Emma Despres 01/06/2023 Emma Despres 01/06/2023

Sark: An Island Paradise

Down by Rouge Terrier looking towards Dixcart and Terrible

I love Sark. It is one of the most magical places on this Earth. I love that there are no cars, that you can only move as fast as your legs can take you either on foot or on bike (unless you have a mobility scooter or a tractor of course!), that you are surrounded by nature; by the sea and the sky and the trees and the fields full of wild flowers and the birds and the butterflies and the movement of the sun and the moon across the sky so visible and the stars shining brightly at night, a dark sky isle.

I love that the wind blows the cobwebs away and that there is always somewhere to go where you might escape it, even if the northerly does whip over the cliffs so you have to find a break in a valley, Dixcart Valley is one of my favourites, but there are so many magical spots, where you can hide amongst the trees and enjoy the shifting light and the tinkering of the streams, where you can find solitude and space, away from the maddening of the crowds on Guernsey, the endless traffic that saps the soul and the pull on time.

An impromptu Downward Facing Dog on the cliff path!

Getting off the beaten track, views towards Bec du Nez and Herm in the distance

Here one can be timeless, I don’t have a phone or a watch on this trip, mind you I haven’t worn a watch since i was a teenager, and as for the phone, it is freeing not to be tied to this either, to flow, no messages distracting me, making me think about the future, or what has happened previously, to feel no pressure to connect for the sake of connecting (and disconnecting as a result) , nothing to tell me I have to be anywhere at any particular time, just the freedom to be and enjoy this rare spaciousness - sometimes it is helpful to get out of one’s routine and comfort zone to find that there is another way.

On Little Sark, views towards Breqhou and Havre Goslin

I love the wells and springs and streams. Water has always been celebrated, it is of course the life blood of the Planet and its presence will determine whether we humans can survive or not. On Sark, the streams and wells that provide fresh water have long been honoured as sacred and with good reason - they provide life here on Sark because there is no mains water on Sark, and residents are dependant on boreholes and wells to fulfil their water needs.

Sark is interesting because it is comprised solely of igneous rocks which cannot hold water in quite the same way as porous rocks and it takes about twenty years for rainwater to seep down to the level that boreholes are drilled and about one hundred years to get right down to its lowest point in the ‘Aquifer’. Therefore all the rainwater on Sark collects in a giant bowl beneath the island, precariously floating on the denser salty sea water - quiet amazing!

Hanging out on ‘the rock’ at Port du Moulin

I love the fact you can find a quiet place to swim, without anyone else, so that you don’t always need to bother wearing bathers, one can be as free as a mermaid, without having to find a naturalist beach as one does on Guernsey. There are places that are lovelier to swim at high tide and those at low tide and over the years my soul Sark friend, Estelle, has taught me a lot about this. She has shown me so much of the island that has taken us off the beaten path, that finds us surrounded only by nature in dips and magical cliff and swimming spots.

Amazing tree out on cliffs on walk down to the Harbour

Little Sark is one of my favourite spots and when you look at the geology, maybe it’s not surprising as it sits on granite (diorite), while the majority of main Sark sits on Biotite gneiss. Granite usually contains some quartz and quartz, like other crystals, is piezoelectric, which is to say that it generates electricity when it is compressed and when subjected to shocks or vibrations. So, in simple terms, one finds (in theory), both electricity and magnetism in granite at the same time, which will have an energetic effect on us humans, especially those more sensitive to energy.

Out on the cliffs, off the beaten track, windy!

What is interesting is that the northern tip of Sark, where you find Bec du Nez and L’Eperquerie also sits on granite (diorite) and both this northern tip and Little Sark are where you find the majority of the neolithic structures, which tend to tap into vibrational frequency to echo the sacred geometry of the planet, in creating harmony, well in theory. Of course we don’t live in a very harmonic world anymore, but if you spend time in and around neolithic structures, you may well experience greater inner harmony and a progressive expansion of consciousness - they are built where they are built for a reason!

