Official Publication of the Reformed Druids of Gaia

Beltane – Litha ce 2008 Vol.6, No. 3
Calen Mai – Alban Heruin YGR 02

druidsegg.reformed-druids.org

Growing Closer by the Senior Archdruid

Druids: Clergy at Large to the Pagan Community

“How can you be a Druid?” they ask. “Where is the Celtic community you serve?” And it is true that back in the day of the Druids of old, they were, amongst other roles, clergy for the Celtic community. But today there is no Celtic community, at least not in the sense that there was in the historical past. For one thing, there is not a single village in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Mann, Cornwall, Brittany or Galicia, where a majority of the populace are worshipping the old gods. There are many that speak a Celtic tongue, and many that have preserved at least some of the old ways, but few follow the old gods. If this is certainly true in the Celtic homelands, than surely it is true of the diaspora as well.

So who do we modern Druids minister to?

First, we minister to the Earth Mother. Now is the time for environmental
activism, and we Druids should be in the forefront of the healers of Gaia. Now some will even deride us for this, and call us “Treehuggers.” So be it! I’m proud to be a Treehugger.

Second, we minister to our families and to each other. We’re also the builders of communities of our fellow Druids.

Third, we minister to those who have no minister. The Pagan community today is largely a community of solitaires. These are a people of diverse
beliefs who have, for whatever reason, chosen to honor their gods alone. The fact is very few people join covens or groves, or have had the opportunity to do so. Many more have purposely avoided membership in groups, and others have been members in the past, but are now burned out and seek solitude. It is to these we Druids are “on call,” for when they need to be handfasted, or when they give birth, when they need counseling or when their loved ones are called upon to wish them well on their journey to the Summerlands, we Druids are there.

For when it comes right down to it, there is only one Nation, one Tribe, one People, and we Druids are Mother Gaia’s clergy, Her priests and priestesses, caretakers and guardians.

Namaste, and May the FOREST be with you.

Ellis S. Arseneau /|\
Senior Archdruid of the Reformed Druids of Gaia
Patriarch and co-founder of the Order of the Mithril Star, RDNA/RDG

Promise of Blue Horses

Blessing of the Birds

 

May the power of Eagle give you strength
and guidance in this life.

May the wisdom of Owl guide and direct you
and teach you the beauty of the night.

May the keen sight of Hawk give you clarity and insight.

May the magic and humor of Crow help you to
laugh and dance along the way.

May the peaceful beauty of Dove soften the winds of fate
in your personal universe.

May the grace of Swan permeate your consciousness
and give you balance.

May the voice of Jay teach you to speak your truth clearly.

May the brilliance of Cardinal warm your heart
and bring you love.

May the dignity of Crane teach you the value of integrity and faithfulness
and sustain you when life’s lessons are challenging.

May the giveaway of Turkey gift you with a generous heart.

And may the flight of Heron lift your spirit
and keep your purpose clear and bright.

May the broad wings of Condor shelter you from storms.

And may the healing powers of Vulture
keep you clean and strong.

May the flight of Goose keep you directed
and secure on your path.

And may the iridescent beauty of Hummingbird fill your life
with rainbows and lovely reflections of all that is.

May the grace of Egret fly you through your dreams.

And may the playfulness and intelligence of Parrot
remind you to play like a child, with joy.

And may Bluebird always sing you the song of happiness.

~~ Source Unknown ~~

WALPURGISNACHT

(Generously submitted by Derfel, a UK member of OMS/RDG)

 

The above is the Asatru equivalent of Beltane. At first sight, the very suggestion of a wild hunt (e.g. a major storm/typhoon) in the month of May seems crazy but then again, if you had spent the last month in the UK it would seem more than plausible. The last couple of weeks have brought us Brits sleet, snow, ice, blistering heat, bright sunshine and pouring rain – quite a mix – a wild hunt indeed!

When we think of Beltane we usually think of bonfires, maypoles, fertility rites, weddings and rituals honouring Bel the shining Gallic God
of the Sun. And for me that is exactly what Beltane should be – a great big excuse for a party. But like its fire festival cousin Samhain, Beltane as a festival of nature herself is often overlooked.

At the Spring Equinox we think of (and can visibly see) a change of season, the first bluebells and the first lambs – it is very much a festival of Mother Nature’s gifts but Beltane is rarely viewed in that way. Partly because the natural changes are less easily observed. Partly because May 1st is not one of those genuinely religious cross-quarter days that grab all of the headlines. Well maybe it is time to change all of that and so this year I am going to look at Beltane/Walpurgisnacht in another way. I am going to look at it as a celebration of nature herself.

I live in one of Britain’s best-known National Parks. It is a truly beautiful place and is one of the very few parts of the UK that remain unspoilt by human “progress”. It is though a working place and the trees, plants and animals are very much a part of a natural but also partially man-managed eco-system. The seasons are easy to spot hereabouts. Not just in the natural way but also because different events mark the turning of the wheel. For example at Imbolc the dead Gorse is burned off and at the Spring Equinox the wild ponies are rounded up for their yearly health checks.

Beltane is a particularly exciting time as it is now that the first newborn
foals appear and the next generation of ponies enter the world. As if to emphasise this, it is now that the Forest Rangers and the Commoners release the stallions onto the Forest so that the mares can be quickly returned to their pregnant state – thus ensuring next Beltane’s foals.

It is a wonderful time to be out on the Forest – almost every day brings a cute new foal to go all gooey eyed over – the new born calves are also making an appearance and everywhere one turns natures gift of fertility can be seen and not just imagined. The stallions make life interesting too. When they are not busy harassing some poor

mare they are fighting one another and that makes for some fascinating insights into natures darker side – Beltane brings not just the fluffy bunny but also the tooth and claw and when the later occurs you would be wise to watch from a safe distance – the stallions are not adverse to taking on a human if an equine opponent is less than forthcoming! (We get more injuries to tourists at this time of year than any at any other!)

Throughout the land the breeding season is at its height and maybe that’s what inspired our ancestors to choose Beltane as a time of weddings and engagements. Birds are singing and flowers are blooming. With the temperature at last beginning to rise there is soon to be an abundance of nectar and pollen on offer. This means that the insects begin to emerge from their winter sleep and they in turn will provide the food for broods of chicks and baby mammals.

Beltane is the time to enjoy the dawn chorus in full swing. Reed and Sedge Warblers provide a constant chattering noise in the reed beds, occasionally punctuated by the loud yet liquid song of Cetti’s Warbler
or the foghorn boom of the Bittern. May is also the time we hear that ultimate songstress the Nightingale – an all too short-lived visitor to these wonderful woodlands.

The Hawthorn is often called “May Blossom” so it is no surprise
to find that the hedgerows turn white at this time. The roads become
flanked by the frothy flower heads of Cow Parsley, while the Forest
heaths become resplendent with golden Gorse and purple Heather. It is a time for butterflies too, the Pearl-Bordered Fritillary can be spotted as one rides through the woods and the Cockchafers and Maybugs are everywhere.

It is also a fine time to look out for the Roe deer. Unlike the Red and Fallow Deer, the Roe tends to be a solitary animal, retreating into the woods at night and only coming out in the very early morning to feed on the heath land. It is a fine time to look for the bucks too, as by now their antlers are hard and fully grown and soon, very soon, those antlers will be clashing with other antlers as,
just like the stallions, the deer begin to “fight for the right to party!”

It is a very special time of the year whatever species you happen to be – heck, even middle aged folks like me get frisky when Beltane comes around – there is quite literally “something in the air.” So, as you hold your Rituals and leap your fires, as you toast to Bel and offer him your praise, try this year to think of what Beltane is also about. It is about Bel – yes of course it is – but it is also about fertility, regeneration, new-life, new beginnings and birth. Pagans everywhere talk of the birth, death and re-birth cycle. Well, Beltane is the re-birth bit of that cycle and that has just got to be worth celebrating.

I Paint You in Dark Stars

(Generously submitted by Phagos, member of OMS/RDG)

A Personal Ritual for Beltane

As well as giving honor to the Kindreds, we honor the primary deities
Angus Mac Óg and Bláithíne (pronounced Bla-heane, which means “flower face”). Angus Mac Óg, a fertility God, is the son of the Dagda, and is one of the Celtic Gods that help young lovers. As such, he is very appropriate for this holiday. Bláithíne was the wife of Cú Roi (pronounced Coo Roy), a Fennian warrior, and one of the lovers of Cú Chulainn (pronounced Coo Hoolan), an great Irish hero. In addition to her reputation as a wonderful lover, Bláithíne is known as a Goddess of the fields.

Opening Prayer

A short declaration is made about the reason for the ritual:

As I stand here under the stars, I can see all of creation around me.
I come here to give honor and love to the Shining Ones, the Spirits of Nature and the Ancestors.(forcefully) I am here to honor the Gods!

Honoring an Earth Mother

Honoring an Earth Mother can be done by giving an offering (flowers, cornmeal or some other natural object) to the Earth while singing a chant:

Chant – As One (author unknown)

As One we join with Her, our Mother.
As One we sing to Her our song.
As One we touch Her
As One we heal Her
Her heart beats with our own as One.
(forcefully) Earth Mother, I honor you!

Bestow a kiss upon the Earth.

