A Creative Writing Ritual for October

Gather: Candle, Journal, Incense. Light candle & incense

Meditate for seven minutes (or more), focusing on your exhale. If you notice any areas of tension in your body, without “trying” too hard, breathe into those areas and intentionally relax them. As sensations arise, make them the point of your attention in the meditation until you feel them shift or change or no longer call for your awareness.

Now open your eyes, set a timer for seven minutes. Write a list of things you want or think you should do in the next six months to one year. (Yes, both, wants and shoulds—desires and duties). Stay with it for the full seven minutes; if you run out of ideas, just sit quietly and see if anything else arises. And don’t be afraid to both dream big and include the small and mundane.

Once the timer goes off, go through the list and cross off seven items that don’t really serve who you are now and who you are becoming.

Snuff out your candle. For the next two weeks, every day, cross seven items off the list (or cross off until you get to seven items, whichever comes first).

After the New moon, October 16

Return to the list. If you have more than seven items remaining, circle the top seven that are most exciting and most charged for you, that scare you a little, that ask you to really push into new levels and layers of yourself.

Relight your Candle & incense. Do the breath meditation again.

Read the list aloud. As you do, fears, doubts and the inner critic will likely rear their heads. Set your timer for seven minutes again and free write these voices; just write about whatever doubts and fears and reasons you can’t or shouldn’t do these things that pop up.

When your timer goes off, call on any ancestors, loved ones who’ve died, spirits, and guides you work with or talk to, or a larger or higher or future version of yourself—or anything that feels natural or right to call on if this isn’t something you practice. Ask them to help you acknowledge these doubts and fears, but to move forward anyway. The goal is not to never be afraid, but to be afraid and do it anyway.

Set your timer, one more time, for seven minutes. Free write on any messages you receive from these loved ones, spirits or guides, or a part/version of yourself that can see above and beyond these voices. If you don’t “hear” anything or sense any messages, write as if a dear friend of yours had these doubts and critical thoughts—what would you say to them?

Write on that.

After, rewrite the list of seven things on a new sheet of paper and set the intention in your heart to move toward and follow through on these items in the next six months. Snuff out your candle, or let it burn until it burns itself out (in a fire-safe way, like in a bathtub).

This ritual pays homage to both Libra and Scorpio season, to the late waning period we entered at the equinox, to the full Harvest Moon and blue moon, and to the new moon mid-month. If you’re looking for more creativity rituals, I do a post at each new and full moon with astrology-flavored rituals and writing prompts; check it out here and sign up for my newsletter to get them delivered to your inbox. And if you’re interested in creative and writing coaching, editing, and classes find more info at
www.CourtneyEMorgan.com.