Because, honestly, it's still really hard. Each executive order, viral meme, all of the things going on in our personal lives (if you have a chance to think about that here and there), and we need to laugh. We need laughter, and we need films that are an intoxicating funhouse feminism and a heady retro-chic 60s aesthetic that practically drips off of the screen, where quite a few doltish chauvinists end up dead.

Which is exactly what The Love Witch is. I just wrote a review of it for Witch Magazine, The Love Witch is the F*ck Patriarchy Antidote to Your Winter Blues. 

Yep, I went there.

So, of course, I've been thinking a lot about Love Witches, not just the cinematic kind, but all of us out there doing magic in our millions of ways on behalf of the heart of this world, and our own hearts and spirits, and caring for one another and being vulnerable and taking risks. It's that time of year. 

One of the hardest kinds of Love, for me, is Self-Love and Self-Care. But I agree with Audre Lorde, one of my great heroines, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” 

Lorde's choice of words may be challenging, and, I think, intentionally so-- but remember that she was writing, and living, publicly out as a black, lesbian feminist at a time when being so was a very dangerous choice to make. (Which it still very much is, and in this political climate, perhaps more so every day, not less). 

I think for many of us-- especially healers, practitioners, coaches, non-profit workers, and mothers-- tying in our Self-Love with our ideals about justice, healing and generosity is the only way we can get past the voices in our heads which tell us we're being weak, lazy, and self-absorbed when we focus on the things that deeply nourish our hearts, bodies, and souls.

Understanding that overcoming those voices is the only way we can create the world that we want for ourselves, our loved ones, and our children allows us to take the time we need to care for ourselves, and replenish the well of love that we want so much to share with others.

One of my dear friends calls this work "Fierce Self-Love," which for me, takes the cotton-candy pink feel out and replaces it with something strong, golden, and powerful. 

The heavens are raining down blessings on us right now to do deep shadow-searching, fierce work to reclaim our power as Love Witches. This Friday, February 10th, begins this year's eclipse season with a lunar eclipse on the Leo Full Moon, and completes with another eclipse on the New Moon in Pisces on February 26th. 

Eclipses always occur in pairs, and in my mind, they're like a portal of transformation, healing, and potential. So it's a great time to look at and embrace your own Inner Love Witch!

With love & magic,