Seeding the Wateland

Seeding the Wasteland

"Learning  the mysteries whereby wasteland
Becomes wheatland; grains must fall
Into the hungry earth and be swallowed whole."
    ___ Caitlin Matthews, "Avebury Easter"


   When wasteland has become an ever-present reality, when something stricken has lain barren for many years, it takes special grace to recover again. It is not a matter of snapping back into normal mode or of pulling ourselves together. It is usually a matter of picking up the pieces slowly and painfully, an organic process that can take a long time. This reassembly is like a gathering of precious seeds and fertile gragments, a putting-together of the essential selves that form our soul, so that life's flavor and savor can return.

   The scattered seeds that hold the potential of our lives must come home and rest once more in the familiar soil of everyday living before the grain can germinate and send its long shoots toward the sun. This mysterious return is begun by preparing the soil to receive the seed. The farmer must remove all obstructions from the ground; the hatreds, fears, lies, and treacheries have to be relinquished. Then the plow must turn over the soil; all the deep needs of the soul must be acknowledged and an urgent request for help and return be sent up. This is a time for singing over the ground of loss in consolation, and a time for singing for the scattered seeds to come back, letting them know that they are welcome.

   The mysterious sowing happens in silence and unknowing: the soul seeds return and lodge in the deep earth. There they will rest, germinating in their own time, until the once-barren wasteland becomes fertile again.

"Look at the causes of your wasteland; then let go of the fears, hatreds, and other obstacles that impede your return to full health and wholeness. Now begin the work of welcoming back whatever qualities have fled. Be patient, preserving and hopeful."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

The Hidden Truth of Dreams

The Hidden Truth of Dreams

"Your dream tells a truth about yourself. A truth you hide from while you are awake. A truth you need to know about yourself. For your ....wellbring."
    ____ David Rudkin, "Penda's Fen"


   Dreams are messangers of the soul. Every one of us has dreams, whether or not we remember them. Dreams speak of hidden truths in oblique ways - truths that we have not been able to understand or assimilate in our waking lives. Their enigmatic symbolism cannot be decoded by books of dream interpretation that give pat or plausible answers for standard dream themes; dreams must be decoded entirely by the dreamer and scrutinized for their personal symbolism.

   What is the truth that we need to know about ourselves? Whatever we have covered over or hidden from in our daily lives has a way of breaking through in self-disclosing (and often pun-filled) ways in our dreams. For example, we may dream of putting an annoying but senior colleague at work into the garbage, while in waking life we seriously wish that we could put a lid on his snide remarks.

   In a society that declines dreams as wacky or illusory, it can be hard for us to realize that they reveal to us the nature of our waking self-delusion. Dreams not only warn of dangers; they also reveal areas that we have never dared explore because of their power or wonder. Dreams bring us to meed the potentialities of our soul in a remarkable manner: we may dream that we are flying, dancing, shining meeting - deep truths that are the very essence of our well-being, that we can find, court, and assimilate if only we listen to our soul's messagers.

"Take one dream fragment from this week. Without giving it a psychological spin-dry, look at it honestly and see what truth it has to tell you. What emotions does your dream evoke? Where is your power free or suppressed? What is the overall impression or message it conveys?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Defending Ancient Springs

Defending Ancient Springs

"Where her head was lifted, a spring was found....
Healing for every disease is within it.....
Making body and soul whole."
   __ Life of St. Gwenfrewi, anon. Welsh chronicle (trans CM)


   The communion with the holy waters of a well or sacred spring is intrinsically part of Celtic tradition. All natural places of water have their own indwelling spirit, but many wells and springs frequently have holy, curative properties.

   The way in which we approach these sacred waters matters a great deal. The tendency among many people now exploring and discovering the sacred sources of land, heritage and culture is to act as consumers, demanding that the sacred otherworld give to us unstintingly. We do not participate in the sacred by such action; rather, we disconnect ourselves from participation. We can so easily become takers rather than givers. The act of sacred participation always requires us to give the gist of ourselves, to honor the sacred presence, to respond and reciprocate with our very best. This means behaving appropriately when we visit: not using the sacred place as a site for mundance refreshment, for example, smoking or picnicking or listenting to the radio. When we come within the compass of ancient springs, we are on holy ground. When we take the waters, it shuold be prayerfully and thankfully, engaging spiritually with the guardian spirit of the waters.

   By not allowing ourselves to become consumers of the otherworldly gifts that present themselves to generously to us, by reciprocating with thanks, we permit these gifts to work their own healing, reconnective magic upon us.

"Find out where your own nearest source of sacred water is to be found. What re the traditions surrounding it? Go and visit if you can, and experience the waters for yourself."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Let me ask this question - do you think there are any sacred ancient springs within the United States?

Invulnerability

Invulnerability

"I am an indestructible fortess,
I am an unassailable rock,
I am a precious jewel."

  ___ from an ancient Irish prayer
           for long life (trans CM)


   To be invulnerable means never to be wounded. Yet it is the nature of life for human beings to suffer assults from many quarters. Our bodies endure various accidents and illnesses; our emotions are ruled by fierce winds; our minds are subject to doubt, fear, delusion.

