THREE KINDRED PRAYERBEADS (Shared with permisson)

THREE KINDREDS PRAYER BEADS, A Druid Devotional            This version of the Prayer Beads is more Druid in content, honoring the Three Kindreds: The Ancestors, spirits of the ancient dead; The Earth Spirits who share this world with us; and the Gods, or the Shining Ones.

It is best to string your own beads. Follow the instructions below, which is the same procedure for the Goddess Prayer Beads, but substitutes Gold for Silver, because Druid spirituality is Sun oriented rather than Moon oriented.

13 white 8mm beads for the Gods & Goddesses
13 red 8mm beads for the Earth Spirits
13 black mm beads for the Ancestors
1 silver 10mm bead representing the Sun
52 silver spacer beads (class "E" 6/0) representing the Sunlight.
Nylon thread clear, monofilament

You may begin and end stringing anywhere in the loop, but the tie-off is less visible in the midst of the black beads.

The gold Sun bead is separated from the white God/Goddess beads by four (4) gold spacer beads. Each white God/Goddess bead is followed by one gold spacer bead, but the thirteenth bead is followed by four (4) spacer beads. Then come the red Earth Spirits beads, each followed by one gold spacer, but the 13th bead is followed by four (4) spacers. Then come the black Ancestors beads, each followed by one gold bead, but the 13th is followed by four (4) spacers.

And so we are back at the gold Sun bead.

In other words, beads of the same color are separated by one spacer. The three sets of beads and the larger Sun bead are separated by four spacers. Thirteen (13) beads are used in each set to signify the thirteen months of the lunar year. The gold spacers represent sunlight issuing from the Sun bead throughout the Three Kindreds of Ancestors, Earth Spirits, Gods & Goddesses.

Prayers are said on each bead, while meditating on the mysteries of the Three Kindreds, and the experience of human life.

PRAYERS FOR YOUR DRUID BEADS

On the gold Sun Bead say:
Blessed (Father, Mother,) come to me,
and cast your lovely, golden light.
Give light to earth that I may see
your glory shining ever bright.
Triple Kindred, Blessed Be,
and true well met, my soul's delight!

On the space say:
I bind unto my self today the
Memory of the Ancestors.

Meditate on the Memory of the Ancestors . . .
On each Ancestor Bead say:
Ancestors, Ancient Ones,
Remember me as I remember you
Old Ones, hear my prayer,
And accept my offering of love.

On the space say:
I bind unto myself today the
Comradeship of all Earth Spirits

Meditate on the Aid of the Earth Spirits . . .
On each Earth Spirit Bead say:
Fur and feather, leaf and stone,
Aid me as I aid you.
Earth Spirits hear my prayer,
And accept my offering of love.

On the space say:
I bind unto myself today the
Power of the Gods and Goddesses.

Meditate on the Honor of the Shining Ones . . .
On each God and Goddess Bead say:
Gods and Goddesses, Shining Ones,
Honor me as I honor you.
First-Born of Earth, hear my prayer,
And accept my offering of love.

On the space say:
I bind unto myself today
The Presence of the Three Kindreds.

On the gold Sun Bead conclude:
I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit Heavens,
The glorious Sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the Moon at even;
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling Wind's tempestuous shocks;
The stable Earth, the deep salt Sea,
Around the old eternal Rocks.
So may it be.

OakWyse
Copyright 1997
May be reproduced without change, with this notice

Your MOON journal

MOON PHASES

NEW MOON: Rises at dawn and sets at sunset. You can’t see a new moon because its bright side is toward the sun. Sun and moon are both on the same side of the earth.

WAXING CRESCENT MOON: Rises after sunrise and sets after sunset. See it in the west, just after the sun goes down. (2 days after New)

FIRST QUARTER MOON(Waxing Square):  Rises at noon is high in the sky at sunset and sets at midnight.  Looks like a bright D in the sky. (One week after New)

FULL MOON: Rises in the east as the sun sets in the west.  See a full moon in the south at midnight. (Two weeks after New)

THIRD QUARTER MOON (Waning Square): Rises at midnight and sets mid-morning. Looks like a backward D or a light-filled in C. If you wake at 2 in the morning and look out your window to the southeast, you’ll see this half-moon.

