The Divine Feminine

The Divine Feminine

"There was an Old Woman lived under the hill
And if she's not gone, she lives there still."
   ____ traditional British rhyme


    Feminine and masculine are the left and right hands of God. We have only recently begun to remember the divine feminine and to respect her again, but she has never been far from us. Earth herself reminds us of the living presence of the feminine principle as she unfolds her many faces through the cycle of the year. The Old Woman who lives under the hill is the oldest grandmother of us all: our very substance derives from her; and as we trace her many aspect through the seasons, we appreciate the different gifts with which we are endowed.

   As a young girl in spring, she is innocent; playful and delightful, she responds to beauty with joy. When our hearts are in springtime mode, we are filled with clarity and truth, in touch with our integrity. In Maytime, when blossom's heady scent of desire is in the air, she reaches the borders of womanhood and looks with desire upon the beloved of her heart, rejoicing in the song of summer's freedom. When our hearts are in summer mode, we have power and self-confidence.

   In autumn, she become mother, fierce protector of all that she loves. In autumn, we reflect this face as our creative vision is fulfilled. When winter comes, she strips bare the bough, clarifying each soul. But many do not choose to know her now, for she grows thin and gray. Yet she is ever stronger, as ice and snow cover her with a new mantle.

   Those who fear the Old Woman's features never kiss her or call upon her wisdom. But she welcomes all, calling us to look again and find in ourselves the reflection of her wisdom. She calls us to realize that she is in every part of the universe, that the earth is but our most immediate mirror of her features. Her truth, beauty, compassion, and wisdom are in every place, in every face.

"Meditate upon the divine feminine."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

The Familiar Road

The Familiar Road

"Mony an ane speers the road he hens weel."
[Many a one inquires about the road he knows well.]
   -_______Scots Proverb


  Our anxiety to know that we are on the right road and performing life's actions in the correct manner often leaves us a long way from our destination. This syndrome is found in perpetual students who are always taking courses, and in those who take every known therapeutic aid even thought their health is good. It can be caused by an excessive perfectionism, a longing for approval, or by sheer blind doggedness.  A lack of confidence or validation often prevents us from realizing the obvious: if we perpetually seek some outer approval for our actions, we will never consciously walk our own road.

  A Welsh proverb that complements this Scots one tell us that 'he travels fastest who takes the road that he know';  in other words, the path of least resistance yields speedier results. Swimming against the tide is hard work, requiring more energy than we may have to give out, exhausting us before we arrive. If we can recognize the tides of our own life, we will begin to move with their flow with grace and ease.

  Of course, it is not always of benefit to only and always take the road that we know best. Choosing the predictable path, never exploring the byways or parallel tracks that could enrich our journey, may lead to complacency and a dull demeanor. But it is good, on the predictable path, to get in touch with our own power and purpose, to not always be seeking the approval of someone else.

"What destination have you already reached (and yet are still struggling to attain)? Where are you swimming upstream in your life?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Goddess of the Door

Goddess of the Door

"Dark is the night, far is the dawning.
Sing for the shining of light on the way!
Hearken, be ready, attend to my calling,
Sing all you guardians who wait at the door."
   ___ Caitlin Matthews, "Midsummer Song"


   One of the ancient names for the island of Britain is the Island of the Strong Door, a title that is associated with Merlin's magical defense of the land. Another guardian, the Goddess of the Door, is discernible within the story of Merlin as a distinct archetype who works in association with her prophet. When he is still a little boy, he prophesies the history of Britain, ending with the appearance of the goddess who come to close the door of the aeon. At the end of his life, Merlin's sister, Ganeida, takes over his prophetic role. She builds an observatory with seventy doors and windows into which he retires.

   The ancient Goddess of the Door turns the key of prophetic inspiration in those whom she appoints to the spiritual guardianship of her land. The task of prophet of the land passes from man to woman to man to woman down the ages, every time the Goddess of the Door turns her key. These prophets successively enter her service as guardians of the door, becoming the timeless singers at the threshold between the worlds.

  The Goddess of the Door stands at this nexus point between the world for all people, regulating the flow of sequential time in our world and rejoicing in the timeless knowledge in the otherworld. She gives us each prophetic insight that enables us to guard our own boundaries and thresholds.

"Visualize and visit the place between the worlds where understanding and insight come to you. Greet the guardians there, and find one who will instruct you to guard your thresholds."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Inalienable Rights

Inalienable Rights

"Three indispensables of a nobleman are: his harp, his blanket, and his cauldron."

   ___ triad from "Laws of Hywel Dda"



    Under most modern laws of distrait - whereby goods are removed from a household in compensation for debts unpaid - there are certain articles that cannot removed. These usually include the items by which the householder earns her living, the tools of worker's trade, the bed, and the means to make food. In the triad above, from the Welsh legal code formulated by King Hywel Dda (HOO'wel THA) in the ninth century, we discover that the three indispensable objects of the nobleman are the harp by which his bard entertained him, the blanket that kept his body warm in bed, and the cauldron that heated his food. Today, these items were probably be equivalent to the television set, the bed and the stove: means of entertainment, sleep and food.

