Children of the earth

I finally found time (after flu, sick kids, hurt dog, taxes, people, and other aggravations) to take a spirit journey.

The beach was cool and windy. The water was dark, and the wind was making small breakers on the beach. I could tell the water was full of life. I turned up the shore, and walked into the woods. I concentrated on opening my heart chakra, and the woods stayed fairly light; I could see the crisp winter sun through the leaves. I could see signs of spring all around, buds and tiny furled leaves, but it was still largely bare and wintry.

I walked up the winding path. Looking down, there was a large cluster of mushrooms at the base of the trees. They were ordinary wild mushrooms, brown and translucent with long stems and small heads. There were also some smaller ones with red caps. I stopped and spoke to them. I have always liked the look of mushrooms, but I don't like the taste and I thought the red ones were probably poisonous. The mushrooms were a little offended by this, they don't want to be eaten or judged by their taste! They spoke to me about themselves.

They are just the fruiting bodies of a network of vessels that wind through the earth and the rotting wood. The mushrooms themselves are transitory, they grow and wither while the real life continues. Mushrooms appear in rings sometimes, because the true being is in the earth, growing outwards in a circle and producing mushrooms at its edges. I got a strange sense from them, of being a transitory self that is a temporary expression of an eternal being, whose life is far greater than mine, but which depends on me for its exfoliation and expansion. The mushrooms are loved by the deeper being, and needed by it, but it is greater than they.
 

Tomorrow, I will write more about my encounter with the Greenman.

Me and the Greenman

The Greenman has been a lot in my thoughts recently.  It has been niggling at me, to learn more, be involved somehow, in a vague way.  I went back and read the pages at the Blessed Order of the Greenman.  This group is based in Maryland; I wish they were active in my area, I would love to join.  I really like their concept of the Greenman representing an alternative to the traditional masculine role model that remains strongly masculine while rejecting the standard images of the fighter, the hunter, the dominator, the killer, the cold authority; instead focusing on the strong masculine image of the protector, the fructifier, the nurturing father, the loving husband, the vibrant strength that begats and supports new life. 

I am drawn to this image of the green leafy master of the forest and the cycles of growth and decay.  Perhaps because of my affinity to my patron Oak.  I think this why the Green Master takes a form that is leafy and crowned with leaves.

I have called on the Greenman at times, to help heal or strengthen an animal I am working with.  He has usually responded with a lot of energy.  But my relationship with him is different than with my patrons; he clearly chooses himself who he will work with.  He doesn't need me to intercede. 

With Oak, Spider, and Swallow, I feel a very personal relationship; they like me, and have chosen to help and teach me.  Oak is not a deity, nor is it a physical tree; Oak is the spirit behind all oaks, the Being behind their being.  It is an amplification of what it is to an oak tree, with a will and history of its own.  Likewise with Spider and Barn Swallow.   The Green Master is a different being, an individual personality that lives in a different realm than I, who chooses to guide and teach me.  There are multitudes of such beings, this one has chosen me.  His true form and nature are beyond my perceptions, he wears a form in my dreams just for my convenience.

The Greenman is something else again.  Like a deity, he remains always at a distance and confers his benison at his will.  He is not bound to time as I and my patrons are, he is outside of history.  I think that he is really just a mask, an story, an image that I have found that gives a face to the power and mystery of life and being.  It is not a deity, because the image is shallow.  It does not ask for worship or sacrifice. The mystery is not limited to that image, but the Greenman is a mask that I can understand and use to relate to that which is beyond me.  It speaks to my soul, so it is an opening through which I can reach out to life and through which life can reach to me.  The Greenman demands nothing from me except honesty, compassion, and a willingness to fulfill my own commitments.

A favorite quote...

I have stretched ropes from steeple to steeple;
garlands from window to window;
golden chains from star to star,
and I dance.

-- Arthur Rimbaud

intimations

I think Oak wants to talk, he has been popping up in my mind a lot this past week.  I must make time in the next few days for a spirit journey! 

A scorched hand teaches best

I got a bad cut on my brow last weekend, which required some stiches.  That evening, after doing some Reiki on it, I tried 'pulling' some of the pain out.  I have done this many times for Athena in the past, and she has told me that it can be painful to do but that it does help.  This is the first time, however, that I have ever had occasion to do it to myself.  OUCH!  It hurt a LOT!  Athena wasn't exaggerating!  :D  I was not able to do any more, because it hurt to much.

Since then I have been more careful when I pull pain for Athena or for T-Man.  I take some time first to loosen the pain up, and only draw off what will come easily, rather than trying to grab and pull out whatever I can.  Athena says this is feels much better, and T-Man was much happier with it too. 

Oh, well, one lives and learns.  I am glad that I can do it in a way that is more comfortable to others, now.

Circle of healing for T-Man

Athena's horse T-Man is on stall rest now, after getting a cracked pelvis and a big hematoma.  We converted the run-in shed in his pasture into a stall, so he can see his girls and not get too lonely, since he may be there for several months. 

I have been doing Reiki on him every day, to try and help him heal well and faster.  I also put protections on his stall.  I had done something similar with my wife's mare Dear One, when she was doing poorly, with assistance from Spider and Oak.  This was a somewhat different situation, since I was less concerned with keeping out bad influences than in concentrating beneficial ones.  Athena had also gotten me a new rattle, which I used for the first time.  It is a beautiful Raku rattle, with lovely iridescent copper-matte glaze, about the size of my palm.  It is decorated with some tiny colored raku beads strung on rawhide.  It has a rich, soft, earthy sound.

I started at the corner post at the gate entrance, and opened up to the energy, and called for help and assistance from Spider, Oak, Swallow, the Green Man, and any other benevolent forces that could aid me.  The response was positive but sluggish, so I tried using the rattle to aid in the calling, shaking it my hand in three groups of three while calling.  I got a much stronger response, including energy from the Green Man and from the Indian spirit teacher who has danced with me recently.  Together, we sank an energy well at the corner post, and drew up a column of strong, warm energy into the post.  I started around the stall clockwise (sunward), shaking the rattle gently and drawing a thick rope of vibrant energy around to the next post; where we again sank another well, anchoring the rope and starting a new one.  I continued around the stall until I returned to my starting point and anchored it again at the post.  This left the stall guarded by four columns of rich earth-sky energy at the four corners, surrounded by a thick warm circle of energy that draw in blessings and healing power.  I thanked all who helped me, and left knowing that T-Man was well protected.

Dream resolutions

New Years resolutions seem so trite in the real world.  Instead, here are my New Years resolutions for my dreams:

After building the perfect city (golden stucco, red tile roofs, balconies and merchants wagons hung with multicolored lanterns and bougainvilleas…) go on a long trip and let the people redecorate.

When escaping the nameless horror to the protection of the sacred circle, invite everyone you see, not just the nice kids with the puppy. Bad guys won't be able to cross the running water anyway, and the obnoxious guy at the minimart has secret strengths too.

Read the signs. They will be important later.

Greet every being you meet with respect. A kind word to the worm may gain you the protection of the mountain.

When being chased through a high-rise office building, don't bother looking for the stairs. Find a window and fly away.

Don't boast of your powers, they are gifts that can be revoked.

Always tell Hercule Poirot everything. Same with Dr Who.