One of my favourite spots on Little Sark is the dolmen, which is unusual in its positioning, but is not alone, there is another neolithic site on Brittany that has a chamber aligned with the midday sun on the winter solstice. It’s a fabulous spot to get away from it all and sit back and just listen to the sound of the sea and the trees and watch the sea birds. The clear skies at night here are just incredible, I have often gotten a clear visual of the milky way and the plethora of shooting stars that you might miss with all then light pollution elsewhere. It’s always a shock cycling back to main Sark and being bombarded by the artificial lighting on Guernsey

I love the fact that the whole island is alive, there’s a plethora of crystals that can be found. Copper and silver mines were once in existence on Little Sark but little can now be seen of either as they have been picked over by generations of mineral collectors since Victorian times. But nonetheless there’s pyrite and serpentine, violet coloured Sark Amethyst, chalcedony, jasper and white-quartz, and we keep our eyes out as we move from bay to bay, each one offering something different, it can get very exciting!

Yesterday we spent a good while forging in the Creux Harbour where there is a plethora of quartz. Eben is amazing at finding just the right pieces, and I was lucky too, little bits, such sparkly. We have learned to be selective and to ask first. We have a stone dotted with pyrite in the healing space at home that Eben insisted we bring home with us one trip but we promised to return and we will do so when the time is right.

We love cycling to new places, exploring the nooks and crannies, the bits that are virgin to us. I am always on the look out for stones, for magical stones at that. A rose quartz boulder was unearthed during archeological excavation in July 2011. It is believed to have been one of four marker stones (two pink, two green) carried up the beach and placed on a terraced site that was buried by Neolithic people over 4,000 years ago. I am always keen to spot something similar and yesterday we stumbled across some beautiful quartz boulders not far from the dirt, I just had this feeing and there they were.

I can’t help thinking that the mineral content of the land here is what makes Sark so special, that and the fact it is an island surrounded by sea, but I’m biased as I LOVE islands and I LOVE crystals and the combination of the two is really rather sublime, let alone the lack of traffic, yes, i know, I wrote that earlier, but I really loathe cars. I also loathe development and Sark is lucky that development thus far is kept to a minimum, or at least it’s subtler than Guernsey which is gradually becoming a metropolis.

There is no doubt that a trip to Sark soothes the soul, well as long as you can get yourself beyond the pubs! This is the reason I have always enjoyed offering yoga retreats here, to support the process of slowing down and reconnecting with nature, which is the balm, as it helps to ease feelings of separation, from true Self as much as from the outer world. Teamed with Caragh and her yoga and Qi gong fusion, the retreats have always been well received and this year we have decided to go more intimate, just a small group, with Reiki and chocolate making on offer too.

Talking of Caragh, I enjoy getting to one of her classes while here and went last night and was treated to a sound healing relaxation. A lady who has moved here from Germany has a selection of Tibetan singing bowls and Caragh had asked her to come and play for us - what a treat. Those of you coming for treatments recently or to Yoni Yoga will know that I am very fond of my new crystals singing bowl and have been incorporating it into sessions, hoping to expand on my collection. Sound healing is a fave and what a surprise to find sound healing here too - a wonderful compliment to a fabulous class with Caragh in the Island Hall!

Caragh’s chocolates is always a pull too. Not least because Caragh is a friend and I like to say hi and support her, and the chocolate is very yummy, especially the vegan coconut truffles, but because there is a trampoline and a pool up there too. The boys love the trampoline and many an hour is spent watching them bounce away. They love Sark’s relatively new children’s playground too, which I have to say is my favourite children’s playground too as often it is just us using it and it is peaceful and fun.

On the way to the dolmen and all the Ox-Eye daisies

Mon Plaisir shop its virtually opposite the playground and I love visiting this, sharing friendly chatter with the ladies who run the shop, who have been best friends since school, and seeing what fresh and home made cakes are for sale, and whatever else we need to keep us going during the day. There is a larger shop in town, which sells Waitrose products, and this now offers freshly baked French artisans breads and pastries too, including sourdoughs, which the boys tell me are amazing!

There are nw numerous places to grab a coffee and a croissant, or to sit down and eat a proper meal. For a time, just after the pandemic, you were hard pushed to find much that wasn’t deep fried, unless the Fleur du Jardin was open for a salad or you went to Stocks, but now Hugo’s has appeared, with an Italian themed menu in Dixcart Valley, and Nova’s in the high street and Hathaway’s has new owners, and a more extensive menu. Stocks is still a favourite for many, especially as you can use the outdoor pool at lunchtime, ideal if you have children.

