Meredith Holley 2/14/26 Meredith Holley 2/14/26

Out of the Broom Closet, into the Fire

Yesterday, Saturn joined Neptune in Aries, which marks a time of structural collapse and confusion around what is real and not real. The last time Saturn and Neptune were conjunct was in 1989. Most notably, this was when the Berlin Wall fell. Saturn/Neptune conjunctions are also associated with spiritual panic and witch hunts (the McCarthy trials and Satanic panic happened under this conjunction).

For many of us, Neptune’s transit through Pisces (2011-2026), has been a time of embracing spiritual sovereignty, whether that means deconstructing Christian and capitalist narratives; embracing personal relationship with spirit through tarot, astrology, or witchcraft; diving into the otherworldly magic of science and technology; or any number of other esoteric and magickal practices.

Massive amounts of people, including me, have come out of the broom closet, outing ourselves as witches.

Saturn and Neptune into Aries and Protection Spells

Massive amounts of people, including me, have come out of the broom closet, outing ourselves as witches.

*Photo by* *Charlie Harutaka* on *Unsplash*

Then, the transit into Aries tests our authenticity. Are our spiritual practices cute and fun or are they part of who we truly are? Are we grounded in their personal meaning for us or are we superstitious and acting out of fear?

Saturn is angry in Aries, perhaps even impatient, and so the planet of consequences brings them quickly. If you act in integrity, you get consequences in line with that integrity, but if you act outside of it, Saturn lets you know right away through your body’s signals and your external results. Aries is a fire sign, and there is no need to touch the stove a second time before learning that it burns.

*Photo by* *Tobias Rademacher* on *Unsplash*

I am in a group online where I have seen a number of posts about “spiritual warfare,” something that I grew up thinking a lot about. The concept of spiritual warfare means that there are unseen threats that might undermine us, and through adherence to certain spiritual practices we can fight those threats.

In my view, this is an essentially misguided concept at least in part because it positions spirituality as potentially threatening, and outside of us, and offers solutions that feel tricky.

Truth is never tricky.

The unseen is only drawn to you if it corresponds with you. And I do not mean that as pressure to raise your vibration or pretend to be positive. Instead it is an invitation to deeply learn what corresponds with you, what is correct for you, and release anything that is not.

This requires boundaries and understanding who you are, which is harder than it sounds and completely worth it.

Healthy boundaries protect us from what is not correct for us, whether it is in the 3D reality or outside of it.

Here are a few ways to craft a basic protection spell to get started.

Protection Spells

Energetic boundaries:

Find a space that both is safe in reality and also feels safe to you. This can be your bed if that is a safe space.
With your eyes open or closed (whatever is comfortable and safe for you), pay attention to how the space feels on your skin. Your skin is the boundary between the inside of your body and the external world. Energetic boundaries are like skin but for your energy body.
Picture or feel roots growing out of the lowest part of your body and into the ground.
Picture or feel the bubble of the space around you. Notice how far your senses can perceive the space around you. If you close your eyes, can you sense what is happening in the room around you? Can you sense what is happening beyond the room you are in?
Picture or feel the bubble of space around you becoming an actual bubble or an egg shell. What is inside the egg shell is yours, what is outside of it belongs to the universe. Your guides or the bubble itself evict any energy that is not the right fit for you.
Now, picture or feel the bubble filling with whatever color your body and spirit crave.
Sit inside that energy like you would a bath.

Communication Boundaries:

Think of the person who most challenges your boundaries, comes into your space, or expects energetic or emotional labor from you.
In your mind or out loud, say to that person three times, “No,” “Leave,” “Ew stop,” or “Go away.” Imagine yourself walking away from that person without inviting a response from them.
Notice any objections that come up in your mind. Are there spaces where your mind thinks it is dangerous for you to enforce a boundary? Are there spaces where your mind thinks you need to comply or compromise your boundaries in order to be safe? Journal about the objections that come up or talk through them with a trusted person.
What would the benefits of enforcing a boundary be for you?
Do those benefits make it worth enforcing your boundaries despite your fears? Why/why not?
If you choose not to enforce your boundaries, how can you take responsibility for the consequences to yourself and others?

