The Power of Story in the Creation of Sacred Spaces: Exploring the Fertile Ground Gathering

Thank you so much to all of our listeners! we can't believe how big the podcast has gotten since just last fall!

Hey folks! Just wanted to let you know about a NEW EPISODE on the Mystical Musings Podcast! The Power of Story and Sacred Spaces: Exploring the Fertile Ground Gathering is now live at https://mysticalmusings.buzzsprout.com and is being loaded onto your favorite podcast platform now! Here's a description:

In this episode, Tava Baird and Jennifer Taylor dive into a profound discussion on storytelling, sacred spaces, and the transformative power of communal gatherings. Joined by Liz and Cael Jacobs, of Wilder Grove, they explore the essence and offerings of the Fertile Ground Gathering, a unique event that weaves together spirituality and community in a sacred natural setting.

Register or read more about the Fertile Ground Gathering in May at

https://www.fertilegroundgathering.com/

Yup, that's right, Jennifer and I and her husband Keith will be teaching at the Fertile Ground Gathering in a few weeks in the Fredericksburg, VA area! We've designed a unique experience for those in our workshops that integrates storytelling, sacred dance, channeled music, and more. I'll also be leading several community workshops at the Gathering, including a Beltane paint-and-sip (herbal tea) class, a Bone-casting demo and Q&A, a corn husk doll poppet-making class, and I'll also be leading a Community Craft gathering called Arachne's Circle where you can come and make protection poppets with me or bring your craft of choice and just hang out.

There's lots of other amazing stuff happening at Darkflower Books & Folk Art too! This weekend, April 5th and 6th, I'll be vending at The Grapes of Wrath Medieval Combat Event in Culpepper, VA, and then on April 12 I'll be vending in a Victorian cemetery in West VA where you can picnic among the tombstones! The haunted Blue Ball Inn has its first dig of the year on Sunday, April 13th, and then I'll be vending a TON of original paintings at the Winchester Apple Blossom Festival at the end of the month at the Fairgrounds in Clear Brook, VA! For more info, go here:

https://www.tavabaird.com/markets

https://www.tavabaird.com/archaeology

The Book of High Places is proceeding merrily along, and whoa...brace yourself for a wild ride! We're on track for the book to be out early summer! Woot woot!

AND....Wyldwood is currently in the process of being updated and re-printed through MPC Publishing and will find its way into your local bookshop later this year! So excited for this!

AND....Circle of Three is currently being turned into an audiobook! I've heard the first few chapters and Andrew is KILLING IT.

Other fun things on the horizon in May:

Darkflower will be at The World of Fae Faerie Market in PA!

And....the VA Ren. Faire the weekend of May 31-June 1!

And in June, we head for The Age of Viking Mead Festival in Culpepper, VA!

Hope to see you at a market, dig, or just out and about!

Sending you so much love,

Tava

Samael's Words: Navigating Times of Change: Finding Peace and Purpose in Uncertainty (From Mystical Musings Podcast)

Samael by Tava Baird

On the Metaphysical Musings Podcast titled Navigating Times of Change: Finding Peace and Purpose in Uncertainty, Samael had some words to share. Here is the transcript:

Let us speak of cities. Why do humans make cities? Let us think on that. The embodied live together for comfort. For convenience. But most of all, for safety.

Together, humans make the bricks and mix the mortar to build the walls. And yet cities can be places of great danger on their own. Disease spreads quickly inside the walls. Humans can become locked in to their own starvation. Trapped with the fire. They convince themselves that it is still the best choice.

But no, Uumshalah, not in times such as these. What is it you said? "I would rather exist with the bear than the man." When those in power behind the walls show themselves to only crave regression, you must leave the city and build a new home.

It is time for a pilgrimage. When a tree becomes too top heavy, it must be pruned.

First, decide what you will take with you, and whom. You will be forming a new tribe and each must earn their place. The city wants you frantic. Move in calm instead.

You need healers, leaders, farmers, laborers, teachers, warriors, priestesses, gatherers, and artists. Assemble your circle and go through your things.

Do not dwell in minutia. That is not the divine view.

Dream of what your new homestead, your new village, will be. Disassemble your old and give what is left to the needy.

