The Heavens Within Us

The Heavens Within Us

"Draw into thy Centre-deep ... thy Heaven within ... Take present care of the Heavens of your Mind ... Dive into your Celestialy, and see with what manner of spirits you are endued: for in them the Powers do entirely lie for Transformation."
     ____ Jane Leade, A Fountain of Gardens


   How do we find our center-deep? We have hid from it all our days, though it beams upon us like a lighthouse and continually shows us the path to the center. This path of light can be discovered in times of quietness and solitude, when we withdraw from the bustle of life and contemplate who and where we are in the great web of existence, when we still our minds from the spindle of anxiety and redefine our being as a partaker in the vast macrocosm.
     In the stilling our body, mind and soul, we discover the special spirits who are our guides and helpers on the spiritual path. These spirits are not fantasies or psychological archetypes; they are real, living beings.
     Finding out which spiritual helpers we are gifted with is the primary task for those who would seek out their center-deep. All of us have our own spiritual friends - those beings who do not have a human or earthly existence but who nevertheless exist and accompany us. We do not choose them; they and we are drawn to each other according to the gifts we share. They cooperate with us in the work of transformation; for, by our encounters with the spirits of our center-deep, we grow and change as we are accompanied and taught.

"Sitting in silence, become aware of your own center-deep. What kind of landscape does it have? Who is there with you? What has drawn you both there?"
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Appreciation

Appreciation

"The three supporters of inspiration: success, acquaintance, praise."    ___ Welsh triad (trans. CM)


    This triad is written with prestigious bardic poets in mind, the Celtic glitterati, equivalent to our pop stars and film idols.  It speaks to their insecurity, to reputations based on noble patronage and local adulation.
    Building on our own success is a way to foster inspiration and confidence in our lives. There is little impetus to further effort without some sense of achievement, whether our successes are large or small. To become dependent upon success alone, however, is the road to egomania, disillusionment, or even suicide.
    Our special connections in our chosen field of work are very important to our confidence and success. It is not just the contacts who can pull the strings for us, putting us in touch with the right person at the right time, but the colleagues who work with us, our family, and well-disposed friends. We cannot depend on our connections alone, however; we must also prove ourselves worthy.
    The cordial of praise is more intoxicating than any other. Although we may seldom drink of its draught, when we receive compliments or praise, our confidence soars. While it is good to receive praise, it is even better to bestow it.  Praise offered from the heart is the greatest inspiration of all.
    It is by steadily building on our success; valuing our connection with friends, family and those we serve; and noting what people are truly appreciating that we set our inspirational work in its true context.

"How often do you encourage your friends and family? Make a point of sincerely appreciating someone's achievement today."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews] 

Guarding the Tongue

Guarding the Tongue

"Curses, like chickens, come home to roost."
     ____ Scots proverb


    One of the great curses of Celtic tradition is that of the faery woman Macha (MAK'ha), who comes from the hollow hills to live with an earthly husband. The conditions of their partnership include that he shall never speak about her to others.  One day, hearing the king boast about the speed of his horses, Macha's husband remarks that his wife would easily beat them in a race, so fast does she run. The king then demands that Macha be brought forthwith and prove her wretched husband's claim. The heavily pregnant Macha is brought before the king and pleads exemption as her time is near. Nevertheless, she is forced to run the race against the king's horses. She wins outright, but at the finishing post gives birth to twin children before dying of exhaustion. Her last breath is a curse upon the men of Ulster, that they shall suffer the weakness of a woman in her confinement at their time of greatest need. The curse descends to the ninth generation, striking always in the time of Ulster's need. Some say the force of the curse still runs.
    Curses wound deeply whether they be thoughtless words spoken in a moment of anger or intentioned ill-wishing. They also have a habit of rebounding upon the curser in ways that are expected. The words that we weave can become a web in which we also are bound. Once uttered, these words cannot be called back; they fly out on the winds until they  can find their target. In a tradition that recognizes the power of words, we also maintain a watch upon our tongue, lest it speak words that we will regret.