Circle casting (attribution goes to the Cabot Kent Hermetic Temple for this):

Find a wand, which can be a stick or kitchen spoon, but should be wood the length of your inner elbow to the tip of your longest finger. In a meditative state, tell the wand that you clear it of all positive and negative energies and forces that may come to do you harm. Then, tell the wand that you charge it to catalyze your thoughts and deeds to your will.
Walking clockwise in a circle, say, “I cast this circle to protect me from all positive or negative energies or forces that may come to do me harm.”
Walk two more times clockwise, and on the final turn, say, “The circle is cast. So shall it be.”
Inside of the circle, do whatever magical or personal work you want to do. You can cast a circle before you go to sleep if you have disrupted sleep, too. The only problem here is if you have pets, they may break your circle and make it less effective.
When your work is done, walk counterclockwise in the same circle and say, “The circle is open and remains unbroken. I send it out to the cosmos to do my bidding.” When I do my morning thought work and cast it as a spell, I say, “I send it out to the cosmos to contribute to healing myself and the collective unconscious.”

Protection potion (I follow Laurie Cabot’s protection potion from her Book of Shadows):

1/8 Ounce of Almond Oil
10 Drops of Patchouli Oil
10 Drops of Frankincense Oil
10 Drops of Myrrh Oil
¼ Teaspoon of Mandrake Root
¼ Teaspoon of Sea Salt
Pinch of hair from your familiar

If you do not have these ingredients, you can use salt water as protection potion in a pinch. Tell the potion that its job is to provide protection for you and all it touches.

Boundaries and Harm. The principles of witchcraft say that you should do what you want, provided it does not cause harm. Sometimes people believe that if we enforce our boundaries and make choices that are healthy for us, it harms them.

This can feel confusing because we do not want to harm anyone, but it is also not appropriate to comply with harm to ourselves.

In that way it is important to remember these rules:

Suffering creates more suffering, but safety creates more safety. You being safe does not cause harm to someone else.
Putting energy toward someone who causes harm supports that harm.
You may have a duty of care to someone vulnerable, like a child or animal, but a caregiving relationship has inherent power imbalance. Caregiving relationships are not mutual or romantic. Most often caregiving relationships with peers cause harm on both sides.
From a space of safety, you are better able to offer support to others. Your safety is your responsibility and your first duty to your body.

Thanks for reading and bringing your magick to the world! If reality feels confusing and consequences feel unfair, ground into your energy and the information you get from your body. What is one safe thing you can do today?

Meredith Holley 1/31/26 Meredith Holley 1/31/26

Imbolc, Brigid, and Healing the Collective Unconscious

Imbolc is the Celtic celebration of the goddess Brigid (pronounced “BREED”), who is the goddess of the hearth and fire, healing, smith work, and poetry. Imbolc comes in the middle of Aquarius season, associating Brigid with the energies of Aquarius (happy birthday to those of you with this Brigid energy!). Aquarius energy is associated with social healing, change, and innovation, as well as creative endeavors like poetry. During the time of Aquarius, we move from the depths of Capricorn winter, when structures like homes and social institutions that provide food and warmth are crucial, into the stirring of spring and the hints of newness. At this time, questioning institutions is as important as acknowledging their power to protect.

In one story, Brigid, is said to have lost her son in a battle and gone to the battlefield to keen over his death. This is said to be the first keening over loss of a loved one. In some ways this story is very true to the transition between Capricorn and Aquarius. Capricorn is the good soldier, who upholds the institution, while Aquarius sees the broader picture and the social change necessary for the community to serve the most vulnerable. Aquarius has learned that being a good soldier is not always the answer and often causes the harms it is trying to prevent.

Happy Imbolc to those who celebrate!

The Sun will be in the middle of Aquarius (15 degrees) this year at 12:02pm Pacific on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, and this can be a good time to celebrate Imbolc. It is sometimes considered the astrological moment of Imbolc. This is the chart, using whole sign houses, for the moment when the Sun goes to 15 degrees Aquarius in case you follow astrological charts:

*Thanks to Astrotheoros for their beautiful charts!*

This puts the Sun between two femme deities very aligned with Brigid: Vesta, the goddess of the hearth, at 12 degrees Aquarius; and Venus, the goddess of beauty and poetry, at 21 degrees Aquarius. These celestial bodies are in the 9th house, the house of higher education, ideals, and belief systems. This moment on February 3 offers us a time to sit with our ideals and belief systems and how they can contribute to healing the collective.