   For those on the druid path, death is not the end. The soul passes into other forms to find rebirth again and again. Similar beliefs are still held around the world in many cultures. It is only in the West, where we have disbelieved in any other reality than the apparent world, that we have an awesome terror of death. For many people today, this life is all there is or will be. No wonder they live without joy or expectation!

   Only the soul is deathless. It is indeed our indestructible fortress, our precious jewel, our unassailable rock. So where, then, is the eternal vigilance in our care of the soul? Where are the limberings, the workouts, the exercise programs, the efforts at beautification and enhancement of the soul? If we truly wish to share confidently in the invulnerability of the soul, we need to polish our jewel and peer deeply into its primordial and unassilable facets to find the beauty that cannot die.

"What are the gifts of your vulnerability?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Trees and the Life of the Planet

Trees and the Life of the Planet

"Every tree is a living watercourse, its roots, trunk and branches
conduct water up from the soil to the leaves, from which it then
passes into the atmosphere."
     ___ Nigel Pennick, "Celtic Sacred Landscape"


    The interdependence of all living things is something we often take for granted. It goes unnoticed in the daily round, so we forget that what happens in one place has its effect upon another place. It is only now that deforestation has been revealed to be a terrible legacy to our children that we begin to appreciate the contribution of trees to the life of our planet.

   At this time of year, the spring rains have an important function in the revivification of the land, especially around the full moon. Trees are able to draw up the rainfall from their roots to their higher branches so that the canopy can become green again. As the leaves emerge from their buds, we notice a corresponding unfurling of spirit in ourselves as we respond with gladness to the annual regreening of the world.

   As those leaves unfurl, they exude oxygen, so vital for our planet's atmosphere and our own living breath. The carbon dioxide that human beings exhale is absorbed and transformed by trees. Our lives and those of the trees are beautifully and aptly intertwined as we share and replenish the atmosphere for each other. Our breath and the exhalation of trees have a symbiotic link that is necessary to our very life.

   Verdancy of spirit comes when the sap rises in our souls, when we return to a state of thankfulness and welcome the spring with joy.

"Attune to the life of a tree that grows near you. Meditate upon the life that you share. Even better, plant tree."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

The Greater Good

The Greater Good

"Three things for which a person might hazard his/her life
and lose it: the search for truth, the upholding of justice;
the performance of mercy."
   ___ Welsh triad, (trans CM)


   The eternal search for truth engages many people in a dangerous quest, whether that quest be research into life-threatening diseases in an attempt to find a cure, the struggle of writers, poets, and activists to maintain the voice of truth in the face of restrictive regimes, or any of myriad other pursuits.

   The upholding of justice is a worldwide concern. Although we may complain that judicial systems are antiquated and need reform in the West, at least we have a system of justice, however poorly we may believe it to function. In parts of the world where dictatorship, war, and other evils reign, justice is a gun in the hand, and there are many daily who die in attempting to bring an end to unjust governance.

  The performance of mercy endangers life every day; wherever the land, the weather, or the prevailing conditions are dangerous, there are teams of rescue workers and health professionals who hazard their own lives in order to save those of others.

   Those whose view of humankind is a very low one, who believe humans to be intrinsically selfish, and greedy, need only look at the lives of the defenders of truth, justice, and mercy to change their opinion. If we cannot venture our lives in defense of the three principles named in the above triad, then there is indeed little hope for our species; but there never seems to be a lack of compassionate people who put their own concerns aside and risk their very lives in defense of the greater good.

"Make a blessing of protection for all who hazard their lives in defense of lofty principles."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Power of the Word

Power of the Word

"Tongue is weak and tongue is woe,
Tongue is water and tongue is wine,
Tongue is chief of melody.
And tongue is thing that fast will bind."
    ____ "Propheies of Thomas Erceldoune"
      Scottish text (trans CM)


    It is probably impossible to fully realize these days the power of the word in the Celtic world. In a society that used no writing, the word had a primacy that can scarely be now imagned. The poets, druids, and judges were highly respected, because what came out of their mouths was not only the lore of the tribe; it was also the truth. Like Thomas the Rhymer, the Scottish poet  who entered the world of faery and won from the Faery Queen 'the tongue which cannot lie', the gifted ones of the Celtic tradition could use their skills both mundanely and magically.

   While the poet most often used his skill to praise patrons, recite genealogies, encourage  and enchant, he could also call upon formidable verbal powers to initiate change. A poet's satire was not just a painful lampoon that others could snicker  about; it could actually raise blisters upon the face of the subject, bringing shame. It is said that a well-placed satire could even cause death.

   In many people, the tongue is untrained and weak, and some use it only for spreading gossip and for scaremongering. While speech can be workaday or poetic, it can also be the music that enchants and inspires the wine of praise; it can be used as a weapon to bind, both in truthful promise and in smitting satire.

"Strengthen the power of the word in your mouth by speaking only truth today."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]