Hello, my dears -

Welcome to the Gregorian Calendar New Year. We made it to 2026.

Some of you may be hating on 2025 right now. I mean, fair. It sure was hard at times. But what a lot of beauty, too, heh?

I've heard a few people say they're ready to be done with 2026 already. That doesn't seem quite fair. We haven't even given it a chance yet and I have this sense that big changes are in store.

Hopefully, none of you have been hating on yourselves.

I'll offer my gentle yearly reminders:

• there is nothing you can do or not do that will make you any less fundamentally worthy of love. read it again if you need to.
• "New Year, New Me" is disposable consumerism wrapped in self-development language - stop throwing your past self under the bus. It's taken immense amounts of courage and strength to get here. Integrate your past self, grow alongside your past self. All versions of you deserve to be treated as if you're a wild, precious thing and not disposable in the least.
• progress isn't always linear. You don't have to "move ahead", "leave it all behind", be "more", etc in any way shape or form. Although the new solar year technically began at winter solstice, it's the beginning that happens in darkness - the incubation, the quiet gathering of strength and resources, the time for nourishment and dreaming. More active energy to support big external shifts happens naturally in the Spring - somewhere between the lunar new year in February and the spring equinox. Honor your rhythm, honor where you are.
• change is the most natural thing in the world. you shouldn't need to force change to happen. if it's not happening, or you're finding yourself unable to participate in it in a conscious way, that's a symptom, not the problem. it's a sign that you might be treating the wrong diagnosis, as it were. so before you go beating yourself up for being a failure, perhaps consider if your goals are aligned with you heart, soul, and creature body... or if they're in service to empire and machines. and maybe get some mirroring. get someone who can help you identify what the actual root cause of your stuckness is (this is a big part of what I do in 1:1 work with people).
• the journey from trying to be like a machine back towards being more like a human-creature is a journey back to the heart. goals and will power are potent tools. They aren't great compasses. be soft, listen deeply, let love guide you (and perhaps an Insight 2026 tarot reading).

May these reminders help you root deeper into your own belonging, even when the over-culture would rather disconnect you from it. <3

Substack Posts:

I've been writing away over on my Substack. You might want to check some of it out.

(Quick side note/ request: I also absolutely welcome likes, shares, free or paid subscriptions, and/ or comments on how it landed. Right now, I spend huge amounts of hours working on creating things I hope will be helpful... and very few people see them. It can be quite discouraging. Now, perhaps what I'm creating isn't of use to people and, if so, that's a helpful thing for me to know. But if my creations are helpful, finding ways to let me know that goes a long way. And if you can let me know in public and in ways that boosts my posts in the algorithm and helps others find my work, even better. Thanks <3)

I shared about winter solstice ceremony and what some ancestral wisdom found in old stories might have to offer us when we're in "the bone cave" - a place of feeling stripped bare. Read

Sometimes it's hard to make time for all the meaningful practices and rituals we'd like. So, here's a peek behind the scenes of how I keep bringing ritual into my life when I can't seem to keep up. *hint: it involves the magic of the absolutely ordinary* Read

This is my version of a holiday letter, I suppose. I start out sharing about what rituals I've been doing to honor the new year... and then I look back. And through words and pictures, I reflect a bit on my nomadic 2025. The beautiful and the messy. It's been quite a journey. Read

Upcoming in January:

ONLINE AND NO SCHEDULING NEEDED:

Insight 2026 - open until Jan 6th!

We're in the final days of this year's Insight 2026 offer. An alternative to more will power-fueled intention setting and manifestation, divination through the cards helps deepen our listening and tap into a more mythopoetic way of knowing, so we get clearer on where Spirit is wanting to meet us in the journey of our own becoming. Find out more or grab yours here

GUEST FACILITATOR, IN-PERSON IN WINCHESTER, VA:

Full Moon Circle at Daydream Studios - Mon, Jan 5th, 2026

For the first full moon after the holiday season, and a full moon in dreamy, watery Cancer at that, I'll be offering a Rose transmission. We'll drink rose tea semi-ceremonially, around rose altar and candlelight. I'll offer a heart-center energy attunement to help you rest and feel nourished. And I'll share a familiar fairy tale with much rose medicine to offer... though you'll probably be surprised by a new understanding of the story. This is an in-person offering. Register through Eventbrite here Or Venmo $25 to Lauren-Barton-3

GUEST FACILITATOR, ONLINE:

OracleFest Online Festival - Jan 30-Feb 2, 2026

The Big OracleFest event is coming back and I'll be participating again. This is not a summit, but rather an online festival with talks, yes, but also plenty of live transmissions, group healing sessions, sound baths... and more. And with a huge variety of modalities and approaches represented. All in service to us humans reconnecting with our intuition and the Seen and Unseen worlds. There are different pricing options and access levels. Find out more or grab your ticket here

Sending many warm blessings and lots of love in these lean times of winter and the upheaval of our human initiation -

Kate