Revitalising, Renewing and Re-Grounding my practice.

A common problem I run into is stacking too much onto my plate, mainly as I am a person excited to learn all I can but as I am but one person with a mind that can be easily overwhelmed so in a effort not to become stuck by having too much choice I am going to write this to remind myself of where and what we are focusing on learning and growing for the rest of 2026.

Continue growing connections with the Aos Sidhe/Themselves.

Connect more with my Spirits/Gods/Tuatha De - Offerings, Prayers, Meditations/Journeying & Talks.

Grow my Wish/Manifest magic that is innate to me. Incorporate my own form of "sigil" brands into this?? I'm still workshopping them tho...

Study and practise more traditional Irish folk scrying - fire scrying first. I only celebrate the four fire festivals which are linked to my ancestors and heritage, so I can use those days for more immersive fire scrying. Lughnasadh is very soon from when I post this.

Revitalise self by focusing on the sacred cauldrons/Inner Soul-Work.

Connect more with the genus loci of the land... Trees, Plants, Rivers, and rock spirits. Learn their stories, their names and forms...

Collect and Forage from the land itself (also aiding in observing the land & its growth cycles)

Focus back on connecting with and honouring the ancestors, both divine and of the earth. I have been neglecting them due to other distractions & tiredness from work :'(

Use what grows around me/in my garden to make herbal teas or other herbal creations for my benefit - allowing me to learn the herbs/plants while using them.

This is interconnected, so I shall not get overwhelmed. 1, 2 and 6 are easily connected in practice. 2 & 8 are connected & can be done at or around the same time. 6, 7 and 9 are also connected in my learning/Craft. I will also need to make sure that, in my focusing back into my craft, I do not forget about my creative project, which is very important to me as well.

Cunning folk, also known as folk healers or wise folk, were practitioners of folk medicine, helpful folk magic and divination in Europe from the Middle Ages until the 20th century. Their practices were known as the cunning craft. Their services also included thwarting witchcraft. Although some cunning folk were denounced as witches themselves, they made up a minority of those accused, and the common people generally made a distinction between the two. The name 'cunning folk' originally referred to folk-healers and magic-workers in Britain, but the name is now applied as an umbrella term for similar people in other parts of Europe.

Names given to folk-healers and magic-workers in Europe include:

the French devins-guérisseurs ("soothsayer-healers") and leveurs de sorts ("curse-lifters") the Italian fattucchiere ("fixers"), guaritori ("healers") or benandanti ("good walkers") the Dutch toverdokters ("magic-doctors") or duivelbanners ("devil-banners") the German Hexenmeister or Kräuterhexen (“herb witches”) the Irish bean feasa ("woman of knowledge"), banfháidh or fáidhbhean ("seeress") the Spanish curanderos ("healers") the Portuguese curandeiros/as, benzedeiros/as ("blessers") or mulheres de virtude ("women of virtue") the Danish kloge folk ("wise folk") the Swedish klok gumma ("wise old woman") or klok gubbe ("wise old man") the Slavic vedmaki ("warlocks") the Finnish and Karelian tietäjät ("knowers")

🌾The irish would sweep their floors from the door to their hearth, to bring in good luck rather than sweep it out. (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4428251/4388467/4465967)

🌾Soak your bed sheets and pillows in lavender and rosemary water to help with sleep! (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4666586/4664150/4668362)

🌾Tie a red rag or ribbon around the neck (like a scarf) to ward the evil eye. (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4798657/4787663/4923346)

🌾To get rid of the evil eye, write the 26 letters of the alphabet on a piece of paper and burn it under your nose (I’m not a fan of breathing in smoke so I would change this method to burning the piece of paper along with some cleansing herbs (garden sage, cedar, juniper etc) treating it as incense and waft the smoke over you, taking in the scent indirectly) (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4658430/4654747/4659635)

🌾Another cure was to burn a piece of clothing worn by the possessor of the "evil eye". (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4798707/4792016/4924255)

🌾Charm for Protection: “The Deer’s Cry” I arise today through the strength of heaven the light of the sun the brilliance of the moon the splendor of fire speed of lightning depth of the sea stability of the earth and the firmness of rock. (https://illustratedprayer.com/2018/03/17/saint-patrick-and-the-cry-of-the-deer/)

🌾Garlic boiled in milk is good for colds (A soup made with garlic and milk among other ingredients would be perfect too!) (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5070791/5064262/5096665) Along with garlic, onions and wild sage is good for colds too (Add them to your soup!) (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5009200/4997255/5103281) (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4701685/4692572/4728101)

🌾Hanging a brigid’s cross up over the door or in the house prevents fires. The cross is burned each year in the hearth and a new one is made on Imbolc to continue that protection. (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4769994/4764934/5013850)

🌾On Bealtaine before sunrise cut the branches of whitethorn and mountain ash. They are wreathed around the door for good luck.

🌾Mountain ash is the safeguard against all witchcraft!

🌾If a branch of mountain ash cut on Bealtaine is woven into the roof of your house, your home will be safe from fire for at least a year. If the branch of mountain ash is woven into the timber of a boat, no storm will upset it and no man will drown for at least a year.

🌾Bind the twigs of the mountain ash cut on Bealtaine around valuable objects to protect them from witchcraft/ hexes and curses (Traditionally bound around milk pails and butter churns)

🌾Herbs picked on Bealtaine will have especially potent magickal healing properties! Especially the Yarrow which is picked for divination. On Bealtaine, find a yarrow plant and dance around it singing: “Yarrow, Yarrow, Yarrow, I bid thee good morrow, And tell me before to-morrow, Who my true love shall be” Then the herb is placed under your head at night and your true lover will appear in your dreams! (https://www.libraryireland.com/AncientLegendsSuperstitions/May-Festival-2.php)

The short answer is that I write for a Catholic news and opinion website and the WIP is my essay/article/hot take on the encyclical. It connects the encyclical’s understanding of fraternity as a virtue to that of the late Buddhist moral philosopher Tanabe Hajime, and argues that fraternity is a Christological and Trinitarian concept in Fratelli tutti in a way that it is obviously not in Tanabe’s work.