Kate Belew

Join us for a five-week creative coven with weekly gatherings, rituals, prompts, folklore, and stories about the autumn witches, their potent plants, and the poison path. Explore the crossroads, the realm of these stories, the liminal where magic is made.

Welcome to The Autumn Crossroads

As the wheel turned toward Autumn Equinox and Mabon, the storytellers gathered…

At the Autumn Crossroads magic is made. During this five-week series and program, Kristin and Kate hold space with you at the creative cauldron of fall. Gathering by the hearth, the lit candle, and Oak tree, we explore and tell the tales of the Autumn Witches, potent plants, folklore, and myth. 

These stories are fodder for your creative work. They are rituals to hold you in the shifting of the season as you descend into the underworld. They are offerings to leave as compost, to decay and make good soil as the wheel turns. The Autumn Crossroads is about gathering from our corners of the world to hold coven around these stories and support the telling of your own. 

Together we’ll celebrate the harvest, release that which is ready to fall from the trees of our life, offer gratitude, and celebrate autumn’s magick. We’ll gather Artemisia vulgaris in our arms, we’ll listen beyond the veil, we’ll rest in the cathedral of the Pine Tree, and we’ll listen to the ancient stories sung from the roots. Autumn has arrived, and so have you.

Our Schedule

Thursday, September 21st, 7:00-8:30 pm EST, The Dance: Maenads & Pine

Thursday, September 28th, 7:00-8:30 pm EST, The Eviction: Inanna & Date Palm

Thursday, October 5th, 7:00-8:30pm EST, The Cauldron: Cerridwen & Oak

Thursday, October 12th, 7:00-8:30pm EST, The Labyrinth: Ariadne & Mugwort

Thursday, October 19th, 7:00-8:30 pm EST, The Void: Nyx & Poppy

Week #1: The Dance: Maenads & Pine

In our first meeting at the Crossroads, we meet the Maenads, and their wands of Pine. 

Painted as lunatics and wicked women of the woods, the Maenads were followers of Dionysus, the Greek God of the Vine. In stories, this band of women possessed superhuman strength, fiery tresses, and lacked any stitch of self-control. The Maenads' frenzied dance both enticed and frightened uninitiated mortals, the people who’d never tasted the language of the moon. But to the outcasts, the wild ones, the people surrendering to their feral roots, the Maenads were not madwomen but messengers, sisters to witches, heathen guardians of the fairy tale forest. To them, movement was prayer, intoxicating and intuitive. In our first gathering at the Crossroads, a coven of dancing women beckons from a wooded haven. Dionysus prepares the harvest while his muses, the Maenads, writhe to the tune of madness. As the Maenads swirl in the forest with the madness of their dance and moon, their pine-tipped wands cast a spell. Pine is symbolically intertwined with the archetype of Peace, however, in the hands of the Maenads, Pine casts the spell of freedom. “We are most at peace when we are most ourselves,” they cackle. Pine is a wayfinding tree. Follow it’s tall stature to the center of the forest, where you’ll find shelter in the cathedral of their branches, held by the ancientness of dance and song.

Week #2: The Eviction: Inanna & Date Palm

In week two, in all her winged forms – the dove, the goose, the vulture, Inanna circles the earth. Both a bringer of light and a harbinger of death, Inanna’s white plumage reflects her celestial status. She is, after all, the moon god’s eldest child. In her cosmic form, the planet Venus, Inanna is our Morning Star and nighttime compass, Hesperus. Fluid and sensual, ancient poetry describes our Lady of the Largest Heart as a vessel for alchemy and sacred partnership. People call her their Battle Planner and Foe Smasher, but Inanna also tends to the land. In her wild garden, she speaks to willow trees and Date Palm. She whispers to the rivers; their Underworld currents swell and deliver. Inanna and the ancient date palm are stories grown from the same seed, fertility. For the ancient Sumerians, Inanna was the one who ensured that the dates would come to full abundance each cycle. And over time, it is believed that these ancient people had over 150 words for these plants and each of their parts, an honor through language. Dates are fertility magick. Dates were and are precious, small gems in the desert landscape of nutrients, magick, and support. As allies to the goddess Inanna, they line your pockets as we journey during the full moon, as the moon reflects on the sacred sands where they grow.

Week #3: The Cauldron: Cerridwen & Oak

This week, we travel, cradled within the arms of ancient oak trees, to a quiet lake called Bala. Beneath its enchanted waters, the Lady of the Lake stirs a potent potion. Poetry bubbles up from the deep, hymns to the moon, the mountains, and dedications to a boy with a radiant brow. Visions of a giantess ripple across the water, memories of a Crone-Mother, the keeper of an earthen cauldron. In our third gathering at the Crossroads, we meet Cerridwen of Wales. A goddess and guide, Cerridwen introduces us to her growing family. As we pack fresh oak beneath her cauldron, the goddess forages for sacred plants to inspire her latest batch of Awen, her most popular recipe. When the brew begins to bubble, Cerridwen reflects on the pursuit of our muses, alchemizing creativity, and what she’s learned from her adopted son, the bard Talisen. Oak is a tree of great strength, and in the garden of Cerridwen, a reminder of the ancient magick. As Cerridwen stirs her cauldron, the spirit of oak looks on, whispering spells into her ears. And if we listen carefully, we might learn a thing or two. For the Druids, oak was a holy tree. Oak was considered the King of Trees. Wands were made from its wood. Acorns gathered at night were said to be fertility charms, and magical practitioners listened to the rustling of oak leaves in divinatory practices.

