1,000

Celebrating numbers and cycles of completion-- the witchy way!

The number “10” is considered highly magical and deeply transformative across almost every metaphysical and spiritual system, representing both beginnings (1) and endings (0). In pagan witchcraft, the number “10” is associated with the culmination of the season of the Vine Moon— the Moon of Celebration— and with the holiday of Mabon, which is rapidly approaching this coming week.

Mabon, as we have written about quite extensively here on Substack, is a kind of witchy Thanksgiving: a time of year when the harvest is enjoyed, witches let their hair down, and we all have a nice champagne (or flower essence) cocktail. This special celebration marks both an ending and a new beginning: a liminal space in which to reflect and actually enjoy all of our hard work.

So, it’s very fitting that the numbers 10, 100 and 1,000 have been popping up everywhere for me this past week, culminating in the realization that we’ve actually just surpassed 1,000 sales on our TOTEM Readings ATX Etsy Shop and are on track to hit 1,000 subscribers very shortly here on Substack.

While this may not seem like a big achievement to those with hundreds of thousands of followers or those who work at large, global companies, it is indeed a big deal to a shaman and small business owner with an employee roster of “1”— especially when one considers that I insist on doing things the very, very hard way;)

Besides: how many coincidences can mount before something officially turns into a synchronicity, particularly as I head into the tenth month of the year. There are those pesky 1’s and 0’s again!

This all got me thinking about how we seem to struggle to celebrate the small (and not so small) stuff, either because of imposter syndrome, the trauma of working in a debt slavery system, or simply because we don’t want to be seen as a self-important asshole (after all, the world has enough of those, right?).

With Mabon and the witchy season of celebration on the horizon, it prompted me to explore the metaphysical importance of celebrating the wins, and how this simple shift can move mountains with regard to manifestation, abundance, and our happiness as a whole.

Celebrate the wins

Listen, I get it. Like you, I cringe on a daily basis while catching a covertly narcissistic humble brag on Instagram about a recent life coaching “win”. Like, we get it: you have clients and make money and “did a thing”.

That’s called being in business, by the way. Not sure when exactly we started treating it like the miracles of the saints.

And no one is really fooled by the professional version of a thirst trap on Instagram.

But it’s also wrong to assume that all wins— and celebrations thereof— are created equal. They’re not. Normal people can still celebrate a milestone and other normal people can still be supportive.

It doesn’t always have to be cringe.

So, just because we’ve smelled the scent of desperation on social media doesn’t mean we are necessarily going to commit the same tone deaf “win sins”.

This Mabon, try to intentionally celebrate a win of your own— and engage your community in celebrating it with you. It’s not just for narcissists and energy vampires anymore, and can strengthen us in a variety of ways:

Gratitude is great

A key component to our overall mental health and wellbeing is a little thing called gratitude. It’s so important, in fact, that it’s a key foundational aspect of addiction recovery, the natural product of “being of service” to others.

When we cultivate gratitude for what we have and what we’ve accomplished, it recalibrates our internal systems, effectively taking us out of fight or flight stress responses and softening our anxiety. This, in turn, pivots the naturally constricting self-orientation that comes from stress and anxiety, enabling us to be more present in our lives and with the people that matter the most to us.

I mean, we’ve all known an archetypal Eeyore at one point or another: the pessimistic, gloomy, and depressed human version of the old grey stuffed donkey from Winnie-the-Pooh. The persistent martyr-complexed rain cloud. The grabby, enough-is-never-enough workaholic. The anxiety-riddled catastrophist, incapable of being present in the moment for fear of the sky falling in the future.

And these people are not fun. They are not additive. And, worst of all, they are pathologically incapable of being a good friend or support system or a contributor because all of their bandwidth gets eaten up by their own self-oriented bullshit on a constant basis.

So, if nothing else, view celebrating your wins and relaxing a bit this Mabon as a crucial part of your self-care regimen. Not only will this enable you to be a better version of yourself and show up for the people that matter most in your life, but it will also be a way of acknowledging that your wins are not your own. Rather, the people in your life get to enjoy a bit of the shine, too, sharing in the warm glow of your achievements.

Gratitude is a win all the way around— and a natural deterrent to the ego boost that can sometimes come with reaching key milestones.

A receiving vessel

One of the key themes of Kabbalah is a focus on becoming a receiving vessel: a container that can receive the wonderful miracles of divine energy on planet earth.

One of the key ways to become a receiving vessel for abundance, happiness and joy is to acknowledge when these things actually show up. Think about it: would you keep giving gifts to someone that simply set them aside after unwrapping them every single time you’re generous enough to provide them?

No. And so it is with the realm of spirit.

If you want the goodies to keep on coming, you have to take a minute to acknowledge and actually enjoy them. And the advanced version of this work is to pay it forward: throw a party, send a gift, make a cocktail or cook a meal for a friend. In this way, you get to enjoy your win while releasing the win to others, keeping your receiving vessel shiny and open for business.

If nothing else, find a way to mark the day and the time of your win. Say “yes” to those that want to celebrate with you. Accept any compliments or small gifts that come your way with a simple “thank you”.

It’s not selfish if you’re not an asshole about it.

Getting into a receiving mode of being is the best way to keep the wins coming.

Delight is its own reward

As a workaholic that’s had a particularly tough time the last three years— as has every other small business owner— I have a tough time doing “nothing”. I always like to feel as though I’m doing something productive, working to squeeze tangible, measurable value from every second of every day.

And guess what? This is a great way to also squeeze the joy out of every second of every day.

And then who’s winning? Spoiler alert: no one.

Delight, joy and human connection are actually their own rewards. They are worth something. And, what’s more, they are a crucial component to our shared human experience here on planet earth, a kind of formal acknowledgement of our inherent spiritual natures.

After all, we’re not just meat suits taking home a paycheck!

When we get stuck in the pattern of thinking that everything needs to be productive or transactional or “worthwhile”, we’re actually giving up one of life’s greatest joys: the art of being.

Charles Bukowski’s poem The Laughing Heart sums it up better than I ever could:

“You can’t beat death but

You can beat death in life, sometimes.

And the more often you learn to do it,

The more light there will be.

Your life is your life.

Know it while you have it.

You are marvelous

The gods wait to delight

In you.”

A season of celebration

We don’t have to go full extrovert to indulge in a season of celebration.

We just need to mark the hour and the day.

We just need to give ourselves permission to smile and feel happy about an achievement.

And we can share our wins by thanking others for their contributions and support.

So, thank you all.

Thank you for being subscribers here on Substack. Thank you for your comments and engagement and for sharing our written work.

Thank you to anyone that has purchased a TOTEM Flower Essence. We make them by hand and ship them out with love and care.

Thank you for booking readings and supporting our work at TOTEM.

And thank you in advance to everyone joining us this weekend in Austin to celebrate Mabon, mark our collective wins, and reconnect with each other and the simple, shared energy of joy.

I’m going to take a moment this week to reflect on the number “10”, allowing myself to consider the beginnings and endings currently underway in my professional and personal lives.

And I invite you to do the same. Share your wins in the comments. Share your wins when I see you in-person on Sunday. Light a sparkler. Light a candle. Pour yourself a glass of champagne.

This Mabon, become a receiving vessel. Step outside of your imposter syndrome or concerns over looking like a self-important asshat.

If the shoe doesn’t fit, don’t wear it.

Your life is your life…

Enjoy it.

-Rachel