Illuminations of Italia Adventures and the Last Full Moon of 2023

Mt. Vesuvius stands strong in the background of Naples' port (above). I look on connecting with the pineapple tree growing tall in the yard at my boyfriend's family's home in Montesarchio, Italy (below). 

On this final full moon of the 2023 calendar year, having just moved through the Winter Solstice and on our way into 2024, I am in deep reflection, while simultaneously being infused with Italy’s tremendous energy as I continue my journey here for another week. 

It’s been tricky to navigate the balance of reflection and presence, learning to be amidst the action of an international trip while also attempting to have greater awareness of my inner processing, my sensitivities, and my interconnectedness to the cycles of the Earth and Astrologies.

This balace was very much highlighted on today’s 8 hour excursion around the city of Naples, where I found myself reflecting on humanity’s role upon this Planet Earth. 

I do not claim to be a knower, a seer, or a great philosopher of quite possibly the biggest question in all of man’s existence; however, in my few years of learning shamanic traditions and working deeply with Amazonian and other plant and fungi medicines, it’s become clearer and clearer to me that this is the only way of being that truly makes sense to me. 

For the majority of my life, I felt that something was missing. I had such profound resistance to the human experience and was fixated only on the challenges and what was “wrong.”

I was deeply depressed and falling into chronic physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual suffering. In desperation, I turned to many external solutions to what I thought were siloed illnesses and challenges.

But the plants’ greatest teaching is to point us always towards our own Inner Healer, to highlight our own inner knowing. 

And through the illumination of the full moon today, I was able to see so clearly that learning from them how to be in communication and connection with the Earth–or how to live shamanically–had been the missing piece in my life all this time.

Traveling to experience another culture, especially that of my ancestral homelands of Italy, has only affirmed this truth for me even more. 

And this knowing for myself came in conjunction with the peace and the grace that this is MY truth and MY path, and not necessarily that of humanity’s. 

While so much of the rest of the world lives anthropocentrically, I can only truly know what makes sense and resonates for me on my own path.

Only then can I stand solidly in the foundation of my own truth and learn to integrate from there without needing to place blame or feel resistance to the human experience. 

I know so completely in my heart that living in communion and connection with the Earth, with the plants, and with Spirit is the medicine that I needed to transform my suffering, and is the only way that my soul feels truly safe and at home as a human being here on this Earth.  

And what a profound blessing it is to have been able to find this path, and to serve as a guiding light to others who may feel called to venture down a similar one. 

I cannot possibly know the fate of humanity, or fully grasp our role here on this beautiful planet, but I can trust the song in my heart to continue to guide me.

I can offer my fullest gratitude to the plants, to the Earth, for sharing their wisdom and helping me find my place in it all. 

And I can breathe deeply knowing that while there is still so much to navigate in the interweaving of my perspective with that of the societal majority, that aligning with my truth and my path is the greatest service I can give--to myself, to Mother Earth, to Spirit, to humanity, and to the whole of it all. 

I’m feeling so grateful to be carrying this illumination with me into the new 2024 calendar year, and I am looking forward to rooting even more deeply into it through this ever-unfolding transformation for myself and the collective. 

What illuminations have come through for you during this full moon? Or what reflections have been highlighted for you as we move into the new year?

I'd love to hear about them, so send me a DM on Instagram, or an email to [email protected]. 

Also, stay tuned for the announcement of my Masterclass Series on how overwhelm, depression, and addiction can actually be invitations into a supportive and fulfilling relationship with the Earth--coming early next year. 

If the story I shared above resonates with your own heart song, schedule a free 30-minute Connection Call where we can excavate what’s coming up for you presently so that you can begin your process of reviving what’s sacred for you.

An Italian Holiday known as La Befana is celebrated on the eve of January 5th (Epiphany Eve) and all day January 6 during which, much like Santa Claus at Christmas, a witch delivers gifts to the children.