Sage in the Sky

The Spiritual Meaning of Wanting to Disappear

In this episode: the fantasy of disappearing, the croft, the city no one knows you in, the apps deleted and why so many capable women carry it quietly. The Eight ofCups as recognition, not avoidance. The taen-awa tradition in Scottish folklore and what the old stories knew that modern self-help has forgotten. The selkie wife, properly read. And most importantly, how to tell the differencebetween the soul signalling it needs to leave and the ego fleeing from accountability. Three questions to sit with at the end. Mentioned in the episode: — The Threshold Spread (free): sageinthesky.com [https://sageinthesky.com/pages/the-threshold-tarot-spread] — Shadow Map readings: sageinthesky.com [https://sageinthesky.com/pages/the-shadow-map] — The Lantern Letters newsletter: sageinthesky.com [https://sageinthesky.com/pages/lantern-letters] If you found this episode useful, the kindest thing you can do is share it with one woman you think might recognise herself in it. The work travels by word of mouth, and I am grateful for every listener who passes it on.

Tam Lin & The Woman Who Held On

She didn't save him because she was strong. She saved him because she had decided. In this episode of Sage in the Sky, we step into Carterhaugh, the haunted Border woodland of one of Scotland's oldest ballads, to meet Janet. The young woman who trespasses, desires, conceives, plans, and ultimately rescues her lover Tam Lin from the Fairy Queen by holding him fast through every terrifying transformation. Snake. Bear. Lion. Red-hot iron. Burning coal. She does not let go. This episode is for every woman who has watched something she loves shift shape in her arms and for every woman who is learning to hold on to her own truth when the world is trying very hard to make her let it go. In this episode, we explore:~ The full ballad of Tam Lin — the trespass, the double rose, the pregnancy, the Halloween rescue at Miles Cross~ Janet as the rare medieval heroine who is the rescuer rather than the rescued~ The five transformations as a map of how our own truth shape-shifts under external pressure — the snake of doubt, the bear of fear, the lion of rage, the iron of pain, the coal of erasure~ The psychological difference between secure holding and anxious gripping~ Attachment theory and the secure base — what it means to be the unchanging centre while something changes in your arms~ The green mantle — how Janet brings what she's held back inside the boundary of her own selfhood~ A 12–15 minute guided practice for working with what you have been holding Have your journal ready. Trust what arrives. ~ Carrie 🌿 Shadow Map Reading [https://sageinthesky.com/pages/the-shadow-map] — a one-to-one tarot session for the woman ready to map her own inner landscape and find what's been calling to be held. Book at sageinthesky.com 🌿 The Threshold Tarot Spread [https://sageinthesky.com/pages/the-threshold-tarot-spread] — a free five-card spread for the woman who already knows and is learning to trust it. Download at sageinthesky.com Visit www.sageinthesky.com [https://www.sageinthesky.com] for more magicFollow on Instagram @sage_inthe_sky [https://instagram.com/sage_inthe_sky]Subscribe to the Lantern Letters [https://sageinthesky.com/pages/lantern-letters] — a free weekly reflection on shadow work, tarot, and Scottish folklore, sent every Sunday. Sign up at sageinthesky.com Share it with a woman who needs it. Screenshot your favourite moment and tag me on Instagram — I'd love to hear what landed for you. If you enjoy the podcast, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women find this work, and I'm deeply grateful for every one.

The Golden Shadow ~ What You've Hidden That Isn't Dark

In this episode we explore the golden shadow, the Jungian concept of the gifts and positive qualities we've suppressed, not because they were shameful, but because they were too much for the rooms we grew up in. Using the Celtic myth of Lugh Samildanach, the 'Many-Skilled One' who was told 'we have no need of you' at the gates of Tara, again and again, for every gift he offered, we explore what it means to stop leaving parts of yourself outside, to claim the fullness of who you are, and to stop being your own gatekeeper. ~At the Threshold [https://sageinthesky.com/products/shadow-work-starter-pack] ~ self-guided shadow work resource, £11 ~ Shadow Map Reading [https://sageinthesky.com/pages/the-shadow-map] ~ Subscribe to the Lantern Letters [https://sageinthesky.com/pages/lantern-letters] ~ free weekly reflections