Honoring the Bardic Deities

The following is a prayer to honor one of the bardic deities, in this case, Brigit:

As the flame, you enter my being with your spirit. Your presence is with me at all times. You have taught me to know my voice and the power it has over others. You have shown me the powers within myself. Brigit, you are the voice of the bards. You are the words of the poet. I call to you now to be with me. To show me the words, the phrases that are the best, to let me send my thoughts sweetly to the Kindreds. Brigit, I call upon you now to give me the powers of inspiration. Brigit, I call upon you now!

Two-Power Meditation – Earth and Sky

Instructions for the meditation can be recorded on tape and played back during the ritual:

Close your eyes and find that quiet, still place. Breathe deeply. Listen to the sounds of Spring around you. Listen as the Earth comes alive again. Feel your toes wiggle down into the soil. Reach deep down into the Earth Mother. Let your toes become roots, seeking the quiet, warm waters beneath the Earth and then drawing it up, up like the sap in Spring. Up, into your roots, up further still into your legs. Let it pool in your groin. Draw it up your spine, and let it pool in your heart. Up further, to pool in your mind. And still it comes
until it flows down and out and back into the Earth . . .

And with that energy of the Earth, flowing in you, look now with your
inner vision. Look up to the Sky. Look above. Look all the way to
the stars above. You can see the cool energy of the stars. You can
see it flowing down from the stars. Down, down to you. And as that
energy of the stars flows into you, you can feel it fill you. Fill you to overflowing. And as that energy of the stars mingles with the energies of the Earth moving through you, feel those energies combining, filling you to overflowing. And as that energy moves
out, feel it mixing and moving around and around the sacred space.
Be at peace.

This is the time when sweet desire weds wild delight. Beltane celebrates the beginning of a bold and virile season, when the God of Nature lustily impregnates the Earth Mother. Life spring eternal, with joy and beauty. Now is the time for the celebration of the powers
of life, sensuousness and newness. For richness and plenty now bless the land. This is the time for all things to grow, a time to build,
a time to explore. I exult in the glory of the Earth, and celebrate
my own strengths.

Establishing the Vertical Axis

One way to establish the vertical axis is by reconnecting the Well,
Fire and Tree with their roots to all the other sacred wells, fires and trees in the cosmos. At this time, offerings can be given to each of the three in the sacred center as the words are sung about each. Usual offerings include: silver to the well, oil to the fire, and incense or water to the tree.

Calling Upon the Gatekeeper

This calling is usually done while placing an offering of olive oil to
the fire or into the offering bowl:

Manannán mac Lír, once again I call upon you. I ask you to be my Gatekeeper. I ask you to come across the waves in your magical coracle, the Wavesweeper. Come across the waves and open the ways for me. Manannán, I ask you to be my magician, my Druid, and I ask you to hold the ways open for me tonight. Manannán, I give you this offering of fine oil in praise of your wonders and in love of you.

Manannán, once again I ask, let the well open as a gate [pointing to the Well and visualizing a gate, or ring of fire, opening over it], and let the tree open as the connection between all the planes [pointing
to the Bile (Irish for “tree”) and visualizing it growing through the gates over the Fire and Well, both up and dow, to all the planes of existence]. (forcefully) O Manannán mac Lír, let the gates be opened!

Acknowledgement of Outsiders

A cup of ale is taken to a location South of the sacred space or room
that you are working in, and given to the outsiders after saying:

Once again I call to you, Outsiders. You who stood against my Gods. You from the primordial time. I know that you are still out there. I
also know that I harbor, within myself, things that are not needed
during this time of ritual. I want to set these things aside. Outsiders,
I ask that you help me take these things that I don’t need and set them aside. Those things that are not appropriate for this time of ritual. Outsiders, to you I give this offering of ale to aid me in setting aside all that is not needed at this time.

Kindred Callings

An offering to the Ancestors of cornmeal is sprinkled around the inside of the sacred space or into the offering bowl. A calling is spoken while the offering is sprinkled:

Ancestors, I ask that you be with me tonight. Mothers and Fathers of all, not just of me, but of the earlier inhabitants of this land as well.
I call to you tonight and ask you to join with me and lend me your
wisdom. (forcefully) Ancestors, be with me tonight!

An offering to the Spirits of Nature of a sweet-smelling herbal mix
is sprinkled around the inside of the sacred space or into the offering
bowl. A calling is spoken while the offering is sprinkled:

Spirits of Nature, I ask that you accept this sacrifice of sweet-smelling herbs and join in this ritual. Spirits of this land and all the
lands around it, Spirits of the Waters and of the Air and Skies above it, I call you to now. I ask that you join with me and lend me your strength. (forcefully) Spirits of Nature, be with me tonight!

An offering of olive oil to the Gods and Goddesses is sprinkled on
the fire or into the offering bowl. A calling is spoken while the
offering is sprinkled:

I call now to all the Gods and Goddesses that have not been named,
I give you this offering of fine oil and ask that you join with me for this ritual tonight. I ask that you join with me and lend me your power. (forcefully) Shining Ones, be with me tonight!

Calling of the Primary Deities: Angus Mac Óg and Bláithíne

An offering of olive oil is poured on the fire or into the offering bowl, as each calling is spoken:

Now I call upon Angus Mac Óg, son of the Dagda, you who resided
at Brú na Bóinne, the modern Newgrange. Agnus the young, I ask you to come and join with me. I ask you to ring your fertility of youth to join with me here in this ritual. And to bring that fertility of youth to my fields to make my crops grow string through the Summer. Angus, to you I give this offering of fine oil and ask you to join with me tonight. (forcefully) Angus Mac Óg, be with me tonight!

Bláithíne, I have named you and so I call you forth. I call with the power within me. I call with my own voice. I use my hands and my being as the bridge across. Bláithíne, I call to you. I have named you blossom. I have named you flower face. You, whose wisdom comes with the fertility of the land. Whose power is in that which shapes the soil. Whose power is in that which causes trees to grow, flowers to bloom. Bláithíne, I call you. I call you forth with the word and with the power within me. Bláithíne, I call you.

Praise Offering

This can be done through offers of song, poetry, story, dance, artwork, etc. You should prepare what you will be offering in advance of the ritual and make sure that it is a worthy offering.

Omen

The omen is usually done with either runes or Ogham cards or sticks
(or any other form of divination you feel comfortable using).

Return Flow

Having given offerings to the Kindreds, you hope that blessings will flow back to you magnified many times. The “return flow” is started by holding up a cup of water, juice, beer, or ale. Energize the beverage by visualizing while speaking:

Once again, I turn my vision inward. I look to the area around me, to
the trees. I look at the faces if the beings gathered here around this ritual. I listen to the noise they make as they move through the trees. Now I turn my vision upwards, up to where the gate shines above me like a ring of gas gets, a circle of flame. Looking up through that circle, I can see a host gathered there, looking down on me with love. And looking downward through the gate below, I can see the host gathered there, as well, looking up at me with love. Now I call upon all those gathered around and above and below me to take the offerings I’ve made and to return some to me. To give me the bounty of your blessings. A return, a bounty that has been magnified by your wondrous powers.

I can see how the flow of energy and love streams down from above
and surrounds me! I can see how the energy fills the cup and spills
over. I can see how the cup sparkles and shimmers. Gods and Goddesses, Spirits of Nature and Ancestors, I thank you for this gift in return! (forcefully) Behold, the waters of life!

Thanking the Deities,
Bláithíne and Angus Mac Óg

A gift of olive oil is poured on the fire or into the offering bowl,
as the parting is spoken:

Bláithíne, I thank you for joining with me and for bringing your fertility
to my fields. As this rite is ending, I give you this gift in parting, given out of love, with nothing asked in return. (forcefully) Bláithíne, I thank you!

Angus Mac Óg, I thank you for joining with me and for bringing your fertility to my fields. As this rite is ending, I give you this gift in parting, given out of love, with nothing asked in return. (forcefully) Angus Mac Óg, I thank you!

Thanking the Kindreds

Another gift to the Gods and Goddesses of olive oil is poured on the fire or into the offering bowl, as the parting is spoken:

I call once again to the Shining Ones. I thank you for joining with me tonight. As this rite is ending, I give you this gift in parting, given out of love, with nothing asked in return. (forcefully) Gods and Goddesses, I thank you!

Another gift to the Spirits of Nature of olive oil is poured on the fire
or into the offering bowl, as the parting is spoken:

I call once again to the Spirits of this Place. I thank you for joining
with me tonight. As this rite is ending, I give you this gift in parting, given out of love, with nothing asked in return. (forcefully) Spirits of Nature, I thank you!

One more gift to the Ancestors of olive oil is poured on the fire or
into the offering bowl, as the parting is spoken:

I call once again to the Ancestors. I thank you for joining with me
tonight. As this rite is ending, I give you this gift in parting, given out of love, with nothing asked in return. (forcefully) Ancestors, I thank you!

Thanking the Gatekeeper
and Closing the Gates

One last time, a gift of olive oil is poured on the fire or into the
offering bowl, as the parting is spoken:

Manannán mac Lír, I thank you for coming to me tonight as my magician, as my Druid, and as my Gatekeeper. Now that this rite is ending, I give you this gift in parting, given out of love, with nothing
asked in return.

As this ritual is ending, I ask once again, let the fire be once again
fire [pointing at the Fire and visualizing it simply as a candle or small fire]. Let the well be once again a well [pointing at the Well and visualizing it as simply a bowl of water], and let the tree be once again a tree [pointing at the Bile and visualizing it shrinking back down to normal size]. (forcefully) O Manannán mac Lír, let the gates be closed!

