2. Retreat with the Moon

Glimpses of my intentional writing retreat immersed in nature during a full lunar phase.

Blog overview: Womb Portal // Purpose Reignited // Moon Magic

Have you ever grounded into one location for a full cycle of the Moon?

Can you imagine 37 days of no electronics, no appliances, no distractions?

Ever eliminate time and move in flow with the elements, in tune with Gaia’s breath?

Well, that was my life earlier this Summer. With two boxes of food and supplies, Captain Willie boated me to my destination: a secret vortex on the Hawaiian Islands that I cannot disclose. For ease and grace, let’s agree to call this place Laukala.

Along with a wienerdog stuffie named Buddy as my companion (think: Tom Hanks’ volleyball friend ~Wilson~ from Cast Away), crystals and sage as offerings, and a binder with 200+ pages of my fantasy-fiction rough draft, I embarked on a pilgrimage. For 37 days, I slept in a hammock alongside a rock wall indented with a cave, cooked food on a fire, walked barefoot 24/7, let my naked skin feel the wind and waters, and witnessed the magic that ensues when one plants a seed and nurtures the growth of new life.

(Dats me! The only time I used my phone for 5 weeks.)

No, this was not an epic tale of survival. I was not snaring pigs nor using tactical skills to orient the land. There was no lack of lighters to start an evening fire and I had no deep gashes that required fish bone stitches. My adventure during this retreat from noise, distractions, clocks, ticks, clicks….from the bore, gore, and familiar sea shores was cushier than you may be currently imagining. I ate abundantly from the supplies I boated in, which were bolstered by harvestings of two pumpkins, a rack of coconuts, noni, kalo (taro), lilikoi and guava galore, watercress, cherry tomatoes, a few of the last fallen mangos, lemongrass, mint, lemons and limes, an orange, cassava, and bananas – of the sweet, yellow and green cooking variety. Other campers were in my vicinity, so I was not starved of companionship when I yearned for conversation . And there was even a compost toilet. All my needs were met, and then some.

You may be wondering what made these five weeks of camping at Laukala so life-changing? There are countless souls who have retreated into nature for respite and recalibration, so what makes my journey so interesting?

Posing this question feels quite daunting considering the infinite layers and stories bound to unraveling such a miracle, but you have my commitment to reveal the purity and essence of this journey, as well as how it intertwines with my life’s destiny.

First and foremost, I felt the call and answered.

The “call” was Laukala’s request for a visitation. I felt Laukala beckon me home, back to her sacred streams to bask in all my efforts of shedding and rebirth since I last journeyed to Laukala in the Summer of 2020.

A series of intuitions, synchronicities, and symbols guided me back to my homeland, from owl sightings to pulling Oracle cards that foretold of my pilgrimage. One particular card from the “Mana Cards - The Power of Hawaiian Wisdom” consistency made an appearance, confirming my suspicions of Laukala’s beckoning.

(“Interpretation: . You may be required to make a pilgrimage to your place of power. You might need to allow the gentle pull of Haumea to direct you to where you need to be. Pay attention to your inner impulses, shifts in the wind, or any subtle changes in your surrounding. These may be the call of Haumea, attempting to guide you to the place you need to be to restore your connection with her unlimited sustenance and abundance.” )

Once I received this guidance, I knew to my core that I was in for yet another pivotal transformation. In the Summer of 2020, this particular parcel of paradise gave me my purpose, the dragonflies delivering the prophesy. Laukala instructed me to write a book about dragons, the main character named after a 5-year-old called Balisan (who I met camping in Laukala with his mother).

And that was it. That was all the instructions Laukala gave me.

Two years later,

• after starting, dropping, and restarting my work,

• studying the art of novel writing w/ free online courses,

• maintaining a log of ideas,

• and simply winging it, writing chapter by chapter with no clear outline

I finished channeling the first draft, Phase 1.

Laukala summoned me back as I simultaneously finished a FREE 5-month stay at a bus along the Big Island coastline. With no attachments to a home, I embarked on my soul journey. I proudly printed, bound, and delivered the recently completed project to Laukala with the intention of reading the draft and beginning Phase 2: first draft edit.

I arrived at Laukala days before the New Moon, a most relevant and crucial layer of the pilgrimage. This was the first time in my life that I made spaciousness to intimately commune with the Moon for a full cycle. As a woman with a womb who has for far too long shamed her menstrual cycle, her Moon, I gained immense healing from this natural reset and reclaimed the magic that is available by attuning with the rhythms of the Moon’s feminine mysteries.

