Hiraeth, Embertide, and Almost Hanging Up My Witch’s Hat

This morning, on the way to Zumba, I sent a voice note. Somehow, my Yorkshire accent got translated into Welsh. Which got me thinking… maybe I was a Welsh witch in a past life.

It would explain an awful lot: my pull towards the old seasonal rhythms, the moon phases, the word hiraeth echoing through me like a drumbeat. I’ve always felt that longing for something just out of reach - a belonging that slips through your fingers but never quite leaves your bones - long before I had a word for it. And these days, I also understand how the lunar energies can drop me on my arse every month.

If I’m being completely truthful, before this last weekend even began, I almost hung up my witch’s hat. Not the actual hat - that’s already hanging up, waiting for me to pop it on and embody The Colour Witch like a drag persona - but the whole path. Colour Witch, the brand, the showing up, the holding of space. I was exhausted. Wobbly. The doubts crept in like September mist. After a cancellation, I only had a couple of bookings for my Colour Journey Soul Retreat. And I couldn’t even give that space away. All I could hear inside my head was: What’s the point? Maybe it would be easier to just bin it all off. Why keep putting yourself through this pain?

But then I pulled up my big girl pants. Sunday’s event went ahead - and with it came reminders. The people. The colours. The conversations that lit a spark. The laughter that cracked the heaviness deep in my soul. I remembered that the hat isn’t just part of a costume. It’s me. It’s made from all the colours, every story, every bit of magic, every thread of belonging I’ve poured into this journey. Even when I want to give up, the work calls me back.

Yesterday I got back on the horse (even if it was a wooden one) and with a great big witchy yeehah! I started to contemplate what wasn’t working. Those who know me know I’ve got a gazillion ideas, and trying to pin them down to one is almost impossible. But for months now, I’ve been hearing my inner voice whispering: take it smaller. I didn’t understand what I was being encouraged to do. But the weekend showed me that people do actually love what I do, once they experience it - I’ve just maybe not explained it too well.

And here’s the truth: I’m not the kind of witch who’s going to hex you if you get on the wrong side of me. I’m here to help, encourage, and make people feel welcome and cared for. One person said to me this weekend: “Thank you for making me feel so welcome, and for your excellent food and drinks.” That quote made my heart sing.

So what next? I’d love to continue holding space at my home - The Colour Witch’s Hearth… filled with warmth, colour, and the comfort of belonging. Maybe Witchy Wednesdays and Soulful Sundays now and again - full and half days of creativity, ritual, and the powerful energy of colour. And if it’s just me and one other soul, that’s more than enough. Because together, we can still find healing.

And it makes sense for the first event to be for Embertide, one of those old seasonal pauses - three days (this year on the 17th, 19th, and 20th of September) set aside for reflection, balance, and realignment. Traditionally, it was about fasting and prayer, but I see it as a chance to stop, breathe, and listen to the turning of the year.

That’s exactly the energy I want to carry into my offerings. Creativity, ritual, and colour as ways to pause, reset, and find balance. Embertide feels like the perfect threshold to begin - the wheel turning towards autumn, a season of gathering in, tending the flame, and welcoming the darker half of the year.

And then, just a few days later, the New Moon rises on Sunday, 21st September. New moons are beginnings, invitations to set intentions and plant seeds. So I’m planning a live gathering - still deciding whether that will be on Facebook or Zoom - where I’ll take you on a journey through the emotional rollercoaster of colour energy, giving you more insight into what to expect from one of my mini soul retreats.

Maybe my almost-hanging-up-the-hat moment was really just part of that same rollercoaster - the descent before the rise, the ebb before the flow, the chaos before the calm.

May you turn your darkness into light, your chaos into calm, and your feelings into your fiercest kind of magic.

See the Events page for forthcoming retreats and workshops.