36
The idea is to use these small seed bombs to plant local sustainable plants in areas that are uninhabited or unreceptive to traditional methods of gardening.37 The process is simple and can be infused with your prayers to add some of your own personal beauty to the magick. Keep in mind this process may not be legal in all areas. Be sure to check legality before taking on this magickal task.
Supplies: A bucket, soil, nontoxic self-drying compostable clay, organic compost, seeds of local plants, and water.
Set Up: Have all of your supplies handy. This is best done outside, as it can get messy.
Ritual: In the bucket, mix equal amounts of compost and clay—you will need to use your hands for this process. Slowly add small amounts of water until the clay and compost mix and have a nice consistency, much like a thick paste. Add more clay, compost, and water as needed.
Pull off a small amount of clay and make a ball about the size of a quarter. Put in the seeds as you roll the ball. Set them down on a flat surface to let them dry. This will take a few hours.
When the seed bombs are dry, you can then spread them around town. Toss them in your own yard, toss them into empty lots, fields, or abandoned areas. After the first rain, the clay will break down and the seeds will be on their way. It may take a whole season before you see the effects of your seed bombs, but keep your eyes peeled for the beauty that you helped create.
Global Development
Starting in your local community is only the first step of expression for improving the world. In the following exercise, you will shift your focus to a more global perspective, using your power and energy to help clear the planet and bring healing.
Ritual: Blessing the Place Where You Are
This is a ritual of blessing for you and for the greater world. This ritual is best done outdoors during a waxing moon. Set up the ritual before the sun sets, and then perform the ritual after dark. The ritual is written for a solitary practitioner, but it could be easily adapted for a group by splitting up the elemental roles. This ritual is both reverent and mirthful.
Supplies: Incense in a fire-safe container, candle, bowl of water, bowl of earth, bell, athame, your journal, a vase of flowers, a large quartz crystal, and a bottle of bubbles.
Set Up: Set all of the supplies up in the center of your working space. You may want to prop things on a small table or bench, but a blanket in the center of your ritual space would be fine.
Ritual: Take a moment to breathe deeply, bringing yourself into the present. Send some roots down from your body into the earth below you. Release anything that no longer serves. As you breathe in, draw up some of that clean earth energy. When you feel complete, send some branches up into the sky above you out of the top of your head. Release what no longer serves. As you breathe in, draw down some of the sky energy. Stand in this middle place, a conduit of earth and sky. Draw your branches and roots back in.
Pick up your athame and go to the north of your space. Run the Beauty Pentacle until you feel the power of it thrumming inside of you. Let this power flow down your hand into your athame. Direct the energy to the north, creating a solid container around your ritual space. Rotate, turning in a circle until you come back to the north. All the time you are creating your circle, visualize the power of the Beauty Pentacle creating a boundary around you. Point your athame above you, watching the power create a dome above you. Point your athame below you, completing the sphere of protection.
Return to the north, draw a large pentacle in front of you, and recite: beauty, devotion, creativity, desire, expression. Repeat this process facing the east, south, and west. Return to the altar and set down your athame.
Pick up the bowl of earth and move to the north. Place the bowl on the ground and then kneel down, placing your head on the ground near the bowl. Pay homage to the earth, the plants, the animals; pay homage to yourself as you connect to the earth through your third eye. Raise your head and arms and say:
Earth that is my body
Soil that is my flesh
Stone that is my bone
I bless this bowl of earth
I pray for your health and mine
I offer this blessing of my love
And circle this circle nine
Walk the perimeter of the circle nine times, sprinkling the soil as you go. Return the bowl to the altar, light and pick up the incense, and face the east. Set the burning incense on the ground and then kneel over the smoke, placing your face in the smoke’s path. If you have asthma or issues with breathing, modify this for your health. Pay homage to the air, the birds, the flying creatures; pay homage to yourself as you connect to the air through your throat. Raise your head and arms and say:
Air that is my breath
Wind that is my voice
Cloud that is my song
I bless this smoke of incense
I pray for your health and mine
I offer this blessing of my love
And circle this circle nine
Walk the perimeter of the circle nine times, letting the incense smoke fill the area. Return the incense to the altar and pick up the candle, light it, and face the south. Set the lit candle on the ground, and sit before it with your hand over the flame. Pay homage to the fire, the heat, the passion; pay homage to yourself as you connect to the fire through your hands. Raise your arms and say:
Fire that is my spirit
Heat that is my passion
Flame that is my dance
I bless this finger of fire
I pray for your health and mine
I offer this blessing of my love
And circle this circle nine
Walk the perimeter of the circle nine times holding up the candle, letting the light shine. Return the candle to the altar, pick up the bowl of water, and face the west. Set the bowl of water on the ground and kneel over it, touching your lips to the surface. Pay homage to the water, the emotions, the creatures that swim; pay homage to yourself as you connect to the water through your mouth. Raise your head and your arms and say:
Water that is my blood
Moisture that is my heart
Rain that is my intuition
I bless this bowl of water
I pray for your health and mine
I offer this blessing of my love
And circle this circle nine
Walk the perimeter of the circle nine times, sprinkling the water as you go. Return the bowl of water to the altar, and sit in front of the space. Sit in contemplation of your connection to the elements and how they express themselves through you. Let this contemplation start from a more serious perspective. But as your mind wanders, think on how joyful this relationship is. Think on how amazing and silly life can be.
