Grief Magic: Rituals, Stories & Gentle Conversations about Loss

This is a little waffle episode - updates from my summer, tales of neurotic furniture moving, the slow timeline of creative dreams unfolding over years and what I am doing at the moment to stay connected to each moment and a sense of hope. You can send me questions over here: https://www.speakpipe.com/yarrowmand you can join our monday sessions over here: https://griefmagic.com/clubLove,Yarrow

Just a short & sweet one to say Glimmer Sessions start tomorrow - these are quiet, low pressure Zoom hangouts on a Monday evening, 7-8pm UK time with lovely creative company!Find out more and sign up here: https://griefmagic.com/club/and feel free to send me a question over here: https://www.speakpipe.com/yarrowmBlessings on your seasonal transition,Yarrow

This week I'm continuing the Google-questions format and turning to something that comes up so often: why some friendships don't survive grief and loss.Before I get into it, a reminder that Monday sessions are back, come as you are, no pressure, sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds: https://griefmagic.com/club/ I'm also now offering seasonal readings, a custom card pull with an audio recording, a picture, and a guided meditation you can return to again and again: https://griefmagic.com/grief-blessings/I sit with three questions. Why do friendships fall apart during grief? I talk honestly about my own experience after my accident in 2020, becoming visibly disabled and navigating a friendship that struggled to hold space for how I was rethinking my future, and why sometimes a friendship falling away isn't a failure so much as a sign that your needs or values have genuinely shifted.How do you ask for help without feeling like a burden? I unpack why that word does so much damage, and talk through what's helped me be more specific and vulnerable when asking for support, including a little detour into British politeness and pre-emptive excuse-making versus more direct ways of asking.Why does grief make some friendships closer and others disappear? This is where I talk about the friendships I've built since losing my mum, the people who skip the small talk with me now, and why that kind of intimacy after loss feels so different and so good.Thanks for listening!Love,Yarrow

This episode is a seasonal check in as we move from summer into autumn, my favourite stretch of the year.Before I get into it, a reminder that our Monday sessions start again on September 14th. Anyone who signs up before the 10th gets a one card tarot reading recorded just for them, a little blessing for the season ahead. Sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds, more info here: https://griefmagic.com/clubI share some of the small rituals I use to mark this transition. Reflecting on the summer that's just passed, printing photos to stick in my diary, and making space for what was hard as well as what was beautiful. Decluttering summer things out of my space, building a tiny seasonal bookshelf so I'm not overwhelmed by all the books to read. Refreshing my ritual and craft materials, including a little update to my tarot deck collection, putting my garden to bed for the colder months, stocking up on candles and soup ingredients... And of course tapping into that back to school energy in September, even without kids or school, to ask what I want to learn or take away from the season ahead.I also talk about checking in with friends about what this season might be like for them, and making a little space to support each other through it.Thanks for listening!Love,Yarrow

This week I'm continuing a new tradition on the podcast: picking a topic, then answering the questions the internet is actually googling about it. This time it's ritual and grief, and I found three questions that apparently hundreds of thousands of people are searching for answers to.First, what's the point of a ritual if I don't believe in anything? I talk about my own strange, unstructured relationship with ritual as a kid, little altars on a shelf, a phase of visiting different places of worship in Hamburg, none of it religious in any formal sense, but all of it meaningful.Second, how do you build a grief ritual with no religious background? I walk through some of the questions I'd ask myself first, what my relationship to belief actually is right now, whether I want something small and daily or bigger and occasional, whether it's about letting go or about holding on.Third, and my favourite: is it strange to talk to someone who's died? Short answer, no. I get into continuing bonds theory, the research suggesting that maintaining a relationship with someone after they've died is a completely normal and even healthy part of grief, not something to move past. I share the notebook where I write letters to my mum, and why I've made peace with not knowing exactly what's happening when I feel her presence, only that it feels good and that I'm not the only one who does it.Here is more info about the Soft Grief Club: https://griefmagic.com/clubThanks for listening!Love,Yarrow