"Call to mind an occasion when you have wished someone or something ill through anger or exasperation. Recall your words and offer a blessing that will rescind your curse."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Visiting the Countryside

Visiting the Countryside

"It is always wise to avoid show-places and choose for your excursions into the country the simplest and most natural scenery you can find."
   ____John Cowper Powys, The Meaning of Culture

   The countryside takes on the burden of our needs for refreshment, especially at the end of summer when we take to the roads on the last few days of holiday to seek recreation.
    Ironically, the very places that are solitary and full of sacred power are now becoming the most exhausted places of all. Even side of natural beauty that offer wide-open spaces of forest, water, and hill are choked with holiday-makers seeking the wilderness and the refreshment of nature. Instead of wildlike, vista, and peace, they find only each other - and in increasingly large bands.
    The burden of expectation upon the countryside is something that we can help redress, with a little consideration. This redress may involve finding other, less popular countryside place to visit, or finding places within or near the city. But chiefly we should consider what we can give when we make our country visits. To leave the countryside as we found it, without traces of our passing, is a duty we can teach to our families, so that the beauty may be preserved for future generations.
     Our pilgrimage to the country, whether it be for spiritual refreshment or physical recreation, can be purposeful and beautiful excursion that restores us in soul and body. Our thank-you gift to the country and the beings who live within it is our respect and gratitude of our heart.

"Meditate upon your favorite place in the country and visit it in soul-flight. Consult the spirit of the place and ask its advice and permission about your next visit. Ask what gift (a song or a blessing, perhaps - something that will not harm the land) would be acceptable. Do this whenever a visit is planned."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Cailtlin Matthews]

Spiral Tower

Spiral Tower

"I have been three times in the prison of Arianrhod."
    ____  Taliesin, Primary Chief Bard


    Caer Sidi (Kire SID'y), the Glass Castle or Spiral Tower of the British goddess Arianrhod (Ar-ee-ANN'hrode), is traditionally the place wherein poets serve their apprenticeship. The terms apprenticeship are strict, which is why the great poet Taliesin speaks of Arianrhod's tower as a place of imprisonment. Of his own poetic initiation, we know that he was chased by the Goddess of Inspiration, Ceridwen, and assimilated by her as her own child. Taliesin was one of those who descended into the Underworld of Annwfn (AN'oon) to help the battle leader, Arthur, steal the cauldron of heroes. Like all poets, he is constant in his service of his poetic mistress, who is both muse and inspiratrix.
    However many lifetimes our soul may have inhabited, we are compelled to seek the spiraling tower in which our soul is refined. Arianrhod is the mistress who hones the soul, by helping it recognize the configurations and resonances of our soul-track through the stars. This search is not confined to one lifetime or to waking hours; within the spiraling of the soul and within the cavern of dreaming, we come to a deeper understanding of our true living metaphor. By whatever image, metaphor, story, sign or symbol we steer, we will find the clues as we pass through the otherworldly, mystical and subtextual life of our spiritual quest; within the mystery of Caer Arianhrod's labyrinthine turnings, we may discover the very reason for our existence.

"Visualize the spiraling tower of Caer Sidi, the place of initiation and clarity. Ask to be shown the important patterns of your soul-track in your dreams and your reflective moments - those times when you are most truly yourself."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Studying with Intention

Studying with Intention

"It is not sufficient for us to study the most excellent things unless we do it in the most excellent of manners.....and that is impossible to find till we are guided there unto by the most excellent end."
     ___ Thomas Traherne, Centuries


    It is no good expecting that we will be improved by our researches unless our subject is near to our hearts. If study is motivated by anything except the heart, a good deal of resentment and impatience will enter into our work. Each field of knowledge has its own pathways and natural growths. If we approach an unknown field with respect and set ourselves to discover where those paths lead us, we may discover some interesting things. Study is not a one-way street, however; as we direct our attention toward the object of our study, so too will something come back toward us, meeting and melding with knowledge that we already have, creating a new synthesis of understanding.
      Our 'most excellent end' - that is, the intentions that underlie our study - is critical. Most of us study to improve our condition in some way, to find a more remunerative job, to extend our horizons, to train in a skill or interest that we already enjoy, to catch up with education that we failed to receive when we were younger. Whatever our intention, the most important factor is how our soul and integrity are involved.

"What part does your study or work play in the greater continuum of life? What does it contribute? What do you receive in exchange?"
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Respect and Reciprocation

Respect and Reciprocation

"Comb me smooth and stroke my head,
And every hair a sheaf shall be,
And every sheaf a golden tree."
    ____ George Peele, "The Old Wives' Tale"


