30 Day SOA Challenge – 1

Editor’s Note: This 30 Day Challenge will run in weekly segments with 5 days per segment. Each subsequent segment will be linked to the previous one.

THE SOA 30 DAY CHALLENGE

Introduction and Days 1-5

By Robin Corak

 Once upon a time, many many years ago, I joined the Sisterhood of Avalon. This, my friends, was before the days of Sisterspace and The Isle. While I didn’t have to walk ten miles in the snow each way to get to school, I did have to deal with the rudimentary dreaded technological beast known as Yahoo Groups. This was also before Jhenah’s book Avalon Within came out. I was initially overwhelmed when I joined. There was soooo much to learn. How would I ever learn it all? Where should I start?

Flash forward 16 years later and while there is always more to learn, I have accumulated a great deal of knowledge about the Avalonian Tradition and its tools. I have attended Quests, Intensives, Pilgrimages and one year of Seminary. Yet, with all of this information, I can still get overwhelmed, albeit in a different way. While Avalon is always in my heart and typically in the back of my mind in some way at all times, I sometimes neglect to use the tools and information I have learned. Maybe because there are so many to choose from. Throughout this past station of Confrontation, I have begun thinking that perhaps I needed to pause for a minute and take some time to go back to my Avalonian roots. But where to start?

Then Awen hit! The other day I was listening to an old podcast wherein two of the guests were talking about the 30-day Witchcraft Challenge that they had created. The seeds for a structured method of reconnecting with all things Avalon were planted and the 30 Day SOA Challenge was born. Each day in the list below contains an activity designed to help you get back to immerse yourself in what the Sisterhood of Avalon and Avalonian tradition have to offer and/or get back to your roots with some foundational activities. The activities are ones I came up with for myself, and they don’t have to be done in any particular order. I have entitled this to be the 30 Day SOA Challenge but in truth, there are 31 days to allow for a day of integration.

Most of the information for the tools and activities in the 30 Day Challenge can be accessed on The Isle, and in publications including Avalon Within, The Avalonian Oracle, and The Kybalion which can be currently found in book form on Amazon for as low as $4. There are also a variety of websites which give you free access to the principles outlined in The Kybalion. You may want to consider using a blank journal to record your experiences over the next 31 days. This may later evolve into your very own SOA Grimoire.

Day 1: Journey to Avalon. Do an imram to the Isle of Avalon. You can do this on our own or you can use the structured written or recorded imram produced by the SOA. If you are not doing a structured journey, you can simply chat with your guide, visit the parts of the island that you love most and/or explore new parts of the Island. If you are new to imramma, pay attention to what you experience using all five of your senses. If you have journeyed before, what is different about Avalon as compared to your previous journeys?

Day 2: Goddess Challenge – Rhiannon. If the goddesses had social media, it would be so much easier to connect with them! But alas we will have to do this old school style. Start by reading Rhiannon’s myth in The Mabionogion. Then take some time to commune with her and get to know her. Finally, do something in honor of her. Sing and/or write a chant, make a piece of art, cook a meal with foods you think she would like, make a goddess doll, make bath salts with oils and herbs associated with her, make a playlist for her, wear an outfit that reminds you of her…the possibilities are endless!

Day 3: Avalonian Oracle. Pull a card from the Avalonian Oracle deck and spend some time meditating on its meaning. Or, do a reading from the oracle to help gain insight into a personal situation.

Day 4: SOA Playlist. Create a playlist of songs that remind you of the SOA. These can be chants found on The Isle and/or other music that resonates for you. Spend some time at your altar or in other spiritual or self-care activities listening to the playlist. SOA music chants and playlists created by other sisters can be found on The Isle under the music tab.

Day 5: Trance Posture. Try your hand at one of the Avalonian trance postures. The trance postures can be found on The Isle under the files and forms tab.  Be sure to journal about your experience once you have attempted the posture.