We’re lucky, we’re staying at Le Grand Dixcart cottage, just up the road from Stocks and owned by the lovely Helen and Alex Magell. They are a really inspiring couple, trying to live as sustainably as possible, they use solar and have adopted permaculture principles to grow fresh produce for Stocks. The gardens are just beautiful, the flowers exquisite and the herbs too. They have chickens providing eggs for their B&B residents, sadly not enough to sell. But that’s OK as we collect your eggs from Josie, who studied Reiki with me once, and now lives on Sark with her partner and many happy chickens - the eggs certainly are different when the chickens are loved.

The cottage is perfect for us, cosy and clutter free with everything that a family of four needs and held by nature which surrounds it and the beautiful energy of Dixcart Valley. There’s an indoor pool we can use too, which is a bonus for the boys! We can also use the pool at Stocks if we choose but the weather hasn't been warm enough for that with these crazy NE winds blowing in, which has been challenging the horses and the boat and indeed local business. It’s also a little relentless for the skin, but hey, at least its not raining!

The late spring/early summer flowers are just incredible. Walking out on the Gouillot Headland earlier, I was blown away by the diversity; the bright yellow broom, the gorgeous pink foxgloves, the pink thrift, the wall pennywort (I have to stop Eben destroying this, he loves to run his hand along it, pulling at the seeds!), the glorious pink campion, the pale purple dove’s-foot Crane’s bill, the copious white sea campion, the bright lilac-blue sheep’s-bit scabious, the mauve common Stork’s-Bill and my favourite, the Ox-eye daisies - Eben stumbled across a double head out by Dixart the other day, quite amazing!.

Pink Campion and hands held in prayer in rocks

I am particularly fond of the grasses, some glow purple when the sun catches them at a certain angle, nodding their heads in the breeze that has lessened today but due to come up again. The butterflies - Red Admiral especially - are in abundance which is surprising given the wind, and they up on the path towards Caragh’s chocolates and fluttering in Port du Moulin valley.

I’m very excited about the elderflowers appearing again, these are one of my most favourite smells, a treat for my nose, and I am keen to get making elderflower cordial when I get home - I get really excited when the elderflowers appear, summer is on its way!. The honey suckle is absolutely exquisite too, another of my most favourite smells, a treat when out walking the lanes at night.

We watched a Gannet dive bomb in the sea off Port Moulin, which was also a treat. We visited Gannet’s Rock off Alderney a few year’s ago and I have been fond of these birds ever since, but they don’t tend to venture to Guernsey, so it was a real joy to see this one in action. The oyster catchers sound divine down on Derrible Bay and we have caught sight of a Buzzard too.

Walking down Dixcart Valley this morning on our way to Derrible I was blown away by the bird song, reminding me of those nature programmes of the bird song in the rain forest. It was music to the ears and we just stood and listened, I just wish I knew which birds were which!

Tractor heaven for tractor boys like Elijah

One of the many magical valleys, this one on the way to the boat

There are an abundance of little birds flitting in and out of the hedges and fields. We stumbled across some netting attached to poles up in Ewok Village, and a bird caught within it. We set it free without realising that the netting was intentionally placed there by a Nature group visiting the Island to tag birds and learn what happens to them year by year. Apparently there is an abundance of tits at this particular part of the island, making it a real bird paradise.

To be honest, there’s not many places we haven’t been, maybe Pot Bay on Little Sark, which we wanted to get to but time and tides didn’t coincide. We’ve swum at a plethora of beaches, avoiding those on the NE coast because of the wind. We also didn’t make it to the Venus pool now I think about it, but I don’t get excited about that place particularly, too popular!

The boys both love animals so we went and visited the dog on Little Sark and they have been very taken by Ninja, the black cat living back next to the cottage. We’ve visited the Sark dairy and communed with the cows, and we’ve visited the pig and tried to give all of them some Reiki. We’ve even caught up with the sheep out towards the north when we were on the hunt for local honey, which isn’t yet available.

