Authoritarianism in our relationships - Witchy Sh!t Taurus New Moon 2026
Resources for (re)connection to Self, community, the planet, the cosmos
I posted in a note the other day that I’m in another liminal/transitional space. And really, when are any of us not in a space of inbetween and transition? I still don’t know what it all means, or how it will all unfold. I only know that some of the “old” ways are not working for me and something new is trying to come to life
We’re all ever evolving, if we allow ourselves to be. We’re all ever changing, whether we like that or not.
If we allow ourselves to be, we are constantly learning and unlearning, healing and being hurt, evolving and devolving. The older I get the more I notice the rhythm or pattern of this for me personally and I also see it with my long term clients. Certain times of year bring a different energy, different anniversaries of various kinds, different celebrations. The weather changes, our moods and motivation changes. The planets change alignment and so do we.
Slowing down and connecting to the rhythms of the earth, sun, moon, and stars, as well as our own internal rhythms and how they all connect is a practice and a process. It is also an invitation : to connection, to authenticity, to agency, to autonomy, to interdependence, to vulnerability, honesty, growth.
As spring has sprung where I live I notice I don’t want to be inside. I don’t want to be on my laptop. I don’t want the tv on. I want to be out in the yard, picking away at the half million projects I have created for myself. I want to talk to the trees, bushes, flowers that are growing and to the birds, squirrels, and bunnies that come visit. I am feeling at peace as I work with the land in a way I don’t know if I ever have. I’m moving in directions and developing interests in things I never would have thought I’d be interested in. Part of this is the sun is out and it is energizing me, part of it is the internal work I have done so I could come into relationship with the land in this way, part of it is probably I am now a woman of a Certain Age and am ready to live in my little cottage off in the woods.
The internal work of being able to be in relationship with the earth has been a vital and prominent piece though. This has required even deeper curiosity and investigation as to how the ideas of authority, hierarchies, and domination were and are still living in my body and mind. It has required peeling back even more layers of my own indoctrination under the systems of harm, as well as how my own trauma has kept me complicit and compliant.
Looking at all the various ways we each stay trapped in capitalism/white supremacy/patriarchy is intense work and it never ends. I’m noticing more of the ways I have been continuing to be compliant and complicit to the systems of harm and have started my small steps of change in those areas. (I’ll share some of those in a separate post soon)
Being curious and questioning WHY we do a thing is the vital first step. Sometimes we can’t do different because of resources and logistics, and even then I would invite us all to consider what is the next tiny step from disengaging from the systems and taking that time and energy and instead focusing on our relationships (of all kinds, human and nonhuman alike). Noticing the things we do because we’ve always done them, or our family always has, or it’s the current trend, or everyone else seems to be doing it and then taking the time to ask why and if doing these things is actually nurturing or nourishing, how it may be causing harm (to ourselves, others, or the planet). Considering if the thing is actually necessary, who it serves and how, is all part of our individual and collective learning and unlearning.
Everything we do has an impact and consequence. Sometimes those impacts and consequences are helpful, regenerative, nourishing, healing. Sometimes they are not, and infact, intentional or not, can cause great harm.
Often we don’t think about the greater impact of some of our smaller actions. We don’t consider what all is necessary for our own comfort or sense of safeness. We don’t slow down, we don’t question, we don’t look beyond our immediate gratification or moment.
Authoritarianism didn’t develop out of thin air. It didn’t magically show up out of nowhere in the last few years. It has been growing for decades, if not centuries. It has been creeping into our everyday lives in the most insidious ways. It has us prioritizing comfort over connection, individualism and meritocracy over interdepence and symbiosis, competition over collaboration, being “right” and or “good” over accountability, growth, and change.
We all utilize the “master’s tools” in a variety of ways every day. Often we do this unconsciously, or unintentionally. Even so, we are utilizing these tools. We may say we are doing for the other person’s own good, or to make ourselves feel better about ourselves, or we may not think about it at all, and just be doing the work of the systems of harm without question.
Doing the work of questioning in and of itself goes against the status quo and is revolutionary. Curiosity is now one of our most powerful tools to fight against the systems of harm and to co-create a world where we are all nurtured, nourished, supported, and loved. Assumptions are the opposite and detriment to curiosity. Assumptions about ourselves or others. Assumptions about how something has “alwasy been or been done this way”. Assumptions about other’s intentions. Assumptions about our own importance, righteousness, correctness.
I have said for years, if not decades now, we need to be doing the inner work in tandum with our outer work. That being involved in social justice or revolutionary groups or movements isn’t enough, because there is always infighting, always internal conflict, always the utilization and compliance to the authoritarian playbook in the name of creating something different.
Shame, manipulation, coercion, meritocracy, hierarchy, projection are all tools of the systems of harm and I have witnessed them all played out in anti-establishment, social justice, transformative justice, and revolutionary spaces. Time and again the souls and intentions of the people involved are to break down the systems of harm and to create a new and different world, and yet because they have not done the internal work necessary are only complying to the systems of harm.
How can we expect the new ancient world to be different, to be free from hierarchies, harm, abuse, shame, when we are utilizing those very tools in our daily lives and relationships, be they at home or at work or just out in the world? How can we expect to co-create an egalitarian society when we still use domination and intimidation in our relationships to each other, to the land? How can we expect to have a world where we are all seen, accepted, supported, and celebrated, when we are still putting some people up on pedestals and demonizing others? How can we expect to be cared for, supported, to have reciprocal loving relationsihps relationships when we are acting from our own childhood wounding and emotional immaturity?
