Lynley Erin - Seasons & Circles

04/01/2026

Today, I’m birthing Mama~Cocoon…

The metaphor of the cocoon is what I would like mother’s to experience when they journey with me.
For me, a cocoon is many things.
There is paradox here.
It is a deep, warm, comfortable cloud of love and potentiality
AND it can be a very uncomfortable place of unravelling & of dissolution.
It is a place of unbecoming, becoming, and the great unknown.
It is both a vessel of transformation and the thing that is transformed.

The last year or so of listening and transforming stories has me deep in awe of women, of mothers
(and fathers, too)
midwives & doulas ~
the initiation of birth and all of the joy, pain & grief that can come along with it.

In 2024 I became a Healing Birth Practitioner through Carla Sargent, a leading voice in NZ birth trauma
(and a beloved catalyst in my own story many many moons ago);
and throughout 2025, I have been deep in apprenticeship with Pam England of Birth Story Medicine (life-changing!)

What led me to this path was my own birth experiences,
how they have shaped the woman I have become,
through my stories, meaning making
and the weaving & understanding more and more deeply
through the spiralling awareness that cycles through.

I have an evolving vision that I will continue to expand into;
but here I am, crossing the threshold
to begin the journey of what this will become,
and I know that what I think may the path I am on
may well evolve and change
as I am soaking in the real stories & lives of mothers & families.

(I will still be offering my Circles & Ceremony's here on this page ... I know I have been quiet but I have offerings in the pipeline!)

I'll pop my Mama~Cocoon page below and if you'd like to follow along please give my page a like & a follow, or share with others you think it may be for 💓

For now, as Mama~Cocoon, I am offering:

🤎Birth Story Medicine sessions ~

Our birth stories are living entities;
unwished for moments can be invitations into initiation…..find the medicine in The Return

🤎‘Birth Tiger Safari’s’ ~

Sessions to connect with your inner Huntress & Warrior
in preparation for the rite of passage
that is all the unknowns & mysteries of birth

🤎Mama Blessing Ceremony’s ~

An honouring of the mother-to-be.
When a baby is born, the mother is born also.
This is a sacred ceremony in recognition of the rite of passage that is pregnancy, birth & motherhood;
and being loved, held & supported in our village.

🤎Any emotional/spiritual support & preparation, processing grief, & ceremony for wherever you are on your motherhood/pregnancy/birth journey.

~My philosophy is
however your birth unfolds is your initiation 🤎

Regardless of whether you utilise my services or not, I hope there will be something here for you in what I will be sharing here.

Thank you for coming along on this journey with me 🐦🔥

Lynley xo

Art by SoulBird Art by Roberta Orpwood

04/10/2025

The Handless Maiden is a story that takes us on an archetypal journey of the key elements of a woman’s life; whether it's from deep wounding experiences, our 'inbuilt' rites of passage as women, or simply yearning for more.

This is a journey of our souls & psyches…the story provides us with a psychic map to create our own meaning from, to flesh out the bones.

Initiation. Descent. Return...

We are going on a 7 week online journey if you would like to join us! See all the details in the event: https://www.facebook.com/events/971108968532932/

02/10/2025

Me & 5 amazing women have just concluded our deep exploration of the story 'The Handless Maiden'. We journeyed over 7 weeks unfolding the tale & the symbols and characters in the story that represent our psyche, into real world understanding.

What do these symbols and this journey mean in our real lives, what is it to walk through the underground forest? What is it to be fed a juicy pear by the tree of life itself... hearing each woman share her experiences offered so many more facets of knowing, remembering & understanding.

The women that show up and share their beautiful souls is such medicine for me, for each of us...all the facets of structure fleshed out by the offerings of real life story, it's pretty wonderful 🥰
I loved it so much and it was received so well I am offering it one more time this year (online) - if you'd like to hear more about it, see the comments xo 🤎

Pics of a recent ceremony in the forest 🍃

Lynley xo

22/09/2025

Blessed Equinox 🖤🤍 What is present for you this Equinox? What are the shadows you have been courting? What are the skins you’ve been shedding? What is being left in this portal as we enter the rebirth?

Blessings to you and yours, whether you are coming into lighter days and rebirth here in the southern lands, or your descent in the north ✨🌸🌑🍂

We had a beautiful Circle on Sunday, pics of our altar 💓

Lynley xo

14/09/2025

🌑🌸🌱The Spring Equinox greets us as we move into the first dark moon of the season and the solar eclipse ~ there are much tender new rootlings & blooms as mama earth exhales, the last remnants of death upon her awakening verdant breath…crone remembrance settles in our bones as the maiden bubbles up in our blood, playfulness and joy crooking a finger to our blossoming hearts…🌱🌸🌑

Join me and a lovely Circle of Women in Pirongia at our Spring Equinox Circle ~ whilst we explore the wisdom of the season with loving connection, catalyst conversations, myth, looking within, ceremony, songs and path~weaving.

13/09/2025

Echo 💓

🌹

04/08/2025

Initiation. Descent. Return.

The Handless Maiden is a tale that that takes us on an archetypal journey of the key elements of a woman’s life; from deep wounding experiences to simply yearning for more.

The hands represent our creative, sovereign & intuitive lives. To have them severed symbolises a deep wound of psyche & soul.

I am offering a 7 week Deep Journey & Exploration of 'The Handless Maiden'...