Reversing the Two-Power Meditation

This meditation is reversed at the end of the ritual by allowing the
energies to move back to their source. Again, you can record the
following on tape and play it back during this part of the ritual:

Once again, look about, using your inner vision. The gate has closed
down, but the Spirits of Nature are still all around you. They never
really leave. You can still see and feel the different types of
energies swirling around your sacred space. Take those energies
from the Sky into your being and start to move them upwards, back
to where they came from. And as they pass through you, keep what
you need to remain energized and at peace.

And once those energies from the Sky have left you, look around at the energies of the Earth that still flow around your sacred space.
Allow those energies to flow into your being and start to move them
downward, back to where they came from. As they pass through you, keep what you need and let the rest go.

Conclusion

Some type of formal closing must be spoken aloud, even if it is as simple as:

As I have given honor tonight, so will I do in the future! The rite
has ended!

Source:
The Solitary Druid – Walking the Path of Wisdom and Spirit
by Rev. Robert Lee (Skip) Ellison, Ár nDraí Féin

• * * Like this ritual? * *

The Great Affair

~~ Diane Ackerman ~~
(“Found poetry” from A Natural History of the Senses)

 

Death of a Bard
A Tribute to John O’Donohue
(1954 – 2008)

by Ceridwen Seren-Ddaear

The People of the Hills

Connecting with Earth Spirits

by Sonia Choquette

 

As you become more attuned to the spirit in all things, the first guides you may sense are the forces of nature.

Grouped together, the nature spirits are called elementals. Comprised of the spirits of earth, water, fire, and air, they’re sometimes known as gnomes, sprites, sylphs, devas, and salamanders (which are not anything like the small reptilian creatures). Although this may sound like the stuff of fairy tales, every living thing has its own spirit force and vibration that looks after it.

The nature spirits are wonderfully therapeutic, and by raising your sensitivity to their presence and asking for their help, you’ll immediately begin to feel their support. When you learn to identify them and become open to receiving their gifts, the natural world will then become a place of healing and excitement for you.

 

The Earth Spirits
(Gnomes, Fairies, Tree Devas, Elves)

 

It’s best to start connecting with this spirit realm by concentrating on the spirits of the earth—also known as devas—beginning with the trees, flowers, and of course, Mother Earth herself. The earth is an incredible living, breathing spirit, majestically supporting all of the life on this planet. Affectionately known as Gaia, she is the organic mother of us all, and becoming sensitive to her energy instantly helps us feel physically stronger and supported.

Connecting with the earth is known as “getting grounded”—a
term that’s casually tossed about, but rarely fully understood to
be the act of allowing our spirit to be nurtured by Mother Earth.
When we’re disconnected from her we feel scattered, weak, easily pushed about by life, and cut off from support. By raising our sensitivity to and becoming conscious of her, our life calms down and our basic sense of security kicks in.

Not one of us is so smart that we can live without Gaia’s force beneath us . . . even concrete cannot fully block her energy. If you ever doubt her power, just conjure up the magnitude of a big earthquake to bring you back to reality. At the same time, she can also be astonishingly gentle – nothing is so restorative to your body and bones as a massage from her.

About a dozen years ago, my husband, Patrick, and I took our daughters to Hawaii for the first time. When Sonia hit the beach, she could hardly contain herself. It felt so delicious and soothing to that five-year-old that she threw herself onto the sand; grabbed it by the handful; squeezed, smelled, and even tried to eat it. She rolled around in the wet sand for hours and never tired of it. As I was putting her to bed that evening, her heart was so brimming with joy that she gave me a full-body hug and said, “Mom, before today I used to love you like a dot . . . now I love you like a circle.”

If you feel drained, disconnected, unsupported, and unloved, tap in to Mother Earth’s spirit and let it nurture you. Have your spirit ask her to enfold you with her endless arms and pull you back to her breast. Gaia’s spirit is so powerful that connecting to her will lift depression and fear, and can even ease one of our greatest social diseases – chronic fatigue syndrome.

Hot-stone massage therapy, a recently popularized treatment, channels the earth spirit. The spirit in the rocks, which are strategically placed over a person’s body, manages to touch bone marrow and has the power to calm, fortify, and restore strength to the individual like nothing else.

 

By the same token, the spirits in flowers work to calm and balance
your emotional body—the first layer of energy overlaying your physical body—which goes through a lot of wear and tear in a day, a week, or a lifetime. It can get weak, thin, and torn, leaving you prey to all kinds of emotional distress.

Tapping in to the spirit of flowers doesn’t take too much effort . . . simply smell a rose, appreciate an orchid, or sniff a sachet of lavender to see what I mean. If you’re feeling flat, weak, or uninspired, bringing your subtle awareness forward to connect with that flower and plant fairies will restore your balance, and can gently calm and reweave the emotional body and restore balance.

Some people have become so connected to the spiritual energies in flowers and their immense capacity to heal that emotional body that there are entire alternative-healing methods devoted to the therapeutic qualities of flower essences. To give yourself an added boost, you can even look into using these essences, which embody the restorative
spirit of plants and flowers, and are available in health food stores as well as on the Internet. Each specific plant extract brings a different result by tapping in to the particular energy you are focusing on. For example holly relieves you of being critical, lavender opens and calms the heart, and violet builds confidence.

You can really connect with fairies if you grow a garden -even if you just nurture a few potted plants. The next time that you find yourself mindlessly watering the azaleas, stop and feel their energy and appreciate their strong, yet gentle, spirit. Talk to your plants and flowers and even play classical music for them. . . after all, experiments have proven that their spirits react to kindness and in response, they’ll go wild and grow like crazy. If you really want to feel some psychic support, take this a step further and hug a tree. I’m completely serious when I say this. We (especially those of us in the Western world) have become lazy and dull in a subtle awareness, but very few people can remain immune to the
formidable grounding and healing power of a tree. Be willing to look as loony as a lark if you must, but take the risk and throw your arms around the next oak or elm in your path. Place your heart up against the bark and see how you feel. If that’s just too over the top and you can’t bring yourself to enjoy that experience, at least plop down at the foot of a tree and connect with its majesty through the roots.

The spirits of trees are so powerful that they act like amplifiers for your psychic sensibilities. Connecting with their energy will pull your awareness deep into the spirit world, quickly enhancing your ability to connect with higher-frequency entities, such as your guides and angels. And although it may not happen overnight, if you work with trees for a few weeks, you’ll no doubt start attuning to other spirit forces.

If you’re a city dweller, you may have to use a little extra effort
to attune to the earth spirits, but quite honestly, the benefits
and rewards are worth it. City life is very stressful and draining,
so connecting with the nature spirits is all the more urgent. In
the end, you’ll become calmer, more grounded, and emotionally more peaceful.

Sonia Choquette’s latest title Ask Your Guides: Connecting to Your Divine Support System, is a fascinating and inspirational book that provides all the information you need to help you connect with your spirit guides so that you can enjoy all the love, abundance, and joy you’re entitled to. Her Soul Lessons and Soul Purpose Oracle Cards are an excellent resource to assist you in answering life’s most profound and pressing question. Sonia is conducting an all-day Wake Up Your Spirit and Connect with Your Guides workshop in cities across the US. Click here for dates and locations.
http://groups.msn.com/MysticalVisions/earthspiritsconnecting.msnw

Relationship as a Spiritual Journey

by Deborah Knighton Tallarico

There is no denying the reality that relationship is perhaps one of the most potent of life’s teachers. At its best, it brings us to the heights of love, passion, pleasure, union, ecstasy and joy; at its most challenging, to the depths of uncertainty, disappointment, loneliness and despair. Relationship most often brings us face to face with all of our deepest hopes, fears, wounds, childhood hurts, dreams and challenges.

It is a powerful process that has the potential to help us become more whole as individuals, but the journey can often be challenging and full of soul trials and tribulations. Relationship is a purification by fire. The deeper the relationship, the more “issues” will be brought to the surface to be healed and transformed as “grist for the mill”.

 

“The deeper our longing for love, the more light floods our being, and the dark shadows of fear, doubt, pride, anger, jealousy and greed emerge for their last stand.”

~~ Barry and Joyce Vissell, The Shared Heart
~~

If viewed from a spiritual perspective, relationship can be an incredible process of self-discovery, soul growth, deep inner healing and transformation, a path of initiation. When held in this light, it can be one of the most profound spiritual paths there is to walk upon.

” In former times, if people wanted to explore the deeper mysteries of life, they would often enter the seclusion of a monastery or hermitage.
For many of us today, however, intimate relationships have become the new wilderness that brings us face to face with all our gods and demons.”

~~ John Welwood, Journey of the Heart ~~

 

Let us explore some of the important components of a spiritual relationship. First and foremost: Is each partner holding a spiritual perspective, and a spiritual vision for their union together? This can be quite challenging at times in the heat of a conflict; but like any spiritual practice it takes consciousness, compassion and effort to bring yourself back to the spiritual core of your relationship, just like you bring your wandering mind back during meditation. It is a spiritual practice in daily life, moment to moment. It is not a goal but a process.

It is of course important to share a common vision for your relationship, to have a spiritual foundation and a base of understanding between you, and to see your relationship as a spiritual and sacred journey. You may want to ask yourselves: What is the Higher purpose (sacred intention) of our being together in this life? What are our Spiritual Ideals for our relationship – for our lives individually and together? What are we learning from each other? What are each of
our strengths that we bring to the relationship? It is important
to stay connected to these things when everyday life gets the best of you, and to remember to continually return to the Sacred Intention of your Union.