We’ve had an absolutely amazing time and it’ll be a shock returning home. There is no doubt that life slows down a pace over here. I feel rested and renewed, restored and I have started writing again, after a lull - you need space to be creative and I didn’t have much of that the last few weeks at home. It’s been a joy to hang out with the boys and flow, I’ve enjoyed the lack of time and needing to be somewhere (other than yoga) other than where I’m at. I’ve learned a lot. Nature is a wise teacher.

Home for the full moon on Sunday, looking forward to that as I have been watching the moon rise each afternoon getting fuller…hope you enjoy the ride and manage to get to Sark yourself sometime - we will be running another intimate retreat next April, our October retreat is currently fully booked but do email me if you’d like to go on the list for April and have first refusal when dates known, emma@beinspiredby.co.uk

Thank you Sark and you beautiful Sarkees, we love you!

Love Emma x

Emma Despres 19/05/2023 Emma Despres 19/05/2023

Happy new moon!

I went and lay on the fairy ring last night after dusk, Venus shining brightly, the oyster catchers in full song and the odd sea gull flying home. I was curious to dowse the energy flow and enjoy the peace of being out there on my own on the dark moon.

For a while it was peaceful, just me and the birds and the stars and of course the fairies, and then the International Space Station appeared, and flew straight over and the planes started up, high in the sky, passing over Guernsey, and I was soon aware of the light from the Hanois and I thought what a crazy world it is that we can never escape modernity and all it’s intrusion.

That is, until I walked up through the woods and here by the well shimmering in the darkness, I found the solitude I was seeking, nestled and hidden amongst the undergrowth and the trees, and could take the exhale I had been longing to take all day, to settle into the silence and feel the energy of the dark moon and what it was trying to bring in.

It’s been an interesting moon cycle, I’ve listened to many of you as you process the eclipse and the changes it has been trying to make, to align us again and again to live more simply, more lightly with greater respect for our heart and soul and the heart and soul of the planet and indeed the universe.

I am told that the new moon today ushers in significant new beginnings, but I hear this every new moon. The new beginnings will come in, I’m quite sure of that, as we continue to let go of whatever gets in the way of us realising more of our true self. It’s when we make these changes internally, towards greater self-love, peace and acceptance that the outer world changes to accommodate the perspective shift.

So if you can maybe find the time to rest into yourself, enter the undergrowth, see what lies in the darkness, connecting with that deeper part that knows…and trust in whatever comes through…noticing the self sabotage and the obstacles that you put in your path by the thoughts you think and by caring too much about the thoughts other people think, of stumbling up against yourself, and realise it’s all a big illusion to keep you small, and step beyond that and notice how nature allows itself to be all it can be, in all its wonderful and magnificent beauty - try telling an oyster catcher that its too much, too noisy, too vibrant, or a pink campion to stop being so pink and bright and uplifting…be all that you are and enjoy the ride!

A new cycle begins today, be conscious of the choices you make as you create your own reality…like the oyster catchers, just being who you are…and settling into the unknown and uncertain without having to control things…let it all be, the blending, the ancient and modernity, the space station and the fairies, all of it…

Here’s what Rebekah has to say…https://mailchi.mp/rebekahshaman.com/taurusnewmoon2023?e=eae0fe6be6

Love Emma x

Emma Despres 17/05/2023 Emma Despres 17/05/2023

Freedom is...

Being able to get out to the cliffs on a Monday morning to enjoy the beautiful wildflowers…

And running…

And getting in the sea without needing to wear any clothes…

And being immersed in the thick of it, land and sea and sky…

And not seeing anyone else…

And enjoying the abundance…

And getting off the beaten path to little visited bays with the sun now out…

Guernsey drives me mad at times. I am very rooted in the land and there are still pockets of magic thank goodness, but the politicians and developers are doing their very best to ruin it, far too much development, far too many cars, far to much materialism and far too much greed…I find myself longing for those days well gone where there was more space and simplicity and people lived in houses to shelter themselves, when it didn’t matter about size or location, when all of the island was valued and the road works didn’t drive us to the same degree of distraction and frustration!

