What are Taster Notes? They highlight the details of a past gathering. A little taster for you at home. Use them to go through the practices on your own, or gather a group of girlfriends for an time of conversation and connection. I hope it feels like you were there with us.
The Theme: Friday the 13th
Date: Friday, March 13, 2026
Introduction to the Theme
There is something quietly fascinating about the number thirteen.
Twelve has always felt tidy. Twelve months. Twelve hours. Twelve at the table. It fits. It resolves.
Then thirteen shows up. The extra chair. The unexpected guest. The well - now what?
Friday already had its own reputation long before the two collided. A day when things didn’t go smoothly. Not disasters. Just small things. The trip delayed. The deal postponed. The bread not rising. The weather turning. Someone saying the wrong thing at the wrong moment.
Eventually someone looked at the calendar and thought: maybe let’s not schedule anything important that day. And the idea stuck.
But here’s what I find most human about all of it. Instead of simply hiding indoors forever, people did what people have always done. They made tiny rituals. Not because they truly believed disaster was waiting around the corner. But because small actions make big uncertainty feel a little friendlier.
Cross your fingers. Carry a coin. Throw salt over your shoulder. Knock on wood.
This gathering wasn’t about bad luck. It was about the comforting truth that whenever life feels unpredictable, we instinctively reach for small magic to meet it.
Pull up a chair. I’ll take you through the menu, step by step.
Appetizer
Guests arrived with a gentle practice.
Before we begin, let’s settle where we are.
Feel the chair holding you. Notice the light in the room. Evening, lamp, window.
Now slowly look around you. Not at the important things. Look for the overlooked things. The object that has simply stayed.
Reach for something within reach. Something you didn’t plan to bring. Something that was already living beside you.
Humans have always given ordinary things meaning. A stone becomes grounding. A cup becomes comfort. A thread becomes connection.
Hold what you found. And instead of asking what is this, ask…
Why has this remained?
Three breaths together.
You’ve arrived - with the life you’re already living.
If you’re gathering with friends, share the object you chose. Explain what it means to you.
Table Touch
Folklore We Carry
Every culture has small rituals. I share a few of my favourites.
Feathers. Across many cultures, feathers have been seen as small messages from the natural world. Because birds move between earth and sky, people believed feathers carried a sense of connection. Finding one unexpectedly was taken as a sign of protection, guidance, or quiet reassurance. Even without the stories, a feather holds something gently magical. It is something the wind has carried. Something that has journeyed. And when it lands at your feet, you can’t help but wonder if it arrived by chance… or for a reason.
Tossing Salt Over Your Shoulder. Salt used to be almost as precious as money. Spilling it meant loss. Folklore said that when salt spilled, spirits might gather behind you. Tossing a pinch over your left shoulder was meant to throw it into their eyes and chase them away. Today people still do it, a small playful ritual to undo a moment of bad luck.
Knocking on Wood. This one goes back even further. In ancient Europe, many believed spirits and protective forces lived in trees. When someone said something hopeful, they might touch the wood to ask for continued protection. Later it simply became a way of not tempting fate. I’ve been healthy all winter… knock on wood.
Blowing Out Candles. In ancient traditions, smoke carried prayers and wishes upward. When a candle was blown out, the rising smoke was thought to carry a person’s intention along with it. This eventually became part of birthday celebrations. If you blew them all out in a single breath, folklore said your wish might come true. But like many small rituals, the meaning may be simpler and more human than magical. Blowing out a candle gives us a moment to pause. To name a hope. And send it gently into the unknown.
“Did your family have any little rituals or sayings growing up?”
The ritual I shared that night was remembering birthdays as a child. My mom would wrap nickels in waxed paper and bake them in the birthday cake. If you found one in your cake, it was such a happy surprise and was even thought to bring good luck and prosperity to the person finding it.
Main Course
Storybowl is truly the heart of the evening.
Each gathering, I reach into a bowl and draw out questions. One by one. And the women at the table answer. Not with quick replies, but with real stories. The kind that take a breath before they begin.
It is where we begin to truly know one another. Each woman told a story that allowed her to be known just a little more.
Simply download the questions for this theme, cut along the dotted line, and place them in a bowl.
Side Dish
The Shared Luck Jar
This gathering includes a creative activity to engage with.
Gather a small jar or container and a handful of objects from around you. Nothing precious. Just what is nearby.
The tutorial walks you through each placement and the quiet intention behind it. Not a spell. Simply a way of placing a gentle hope somewhere real.
Either way, this is simply an invitation to begin.
Dessert
Closing Ritual: Knocking on Wood
Place one hand on the table.
For centuries, people knocked on wood not to avoid bad luck. But to acknowledge hope out loud.
Lightly tap the table once.
Today we name what we hope stays.
(silent pause)
May the ordinary hold you. May small rituals steady you. May you notice when life quietly answers back.
The Kitchen Table is a monthly virtual gathering inside The Hummingbird Nest. Each month, I host two separate gatherings on Zoom. Same theme, same menu, two different groups of women. Two chances to find a time that works for you. We slow down. We go a little deeper. We leave feeling more like ourselves.
It sounds simple, because it is. And somehow, every single time, it becomes something more.
I hope this changed the way you think about Friday the 13th, even just a little.
Warmly, Kathy
A little about me
Hi, I’m Kathy. A guide, a gatherer, a maker of sacred space, and a woman who found her way home to herself after years of putting everyone else first.
For years, I wore many hats at once. Single parent, community manager in a role I was promoted into before I believed I deserved it, event organizer. And later, a family caregiver. Learning all over again how to give without losing yourself in the giving. Caring for everyone, in every direction, all at the same time. What I had to learn, slowly and imperfectly, was that I mattered too. What I found on the other side of that, through stillness, creativity, and the women who gathered around my table, became everything I now offer.
