Welcome back.

Today, I want to talk about something that sounds simple but can actually be really difficult: gratitude.

Because let’s be honest. You look around the world right now and it can feel overwhelming. Heavy. Sometimes it feels almost absurd to talk about gratitude when bad things are happening everywhere you look. The news cycle is relentless. Social media keeps us emotionally reactive. We’re constantly being pulled off center.

And when that happens, we’re not grounded. We’re not steady. We’re not making clear, informed decisions. We’re reacting. We’re tense. We’re off-kilter.

So today, I want to pause that.

I want to ask a different question: What is good? What do you already have that is good, solid, and working in your life? And how do we practice gratitude for that without pretending the hard stuff doesn’t exist?

You’re probably watching or listening to this on a phone or a computer. That alone is a blessing. You have access to information. You have the ability to communicate across the world. That’s not small.

Maybe you’re struggling financially, but you still have the ability to create income. Maybe your health isn’t perfect, but your body is carrying you through the day. Maybe things aren’t ideal—but they’re not nothing.

Today isn’t about toxic positivity. It’s not about pretending everything is fine. It’s about recalibrating. It’s about pulling your energy back into your center so you can respond to the world instead of just reacting to it.

And to do that, we’re going to try a simple ritual practice.

I call it sphere work.

You may have heard of circle work, gate work, cone work, sacred geometry—all of that. This is simpler. We’re going to call in the seven points of our sphere. We’re going to hold them. And we’re going to consciously practice gratitude.

This is high, hippy love energy. Fair warning.

But if you’re willing to lean in for a few minutes, I think it can help you feel steadier. Clearer. More grounded.

Let’s step into the cauldron and begin.

Sage is used everywhere, and we all love it so much! But how to grow your own? How do you use it properly? How to be ultimately fierce? I answer these questions and so many more on this episode called Sage and Step! I can't do it alone, so use my really good friend Shanna Beauchamp, who knows everything! Then we're going to roll some of her own and tell a story about The Great Goddess and Sage! Then we're off to do a protective Circle in the park! It should be lovely.

Enjoy my friends,

David

Purification Circle:

Welcome Sister!

Welcome Sister!

To Magic?

To Magic!

We purify this space in the name of the great Mother, the Divine, and the Ancestors.

Let’s start with North and Earth for Sage itself, being a plant.

Blesséd be this space to the North. All elements of Earth. The great Lady with flowers a foot, skipping in meadows. Limbs growing tall as trees. Creatures high, creatures low, creatures running to and fro, dance the dance of the Mother, fertile and loving, with Sage roots digging wisdom into the Earth! Blesséd be the North! Blesséd be the North!

Blesséd be this space to the East! Dawn's first breath, gasp of life! Winds run and win: playfully, unworryingly whirling about. Wingéd things sing: Secrets, knowledge that which can be spoken and UN. Breathe the scent of mighty Sage into the Air! Blesséd be the East! Blesséd be the East

Blesséd be this space to the South! Fairy fires burning bright, passions of dancing light, twirling heating up the blood of passion. Glory, honor of folks great and small. Known Deeds to be done like the great burning of Sage fire, the great changer explodes power from a single leaf of Sage back to the Fire! Blesséd be the South! Blesséd be the South

Blesséd be this space to the West! Water and waves, wise and derived spinning the wisdom of intuition, emotion, and tears.From bogs to crooked creek, to river, to Ocean's vast waterways, pathways, doorways to the magical ones, the shiny ones, the mighty ones, and the ancestors! Sage is watered through their sweat of toil and returns again to the source. The dripping drop of Water! Blesséd be the West! Blesséd Be the West

We bless this Circle once twice, thrice! This circle is forged in purification. The circle is forged in wisdom. The circle is forged in healing!

This episode is about the Celtic goddess Danu, first mother of the river! She's a favorite of mine. She's really grounds me. I hear Her calling and bubbling and whirling. Another great mother deity to work and have fun with! And She’s a little less intimidating than some of the other ones I think… although her kids are very intimidating! LOL

In this episode, I'm going to talk about Danu, talk about what it means to connect, and how we connect to one another. Danu connects to all things! Then we're going to do a a little feeling the river ritual. I hope you like it.

Enjoy my friends,

David

Danu Story:

You may know Her as the First River, First Mother of the tribe Tuatha Dé Danann, who fought the Fomorians and all that good stuff with really cool albeit weird weapons and tools, like a giant bowl! However, I speak of a time before then. So far back our mouths seem far too small to speak of such hugeness.

Once Upon Before Time There was a Danu. The first. She was The Alll and The Nothing. She spied thru all that was and was not and suddenly longed… wanted… a first desire of many more to come.

She saw mountains of frost and Rivers and Stars and so many words and worlds drifting, floating being and unbecoming… The beauty of Chaos became clouded with a want to share… connect… desire.

So She marveled at how one would do such a thing as to…tie some of these things together to coexist.. And be bound… Hmmm

She pulled Ore from a friendly star

And a Ribbon of a wave from the first River

And a long song whispered at what would one day be dawn.

She wove them together.

This turning back and forth, forth and back and learned the motion of all things;

the sunwise and widdershins of it all.

