The Journey
Mediumship & Magic with Jennifer Green
Welcome to part 5 of our series on Creative Mediumship, The Journey: Mediumship & Magic with Jennifer Green. In these conversations, we’re exploring the intersections of creativity, consciousness, trance, magick, and imagination. If you’re new to the Literary Coven, start at the beginning with Creative Mediumship: Spells for Spring, then head over to The Threshold: A Writing Ritual from Kate Belew, before checking out Imagination is the Medium: A Psychic Experiment for the Literary Coven and The Cloak Within: A Writing Ritual from Sarah Justice. If you’re new to the halls of Pointy Hat Press, join the Literary Coven for a journey into and through the landscape of the unseen.
Jennifer Green joined us for the latest episode of the Pointy Hat Press podcast! Jennifer is an artist and spiritual practitioner, fully submerged and committed to a life well-lived. A former midwife, she has spent over thirty years dedicated to creative arts, healing, and her ever-evolving magical practice. She is a printmaker, illustrator, maker, clairvoyant, occasionally funny, and a lover of birds. Jennifer lives in Cornwall, where she offers spiritually informed art and other creations via her shop The Quickening Tree.
In this conversation, Jennifer shares insight into her journey as a magical practitioner and explains how her creative process intersects with ritual work. She discusses making medicine dolls, the power of humor in spirit communication, and what it was like growing up in a ‘weird-tolerant’ family.
To learn more about Jennifer, follow her on Instagram @jennifer_green_artist, listen to her episode here, and read on for a few bonus questions that didn’t make it into the episode. Check out some of Jennifer’s artwork below, including one of the medicine dolls she spoke about in the episode.
Caitlyn: Can you start by telling us a bit about yourself, where you’re from, where you’re at, what you’re working on, and what is inspiring you right now?
Hi, my name is Jennifer Green, friends call me Jenn. I am originally from Hull, in East Yorkshire, and for more than 25 years (give or take the odd segue) have lived in Cornwall, South West of the UK. I am close to a vast stretch of water, a deep natural harbour with water inlets and rivers. I live close to woodland. Where these two environments meet is my happy place; salt water, with seals snorting, native trees, lots of flowering gorse, deer rustling, and owls hooting.
I take a lot of inspiration from nature, especially plants, and currently I am obsessed with rockpools. These miniature worlds are fascinating! I have always loved exploring edges, they are where I find my joy. I walk my dog Dora, and we both swim. Seals have joined our walks often and swim beside us, watching us curiously as we go looking for treasure: strawberry anemones, cushion starfish, shells. I haven't found a seahorse yet, but they're on my wish list for this year.
I seem to have a lot of projects started and not quite complete at the moment. I'm conscious that I am in a ‘play and explore’ stage at the moment. I have some lino prints on the go, some owl feathers on my desk, a knitted jumper I have started twice now and frogged, and a lot of gemstones dotted around. I found my first cowries this year. As I have just moved, there is still a LOT to organise, but I am finding applied arts like quilting and sewing are bleeding into my print work and vice versa. So we’ll have to wait and see what develops.
Kristin: Jenn, you and I first crossed paths in 2020, we connected over an episode from another podcast I host, Magick & Alchemy. And that was it, I don’t remember what we talked about, but from then on, we began messaging one other about birds and animals and the unseen, magick, of course, plants, mediumship. Anytime there was weirdness or whimsy afoot, we were hypothesizing about it, and maybe about two years ago, you went on a shamanic journey for me, travelling to meet the Anzu bird (friend of Lilith, one of my loves) and ask a question on my behalf – and then you illustrated the answer you received. Now I have two gorgeous pieces of art that sit perched right above my desk! And this experience was so impactful that I immediately scheduled a journey for Caitlyn, who also received a message that affected her, we still talk about it. I’ve also ordered a journey for my mom, and will likely continue this tradition for all the creative women in my life, so I would love for you to talk about these journeys that you do, the process, the surprising bits about it, and how art supports this practice.