Another aspect of holding a spiritual perspective is to acknowledge the Universal Truth of: As Above, So Below… As Within, So Without. Your partner is your greatest mirror and your greatest teacher if you can allow him/her to be. This can be frightening at times, but holding this perspective can be incredibly transformative and enlightening, and can take away any blame you may have for each other. To withdraw
projections and to be willing to honestly look at your Self takes tremendous courage. To see how you create in your relationship the very dynamics you have within your own soul is profound. Whatever you deeply believe about life, your Self and relationship, whatever internal conflicts you have inside your deepest self, will eventually get played out between you and you partner.

This is why relationship is a trial by fire – it is there to purify
and transform the very depths of our souls… if we dare take the journey. This is why it is crucial to remain conscious or at least to hold this truth, and this is exactly why relationship is such a profound spiritual journey. To have to look at your deepest fears, hurts, vulnerabilities, expectations, beliefs and wounded places right in the face is Soulwork!!!

In order to do this Soulwork… you must be willing to shed layers of your Ego and be ruthlessly honest with your Self. This requires tremendous humility and a willingness to live aligned with what you know deep down to be the Highest Truth, even in the presence of another. To admit your vulnerabilities and weaknesses, to own your own shortcomings in any given situation takes great courage. To open up and let your partner into your heart and soul in this
way can be scary. To see how your partner is a mirror for YOU takes guts and a willingness to move beyond the walls, defenses and images of your Ego. This takes tremendous strength and willingness to be humble. Of course, first one must have a deep trust… and a feeling of safety with their partner. Since we are all so wounded in our hearts, this is not always so easy to do.

 

“Your mind
will naturally seek the easiest person to be with –
one with whom it is easy and comfortable.
But your heart, the voice of the soul, will seek the person
who can best help you climb toward God.
The mind seeks an easy relationship.
The heart seeks a spiritual partner.”

~~ Barry and Joyce Vissell, The Shared Heart
~~

 

In a spiritual relationship it is also important to realize that your outer relationship with your partner is a mirror of the inner relationship you have with your Self, and it reflects the union or disharmony of your own masculine and feminine sides. Your partner is a reflection of your own inner sexual counterpart – in Jungian psychological terms, one’s anima or animus. Whatever we see in our partner…those aspects we are attracted to or repulsed by… are aspects of ourselves we perhaps do not yet realize, and through our partnership with our Beloved, we have the opportunity to open to these realms of our Self needing to be acknowledged. Perhaps it is some aspect of our shadow side or a glorious aspect of ourselves we do not yet know.

This is why it is so important to be doing our own inner work and exploring the depths of our own soul, as well as our masculine and feminine sides while in relationship. To intimately know our own inner feminine or masculine, and to have them balanced and conscious can greatly help our relationships. One can only have a harmonious and loving “outer” relationship if the “inner” relationship is that first.

We must not forget one of the most important spiritual qualities in a relationship – one of the deepest things we all long for – LOVE. Being committed to making Love (and Truth) the foundation of your relationship is crucial. This means being committed to going back to the softness, tenderness and love within your own heart as often as you can with your partner – learning to have a very real and profound compassion and understanding for your mate, and deeply respecting and honoring WHO they are even when
they are human!!! It means learning to love all the imperfections, human frailties and vulnerabilities in your partner (and thus within yourself).

 

“For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult task of all…
the work for which all other work is but preparation.”

~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~

 

Spiritual Relationship like any spiritual path requires us to shed layers of outmoded beliefs and ways of seeing life. It requires us to courageously open our hearts and our souls, to be willing to hold the Highest Good for our relationship and our partner, to see the Divine within them and to be devotional with our love as we would be to God/Goddess.
Namaste’…. “I bow to the Divine within you”, is an important saying to remember when in relationship.

Ultimately, relationship is a journey into the unknown – and
a sacred journey of the heart. It stretches us to the boundaries of our soul. It challenges us to ground, test and practice all of our spiritual ideals, beliefs and values.

On Love

“…. When love beckons to you, follow him,
though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you, yield to him,
though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you…
and when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you, so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth, so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses
Your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them
In their clinging to the earth……..
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know
The secrets of your heart,
And in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s
pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness
And pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of
your laugher,
And weep, but not all of your tears.”

~~ Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet ~~

Jump the Fire – Beltane

by Lady Lissar

Summer Solstice

Litha Lore & Poetry

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.

~~ James Dent ~~

The Summer Solstice on June 21 is a key date in the solar calendar, for the Sun has reached its highest point in the sky, making this the longest day in the year, and therefore a time for great rejoicing. The solar god is now at the pinnacle of his power, having grown to full maturity; he personifies the Father and the King, who embody the traditionally masculine qualities of strength, energy and authority.

The Goddess, meanwhile, has reached a similar stage in her eternally shifting and returning cycle; she is the Full Moon of Summer in all her glory, the fertile, fulsome Mother Goddess and Queen. This royal pair is perfectly expressed in the symbolism of the Tarot as the Emperor and the Empress…

Midsummer is called Alban Heruin or “the light of the Shore” in
modern Druidism. This festival marks the Summer Solstice and the longest day. Over Midsummer, vigils, bonfires and gatherings were usual, with many people jumping through the fire to rid themselves of illness and so engender health and fertility…

June is named after Juno – the Roman Mother Goddess and Queen of Heaven – consort of Jupiter, the Father God (in Greek, they were Hera and Zeus). In Anglo-Saxon, June was known as Aerra Litha, meaning “before Litha”, or Midsummer; in Welsh, Mehefin, or Midsummer; and in Gaelic, An t’Og mhios, “the young month”…

What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months,
and with as yet no sign to remind one
that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.

~~ Gertrude Jekyll ~~

In the Gaulish Calendrical Tablet, the Coligny Calendar, the month of June-July was called Equos, or “horse-time” – the season when it was possible to ride out freely in good weather
and a time for horse-fairs and races…

In June, as many as a dozen species may
burst their buds on a single day.
No man can heed all of these anniversaries;
no man can ignore all of them.

~~ Aldo Leopold ~~

On June 21 as the twins of Gemini yield to Cancer the crab, we observe the longest day of the year. Summer Solstice, or Alban Hefin as it is known in Welsh, heralds solar celebrations across the British Isles. At dawn, the sun’s rays illuminate astronomical markers of the great megalithic circles at Stonehenge in England, the Ring of Brodgar on Orkney, and the Callanish standing stones in the Outer Hebrides…

At the Summer Solstice, as the Sun climbs as high in the heavens as he can possibly go, people the length and breadth of Europe form Atlantic shore to old Russia, from cold north to hot south, have lit magical fires in a ceremony of union with the luminous God, in an attempt to boost his power so that he will not disappear too quickly into the depths of winter…

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.

~~ Russel Baker ~~

The spiral of the year was and continues to be enacted with bonfires, a tradition revived in the 1920’s in Cornwall. The rites hearken back to the ancient practice of rolling a burning wheel down a hillside. In the vale of Glamorgan in Wales, crowds once gathered to watch the spectacle with anticipation. If the cartwheel was no longer aflame when it reached the bottom, it foretold a poor harvest. If however it was still blazing, farmers cheered their good fortune…

At Midsummer, there were three main ways that fire might be used: huge bonfires might be lit in prominent places; burning torches might be carried in procession around the fields; and flaming wheels might be rolled along the ground or down hills. All these customs are clearly forms of imitative magic. The light of the bonfires, visible for miles, recalled that of the Sun’s rolling passage across the heavens, like the Greek solar god Apollo in his chariot…

In Scandinavia, the Midsummer fires were called “Balder’s
balefires”, and were sacred to the Norse god Balder. Naming
these fires after the god suggests that his body, in effigy or in
the form of a living representative, was once given up in the flames, like some great Viking hero on a sacred funeral pyre…

Some Beltane traditions were repeated at Midsummer. Throughout Europe, people trusted their fortunes to the energizing force of the Midsummer blaze. For example, cattle were driven between twin fires to protect them against disease; elsewhere, people jumped over the flames, the height of their leap indicating the eventual height of their crops. In France, people believed that the Midsummer fires could banish June rain – as if the flames would call out the Sun, who would push aside the dark clouds. In Cornwall, it was thought that if a sufficient number of bonfires could be lit on different hilltops, the landscape would glow with firelight, like a giant reflector dish that would strengthen the Sun…

Midsummer is closely associated with Druidry, and even today the British Druid Order is permitted to celebrate the day at Stonehenge. The festival traditionally begins at dusk on Solstice eve when fires are lit to ritually encourage the sun to rise full, to climb into the sky and ripen the fruit of the trees, the grains of the field. At the first light of dawn, celebrants who kept watch through the night honor the power of the solar deity. And then at noon, the rite switches tone in recognition of the cycle of the seasons. After the sun hangs high for three days it begins its descent into the darkness of winter.

The Sun King is fatally wounded at his peak and the process of his death and rebirth begins anew…

The Druid Mog Ruith, whos name means “the servant of the wheel”, moved through the sky upon a roth ramach or “rowing wheel”, which was conceived as the shining chariot of the sun. Like the sadhus of India, he performed miraculous Shamanic feats, including flying through the air attired in his enennach. or bird headdress, with magical weapons to smite his enemies. With his daughter, Tlachnga, he is a patron of wisdom and enlightenment…

I question not if thrushes sing,
If roses load the air;
Beyond my heart I need not reach
When all is summer there.