WANING CRESCENT MOON:  Rises before the sun and sets before the sun sets.  If you look out your window during the darkest house, just before dawn, you’ll see this moon. People often find they are tired and weepy, worried over trifles during the time of the waning moon. It’s then you need to remember the old saying: “The darkest hour is just before dawn.”  Soon, the moon will be dark and rebirth occurs and the cycle begins again.

RUNES

I've been studying runes since late 1999. I spent a year WITH runes, that means every day, almost all day. I sang them, meditated on them, carved them, wrote their poems (my version) and studied them esoterically rather than intellectually. I carved them on food and cast them into drink and "took them in". Rune magic saved us from pain and sorrow more than a few times. I credit Heimdall, Great Teacher, with many insights I gained concerning runes. I met Heimdall, in meditation, at five o'clock every morning for one year. I know the runes better than I know the back of my hands.

There are other ways to approach the runes. You can begin with their history. Unlike tarot, you really need to know where they come from. They are a language. The culture of their discovery or invention (I'll leave the notion of which up to you) is important if you are to understand each rune and how you may interact with them.

You can get far with the runes by carving them, one by one, and mediating on each for nine days before moving to the next rune. You can also do as Thorsson suggested and draw a rune in red on a bland index card and set this on your altar and send out a breath to lasso the rune and bring it in, while inwardly intoning the name of the rune.

Try this: light a candle in a dark room. Sit in front of it and see the candle. Close your eyes and see the candle with your eyes closed. Keep this up until you can see the image for quite a while, and in fact, until you can bring back the image once it fades.

Now  set up your first rune card and do the same. You should have enough light to see the card clearly, but not overhead lights. Use candle or lamp that illuminates the card. Empty your lungs and then breathe in, 1,2,3,4. Hold the breath to the count of three. Breathe out, 1,2,3,4, and see your breath as if it were a lasson going out surrounding the card and bringing the card in again on the next inhalation. Give it plenty of time. This is best done at night right before you go to sleep. 

When you are finished with this first lesson in runes, you will be ready for more. I'll set up a page for this and link it to this post.

Blessings,

Keldarune 

Chant for Ancestor -- Chant for All-Mother

Honor your ancestors

For the Disting (Imbolc) --

Mothers and mothers and sisters and kin

Grandmothers, the children are calling you in,

To the center to meet where it all once began,

In the circle, the center again,

In the circle, the center again

And again…

Mothers and Mothers, Grandmothers and all

Come to the circle, oh come at our call,

For we seek thee for answers,

We seek thee for might,

We call for our loved ones tonight,

Oh, we call for our loved ones tonight,

Oh, tonight.

Sisters and Sisters, our sisters so fair,

We call for you dancing, oh, dancing on air,

As we circle and sing in this center we share,

And there’s no telling who will come here,

Will come here

And there’s no telling who will come share

With us here.

For Loafmas (Lammas)

Fathers and Fathers and brothers and kin

Grandfathers, the children are calling you in,

To the center to meet where it all once began,

In the circle, the center again,

In the circle, the center again

And again…

Fathers and Fathers and brothers and kin

Come to the circle, oh come at our call,

For we seek thee for answers,

We seek thee for might,

We call for our loved ones tonight,

Oh, we call for our loved ones tonight,

Oh, tonight.

Brothers and brothers, our brothers so fair,

We call for you dancing, oh, dancing on air,

As we circle and sing in this center we share,

And there’s no telling who will come here,

Will come here

And there’s no telling who will come share

With us here.

Author: Keldarune
http://cozycauldron.blogspot.com/
May be reproduced without change with this notice

(If you have created a special candle for your feminine ancestors, light this candle now. A large candle is good to use, so that you can light it again at new or full moons throughout the year. A good practice to stay in touch and strengthen ties is to do Friday blessings to feminine ancestors, keeping this theme throughout the year. (Friday is Frija’s day, a day of Venus energy).

 (Honor the Mother of ALL)

If you have been making a toast in this rite, to the Handmaidens, to Frigga, to your Ancestors, now it is time to make one more, another glass of honey mead is poured:

Mother of All-Mother,

Mother of us all,

We seek to walk lightly,

Your wisdom to keep,

To follow the way of the Earth,

Mother, All-Mother

In meadow and Hall

Pathways to oldways

Now waking from sleep

Show us the way of the Earth

Mother of All-Mother,

The song when it calls

Sings to us nightly

And visits in sleep

And we follow the way of the Earth,

Mother, All-Mother

We rise and we fall,

From living to dying,

The crest and the deep,

To follow the way of the Earth

In the seed and the song

Of the Earth…

Author: Keldarune
http://cozycauldron.blogspot.com/
May be reproduced without change with this notice

OGHAM

OGHAM SCRIPT

Memorization: Create a sentence for each group of letters using words that begin with the letter you want to remember, in the proper order for the placement of the letters.