Your perspective will be different once you start walking. Once free of the stale air and stagnation of life between the walls. For where are you going, Uumshala? Back towards the wild. Back towards nature. And so, back towards God.

They will not want you to leave, for they wish your obedience. But you have only one leader, and it is the wild. Learn to defend yourself. Form collectives to share resources and trade and defend.

With no one to rule, the kings will fall in ways you could never have predicted.

Do not worry the wounds they deliver. Stitch them up and leave the abuser behind.

Move from churches to circles. Move from townhouse to cottage. Purge the commercial poison from you. Draw inward, but once your energy is marshaled, find new ways to reach out.

Do not give hate attention. Instead, feed those around you, and prepare for the day when the city does fall. In its place, you will have made a society anew. Be ready. Grow strong in body and spirit.

You say, we have gone backwards by decades. But not all progress is lost. You cannot see it, based on where you stand. The walls shake before they fall. The jackals growl before they consume themselves.

Remember, this is not the only country. Find your own allies. Turn off the boxes, go outside, and find a hand to hold. Look to the Victory Garden, and build your own. A place of nourishment in a time of war. You do not need to watch the unstoppable wounds being delivered. Thread your needle to prepare for reapir. It is now time. The "someday" when you would step into your own.

It is here. Build. Crowd out what does not deserve your energy and attention. Lead.

MARKETS! and RETREATS! and CLASSES! and BOOKS! and PODCASTS! and ARCHAEOLOGY DIGS! OH MY!

Spring will be here before you know it!

Hi Folks! Well, Imbolc is in the rear view mirror, and we are racing along towards spring. Need a pick-me-up at the end of winter? Or just in general? There's a lot of community ahead for us in 2025. We can all weather storms better when we're together, aye?

FIRST UP: MARKETS

I just loaded up the events page with new markets and fun fantasy events for 2025. From the Undead of Winter Vampire Market Valentine's Weekend in PA with its attendant ball to Mermagicon in March with live swimming mermaids to the Witches' Pride in September in Fredericksburg(I'm teaching a class there this year!), there's a great escape from the world waiting for you. Check out the new stuff at https://www.tavabaird.com/calendar and come visit me and get a big ol' hug.

You'll also note that the calendar is loaded with classes and archaeology digs at the haunted Blue Ball Inn....

SECOND UP: ARCHAEOLOGY and CLASSES at BBI

The Ghostest with the Mostest

I'm doing EIGHT benefit classes in the BBI this year, and we have loaded up bthe calendar with digs from April to Halloween as we break ground on a new site it the yard. Want to come dig with us or bring your home school group or scout group to dig? Write me! Want to go on a Paranormal Investigation? I can put you in touch with those people too. Want to spend an evening making poppets with me in the house and then use the poppets after dark to reach out towards the spirit realm? Here I am, baby! Check out the dig schedule on https://www.tavabaird.com/calendar and the classes at https://www.tavabaird.com/classes

THIRD UP: OTHER CLASSES

I am keeping my class schedule low this year in order to be able to focus on writing more...I anticipate releasing at least three more titles and just released another novel last week (see below!) But one class I will be doing is this:

Our Lady of Ravens and Wolves: Explorations Into the Sacred Dark of The Morrigan

The Morrigan embodies many concepts that our modern society warns us to turn away from, when in fact embracing her can make us much more whole. Join pagan author, artist, and poppet-maker Tava Baird as we discuss death, wildness, and appetite while creating and blessing a unique Morrigan-themed altar poppet for raising power and reaching goals. The instructor's personal experiences in reaching out towards the dead in the name of The Morrigan will also be discussed, as well as her relationship with her spirit guide, Samael, who instructs her in her work. Class will be held at Raven Conjure in March: click here for details! https://www.tavabaird.com/event-details/class-our-lady-of-ravens-and-wolves-explorations-into-the-sacred-dark-of-the-morrigan

FOURTH UP: RETREATS

Want to get away from it all? I will be co-hosting a workshop at the Fertile Ground Gathering's Beltane Celebration in May! Jennifer (who co-hosts the Mystical Musings podcast with me) and Keith Taylor and I have planned a three-hour experience for you in the woods! Here's the info:

The Power of Story: Creating Space for Divine

with Tava BairdJennifer Taylor & Keith Taylor

The Power of Story: Creating Space for Divine Guidance is an interactive experience interweaving sound healing, theatre, sacred dance, storytelling, guided meditation, and group altar building. The audience for this class will be invited to participate in a series of experiences that guide them to set down the stories they carry that no longer serve them and rewrite their connection to the divine.

