The Door of Perception

The Doors of Perception

"If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is, infinite."
   ____William Blake - "A Memorable Fancy"

   The doors of perception are the senses - not only the physical senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and tough, but also the subtle senses of inner vision, resonance, instinct, discrimination and empathy. Without the cooperation of these two sets of senses, we cannot perceive truly.
   To be able to perceive everything as it really is means retraining and exercising senses that we have often neglected. Meditation can hone our subtle senses to combine with our hearing and resonance, so that, like  a bat or a whale, we have a sense of space, distance, and mass. Or we may find that our sense of smell/taste combines with our instinct and discrimination to give our visual field a sense of color and quality that is both accurate and surprising.
   When the doors of perception are cleaned, we received earlier warning of matters that are likely to be dangerous or problematic for us; we are subsequently able to make better decisions, draft more accurate forecasts, and read the character of the universe in an altogether better way.

"Practice using your subtle senses in combination with your physical senses today. Your eyes tell you one thing about a person but what do your ears tell you? Is the message different? What do your deep instinct and discrimination have to say?"
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews] 

The Druid Circle

The Druid Circle

"In Druidry, we come together in circles ... to experience that we are in communion not just with our present-day companions, but with the spirits of the animals, trees, stones, stars, ancestors, and children.
   ____ Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, The Druid Animal Oracle

     The breaking of hierarchy was the idea behind King Arthur's Round Table, at which worthy guardians of the Land could sit without order of precedence getting in the way, at which counsel could be given and taken without offense. The old stone circles that predate the Celtic era by centuries were the first meeting places, erected to put people into correct alignment and spiritual communion with past, present and future, and with all the beings no longer living as well as those yet to be born. In our own time, people are learning these wise yet ancient ways of relating to the universe.
   The change of emphasis that spiritual practice undergoes when people meet together in a circle is radical:  no altar rails, no pulpit, no them and us, no priest and congregation. Suddenly there is an equity we have never before experienced. We are one,  not only with those gathered about the circle with us, but also with beings in ever-wider concentric circles of relationship that set the universe in a different order and break the old hierarchies forever.
    The whole universe is symbolically seated about a communal fire called life - a fire that we all share in the darkness of our isolation, that courses through all veins, that maintains the life of even stones and plants and all that we seldom think of as living. It is a fire that burns in all time and places.

"Light a candle and invite other beings and allies - from the spirits of stars to the spirits of stones - to gather in a circle around the candle and meditate upon the life of the universe. Thank all your invited guests and extinguish the candle. What happened, what changed when you did this? What have you learned?"
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Books For the Soul

Books For the Soul

"That I might search all books and from their chart, Find my soul's calm!"

     ____ St. Columba's, "Song of Exile"


    When St. Columba went into self-imposed on  the island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland, he borrowed a particularly fine volume of the psalms from Abbot of Finnian of Moville and had it secretly copied. When Finnian discovered what had happened, he demanded not only his book back but also Columba's copy, on the principle that 'to each cow her calf.'  Columba, whose enthusiasm for the dissemination of knowledge often outran his ethical judgment, had to comply.
    In the early days of book transcription, only sacred texts were considered important enough for an illuminator and scribe to spend several months working on them. Today printed books are widely available; we are able to read a variety of writings, from sacred scriptures to poetry, from biography and history to philosophy, from legends to novels.
    If we look along our shelves, there are certain books with which we would never wish to part, dear to us because they provide us with soul-food. These are  not always sacred texts: they may be myths, folk tales, or other stories whose narratives inspire us with their abiding wisdom; they may be poems or songs that reflect the music of our own soul; they may be biographical accounts of people whose lives and works have been inspiring to our soul's circuit.

"Which book comes nearest to being your soul's chart? Meditate upon a passage from it today. Make your own blessing for the author."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

The Service of the Grail

The Service of the Grail

"Go, heart, unto the lamp of licht (light),
Go, heart, do service and honour."

    ____ anon. "Go, Heart, unto the Lamp of Licht"


    The traditional concept of service is based upon the honor of the soul and the respect that we tender to other souls. In Grail legends, the sacred vessel of healing and restoration can be accessed only by questers who are sufficiently attuned to their soul to ask the "Grail question," which is said to be "Whom does the Grail serve?" - a question that, once asked, accesses the healing that it freely brings. It is only when we are able and willing to look beyond the boundaries of our own concerns and inquire what is wrong and to what extent we are involved in putting things right that we truly understand service. Then the realization that we are not the source of help, grace, or service becomes clear to us: we are truly cooperating with the spiritual source of our life and made mediators of healing.
    The Grail is a lamp of light, life and love that brings its solace only when someone is willing to serve. When we align our heart with need and honor, the heart itself becomes a lamp at which light is kindled. When the heart is alight with service, the flame can  pass freely from heart to heart.