~~ John Vance Cheney ~~

The Classical writer, Diodorus Siculus, wrote of the Celtic Gauls, “In war they carefully obey the Druids and their song-loving poets…Often times as armies approach each other in line of battle with their swords drawn and their spears raised for the charge, these men come forth between them and stop the conflict, as though they had spell-bound some kind of wild animals. Thus, even among the most savage barbarians, anger yields to wisdom and Ares does homage to the Muses.” Celtic texts also speak of the peace-making abilities of the Druids and poets…

The Celts traditionally made offerings and prayers at wells, a custom that continues to this day – especially at those wells that
have healing properties. “Clooties”, or strips of cloth, are dipped in the well, prayed over and hung in the thorn tree that invariably grows over the well, there to hang and fade until the prayer, blessing or healing is achieved. All “wishing wells” started life as primary accesses of healing power. The Struthill Well in Scotland is remembered in this wishing spell – a remnant
of earlier incantations:

Three white stones,
And three black pins,
Three yellow govans (daisies)
Off the green,
Into the well,
With a one, two, three,
And a fortune, a fortune
Come to me.

Medb, or Maeve, was Queen of Connacht. She is said to have slept with or been married to many kings, although her long-term husband was Ailill. She seems to have been a priestess of the Goddess of Sovereignty, since no king was considered authentically inaugurated unless he had first slept with her. She was the cause of the Cattle Raid of Cooley, since she desired to have the Brown Bull of Cuailgne for her own herd. This brought about the conflict between Ulster and Connacht. Medb kept her beauty and youth by bathing in a certain lake, which is where she was eventually killed. Parts of Medb’s story are similar to that of the Cailleach’s (Winter Crone’s)…

Press close, bare-bosomed Night!
Press close, magnetic, nourishing Night!
Night of south winds! Night of the large, few stars!
Still, noddingNight!
Mad, naked, Summer Night!

~~ Walt Whitman ~~

To dispense the healing power of music was one of the many skills of the poet. Three harp-strains are said to have been instituted at the three confinements of the Goddess Boann: at her first labour, she was sorrowful because of the pain; at the second birth, she was full of joy; and at the third birth, she was sleepy because of the length of her labour. These three children were called Goltraiges, Gentraiges and Suantraiges, who give their names to the three strains that harpers were about to reproduce: the sorrow strain, which provokes the release of lamentation after grief; the joy strain, which provokes mirth after sorrow; and the sleep strain, which provokes rest after trauma…

Aed Finn, an Irish poet of the late Dark Ages, annotated and possibly composed The Voyage of Maelduin, which tells of the hero’s voyage to the Blessed Islands of the Celtic Otherworld. In this episode, the travelers encounter a hermit on a tiny island; he relates his coming there and prophesies their safe return:

I cut a turf from the grey-green land of my
Ancestors; a sea-breeze blew me to the play I am
In now, though it was composed narrowly.

Then did the star-strong King make broad an
Island from the wondrous sod of sea-gull’s hue is
The shoreline.

Each year was another foot added to the
Island; and best of all, a tree grew over the
Cresting wave.

A pure well fountained for me with eternal
Sustenance; by the protection of angels, sweet
Food, a sacred celebration.

Each of you will come homeward, a fruitful
Company over the wave’s track.

On Midsummer’s Eve, young women in Ireland gathered yarrow (Achillea millefolium) with the rhyme:

Good morrow, good yarrow,
Good morrow to thee.
Send me this night my true love to see;
The clothes that he’ll wear,
The colour of his hair,
And if he’ll wed me.

It was placed under the pillow to induce dreams of the future beloved…

In Ireland, Solstice was understood as one of three nights of the year in which the spirit world was more accessible. At Samhain, or Halloween, and at Beltane the veil parted between the domains of the living and the dead. At Midsummer, it was the fairy folk who joined human revelers. Knockainey, the hill in County Limerick considered sacred to the fairy Queen Aine, glowed with torches in her honor. It is said that Aine revealed herself as the flames died down and lead the villagers home. Her name translates as “brightness” and she is likely related to an ancient solar goddess. As late as the nineteenth century, families in the area still claimed connection to the fairy queen speaking in endearing terms of her as a woman, indeed “the best-hearted woman that ever lived”…

There is, however, a disheartening side to the celebration. If the Solstice is the day of the Sun’s greatest power, it follows that the
day after it is the beginning of his gradual decline. From now on,
the days will slowly but inexorably become shorter, as little by
little the darkness swallows the light. Thus the Solstice that greets the solar god’s zenith is also a goodbye – an ave atque
vale, a “hail and farewell” to the Eye of Heaven…

The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.

~~ Light by Francis William Bourdillon, 1852 – 1921 ~~

On June 24th, when the days begin to get shorter, the celebrations came to a close. After Christianity took root throughout the Celtic lands, the 24th was reserved for the feast of John the Baptist. Preceding Jesus by exactly six months, John was born early to announce Christ’s coming. In Britain, St. John’s wort is harvested at Midsummer. Valued by Celts as an herbal “demon chaser”, the plant is now valued by modern medicine for its anti-depressive qualities. With its vivid yellow flowers, St. John’s wort is a symbol of both its namesake and the brilliant solstice sun…

In summer, the song sings itself.

~~ William Carlos Williams ~~

Sources:

The Celtic Book of Days – A Guide to Celtic Spirituality & Wisdom
by Caitlín Matthews

The Magickal Year – A Pagan Perspective on the Natural World by
Diana Ferguson

http://www.treeoflifestore.com/index.html

Midsummer Rite of Manannan Mac Lir

by Erynn Laurie

NOTE: Anything in italics is a note to the ritualists.

Items needed:

irises or flowers
for each person
altar cloth
image or symbol of Manannan
bowl of water for crossing the water
seashell
hand towel
staff
stone
cup or bowl of water
salt
feather or other sky symbol
libation vessel
milk or other offering liquid
incense burner
charcoal and incense (or incense sticks)
matches
large bowl of water
vessel of water to pour from
container for alcohol
alcohol for well
(candle can be substituted for flame source)

Set up:

The altar is set on a cloth on the ground if outdoors, or on a small table if indoors. Sky object is at the north. Sea is at the southwest.
Land is at the southeast. In the center is a large bowl partly filled with water. Inside the large bowl is a small clear bowl with a little
alcohol in it, for the well flame. You can substitute a candle instead if you prefer. If you have an image you use for Manannan, place it at the north (a Shiva trident or a large seashell does quite nicely). A small censer of incense may be placed before the image of Manannan. Nearby are a bowl, cup or other vessel filled with milk, honey-water or ale for libations to the land spirits and ancestors. Also nearby is a bowl of water with a shell in it, for “Crossing the Waters”. If you think you will need it, have one of the celebrants carrying the waters also carry a towel for drying the hands of the participants. Make sure you have your matches and other incidental needs within reach before the rite begins. Assign roles to at least three people, to make the ritual flow more smoothly.

Blessing the Waters Between:

Hold bowl of water between hands

 

“Herein lie the waves of the sea, the cloak of mists, the moving waters of the ford. Between my hands, the power to pass between worlds.”

Draw Triskele over the water

All approach, carrying flowers

Challenge to the participants:

Draws double spiral gate, bars the way with a staff

“Beyond nine green-necked waves you shall not go, without the aid of strong Gods.”

Response:

“We come with the blessings and aid of Manannan, Gatekeeper, Lord of Mists, to do him honor and pay him tribute.”

Crossing the Water – Washing of hands and face:

Pour out to each

“Then may the king of Tir na mBan keep you safe in your journey”.

The Center Point:

Group circles altar, which is arranged to face North.

Stand quietly and relax with your hands resting at your sides. Clear your mind and concentrate on your breathing. Breathe in and out slowly and follow along with this meditation, which will place you in the center of the cosmos.

“We are at the center of the world.”

Exhale, move to one knee with palms on the ground before you.

“We stand firmly upon the land.”

Inhale and rise to your feet, moving the hands behind at hip height, palms up, cupping.

Exhale and move the hands in an arc until they meet in front.

“The sea always surrounds us.”

Inhale, move the hands to the sides, spread the fingers wide, palms forward.

Exhale and raise the arms, bringing the hands together above the head, thumb & forefinger meeting to create a triangle.

“The sky spreads itself above us.”

Inhale, lower the hands to the heart again.

“We are at the center of the Three Realms.”

Exhale and lower the hands to the sides.

The Ground of Being:

Take the stone, raise it above the head, lower it to touch the ground.

“May the Sacred Land support us.”

Set the stone back in its place. Take water and tip some salt into it. Swirl the water clockwise three times. Walk three times counterclockwise around the group.

“May the Eternal Sea surround us.”

Place the water back and take the bird’s feather or sky symbol. With the feather, describe an arc east to west over the head.

“May the Endless Sky watch over us.”

 

Replace the feather on the altar space. Take up the libation vessel. (libation vessel is passed to each person.

Ad lib: ancestor and land spirit invocations.

Each person pours an offering as they meditate upon the ancestors and spirits.

 

Invocation:

Raise incense.

“We call to thee Manannan, Lord of Mists, Wave-rider!”

