our inability to tolerate our children’s discomfort teaches them that discomfort is intolerable. This imprisons them in fear and constricts their development.

Motherhood, with its intense physical and emotional extremes, is a crucible in which we are tested and altered. In the alchemical vessel of motherhood, the heat is turned up high.

Running away—from children, commitments, places—appears as a magical solution when we have never fully consolidated a strong sense of self.

In Celtic mythology, sacred wells were points of access to the other world, and their waters had magical or healing properties.

who most gets under your skin. What about that person irks you the most? It is likely to be that quality that you have repudiated in yourself.

A selkie woman has grown up without ever having had permission to disappoint or be unpleasant. Without the secure knowledge that we will be loved and accepted even when we disagree or are disagreeable, we cannot learn who we genuinely are and what truly matters to us.

We find it unbearably uncomfortable to experience conflict or anger with a loved one. Therefore we find ourselves subject to the tyranny of others’ wishes, needs, and demands, since we are not armed with the ability to say no or assert our needs. In this unprotected and supremely vulnerable state, it is easy for another to rob us of our self, to

Any initiatory journey requires a guide,

When old painful emotions resurface, the journey will be difficult. But trust that these wounds are being brought into awareness again so that you can have the opportunity to heal them. Being open to your inner world, even when this is painful, always offers the possibility of renewal.