BLFV-SN: Beauty Lives For Varied-Sunless Nights.

HDTC-KQ: Heaven Drinks Time’s Celestial-Kisses Quick.

MGNgZ-StR: Mystic Gurus Negotiate Zen-Star Reasoning. Or: Moon Goddess, Night Goddess, Zen Star Reigns,

AOU-WEI-Y: Ancient Ones Unite-With Earth’s Inspirations, YES!

OGHAM SCRIPT

B             Beithe     Birch

L              Luis        Rowan

F-V          Fearn      Alder

S              Saille       Willow

N             Nion       Ash

H             Huath     Hawthorn

D             Duir        Oak

T             Tinne      Holly

C-K         Coll         Hazel

Q             Queirt     Apple

M            Muin      Vine

G             Gort        Ivy

NG          nGetal     Broom

Z-St        Straiph   Blackthorn

R             Ruis        Elder

A             Ailm        Fir

O             Ohn        Furze

U-W       Ur            Heather

E              Eadhadh                Aspen

I, Y          Idhadh   Yew

OGHAM

Begin learning Ogham by writing in your journal using Ogham script. The letters are divided into groups of five and may be written left to right or bottom to top of your page. (If you were to pick up a horizontal line of Ogham and turn it vertical, the right hand side of the line would be at the top.) You will notice there are many English letters that are not used in this particular branch of Ogham. Other versions exist which add five letters more. These are:

 (B may used to represent P and G may represent J).

OGHAM Divination

Birch:               cleansing, beginnings

Rowan: protection against enchantment

Alder:               A message is looking for you. Listen.

Willow: Night vision, feminine

Ash:                 Linking the two worlds

Hawthorn:        Catharsis, protection, restraint

Oak:                 Doorway, strength

Holly:               Active protection, Vigor, blance

Hazel:               Poetry, divination, mediation

Apple:              Choose, hide, use discretion

Vine:                Instinct, inner development

Ivy:                   collective unconscious, assist others

Reed:               skill, direction, direct action

Blackthorn:       negative viewpoint, clinging brings harm

Elder:               Renew, cycles, change, new life in death

Silver Fir:          Big picture, clear sight, in tune

Furze:               Collecting skills, coming together

Heather:           Look within, healing     

White Poplar:  strengthen your shield, don’t fear

Yew:                Remembering past lives, fresh vigor, rebirth

For those who don’t wish to add these additional newer Ogham forms, you may substitute: B may used to represent P and G may represent J). 

Another version uses a series of dots for the vowels (AOUE and I). These dots are set up the same as the notches above, one dot for A, two dots for O and so on.

Sigdrifa's prayer

SIGDRIFA's PRAYER

This prayer comes from the Poetic Edda. It is a prayer for the between times known to us as Twilight, both morning and evening. Those times when the light balances between that which is called Day and that which is called Night. This prayer is powerful. Many people use this prayer and the collective focus on these words have imbued it with ond (lifeforce).

Hail Day!

Hail Day’s Son!

Hail Night and her Daughter!

Look upon us, Twain,

With loving eyes

And bid us good speed,

Hail Gods!

Hail Goddesses!

Hail much needed Earth!

Sayings and sage wit

Grant to us, the Storied Ones

And healing hands in this life.

Your Name Number

YOUR DESTINY’S NAME

1  A  J  S                 2  B  K T                                3  C  L  U

4  D  M V                               5  E  N  W                              6  F  O  X

7  G  P  Y                               8  H  Q  Z                               9  I  R

               

Use this chart to convert your name into numbers. Compute each name separately, reduce to a single digit and add the totals to find your destiny number. Use your name as it appears on your birth certificate, even if a mistake was made at the time, even if your birth certificate says only baby girl or has the wrong last name. Sometimes the Norns have a bit of shuffling to get your web begun as it should be. The only time when a different name is used to compute your numerology chart is when a second birth certificate was issued, such as in the case of an adoption. Then you must use the adoptive name for purposes of computing your information.

