I’ve decided that every year I will recognize my second-favourite holiday [to Halloween], Midsummer. Last year I went on a literary retreat in the countryside [Wyndstock], this year I finally met my fellow Bostonian/Oxfordian out west, Paige, a professional witch, who was hosting a series of Midsummer rituals in her ol’ hometown.

12pm I find the labyrinth – which is actually a labyrinth – and read the wonderful War of Art by Steven Pressfield. The nice thing about allowing way too much time to get somewhere is that I enjoy the luxury of spending it when I’m early.

1pm Paige comes bolting towards me: “XANDRAA!” Her enthusiasm is infectious and brilliantly unashamedly nerdy. Ghost arrives not long afterwards, and her entire aesthetic is mesmerizingly ethereal.

1:15pm Paige bops us on our heads with a magic wand, and into the labyrinth we go. It’s a maze-like path, but not a maze: there’s only one way in and one way out, and no wrong turns. It’s meditative. Once we reach the center, we write our Midsummer wishes on bay leaves, rub them in attraction oil, and ignite them in Paige’s cauldron [YES CAULDRON.]. Then she does a reading for each of us. I feel my physical stress disappear, as the cards turned over are exactly what i need to hear.

1:45pm [or who knows, since I wasn’t watching the time] The scent is magical, and we have worked towards our wishes with mindfulness. We exit the way we came in, silent except for Paige’s occasional magical hum, and the Midsummer breeze on our backs.

2pm I’ve been playing the waiting game with the border agency. [I still am]. I keep saying there’s nothing I can do, but I can be positive. There is nothing I can do to get that parcel to arrive, but there are things I can do to better handle myself. I needed magic to remind me of that. We snack on vegan picnic food and discuss places and personalities, discovering magic, and strange food allergies. Ghost sums up believing in magic perfectly: it’s not believing in a higher external being, but in channeling different energies within yourself. Bring out your own sun god. 

> monday mini adventures: making the most of one’s surroundings through conscious exploration and appreciation 

P.S. Last year’s magical Midsummer celebration