Jenn: I remember! I think I found the podcast just after lockdown, when I had really begun to appreciate podcasts. I asked a couple of questions via Instagram, and then totally harassed you via your DMs about your goats!
After an introduction to shamanic practice with two brilliant women, Sue Weaver and Lu Wray, I committed to two years studying with 12 other women. We had badgered Sue and Lu to share their knowledge of the Medicine Wheel and Shamanic practice. During those two years, we studied as many teachings as we could, through cycles of the year and seasons, supporting each other, our process, healing, and development. It's impossible to commit to any magical or holistic practice without feeling tested and being asked in every way to sort our own shit out, cleaning many emotional, mental and spiritual cobwebs out so to speak.
I am dyslexic. I anchor everything I learn and experience visually. In a dyslexia assessment, my visual learning component was off the charts! My capacity to illustrate thoughts, visions, connections, and any information really helps me to process. It's how I process. The more I drew in my notebook, the more I was able to convey what I was experiencing, especially when journeying for other people in the group. It's quicker for me to draw or sketch than it is for me to write sometimes, or at least, it helps minimize resistance when completing work. I am an absolute demon at Pictionary!
I made a sketch of one of the first journeys we did for our partner on the day. Later, I printed and gave her a copy in the post, and that was it. You, Kristin, became one of the first women I approached (one of three). I needed a couple of people I could trust to attempt Journeying outside of our Shamanic group. Plus, I wanted to see if I could complete the process at a distance and with a (relative) lack of familiarity. I mean, I don't think either of us really could believe it. The same for the other two women I also journeyed for. And do you remember those ripples that echoed for ages afterwards?
Caitlyn: In thinking about your creative process, how does it intersect with your magical process?
Jenn: During lockdown, I was at home because I had to be shielded. I'd just scored an art grant from an EU funded project for printing but I couldn't access the print studio so I took part in some online classes to free-up my creativity, (London Drawing Group), did 1-1 tutorials online with John Howard (my print teacher) and also I did a psychic development class with London College of Psychic Studies. I experimented a bit to see what could happen with the time I had. It's funny how these things knit together (if I had changed subjects at art school, as I wanted to, I would have met John years before!).
The world really changed after Covid. My Healthcare career was beginning to sunset, everyone in the team had retired or were making other plans, and some aspects of working with young adults were being bled into other health departments. Consolidated, I suppose. It was looking very far away from what I was officially registered to do; I could feel and see a change in the department and all around me. If I'm honest, my body and ability to concentrate were waning; I needed to change, too. I think because creative expression is such a default mechanism for me, I have always found ‘art’ or making to be regulating. It offers balance like nothing else. I have rheumatoid arthritis and I thought, if I don’t use my hands now to make art, I never will!
During recent shamanic teaching with two amazing women (Sue Weaver and Lu Wray), we were taught the concept of Medicine Dolls. When we animate or make a doll, we are bringing forth properties or concepts and parts of ourselves. We were asked to journey (intentionally connect) to the four directions (North, South, East, West) and ask what aspects of those directions and concepts we embody or need to bring forward for balance. Some people, like me, for example, have a really strong East direction (think sunshine, beginning energy, sparkle, creativity, etc). It’s weird because the direction that sprang forward for my first doll was West (seat of nurturing, going-within, grounding/earth, cave/mother bear energy), so in order for me to create balance, I needed to start and strengthen my weaker direction. My West doll is also the only doll with her eyes closed. She was made from a burdock root initially, which was directed through my connection to the West, and sat in a west-facing direction, and in front of a burdock plant (I didn't know this at the time). I kept thinking, “A root? Really? How the hell do I make a doll from a root?”
When I opened my eyes, a burdock plant, which was completely out of place, semi-slashed by a strimmer, and leaning to one side, was shimmering. I laughed because sometimes, when we get out of our own way or the way of the process, things we wouldn't dream of make themselves known. Making something without anchoring onto the outcome was a game-changer. Trusting the process might sound like a cliche, but I understood through making each doll that I had to allow them to come through and be open to surprises along the way.