The Full Moon in Leo happens on Sunday, February 1, 2026, at 2:08pm Pacific, and this is another marker of energy relevant to Brigid. This Full Moon happens with the Sun at 13 degrees of Aquarius and the Moon at 13 degrees of Leo, so this Full Moon is almost exactly conjunct the midpoint of Aquarius as well. Aquarius brings energy of innovation, social justice, and the collective; Leo brings energy of the self, being in the spotlight, and personal identity.

The Leo Full Moon represents a tension between being ourselves and serving the collective. If I want to be me, is it selfish? If I want to serve the collective, does that mean I have to go against my nature? Now is a very relevant time to ask ourselves these questions.

And, they are the wrong questions. In some ways, there are no bad questions, but in other ways, the questions we ask ourselves matter a lot. They both reflect the path we are on and allow us to choose a new path. These questions assume the Leo/Aquarius polarity is all there is. They assume that it is either me or the collective, and any time we get stuck in that kind of either/or thinking, we’ve gone into Pluto territory. Pluto has been in Aquarius for the past year, so this polarized thinking is all the rage right now and may continue to be for some time.

Healing the Collective

As a poet, healer, and representative of Aquarius, Brigid is a wonderful symbol for our abilities to heal the collective. I come from the (admittedly very Aries) belief that it is through being fully ourselves that we best contribute to healing our communities.

Being fully ourselves means having integrity between our minds, bodies, emotions, and spirits (our four cups, if you will). And, at the same time, when we only focus on our personal healing, we indulge in narcissism. We are individual humans living in communities, both in terms of our physical communities and the collective unconscious. So, both are true. The Moon’s Leo energy of embodying the self and being the best co-exists with the importance of protest, social justice, and envisioning a better world.

In order to heal the collective, we have to ask better, less superstitious questions. Here are a few to ask yourself over this Imbolc season. You can talk these through with a friend or get out a journal or sketch pad and write or draw through them.

What are ways I find it easy to be my full self while I am with other people?
In what ways do I find it challenging to be my full self while I am with other people?
If I assume that being myself contributes to my community, what are some of the ways I’ve seen that happen or heard people say they have seen that? (This is not a time to debate whether being yourself contributes, but a time to see ways it does.)
What is a block I am willing to release in order to be more fully myself so that I can help heal the collective?

I am thinking about offering some ongoing notes about the ritual work I do every day to contribute to healing the collective unconscious. This work does not exist on its own as a substitute for engaging with community, but I find it impactful for myself and the coaching and remediation clients I work with. Let me know if notes about this sound helpful.

Collective Healing. As an example, one shift that I believe is quite straightforward for many people right now is around the thought, “I’m not contributing enough.” This thought sounds like it would motivate us to do more, but if you sit with the thought, understanding that it is not an observation, you may notice that it actually makes you feel helpless. It does so for me at least. When I feel helpless, I actually give up, rather than doing more. So, the thought “I’m not contributing enough” actually makes it more difficult for me to contribute. I call this a sabotage spell because it creates what it is trying prevent.

Instead, if we want to heal our communities, we have to ask, What actions can I take to contribute to healing my community? Then, make a list of activities you might be able to engage in. The next question is, What feeling would motivate me to engage in one of those activities? For me, the feeling may be belonging. Then, a thought that might contribute to feeling belonging is, “I love my community and am willing to do one thing to contribute to its healing.”

The more of us who are willing to heal our thinking in this way, the more the collective unconscious heals and the easier it is to see evidence of healing in our communities.

Thanks for participating! If you or someone you know would like to dive into their astrology and personal magic, sign up for a consultation here.

Meredith Holley 1/3/26 Meredith Holley 1/3/26

Inanna Shadow Ritual

Inanna is the ancient Mesopotamian name for the Goddess of Heaven and Earth, and her story focuses on the journey to the Underworld. Inanna was drawn to the Underworld, ruled by her sister, Ereshkigal, because she heard whispers that in visiting the Underworld, she would learn and grow. Ereshkigal’s husband, whom Ereshkigal loved dearly, had also died, and although none who enter the Underworld live, Inanna wanted to witness his funeral rites.