And with the help of Time, effort, and patience, She created love and tied that up in Her now fierce rope.

She tied a star to a Moon to a Mountain

and it, to a river that plunged and splashed

and tied that to a rock under a tree which was secretly a door to somewhere.

She tied laughter to love and skipping stones to racing as fast as you can. But She was not through.

She tied me to you.

Them to us. Round and bound She found our hearts in the All and Nothing and it came for us to be known. Our own desires. Our own wants. Our own hearts, beating to be bound. And thus it is said that as Danu connected all Things and unthigns… So we choose and are chosen.

Blessédly we can choose Her and All connections, matter and un, infinite and fabulous. Forever or for now.

Danu, I choose You. Danu, I choose You. Danu, I choose You. Thrice Spoken and done.

Welcome to Stories from the Cauldron! I’m David LeBarron, and this episode is about being silly. Now. I know. I know some of you who have done rituals and workshops with me know that I tend to be a bit…. what's a nice way to say this… stoic or serious when working these rituals. I fully admit that sometimes I'm a bit of a stickler for the rules.

When to be serious and when to be seriously silly seems obvious on the surface. Right? We’re skipping around the park: silly. We’re drawing down the moon: serious. But again, Moon energy is joyous to me. There’s often a giant smile on my face when I meditate or pray. I don’t do it cause it sucks.

I think the world needs some love and joy. So I dedicate this episode to the magic of being silly by telling a couple of made-up silly stories. I am using the tarot cards as a basis for my improvisation. If you’ve taken my class: How to Read Tarot In Four Easy Lessons, then you know that I respect the crap out of tarot divination but again, adding in some silliness ot it? Well, that made me a better reader.

After the Tarot stories, we’ll meet my friend Dylan and do some Witch Yoga. That always makes me laugh because I suck at yoga, and Dylan is very sweet and patient. Maybe we can get him to do a little sound bath?

Story informs magic… but do silly stories inform silly magic? What is silly magic? Healing with laughter? Having a good old time with your circle group coven familiar Etc? Sometimes you have to get in your head as soon as you have to get in your gut sometimes you have to be serious and sometimes you just need to be a dummy I love being a fool, no seriously!

I hope you enjoyed this episode on the magic of storytelling. Please be silly!. Now I have to get back to stirring, crafting and listening to more Stories from the Cauldron.

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Hail Hera! This episode is, quite obviously, about the Greek goddess Hera! Hera is really misremembered through the current societal lens. We see her as a shrew, a jealous wife of Zeus, the father of the Gods. We were told incorrect information!

In this episode, I flipped the flop and tell you about the ancient Great Mother Goddess who we would all love to worship! And she loves us right back! After the corrected-information, I'm going to tell a story of IO, a lover of Zeus. Then we're going to do a little chant called Hal Hera, which you can find below!

Enjoy my friends,

David

Hail Hera!

Tall dogs barked and lied/ hid bones/ buried them in the yards of the Wastleand.

Men terrified. Dug deep/Hiding truth of power/ truths of all truths/ but they buried them in Mother’s Mother/ who reveals all she shows/ so they could be found. Silly dogs! Should know better than to keep a lady down! She’s always been waiting for us to stop sniffin’ at scraps and start howling to Her.

Traverse the Wasteland Children. Dig the dugg’ed Earth and see the Bones and wallow in them. She is here. ReDiscover/ reclaim who you were before they shackled you. Us, them and all the circles forged. Hail Hera!

Hail Hera! Howl, Hoot, and Whoop!

Flip the Flop, dupe the Dupe

Come, COME! Shackles undone

Guide Guard Moon to Sun!

Goddess of Heaven!

Queen of starry starry nights

Mother of all births

Sister of all siblings’ sights

Daughter of great Mother Earth

Hail Hera! Howl, Hoot, and Whoop!

Goddess to Marriage

Queen to spoken sacred rites

Mother to lil’ me

Sister to waves’ greatest heights

Daughter to the flowing Tree

Hail Hera! Howl, Hoot, and Whoop!

Goddess for Gaia

Queen for Justice and Power

Mother for freed flight

Sister for tipping Tower

Daughter for Freedom and Fight

Hail Hera! Howl, Hoot, and Whoop!

We are transformed through magic. We are taught through story. Story informs magic. Weave the two, and everything is possible.

Hi! I'm David LeBarron, and this is Stories from the Cauldron, a video grimoire of story and Magic. I will tell you myths and stories from historic folklore, our collective imagination, and the sacred Well, and help you bring that energy into your own life: be it through tarot or guided meditation, prayer or protection.

Come breathe magic into your mediations, prayers, rituals, and everyday spirituality with me!

Follow me for more Magic! www.storiesfromthecauldron.com

Mediation with Me:

Now let’s do a tiny, small 1-minute guided meditation. Get comfortable.

Breathe 1, 2 3 and release.

Silence the outside world. Silence confusion. Silence whispers that do not serve you.

You are here. You are now. You are yesterday and tomorrow.

You are full of spirit. You are full of love.

You are enough and everything you need.

Maybe you're a little bit crazy too? I hope so!

Be a little weird. It’s a nice ride.

Let's just sit here in our own true hearts.

Spend today in Love