Each week we travel through a stage of the Handless Maidens journey, weaving reflections for us to explore and create our own meaning making; using the versions of the storytelling & decoding’s of Clarissa Pinkola Estés in Women Who Run with the Wolves, Robert A. Johnson in The Fisher King & the Handless Maiden, and Kelly Brogans The Reclaimed Woman.

Weaving the 3 together blends insights of soul initiation, healing the wounded feminine feeling-function, and embodied feminine reclamation ~ all through the spiraling descent & return of the myth mirroring what is there for us in our own lives.

This is a journey of our souls & psyches…

“The time with Wild Woman is hard at first. To repair injured instinct, banish naiveté, and over time to learn the deepest aspects of psyche and soul, to hold on to what we have learned, to not turn away, to speak out for what we stand for…all this takes a boundless and mystical endurance. When we come up out of the underworld after one of our undertakings there, we may appear unchanged outwardly, but inwardly we have reclaimed a vast and womanly wildness. On the surface we are still friendly, but beneath the skin, we are most definitely no longer tame.” ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estés.

This story provides us with a psychic map to create our own meaning from, to flesh out the bones.

For more information see the event in the comments section 💓

28/07/2025

In a place we can remember from long ago, or perhaps it was yesterday or tomorrow, or perhaps it resides within the intricate webbings of our bone marrow…if we go into the blackness, the place where the veils are always thin, where the people remember, and the mycelia sings us songs of stars…Bear Woman emerges from the great void within the hollows, the womb of the Mother.

This Winter, like all Winters, she has slept a deep little death, curled into the warmth of her being, her heartdrum slowww, its rhythm of languid pulsing currents in ocean depths, of black tinged indigo, silent and dark…
..And now She emerges pregnant with dream symbols and walking with liminal realms clinging to her furs. She is Bear, Woman, Cave, Tree, Roots, Fruits, Mother, Matter…

(Excerpt from my next essay-in-progress)

This weekend we Circled to explore 'Banked Embers & Bear Medicine', looked at the history of Bear and how the medicine is woven through our ancestry and world mythology, stories of
healing, shamanism, shape-shifting ~

Bear, along with this season we're in, reminds us of rest, silence and regeneration, dreams, death & rebirth, the wisdom of hibernation and emergence.

Pics of our altar

Lynley xo

25/07/2025

Banked Embers & Bear Medicine~
Luminescence cloaked in black
A wink to the unseen world
Beneath riverstone eyes
Dormant potentiality
The ‘I Am’ sits here
Heart, Hearth, Home
Banked Embers & Bear Medicine
Between worlds
In the womb of the mother
The keeper of the dark
The dreamer of the flame
Stirring in the den
The quickening begins
Banked Embers & Bear Medicine~

As the wheel turns towards Imbolc & the first stirrings of Spring in a still wintered landscape, we will listen and feel into the Wisdom of the Season alongside the archetype Artios, the Celtic Bear Goddess. ~
We are circling tomorrow afternoon (Sunday 2pm) ~ Join me and a lovely Circle of Women whilst we explore with loving connection, catalyst conversations, looking within, ceremony, songs and path~weaving.

See the event in comments ~

Poem by Lynley
Art: Dorrie Joy

30/06/2025

🪶🪽Melt. Surrender. Drip. Breathe. Soften. Blend. Warm. Breathe. Open. Feel. Honey...drips...so...slowly🐝. Gently. Breeze. Meander. Breathe. Flow. Surrender. Melt 🪽🪶
Image is 'Receiving Wishes & Blessings from Kali' by Alana Fairchild

23/06/2025

We spiraled inward
sat in the dark belly
ignited a spark
began the spiral walk outward
..remembered...

~ I hope you all had a beautiful Solstice time ~ 🌲🍄🌲

Lynley xo

20/06/2025

🌑🌲Season of the Winter Moons🌲🌕

~ Winter Online Women’s Circles ~

Winter, a season of stillness and seeing inward ~ a beautiful time to tune in to our inner wisdom with curiosity as we are within the time of void ~ the primordial womb ~ the place of endings and where the new beginnings are yet unknown.

During these times we can simply be, and it is a good time to tend the metaphorical compost and nourish ourselves, creating rich soil for the seeds of transformation to take root, as we spiral past the stillpoint of Winter Solstice into the sun-sparked dark and move slowly towards lighter days.

Just as the earth rejuvenates, we too can find solace and renewal within ourselves. By surrendering to the stillness, we can hear the whispers of our imagination and intuition to guide us gently towards our next chapter.

Winter beckons us to explore our inner landscapes, and the gifts of shadow.

Would you like to look within and explore different aspects of self?

We will explore themes & archetypes aligned with Wintertime.

This is a space where you will be invited to share, open up and participate; and listen to other women ~ which is where the real beauty is ~ we can see ourselves in others and expand our own senses, remembrance and realities.

Season of the Winter Moons is 4 fortnightly Circles online via Zoom on or near the new & full moons of Winter, Wednesday 7:30PM - 9:30PM NZT - Wed 25 June, 9 & 23 July & 6 Aug.

Join me and a lovely online Circle of Women whilst we explore with loving connection, catalyst conversations, looking within, path~weaving and ceremony.

$168 NZD exchange for the entire season, I’m happy to discuss payment plans if needed.

(ONE SPACE REMAINS)

To save your spot email me at lynley@lynleyerin.com or send me a message via Facebook.

Check out my website www.lynleyerin.com

Warmth & Love,
Lynley xo