The number of your name, your Destiny number, tells what you must do in this lifetime. Add the numbers for your first name. Then the numbers for your middle name. Then for your last name as it appears on your birth certificate. Reduce every set of numbers until you have three one-digit numbers.*7

                After you have the three totals, add these together and again reduce until you have a single digit. This is your Destiny number, the number of Divine command. It doesn’t tell what you ARE, (that comes from adding the numbers of your birth month, day and year), but it gives insight into your purpose for this lifetime.

                Furthur insight is given by adding up the numbers of each vowel (for the Soul urge) and of each consonant (for your secret dream or inner desire).

                No one number will give you all you need to know. Relationships between numbers must be taken into consideration and each understood according to its placement and plane of existence. For furthur information, contact Hazel in care of Yarrow Press.

(If  the number 11 or 22 is present, reduce this number as you would  the others, but keep these numbers in mind as they add an extra dimension to the reading of the total. An 11 has a strong will and determination and will bring light to others if well aspected. A 22 will have conflict between spirit and form and will often find himself in the company of people or circumstances that hold him back from his goal.)

GODDESS SHOPPING

A Goddess is no more real than a poem. Graspable as a wisp of smoke, she dissipates when you try to hold too tight. There are all kinds of theories, and on the sunniest days, you want to debunk them all and just remember that God spelled backward is Dog.

But When I step into circle alone, I know someone else is there. Maybe that's not the same as those God/esses you have to invoke with the right kind of stone and the right offering, a touch of wine and a white rose.

I'm just saying ...  If it's all made up anyway, how can you get it wrong?

First time I stepped into a formal circle for a Goddess, I tried to make Her fit the only God I'd ever been given. "To the North I turn... the Rock of Salvation endureth forever."

I lit a candle and poured wine, blackberry Merlot, only wine on the place. "The breath of life, the fire of Pentecost, the living water and the Holy, Holy Spirit dwells within this space, within this place between the worlds. So Be It and Amen."

Some such words. I don't recall exactly.

Blackberry Merlot and a borrowed book and soon I knew that Bridgid was the Goddess of poetry. She loved fire and blackberries, kept a healing well where water quenches a fever fast and in the forge of her fire, smithcraft and poetry carry a power to transform.

Bride, as she is called, had a father, the good god, Dagha. And in the same pantheon, Cerridwen stirred a  wisdom brew and Gwion … (but that story is told elsewhere).

The laughing God, the dancing God, the poet God, the Mother Goddess, Virgin, Mother, Crone.... and all this on a Blackberry wine. And years clicked by...

Mother of All-Mother,

Mother of us all,

We seek to walk lightly,

Your wisdom to keep,

To follow the way of the Earth,

And then the Runes called and Heimdall coaxed with a Dagaz rune, my symbol. Year of the Snake, Death and Regeneration, and even the Mayan astrologer agreed. Hints and notions. So this God of transformation cast his rainbows in my peripheral view.

And when snows fell deep and the world filled with that kind of silence that winter brings, a Goddess named Skathi, came to whisper the blue of twilight in January.

Then came the Spinner. Card the wool and spin and ply. My hands found the way my mind couldn’t see. And as I learned these skills, stories wove themselves into the wool. Her name is Frigga, the Hearth Queen, the Spinner. And with her are the twelve Handmaidens, Saga, Eir, Fulla, Geifion, Syn, Hlin, Syofn, Lofn, Vor, Var, Snotra, and Gna. Little tokens found their way to my hand and they flooded my pages with words.

I'd been Goddess shopping for a long time when Frigga came along. Now I'm wondering who shopped for whom?

If you're shopping for a Goddess, pay attention. One will find you by and by.

Author: Keldarune
http://cozycauldron.blogspot.com/
May be reproduced without change with this notice

Poem for Ancestors

Storyteller,

Speak to me of moments past,

Woodsmoke and many Novembers,

Of Granny Hall, Jackson, Jones,

Of Mother Grace and Grandmother Ada,

Speak of the Disir of my family,

Old recipes and secrets gathered,

Whispers in the half-light of morning kitchens,

Speak of the Cunning Men

Tending sawmills and calvings,

Snows deep as a barn roof,

Pitch-black trails over mountains,

Old wars and front porches,

Feed my pen with stories,

 ~Our people survived~

Round up the re-members and

Feed our daughters

On mountain strength and hill-wanders....

Saga, the storied one, hear me

Saga, the storied ones call you...

Author: Keldarune
http://cozycauldron.blogspot.com/
May be reproduced without change with this notice

Superstitions? Or magic hidden.