But regardless, the island is still beautiful, the spring flowers are stunning, we are very lucky, there is much to be grateful for and I am very grateful to call this island home, to have been born and bred here, to have its essence in my bones. This is sacred land when one gets beyond the commercial and the nonsense.

Out on the cliffs you can forget about everything else, you can’t hear the traffic and while there are pockets of housing, some extravagant, you can ignore them too, looking out to sea, freedom awaits, space, simplicity, the elements, life slows down…we merge back into nature, for we are nature, if only we remembered this.

Enjoy the wane to the new moon, the energy is manic, it’s a time to stabilise, get low to the earth, do your very best to slow down and go within…and get out on the cliffs and down to the beach and into the sea and breathe the fresh air, get hands in the earth, feet bare, there is much magic if you can open to it.

Love Emma x

Emma Despres 11/05/2023 Emma Despres 11/05/2023

A little pilgrimage

I have just returned from a little pilgrimage to Glastonbury to feel into the energy on 8 May, which is St Michael’s day, where the sun rises along the St Michael ley line, and is intertwined with the Mary ley line in Chalice Wells and up the Tor. This is alchemy, the sacred marriage, all that May represents with its potent energy, full of potential and union. It was raining so I didn’t make sunrise, but I did get to feel into the energy which certainly made me feel very energised.

My stone friend and I headed out to Stanton Drew through the fog and the rain. This is an amazing place. I have been here a few times now but this time I got to properly feel it, using my dowsing rods to trace the energy flow and I found quartz in the rocks that I hadn’t realised was there previously, this interspersed within the sandstone, breccia and limestone.

The site consists of three stone circles, two avenues and an associated group of stones referred to as the Cove. Then main circle is 113 metres and a true circle too, the second largest in England after Avebury. It is thought that there were originally between thirty to forty stones of which twenty seven now remain, with only a handful left actually standing. Something happened here, someone didn’t want the stones standing.

The north-eastern circle is only 30 metres and slightly elliptical and contains eight stones, of which only four remain actually standing tall. There’s two avenues here, one into this north-eastern circle and another into the main circle. This was the first time I got to dowse the energy of the circles and enter them properly, waiting until they opened up to me, so I could feel their differing energy. It was really interesting how the shape affects the energy and the way it flows, and what it might therefore do.

There’s a south-western circle too, a true circle of eleven fallen stones of a possible original dozen stones. I really like this littler circle, it has a very calm ad loving energy to it, but then they’re all lovely in their own way! The Cove sits by the church and as I was by then absolutely drenched through thanks to the rather persistent rain, I only briefly stopped to touch the stones, no dowsing!

I made the most of the time in Glastonbury, to get in the spring a couple of times and visit Chalice Wells. I discovered some vegan cafes I didn’t know were there previously. I had a good browse through the crystals shops too, I’m very drawn to working with crystals currently and invested in a number of these that you may benefit from if you happen to come for a treatment here in my healing space.

I also bought a rather large crystal singing bowl, which I am very excited about! Crystal singing bowls were my first introduction to sound healing back in 2005 and I was utterly blown away by the experience, which I have never had the chance to enjoy since. Some of you may get to enjoy this new bowl too - it certainly has an amazing sound to it!

We headed down to Corfe castle on our last day, having walked the Tor only hours earlier and I was reminded of the similarity. The mounds are very similar in feel and potency and there is something about the remains of Corfe Castle which evoke a certain feel to the place, it looks stunning as you approach. There was a peregrine falcon nesting up in one of the towers, disturbed by a noise and swooping around above, quite a magical experience all in all.

The magic continued as we found Remp stone circle out in a forest not far from Corfe. It was fun trying to match the discarded stones with their original placing, and work out how it might have looked when it was standing properly. It’s a beautiful site in amongst the trees with the bluebells and pink campion adding to its beauty. We had the place to our self as dusk approached, and were able to enjoy the forest bathing!

