enchanted simplicity: a year of poetic living

I'm writing a book

Hello my lovely,

We are on the threshold of a new year. Imagine the year ahead is unsculpted clay and you’ve been granted the chance to shape it into any form you desire. What would you like to create?

Photo by Courtney Cook on Unsplash

Perhaps you prefer to think of the year ahead as a blank journal and you can write any story you wish. What would you write?

Ink-Stained Compass is the weekly newsletter of poet and witch Caitlin Gemmell. Thank you for reading!

Photo by Susan Weber on Unsplash

I’ve put a lot of thought into what I want to create in 2025, in part because my personal mythology course Healing the Cinderella Wound just started and Unearthing Your Story begins in January, but also because as one who finds magic in the liminal spaces — as one who uses those spaces as opportunities to envision a new reality — it’s natural for me to step into my role as seer/enchantress/visionary in the space between end and begin.

And what I see for 2025 is a yearlong project in which my enchanted simplicity lifestyle is shared in a more intentional way. I’m planning on writing the book that has been in my mind for several years now — a book about living a life of enchanted simplicity with thoughts, reflections, and recipes/spells for each month of the year.

Normally I keep my projects to myself until I am ready to finalize them and birth them into the world, but this one is a bit different because I intend on sharing chapters in progress with you via this newsletter.

Starting in January, I will dedicate at least one newsletter per month to Enchanted Simplicity: A Year of Poetic Living.

I haven’t worked out all of the details yet and am undecided about whether I want to share these chapters in progress with my paid subscribers only or share excerpts with everyone. I’m leaning towards sharing with paid subscribers and keeping most of the project behind a paywall as I’m hoping to publish the book in 2026 (at the soonest).

This book will be for anyone who:

• Appreciates slow/intentional/mindful living

• Enjoys the magic found in the ordinary

• Loves and respects nature

• Is whimsical and romantic-hearted

• Likes folklore, herb-craft, witchcraft, old ways

• Anne Shirley, Cassandra Mortmain, Princess Eilonwy, and/or Betsy Ray is your book best friend.

January pages will be shared mid-late January. I’m excited to start this journey and can’t wait for you to share in it with me.

What are you growing in 2025? Have you given it much thought yet? If you are looking for your story, your path, please do consider….

1. As the Wheel Turns Tarot Reading:

   This is the perfect reading for any new beginning, such as the start of a new year. I share a map of your year ahead using tarot and my intuition. I then send you distance reiki to help remove blocks preventing you from moving forward on your path. It’s on sale for half off ($44) until the end of the year. I also offer one card readings (on sale for $7), 3 card readings, and an Unearthing Your Story reading. Most of these include reiki too.

2. Unearthing Your Story:

   This course officially begins in January, but it is a go at your own pace course. There are six modules, and you will receive one module per week over the course of six weeks. This course helps you to find your personal mythology threads based on the stories you have loved from childhood all the way into adulthood. We look at key childhood stories, teenage years stories, shadow stories, empowering stories, archetypes, symbols, and how to weave everything together so you can step into your life purpose and walk the path your spirit is leading you along.

3. Healing the Cinderella Wound

   This course began on Winter Solstice; however it is a go at your own pace course, and you can still register for it now. It is a five-module course, and you will receive one module per week over five weeks. In this course, we use three Cinderella stories as a framework for healing from past trauma and manifesting our desired reality. We consider plant and animal allies, spirt guides, reiki as a tool for healing, and how to reframe this story (and our own lives) to view ourselves as fairy godmothers in charge of creating our lives how we wish. It’s on sale for $27 until the end of the year. Starting in January the price will increase gradually until it is $150 (same as Unearthing Your Story)

Next time you hear from me it will be 2025! I wish you a peaceful end of the year and many blessings for a magical and abundant new year.

I’ll close with a poem I wrote during one of the poetry challenges I participated in this year.

I Feel My Magic
The air
cold
wind blows 
the mundane away
unties 
knots
of predictability
frees 
yellow leaves 
that float
down 
from the sky

like dancing 
butterflies
landing in my hair 

wild magic 
unleashed
seeps
into my skin
as summer fades

a feral bird
returned
to her nest

Photo by Marco De Gregorio on Unsplash

Much Love,