    Many folk tales tell of spirits who, if they are granted respect, give generously, but who, if they are abused, give gifts that are less desirable. In Peele's play The Old Wives' Tale, a girl who comes to draw water from the well meets the spirit of the well - a floating head that has the power to grant wishes in return for respect. It has ears of corn growing on its head rather than hair, yet when the girl combs the head, the ears of corn turn to gold and she combs it into her lap. 
   The wisdom of folk takes still has much to teach us. Heroes have respect toward the beings they encounter on their adventures. They never rush on by without a greeting or take what belongs to someone else without permission. However strange or frightening the appearance of those whom they meet, the protagonists of folk tales have a duty to be polite.
    The advice still holds good when we approach sacred beings, spirits of the land, or our own spiritual helpers and friends. While these beings are sources of benefit to us, they also deserve and require our interactioin and respect. To always go knocking on the otherworldly doors to ask for spiritual gifts without recompense or friendly conversation is hardly good manners: such behavior in our own world would eventually cause even our friend and neighbors to grant us short shrift.
    With those who are spiritually dear to us, we have a special duty of reciprocation. And even toward those spirits whom we do not know, we can extend a cautious respect, one that bridges the worlds between us but does not steal anything or incur any offence.

"meditate upon and go meet one of your spiritual helpers. Ask what service you can perform for that helper."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Divine Origins

Divine Origins

"The time has come for us to fully acknowledge that our Origins,
our source and our basis, are Divine."
    ___Philip Carr-Gomm, The Druid Tradition


     Though the origins of human life are now tracked by paleontologists through the fossil records of the earth's millennial aeons in ever more surprising and enlightening ways, we seldom regard the origins of life itself as emanating from a divine source. Though we may have set aside the old biblical narratives as naive or mythological, we still have to consider our part within the sacred formation of matter.
    The Celtic tradition has no creation narrative; rather, it tells stories of seas, rivers, and wells bursting their banks, and of cauldrons in which all the ingredients of life are mixed together and remade in many eras of time. The Divine does not have one central image or characterization. There is no story that explains the mystery of our origins, no scripture that regularizes our thoughts about the Divine.
    Though human nature has many detractors, and though we fail our own best intentions sometimes, the treasury of the soul reflects its divine origins time and again in our life's track True divinity of soul shines out in the most unexpected moments: when we are hard-pressed, when care and support must stretch just a little further than we think we can give, when the moment of danger comes unexpectedly, when a deeper and more farsighted action is required of us. The invisible mantle of the Divine is about our shoulders and can lend us help and strength in daily life. The divine ingredients within our making do not make us into gods, but they do sparkle through our human lives in ways that illumine the universe.

"Just for today, regard intention in everything you do as a divine work that respects the sacred nature of you and everyone, everything, and every place around you."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Sovereignty

Sovereignty

"And Sovereignty said to Niall, 'And as you saw me ugly at first but at last beautiful, even so is royal rule. The land cannot be won without battles, but in the end everyone finds sovereignty is both beautiful and glorious."
    ____ Echtra Mac Echach Muigmedoin, early Irish text, (trans. CM)


    There are many Irish stories concerning the qualifications necessary for rulership - stories that reveal the true nature of sovereignty. In these similar tales, the candidates for kingship are sent out into a dangerous place to fend for themselves. In the dark of the night, they each seek for water; at the only ford or well, each encounters a fearsome hag who refuses access to water unless the seeker first kisses her. When the successful man embraces her, she turns into a beautiful woman who declares that she is the Sovereign Goddess of the Land. Only the spirit of the land can acclaim and accept the ruler who is humble enough to submit to her.
    Sovereignty is not something that can be claimed with pride or with though of self-aggrandizement or glory. Sovereignty exists only with the agreement of the and itself. Until, or unless, this is sought with understanding, territorial disputes will continue.
    In our own sphere of life, we each seek the sovereignty of our profession or of our soul's depths. If it sought for self-gain, or in order to disable another, sovereignty is never truly ours. If, however, we seek out the heart of our craft, or our soul - wherever we live our lives - the spirit of sovereignty will indeed come to us, and we will have a true contract of understanding based on mutual respect and exchange.

"What are the boundaries and duties of your soul's sovereignty? Consider how you serve, defend and maintain personal sovereignty in your life."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Harvest

Harvest

"All among barley,
Who would not be blithe,
While the ripe and bearded barley
Is smiling on the scythe."