Back now on Guernsey, the plants are coming on well and everything feels vibrant and alive. There’s still a few places on next week’s yoni yoga class if any of you fancy it, I might bring my new bowl along…please book here https://www.beinspiredby.co.uk/events-calendar/yoni-yoga/16-05-23

Love Emma x

Emma Despres 03/05/2023 Emma Despres 03/05/2023

Stepping out of the shadows - the full moon lunar penumbral eclipse

The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next.” - Ursula K Le Guin

The full moon lunar penumbral eclipse in Scorpio (ouch) is almost upon us, when the moon will pass deep into the outer part of the Earth’s shadow (known as the penumbra). On this occasion the moon just misses the darker, inner part of the Earth’s shadow (the umbra). This will be the deepest penumbral eclipse since February 2017 and until September 2042. It’s a big deal! Especially as this is the last time that we have a lunar eclipse in a fixed water sign for another eight years or so…

Eclipses, as we know, change things and the run of eclipses these last couple of years have certainly changed things in my life and no doubt in yours too. We have been slowly - and at times forcibly - encouraged to connect with our truth and align to it, accept it, own it and live it. In the process we have been encouraged to let go of ways of being and false identifications that have fed more of the illusion and kept us contained and small and - in most cases - dumbed down and disempowered.

It hasn’t always been easy, but then it never is on this path of heart. We have had to dig deep and look courageously into the shadows to see more clearly what has needed to be processed, digested, forgiven, discarded and indeed loved. We have been up against our conditioning and training, and against our self depreciating and self sabotaging ego and inner critic with all its ideas of how things should be and how we should be, opposed to who we actually are, from a soulful level at least.

Those who have been doing the work will likely be enjoying this recent eclipse energy ushering us on to pull up the last strands that are tying us to the past, so that we can truly enjoy the new beginnings that these eclipses are gifting us. It’s as if the eclipse energy literally lifts any remaining debris that we have managed to bring to the surface that can now be cleared away, like an eclipse cleanse, all those old patterns and limited mindsets and unhelpful behaviour patterns.

Maybe you’ve noticed that people from your past are appearing again, not least because we are awakening from a sleep that has kept some of us separated while we have gone through this two year reorientation and cleanse , but to highlight how much you and your life has changed, how you have managed to let go of much of the old insecurity and lack of self worth and self love that may have held you back for years.

You may be encouraged to put your new found sense of security and inner worth into practice, staying true as you voice your ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ when you really mean it. You may also find yourself judged and criticised by others, rejected too, as a test, to see whether you’ll fall back into old patterns and feeling not good enough and as if something is wrong with you. Remember we are not all the same and what we are offering in this world may just not resonate. We come in at different stages of evolution, some are more ready than others and some just need to find another path to tread - we can’t be everything to everybody (we can try, but we’ll end up compromising on our authenticity).

Others are still trawling through this. The moon is really highlighting where we are lacking self belief and still standing in the shadows, fearful to put ourselves out there, worrying what others may think and buying into impostor syndrome. I’ve had many conversations with people this week who are all trying to accept more of who they are and realise that they can do it, if only they can quiet the little voice that tells them they can’t and if only they could own it and truly see that their talent, their unique gifts, are very much needed in this changing world, that their life absolutely does not need to look a certain way and that they just need to put one foot in front of the other, leaning into uncertainty and the unknown, and letting the path reveal more of itself when the time is right.

If you are not sure where you are at then don’t worry, this astrological phenomenon is notorious for ushering in life-altering changes and uncomfortable shake-ups, but please remember that this is all part of the divine plan. The more we can surrender our need to control outcome the easier the ride - and remember that before rising from the ashes like the Phoenix, there needs to be a death of the ego-identified self. This can be very uncomfortable as I know only too well, but essential to the alchemical process that is our evolution. Whatever is still lurking in the shadows (and let’s face it, we will still all have a good few of these) will no doubt become clearer.

I have been reminded many times to pay attention to synchronicities, especially now, with this eclipse, and to try not to explain them away. They are gifts. Take notice and accept the gift gracefully, because it is divine intervention, and will undoubtably positively change your life in immeasurable ways. Synchronistic encounters have been the greatest blessing in my life, like a road map, they can open up routes that you didn’t know where there and open up your heart and expand your vision, and indeed your perception of reality in ways you could never ever have imagined - beyond the vision board.

