Burnt Sage & Blunt Truths

  There she is. Frozen in time, in good lighting, with a softness the world hadn’t taken a bite out of yet. The woman in that photograph is composed. Intentional. She looks like someone who knows where she’s going—even if she doesn’t. There’s a kind of quiet confidence in her, the kind that hasn’t been tested yet. The kind that still believes effort equals outcome. She is curated. And I don’t mean fake—I mean assembled . Every part of her chosen with care. Hair done, expression controlled, posture held like a promise. She is presenting herself to the world with the understanding that if she does it right—if she gets the formula correct—things will line up. She still believes in the formula. She believes that if she works hard enough, loves hard enough, shows up enough, bends just enough… things will eventually make sense. That people will meet her where she stands. That systems will function the way they’re supposed to. That fairness is a real thing and not just a bedtime story for...

  Showing Up vs. “Thoughts and Prayers”: The Difference Between Noise and Presence There’s a phrase that gets tossed around like confetti at a parade nobody asked for: “Thoughts and prayers.” It sounds nice. It looks good in a comment section. It lets people feel like they’ve participated in something meaningful without ever leaving their chair. It’s the emotional equivalent of tapping “like” and calling it support. And here’s the truth most people don’t say out loud: It’s not support. It’s sentiment. And sentiment doesn’t carry weight. Showing up is not a feeling. It’s an action. It’s inconvenient. It’s messy. It costs something. Showing up is: answering the phone when it rings at the wrong time sending money when it would be easier not to sitting in a waiting room when you’d rather be anywhere else buying from someone when you know you could get it cheaper somewhere else saying, “I’ve got you,” and then proving it Showing up requires presence. Not just emotionally—but physically,...

  Let’s have a conversation. A real one. Because somewhere out there, right now, a perfectly competent adult has just hit “reply” instead of “forward,” and launched a message into the void that was never meant for mortal eyes. Except the void replied. Immediately. Now listen—I am the first person to blame Mercury retrograde for a great many things. Miscommunication Technology glitches That one text you swear you didn’t send But even Mercury has limits. And he is tired of being blamed for emails that were typed, reviewed (allegedly), and sent with full human participation. Let’s paint the scene. You receive an email. It’s confusing. It’s irritating. It’s the professional equivalent of someone handing you a live raccoon and saying, “Can you take care of this?” Naturally, you do what any reasonable person does. You go to forward it. And you add commentary. Not malicious. Not cruel. Just… honest. Maybe a little sharp. Maybe a little tired. Maybe a little: ...

  Spirit Northwest 2026 Review Spirit Northwest 2026 delivered a strong showing in its second year, with several standout presentations that actually pushed the needle instead of rehashing the same recycled material we’ve all heard a hundred times. The highlight, without question, was Alacias Enger’s work on Financial Manifestation Magick. This wasn’t fluff. This wasn’t “light a green candle and hope for the best.” It was layered, thoughtful, and grounded in the very real—often uncomfortable—truth that manifestation is directly tied to our relationship with money. The depth she brought to the topic was refreshing, and frankly, overdue. It’s the kind of work that deserves to be expanded into a full book, because there’s clearly more there—and people need it. Laura Davila’s presentation on the Hummingbird—La Chupparosca—and its role in Mexica magics was another standout. It was focused, culturally rooted, and actually educational without feeling like a surface-level overview. You ...

  There’s a peculiar modern habit of taking something ancient, flattening it into a single narrative, and then gatekeeping it like it was invented last Tuesday. Smoke cleansing has become one of those casualties. Let’s get something straight right out of the gate: Smoke cleansing is not new. It is not trendy. It is not owned by a single culture. What is specific are certain ceremonial practices, names, and protocols. And that’s where people keep tripping over their own feet. The Internet Version vs. Reality The internet has decided that all smoke cleansing equals one specific Indigenous practice. Native American Smudging. That’s neat, tidy, and completely wrong. Not all Native Americans Smudge!  Because long before hashtags and hot takes, people across the world were lighting things on fire for spiritual, medicinal, and practical purposes. Here’s the part people conveniently ignore people were smoke cleansing for AEONS before Coachella Culture Witches came to the Ameri...

 There’s a particular kind of grief that doesn’t come from death alone. It comes from absence. From the things we meant to do. From the people we meant to see. From the places we assumed would always be there, waiting patiently like a porch light left on too long. Yesterday, I lost a friend. Not in the slow, expected way where you brace yourself and begin the quiet rituals of letting go. No. This was sudden. Abrupt. The kind of loss that kicks the door in and leaves everything rattling behind it. And the last time I saw her—really saw her—was at her daughter’s wedding over a decade ago. A decade. That number sits heavy. It doesn’t ask permission. And now there’s no fixing it. No circling back. No “we really should get together soon” that ever turns into anything real. Just the sharp, clean edge of finality. At the same time, people are mourning the end of Gathering of Nations. They mourned Pantheacon when it disappeared. They mourn places the same way they mourn people,...

 There’s this quiet assumption people carry around—that if they’re close to you, they know you. Not just “know of you.” Not just “know your habits.” But know you . As in: the full landscape. The whole map. Every hill, every back road, every strange little side path you wander down at two in the morning when the rest of the world is asleep. And that assumption is… wrong. Not in a cruel way. Not in a disappointing way. Just in a very human, very ordinary, very unavoidable way. I started thinking about this the other day when it hit me—if I lined up the people closest to me and asked them to list my interests, my obsessions, the things I spend my time thinking about when no one’s watching… They’d all give me answers. And they’d all be incomplete. Not one of them would be wrong. But not one of them would be whole either. Let’s start with my mom. She’s my ride or die. The one who knows the real stories, not the polished versions. The one who has seen me at my worst and d...