As Inanna prepared to descend, she armored up, gathering her lapis lazuli armor and jewelry around her, and told her faithful servant that if she did not return in three days, to petition the gods to save her from the Underworld.

A journaling ritual exercise

Inanna is the ancient Mesopotamian name for the Goddess of Heaven and Earth, and her story focuses on the journey to the Underworld. Inanna was drawn to the Underworld, ruled by her sister, Ereshkigal, because she heard whispers that in visiting the Underworld, she would learn and grow. Ereshkigal’s husband, whom Ereshkigal loved dearly, had also died, and although none who enter the Underworld live, Inanna wanted to witness his funeral rites.

(*An ancient Babylonian carving of the Goddess Ishtar, a later version of Inanna, showing her ready for battle with her lion and eight pointed star symbol.*

In order to enter the Underworld, Ereshkigal required Inanna to abandon her armor and jewelry at the gate, stripping Inanna of power. When Inanna arrived, powerless and naked, into the throne room of the Underworld, the judges of the underworld surrounded her and condemned her. Ereshkigal turned the eye of death upon Inanna and Inanna died. They hung her corpse on a hook on the wall.

Three days passed, and Inanna’s faithful servant petitioned the gods to save her from the Underworld. Only the God of Wisdom, Enki, would intervene. He fashioned two nonbinary beings to go to the Underworld to save Inanna. When they arrived, they found Ereshkigal still mourning her husband, wailing at the pain of her loss. The beings sat with her and mourned with her. When she wailed that her heart was broken, they wailed with her that their hearts were broken too.

Because of their empathy, Ereshkigal allowed them to revive Inanna and take her from the underworld. But, as they were leaving demons attached to Inanna and told her they would need someone to replace her. The Underworld would not allow anyone to leave without a replacement. The demons returned to Inanna’s palace with her, and they came upon her faithful servant. The demons told Inanna she could be released and they would take the servant in her place. But, Inanna saw the servant despondent at Inanna’s loss, in dirty mourning garments, and awaiting Inanna’s return after having petitioned the gods to intervene. Inanna refused to let them take her faithful servant in her place.

The group approached loyal friends and servants throughout the palace, but Inanna would not let them take those who had been loyal to her and mourned her absence. Finally, they came upon Inanna’s husband, who was lounging in fine clothes and indulging in a buffet while she suffered in the Underworld. Inanna allowed the demons to take him in her place because of his lack of empathy.

This is one of the translated original versions of the story.

Inanna and Shadow. The story of Inanna tells the allegory of a descent into shadow or into the exile parts of human experience or human psyche. We use the term “shadow” to refer to parts of ourselves, of our psyche, that we are not willing to accept or that we think are wrong or bad. In Internal Family Systems Therapy, these parts are also called “exiles.” So, for example, if you were too loud or opinionated or emotional as a child, you may have been told you should be smaller. The loud, opinionated, or emotional part of you would be shut down and put into “shadow” or exiled.

While the hero’s journey told from a male perspective often focuses on a triumph of the will and embracing inner power over an external foe, Inanna’s story is one of delving into the depths of experience in order to grow. It is a story of the importance of empathy.

(*Photo of the Cancer full moon January 2, 2026*)

Pema Chodron tells a story, and I believe it is in the lecture Awakening Compassion about a man being bullied in a bar. In the story, he has a new leather jacket he is proud of, and a group of bullies take it from him. The man feels shame, and then as he is feeling shame, he realizes that there are millions of other people in the world also feeling shame. Although shame appears as a disconnection from the people around him, as badness, or otherness, actually it connects him to all of humanity.

Nobody escapes human existence without feeling shame, terror, loss, loneliness, and other painful emotions. Nobody escapes the underworld of human experience. In fact, Inanna, the Goddess of Heaven and Earth, knows she will grow from this, and she does. She learns what it means to be powerless and bereft, relying on those who are loyal to her. And she learns what it means to be supported.

She also learns the value of empathy.

Inanna and Empathy. It is through our own experiences of painful emotion that we learn to understand, on some level, the experience of those around us. Inanna approaches her mourning sister, saying that she wants to observe the funeral rites of Ereshkigal’s beloved husband. She wants to watch the show.

