The Senses Awake!

I am in the process of taking a course on Shaman journeys and have just completed an assignment.  This lesson dealt with the Plant Nations.  The following is my what I wrote in the "Journal" portion of that assignment:

The Senses Awake

Herbs and spices – what a wonderful array of aromatics exist in the world!  From the sweet tang of cinnamon to the pungent burst of sage, all plants contribute to the joys in our daily lives.

Sadly, I’ve never been very good at keeping herbs alive, but that doesn’t stop me from appreciating the bounty these plants provide.  This of course includes all plant life – vegetables, grains, fruit, legumes – but here I shall touch only on spices and herbs.

So precious were these barks, gums, seeds and roots, that our world was discovered in pursuit them.  Trade routes were established to bring these rare tastes from one region to another.  Today, our store shelves are packed with them all.  That does nothing to lessen the impact of the spices and herbs.

In my own kitchen, I give thanks daily as I sprinkle pepper on food – common black pepper – or as I fold fresh-chopped parsley into mashed potatoes.  Spices are not really necessary.  All food can be cooked without them and still come out okay.  Just okay.  Without the zing of lemon zest, or flavour burst of garlic, it’s just okay. Thus they delight the tongue.

I often rub some dried sage between the palms of my hands, delighting my sense of touch, and am energized by the fragrance.  I blend dried crackling leaves, to the delight of my ears, and then burn them like incense, delighting my nose.

I’ve gazed at the bright scarlet of ground paprika, and the burnt orange of cinnamon, tracing these colours back to the bark and fruit, thus delighting my eye.

A few years ago, I did a special ritual involving herbs.  The criteria was simple – all herbs needed to be easily available at the local grocery store, yet meet the needs of the elemental energies.  Here are the invocations I wrote at that time (July 2, 2008):

Blessed be, oh Creature of Sage

Blessed be, sweet child of the Air

Be you empowered in this rite

To give my wisdom connection to the Divine

And abundance of inspiration

As you are cut, your virtue is released –

So Mote it Be!!

Blessed be, oh Creature of Ginger

Blessed be, aromatic Child of Fire

Be you empowered in this rite

To give my wisdom keen sharpness

And clear understanding.

As you are cut, your virtue is released –

So Mote it Be!!

Blessed be, oh Creature of Mint

Blessed be, refreshing Child of Water

Be you empowered in this rite

To give my wisdom calm rationality

And gentle reasoning.

As you are cut, your virtue is released –

So Mote it Be!!

Blessed be, oh Creature of Parsley

Blessed be, green Child of the Earth

Be you empowered in this rite

To give my wisdom solid grounding

And continuous growth

As you are cut, your virtue is released –

So Mote it Be!!

ANCIENT WISDOM IN THE BONES

Today has been a very relaxing, stress-free day.  I sat here, and worked on my blog, connected with friends, spoke to my father again, even though I just saw him yesterday, and all the while, I was thinking back on that visit.

He is amazing - although I see that he's getting frail, he still insists on living independently, and doing everything for himself.  The thing that inspires and awes me the most is his knowledge of history, especially Russian history and the fact that he has songs and melodies and harmonies coursing through his head which he writes down on music paper every day.  His mind sings, his fingers race across the paper with his pen quickly, so as to get every note, every scale and chord.

And as I am sitting here, thinking about that visit, I am thinking about how those genes are coursing through me.  Creativity, performance, love of history, spirituality, quirkiness, obstinacy and stubbornness, humour, overcoming adversity - yes, all that and more I carry from my father and mother, and my grandparents before them.

Ancient wisdom  - it tells me that I come from those connected to Ancient Greece and the fierce Mongolian nomads of the sweeping steppes, people of Russ and the burly Vikings.  It tells me to follow my heart and let loose that wildness that was the heart of Mongols, search out new adventures as the Vikings did.  It tells me to create, to give birth to new ideas and forms and words, to serve with the creative spirit.

And it tells me that occasionally I need to acknowledge the limitations of this physical body and take a day off here and there, not be afraid to say "No, not today".

I will as of today, pay attention to that ancient wisdom more closely.  I am, after all, a Crone, and my bones are now becoming ancient.

She is woman who sees She is woman who sees She is Crone woman, skull and bone woman Moss and stone woman Crone woman, crone woman Deep Earth cave mother Dark moon blood mother Blood mother, blood mother She is woman who knows She is woman who knows She is hidden woman, she is shadow woman Midnight cloak woman Raven croak woman Owl, bat, moth woman Owl woman, owl woman She is woman who waits She is woman who waits She is death mother, she is birth mother Earth mother, earth mother Earth, birth, death woman She is north woman, winter storm woman Ancient hands woman Wisdom woman Old woman, old woman She is woman who sees She is woman who sees She is night woman She is night woman Woman!

YOU'RE GROUNDED!!

Considering the sleepless nights I've been having these past few days, I thought it would only be appropriate to post something I wrote back in 1988.  This poem was published in And Other Travels, An Anthology of Poems, that same year.

YOU'RE GROUNDED!!

200 paper airplanes 

have landed on my 

     bedroom floor,

200 paper airplanes 

I made in an 

     attempt to soar

Beyond the confines

of the sleepless night

Alas!

Not one of them has carried me

towards the place where light

from dark is only seen

as negatives of photographs!

200 paper airplanes

like gentle ghosts

     so pale

could only

     call

to me with 

     rustling laughs

As

They spun around between the walls

they touched the ceiling and the door,

Then

200 paper airplanes

crash-landed on my

     bedroom floor...

BRIDAL SHOW

In trying not to miss a day of blogging, I'm now stuck as to what to talk about.

Hmmm, let's see - I could write about the wonderful Bridal show I attended today.  I thoroughly enjoyed it! I trudged from one display booth to another, talked to so many people and connected with a number of them, in hopes of expanding my presence as wedding officiant.