Feel all of the blessings that you have brought into this ritual. Feel how palpable all of the prayers and blessings that you have offered are. Let this also fill you with joy. You may want to speak things out loud or share your gratitude with your voice or a song. When you feel full of that joy, pick up the bubbles and begin to blow them.
Blow the bubbles from each of the directions. Let each small miracle sphere carry the blessings of the elements out into the world. As each bubble pops somewhere outside of your sacred space, it releases those blessings and joy that you built into the circle. Let this process go on for as long as you feel called. Be joyful, be silly, laugh, and play. Send those joyous blessings into the world.
When you feel complete, return the bubbles to the altar and pick up your athame. Use your athame to break open the bottom and top of the circle you created. Then turn to the north, again releasing the circle by cutting it through with the knife. Turn widdershins, cutting open the circle as you turn, ending up back in the north.
The work is done!
After the ritual is complete, take some time to write down any thoughts or feelings that come through. Make sure that you leave nothing behind.
Final Expression Ritual
Much of this ritual is about self-reflection. You will need plenty of space to be alone and undisturbed. Ideally you will have a comfortable place to sit. This ritual is written for a solitary practitioner but could be easily modified for a group.
Supplies: Your journal, a glass of wine or juice, and a candle.
Set Up: Light the candle, set down the glass of wine, open up your journal, and go ahead.
Ritual: Breathe in, slow and deep, at least three times. Let the air awaken you. Feel the inhale of air help push your blood through your body. Feel the inhale of air awaken your brain.
Run the Beauty Pentacle through your body, starting out slowly and then speeding up. Continue running the pentacle until you can feel your body saturated with the power of it.
Sit comfortably and allow yourself to contemplate the following questions. Leave plenty of space for your thoughts to float along without trying to control them.
• How do you express yourself? Are you a talker? Are you artistic? Do you love to cook?
• How do you show your feelings to the people that you care about? Do you need to talk about things when they come up? Do you need to process quietly? Do you hold back?
• How do you express yourself to new people? Are you easy to communicate with? Are you comfortable taking the lead? How do you feel about small talk?
For some, these questions might be easy to answer while others may need time for more contemplation and thought. Give yourself plenty of time to explore and write down anything important or interesting that comes up for you.
Make a list of how you express yourself when you are feeling the following:
• Angry
• Frustrated
• Sad
• Happy
• Joyous
• Inspired
• Successful
• Confused
• Blissful
Look back over what you have written. What comes up for you looking over the words on the page? Are there areas where you aren’t expressing yourself as you would like to? Are there areas that need improvement? What is one thing you can change right now in the way that you express yourself? Make a commitment to do one thing—just one—to communicate in a way that is more in alignment with your desires.
Pick up the glass of wine or juice, and using your dominant hand, draw the Beauty Pentacle over the top of the glass. Chant the points of the pentacle as you do: beauty, devotion, creativity, desire, expression. State your commitment out loud. Say it like you mean it. Then drink the glass of wine.
It is done.
check-in
how’s it going?
Take out your journal and consider the following questions. After working through the expression pentacle point, how have your feelings on expression changed? Do you find yourself noticing beauty in the world around you more often? Look back over the challenges that you’ve faced and write what comes up for you when you see all that you have accomplished.
The Final Line
The power of the Beauty Pentacle comes from the first energy center, which we call “beauty.” This power sits in the top of your head. As the power builds, it flows down your body into your right foot. This energy center we call “devotion.” The power continues to move. The flow moves up and across, moving into the energy center in the left hand. We call this energy center “creativity.” The power keeps moving from the left hand, through the heart, into the right hand. This is the energy center we call “desire.” The flow continues, shifting down and across into the left foot. This is the energy center that we call “expression.” But the power doesn’t stop there. The power moves again. The Goddess draws one more line over us. It shifts up again, coming back up to the top of the head. The power returns to the point where it started—at the point of beauty. The circuit is complete.
29. Morgan Daimler, Irish Paganism: Reconstructing Irish Polytheism (Winchester: Moon Books, 2015), 32.
30. Daimler, Irish Paganism, 32.
31. Daimler, Irish Paganism, 32.
32. Zora Neale Hurston, Mules and Men (New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008), 215.
33. Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown, Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World (Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers, 1998), 127.
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35. Andrew Schreiber, “Making Seed Balls: An Ancient Method of No-till Agriculture,” Permaculture News, Permaculture Research Institute, June 18, 2014, https://permaculturenews.org/2014/06/18/making-seedballs-ancient-method-till-agriculture/
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37. Margot Adler, “Environmentalists Adopt New Weapon: Seed Balls,” NPR, April 15, 2009, https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103129515.