Ad lib invocation.

 

“Blessed Manannan, it is by your hand we have come here. Come to us to receive our sacrifices in this, the season of Midsummer.”

Make symbol of Triskele with incense. Group begins to circle the altar tuathail.

“We bring together the waters of the sacred rivers of Ireland, into the Well of Wisdom which resides at the center of all worlds:”

Three celebrants pour water into the bowl – substitute any sacred rivers you like for local and global rivers.

 

“I invoke thee, Shannon
I invoke thee, Bann
I invoke thee, Boyne
I invoke thee, Amazon
I invoke thee, Nile
I invoke thee, Ganges
I invoke thee, Duamish
I invoke thee, Snoqualmie
I invoke thee, Columbia”

“May all the sacred waters of the world be present here!”

Light alcohol flame in the center of the well. All stand facing the well.

 

“On the day of Midsummer, the people of the Isle of Mann go to the top of the highest hill to pay rent to the first king of their island, Manannan mac Lir, Lord of the Waves, Son of Nine Mothers.”

“On this day of Midsummer, we come before Manannan as well, to give tribute and sacrifice in honor of him who keeps the Gates between the worlds”.

“Bring forth your offerings to the well, and meditate upon he who makes possible all your journeys between the worlds”.

Offerings are placed at the well. If you’re by the seashore, take the flowers and cast them into the sea, pour a libation into the waters for him. Then lots of drumming & dancing, room here for prophetic utterances & ecstatic trance.

 

 

“Here before you is the Well of Wisdom. Keep its flame with you in your heart as you return to the world of mortals.”

Put out flame.

“Manannan a Thiarna, accept our offerings and bless us through this year as we depart from your blessed realm.”

 

Crossing the Water – Washing of hands and face:

Pour out to each.

“May the king of Tir na mBan keep you safe in your journey home.”

Close double spiral gate with staff.

Copyright © 1995 Erynn Laurie
All Rights Reserved
May be reposted as long as the above attribution and copyright notice
are retained

Meditations on the
7-Pointed Star of Druidism
Seren Derwydd Series
Part 2: Eluseugan – Compassion

Ed. by Senior Archdruid El Arseneau, RDG

 

Point #1: Doethiweb – Wisdom
Point #2: Eluseugan – – Compassion
Point #3: Rhyddfrydwr – Liberalness
Point #4: Wmbredd – Abundance
Point #5: Ymnellltuaeth – Noncomformity
Point #6: Dysg – Learning
Point #7: Delfrydwr – Idealist

Last session we discussed the first attribute, “Doethiweb,” or wisdom. Out of wisdom flows then the second attribute of the Druid: “Eluseugan,” or compassion. Those of us who are member-Druids of the Order of the Mithril Star already know a little about compassion, for it is at the very heart of our definition of love:

 

“Love
is the condition in which the happiness of another person
is essential to your own.”

~~
Robert A Heinlein, Stranger In A Strange Land ~~

 

Compassion is a feeling deep within ourselves —a “quivering of the heart” — and it is also a way of acting — being affected by the suffering of others and moving on their behalf.
Today, the Dalai Lama is the most well known exemplar of compassion, and it is the central ethical virtue in the religion of Buddhism, as well as other systems of enlightenment.

The spiritual practice of compassion is often likened to opening the heart. First, allow yourself to feel the suffering in the world, including your own. Don’t turn away from pain; move toward it with caring. Go into situations where people are hurting. Identify with your neighbors in their distress. Then expand the circle of your compassion to include other creatures, nature, and the inanimate world.

The practice of compassion increases our capacity to care. It reinforces charity, empathy, and sympathy. It is very good exercise for your heart muscle.

But when you move toward others with compassion, you are likely to bump into some common attitudes, just waiting to close your heart again. The usual suspects are judgment and all its associated “isms”: racism, sexism, ageism, classism, and nationalism.

 

On a personal level, your compassion is sabotaged by feelings of ill will toward others: spite and malice. These feelings, and others arising out of emotional wounds and personal pain, are actually symptoms indicating that you need to have compassion for yourself.

“A human
being is a part of the whole called by us universe,
a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself,
his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest,
a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is
a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires
and to
affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to
free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion
to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

~~ Albert Einstein
~~

“Compassion is the radicalism of our time.”

~~ HH The Dalai Lama ~~

“When you begin to touch your heart
or let your heart be touched,
you begin to discover that it’s bottomless, that
t doesn’t have any resolution,
that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless.
You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space.”

~~ Pema Chodron ~~

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

~~ HH The Dalai Lama ~~

“No matter how you seem to fatten on a crime, there can never be good for the bee which is bad for the hive.”

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~~

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries.
Without them, humanity cannot survive.”

~~ HH The Dalai Lama ~~

“Years
ago I recognized my kinship with all living things,
and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better
than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now,
that while there is a lower class, I am in it;
while there is a criminal element, I am of it;
while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.”

 

~~
Eugene Debs ~~

Stonehenge Summer Solstice

by Darkwing

Metempsychosis

Amulet Moon

by Firefly

The Wannabe Tarot

 

 

*
The Neophyte
A priest and priestess stand facing one another, performing the Great Rite symbolically by plunging a dagger into chalice. In the circle surrounding them, a neophyte covers her smiling mouth, trying to suppress a giggle.

Divinatory Meaning
– Innocence. A new beginning. There was a time when all of this was good natured fun and not something you took so seriously.

Reversed Meaning
– Difficulty in expressing honest laughter. You’re taking this all too seriously. Get a life.

*
The Magician
The magician stands outside his double-parked car in a jammed parking lot. He wears full ceremonial regalia and has an altar setup, In his hand is an open book entitled, “Incantations to Asphaltato find parking spaces.”

Divinatory Meaning
– You need to understand your own resources better don’t use a sledgehammer to knock on a door.

Reversed Meaning
– You have lost sight that the map is not the territory.

*
The High Priestess
A Wiccan priestess stands, arms outstretched, wearing several pounds worth of pentacles, Celtic jewelry, astrological bracelets, and medallions. She looks ready to tip over.

Divinatory Meaning
– You may find yourself with sudden yearnings to join a Roman Catholic convert or seminary. Even if you’re most definitely not Catholic. Don’t scoff. Stranger things have happened.

Reversed Meaning
– You are ready to liberate yourself from the shackles of your old way of life and to put on the shackles of a new way of life.

*
The Nature-Lover?
In the middle of the woods stands a pagan with her face caked in rouge and eye shadow and lipstick. She holds up a symbol of nature – a miniature plastic tree.

Divinatory Meaning
– Examine that what you claim is your passion is something that you’re really passionate about.

Reversed meaning
– You are secretly a technocrat.

*
The Emporium
A pagan bookstore owner stands behind a counter in a bookstore jam-packed with books, pentacles, candles, Celtic jewelry, Tarot decks, etc. Behind him a sign reads, “Pagan Emporium Bookstore: Offering Ancient Wisdom Since 1995.”

Divinatory Meaning
– Don’t just settle for “Question authority.” Question
those who claim to be authority.

Reversed Meaning
– Question those authors who tell you to question authority, but then still want you to buy their books and follow their advice verbatim.

*
Grand High Muckety-Muck
A solemn Wiccan priest stands before an altar holding an athame. Hanging on the wall behind him is a certificate that reads, “Certified Wiccan initiate. Certificate granted by Walter’s Wild Warehouse of Wicca.”

Divinatory Meaning
– Don’t get distracted by initiations, titles, special abilities, etc. Focus instead on what capabilities you really need to live your life.

Reversed Meaning
– You have an insatiable desire to get initiated. Consider joining either the Fraternal Order of the Hedgehogs or else the Order of the Co-Hedgehogs and get this whole initiation business out of your system.

*
The Lovers
A young couple are having a handfasting performed in a grove of oak trees on a sunny summer afternoon.

Divinatory meaning
– Don’t get too cynical. You may be recovering from fanaticism, but keep in mind that good things can sometimes still happen in the religion.

Reversed Meaning
– All you really need is love. And if you don’t want to follow that advice, well, then, hey, the song by the same name is still cool.

*
The Broom
A teenage Goth witch runs down the sidewalk attempting to ride a battered broomstick. A cleaning lady with a dustpan in one hand chases after her, hoping to retrieve her stolen broom.

Divinatory Meaning
– You need to develop a better relationship with what occultists begrudgingly refer to as “the Mundane World.”

Reversed Meaning
– Maybe you really are a boring person after all. Time to clean up your act.

*
The Hungry Vegetarian
There’s a long buffet table at a wedding banquet. Whole roast pig, roast duck, baked chicken, glazed turkey, and caved ham fill the buffet table. One teeny tiny carrot resides on the plate of the hungry vegetarian. She eyes the roast pig, perhaps wondering if it might be made out of tofu rather than meat.

Divinatory meaning
– Time to change your habits.

Reversed Meaning
– Go eat a hot dog on a Friday.

*
The Hermit
The Hermit wears a dark gray robe and has a dark gray beard. He holds a gnarled staff in one hand and a blazing lantern in the other hand. He is doing this however in a crowded movie theater, and the theater patrons scowl at him.

Divinatory Meaning
– Don’t just trust yourself. Learn what part of yourself to trust.

Reversed Meaning
– It is better to have something you believe in rather than to just knock down what you don’t believe in.

