Tag Archives: Journey

Passing Over of a Tree Whisperer

27 Monday Aug 2012

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This week was my paternal grandfather’s funeral.

He held no fear of death and, by the time he went, he was ready for it.

The service was beautiful, he was – among many other things – the Church Warden for St. Bartholomew’s and a veteran of the RAF. The British Legion stood on ceremony, a British flag draped the coffin and the church community gathered round the family.

There were no cut flowers since he hated them, feeling they should be growing instead – a sentiment I can identify with wholeheartedly! I am sure he spoke the language of flowers and trees as they would thrive under his care. I remember when he tended the roses in my father’s garden. My step-mother was horrified, Grampy cut them right down to the ground that autumn… but come spring they grew even stronger and healthier and bigger than ever before.

Once, when I was small, he took me out onto the sea, pulling me behind him in the rubber dinghy we had for seaside holidays. As I floated, slowly sliding across the ocean surface, he gestured to the distant hills. “Sometimes,” he told me, “I can see through this world, into the other world. Death doesn’t scare me because I know that what lies beyond is beautiful, wonderful, an adventure.” I watched the hills as they shimmered with the power of his story and I have carried that moment with me ever since.

As he lay in the hospital and we stood beside him, knowing he wouldn’t wake up again, we said our goodbyes. And I knew he was near, not in the shell of who he was but standing tall and strong, ready for the shimmering world beyond those hills, ready to become a Guardian Angel for his great-grand-daughter, being born as he left this plane, and an Angel watching over all his family.

I am so grateful to my beautiful Grampy, the tree-whisperer, and whenever I step out into the green world now, I feel him near.

Love to you, Grampy, and love to all the family. We’re all thinking of you.

Photo - Hawthorn 1-8-12

Hawthorn, the tree of the dreamer… a doorway between the worlds… in honour of the man who dreamt of a better world and made it so, quietly, calmly and with a smile that could win over any heart.

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A Song of Autumn

24 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by in Art Craft and Beauty, Creative Process, Following Delight

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The song begins, calling the sun to leave.

I begin with blobs of colour, a canvas and a sense for the atmosphere I am searching for. My brush spreads the paint, thick and textured, across the woven surface. A space emerges, like an ocean from the pearl-white ground.

Sun on the waves…

As the sun sets in the distance, mimicking the turn to the darkness we know will come again, a song hums through the waves and carries our thoughts into the depths.

A song from the depths, returning to the deep…

Summer Solstice – WIP

20 Friday Jul 2012

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The Honeybee, lover of flora, giver of life. Will she return, as she must if we are to live under the summer’s sun once more?

A Pilgrimage to The Well and Waves

15 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by in Creative Process, Following Delight, Magic

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I was called to travel with my friends on a pilgrimage, in search of my direction, my crown?

On the South West coast of Wales stands a cathedral where a flame of peace was to be lit, at a shrine behind which stood the Mother of Saint David, St. Non.

The Mother blesses those who ask it…

The cathedral was filled with light and pretty things, but empty for us. No magic danced in the colours which streamed from the windows. No nourishment in the food that lunchtime. This was not a place for us, though others were clearly blessed. 

From the hidden icon of the Mother, however, peace and love flowed.

We travelled further towards the sea, to St. Non’s Chapel, her Well, her Ruins, upon the windswept cliffs of Wales.

The sea rises into the air…

Processing down the slope, greeted by the Well and a choice. Do you choose the chapel, or the ruins? Civilisation or the wilds of the wind and waves?

We each presented ourselves to the well, blessed by her healing waters.

Here she lives…

We chose the sea path.

Passing through the stone circle of the ruins we separated, lead by the magic to where we belonged. I found myself above the waves, breathing the sea-mist, buffeted by winds.

I asked; what must I do to reach my dreams? How do I do what you have asked me to?

A seal appeared, carrying the song of the sea…

The Mother held me, rocked me, washed me clean until I walked, entranced, along the cliff to the chapel where I was crowned, unasked for, in buttercups.

A candle lit, a prayer spoken, respects paid. We explored the ruins. A place of power. And then, we returned, passing the Well with thanks. Washed clean and each transformed into more of who we are.

I wonder; what pilgrimage are you making, or would you choose to make, this year?

Musings on Queenship

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Faery, Following Delight, Magic, Philosophy, Queenship, Reflections

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I was challenged, given a quest, to become Queen of my life. First I want to know what that means… so I asked. What does it mean to be queen? A Queen, but not to hold power over other people… to be sovereign in one’s own life, I suppose…

My studio. My temple. My Throne? Where I make magic, where life is understood, where change begins. Art allows me to be fully myself. When I paint, I come home. If being Queen is having sovereignty over one’s life, then this must be the heart of my realm.