The fashion show was fantastic - I always enjoy runway stuff.  The first set was particularly interesting, where the models became living mannequins, striking dramatic poses.  I also thoroughly enjoyed the violinist who performed during the show.  Not only was he a great musician, his outfit was fantastic too - white, long jacket with discreet beading.  Loved it!!

I figure I spent about 4 hours on my feet, wandering around, and then walked a good way home.  My feet ached, the bag of goodies got very heavy (amazing how much just sheets of paper could weight - lol), and I was dying for some tea by the time I finally got home.  Next week,  I'll be going through all the brochures, flyers and business cards, checking out all the websites

Maybe that's exactly what I needed to tire me out enough to sleep tonight.  The January Full Moon is just having way too much fun with the energies this month - but that's another story... 

COMPLETION AND BEGINNING

Ah, I see one strand of silver tinsel still hanging up.  Other than that, all the Yule/Christmas tree and decorations have been taken down and packed away for another year.  Strange how large and empty this place seems without all the bright ornamentation!

So it's over for another year - the hype, the stress, the need to outdo each other in gift-giving.  There are things that I don't really like about this time of the year, and all of it has to do with the commercials and reports of how well the retail business fared.  In all other respects I love it.  I love the lights, the holly and pine boughs, I love the trees decked out with stars and shining balls.  I the well-wishing - which in itself creates, at least for a short time, a feeling of peace on Earth, goodwill towards all.  I love the food, gathering  of friends and family, and the way each culture seems to have a festival of lights and blessings during the coldest and darkest time of the year.

And now it's over.  All trappings have been stripped, leaving blank spaces and empty walls.  It's time to start thinking of the next Sabbat, Imbolc, and watch the Wheel of the Year turn again.  All is made clean for the new energies to start stirring as the altars are reset to welcome the Maiden Goddess.

From the beginning, it has been my practice to honour Brid (Brigid) during this time, and indeed, I shall have an altar for her.  But for some reason, I am drawn to set up an altar for Quan Yin, to open a gateway for a flow of compassion, understanding and health.  Already it's stirring in me, this inspiration for a ritual, and I shall slowly begin to put it into effect this week.

May She, the Lady of Compassion, bless you abundantly!

LIVING IT UP... THE AFTERMATH...

Last night, I had the pleasure of hosting a Red Tent meeting.  The apartment was set up, food was prepared, the ladies arrived and the place was fit to bursting with loud and boisterous laughter!  We celebrated Yule, complete with a Yule log (a piece of oak placed in a cauldron amid Yule greenery and surrounded with small lights) and a Wassail bowl.

In true Norse fashion, we hoisted our glasses, and while feasting in our own Valhalla, toasted the Asgard Gods, Valkyries and Heroes.  We began boasting with much drama and bravado, of the things we had accomplished and what we will achieve in the coming year.  Laughter, cheering, accolades were heard loud and strong at each!  I was worried about what my next door neighbour would think, but then remembered she was participating in these very same energetic procedures - lol!!

This being a work night, we all decided to make it an early night.  I was also looking forward to an early morning of travel and visit with my dad, and so needed have a good night's sleep.  Alas, for me, that did not happen. The night had plans of its own...

Many hugs and farewells later, I turned to my own downtime by doing a bit of cleaning up, putting stuff into the fridge and turning off the twinkling Yule lights around the apartment.  My leg hit the corner of the little table where the dishes were - crash! Boom!  Yup, you guessed it - at least two of my glass plates were shattered, while another two were chipped beyond use!  I left it all to be cleaned up in the morning...

Broken shards of my glass dishes.  And silverware...

... which came hours of tossing and turning and inability to fall asleep.  Insomnia has struck me solidly!!  By midnight, I got up and went onto Facebook, met my son there, and transferred our conversation to the phone.  It was almost two hours before we finally went to bed again.  Oh, and to top it all off, this late-night chat also led to the discovery that it's almost Full Moon!!

So, taking into account the wonderful high-energy meeting, concern about the trip and the impending Full Moon - I was totally out of luck in the sleep department!!

By then, I had crossed into the point of no return.  I knew it would be impossible for me to have that early start and be on the bus, never mind spending the day with my dad.  I could not be good company at all!  Imagine my relief when I called him, and was told that he too had a very restless night, and was happy to have the visit postponed.

And in the meanwhile, my neighbour (remember the I worried would be bothered by the noise?) asked me to kitty-sit her cat today.

Now I better go and clean up the glass.  It's going to be a great day, yes...?

CREATING A WEB SITE...

Yesterday, I spent a good part of the afternoon putting together a web site.  It's something I've wanted to do for quite a while now, and finally got down to doing it.

Now, I already have a blog going here, and I'm very active on a social network, so why would I want to expand into a web site?  I'm no one special, I don't really have a business, what is interesting to me may be deadly boring to someone else.  I've considered all of that, and decided that I still wanted to go ahead with this endeavour.

I am a person of eclectic and varied interests, and I wanted these represented under one "roof", so to speak, a place where I can talk about my dreams and the Craft, my needlework and the weddings in a more compact and concentrated environment.

Yesterday afternoon proved to me how challenging this digital construction can be.  It is exacting work, even though the html coding is taken care of for me.  And even after it's all put together and launched, it will always be a work in progress.  There will always be new information to add, I will need to tweak the site constantly, that sort of thing.

It's exciting, and it's scary, putting myself out there like that.  I love the technology that is making this possible, because I read about it long before all this became a reality through my science fiction books. To see it all come around in a usable way is amazing.

So, that's my blog for the day.  I hope to have a bit of a launch party once the site is ready to make its public appearance, and I hope you will all attend!!