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 habits 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 suffering is an overrated 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 to freedom is to draw upon the compassion plumbed by our suffering, upon the clarity of our thought, and upon the essential truth of our 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 Courage to Try Again

The Courage to Try Again

"I will rise, I will go back to the white and silver shore.
I will have courage, as the sun does, rising and setting.
I will go as the sea in its turning.
I will rise, I will go back, I will rise!"
  ___ Caitlin Matthews, "Celtic Devotional"

   The courage to return to places (emotional as well as physical) of trial or difficulty is often lacking in us.  Sometimes the injury, offence or experience we underwent in a place was so dreadful that we choose to avoid it altogether. Any mention of a person or place associated with that experience may cause disorientation or even nausea.
   Sometimes we much summon up the courage to surmount our careful avoidances, to step back onto ground where we have been hurt or injured or mocked. How do we find the courage then? Only by surrendering our fear, only by transforming it into the ability and power to move again. By avoiding our fear, we give it more substance. By facing our fear, we transform it.
   The truly courageous go into danger realizing and accepting the terrors ahead. Most importantly, they do not plumb the depths of courage by an act of will alone.l They draw upon their spiritual helpers, upon the familiar strengths of their daily lives, upon the love and friendship of their kindred and their dear ones. With them, because of them, for them, the courage within grows and conquers fear, shame, and anger.

"Consider a painful situation or experience that is causing you to avoid certain places or people. Pray to your strongest spiritual helpers for courage to return."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Colonization

Colonization

"Until we have learned to stand Grand Canyon deep in the earth, we shouldn't think of setting foot on the moon or Mars. "
   ___ John Moriarty, "Turtle Was Gone a Long Time"


   The bequest of colonization is a miserable one, and it stems entirely from selfishness and greed; from a lack of respect for land, beast, and culture; from a superior attitude that leads to untold violence and abuse. Even where nations have extricated themselves and peoples have gained their independence, the legacy lives on. Colonists may leave, but colonization burrows ever deeper in the land and people, leaving crooked souls and wounded attitudes.
   There are many who silently pray for a complete change in human behavior before the space program becomes much more advanced. It is one thing to live with animosity, selfishness, and greed upon our own planet; it is another to take those traits beyond our atmosphere to other planets and spread the plague of violence and disrespect there. But how can we learn to 'stand Grand Canyon deep' in our own planet, in the good earth from which all life comes, before the moment arrives?
   To love what we have is perhaps more important than to aspire to that which we do not possess. To respect and maintain the earth, to find resourceful ways of living, is actually a greater challenge than to find ways of propelling ourselves at ever-greater speeds to ever-further destinations. Let us hope that the immensity of space itself may teach humankind a better wisdom.

"Meditate upon one of the uplifting places of the earth that you have visited. Go there in soul-flight now and learn from the spirit of the place what it is to live upon the earth with respect."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]
  

Thanks Serenity Athenina!!

Ancestral Wisdom

Ancestral Wisdom

"We who have no elders, come
To your strong knees counsel."
  ___ Caitlin Matthews, "Avebury Easter"

   Most of us are sufficiently distanced from our own ancestral wisdom to feel disoriented in a time when indigenous knowledge is being reevaluated. How do we rekindle the ancestral fires once again? Where is the wisdom that will help us through the night of ignorance and doubt? Instead of elders, we now have elected politicians who speak with corrupt and self-serving voices; instead of fragrant local wisdom, we have homogeneous civil law and institutionalized religion to guide us.
   Ancestral wisdom does not cease because the elders are no longer as important in our society. Indeed, the wisdom is retrievable and implementable now. Part of the solution lies with ourselves. By changing the way we think - extending our planning to include the next ten generations rather than just our own lifetime and vigorously upholding the rights and privileges of elders in our community - we shift from a basis of neglect to a more respectful and empowered position.
   If we genuinely want to look to our recent or ancient past for wisdom, then we must give time, effort, and study to our own spiritual and indigenous traditions, or to traditions of those land whence our ancestors came. Whatever is useful, whatever is practical, whatever is wise will never be lost as long as one person is practicing it.