  We have become used to the possession of certain inalienable rights life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, among others, in our modern world. These are rights that we take for granted, that are enshrined in constitutions and maintained by the law of the land; and yet even within civilized societies there are many who do not enjoy their rights. The poor, the disadvantaged and others who live on the margins of society need the actions and voices of those who honor the commitment to the inalienable rights that we should all enjoy.

"If you could only take three things from your house right now, which would they be? Of all your basic, inalienable rights, which do you most cherish?"

[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Protecting the Animals

Protecting the Animals

"Keep them from harm,
Keep them from jealousy,
Keep them from spell,
From North to South."
   ___ early Gaelic blessing (trans CM)


   The protection of domesticated animals was an important concern to our ancestors, who relied upon the strength and life-giving nurture of animals in the daily round. In our own time, the protection of animals takes on other connotations, involves other responsibilities.

    The ancient prayer above was uttered to protect beasts from straying, from theft, from natural dangers; it was never intended to protect them from imprisonment in factory-farms, from circumscribed lives of great misery, from transportation in long-distance trucks, or from fearful mass slaughter. The protection of domesticated animals today is something that everyone can be practically involved in by their choice of food, by their active campaigning, and by their boycotting of methods that are cruel and unnecessary.

   Regarding those animals that are used as guinea pigs in laboratory testing of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and diseases, we have less justification for their ill-treatment and more responsibility for their care. The torture of any living creature is abhorrent; one does not have to be a bleeding heart to witness the pain involved in this work. Finding other alternatives to the laboratory testing of animals will perhaps remove the onus of cruelty from their human kindred in the near future, but not until more humans use their voices to protect the animals who have no voice.

"Make your own prayer and blessing for animals and for those who are involved in their welfare."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Reinaugurating the Grail Quest

Reinaugurating the Grail Quest

"I sometimes think that now, in our day, the Grail Quest has been
reinaugurated.... This time the difference is, it isn't only men who will ride out."
   ___John Moriarty, "Turtle Was Gone a Long Time"


   In an era when the Wasteland spoken of in the Grail legends seems an ever-present possibility, the time is dawning when all beings who are attuned to the well-being of life must step forward to be the questers of this generation: to go seek and find the Grail, to bring its gifts of spiritually restorative for different people, this may be different things. What is the quest today, and who becomes a quester? The quest is the solutions that embrace all levels of existence - not the material would only, but also the otherworld whose spiritual impulse beats beneath the pulse of the manifest world. The questers are drawn from all walks of life, men and women of all generations who long with all their hearts for the world and all that is in it to be healed, whole, and in harmony. They are not idealists who simply meditate and dream, they are strivers who long for this restoration more than they love their own lives, who are willing to endanger themselves. They are rising up now in every land, working in a variety of ways, but always keenly aware of how important is the reconnection of our own world with the other. The Grail itself is a bridge that links both worlds and that, by the agency of the questers, is able to dispense its healing to those places that need it most. This healing is the living currency of the otherworld, streaming between the worlds in a flood of creative ideas, technological solutions, and more mature ways of living. This quest awaits all who feel the world's pain as their own.

"Where is the Grail in your spiritual quest?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Pillars of Society

Pillars of Society

"The three ruinations of a tribe: a lying chief, a false judge, and a lecherous priest."    ___ ancient Irish triad


   In Celtic society, the chief was known by this truth and generosity, the judge by his equity, and the priest by his sexual continence. When state, legislature and church fail, then the land and its people are at risk. The condemnations cited in the above triad do not strike us as old-fashioned, since our newspapers are still full of stories of the failure and falsehood of our own leaders. The corrupt politician, the bribed judge, and the abusive priest are still common characters in our society.

  Corruptions of office may have become more commonplace throughout the world, but there are still many who uphold the dignity and honor of the oaths befitting their position.

  Nothing less than the overhaul of all public institutions is now needed if suitable candidates for office are to be inspired and called forth to act on our behalf if we hope to continue to find leaders worthy of their calling who will not fail under the burdens of the office or fall into temptations of the office, we all must pay serious attention to the need for change.

   The oaths of public servants and ministers represent sacred binding contracts between a people and their gods. The chief or the politician is contracted to the spirits of the land; the judge is contracted to the spirit of truth; the priest is contracted to the guiding spirits of the universe. The breaking of such contracts brings great unhappiness to all.

"What are your personal criteria for those whom you elect to public office? What changes do you feel are necessary to public institutions?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

The Month of July

Month of July - the hay is apt to smoke.
Ardent the heat; dissolved the snow;
The vagrant does not love a long confederacy.
    ___ anon. Welsh poem

July brings us to the height of summer. This month's meditational themes include opening the ways, the goddess and the feminine, holidays and wider horizons, the world as lover, recommitment to promises and vows, and secrecy and privacy.