Superstitions

My mother, my grandmother and my grandfather too, handed down superstitions. I remember my Mom passed them on with a bit of a grin. She may have believed them and may not, but my Grandma was deadly serious about them and often frightened by them.

She had halves of things. She had whats without whys. A new religion replaced the old belief systems of the native peoples of many lands, including those of my heritage and much was taken and much diluted and only the shells and leavings remained.

That glimmers remain after generations of loss is a tribute to how strong those beliefs once were. But are what’s left only nonsense superstitions that no one takes seriously?

Don’t give a knife to a friend. It’ll cut the friendship. Don’t open an umbrella in the house. Knock on wood. Throw salt over your left shoulder. Wash your face in the May morning dew.

Sympathetic magic links one object to another. Ophiel quotes the Kahunas when he calls these links sticky threads. If you want to accomplish something in a realm where you have no way of working, perform a like deed in the realm to which you have access. What is done here affects what is done there.  If you wanted to cut a friendship, you could give a knife with full intent. The knife, a tangible cutting tool would then stand for the desired outcome, a cut.

If cutting the friendship is not your aim, ask a penny for the gifted knife. That means your friend is buying it, true, but more than that, he is giving you a token of Venus (copper), which creates a link between the object (copper) and the intended desire which is that the friendship continue in loving and caring ways since love is under the rulership of Venus whom your friend is honoring with the copper.

Opening an umbrella outside on a sunny day, with intent, is a spell for rain and opening one inside the house (where it can not rain) sends a muddled message to the helper spirits that they interpret as best they can and it may be misfortune rains down on the one who performs this. (Don’t worry too much about all this. If your magic is so strong that you can accidentally cast spells, you might need to worry, but I don’t know very many who do that. It takes focus, will, and lots of energy to cast a successful spell and they seldom succeed accidentally).

Knock on wood to let a tree spirit know you are there. This is done on those times when you’ve said something out loud. It’s done on the off chance that a mischievous spirit has heard you and will carry out the thing you spoke – usually a thing you’ve spoken that you hope won’t happen. Knocking on the tree appeases the spirit and lets him know you don’t want what you have spoken and that you know he is listening.

If you have spilled salt, it is said a harmful spirit is near, or one full of tricks. Throwing salt over your left shoulder is said to blind the wicked spirit and he will leave. You don’t want Coyote or Loki listening in on your plans. This is especially important when creating a magic circle for magic. Spilled salt can be a warning to you from your guardians, letting you know, opportunists are near. Salt is a wonderful protective substance. Don’t leave home without it.

Keep in mind that these have been handed down to us and even the most pious Christians sometimes use these old spells without understanding them. Obviously there must have been real power in them at some point when these were known in their complete forms.

One dear friend in her late seventies who recently passed away told us once, “Those old superstitions! That dumb dinner we used to have? The shingles would fly off the roof!” She was a Christian and often wrote Psalms to Jesus, but she remembered her family having the dinner of the ancestors in late October or early November at the time we know of as Samhain. This is a time to honor ancestors and it is know the veil is thin and they may visit if they have not reincarnated. Why shingles flew off the roof I can’t say. She wouldn’t talk more about “those old superstitions” and was glad to be rid of them. Her ancestors may have had reasons for the dumb supper, which, unexplained and hidden as it must have been in the middle of the new religion they’d come to, had done nothing but frighten this woman when she was a young girl. She only wanted to forget. Superstition implies something believed in for which there is no credence, but “shingles flew off the roof”. This much she admitted.

What other superstitions have been given that can have hidden knowledge in them. Hidden like the star in an apple. How about apple a day keeps the doctor away? There is a Norse myth about a Goddess named Idunna. The apples in her orchard keeps the Gods healthy and young. The Handmaiden, Gna is a messenger. She rides Hoof Flourisher, her sky galloping steed. And she drops an apple with its message of fertility. A woman is cast out of a garden when she discovers the fruit. Is it the star inside that holds the wisdom? What else has been hidden for us to find once more?

Forgotten ways have left their trail. Gathered up in halves and tied in bundles. Do you have a family superstition handed down to you?  Try to trace it back to a long-forgotten magical way.

 “And didn’t she take a straw and check to see if the cake was done. Didn’t I see her do that? It’s witchcraft is what it is. How in all of nature can a broom straw predict if a cake is done.”

