“The Portal is Open…”

KarmaLove October 10, 2026

New Moon Blessings,

Michael and I just got back from two weeks away from home. We traveled to Spain with six of our Karma family members for a wonderful 10-day retreat. I appreciate our time together so very much. I always learn and grow on these retreats, because I fall in love with these people every time. They renew my faith in humanity and the world.

When the retreat ended, Michael and I went on by ourselves to England to celebrate Michael’s 50th birthday. Neither of us had been to England before, and we needed to complete our UK tour before we launch our Magdalena, Megaliths, and Magic tour in 2027. (It actually starts in France, and then we go to the UK.) Point is, we needed to go to England. This trip was “research.”

It did not disappoint. Chalice Well alone is reason enough for me to make a huge effort to get to England as often as I can. But there is so much more I love about this beautiful island. She reminds me of Durga, the Hindu deity who rides a tiger: all-powerful and fierce, yet so beautiful with her strong, gentle mother love. England the island, not the country of politics or social constructs, is protecting the magic and Spirit of the elementals, dragons, ancestors, and spirit walkers of the old ways. Absolutely there are faeries, unicorns, and mermaids, and the rabbit hole truly does exist. (I swear I saw a big white hare in the woods and followed it in to see where it went… it disappeared. And no, I wasn’t on anything 🙂

Atop Glastonbury Tor

We visited, sat with, touched, talked to, and meditated with so many magical stones, trees, chapels, cathedrals, wells, forests, barrows, abbeys, and hills that our spirits are filled to last a long time.

Katrina with her hand on an ancient standing stone

Listening to the old stones

Glastonbury Abbey

So we came back slightly altered. I consider it an upgrade. Our spirit batteries got supercharged! So we decided to switch things up a bit. Going forward, we are going to send out our newsletter on the new moon instead of the full moon. This might be a minor thing to you all, but for us the adjustment is a major energy shift. It feels more in alignment with what we want our newsletter to provide for our community. By tapping into the energy of the new moon, we can ride the rising tide of the waxing phase as the moon’s energy grows to its fullest. Then we can wane and coast down the descent of the moon’s energy back into its darkness, and percolate on what needs to rise up for the next round.

Moonrise over Wells Cathedral

A New Rhythm: As Above, So Below

Each newsletter will announce our new happenings and events for each new moonth cycle. Our videos have a different focus: they are more informative about our current events, plus they continue the astrological weather forecast.

We will use the seasonal reminders, nature’s behavior, and the collective energy to set a monthly intention or focus (a sangha sankalpa). In every newsletter we will also offer new tools to help bring your own sankalpa, or intention, into fullness each month. Just as the new moon becomes the full moon, so too can our seed intentions blossom into form.

We will offer ways to strengthen your daily sadhana (spiritual practice) with a moonthly mantra, pranayama, meditation, tarot card, crystal, asana, sutra, quote, and/or mudra, and so much more.

The focus is for us to work collectively, yet individually, with the seasons, Spirit, and our mental, emotional, and physical bodies to bring ourselves into harmony with the cosmic flow called Ritam. This balanced state of being is called Sattva.

This Moonth’s Sankalpa: Balance and Release

We just passed through the fall equinox, when nature returns to a balance of light and dark. Plus, this is a new moon in Libra (the balanced scales), so our intention, or sankalpa, for this time has a strong nudge toward finding balance.

Time is moving quickly, and now we are moving toward Samhain (pronounced SOW-in), which is very similar to Mexico’s Día de los Muertos. Samhain is the Celtic festival celebrated on October 31st. Over the centuries the Church folded it into All Hallows’ Eve, or Halloween, the night before All Saints’ Day on November 1st, followed by All Souls’ Day on November 2nd, the same days as Día de los Muertos. And to make things even more mysterious, the sun moves into Scorpio this month: the season of endings, transformation, merging of energy, death, and seduction.

Therefore, our intention this moonth is also about letting go, releasing, and surrendering, as well as finding balance. This is the time of year when plants and trees conserve their upward growth energy and send it to their roots and bulbs instead. Begin to deepen your roots and get grounded. Return to your hridayam (spiritual heart) for balance and steadiness, and at the same time let go of old patterns that are no longer useful. Be like the trees and shed your old leaves. Let those old beliefs, old habits, and unhealthy behaviors die away. They keep you from finding the magic that is afoot in this beautiful world.