______ anon., "The Ripe and Bearded Barley"


    Every year brings the miracle of harvest. The grain has ripened beneath the great golden summer, with the assistance of the sharp, lancing showers of spring, with the help of the germinating chill of winter's icy grasp under the seed hidden within the earth. It is only in autumn that we can begin to enjoy the fruits of the earth.
     The seasonal round is no longer part of our daily life, accustomed as we are to helping ourselves to the good things of the earth at any time of the year. Food preservation methods are now so sophisticated that we can enjoy cherries in December or hazelnuts in March.
    The mysteries of the grain were hallowed by our ancestors, because grain created two stable items of diet: bread and ale. The complex processes of flour refining and fermentation were discovered millennium ago, bringing their own special gladness to everyone's hearth.
    Though the celebration of harvest no longer brings us together in communities to rejoice that the cycle of life can continue into another year, we can still be blithe and and thankful that there is sufficient food for all to share. Every time we eat bread, every time we drink beverages brewed from grain, we also partake in the mysteries of harvest.

"What is your own life-harvest this year? Consider the riches of the year's experiences and ponder how they will fuel the year to come."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

The Soul of the Land

The Soul of the Land

"How has Ireland been apportioned? -- Knowledge in the west, battle in the north,
prosperity in the east, music in the south, kingship in the centre."
    ___ The Settling of the Manor of Tara, Caitlin
and John Matthew, The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom.


   Beneath the physical form of hills and valleys, beneath the rivers and mountains, there is another appearance. It is not only in the minerals, nor the folded rocks; it is not only in the soil, nor in the trees and plants. Yet somehow in and under and through all these things, the land has another nature: its living soul. Many people believe that there are no such things as souls in people or anywhere else, and yet we know that this cannot be so. As the soul of a person looks out of her eyes and makes her who she is, so too does the soul of the land shine out of its features and give it special qualities.
    However small or large our own country is, certain regions have their own distinct nature. They are
centers of administration, trade, learning, art, spiritual wisdom, and so on. All contribute to the land as a whole. Certain regions foster one quality more than another; they are like a garden in which certain skills flourish and grow strong.
   In the Celtic lands of yesteryear, each region has its sacred center or assembly, as did each country - a center that was not necessarily central in mathematical terms. The sacred center of any land has a greater spiritual pull than any other part, so it is here that the major assemblies of national importance are debated or decided. As Tara is to Ireland, so too is our own country's sacred center to the land itself: a hallowed place where the soul of the land shows through in all its splendor.

"Become closer acquainted with the different regions of your own country through travel, study, and meditation."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

The Moon

The Moon

"I give you praise, moon of guidance,
That I have seen you again,
That I have seen the New Moon,
The lovely leader of the way."
    ____ Scots Gaelic prayer to the moon (trans. CM)


   Few people today mark the moon's phases, unless they go out a lot at night or their work calls them to contemplate the mysteries of the moon. The tides and seasons of our own mood have their corresponde4nce with the moon's phases, which we can use  with benefit once we are aware of them.  It is easy to have only a daytime life, obedient only to the sun's diurnal rhythm.  The longer monthly pattern of the moon is less discernible to us, but much more profoundly connected with our unvoiced preoccupation, with the sub feelings, memories, and instincts that inform us with their subtle messages.
    To be aware, as the writer of this invocation was, of the moon as 'leader of the way' is a great gift. The inexorable daily rhythm of the sun can sometimes beat us upon the anvil of life as problems hassle us, and the sun's longer rhythm of the four seasons brings us through changes over a whole year. But the cycle of the moon sees our soul through the phases of birth, growth, achievement, and death in one month, giving us relief, change and encouragement. Whatever the problem, no matter how heavy the burden, we can look up and see that the moon has renewed itself yet again - as we also can.

"Go out and commune with the moon tonight, whether it is visible or not. Note your mood over a couple months and see how its changes correspond to the moon's phases."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

The Moon tonight is in the Gibbous phase - just before it becomes Full....

Wisdom Teachers

Wisdom Teachers

"The three teachers who impart wisdom: suffering, thought, and a truthful heart."
     ___ Welsh triad, (trans. CM)


    It is often said that on the path to spiritual wisdom we must suffer in order to learn. Certainly whatever breaks us out of the path of ingrained habit leads us into a wider and deeper existence. Those who have endured great sufferings are indeed sometimes forged by their terrible experiences into wiser people; adrift from what is normal and familiar to them, perhaps even forced into the regions of pain and terror, they have experienced the full enormity of suffering and come out whole. There are also many people who feel that suffering is an over-rated teacher, however.
    It takes an active curiosity, in conjunction with the perseverance to research human motives and behavior, to reach new understandings about our experiential sufferings and how they can be altered or accepted. The exercise of thought can lead us, in turn, to the truthful heart within us - unless, of course, we remain bound in fetters of useless analysis and recrimination about our condition. A truthful heart has no room for blame or revenge. It maintains its own living watch on what life sends, transmuting the toxins of difficult experience into a regenerating draught, siphoning away whatever cannot be changed.
    The way of freedom is to draw upon the compassion plumbed by our suffering, upon the clarity of our thought, and upon the essential truth of our whole human existence.