“There’s dough on the straw if the cake is not done. It’s a testing is all.”

“Science then and that’s worse… But I still think it witchcraft. The cake tasted of strawberries and honeycomb and it the middle of winter. And she divined it with a broom straw.”

                                                                                 
Author: Keldarune
http://cozycauldron.blogspot.com/
May be reproduced without change with this notice

ONE TASTE (Cerridwen and Gwion -- retold)

Once upon a time…

Cerridwen, a Goddess who could be fierce or could be kind, set out to help her son. Her son, it was said, was lazy, ill-tempered and short on intelligence. Cerridwen set out to remedy the last complaint, in the hopes that knowledge would turn to wisdom. She set out to make a brew that no one could taste except her son. Or so it is said.

This was to be her best gift of all time and she took great care in preparing the spell.

She filled her cauldron with waters of the world. It took a long time to gather from every stream, ocean, river and well, but eventually she did so. She gathered just the right woods to build the fire beneath the cauldron.  In the cauldron's water would go all the wonders that make up all our blessings. In the water, would go the cry of a newborn, the sigh of an old man, the laughter of a child on a windy March day.

Into the water would go the flight of a hummingbird, the call of the whippoorwill, the light reflected in the dew as it shines on a fairy ring when the moon is full.

Into the brew would go every imaginable thing of wonder, delight, beauty, and wisdom. For the brew itself would give wisdom and delight to the child whom the Goddess loved.

Before she began to gather the special blessings to give into the water, she called nine witches from nine directions to circle round the cauldron. Perhaps these were the nine mothers of the god Heimdall, who guards the rainbow bridge. Perhaps they were the nine Moon goddess blessings who guard the nine months of a child's life in the womb. Perhaps she chose them one by one and brought them to the forest where her cauldron needed tending.

No one has said and I don’t know, but I know the nine witches stirred the cauldron with their breath, each glad to give to her Goddess what she could give.

Before Cerridwen went to gather her blessings from the world to feed into the brew, she chose a young boy who was tending goats on a hillside to come and feed the specially gathered wood to the fire beneath the cauldron where the nine witches stirred the brew with their breath.

This was the boy, Gwion. Cerridwen had been watching him. For a long long time.

He was steadfast and trustworthy. He was a hard worker. He was kind. He displayed each of the nine noble virtues. This is what the Goddess knew about him when she found him with his herd on the hillside. What she did not know was that he was also a dreamer, in love with the wonders such as he knew in his small world.

So, with the cauldron well tended and the fire goodly fed, Cerridwen went out to search for wonders in the broad world. She gathered a sunrise over a harbor, a mist from a mountain hollow, a rainstorm from April and a September from a poet's mind.

She added these to the cauldron and young Gwion fed the fire, and the nine witches stirred the brew with their breath.

She added the first steps of a spindly legged-colt. She added the kiss of a new bride and groom. She added the hope of a farmer planting corn.

And Gwion fed the fire and the nine witches stirred the brew with their breath.

For some of the ingredients, Cerridwen had to journey a long way. She was gone for hours sometimes and sometimes for days. And each time, she added the ingredient in just the right way at just the right phase of the moon, when just the right astrological presence filled the sky. And all the while, Gwion fed the fire and the nine witches stirred the brew with their breath.

And young Gwion fed the fire...

And young Gwion fed the fire...

And young Gwion fed the fire...

And young Gwion saw flashes of things in the brew.

He saw the hint of winding roads that led to the great Away. He saw a bit of sky from an eagle's view. He heard a scatter of song from a village square.

And the witches stirred the cauldron with their breath.

And Gwion fed the fire...

And the minutes passed and the hours too, and the shadows grew long, particularly long, one afternoon.

And Gwion's mind wandered as he fed the fire. And he wondered and wondered as he fed the fire.

He seemed to hear the words of his own heart in the brew. He seemed to see himself there and

all the things just out of his knowing, those things that almost spoke in his dreams but didn't...quite.

And Cerridwen brought the light from a temple and the thought from a stone. And Cerridwen brought the space between sleep and awake. And Cerridwen brought the first taste of strawberries and the scent of a rainstorm.

And the witches stirred the brew with their breath.

And Gwion fed…

the brew with their breath...

And Gwion fed…

the brew with their breath...

And Gwion fed…

…the fire…the fire…

One taste on the tip of his finger. One taste, quick as flash. Between the feeding of the fire and the stirring breath of witches...

