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This season’s guest at the cauldron, Olivia Pepper, tenderly directs our gaze simultaneously upward and inward—to connect with the stars but also our own inner tides, and the liminal places where these intersect and communicate through the poetry of our lives. Whether you’re someone who looks to astrology as an old friend on your journey, or you’re like me and have a curiosity but no real working knowledge of the stars, I hope this conversation will offer unexpected invitations as we reflect on both personal and collective destinies. || 0:00 || Intro || 2:40 || Opening visualization of the body as a star || 6:01 || Olivia’s story of healing through relationship with the animate world || 10:15 || A common pitfall when discussing astrology || 17:11 || Considering how much of a person’s fate is influenced by external systems and influences, and how much of our path is open to personal desires and actions and agency || 25:20 || Astrology as collaborative storytelling || 32:35 || The story of Hildegarde von Bingen and her influence on olivia (and me) || 40:15 || Tending our own path alongside tending the wider web of being, and the anticapitalism of shedding the heroic fate || 51:50 || How to connect with Olivia and their offerings || 53:28 || An invitation into amor fate (loving your fate) and gratitude MORE ON OLIVIA PEPPER olivia is first and foremost a poet, storyteller and writer who also dabbles gleefully in astrology, the pursuit of justice, gardening and nondenominational clergy work such as attending births, deaths, and sickbeds. a mixed heritage practitioner of multiple forms striving to walk lightly on stolen land. all pronouns acceptable. Website https://www.lunariamysticism.com/ Instagram: @ oliviapepper Background image: Portrait of olivia pepper hand-tinted by dominoe farris * * * * * * * * * * * * Please keep this offering alive Subscribe / like / rate / review Share with friends + on social Follow Kathryn on Instagram www.instagram.com/kathryn.a.fink/ Join our Patreon to translate this podcast in practice www.patreon.com/theheartisacauldron * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rather than resolutions that we project onto ourselves and our lives, what shifts when we listen to what we’re being invited into, and who’s doing the inviting? This season, we sit with ideas of Fate—beginning with today’s episode, when we meet with the Fates themselves, those beings with unceasing hands who work deep within the recesses of our hearts. ***January 2022 opens up the next window of spots to work privately with me through 1:1 coaching. This is a three month journey to connect with yourself and your sacred place in the wondrous web of being, whether you’re feeling lost or you have a bold vision but you’re not certain how to get there. Learn more here (kathrynfink.com/coaching) or book time for us to chat here (kathrynfink.com/connect).*** || 0:00 || Opening prayer-spell-poem || 0:58 || Intro || 3:40 || Three month coaching opens up January 2022—learn more here or book time for us to chat here || 5:18 || Meeting the Fates——but first, a caution about discussing destiny || 9:02 || Manāt || 10:24 || Moirai || 12:20 || Norns || 14:19 || Reflections on the Fates: Weaving as complexity and collaboration; cyclical time; self and selflessness; meaning through tending community and the earth; leading a wyrd life Musical interlude: "Home" by Hannah Mayree from the record label HOMHOMHOM http://hannahmayree.com || 29:35 || My personal views on destiny || 35:15 || A story of fate P.S. Looking for winter solstice content? Check out "The Heart Is a Hallowed Night" https://bit.ly/3FlwJrW * * * * * * * * * * * * Please keep this offering alive Subscribe / like / rate / review Share with friends + on social Follow Kathryn on Instagram www.instagram.com/kathryn.a.fink/ Join our Patreon to translate this podcast in practice www.patreon.com/theheartisacauldron * * * * * * * * * * * * Cited in today’s episode: Bader Saab “Manat” bell hooks About Love Lara Veleda Vesta Pema Chodron The Wisdom of No Escape Background image: “Die Nornen” by Alfred Agache Transcript here: https://kathrynfink.com/the-heart-is-a-cauldron/2021/12/21/episode-26-the-heart-is-a-loom-weaving-with-fate

We complete our journey through the underworld by connecting with our ancestors through the soil of day-to-day life, the mundane stitched through with the mythic. Woven into this episode are also moments from my own path into relationship with the beloved dead, both human and more-than-human. Song interlude: “Ebb Tide” sung by my grandmother Lorrayne Song closing: “How Deep Is the Ocean” also sung by Lorrayne Time stamps coming first week of Dec * * * * * * * * * * * * Please keep this offering alive Subscribe / like / rate / review Share with friends + on social Follow Kathryn on Instagram www.instagram.com/kathryn.a.fink/ Join our Patreon to translate this podcast in practice www.patreon.com/theheartisacauldron * * * * * * * * * * * * Cited in today’s episode: Kofi Piesie “You Can Not Mention Libation Without Mentioning The Ancestors” Sophie Strand "Your Body Is an Ancestor" “Kutoven Stevens Chases His Running Dreams with a Bigger Purpose” BIPOC teachers in ancestral remediation and decolonizing Layla Saad Dr. Rocío Rosales Meza (podcast ep with Saad and Dr Meza) olivia pepper Transcript available first week of Dec. Background image: Jan van Kessel the Elder “Vanitas Still Life,” ~1665