Michael and Katrina in front of an ancient oak

Rooting in with an ancient oak

The balance is knowing what to release and how to deepen your roots. And let the death season do its thing: let something die away, and return to your sense of Spirit. Merge with your higher power. In fact, the balance is to walk between the two worlds. Fortify your physical strength and life force by starting to slow down and recharge your batteries. And refresh your spiritual practice by attuning to Great Spirit: meditation, meditation, meditation. Keep one foot in each plane of existence, one to grow strong, steady roots in the material world, and one to receive the cosmic downloads from the spiritual world.

Remember, this is the time when the veil is thin and lifts to let the spirit elementals roam among the mortal realm a little more easily. It is a great time to connect to the ancestors, and there are many beyond the last 50 years you might know of… you go way back, Dear Soul.

Connect to the ancestors who stood those giant stones on end at Stonehenge, or who built the Great Pyramids of Giza, or who traveled with Mary Magdalene across the ocean and countryside to protect the sacred teachings and knowledge. There are 10,000 ancestors standing behind you always. They are actively in the field, and they want to help. Just ask.

Stonehenge

Silbury Hill

And a reminder: it is also good practice to declare daily that only those energies for your highest good are allowed in your field. That declaration to the universe is heard and honored, and it keeps the nefarious energies away.

Make an Altar for the Ancestors

I always make an altar for my ancestors. In both the Samhain and Día de los Muertos traditions, this is a day to honor our loved ones and ask for their guidance. Although their absence might still hold a tender wound in our hearts, they appreciate the honoring, and it opens the portal a little more for them to communicate through the spirit ways. Come on, you saw Coco, and if you haven’t… it’s the perfect time. It’s sort of like that. Love is a powerful current.

Time to Make Soup for the Soul!

In the Samhain tradition, a harvest soup and “soul cakes” are offered to the ancestors (plus some for you and your peeps). Gather with your loved ones and set a place for the ancestors at the table or at their altar. Offer them some soup and a cake. Then share soup and stories and break bread with your loved ones. It brings healing medicine to all souls, living and past.

New Moon Ceremony

For this new moon energy (you are in it for the three days around the new moon), perhaps you can make a little fire in your chalice cup or in a fire pit outside, and offer the transformative fire some little seeds imbued with your intention, or sankalpa, for this Libra new moon. This is what I do:

I sage the area I am working in first. I surround myself with my crystals and sacred objects to help cultivate a ceremonial space or new moon altar. I try to have each of the elements represented at my altar: a candle for fire, a cup of water, a feather for air, and crystals or flowers for earth. I call in the four directions and ask the ancestors and my guides to offer their wisdom and protection. I use my drum to call the directions, but a rattle or bell would work too.

Then I often draw an oracle or tarot card for some additional messaging from Spirit. I sit quietly and listen to what comes up. Using this moonth’s sankalpa, I connect into where I might need more balance and what I would like to release or let go of. Next I direct my energy to my root, and also to my crown, tethering myself to both the earthly plane and the cosmic plane.

Then I offer my “seeds.” I like using rice, tobacco, or old garden seeds that I hold at my heart and imbue with my intention, and I offer them to the fire. I have a little fire pit in the backyard, but sometimes I use a little chalice cup with a tea light (see our video above). You could also include the sadhana practices below in your ceremony. Really, anything that feels intuitive and authentic to your heart is a good ceremony. Being present with your purpose and in integrity with your heart is what it is all about.

Your Libra New Moon Sadhana Toolkit

Each new moon we’ll gather a few simple tools to help carry your sankalpa from seed to blossom. This moonth’s focus: balance and release.

AT A GLANCE

~ Breath: Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing). 12 rounds each morning to balance your energies.

~ Mantra: Maha Mrityunjaya. 27 repetitions daily, about 10–15 minutes, to invoke Spirit’s guidance through death and rebirth.

~ Meditation: The Rainbow Bridge. 20–30 minutes to sit with your ancestors and guides while the veil is thin.

~ Sutra: Yoga Sutra 2.11. The obstacles of the mind dissolve through meditation.

~ Ritual: New Moon Fire Ceremony. Offer seeds of your intention to the fire (see above).

