The Increasing Year

The Increasing Year

"Three things which are always increasing; the light of the fire4, the intelligence of truth, the life of existence - these are victorious over all things and are the end of darkness."
   Welsh triad (trans CM)


    From this day on, the sun is climbing toward its zenith at midsummer in the northern hemisphere: a good day to consider the optimistic triad printed above and the many things that are growing and increasing in our own lives and in the unfolding history of the world.
    The radiant spark of light is at the core of every creative being; it leaps from place to place, from heart to heart, changing and forever growing. Nothing can stop this spark from spreading through the world like flame through a piece of charcoal. It is becoming harder and harder to pull the wool over people's eyes, to deceive others for more than a short period of time. This is predominantly because of better education and the discernment that derives from it.

   The many associations around the world that uphold human rights are in the business of protecting truth and justice. Countries and regimes that give truth nothing more than lip service are increasingly having to fight off criticism from without and dissent from within, asconsciousness and truth increaase. \

   Our whole consciousness of what life is, of how we live it and how we ethically deal with it, is the next challenge that will increase the boundaries of our understanding.

"Meditate upon three wonderful things that have increased within your own lifetimes?How have these increases changed the world?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

The Prayer of the Spring Equinox

The Prayer of the Spring Equinox

"With the first rays of the sun on the plant's leaves its
ethereal spirit is strong enough to summon our convention-blinded souls to this primitive worship."
    ___Llewelyn Powys, "Earth Memories"


   At last we have a clear sign that the year is rising from the enclosing darkness of winter into a warmer, brighter world. On this first day of spring, the sun is at its midway mark, halfway between midwinter and midsummer, when its glory will be greater still. This is a good day for beginnings.

   Make a gift of this day, dedicating it to the beginning of a new phase of your life, or to a new plan or enterprise, rather than doing your mundane work. Begin the day by greeting the sunrise, if you are able, becoming aware of the passing darkness of winter and seeing the sun as the herald of the light that will grow from now on.

  Stand in the light of midday, facing the sun, and tune your heart to the season of spring and all that it means to you. Be aware of how your own soul's circuit and the circuit of the sun are being aligned and attuned to each other. Make your own prayer for this spring quarter on behalf of all beings. Then turn and face your shadow, feeling the sun upon your back. Your shadow is shorter than it was at midwinter and will shorten even more as the year grows.

   Project your thoughts and intentions forward over the next few months. Over what activities, plans, and events is your shadow going to fall? Draw the light into your body and allow the sap-rising spring to penetrate to your soul. Be aware of the fusion between body and soul, of their unity with the light and the season. Open your eyes, becoming aware of your soundings and your life's purpose. As you prepare to sleep, be thankful for the darkness and the rest that enable everything to grow.

"Stand in the sun at midday, as suggested above."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]


For me the concept of the Spring Equinox is representing balance - light vs dark - and I see the tarot card Temperance as being a representative of this harmony.  Here is the Temperance tarot card from Legend, the Arthurian Tarot.

This Temperance card is subtitled The Cauldron of Annwn.. And here is a description of this card's images and symbols.  Nine priestesses attend the Cauldron of Annwn, source of poetic inspiration and mantic powers. Many peoples have attributed the powers of prophecy, inspiration and art to magical springs, cauldrons, and heads. All three motifs have been incorporated into the scene, representing the collective unconscious wisdom available to one who seeks it.
   The bards of Arthur's time credited their talents to the Cauldron of Annwn, which originally was thought to have been a head. This echoes the card's alternative name, Ar, since it is the arts that most often achieve and communicate knowledge of the unearthly.
   One priestess holds a torch, its fire representing the consciuos mind and structure. Another of the priestesses pours water, representing the subconscious and the genius of inspiration. It was the custom to mix wine with water and this mixing symbolizs moderation, the combining and balancing of both the physica and spiritual plane. The priestess has one leg in the water while the other rests on the stone. She bridges both worlds, representing one who is capable of manifesting psychic knowledge on this plane.
    The sisterhood of nine priestesses combines energies, forming a union of forces which illustrates the value of compatibility, diplomacy, and accommodation.

Clearing Ill-Report

"Unfortunate the one whose name has been linked
to ill-report since youth."
    ___ Welsh saying


   Once a story attaches to us, it is hard to shift. Gossip and hearsay usually run ahead of any good repute we have. It is particularly unfortunate if a story attaches to us when we are young. Once it is believed that we are difficult, unreliable, or badly behaved, this 'information' has a way of following us around and becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy that sabotages all that we attempt.

  How do we make good our reputation once ill-report has done its work? Many people attempt to clear their name by starting again in a new place - a place where their actions will not be prejudged by others who know their story.

   Those who choose to remain where they are and attempt to make good need at least one ally who will support and encourage them, someone who will be an advocate in the community, someone who will witness and support their intention to start again. But the final change of reputation will take place only when others observe the fruits of change with their own eyes - and it may take a very long time for marked improvement to become visible. People who have an old story thrown into their faces again and agin need to reiterate. 'That was then; this is now. I'm changing, but I can change only with your help and support."

