My Gal and I attended a druid earth healing ceremony put on by the kind folks of Llwyn Swynedig. As you know, I am not a Druid but My Gal is a druid of a different order and feels a sympathy towards these folks. I am a curmudgeon in general and even I liked them instantly.
Given my ceremonial magick leanings, I'm a ritual stick in the mud when it comes to anything that doesn't have rigid rules. Upon seeing the spirit animal of the west was an octopus and being unaware of druids finding the octopus any more sacred than smelt, my eyebrow raised.
I was then pleasantly surprised. Prior to the ritual Brian greeted all the new comers to make them feel welcome. He and Jen then gathered everyone up and explained what was about to happen. They shared this was a Druid circle and not a Wiccan circle and that the rules were a bit different. They even explained some of the symbol set they were using. This is a step missing from most public circles. It worked.
As diligent readers of this space are aware, I'm doing a public ritual for Fresno's Spirit Fusion Festival (formerly PPD). I worked in an introductory explanation early on. Watching Llywn Swynedig has convinced me this is the right approach.
The ritual itself also resolved an issue that I have with most public rites. The energy is icky. In a CM hall the energy is clean, focused, and purposeful. It most public rituals, the energy is dirty, scattered and communal. Instead of general energy raising, they took a different tact. They had each individual raise energy according to their own abilities. They only supplied the form. Once the energy was raised it was projected into individual talismans that were then combined by the officials as both a 'lesson' and an offering. I may have changed the form of talisman based on the magickal principals I follow but I can not criticize the druid way. They did a fantastic job. This is doubly true because it was their first public rite.
Those that know me know that I wouldn't post a compliment unless I sincerely meant it.
It wasn't the type of ritual I am used to as a CM hall can feel like working within a laser beam but I learned something very important. They had sincerity of purpose. I recalled the words of Jesus, "Wheresoever two gather in my name..." They gathered in spirit and I felt spirit. Wonderful.
I also avoided eating a donut. See this post from earlier today, if you don't follow the relevance of that comment.
Anthropologist
The local community is being studied by Fresno State anthropologist Penny Verin-Shapiro. About two years ago, I was Penny's first interview. She had no place to start. The interview lasted about a half and hour, amazingly short for a wordy person like myself. My Gal was interviewed not long ago. The depth of Penny's education showed. Her interview lasted about three and a half hours.
I am one of the locals that lectures/speaks/presents at her classes each year.
Penny approached me because my friend WitchDoctorJoe told her that I had 'got religion' recently. He was referring to Pan landing on me. I have previously posted on those events. Penny wants to interview me on that topic. I am willing to as Penny appears to be seeking to understand rather than to judge.
We are going to schedule something in late summer. I am glad for the time to put things in perspective. I will be working more with Pan. Hopefully, I will gain enough of an understanding to be a good interview.
Herm
Since reading about the ancient Greek practice of the herm, I've wanted to build a small herm near my front door. Today, I took the first steps toward that by going shopping for rocks. There will be more on that in future posts.
Offerings
Following Jason Miller's advice, I once again made offerings from within my temple space. This time, when I rubbed my hands together to raise the energy, I reached down into the earth to pull it up. My normal practice is to draw it down. A beautiful column of light rose within me. I offered it to the spirits of the temple, the spirits of the house, the local spirits and the Universe. The local spirits were interesting. I saw forms of food for all the local life cats, birds, insects etc. When I gave energy to the Universe, the column of light rose into the sky. The sense of awe was profound.
I left my temple and began to read Researching Paganisms for my Cherry Hill class that starts next month. I suddenly realized that I felt like I've always wanted to. When, as a new magician, I said I sought spirit, I was looking for a feeling. I know several people that have radiated externally how I've always wanted to feel internally. Those folks are my mentor, someone that I can not name here and My Gal's mentor. I felt it from Jason Miller as well. Today, for the first time, I felt that within. I've been looking for that for over twenty years.
Having thought about it for a while, the result may be linked to the approach of my offerings. I expect nothing. My temple is already protected and peaceful, the spirits of the loci haven't harmed me to my knowledge and the Universe has treated me well. Yet, in giving, I received something special in return. It is the theory of the moment.
Soon after that realization, I understood that meditating after offerings works for me. So, I began to meditate. I've been doing this more and more since Jason's visit. He gave me one tip that has switched my viewpoint of meditation from struggle to fun. During that meditation, I realized two things.
The first had to do with myself. I view myself as a curmudgeon. I am a cranky ass. I know my faults well. On the other hand, I can be very kind when no one is looking. I prefer kindnesses to be in private. I realized that I need to change focus. I always focus on my faults and therefore deny my essential goodness. I realized I am a good person and that I should focus on that aspect of Fr.POS rather than the negative side. A declarative statement was made about my fundamental 'goodness'. This does not mean I will forget other things I need to work on, only that I refuse to let them be the main focus of my internal identity.