The other thing coming through - we’re still on this path towards greater simplicity, which is causing many more of you to question how you are living and how you are earning money and whether this is fulfilling and making the most of your precious time on Planet Earth. More are questioning their (our collective) disconnect from nature, noticing how much better they feel when they are in nature, given that WE are nature too, not separate from it as we believe ourselves to be or better than it (thank you Bible). By continuing to feed the illusion of separation, we keep ourselves separated form our true self and our own true nature. We are all connected. The Earth does communicate with those who listen.

Elijah and I had quite an experience this week out at Pleinmont. I needed to lie on the fairy ring to adjust to life here on traffic-laden Guernsey after the peace of Sark, and we continued up from there to the - terrifying -rope swing and an opportunity to sit amongst the trees and all those stunning wildflowers with the also stunning view out to Lihou. Anyway, on our walk back to the dreaded car we were walking up a tarmac path when something came hmm, well this is the thing, it was moving towards us quickly at ground level but my mind couldn’t figure it out quick enough because it had never seen it previously.

It spun through rat, no, rabbit, no, dog, no, why is it, all puffed up, robot, no, and then I quickly realised as Elijah and I braced ourselves and stepped back quickly, a very protective and defensive moorhen with some baby moorhens further up the track, trying to get themselves up into the side bank. We walked back further and talked to mother moorhen assuring her we didn’t want to hurt her babies. She rushed off to them (do moorhen’s waddle, walk, scuttle, do let me know if there is a ‘proper’ term. Anyway she took herself off to the babies and almost seemed to count them into the hedge.

We paused a little while before carrying on, checking she wasn't about to attack us fearing we may take her babies, talking to her still, reassuring her we were/are safe. It was a wonderful experience as it highlighted to Elijah that we are all so similar, that the moorhen will do what she needs to do to defend and protect her babies because of her motherly instinct and need to care for them and ensure their survival. We are no different. It saddens me beyond belief that we are always negating the sentient nature of all living beings, to the extent that people still tell children to stop crying or allowing their emotional state, invalidating it in most cases, while others will think nothing of squashing insects or killing other living beings.

And in this return to nature, and our nature, some of you are rightly questioning the ‘broken’ mentality. You’re not broken, you’re right and nothing needs fixing. All that needs doing, is to quieten, drop in and chip away at anything that prevents you being more of your true self. More often than not that’s the false ego-identifications referenced above and any crap that you’ve picked ups long the way that has clouded your inner light. I’m reminded of those awful dinosaur eggs that you used to be able to buy at the Herm gift shop that make a real mess as children chip away at the chalk to find the tiny plastic dinosaur inside challenging those of us with cleaning OCD tendencies and an aversion to pointless plastic crap.

But the point is, the tiny plastic dinosaur is not broken, it doesn’t need fixing, it just needs to be set free from the chalk encasing. We are exactly the same. That tiny dinosaur is our essence and we are just chipping away at anything which prevents us from not only accessing it, but allowing it and letting it be just as it is, free! [Fortunately we’re a bit more useful than the tiny plastic dinosaur is, well we have the potential to be, and might spare ourselves a trip to landfill if we connect with our possibility and live it.]

Freedom is the word that is coming up for me with these eclipses - they are gifting freedom; freedom to make conscious choices, to decide what we put into our bodies, to decide how we earn a living, to decide where we might live, to decide whether we will put up with situations that are not in alignment with love, and to decide how life on Planet Earth looks next - remember we are a micro of the macro, our every action has a consequence, we need to each individually be the change we’d like to see collectively in the world if we hope to create a world that places freedom and love above power and control.

Being a full moon in scorpio we might find it brings a sting and high emotions. But one has to remember that scorpions gather strength from daring the edge of what is known and unknown in themselves and their experience of life - time to step out of the shadows!

Further, scorpions bring passion and depth to life, being drawn to that which seems too mysterious, taboo and strange to other signs. It’s a time of magic. Remember the humour and that you have a choice how you perceive and indeed respond to whatever the universe brings…laughter will keep your spirits high and help you navigate these next two weeks and the cosmic jokes that will undoubtably present themselves to get your attention - you have been warned!

So be grateful for all that the eclipse gifts - don’t be limited by your sense of right/wrong, good/bad, it is All just an experience. Sadly we won’t see the eclipse here on Guernsey, but we will feel its energy regardless.

Love Emma x