Wanna come and journey with us? Details are HERE: https://www.fertilegroundgathering.com/

And then....in November, I am the special guest instructor at Hallowed Homecoming, A Samhain Retreat! Our theme is Journeying into Darkness, and I'll be teaching THREE workshops on the Sacred dark, as well as leading the main ritual Saturday night! Information shortly HERE: https://hallowedhomecoming.com/ and here: https://www.facebook.com/HallowedHomecomingSamhain

.....AAAAAAND BOOKS and PODCASTS!

The Angel and The Blackbird, the sequel to The Ballad of Birdie MacLeod, is now out on Kindle and in paperback and copies will be available at the Vampire Market! Continue your Spiral Pathways prequel journey here: https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Blackbird-Tale-Faerie-Between/dp/B0DVQQSBTW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1H870M6S3ZSPJ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.jTgI0d94paEsdn_e8REEKFOcS5Zc6uQyPKwhdLrTkinXToZhq7A8mE8BdOnoPFe0KzhIB2_pe6eEV-4g1nOas4Y4Z6Cons47y-hJAB8nq73jqYV4YorU0Kw8-A4_F9lL5oC45dR84JvwYZPY_2QJbGNsfVVce-pws9tTu-u_p_nbHM5gpciRbY1V27KfWAh9P5BYQjQ9JzZQChsUJmXoVg42nQSmLV2i6_whV4JzVwQ.4aVjzYXhzCFMDpFa_e-dtiwAih01vcqb6QSTds-e2Eg&dib_tag=se&keywords=angel+and+the+blackbird&qid=1738866518&s=books&sprefix=angel+and+the+blackbird%2Cstripbooks%2C96&sr=1-1

AND.....BIG NEWS! Wyldwood is being republished through Masterful Person Publishing with updates and a new cover and will be coming to a bookstore near you this spring! Wooohooo! And the rest of the series is now in its second edition with a new size (6" by 9"), available now on Amazon.

NEW PRINTS!

Hades, King of the Underworld

There's a SLEW of new paintings and prints coming out, and next month they will start to appear in a massive update to the etsy shop at https://darkflowerbooks.etsy.com along with handmade poppets! I'm starting to bring original paintings to events as well, so if something floats your boat you may be able to snag the original!

The Vampire King, headed to the Undead of Winter Vampire Market next weekend in PA!

IN THE WORKS: The Book of High Places

Fia Grace Douglas Elliot is no Angel.

I know, FINALLY! The Book of High Places, the sequel to Bonewytch and Book Six in The Spiral Pathways, has just sent its prologue and first chapter out to the test readers! Alexander Scott and Saorsa Stuart return along with Vika and the whole crowd to begin untangling the mysteries of The Violet Woman, Nyx, and The Magician. And guess who's at the heart of it all? The woman everyone seems to love to hate, Fia Grace. I'll be making a blog post in about a week with the prologue in it for anyone who wants to take a gander.

And then...PODCAST!

THANK YOU for the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of downloads!

The Mystical Musings podcast is now coming out with new episodes every Friday featuring channeled music and messages from Samael and discussions on everything from Sacred Darkness to self-worth to surviving difficult times. We are adding GUESTS to our line-up in 2025, so you'll get to hear from some fantastic movers and shakers in the metaphysical field. Listen HERE https://mysticalmusings.buzzsprout.com or on your favorite platform. We are in the process of loading them onto Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@MysticalMusingsEnergy as well. We've got episodes on Angels! Metatron! the Blue Ball Inn! Play us in the car on your way to work and start your day off positive!

Thank you so much for all of your support this past year everyone...Darkflower is growing by leaps and bounds, and it's all because of you!

Sending you love and magick,

Tava