"Ask one of your own wise ancestors - someone known or unknown to you - to come to your circle of meditation. Ask this wise one for help about some aspect of your own life that is problematic. Then implement the advice you are given and see what results."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Retracing the Animal Presences

Retracing the Animal Presences

"In the infancy of culture ritual and art were one, and the hunters who drew the animals they desired and performed ritual dances in fissures deep in the rock must also have had poetry to evoke this physical and spiritual sympathy.
  ___ Jacquetta Hawkes, "A Land"

  The cave and rock paintings of the ancient world depict bison, mammoth, horse and deer, all of which have a powerful presence not found in domesticated animals. These wild creatures who prefigure a primal world of nature are figurative of more than meat and hide: they hold and mediate spiritual powers greater than the present consumerist mentality can evoke. The spirits of animals open gateways to deeper worlds of understanding, shared worlds in which people and animals learn from each other.
   We do not know what rituals attended the painting of these creatures in ancient times, but looking at comparable cultures extant today, we can see that among the aboriginal Australians, for example, the rock and cave paintings are retraced by subsequent generations. This is a method of honoring and reconnecting with spiritual presences drawn by ancestors.
   The power to re-evoke the spirits of animals with whom we once shared our world more equitably is still with us, if we will set aside the time and space. Retreating to our own dark cave, lit only by the torch of our willing understanding, we come again to the ritual kindling of spiritual vision wherein the ancient animal powers speak to us, creature to creature, in the dance of life.

"Mediate upon a series of animals now under threat of extinction. Listen to its wisdom with respect and thankfulness. Make a drawing of your experience."
[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 the heroic voyagers of Irish tradition who took ship to the furtherest 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 spiritual 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 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 the 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 own spiritual quest to date. Note any recurring patterns and check the usefulness of the spiritual baggage you acquired on the way."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Lugh: The Many-Gifted One

Lugh: The Many-Gifted One

"There is  a man at the door," said the doorkeeper. "His match would hard to find: every art answers to his skill."
   ___ Gofraidh Fionn O'Dalaigh, in Osborn Bergin,
     "Irish Bardic Poetry," (trans CM)


   The nickname of the Irish god Lugh (LOO'kh) is Samildanach, or "The Many-Gifted One."  He earns it when he comes to the court of King Nuada (NOO'a-ha) just as everyone is sitting down to feast. The door-keeper challenges Lugh for his name and skill, for no one without a special art or skill may enter Tara. Lugh tells him that he is a smith, a builder, a champion, a harper, a hero, a poet, a magician, a healer, a cup-bearer, and a fire-keeper. His boast is tested by everyone there, and he is ultimately admitted.
   Lugh is what we now call a :Renaissance man," one whose many skills pass beyond narrow categories of accomplishment, spilling over into many fields of artistic skill. His boast at Nuadu's court causes as much skepticism as would that of a man attempting to enter Congress or Parliament who claimed to be a great politician, a military hero, a Nobel-winning scientist, a shaman, a pop musician, a film star, and a poet of international acclaim all rolled into one.
   Lugh's many gifted nature holds sway at this time of year, reflecting the rich variety of the harvest, heralding the beginning of the many-colored autumn months. For ourselves, the month of August enables us to pass beyond the narrow confines of our daily occupation and enjoy the full range of our own skills and abilities as we take our vacation.

"On this day of festival, review your own many-gifted nature with appreciation. How does it serve your community? Which of your gifts are you hiding away? Which ones will you be enjoying this autumn?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Lughnasa - Season of Autumn

"Month of August - covered with foam is the beach;
Blithesome the bee, full the hive;
Better the work of the sickle than the bow."
  ___ anon. Welsh poem

The month of August sees the beginning of autumn, with the gathering in of harvest. This month's meditations explore the following themes: gifts, ancient wisdom, sharing and respect, changing and growth, getting to the heart of things, recognizing possibilities, spiritual ecstasy.