What Your Triggers Are Really Telling You

That flare of anger that doesn't match the moment. The tightness in your chest when someone says something small and your whole body lights up. The reaction you can't explain and can't stop. Your triggers are not proof that something is wrong with you. They are messengers. And the message is always the same: there is something here that still needs your attention. In this episode, we explore triggers not as malfunctions but as doorways, fierce, ancient signals from the shadow, carrying information about the parts of yourself that were hidden away long ago and are ready, now, to come home. We return to the selkie myth — entering the story from a new door this time — to explore what the stolen sealskin teaches us about the parts of ourselves we suppress, and what it means when a trigger brings them rushing back to the surface. We also meet the Glaistig, the half-woman, half-goat guardian spirit of the Scottish Highlands, and ask: what if your triggers are protecting something precious, not punishing you for feeling too much? In this episode, we explore: ~ The psychology of triggers — what disproportionate reactions actually reveal, and the four deeper themes they almost always connect to~ Carl Jung and the shadow — how triggers and projection are intertwined, and why what irritates you most in others often points to what you've disowned in yourself~ The selkie's hidden skin — a Scottish myth about what happens when the thing that was taken from you is finally found~ The Glaistig's bargain — a Highland folklore figure who teaches us what triggers are fiercely guarding, and the cost of ignoring them~ The neuroscience of naming — how putting feelings into words calms the brain's alarm system~ The five questions every trigger is really asking you This episode includes a guided practical exercise — The Trigger Journal — a seven-day written practice to help you decode the messages your triggers carry. Best done with a journal and an open heart. Have your journal ready. Trust what arrives. ~ Carrie 🌿 Shadow Map Reading — a one-to-one intuitive session using tarot and conversation to map the shadow material active in your life right now. Book at sageinthesky.com [https://sageinthesky.com/pages/the-shadow-map] 🌿 At the Threshold — a self-guided shadow work resource for women who want to go deeper privately, at their own pace. £11 at sageinthesky.com [https://sageinthesky.com/products/shadow-work-starter-pack] Visit www.sageinthesky.com [http://www.sageinthesky.com] for more magicFollow on Instagram @sage_inthe_sky [https://www.instagram.com/sage_inthe_sky]Subscribe to the Lantern Letters — a free weekly reflection on shadow work, tarot, and Scottish folklore, sent every Sunday. Sign up at sageinthesky.com [https://sageinthesky.com/pages/lantern-letters] Share it with a woman who needs it. Screenshot your favourite moment and tag me on Instagram — I'd love to hear what landed for you. If you enjoy the podcast, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women find this work, and I'm deeply grateful for every one.

The Cailleach & the Shadow of Winter

She didn't freeze you to punish you. She froze you to protect you. In this deep, mythic episode of Sage in the Sky, we journey into the heart of Scottish folklore to meet the Cailleach — the Veiled One, the Queen of Winter, the oldest goddess in the Celtic world. She is the blue-skinned giantess who shaped Scotland's mountains with her creel, who washed her great plaid in the Corryvreckan whirlpool to bring the first snow, and who held the land in frozen stillness so that something deeper could survive. But the Cailleach is more than a myth. She is a mirror for the parts of ourselves we have put into cold storage — the grief, the anger, the desire, the truth we almost spoke and then didn't. The parts we froze because we couldn't carry them. The parts that are ready, now, to begin thawing. In this episode, we explore: ~ The mythology of the Cailleach — her origins, her landscape, and her role as keeper of the frozen ground~ Tigh nam Bodach — the only surviving shrine to the Cailleach in Britain, and the ancient ritual that has been performed there for thousands of years~ The story of Bride and the brown fleece — the impossible task, Father Winter, and what the snowdrops really mean~ The myth of Angus and Bride — how spring breaks through despite winter's fury~ The Well of Youth — what renewal actually asks of us when we stand at the threshold, alone, in the dark~ Shadow work as the deliberate act of letting the frozen parts return~ The Cailleachan — the storm hags of spring, and why resistance is part of the thaw This episode also includes a 15-minute guided visualisation, in which you are taken into Glen Cailliche to meet the Cailleach at her shrine, receive back what has been held for you, and witness the Well of Youth. Best experienced with eyes closed and a journal nearby. Have your journal ready. Trust what arrives. ~ Carrie 🌿 The Threshold Tarot Spread — a free five-card spread for the woman who already knows and is learning to trust it. Download at sageinthesky.com [https://sageinthesky.com/pages/the-threshold-tarot-spread] 🌿 At the Threshold — a self-guided shadow work resource for women who want to go deeper privately, at their own pace. £11 at sageinthesky.com [https://sageinthesky.com/products/shadow-work-starter-pack] Visit www.sageinthesky.com [https://www.sageinthesky.com] for more magicFollow on Instagram @sage_inthe_sky [https://instagram.com/sage_inthe_sky]Subscribe to the Lantern Letters [https://sageinthesky.com/pages/lantern-letters] — a free weekly reflection on shadow work, tarot, and Scottish folklore, sent every Sunday. Sign up at sageinthesky.com Share it with a woman who needs it. Screenshot your favourite moment and tag me on Instagram — I'd love to hear what landed for you. If you enjoy the podcast, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women find this work, and I'm deeply grateful for every one.