Week #4: The Labyrinth: Ariadne & Mugwort

In week three, Ariadne reappears at the labyrinth’s threshold. With a spool of golden thread in her hands, the goddess leads us deep within the walls of the Minotaur’s lair. Her name translating to ‘holy’ Ariadne expertly navigates the maze of becoming. Tying together the threads of betrayal, redemption, and initiation, in our third gathering at the Crossroads, Ariadne unravels a story about monsters, mugwort, and harvesting mysteries from the lunar labyrinth. Mugwort is an expert traveler of the labyrinth and the underworld. Known for their intuitive properties, this Witching Herb and weedy and wild ally appears at the crossroads with messages from the other world. Put your ear to the earth of the Labyrinth, crowned in Mugwort, and connect with your wyrd and knowing self.

Week #5: The Void: Nyx & Poppy

Come week five, Nyx takes us back to the very beginning, to the formless crossroads of creation. A primordial Goddess of Night, Nyx is winged and chthonic. Held by the darkness, the endless void that is both feral and fertile, Nyx begins her life as a giant bird born from the swells of Chaos. In our final gathering at the Crossroads, led by the winds and the written word, Nyx shares a story about creation and cosmic force. Wreathed in poppies and draped in a starry cloak, the oracle shares a tale that spirals around the intent of stillness, dreams, and veiling the earth in her dark shades. Much like the Goddess, Poppy knows the path to the Underworld, and their roots reach deep into the void. Nourished by mysteries, Poppy arrives with stories of initiation, of cosmic birth, of beginnings and endings intertwined and linked together. Standing at the gate of Samhain, celebrate the dark. 

Exchange: 

$330

The cost of $330 for the five-week program includes five 90 minutes class, with recordings downloadable, five downloadable PDFs with rituals and prompts for extended study, a Slack Community & Coven to connect with other Autumn Witches around the tales, potent plants, magic, astrology, ritual, and storytelling (including Kristin & Kate). We prioritize making my offerings accessible. If you require assistance, please write us a message to explain your situation and we can work together to find a solution. A payment plan is available.

FAQ: 

DO I NEED TO ATTEND ALL WORKSHOPS LIVE?

No! This program is intended to support any schedule. Workshops can be listened to via recording. And you can tune into these workshops from any place as long as you have internet.

DO I HAVE ACCESS TO ALL MATERIALS FOREVER?

The Slack Channel will end with the program (2 weeks after closing), however, the prompts, exercises, and PDFs from workshops are yours to keep forever.

WHAT EXPERIENCE DO I NEED TO HAVE BEFORE JOINING? 

No experience needed! Just a love of stories and plant magic required. 

Testimonials from Previous Crossroads Classes

I loved the Spring Crossroads immensely. Every part was my favorite part. I loved the Goddesses and the plants, the stories, the journeys, and the writing. It was the best celebration of Spring I ever had. The Crossroads series is unique and I doubt anyone else does anything like this. It is so special. I would do this again in a heartbeat. Thank you. - V.

After a few months of not writing a single word, The Crossroads reinvigorated my joy in writing. I came to The Crossroads to reconnect with my own voice and with the goddess archetypes that make up this inner voice. I left feeling optimistic and grateful about my writing, art, and life in general. Thank you for being so thoughtful and caring when creating this sacred, creative space for us! - A.

This course was a little bit of everything, and I cannot recommend it enough if you’re looking to connect with your creativity and the spirit of the changing seasons! There were beautifully told stories, primers on medicinal herbs, structured writing prompts that made the blank page far less daunting, a little bit of magic, and a really supportive community. I am walking away from this 5 week course with prompts and rituals that I can revisit anytime I want, some really powerful personal reflections & poems, and a fresh, creative spark. I can’t wait to sign up for the next one! - S.

Kate and Kristin use their incredible gifts of storytelling and wisdom to build a safe and loving container for beautiful things to be made and shared at the crossroads. The experience energized my creative life. Each week I felt inspired to create something as I integrated what I’d learned through writing and other art forms. Members of the online community were welcoming and supportive. There was just enough structure to the program to be organized and allow for creative expression. As someone who understands deities as metaphors only, I felt welcome to understand the characters being presented in the way that works for me without any pressure to see them in any other way. Highly recommend this experience! - D.

The way that Kate and Kristin wove elements of writing, magick, myth and herbalism into a sinuous experience was on a level all of its own; it was refreshing and definitely fuel for that creative flow we all need to keep life spicy and enjoyable. I am thrilled at the prospect of attending another. - T.

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