Hi, I’m Ashley

Welcome to my site, where stories heal the spirit and magic weaves through every word. Through my work, I aim to create a space where you can find peace, inspiration, and a deeper connection to your own spirit.

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Posts

  • Summer Solstice Storytime Ritual

    This solo storytime ritual is a great way to celebrate the Solstice with a little creative magic. Feel free to adapt it to your own and I hope it brings you many blessings.

  • Echoes of Grace

    “I was once a child full of grace.” While the beauty of nature remains, its joy is often overlooked. This short narrative explores the struggle to reconnect with passion and purpose, prompting a journey into the past for clarity and envisioning a freer future.

  • Protecting and Preserving Appalachian Folk Magic

    When I whitewashed my accent, I didn’t realize I was speaking a dying language. As I read Jake Richards’ post on whether Appalachian Folk Magic is a closed practice, I began to reflect on my own stance. This journey led me to explore the delicate balance between cultural protection and preservation. Join me as I…

  • Beltane 2025 Solo Ritual

    This solo Beltane ritual focuses on connecting with divine energies, Awen and Nwyfre, through a series of preparations and invocations. Practitioners create a sacred space, offer peace to the directions, light a symbolic fire, and engage in meditation. The ceremony ends with gratitude and uncasting the circle, inviting ongoing inspiration.

  • Cardboard Memories

    Step inside Mr. Stevens’ house, where every box is a time capsule and every room tells a story. Discover the beauty of a life well-lived and the memories that fill a house made of cardboard.

  • Cold & Shadow (Bitter Winter Part 1)

    The series shares personal stories and cultural anecdotes from the author’s experiences at a Druid Gathering in Louisiana, reflecting on themes of healing and shadow work amid life’s challenges. The author emphasizes the importance of confronting darkness, harnessing storytelling for empowerment, and aims to inspire others through their journey of survival and growth.

  • Wizards, Warmth, and the Awen (Bitter Winter Part 4)

    The narrative reflects on a childhood spent in a mystical Wizard house and experiences during significant blizzards, highlighting themes of community resilience and magic. Through personal anecdotes, the author explores trauma, self-worth, and the journey of self-acceptance. Ultimately, the story emphasizes the importance of facing shadows to find healing and hope.

  • Births, Blizzards, and Biscuits (Bitter Winter Part 3)

    The author reflects on their birth during a blizzard that delayed their arrival, symbolizing resilience and the strength of their mother and ancestral women. They honor their family’s challenges and legacies, particularly their grandmother’s toughness. Ultimately, the narrative intertwines themes of survival, hope, and the importance of tending to one’s inner flame through life’s storms.

  • Death & Dirt (Bitter Winter Part 2)

    The narrative reflects on Appalachian heritage, emphasizing the deep connection between the people and the land. It recounts the author’s family’s history of sustainable living, healing traditions, and the cycle of death and regeneration in nature. The story highlights resilience, reflection during winter, and the importance of acknowledging both light and darkness in one’s ancestry.

  • Prayers for Trying Times: Psalms 109

    In these times of great adversity, let us not be silent. Let us raise our voices in prayer and in action. Let us stand together against the forces of oppression and injustice. For it is through our collective strength and unwavering faith that we can bring about the change we so desperately need. For Druids…

  • Folk Magic and Cultural Heritage: Bridging History and Spirit

    Folk magic practices embody cultural significance and spiritual depth, rooted in the connection with the land. These traditions, often misunderstood, tell the story of common folk and contribute to survival in rural communities. Practices include healing, rituals, and daily acts honoring ancestry, reflecting a rich tapestry of cultural heritage and regional expression.

  • Imbolc is Coming!

    The post invites the Children of the Bride to honor her name and embrace warmth as winter fades. It emphasizes the importance of making one’s heart a welcoming space and encourages a celebration of inner spark and community as the season of Imbolc approaches.

  • Predators

    I see them all around me Their faces staring down from Billboards and pulpits They live in the dark corners of my bedroom and hide under my childhood bed. But they are not monsters. They are the men we trust the most. They do not have bloody teeth & sharp claws. The weapon they wield…

  • I am Wreckage and Rumble

    I will never be clean again. My skin stained with the sins of my father, my eyes sunken ships. I will forever cling to innocence lost and mourn myself with my shattered mind. But when the mountain weeps and crumbles, she forms pathways. She sends her tears to find better tomorrows and nourish the life…

  • The Porcelain Doll: Part I

    The things that broke her hollowed her out. Now there’s a mute mouse where her heart once was. On the quietest of days, she hopes to hear a beat in there, but the most she’s ever heard was the sound of the mouse snoring.

  • The Pen, the Sword and The Song…in memory of my Grandma Eula Mae

    Yesterday, my Grandma Eula Mae would have been 93 years old. My most vivid image of her is one of her lying across her bed with a notebook, pen, a Bible and a continuously in progress game of solitaire. That image is, in a nutshell, the essence of who she was. Always writing, always singing,…

  • Out of Darkness: Light Shall Grow

    I don’t know about y’all, but clutter is one of my biggest enemies. It took me YEARS to recognize that it was spark to the special hellfire that is #adhd triggered #anxiety. So why is it so hard for me to throw things away this time of the year? What fever dream created the illusion…

  • The Inner Workings of my Brain: On BiPolar Disorder

    This will be the first post I write about my mental health diagnosis (although it certainly won’t be the last). The truth is this is one of my darkest shadows. I have yet to shed the shame around my diagnosis, although I’m chipping away at it (one stone at a time). I was diagnosed with…

  • Not Bad Enough: The Family that Preys Together

    My family says that the abuse was “Not Bad Enough”. As if the physical evidence is more important than the emotional damage done by a man too weak to control his urges. In this post, I talk about that and begin to dive into the many excuses that people make to deny abuse and blame…

  • On How it Started: The Myth & the True Shape of Things

    Uncovering the myth and truths in the events that led to my children ending their silence and, in doing so, their abuse. Both sides of the story uncover truths about the institution of abuse, the systems that perpetrate it and what we can do to disrupt those systems.

  • Tiny Little Boxes: The Only Thing that Matters

    Protect your son from the world… …put him in a box so tiny that he can’t breathe, or speak, or function in the real world. Teach him that god only loves them if he is ‘normal’. Place scenes of bodies burning eternal in his head so that they can play on repeat… …all just so…

  • Why Don’t You Keep Your Mouth Shut?

    This is a personal family matter. It’s none of anyone’s business You’re hurting our family name. This is bad for our reputation. I keep hearing these and so many more. So many people are bothered by me sharing mine and my children’s story. I get it: When secrets become safety, it’s scary when someone starts…

  • Crying in my Car: The Effects of Trauma we Don’t Talk About

    On Mondays I have standing (back-to-back) meetings and the kids have individual therapy, so I work in my car. This morning, my hotspot was lagging, and my brain was screaming “You’re not enough”. I dodged questions like dirty looks, hoping no one would notice the lag (they did, of course). In that moment, I felt…

  • A Time to Shift

    I feel the shadow rolling in; blanketing my mind like the mourning fog. The time to shift is upon us. AC Rodriguez, 8/28/2022

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