One taste. And then he knew. And he knew SHE knew.

Instantly he ran. And she came after. The cauldron burst asunder, the brew spilled, the witches flew.

And Gwion, who now knew all things, shape-shifted into a rabbit, but Cerridwen became a greyhound and chased him. He became a high flying bird, but Cerridwen became a hawk and flew after. He became a swift-moving trout and she became a predatory shark swimming right behind him. He leaped to land and became a grain of wheat in a hill of many grains of wheat. And she became a hen who knew exactly which kernel.

And as the legend goes, the kernel of wheat became a seed in the belly of the great Goddess Cerridwen and she gave birth nine months later to a son who had been Gwion and was now Taliesin.

Taliesin was a God, the God of poetry. His namesake, Taliesin, was a poet who tasted a forbidden brew. He wrote the SONG OF AMERGIN. He wrote the BATTLE OF THE TREES. He wrote the world young and hid the wisdom between the words.

And you too, can taste the brew.

All it takes is a bit of breath,

      a bit of fire,

             the wonder of the world

                     and a Goddess gift ..


(My retelling of an old story)

Preventing Psychic Attack

Psychic Protection

PREVENTING PSYCHIC ATTACK:

Most people aren’t onto the conscious use of magic and wouldn’t know how to send ill will your way on purpose. (And those who know wouldn’t). Still, we are affected on various levels by the ill wishes of those around us even if they don’t know what they are doing. Anger often carries a punch that can be felt by those of an empathic nature.

For instance, if you anger the clerk at the grocery store or if he’s simply had a bad day and resents you being there, a cloud of hostility may follow you as you leave. It will dissipate quickly without the staying power of intent and strong will behind it. Usually.

One way to make certain you don’t attract and keep the haphazardly created ill will of those around you is to create a spiritual practice and exercise this very real part of your nature. Many practice what is called the tower of light on a regular basis. Some use prayer beads. Some use sage. Some do protection spells such as the mirror spell. Some use a cleansing rite (such as the washing rite in October 2004’s issue of Spindle).

Often for a real attack to work, it needs our permission. We give this unwittingly by harmfully programming ourselves to receive blame we think we deserve. By repeating a negative mantra of self-abuse, “I’m so dumb.” “I’m not good enough.” Or whatever it is we say to ourselves on a regular basis. This is like wearing a sign saying, “Kick me”. It weakens you spiritual/emotional immune system.

For the most part, we are immune to the angers and hostilities of those we come into contact with. We have a natural armor known as an aura. Natural psychics and those who train their psychic abilities can often see another person’s aura. This light which surrounds has a faint glow of color which changes according to our physical, emotional or psychic health. According to those familiar with reading auras, when a person is angry, her aura becomes charged with red, although red can also mean passion or creative fire.

A signal sent is often returned as others of the same energy come into proximity. This is why it happens sometimes that an angry person spoiling for a fight finds one. We draw like a magnet. Like attracts like.

Seal your auric field with sage or other methods of cleansing that can purify the signal, no longer calling what you don’t hope to find. Spells, prayers or meditation can dissipate anger or fear.

Try enchanting a small stem of birch and a piece of red cotton or wool thread with protective energy. Done mind-fully and with intent, this talisman can bring you the protecting energy given by the Handmaiden, Syn. Keep this with you or in your car or on your altar. Think of it when it is needed, even if the physical object is not with you. Call on Syn or the inherent purity of birch when you feel threatened.


Author: Keldarune
http://cozycauldron.blogspot.com/
May be reproduced without change with this notice

House Cleansing

HOUSE CLEANSING

When you move into a new place or when you move out of an old one, you might want to do a cleansing. Imprints stay in a place. Old arguments, old depressions and these need to be swept away. There are dozens of methods. Even the simple tradition of New Year’s Eve – opening the back door and beating on pots and pans to usher out the old and stale and opening the front door (or windows if your house or apartment is entrance-challenged) and welcoming in the new is a house cleansing of the instant kind. Light a candle to celebrate the new light growing in the dark corners (of your mind and your abode). So be it. You are done with the cleansing. But sometimes you need more.

One way to do a house cleansing is to clean it physically. When it is clean and done up the way you want it with everything in order – or what passes for order in your nest – then take water and charge it. Cold water, remember, holds the imprint you give it. Charge this water with good vibrations. Speak the words aloud – love, honesty, balance and wisdom. Give these into the water. Symbolically clean the already clean surfaces with this charged water.

