And here is another section in the beginning of "The Celtic Spirit" which I feel will help those who follow these posts most every day.
This book contains 365 short meditations, one for each day of the year to enable you to walk along and learn something of the sacred wisdom of the Celtic path. Each page is headed by a short quotation from a Celtic source or from another inspirational source that acknowledges the ancestral wisdom of our culture. These quotations draw on a wide variety of eras, from ancient to modern times. They were chosen because they reflect some aspect of the sacred path.
Each accompanying meditation was drawn from my (Caitlin Matthews) druidic and shamanic experience of walking between the worlds. You are invited to reflect upon each entry, to meditate upon each entry, to meditate upon the deep sources of the natural world, upon personal approaches to living as well as upon universal concepts that are relevant to us all. You may follow the sun's circuit and read a portion as set for each day (which is what is posted here daily), or you may choose to dip into the book, using the thematic index to draw upon those passages most relevant to your condition.
Each month of this book provides interrelated themes for meditation within the framework of the four seasons and the Celtic festivals, which stand like sentinels to mark each part of the year's turning; Samhain (SIW'en) or Hallowe'en in November, which marks the beginning of winter; Imbolc (IMM'bolk) in February, which sees the season of spring; Beltane (BEL'tenn-a) in May-time, which marks the summer; and Lughnasa (LOO'nas-ah) in August, which guards the three months of autumn. The arrangement of the meditations in this book, from November to October, follows the old Celtic and agricultural cycle of the year from barrenness to plenty, rather than the more conventional calendrical year.
Finding a daily space in which to be still and receptive is a discipline in our busy world. Your place of meditation can be inside or outside, as long as it is free from disturbance.
As you read each day's meditation, actively enable the words to go beyond this page by interacting with the subject. Regard each meditation as an extension of your own meditation space, so that it can become your own sacred grove. From that grove, you may discover pathways that gradually lead you from personal space in the apparent world into the universal space of the unseen world. As you contemplate, let the words and meanings become like sparks that leap from idea to idea, strongly connecting with your own understanding and allowing your own memory-resident realizations to join up in new conflagrations of inspiration.
Many people have forgotten how to understand the soul; they do not recognize its signals any longer, mistaking deep soul-urgings for paranoia, creative inspiration for psychic disturbance. In such ways are the deep sendings of the soul dismissed and many wonderful opportunities lost! To be responsive to the messages the soul sends us, we need a deep listening ability to pick up the frequencies beyond the surface-level transmission of daily anxiety and business. These subtle messages are easily ignored as irrelvant or too difficult to deal with; sometimes they are mistakenly dismissed as self-delusions. The daily practice of meditation can help us retnne to soul's frequency again and gain a sense of proportion.
On the days when you are ill, emotionally disturbed, or burdened by worry, do not be meditationally ambitious. Look after yourself, get some help, and temporarily reduce your commitments. Make your meditation time one of refreshment, concentrate upon your breathing, and commune with the inspirers and helpers of your spiritual tradition.
Some meditations end with a question. Questioning was a method of oral teaching given by the druids. Questions are like keys for opening doors. When we ask ourselves the right questions, the resulting synaptic leaps take us into profound areas of realization.
It is easy to read a portion of this book every day. It is less easy to become involved in your own spiritual path. Some days you will not have the time, of course; but it is only by your own practice that the spiritual path opens. As you make your own sunwise turas round the year, you will make many interesting discoveries about yourself, your own natural mode of spiritual practice, and you will learn traveling the spiral path of the year.
Many meditations suggest consulting your spiritual allies: this means consciously contacting the spiritual beings whom you hold as sacred guardians and guides on your path. Spiritual allies can include the manifest aspects of the Divine with whom you have close relationship, as well as saints and heroes, and the spirits animals, trees and places with you are strongly aligned.
As a unique human being with an immortal soul, you have the capacity for discrimination, imagination, and spiritual adventure. Learn to commune with your soul, giving it space to speak to you. Cherish your dreams. Allow the inspiration of your soul to pave the way to creative endeavors that have haunted your unfulfilled desires for many years.
As you meditate around the year, be aware of others who have walked this path before you. Their inspiration, endeavor, and hope have kept open the track. Remember too that the way you walk the path matters - it clears the way for those who come after you.
I have alternated male and female pronouns throughout the text. Rough pronunciation of Celtic words is given in parentheses after the word in question - for example, Fionn mac Cumhail, (FINN mak KOOL) or Rhiannon (Hree-ANN'on) . Stress is given on the capitalized syllables. This book offers only approximate pronunciation, as Welsh and Gaelic have their own subtle consonantal and vowel qualities which are apparent in the spoken rather than the written languages.
This book is set up for following the Northern Hemisphere seasons. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere you should be following the book in reverse. To post this book in reverse as well as in the Northern Hemisphere is not something I am prepared to do. I apologize if this is going to make it difficult to participate in the reading of the essays. My only suggestion is to go backwards in last year's postings and see if you can work with that method. To give you a place to begin look upon this month of November as being May in the Southern Hemispere and so on.
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