*
The Wheel Of Fortune
A pagan dressed in purple and yellow robes holds a stick of incense in one hand and a compass in the other hand. He glares at the compass. The needle point is spinning wildly, so that he can’t tell which direction is east for quarter-calling.

Divinatory Meaning
– Don’t just find a new direction – create a new direction.

Reversed Meaning
– When you think your life is moving somewhere, maybe you’re just going in circles.

*
The Skeptic
A blindfolded man stands facing a full-length mirror.

Divinatory Meaning
– You may say that there is nothing of value in divinatory tools. But divinatory tools are nothing more than a means of looking at yourself. So perhaps you are saying that there is nothing of value in yourself. A man who swallows a placebo cannot deny his own mouth.

Reversed Meaning
– You will see through the illusions created by others. Be on guard against becoming snotty. Be careful that you do not forget that even illusions have their value. A man who imagines roses in the clouds can be inspired to become a gardener.

*
The Contortionist
You see a contortionist, his body twisted in what appears to be an impossible position. In fact, his head appear to be stuck up his own rectum.

Divinatory Meaning
– You need to get your head out of your arse.

Reversed Meaning
– Even though you think that this doesn’t apply to you, you really need to get your head out of your arse.

*
Renewal
An occultist’s apartment is in flames. His shelves are jammed with ceremonial daggers, magical talismans, occult journals/books, and esoteric tools. Out of all of this wealth of stuff, what will he try to rescue from the flames? Actually, he is reaching for his cat.

Divinatory Meaning
– You are about to encounter a situation in your life where you will make decisions that will show you the limits of occultism. Occultism is meant to serve life, not the other way around.

Reversed Meaning
– Be nice to your cat.

*
Temperance
In a candle lit room, a Hermeticist holds a rosy cross in his left hand and a pentacle in the right hand. To his left side is a host of symbols of crosses and grails. To his right side is a host of daggers and pentacles. Behind him, a window with the shades drawn is open a crack to reveal a hint of sunlight and the wide open outdoors.

Divinatory Meaning
– You need to open yourself up to more than what you currently allow yourself to experience.

Reversed Meaning
– You are a freak. Perhaps you should spend more time secluded from others so that others do not discover this.

*
The Adversary
The scene is two booths set up at a psychic fair – each booth manned by a practitioner. The first booth has a big sign over it, “Pagan Shamanistic Journeying Counseling.” The practitioner of this booth glares at the practitioner of the second booth. The sign over the second booth reads, “New Age Shamanistic Journeying Counseling.”

Divinatory Meaning
– There are things that you dislike that are more similar to you than you care to admit.

Reversed Meaning
– Stock market analysts and weather forecasters often give pretty lousy predictions. Don’t expect a fortune-teller to give perfect predictions, but don’t look too harshly upon them either. They are trying to get you to understand yourself — and while they may be dead wrong on some of what they say, the need to understand yourself is real.

*
The Tower of Books
An armchair magician has a den jammed full of occult books. In one armchair is a huge stack of books almost up to the ceiling. He stands on a stool trying to add yet another book to the top of the stack, ignorant of the fact that the tower is about ready to topple over on him.

Divinatory Meaning
– You need to learn to put your ideas into action.

Reversed Meaning
– Clean your room.

*
The Celebrity
In an occult bookstore, a pagan celebrity sits at a book-signing table, signing copies of her book, “Witchcrap for Morons.” A few feet away from the table, a group of neo-pagans are scowling and turning their nose up at the author.

Divinatory Meaning
– It is far easier for you to condemn what others create than it is for you to create something that you find to be of value. But you really need to learn to trust your own creative projects more.

Reversed Meaning
– Quit spending so much time in occult bookstores.

*
The Moon
A pagan painter stands by a moonlit window as he paints a picture of the crescent moon. The depiction of the moon is very well crafted, but then the painter is going back in and adding some crudely designed
pentacles on the moon, lest you, forget that this is supposed to be pagan art. Behind him, his two dogs bark fiercely.

Divinatory Meaning
– If you can let go of your pretentiousness, your talents can blossom.

Reversed Meaning
– Don’t forget to feed your dogs.

*
The Golden Apple
Three pagan women stand wrestling over who gets the Golden Apple.Behind them, unnoticed, stands a giggling Eris, who holds an entire basket of Golden Apples.

Divinatory Meaning
– Keep your perspective on what’s really important.

Reversed Meaning
– In order to allow a god or goddess room into your heart, you must not be too full of yourself.

*
Judgment by Conspiracy Theorists
A fundamentalist minister rallies against a pagan group. The minister conjures up images of animal sacrifice and human sacrifice. Meanwhile, the pagan group in question is sitting around in a committee meeting eating vegan chili and tofu.

Divinatory Meaning
– You need to get on with your life and worry less about what other people think.

Reversed Meaning
– You need to get on with your life and worry less about what other people think. On the other hand, this doesn’t give you license to be an arsehole.

*
The World in a Pack of Cards
A grungy prisoner in solitary confinement sits in a barren cell. No bed, no food, no sunlight, just a pack of Tarot cards in front of him. A 19th century occultist once said that a prisoner alone in a prison cell with nothing but a pack of Tarot cards would acquire all world knowledge. But, well, this prisoner could probably better use some food and some sunlight and a shower.

Divinatory Meaning
– Get a hobby.

Reversed Meaning
– No, really, get a hobby.

~~ Source Unknown ~~

Another “Find the Hidden Animals” Contest

Things I Learned
from British Folk Ballads

by Jim MacDonald

 

 

If someone says that he’s planning to kill you, believe him.

If someone says he’s going to die, believe him.

Avoid navigable waterways. Don’t let yourself be talked into going down by the wild rippling water, the wan water, the salt sea shore, the strand, the lowlands low, the Burning Thames, and any area where the grass grows green on the banks of some pool. Cliffs overlooking navigable waterways aren’t safe either.

Broom, as in the plant, should be given a wide berth.

Stay away from the greenwood side, too.

Avoid situations where the obvious rhyme-word is “maidenhead.”

If you look at the calendar and discover it’s May, stay home.

The flowing bowl is best quaffed at home. Don’t drink with strangers. Don’t drink alone. Don’t toss the cups or pass the jar about in bars where you haven’t arranged to keep a tab. Drinks of unusual or uncertain provenance should be viewed askance, especially if
you’re offered them by charming members of the opposite sex. Finally, never get drunk and pass out in a bar called the “Cape Horn.”

Members of press gangs seldom tell the truth. Recruiting sergeants will fib to you shamelessly. They are not your friends, even if they’re buying the drinks. Especially when they’re buying the drinks.

If you’re drinking toasts, mention your One True Love early and often.

If you’re a young lady, dressing yourself in men’s array and joining the army or the navy has all sorts of comic possibilities, but you yourself aren’t going to find it too darned humorous at the time.

If you are an unmarried lady and have sex, you will get pregnant. No good will come of it.

If you are physically unable to get pregnant due to being male, the girl you had sex with will get pregnant. No good will come of it. You’ll either kill her, or she’ll kill herself, or her husband / brother / father / uncle / cousin will kill you both. In any case her Doleful Ghost will make sure everyone finds out. You will either get hanged, kill yourself, or be carried off bodily by Satan. Your last words will begin “Come
all ye.”

Going to sea to avoid marrying your sweetie is an option, but if she hangs herself after your departure (and it’s even money that she’s going to) her Doleful Ghost will arrive on board your ship and the last three stanzas of your life will purely suck.

If you are a young gentleman who had sex it is possible the girl won’t get pregnant. In those rare instances you will either get Saint Cynthia’s Fire or the Great Pox instead. No good will have come of it.

New York Girls, like Liverpool Judies, like the ladies of Limehouse, Yarmouth, Portsmouth, Gosport, and/or Baltimore, know how to show sailors a good time, if by “good time” you mean losing all your money, your clothes, and your dignity. Note: All of these places are near navigable waterways. In practical terms this means that if you’re a sailor you’re screwed (and so are any young ladies you happen to meet). See also: Great Pox; Doleful Ghost.

If you are a young lady do not allow young men into your garden. Or let them steal your thyme. Or agree to handle their ramrods while they’re hunting the bonny brown hare. Cuckoo’s nests are right out. And never stand sae the back o’ yer dress is up agin the wa’ (forif ye do ye may safely say yer thing-a-ma-jig’s awa’).

Never let a stranger teach you a new game. No good will come of it.

Sharing a boyfriend with your sister is a bad plan.

Having more than one True Love at a time is a non-starter.

If you’re a brunette, give up. Not that being a blonde will improve the odds much.

If your name is Janet, change it.

If you are a young lady and an amorous soldier, sailor, ploughboy, blacksmith, cavalry officer, or other young man fails to stop the first time you tell him he’s being too bold, knock off the maidenly protests and take more direct measures. If saying “no” the first time didn’t stop him, you’ve no reason to believe that twice will work any better.

Professions to be particularly wary of: clerks, salty sailors, serving maids, blacksmiths, highwaymen, gamblers, rank robbers, stonemasons, soldiers, tinkers, and millers. Anyone described as “jolly,” “bold,” or “saucy.” Supernatural creatures are best avoided. If they can’t be avoided, they should be addressed respectfully. If a supernatural creature sets you a task you’re well and truly screwed.

If you are a young lady and a soldier promises to “marry you in the morn,” it means he’s already married. And has kids. And he’s not going to marry you anyway. Even if you’re pregnant. Which you will be.