Again, take water. Cast out from it all that might hinder your wishes. Infuse it with healing and balance and wisdom. Simply ask these to be present in the water. You have not because you ask not.  Now take salt and ask the earth spirit to embody that salt with whatever is pure and whatever is holy and whatever will help you in the walk you seek to follow. Put three measures of the salt into the water. Take this and sprinkle into the corners of your new home. (Or your old one if it needs cleansing).

Take your birch broom if you have one. Symbolically clean the space. Say aloud (if possible):

 “Harm is not welcome here. In all your forms, you must leave. Illness, angers to no avail, false dreams and worries, your aim will fail. All  which seeks to hinder me, to this token now you’ll cleave. As I will, so mote it be.”

If this broom is one made for this occasion and not to be used again, you can then toss it out your back door if this is possible where you live. The elements will cleanse it and the earth and sun renew it. If you can’t dispose of it this way, you must wrap this broom (plain black garbage bag will do) and take it somewhere else to dispose of – off your property is good, but at least out of your abode. It must be somewhere no one else will find it. It is best to break up the broom if you toss it. Some people use birch only for the staff and use flowers for the broom part. Then toss the flowers. Flowers themselves will purify the energies in them. You can use storebought flowers for this.

If the broom is one you keep and use often, then you must cleanse it instead of discarding it. You can light sage and hold the broom above the smoke, saying; “Creature of fire and air, take this hindrance I place here, drift your smoke and cleanse this broom of every ill and harm and gloom and to the birch purity cling and to my home purity bring.”

One word about cleansings. You might want to find what is there before you do this cleansing. How badly is a cleansing needed? Who lived there before? Some people prefer not to get rid of every nuance of the past inhabitants. This is up to you. If you find yourself tired for no reason or with disturbing dreams that simply don’t seem to belong to you – CLEANSE the space. You can add a… clause (for want of a better word), and simply cast out only those harmful energies and make special welcomes to house ghosts and faeries and whoever or whatever else you might want to hang around with. It’s YOUR house. Don’t forget that part.

One time when a house cleansing might be needed is after a particularly odious visitor – odious on the psychic level not necessarily physically stinky. Also in case you’ve seen a disturbing news item on tv or watched a movie that brought something in. They do that. Right on the airwaves and into your home. So cleanse if this is needed.

Music will help you cleanse on a regular basis. When the energy gets stagnant, I put on music by Krisna Dass or Lisa Theil. One particularly helpful CD is my copy of Layne Redmonds CHANTING THE CHAKRAS. I have cured my headaches with that music. But whatever works for you. Play that music which lifts you.

Light a candle and a bit of incense. I like to simmer cinnamon (an incense which calls to Venus and the Mother Goddess and which brings memories of warm kitchens and my own Goddess Mom.)

Fill the house with YOU. Laugh. Laughter will cleanse your aura. Expand your good nature into the house. Open windows. Bring in air. Do you see how you are using the elements to cleanse your space?

You can use the elements to cleanse a dream space. Do you have old house dreams? Do you ever dream you are in a place where things are murky and depressing? You can go back into that dream and throw open the windows and doors and light a fire on the hearth (no hearth? It’s your dream – you can MAKE one), imagine rain hitting the roof and sending cleansing vibes all through the murk and that murkiness will dissipate and drift away out the open window and be gone forever. Now open the door and step onto earth.

I did this whole thing. Your dream will be different,  but you will find the right way to take care of this. Let your drifting twilight mind call on the tools you’ve learned to use in daylight and cleanse this dream. You will be taking care of a LOT of problems when you do this dreamwork. This too is house cleansing.


Author: Keldarune
http://cozycauldron.blogspot.com/
May be reproduced without change with this notice

WINTER'S FINDING

 

WINTERS FINDING

Equinox has come and gone,

Fall has stirred a brew,

It’s time for winter’s finding….

Before winter finds you.

You’ll need to bake bread,

Weave, knit, and spin,

You’ll need to gather

The needfuls in

Burdock and berry,

Mead to make merry,

Candles and wine,

Yarrow and thyme,

Spin it and weave it

And bake it and speak it,

Breathe it and dance it,

And with magic, chance it,

You are the creator

Of all you can dream –

Dream wisely.

 .                                        .

Author: Keldarune
http://cozycauldron.blogspot.com/
May be reproduced without change with this notice