The second realization involved learning to astral project. Which I can do only very sporadically and spontaneously through a dream state. I may have a path to solving that problem.
Not bad results for one ritual.
Given my ceremonial magick leanings, I'm a ritual stick in the mud when it comes to anything that doesn't have rigid rules. Upon seeing the spirit animal of the west was an octopus and being unaware of druids finding the octopus any more sacred than smelt, my eyebrow raised.
I was then pleasantly surprised. Prior to the ritual Brian greeted all the new comers to make them feel welcome. He and Jen then gathered everyone up and explained what was about to happen. They shared this was a Druid circle and not a Wiccan circle and that the rules were a bit different. They even explained some of the symbol set they were using. This is a step missing from most public circles. It worked.
As diligent readers of this space are aware, I'm doing a public ritual for Fresno's Spirit Fusion Festival (formerly PPD). I worked in an introductory explanation early on. Watching Llywn Swynedig has convinced me this is the right approach.
The ritual itself also resolved an issue that I have with most public rites. The energy is icky. In a CM hall the energy is clean, focused, and purposeful. It most public rituals, the energy is dirty, scattered and communal. Instead of general energy raising, they took a different tact. They had each individual raise energy according to their own abilities. They only supplied the form. Once the energy was raised it was projected into individual talismans that were then combined by the officials as both a 'lesson' and an offering. I may have changed the form of talisman based on the magickal principals I follow but I can not criticize the druid way. They did a fantastic job. This is doubly true because it was their first public rite.
Those that know me know that I wouldn't post a compliment unless I sincerely meant it.
It wasn't the type of ritual I am used to as a CM hall can feel like working within a laser beam but I learned something very important. They had sincerity of purpose. I recalled the words of Jesus, "Wheresoever two gather in my name..." They gathered in spirit and I felt spirit. Wonderful.
I also avoided eating a donut. See this post from earlier today, if you don't follow the relevance of that comment.
Anthropologist
The local community is being studied by Fresno State anthropologist Penny Verin-Shapiro. About two years ago, I was Penny's first interview. She had no place to start. The interview lasted about a half and hour, amazingly short for a wordy person like myself. My Gal was interviewed not long ago. The depth of Penny's education showed. Her interview lasted about three and a half hours.
I am one of the locals that lectures/speaks/presents at her classes each year.
Penny approached me because my friend WitchDoctorJoe told her that I had 'got religion' recently. He was referring to Pan landing on me. I have previously posted on those events. Penny wants to interview me on that topic. I am willing to as Penny appears to be seeking to understand rather than to judge.
We are going to schedule something in late summer. I am glad for the time to put things in perspective. I will be working more with Pan. Hopefully, I will gain enough of an understanding to be a good interview.
Herm
Since reading about the ancient Greek practice of the herm, I've wanted to build a small herm near my front door. Today, I took the first steps toward that by going shopping for rocks. There will be more on that in future posts.
Offerings
Following Jason Miller's advice, I once again made offerings from within my temple space. This time, when I rubbed my hands together to raise the energy, I reached down into the earth to pull it up. My normal practice is to draw it down. A beautiful column of light rose within me. I offered it to the spirits of the temple, the spirits of the house, the local spirits and the Universe. The local spirits were interesting. I saw forms of food for all the local life cats, birds, insects etc. When I gave energy to the Universe, the column of light rose into the sky. The sense of awe was profound.
I left my temple and began to read Researching Paganisms for my Cherry Hill class that starts next month. I suddenly realized that I felt like I've always wanted to. When, as a new magician, I said I sought spirit, I was looking for a feeling. I know several people that have radiated externally how I've always wanted to feel internally. Those folks are my mentor, someone that I can not name here and My Gal's mentor. I felt it from Jason Miller as well. Today, for the first time, I felt that within. I've been looking for that for over twenty years.
Having thought about it for a while, the result may be linked to the approach of my offerings. I expect nothing. My temple is already protected and peaceful, the spirits of the loci haven't harmed me to my knowledge and the Universe has treated me well. Yet, in giving, I received something special in return. It is the theory of the moment.
Soon after that realization, I understood that meditating after offerings works for me. So, I began to meditate. I've been doing this more and more since Jason's visit. He gave me one tip that has switched my viewpoint of meditation from struggle to fun. During that meditation, I realized two things.
The first had to do with myself. I view myself as a curmudgeon. I am a cranky ass. I know my faults well. On the other hand, I can be very kind when no one is looking. I prefer kindnesses to be in private. I realized that I need to change focus. I always focus on my faults and therefore deny my essential goodness. I realized I am a good person and that I should focus on that aspect of Fr.POS rather than the negative side. A declarative statement was made about my fundamental 'goodness'. This does not mean I will forget other things I need to work on, only that I refuse to let them be the main focus of my internal identity.
The second realization involved learning to astral project. Which I can do only very sporadically and spontaneously through a dream state. I may have a path to solving that problem.
Not bad results for one ritual.
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