It wasn't until I made my Medicine dolls that the barriers I'd been conditioned to put in front of creativity were made clear. Expression really requires us to let go. I think where these practices have mostly intersected has been in my acceptance of them. When I stopped denying my desires and instincts, I came back to myself.
Kristin: About a year ago you made me a flower essence that I love so much, it lives on my altar, and there is a whole story about the creation of this essence, what water you used, why you chose the specific flowers – can you talk a bit about how the land you live as a muse and a spirit and a guide?
Jenn: I am really lucky because I grew up deeply appreciating nature. Even though I was raised in a city, I grew up at a time when being outdoors, away from the TV, was considered really healthy. No phones, just a bike or the dog, a garden, or being frogmarched up and down hills in the dales. My whole family grew things, whether it was flowers, herbs, potatoes, and we ate (not all the time), but we had access to people who fished and hunted, etc. I was always connected. Hull has an unusual aspect, being close to the sea as well as a huge river inlet, and it’s really close to moorland. My dad was a stargazer. My mum loved animals. My uncle had a barn owl. My grandad had a duck with a wonky bill and loads of dogs. I mean, whether we lived in town or on the fringes, nature was just part of the deal. I found compost heaps fascinating, haha. I am really curious about nature. I always have been.
Your flower essence, Kristin, was interesting because initially, do you remember, we had been chatting and I said, “I wish I could just send you a bunch of flowers”. Later, I saw that a local florist had a couple of bunches left that day for sale. I was already going to that part of town, and I really wanted an excuse to buy them and support her business. They sat on my altar for a while, and I later went on a medicine walk for water. I hadn't made a gem essence or flower essence for ages, but I found some really pretty cut crystal glass bowls in a charity shop. It was a really sunny day, and no better time to play with flowers outside. The whole thing became an experiment.. If you lived around the corner, I would have brought you flowers, but instead, I had to be a little more creative about sending support and beauty internationally. (Also, isn't receiving nice mail/post really magical?)
So I was thinking I knew there was a freshwater spring out of town, but I didn't want to drive. I remembered a map of wells online, and when I looked, where I lived, there were literally three at the bottom of my street, which I'd never seen. I walked to one which was dried and stoppered with a granite brick. When I found the next one, I cleared it of rubbish and blessed the water, and when I found the third, I laughed so much. It was on a street called ‘Well Lane’. I mean, good god, how on earth had I missed that?! I'd lived there for two years at that point. Sometimes, in sending a gift, we are gifted something illuminating in return.
That's the beauty of having a magical practice. It doesn't have to be heavy, sometimes it simply asks us to be open to what's around us and be open to something new. I felt like I had a magical day out, and I'd only been down the street and in the garden! I couldn't have been more thrilled to send my excitement and remedy over to you. It's very ‘South’ (our small child, listening, playful, joyous, and sensitive). That's what you want in medicine, to trust the process and know that we will be guided by it, by whatever or whomever we are working with. I also think, in hindsight, that was the approach needed for your remedy.
I now live on a new land. I've not connected deeply to this part of Cornwall before. I walk the same paths regularly, wondering why I do this. I think what's happening is I am allowing myself to befriend the space. Familiarity, growing trust, and connection, deepening my connection to the spirit of place. When I walk, I often rub grass between my fingers, not just looking but feeling my way. I think I’m allowing the space to show me who and what it's about. This takes time. I’m redeveloping trust within a sense of place as well as being open to surprise. I watch the animals and the plants and trees. I’ve been lucky that this has begun before the start of the spring season, so it’s bursting, kind of showing off, and it feels as though it’s just for my benefit, haha. I am listening with my body, mind, and spirit. Does that sound a bit cheesy?
Kristin: One of the most common questions showing up in our inbox right now is, “How do I make time for art, magick, and creative work amidst the responsibilities of adulthood?” Do you have any advice?