"Consider an old story that attached to when you were younger. Think about how you have struggled against or overcome its spell. If the story still sticks to you, meditate upon the way you want to be now."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

The Gifts of the Awen

The Gifts of the Awen

"Then Ceridwen began to boil the cauldron... for a year and a day until
three blessed drops of Inspiration had been obtained from the brew."
     ___ Hanes Taliesin, Welsh text (trans CM)

     When Ceridwen (Ker-RID'wen) brewed her cauldron of inspiration, she set a boy called Gwion (GWEE'on) to tend it. Three drops leaped from the cauldron and burned his hand.  As he sucked the scalded spot to cool it, knowledge came to him in an instant. He hid in a variety of shapes, but while hiding as a grain of wheat he was eaten by Ceridwen who in the form of a red hen. Resuming her usual form, she conceived him in her womb; nine months later he was born and sent forth upon the waters in a skin bagt. Eventually he was discovered in a salmon weir, where he was recognized as Taliesin (Tal-ee-ESS'in).

   The three drops of inspiration - the awen (AN'wen) - are encrytions of primal creative power, having the ability to change our lives. Their impact upon Gwion was such that he had to be literally born again in order to assimilate the knowledge he unwittingly gained. The awen is not merely a myth, however, it is a living possibility. It arises when the rays of experience glance upon and inspire the dormant seeds of knowledge within us. The connective energy of inspiration runs through our being, bridging areas of ignorance, reconnecting areas of neglect, bringing into one teeming mass of imagery, metaphor, and understanding all that we are about. The assimilation of this experience can take the rest of our lives, or we can welcome the manyfold experiences of our lives to help ripen our understanding from day to day.

   The gifts of awen lie dormant within each of us, to inspire, connect, and creatively empower all that we touch. From the creative soup of our personal experience, we can leap out to play in the teeming waters of the river of life as wise ones who are able to assimilate all that befalls us.

"What are the three main inspirations of your life experience?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Change

Change

"Now ebb, now flood, now friend, now cruel goe;
Now glad, now sad, now weel, now into woe;
Now clad in gold, dissolvit now in ash;
So dois [does] this world transitory go."
    ___ William Dunbar, "O Wretch Beware"


   The alternation of order and chaos are natural frequencies that balance our lives. Custom and change are but their children, who allow new influences and possibilities into the world. When things become too formalized and ordered, they become stale and static, lacking the life and energy that only change can bring. Yet when change strikes, we feel out of control, disordered, even attacked by its sudden overturning of all that we have known. Despite that, change is not, of its essence, antagonistic to us, only to our habitual and clinging notions. Long periods of change and fluctuation can be very wearing, however, because we have no order or pattern to give context to our living.

  The period leading up to the spring equinox is similarly a time of great upheavel in nature: the first full moon of March usually heralds high tides and spring winds that enliven the long-dead period of late winter. The change of spring is one that we welcome with all our hearts, but we appreciate it warmly only because of what has gone before it. Our ability to cope with change will improve if we discover the art of living in the present moment, of being at home where and when we are.

"What strategies do you use for coping with change? Deditate upon the fresh opportunities and energies that change is currently bringing to your life."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Solitariness

Solitariness

"It is a good thing to be happy alone. It is
better to be happy in company, but good
to be happy alone."
   ___ Thomas Traherne, "Centuries"


   Among tribal and traditional peoples today, few choose toa be solitary. Purposeful periods of solitude or seclusion are normally experienced only by young people facing their rites of passage - times during which they are taken from their famuilies to be instructed in tribal lore and adult responsibility. In such rites, each young person generally endures a short period of isolation wherein he encounters the spirits of the tribe in a visionary way. Awareness of the otherworld and the way it impinges upon our own reality is one of the fruits of solitariness.

  When we are far from the interaction of society, when the chatter and comment of our minds is stilled, then it is possible to enter into a deeper relationship with the universe that we inhabit. The revelations of solitude are often profoundly moving and though we may share them in conversation with friends afterward, we do not find it easy to reach into the depths that we have inhabited within our solitude once we return to company again.

  To be content with one's own company is an art that cannot be taught; it is something we each have to learn as our lives unfold. When there is nothing to distract us, we return to the primal ground of our being, where we can begin to learn who we truly are and discover our context within the rest of the universe.

"Whether you are naturally solitary or gregarious, enter the spaciousness of solitude and be aware of your true self and its context."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning

"Old loves, old insults, old wrongs, old hates,
old prides, old contempts, old horrors, old taboos, old totems.... [Clan I shed these
worn-skins of remembrance?]
  ___ John Cowper Powys, "Obstinate Cymric"


  At this season, we are often driven into a bout of spring cleaning, throwing out the unwanted and bringing new order to our household. But what of the deeper hurts, the old anguish, the festering wrongs, and the immovable obstinacies of our very being?

   Select one such malingering obstruction to be removed from your mental attic by asking and answering the following questions:

* What past wrong or hurt embitters you the most?
* What past relationship still lingers painfully?
* What childhood horror shadows you?
* What irrational prejudice still clouds your horizons?
* To what or whom are you still shackled by hate?
* What long-dead voice of authority still has you leaping?
* What old story against yourself still rankles?

    Now take a walk in nature, meditating upon the issue at hand. Let your eye fall upon things that seem to speak to you about your own case: these might fallen leaves, pieces of rubbish blowing about, feathers, berries, bark, mushrooms, flowers and so on. Without damaging the landscape and its inhabitants, collect some of these things and assemble them into an emblem of your issue. These collected items can be tied together with string or woven together with grasses. Create something really beautiful. When it is complete, make a small fire outside. Relinquish your issue to the cleansing flames and burn the emblem you have made, visualizing its influence passing away from you. Stay and watch the emblem turn to ash and be borne away.

"Make an emblem and burn it, as suggested above."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]