Timing and intention

Posted on Jun 9, 2016 in Spiritual living

At home in the forestUranus has been sitting in the sign of Aries for a few years now, and I’m an Aries – just in case you were wondering at the level of change that seems (paradoxically) to be the only long term certainty in my life! Welcome to my world; which is enormous fun and tremendously exciting, even with the scariness that only occasionally nibbles lightly at my adventurous spirit.

The latest big shift is that after almost a year on the market, we’ve sold our house. The lovely, homely cottage that has seen me launch my business, meet my beloved, raise and launch two pride-inducing sons, and cocooned me through some tough financial struggles. The circumstances around this life-changing sale offered such clear spiritual teaching and understanding to me that I wanted to share the magic with you.

When we first put the house on the market we knew it was time for a change but we had no exact idea of what that change was going to look like. We’d recently returned from a year and a half as nomads in our camper van, an experience which we adored, and we were now feeling the desire to have a home “base” while being much more open to alternative and interesting styles of living.

What we knew was this: we wanted to go small and simple which had felt so liberating in the van, to honour and effect as little impact on the environment as possible, to be able to produce our own food, and to be part of a community in which we could use and share our skills and abilities. We definitely didn’t want to take on another mortgage so we could live without financial pressure, and our priority was to enjoy exploring life and the natural wonders of the earth. As an aside, but secretly hugged closely, I also had a dream of living near or in woodland. I must have been an elf in a past life because I feel so at home amongst trees; give me trees and rocks and I’m as happy as….well, an ecstatic woodland elf!

As much as I love the UK and more specifically my current corner of it, mid Wales, this meant our options were limited. The only way we could see that our budget would provide for all of this was to try and self-build through something called the One Planet Development. Under this Welsh Assembly initiative you’re able to buy countryside or farming land at its agricultural value and build a home on it, providing that you’re able to prove that you’re totally self-sustaining in terms of power, you’re managing and indeed improving the land on which you’re living, you’re able to grow a significant percentage of your own food requirements, and a substantial proportion of your income is derived from the produce or resources of that land. There are also strict rules on travel and fuel consumption and so on. It’s a tough ask, but we were willing to give it a go for the sake of a planet that deserves our respect and considerate care-taking.

After much research and talking to those brave souls who had already been through the process we decided it was just too difficult, and likely to take up years of our lives in stressful struggle and bureaucracy. I admire those who have battled on and succeeded enormously, but it just didn’t feel like it was my fight at this time. Rather regretfully, having felt excited at the prospect and even having begun to acquire the necessary knowledge we needed such as permaculture, we came to a clear understanding of our priorities. We were prepared to live in a smaller home, maybe even a flat, which would allow us to keep the van as a second home in which we could continue our exploration of landscapes which we so love. Rather depressingly though, even the tiniest house or decent garden flat was looking out of our price range in my initial searches for mid and west Wales.

During the 11 months this process had been taking place, we’d had precisely one viewer who liked the house very much but felt the steps were too much for her to manage on an everyday basis. Thinking that we were likely to be talking years rather than months for a sale at this rate, and feeling in need of a little cheering up I confess, we booked a 3 week holiday to Brittany. I love all things Celtic, and had been itching to experience the French branch of this culture that feels so strong in my spiritual lineage. A week before we were due to leave a family came to view our property, and two days before our departure, after a bit of bartering, we accepted an offer which was very close to the asking price. We also agreed to a quick turnaround which would see us moving out at the end of June (only eight weeks away).

After I’d recovered from the surprise, which was considerable, I immediately began to think about the timing of all this. It seemed obvious to me that the sale had been called in because we’d finally become very clear about our intentions and how we wanted to live the next phase of our lives. So then, because I always want to know just how far the rabbit hole goes, I asked myself if this could have anything to do with the fact we were about to visit Brittany? As we now had a keen buyer lined up and we were going to be there so it seemed silly not to investigate, I casually did a bit of Googling to look at properties in Brittany. I was stunned to see that our cash budget could buy a lovely small house with a garden, in the most beautiful countryside you can possibly imagine……it seemed like a no-brainer.

After rushing around getting the initial documents to the solicitors amidst frantic van packing, under the Channel we zoomed. You won’t be surprised to hear that we loved Brittany; its lush green countryside, the laid back attitude, the Aires that made travelling in the van an easy and affordable delight. Imagine all the places that would be accessible to us if we had a base here? And so when we got to one particular small town, surrounded by ancient forest which was heaven for keen walkers like us and our dog Finn, we found ourselves irresistibly drawn to visit a couple of local estate agents, leaving our requirements and contact details with them.

On the third day of being in this beautiful spot which was already tugging at my heart, I returned from a long walk to discover that I’d lost my favourite pendant attached to the bracelet I was wearing. It bore the symbol of the triskele, which just happens to be the regional symbol of Brittany, and it was now somewhere high up in the middle of the forest. Call me romantic and fanciful if you like, but to me it was a sign that my soul had given part of myself to this place and left an energy marker for me to return to at some point.

And so it is that at this moment in time we plan to return to Brittany in July for a few months more exploration and house-hunting, with Teleri the Hymer camper van as our nomadic nest. If you’d suggested this idea to me a year ago then I wouldn’t have believed you, and the timing of everything to get us to this point seems exquisitely perfect! Even if we don’t decide to stay in France and it turns out to be a short-term interlude (a possible Brexit is looming as I type which could influence things!), I know for sure that this region of the world is where I’m supposed to be for now and must have something of great value to offer us at this time. I continue to follow the faerie trail and the call of the wolf deep into the forest, where we all know there’s transformational magic waiting to be discovered…

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Semele Xerri

© Semele Xerri is a psychic intuitive guide, healer, animal communicator, and Reiki Healer / Master Teacher. To find out more about her and her services, go to her Work with me page.
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