Jenn: I'm not sure I know, honestly. I couldn't find balance for a long time. Knowing what I know about myself now, it makes sense that I had to drop a lot of distractions. My body called time on big stresses, particularly after my dad and grandma both passed away, just before lockdown. I think Covid and lockdown really made many of us aware that there is space, even enforced space like that, as scary as it was initially, many people found new levels of creative thinking. Limiting is a brilliant start; two colours, one pair of scissors, one paragraph, that kind of thing. Going for a walk. Baking bread. It made many of us more mindful. I loved not having to go to supermarkets all the time. The quietness. I didn't love the news, so I took more time for myself. So much bubbled up and developed for me during that year because I leaned in and went with it without distraction. Now I must guard my time better than ever.
If I am being honest, I think loads of things are creative which don’t fall into a ‘high art’ category. Cooking is creative, gardening is creative, what we wear, and how we live. It’s just I think so much of this is handed over to corporations and branding, which tries to tell us there is value in not being an individual or thinking for ourselves. Often, what that does is rob us of the magic which is our true nature, taste, or individuality. For some people, though, thinking individually is absolutely terrifying. It’s worth remembering that there is freedom in expressing who we are and what we want. Honestly, it can be a lot of fun and really not very precious. What's the worst that can happen? We paint over what we made? Big deal. As a good friend once made me shout for five minutes before an interview, “Fuck it!”
Play is crucial. For children, play is automatic. It's so informative. When they are given time or freedom, it's very interesting what is expressed from imagination. They don't have limitations yet. Devices are great for information, but when we aren’t being distracted or being fed constant stimulation, it is a lot easier to find flow. Science also tells us, being bored plays a vital role in creativity. Boredom is, in fact, creating space, which is not always easy to do if you're working every minute of the day and or consuming digital media the rest of the time. Phones are robbing us of our time and autonomy.
When I was working thirteen-hour shifts in a hospital, I would go for a walk with my dog, somewhere dead quiet, and find the longest view I could find, often up a really big hill. Gazing into the far distance is apparently really good for our brains. It changes our brain waves, apparently, switching us out of revved-up gears, into a slightly dreamier one. It creates a bit of space. Often, I’d walk somewhere I couldn’t get a signal. I'd watch colours changing in the landscape, walking the same route across a season. I’d listen to noises close to me and far away (which is a mindful practice), but it helped to switch my brain off. Creating space would sometimes be enough to spark some new joy, thoughts, or inspiration. I also ban my phone from my bedroom now and force myself to read a book. Even just a paragraph. I really have to practice ‘digital hygiene’ or I am easily thrown off course.
I think my initial creative re-entry was when a friend asked me to go to a Christmas card lino print workshop with her. The lovely person who taught it, Fiona Leighton at Particle Press, her enthusiasm was infectious! Two hours, a bunch of tools, a few instructions, tea and cake, and I was completely hooked on printing. I had always loved printing, but there was something about her approach that really worked for me. She is incredibly knowledgeable, and her work is amazing. She said hosting workshops really supported her own enthusiasm and creativity. I've made my own Christmas cards every year since, which is almost ten years ago now. It doesn't have to be grand to be fun! In fact, I find the opposite is true. The less precious, the better. Creative tasters or introduction days are a really good way in. If we didn't like it, we didn’t dive too deep.
Listen to the rest of Chapter 13: Mediumship & Journeying with Jennifer Green wherever you get your podcasts! If you like what you hear, consider leaving us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Thanks for reading The Journey: Mediumship & Magic with Jennifer Green! Pointy Hat Press is a place for fairy tales and folklore, reimagined. Follow us on Substack and Instagram, sign up for our Moon Letters, and consider adding our original fairy tales to your library. You can also find us telling stories and talking about our latest creative quests on the Pointy Hat Press podcast.
To learn more about Jennifer, follow her on Instagram, visit The Quickening Tree to schedule a journey, and listen to her full episode here.
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Oh you two are the best! ❤️🩷❤️😘✨😘 x x x x x x
My beautiful friend 💖