Our social conditioning and indoctrination runs deep. It shows up in so many small and insidious ways, often we don’t even notice it. But begin to notice we must do, and part of being able to notice is to start asking why we do what we do, and who it ultimately benefits. This is a practice in our own nonjudgement and compassion towards ourselves, while also holding ourselves accountable for our own choices and actions. It is not about shame or being “bad” or “wrong”. It is about being curious and learning how we are still complicit and compliant to the systems of harm so that we can unlearn those ways of being, and begin implementing ways of being that are more congruent and in alignment with our humanity and soul.
If you would like to learn more about me and my work, you can check out my About page here.
If you are interested in working with me 1:1 and explore the ways you are in relationship and change harmful patterns, please click the link below (in the Ways for us to connect section) or DM me directly to request a free 30-minute consultation to see if we are a good fit.
If your organization may benefit from some “family therapy”, helping seek out the ways members and or the organization itself may be utilizing the tools of the systems of harm and to find and implement new ways of being more in alignment with your organizations values, please reach out as I am currently developing a program to do just that!
As Pluto is currently retrograde in my third house, and Uranus just entered my seventh, how I am approaching this space and others is evolving. Witchy Sh!t, and our connection to the rhythms of other parts of nature are still an important part of this, however this is also evolving and shifting. I’m still feeling it all out and I don’t know where it is all going just yet, so stay tuned!
Resources
Lunar and solar cycles (all times are Pacific Daylight Time) :
May 16, 1:01pm : Taurus New Moon, 25°57’
May 20, 5:37pm : Sun enters Gemini
May 23, 4:10am : First quarter moon (moon in Virgo, sun in Gemini), 2°21’ (this is also the 3/4 moon of the Virgo moon cycle begun in August 2025)
Working with the upcoming luminary aspects:
This Taurus new moon is about new beginnings, and it is also about recognizing what needs to change. With Mercury cazimi just a few days before in Taurus, we are being invited to intentionally and deeply listen to our bodies, to what they are telling us about what we need, what we want, and what doesn’t work for us anymore. This new moon invites us to plant those seeds of change and to consider the resources we need to facilitate those changes.
The quarter moon on May 23 is an opportunity to reflect back on the intentions and seeds planted in August 2025 with the Virgo New Moon and to consider and reflect on what hasn’t worked, what you may need to change, and how your own wants and needs have changed since then to prepare for your work with the next Virgo New Moon in September.
Embodiment Exercise : Jaw Tap
Place your fingertips on your jawline and gently tap, from ears to chin, cheekbone to jawbone. You can tap in unison or alternate sides, whatever feels good and right to you. Tap as gentle or as firm, as fast or as slow as feels right.
Reconnection Exercise : Thanking the land
Go to your favorite spot outside, could be in your yard if you have one, at a park, on a trail, at the beach, wherever. Stand or sit quietly for a moment, noticing your own body, the air, the colors, the texture of the ground and the plants around you. See how you feel the land, how your own body responds to being quiet in that spot. Then, quietly in your heart and mind, or out loud, thank the land for all it gives you/us. Notice what happens around you as you send this gratitude, notice how your body responds.
Self Exploration Inquiries
Where does shame live in your body? What does it feel like?
What situations and or relationships make you feel defensive? What would is being poked at in those moments?
How do you project your own insecurities on others?
How does it feel in your body to make a mistake or be wrong?
How do you focus on what others are doing “wrong”, instead of focusing on why it bothers you?
When people do something you don’t like, but isn’t actually harmful, how do you react?
If you benefit from my work, I invite you to become a paid subscriber, as an act of reciprocity and to create balance and help eliminate extractration culture.
Ways for us to connect
Soothe Your Nervous System Card Deck
Individual Sessions (I currently have a few bi-weekly and weekly spots available and sliding scale options are also available. If you are interested in working with me, you can either dm me here, email me at raimondi dot gwynn at gmail dot com, or fill out the consultation request form found here (be sure to confirm the subscription!) to request a free 30-minute consultation to see if we are a good fit.) You can also learn more here.
Embodied Relating Practice Group. A new offering for paid subscribers, meeting two to three times per month, focusing on somatics, embodiment, natural rhythms, reconnecting to intuition, ancestral connection, boundaries, grief metabolization, and collective and individual healing, (r)evolution, and connection. Details, including dates and general itinerary for each gathering, coming soon.
Family Therapy for Organizations and Communities . A program for organizations to work with me to examine they ways they may be utilizing the tools of the systems of harm and to work with staff to help alleviate conflict and co-create a more nurturing and nourishing environment to help align internal culture with the values and work of change the organization is striving for.
Ancestral Healing & Journeying Work - (Re)Connecting to who we were before whiteness. Individual sessions to find reconnection with your ancesters, healing ancestral curses/processing ancestral trauma, and nourishing our ancestral strength and wisdom. If this kind of work interests you, I invite you to reach out so we can set up a 30-minute free consultation to discuss what this work could look like for you by emailing me at raimondi dot gwynn at gmail dot com with “Ancestral Connection Inquiry” in the subject line. You can also learn more here.
*Please note I am slowly moving away from social media. The best way to connect with me and my work is right here.
Recent Writings & Posts
Recent Writings & Posts
Inevitable change : From the archives (April 2021)