Anyone who has experienced grief will understand Ereshkigal’s reaction to this voyeuristic attitude. One time, I was in the hospital, waiting for my father to get out of a very serious emergency surgery, and people my family knew from church came to the hospital. I guess they thought they would keep us company? They started chatting with each other, talking about what they were going to have for dinner, and I could not wrap my brain around the fact that they had invaded our sacred family space to talk about their own personal interests. They wanted to watch. If I had the eye of death, I would have turned it on them. And I have seen those experiences over and over.

It is empathy that teaches us how to sit at a funeral and mourn with the mourners, like the nonbinary saviors do in Inanna’s story.

When Inanna returns from the Underworld, she learns who supported her and who feasted during her suffering. This is another empathy lesson.

Inanna and the Present. Many of us have been on an underworld journey or journeys, perhaps throughout the past year and perhaps over the past decade or longer. As I am writing this, it is early in January of 2026, and we are in the wintertime, the time of Inanna in the Underworld. In the Spring, she returns to earth as the sun returns. There is seasonal and personal correspondence with the story as I am writing it.

I am returning right now from a literal journey to help a family member who is in mourning and was going through a surgery. I spent the past months in Texas, which for me is an Underworld, contrary to my natural inclinations and affinities.

(*Photo of Monument Valley I took on my journey into the Underworld*.)

But, in many ways this has been a year of waking up to the ways that the world around us is harsh and unforgiving, especially to people with exploited identities. What do we do with the understanding that some people will never support us? How do we return to life after our journey into nakedness, powerlessness, and depths of isolation?

The story of Inanna is redemptive because through her journey, not only do we learn empathy and that there is value in sitting with pain, but also we return with freedom to leave behind unsupportive and exploitative relationships. While there is pain and grief in this, there is also freedom and renewed connection with our closest accomplices.

Inanna Journaling Ritual. Get out a piece of paper, blank document, or journal. If you prefer voice notes, open a voice recording.

If you have it, pull out some Lapis Lazuli, and put it near you or hold it in your hands.

Journal about the following:

What possessions do you have that make you feel powerful? This could be clothing, jewelry, property, household items, or anything else that reminds you of your power. How do you feel when you are around these items? Why? What resonates with you about them?
When did you recently hear of someone else mourning a loss? How did you interact with that situation? What judgments do you have about how you handled this or how the other person handled this? What “shoulds” come up for you about how either of you should have handled this?
Have you ever mourned a loss? This could be a death or even a disappointment. How did you feel? What judgments did you have, or do you have now, about how you should feel?
Imagine your guides, angels, and ancestors surrounding you (these are only comforting beings who have your best interests at heart like the nonbinary saviors in Inanna’s story). They offer you only compassion and empathy and they feel the pain of your loss with you. What messages do they have to offer you?
For each judgment you listed, write them down on a piece of paper, but before each sentence, write “I am human, and humans sometimes [judgment]. I love myself when I [judgment].” So, for example, if Inanna were a human, she might write, “I am human, and humans are sometimes voyeuristic instead of empathetic. I love myself when I am voyeuristic.”
Light a candle in honor of the return of Inanna to the heavens, and (only if you can do it in a fire safe way!!!) say each statement out loud as you burn them. If it is not safe for you to burn them, you can still read them out loud and tear them up or put them in water. So, take each statement, offer yourself love around the judgments in order to integrate the shadow or exile, and release each one. These are spaces where we offer ourselves kindness and empathy, not spaces where we punish ourselves.

This can be an intense process, and I recommend processing shadow or exile parts work with a therapist. The National Suicide Hotline is also available at 988, and I absolutely encourage you to access that resource if your thinking has turned against you.

Ultimately, Inanna had to release her ego, symbolized by her jewelry and armor, in order to go through the death and rebirth process of the Underworld. Ego releasing is very challenging and can be painful, but once we release the judgments we have, we are freed from the prison ego creates. While healthy ego is wonderful and defines who we are and what corresponds to us, when our ego exiles parts of us in order to maintain control, it becomes a cage. Integrating shadow an exile releases us from this cage, like Inanna’s return to her palace, with new strength and understanding.