"What is the nature of your service within the universe?  What are the terms of the contract between your service and the spiritual source whom you serve?"
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

The Cosmos of the Soul

The Cosmos of the Soul

"One soul in the immensity of its intelligence, is greater and more excellent than the whole world. The ocean is but the drop of a bucket to it, the heavens but a center, the sun obscurity, and all ages but as one day."
    ___ Thomas Traherne, Centuries

    The druids believed that the soul encompassed the far extents of time and space, uncircumscribed by temporal dimensions. For the Celtic peoples, the physical world was seen to be made up of three elemental dimensions: the depths of the sea, the breadth of the earth, and the airy regions of the heavens. Fusing these three dimensions together was the fiery sun, whose diurnal circuit maintained the life of the apparent world. Each ensoulsed body lived within the dispensation of these dimensions. But the soul was regarded as yet greater than these, able not only to move through water, earth, air and fire but also to travel beyond these modes into the wider domain of the unseen world.  For the soul, the passage of ages is but a day in cosmic time; there is no sense of time passing, only an eternal present to soul-travelers who enter the otherworld.
   When we begin to pay attention to our soul, rather than ignoring its needs and urgings, we experience a sense of inclusion within the universe. If we learn to pass beyonds the limits of our body as soul-travelers, we discover that the constellations and planets that spin within the soul are qualities, intelligences, and allies we have always longed for.

"Look into the depths of your soul, as into the immensity of inner space. How is the cosmos reflected within your soul? What constellations and planets are featured therein? Within the solar system of your soul, what major features do you recognize?"
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Light in Darkness

Light in Darkness

"There are three candles that illumine every darkness: truth, nature, and knowledge."

   Truth has been the mirror and shield of all seekers since life began. The primal integrity of all beings shines out like the light of a diamond, sharp and clear; but when truth is hidden, we are aware only of a dimness and obscurity that cloaks our perception. Our unique sensitivity of soul to truth is inbred. It tells us what is good, well-aligned, and perfect. If we return to recognizing truth in ourselves, our actions, our speech and our thoughts, we relate to ourselves and to the universe with better respect.
   Nature is the shining garment in which all life is clothed. The vigor, strength and power of life are nature's gifts. We experience nature through our physical senses, and this experience is often  ecstatic. We tend these days to rhapsodize nature, after a long era of neglect and abuse. We are each part of nature: if we abuse it, we abuse ourselves and those we love. If we observe and learn from nature's beautiful and balancing continuum, we live lives of harmony and justice.
    Knowledge is the glory that arises when truth and nature are properly welcomed and respected. It cannot be given to another; it can only arise when Mother Nature and Father Truth conjoin in union. Knowledge is the glorious child stored in every cell of the universe. If we search for glory in our thoughts, motivations and experiences, we align ourselves with knowledge. But neither truth, nature nor knowledge can be owned: this is why they are the eternal candles. Let us always be on guard, therefore, for anyone who attempts to trade these three, for such action heralds the approach of absolute darkness. But with the three candles of truth, nature, and knowledge to light our way, we need never be in darkness.

"How do these three candles illuminate your own darkness?"
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Brighid, Mother of Memory

Brighid, Mother of Memory

"Brighid of the mantle, encompass us;
Lady of the Lambs, protect us;
Keeper of the hearth, kindle us;
Beneath your mantle, gather us,
And restore us to memory."

   The festival of Imbolc is under the protection of Brighid. The ancient goddess, daughter of the Dagda - or Good God of the Gaelic gods, the Tuatha de Danaan (TOO'a-ha day DAH'nan) - is the matron of poetry, healing, and smithcraft. In the fifth century, her namesake St. Brigit of Kildare took over many of the goddess's qualities and aspects.
    The extraordinary fusion of goddess and saint demonstrates how important Brighid is to the Celtic people. So great was her power that even the coming of Christianity could not diminish her influence: Brighid was immediately promoted within Irish Christianity to the role of the Virgin's midwife and Christ's foster-mother, and remains the secondary patron of Ireland to this day.
    The mantle of Brighid is continually invoked in Celtic prayer, to powerfully encompass all and protect from harm.  As the keeper of the hearth, Brighid and her power are present in the hearth-fire that radiates its welcoming glow throughout the household. Poets and craftspeople look to her as their inspirer, householders beseech her to encompass their homes and flocks, and the sick pray to her to cast her mantle over them and bring them again to health.
     Brighid is the mother of memory, the one who reminds us of the original divine, protective motherhood that promotes the individuality of our power and fans its flames to quickening life.

"Make your invocation to Brighid to ask for the incompassment and protection of your household, including all that is dear to you."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]