Belonging: Conversations about rites of passage, meaningful community, and seasonal living

One of the most frequent questions I get is how to create a sacred gathering or a women's circle. I get it. It's hard to do and yet it's something all of us so deeply crave. So I invited my dear friend, Katina Mercadante, to join me on the Belonging podcast. Katina and I have been collaborating on sacred gatherings for years now. We started our monthly moon circle together and we've collaborated on ritualizing celebrations and gatherings from birthdays to Bealtaine festivities as well.In this episode, Katina and I talk about remembering and feeling those ancestral ways of gathering and celebrating rather than reading about how you're "supposed to" do them. We talk about the power of being a host and being the one to extend an invitation for sacred gatherings even if you're in the process of figuring out how to do it yourself. We talk about how we both came to Jean Shinoda Bolen's work and how we began to collaborate to start our own circles and gatherings in our lives.We hope this episode inspires you to begin to gather your community in a way that feels meaningful to you.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/katina-mercadante/Follow Katina on Instagram: http://instagram.com/atinakaFollow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

Rachael Alaia joins me on the Belonging podcast for a potent and important conversation about facing an uncertain future in the midst of eco collapse, ecocide, and the grief and anxiety that comes with it. Many of us across the globe are experiencing more extreme weather and natural disasters (the fires here in California being just one example), and Rachael helps folx engage in body awareness, ecological sentience, and personal inquiry for personal planetary healing.Together we talk about the physiological response to trauma as a result of ecogrief, finding community to co-regulate and creating a plan for environmental disaster, how to feel safe coexisting with others despite trauma, examining our reality through Systems Thinking, and honoring enjoyment and pleasure in the midst of grief work.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/rachael-alaia/Follow Rachael on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachael.alaia/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

We're here in the witchy time of year—of thin veils, of the Great Hunt, Season of the Witch, and of the beginning of the darkening times here in the northern hemisphere. So in this episode of Belonging, I'm talking about Samhain and what this time of year meant for the ancestors.I'm digging into what it means to embrace the dark side of the year, I'm sharing some folkloric origins of Jack-o'-lanterns, trick or treating, and ancestral offerings, Samhain as the new year in Gaelic traditions, and the preparation this time offers us for the winter ahead.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/samhain-wild-hunt/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

My dear friend Lorena Aguirre joins me on the podcast today. Lorena has a very popular podcast in the Spanish-speaking world called Con Amor, Carajo! in which she addresses those living within a deeply Catholic, patriarchal existence to spread messages of feminism and empowerment to those who do not benefit from these systems.Together, we talk about what Lorena's experience was like as a woman in patriarchal Mexico, her connection with ancestors (or rather, what I'm sure many can relate to, guilt over a lack of connection with her ancestors), the importance of Día de Muertos, and Lorena's work with empowering other women.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/lorena-aguirre/Follow Lorena on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/descubremasdeti/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

Sarah Durham Wilson, Healer of the Maiden wound, talks about transitioning from Maiden to Mother archetype, unhealthy traits of each archetype, being 'unmothered,' healing unworthiness wound, and the impact of patriarchy, capitalism, and white supremacy on women's identities and power dynamics.

Today's episode of Belonging is a solo episode where I'm sharing my meditation journey! Meditation is something that has come in and out of my life throughout my journey of belonging. I don't consider myself a "master meditator" by any means, but lately, it's something that's felt really strong in my practice.So, I'm sharing the meditation practices and tools that have worked for me, plus a guided meditation that you can do right now.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/meditation/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

Erica Feldmann, owner of HausWitch, discusses the resistance of close community, the power of using the word 'witch', the importance of housework, and infusing magic into everyday tasks. They also explore the significance of the broom and challenge gender dynamics in domestic work.

I asked Nisha to join me today to talk about belonging in community. It's a big topic, but Nisha and I are in the same community. We used to live down the street from each other and we are in a circle of women that gather each month under the new moon. We’ve seen each other grow and change over the years, but have both been committed to creating meaningful and lasting community—no matter how hard and uncomfortable it can be. And, it turns out, it can be pretty uncomfortable to create healthy relationships, and it’s totally worth it.In our conversation, Nisha and I talk about what it means to be deep friends, how we can be more inclusive in our circles, how we can get our needs met in community, the collective vision of the village and how we can get back to that, how to navigate conflict in friendship and community, the importance of making agreements, and her journey into motherhood and how our current system doesn’t support mothers very well.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/nisha-moodley/Follow Nisha on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nishamoodley/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

I'm taking a turn as the one being interviewed in this episode of Belonging! I asked my friend, Julie Santiago, to interview me about my very recent decisions about social media and the role of Facebook and Instagram—particularly as it relates to my work. We talk about my recent decision to close a program I’ve been running for the past four years and what that has taught me and given way to in terms of the way we engage online.I wanted to give the real deal details of what I’ve been experiencing and thinking about, and I knew Julie would be the perfect person to help me share that. She herself had made the decision to close a Facebook group with over 40,000 people in it—and we definitely get into that as well. Plus, we're sharing ideas of what meaningful connection on social media could look like if we take a moment to slow the scroll and build more intentionality into what it is we're actually looking for when we pick up our phones.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/social-media-boundaries/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/

I’m so pleased to be sharing a conversation on the Belonging podcast with one of my all-time favorite writers, Sylvia Linsteadt.Sylvia's words have been a deep salve to my heart and sense of wonderment in this work of re-enchantment with the wild. She has such a deep understanding of the living land, a term I really appreciate. Because for so much of my life, I couldn’t see nature as alive and living. And, if I did, I would often feel scared.In my work of reconnecting to the land, Sylvia’s writing has been a boon of courage to my soul—particularly when engaging with the grief of loss and extinction of the wild. Her words have helped me look at it with a strong and resilient heart, and I’m just so thrilled to introduce you to her.In this conversation, we talk about so much! From finding + expressing deep connection to a place that is not ancestrally yours, to connecting to land through connecting to the animals, to navigating “fact” vs. ancestral knowing, to learning to trust your intuition when your mind has been colonized, to her work in Crete uncovering the ancient goddess-worshipping culture that once thrived there.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/sylvia-linsteadt/Follow Sylvia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sylviavlinsteadt/Follow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/