If you’re a young unmarried lady with child, and your pregnancy embarrasses or inconveniences someone else, consider yourself a sitting duck. Don’t meet with your young gentleman alone, or at odd hours, or in isolated locations, even if he says he’s taking you to be married. Next thing you know your Doleful Ghost will be telling your mother all about it. While he may say “Come all ye..” in the last stanza or two this will be small comfort.

Young ladies who feel uneasy should always act on their feelings. If in your good opinion you fear some young man (however handsome, rich, and well-spoken) is some rake, depend upon it: He’s a rake. Rakes will protest that you have them all wrong. They’ll be fibbing. Never go anywhere with a rake, particularly to isolated spots. See above Doleful Ghost.

If you are a young lady and someone arrives to tell you that your boyfriend was slain on a foreign battlefield, take it with a grain of salt. Especially if you’re carrying a broken token.

If a former significant other turns up unexpectedly after a long absence, don’t throw yourself into his/her arms right away.

That goes double if they refuse to eat anything.

Triple if they turn up at night and want you to leave with them immediately.

Have nothing to do with former boyfriends who turn up and say it’s no big deal that you’re now married to someone else and have a child. If their intentions are legit, that’s got to be a problem. If it’s not a problem, their intentions are not legit.

You are justified in cherishing the direst suspicions of a suddenly and unexpectedly returned significant other who mentions a long journey, a far shore, or a narrow bed, or who’s oddly skittish about the imminent arrival of cockcrow.

If you are a young lady and you meet a young man who says his name is “Ramble Away,” don’t be surprised if, by the time you know you’re pregnant, it turns out he’s moved and left no forwarding address.

A fellow who’s a massively accomplished flirt hasn’t been spending his time sitting around waiting for his One True Love to come along. Furthermore, odds are poor that you’ll turn out to be his One True Love who will reform him.

If you arrange an assignation with your new sweetie, a little foot page will be listening in and will carry the news to exactly the last person you’d want to hear the story.

If your girlfriend insists that you go back to sleep after some odd sound woke you, it’s time to dive out the window and run for the hills right then.

If you’re hiding in the hills, don’t inform anyone exactly where you’re sleeping, particularly not an attractive member of the opposite sex.

If your girlfriend serves eels in eel broo, make sure you see her eat some first.

Informing your current significant other that you’re about to be wed to someone else is risky. Even if you’re doing it as a joke, or to test their love. Especially if you’re doing it as a joke or to test their love. Testing someone’s love in general isn’t too bright. Not even sending a talking goshawk to tell your significant other that the engagement is off will help you. You’re going to find yourself at the bottom of a well full fifty fathoms deep. A Doleful Ghost may get involved.

If, after you inform your current significant other that you’re to be wed to someone else, he or she suggests that the two of you meet in some lonely spot for one last fling, do not go.

Inviting your old flame to your wedding is a bad idea. If your old flame invites you to his/her wedding, leave town.

If your old flame shows up uninvited at your wedding, start eyeing the exits. There’s a chance he/she is a Doleful Ghost. Be that as it may, no good will come of it.

If you’re out hunting, make sure of your sight picture before you pull the trigger/loose your bow. Especially so if you’re near a navigable waterway or the greenwood side.

Do not allow the words “I wish” to pass your lips. Also avoid oaths, particularly when you’re near navigable waterways or the greenwood side.

If the jailer indicates his willingness to take your gay gold ring to carry a message to your sweetheart, see if he’ll take that same gay gold ring to leave the door open and look the other way for five minutes while you or the sweetheart (as appropriate) escape.

Always use the buddy system. “Bare is brotherless back,” as Grettir the Strong put it; and if Grettir was worried about going places alone, you’d better worry too. So bring a friend with you. Friends keep bad things from happening. If things go badly anyway, you’ll need their help. And if things go well (hey, it could happen), it’ll be nice to have a friend along to share the laughs.

Moving to America for a minute:

Do not, for any reason, mess with a man’s Stetson hat or a man who is wearing a Stetson.

Pop quiz!

You are a beautiful young lady named Janet. On the first of May you meet a man in a patch of broom down by the greenwoodside. He invites you to his home on the far side of the sea, and earnestly entreats you to keep his invitation secret from your parents. The ship is leaving right away, this very night!

What should you do?

A) Woo hoo, sounds like fun! You’ll go, have a great time, and return home happy, healthy, and with some great gossip for your chums.

B) You blow loudly on a police whistle and run home as if jet-propelled. You tell mom and dad what just went down, put on a Stetson, and load your forty-four caliber revolver with silver bullets.

C) You decide that it would save everyone concerned a great deal of trouble if you skipped ahead a bit and hanged yourself right now. Your Doleful Ghost informs mom of the situation.

D) Rather than go with him you disguise yourself as a man and join the Army. Next time you’re marching through the Lowlands Low you seduce a beautiful young lady. She is so amazed to discover that she isn’t pregnant that she hangs herself. Her Doleful Ghost gets confused and drives the young man you met down by the greenwoodside mad. He delivers a long speech that begins “Come all ye wild and roving lads a warning take by me.”

 

Source:
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/006448.html

 

Midsummer Meditation

(Generously contributed by Jacqueline Greer
Member of the Clan of the Triple Horses, RDG)

It’s been hot today, but it’s finally cooling off as the sun sets. You decide to take a walk. The sun illuminates the dirt road into an endless ribbon. But appearances are deceiving. The road soon becomes a path. The path leads to the edge of a meadow of tall grasses.

A dark granite standing stone, etched by water and time, stands in
the clearing. Tiny flecks of quartz glisten in the setting sun. Captivated, you approach the stone. In an instant you are part of an invisible clan, at one with each seeking soul who has approached this portal. You realize this is a place of reverence. Energy sparks through your hands, up your arms and into your heart, and they begin to speak.

“Don’t be afraid. The veil is thin, and we welcome you to celebrate this glorious night with us and the sidhe. Join us as we celebrate the Sun God in all his power.”

You grow dizzy. Time shifts. Colors whirl around you. You find yourself in the midst of the meadow. The sun is suddenly radiant again, powerful, yet your skin does not burn and your eyes adjust easily to the light. It is confident, erotic glow, the physical manifestation of confidence and joy.

You gasp as you realize the flecks in the rock have become tiny, perfect souls. You see familiar faces, faces you loved while they were physically present to you and love even more now that they have passed from that incarnation.

“Come, join us. Feast at the Sun God’s table,” you hear. You turn, and a wooden plank table groaning with fruits, breads, cheese, and ale—such wealth you can scarcely take it in. Kegs of mead rest alongside the table.

Your hostess approaches, perfect in form, her silver gown glowing. She appears as young as a maiden yet carries the wisdom of age.

“Welcome, friend. I am Danu. Please, fill your cup and your plate and nourish your body and soul.”

You shyly accept a wooden horn filled with mead, light and sweet and sparkling. It fills you with effervescent lightness and joy. You accept a wooden platter and fill it with fruit, bread and cheese.

As you eat, you look around you and become one. The souls you love laugh, dance and talk.
You gaze in amazement at the community united in celebration. Dryads, spirits of the trees, some young and smooth with silver, glowing hair and others with lush greenery surrounding wise, gnarled faces, circle rhythmically. Nymphs, delicate and almost transparent, dance
in their flowing way. Fairies whirl and circle so quickly you see only trails of glowing color. Elves dance on light, lively feet. Dwarves hop and hobble, released from their mines deep in the earth to celebrate the sun. You sit on the cool meadow grass and refresh yourself with food and drink. After a while you join the dance. You move tentatively, hesitantly, for the first few minutes. Then something breaks free inside you. You laugh and whirl, your energy soaring and your soul at one with the Goddess.

Midnight approaches. The music slows to a gentle, lyrical melody; then a hush falls. You look up. A gnarled, ancient oak bears a face you have not seen before. It is gentle yet strong, full of wisdom, ancient,
yet full of power.

The face speaks, and the celebrants fall reverent.

“I am Jack O’ The Green, John Barleycorn, the Green Man, the Ancient One. I am the one who connects you in the Universe’s timeless web. You have shared my power, my essence, my fertility, not just physical joys but the fertility of creation, of new life, of new strength, of joy and healing. You celebrated my birth at Yule; now you celebrate the peak of my power.”

“However, the wheel must turn again. This night sows the seeds of the coming
harvest. As you harvest herbs tonight, their seeds fall to their resting places deep in the Earth. I must do the same. Tonight I wish to give you my greatest gift, that of being able to treasure
and value all parts of the circle, waxing moon and waning moon, joy and pain, birth and death. No pain is forever and no joy is forever. Simply BE in each moment, aware of my presence, of the Goddess’ presence, accepting our power and joy in good times and our comfort and strength in bad. Realize, too that “good” and “bad” are labels with only passing meaning. Everything is a part of life’s circle; everything has meaning and nothing happens by chance.”

The Green man smiles and lifts his arms in blessing. Your heart swells with love and joy. “So simple, yet so few grasp this,” you think, and resolve to share the God’s message with those you love—and act on it.

Sadness tinges the joy as you move with the crowd toward the standing stone. Time and place shift and colors whirl again. You find yourself in the clearing. The moon, pregnant and glowing, has risen on the horizon. You look up, smile and whisper your thanks. After a few more moments, you walk away at peace and refreshed.

Farewell Blessing

CONTINUED HERE