(There is a reason that in so many “civilized and advanced” patriarchal cultures SHAME is a common theme tied to the crimson blood of release, meant to disempower, numb, and make dirty the natural shedding process women experience, a process that connects us with our womb portal, our creatrix energy, our magic.)

On that dark, starry night, I set specific personal goals. Less is more was my mantra, so I distilled my intentions to concise and clear goals:

• Read the novel aloud to Laukala

• Edit all 18 chapters (take a pulse, make notations around character flaws, note lulls, and list out questions that will make the plot more fantastical, meaningful, and sensical)

• Practice stillness and silence

• Relish in the beauty of the land

There I was, alone in paradise for 37 days on a writer’s retreat, reading all 200 pages aloud to towering sea cave walls, a tribe of birds that routinely searched my camp for food scraps, layers of imaginative clouds reflecting the setting Sun, and tree branches ablaze in a ceremony of transformation.

By the Full Moon, I edited all 18 chapters, seeing the New Moon’s intentions come to fruition. To create balance and flow, I maintained a disciplined morning routine, as I always do, to make myself radically available to Spirit. I opened the editing portal for two consecutive days followed by one day of rest and play.

Editing days were arduous and hot sitting on a chair made from massive flat rocks or on my yoga mat leaning against a tree, hiding in patches of shade beneath the False Kamani canopy. I took breaks bathing in a 30’ waterfall or went for a naked dip in the ocean, rolling in the sand, washing away stagnation and tire. Usually, I drank a strong matcha to keep the creative juices flowing, editing two chapters a day, which usually lasted from late morning to pre-sunset. With no ability or desire to track the time, I became remarkably acquainted with the Sun’s position, which helped remind me of lunch since I was so absorbed with my work and often forgot to nourish myself.

Though for most of my life I have been remarkably out of tune with Moon magic and without guidance to even know my womb is connected to her, I’ve been gradually practicing ritual in the darkness of the New Moon void and in the brilliance of the bright Full Moon light. To do so in Laukala, where so little was in my field, where I was in such stillness and silence, was in itself an awakening. I synced up with the natural rhythms of the elements, the cycles, the seasons. My whole-self trinity (Mother – Father – Child) gave me direct guidance and codes through such miraculous synchronicities. Essentially, I felt high on the ancestral wisdom available, peeling away layers of conditioned identities that hooked me into false timelines, and reclaimed my immense power, my immense ability to design a life of bliss and peace, my immense presence and acceptance of the version on ME I was so blessed to meet each new day.

To many caught in the hustle and bustle of wake, shit, work, eat, then sleep, this may seem a bit frivolous, but in fact, these kinds of resets are very much foundational. Building in rest - real rest, which involves no podcasts, reading, TV, or even writing, playing, or exercising – is not easily attainable for those who are conditioned to believe they are never “doing” enough, a belief that inherently denies our worthiness, our enoughness. Based on who’s standards, huh??? To whom are we to compare ourselves?

Okay, tangent, but still it’s vital we discuss these topics!

All that said, the main point I want to stress is that Laukala is a most sentient, conscious, and unique being. She called me back to reset my nervous system, realign my womb with the Moon, and connect more passionately with my life’s purpose, the novel, which she gifted me.

When the land gives you a mission, even a task of inconceivable proportions, you lean in. You listen to that wisdom and the mysterious realms of multidimensionality because ultimately it’s leading to greater fulfillment, especially when that uplevel is asking you to shed old stories and versions of yourself.

It is an act of service to fulfill my destiny, one I happily take on regardless of the challenges involved. I serve the Truth of Oneness and aim to transmit the intricate subtleties of Spirit through the novel series. I’m winging it, but deep in my core I know that the book is writing itself, whether or not I fully understand how exactly it’s happening!

First day out of Laukala, wearing my hoku lei & eating a fingerling lime.

As I progress with this blog, I will share more about my experience of letting go of the safety net of conformity and leaning into my guidance, even when I seem to be totally off my rocker! I hope this inspires you to do the same, in whatever form you desire. Remember, you are, after all, a sovereign being. No one is ever making you do something. No economic status, no government agency, no boss or job, nor social standing can make you do something you do not want to do. Reclaim your creatrix energy and make the necessary shifts so that your life looks and feels the way you want it! Let others project their discomfort. Straying off the beaten path takes courage, but the more you confidently embody your purpose (for you!), the more truthful you are with your words, the more likely others will do the same.

That's the world I want to live in, at least.

If you want to continue to track my story, subscribe to get updates on new blog releases.

In the name of Love and Light,

Peace and bliss be with us!

Love yours,

Riddle