~ Seasonal Treat: Turmeric Roasted Pumpkin Seeds. The treat over the trick (see below).

Here’s how to work with each one.

Tool 1 · Breath: Nadi Shodhana

For my daily practice I like to use a pranayama called nadi shodhana to balance my energies. This breathwork is known as alternate nostril breathing. It’s fairly simple, toggling with the ring finger and thumb of your right hand:

1. Close off the right nostril with your thumb and breathe in deeply through the left.

2. Close off the left nostril with your ring finger and hold the breath at the third eye center.

3. Exhale through the right side.

4. Inhale through the right side, with the left side still closed.

5. Close off the right side and hold again at the third eye center.

6. Exhale through the left side.

That is one full round. Do twelve rounds when you wake up in the morning, on as many days of this moonth as you can.

Tool 2 · Mantra: Maha Mrityunjaya

I couple breathwork with mantra. A great mantra for this time is the Maha Mrityunjaya mantra. It is a longer mantra and more challenging to learn; you can hear us sing it in our video above, or look it up on YouTube. Try to sing it 27 times each day. It will take about 10–15 minutes.

It is about a cucumber or gourd that falls off the vine because it is heavy with ripeness. If it is not taken for food, it will die and decompose into the soil, and the seeds of the fruit will become the next vine to bear a gourd.

In other words, the death of something is the soil for the birth of a new thing. The mantra calls out to Tryambakam, which means the Three-Eyed One, or the All-Seeing One, another name for Shiva. This death-and-rebirth cycle of our souls, whether over many lifetimes or in the tiny deaths and rebirths of ourselves during this lifetime, is all under the watchful eye of Shiva (or, another name might be Source).

In other words, turn to Spirit to guide you to the natural flow of your life. The mantra will help invoke Spirit’s guidance, protection, and wisdom. There are many translations, but here is one I like:

Om Tryambakam Yajaamahe
Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
Urvaarukamiva Bandhanaat
Mrityor Mukshiya Maamritaat

Let me be liberated from bondage, from karma, from disease. Let me awaken, let me transform effortlessly, without resistance. (Translation: Sattva Connect)

Tool 3 · Meditation: The Rainbow Bridge

While the veil is thin, it’s an excellent time to work with your ancestors and spirit guides. I often walk over the “rainbow bridge” in my meditations to visit them.

I imagine I can walk from this world over into their world, and I sit down under a tree and invite them to join me. I wait patiently until someone comes to sit. Eventually one or a few arrive; almost always someone comes. I ask them for their guidance, protection, and wisdom, and then I sit quietly and wait. Sometimes I know them. Sometimes I do not. Sometimes we speak words. Sometimes it is just the comfort of their presence. Sometimes they give a gift. Sometimes I offer them one. I always remember to thank them for the visit and offer them my love, and then I walk back over the rainbow bridge and return to my physical form. I spend about 20–30 minutes in this meditation.

Tool 4 · Sutra for the Moonth

Yoga Sutra 2.11: Dhyana-heyas tad-vrttayah

Translation: The fluctuations of the mind caused by the kleshas (ignorance, ego, attachment, aversion, and fear of death) can be overcome by meditation.

In this sutra, Patanjali reminds us that our troubles are rooted in the mind, and the best way to bring ourselves back into balance or harmony is to meditate. Another way to say it: empty the mind of all its activity and sit in quietude. Peace will follow, because the troubling thoughts will dissolve back into their origin.

Lastly, Trick or Treat

I will leave you with a favorite treat you can make for the season. I always opt for the treat over the trick! When you carve your pumpkin, clean and dry the seeds (or buy some pumpkin seeds if you aren’t carving one). Toss them in a bowl with a generous amount of coconut oil, turmeric, and sea salt. Roast them on a tray in the oven at 325°F for about 25–30 minutes, stirring halfway through, and voilà! You have a healthy, delicious treat.

Blessed Be

I hope to see you at our own Samhain and Día de los Muertos Community Gathering at the studio on November 1st. I will make harvest soup for us to share, and there will be crafts, music, dancing, and much more. See below for more information.

Remember to kindle your own spirit and tap into your wondrous magic. Find balance and let go of what holds you back. Use meditation, breathwork, and mantra to dissolve the obstacles.

Much love,
Katrina

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