"Select one difficult experience from your own life and - with compassion, clarity and truth - consider what wisdom has been revealed to you."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

The Unending Quest

The Unending Quest

"I watch the star to guide me home,
I found my soul and spirit's rest,
I travelled far across the foam,
There is no ending to my quest."
    _____ Caitlin Matthews, The Celtic Book of the Dead


    Our spiritual quest leads us on many a long voyage, across unknown seas to distant and unguessed-at destinations. Like heroic voyagers of Irish tradition who took ship to the furthest shores of the Blessed Isles, looking for the Land of Women and the Land of Heart's Desire, we too strike out into unknown seas.
    To all spirit5ual quests there are two main features: the outward voyage, on which all is strange, new and frightening; and the homeward passage, on which there is time to consider all that we have experienced and to make sense of it. It is in that context that the epic of Troy makes sense when that other wily mariner, Odysseus, makes his own epic journey home. The manner in which we make our own spiritual homecoming is very important, since the return is a critical stage of our progress. Whatever beckons us from home will surely lead us, as we return with our new spiritual luggage. Once home, we must unpack everything, retaining what is useful to us and freely giving away what does not serve.
   The spiritual quest is unending. It may lead us to revisit old destinations, but we will disembark as different people at each stop as we progress on our meandering and fruitful voyage.

"Chart the major island landfalls of your spiritual quest to date. Note any recurring patterns and check the usefulness of the spiritual baggage you have acquired on the way."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Gwyl Awst - Lughnasadh

Gwyl Awst - Lughnasadh

Solar Observance - August 1st
Lunar Observance - First Full Moon when the Sun is in Leo


   I am going to post about the Avalon tradition view of Lughnasadh today instead of an essay from Matthews' The Celtic Spirit...  I have studied and followed the Avalon tradition for many years tho for the past few years I have not participated in all things Avalon
based. 

    The festival of Gwyl Awst or Lughnasadh, which is pronounced LOO-nah-sah, was celebrated as the beginning of the harvest. It is a time of thanksgiving for the bounty of the Earth and for the performance of sacrifices to ensure continued bounty for the rest of the year. The crops were welcomed and large communal meals were of great ritual importance. Weather divination was practiced and harvest workers were hired for the season.
    Gwyl Awst was a festival known for its large, communal sporting events, especially horse racing, which served to reinforce the bonds between tribe members.
Young men and women took this opportunity to prove themselves to the opposite sex, taking advantage of this rare occasion when a large quantity of prospective mates are available. Gwyl Awst was when marriages were arranged, either for love or for economic/political purposes; the couple pledged to be married for a year and a day, and could part after the time should they find that they were  not compatible. Along with marriage, the Celts entered into alliances of friendship and contracts at this time. This vibrant feast, said to commemorate the Funeral Games of the Mother of the Sun God Lugh or Llew - else to memorialize his own death at this, the high priest of summer - was followed by several months of hard work until the last fruits were harvested, and Calan Gaeaf (Samhain) came around again.
    Although not everyone from a settlement was always able to attend any given festival, it was important for each homestead to be represented - for both sacral and secular reasons. While individual farmers performed religious rites on their own land to ensure the fertility of their fields and to win the favor of the local nature spirits and devas, attendance at the greater communal rituals guaranteed the protection and blessings of the Gods as well. However well these strategies may have worked, these agriculturalists used the amassed populace present at these gatherings as an opportunity to insure economic stability through trade, the buying and selling of goods, and products not locally available, and fresh bloodlines to strengthen their herds and flocks.
    The duality of communal participation and cyclic work of each individual homestead underscore the ways in which we are called to participate in the Cosmic Dance. There is the call to work, tending the fields of the soul - and there is the call to move without - bringing the bounty of our harvest with us to share and exchange with others. The whole is nourished and strengthened by our personal contributions, and we in turn benefit from the bounty of the product forged at the hearths of others.
   Although the Avalon Tradition is a path that leads within, it is equally important to manifest our reclaimed wisdoms without. The beauty of the Tradition is that each woman's contribution is an important function of the whole - manifesting as a self - sufficient community aiming to open and empower the soul of each individual. We cycle within and we cycle without.
[From: Avalon Within by Jhenah Telynoru]