What would it mean to be Queen?

Queen of my life? My heart, my art?

A Queen rules her realm

My realm is my self

A self, a realm, a life.

To rule

To lead

To protect

To hold within all that belongs to one…

I rule my self.

Queen of my life, my heart, my art.

There is space for what I love

And I am responsible for making what I wish come true.

No waiting for another.

I am Queen of my life.

Whatever I wish

I must command it so.

No other may

No other can

In my realm

I am the sun, the moon, the stars

And each who I encounter is sovereign in their realm,

As I am in mine.

I rule my self.

Queen of my life, my heart, my art.

I hold the power of my realm

Only I

I choose

I cause

I create

My Beltane Quest

08 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by in Following Delight, Magic, Reflections

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The thread of fate weaves through the tapestry of life… like Ariadne’s thread leading you to your centre, to the heart of your life.

Beltane. The turning of the year from darkness to light.

A time of transformation, of beginnings, of springing into the future.

A time where that which you have dreamt over the long winter nights can enter the world…

It has been a magical month, Beltane coincides with May Day and this year May itself became the day on which the year turned!

It began with the full moon’s growing before May itself. A birthday party. Divination by the river… a call to sovereignty. My question was; how can I make a living doing what I love?

The answer; first you must be Queen.

Well, what do you do with an answer like that?

I committed to finding Sovereignty in my life, trusting that it would become clear. And so began my Beltane quest.

I wonder; what is the quest you are on right now? What is the quest waiting for you?

 

(Watch this space for the unfolding of the story…)

What matters to you?

19 Tuesday Jul 2011

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This week I’ve had the fortune to get on a management and leadership course, which began yesterday.

The organiser was talking to us about how the most important thing that comes out of the course is the connections you make (when is that not the case?!) and that this newly forming network can lead to opportunities.

It reminded me of a very simple fact – if I hide what truly matters to me and only share with the group the parts of my passions which I consider safe to be shared, like my desire to lecture in Philosophy, then that will be the only area in which opportunities can open.

The only way to follow all of my loves is to allow them all to be present in my interactions with people.

A scary thing, for me, to be risk being seen as nutty… but if I don’t take the risk, the doors won’t open even if they’re there. And if I hide the pagan elements in my life in case people reject me, or my love of art and music because I’m being ‘serious’ and I’m shy about sharing those things with strangers in person, then the opportunities that come up in the areas I am open about won’t allow room for those things either.

So I ask myself, and you, what matters so much that you’ll take a risk and speak openly of it in order to invite it further into your life?

Whats worth the risk?

Letting go in the Process

23 Saturday Apr 2011

Posted by in All Posts, Art Craft and Beauty, Creative Process, Magic

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Passion

How play helped me to release perfectionism and be happier with my art!

I’m an artist! Yay!

I make pictures and share them with people…

And I get sad that they are never quite what was in my head.

Continue reading →

Pearl Pentacle – Wisdom

11 Monday Apr 2011

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Pearl Pentacle - Wisdom

Wisdom

When we are free, what will we do?

When we stand in our passion, what will we choose?

With all the choices of the world before us, to what do we say yes, and no?

 

 

A deep understanding of the flow of our feelings, our passions, our emotions and our loves, leads us to something precious… Wisdom.

 

There is a time for yes, and a time for no.

A time to dance, and a time to sleep.

A time to reach out, and a time to curl up small.

 

These moments, these choices, are not dictated by the outside world or by our intellect; they are the choices of our hearts.

 

Are you living the life that feels right to you?

Are you making the choices that are true to your heart as well as your thoughts and words?

Are you saying yes when you choose to, and no when you need to?

What would life look like if the answer to these questions was ‘Yes!’?

 

I am passionate about many things, things that feed my heart and soul, things that flash a grin upon my face and draw me out to dance in the sunshine with joy. And sometimes I say no to them, through fear, or the life I’ve crafted which isn’t quite right, or some other choice I make that isn’t in tune with my heart but makes sense elsewise… but when I say yes, my world is set alight, my heart blazes and I fly.

 

What makes you fly?

What do you need to do to craft your life into something that allows you the space you need to light up your world?

When do you need to say yes, and when, no?

 

This is the sixth post of seven on the Pearl Pentacle, part of my Pentacles series, which started with the Iron Pentacle. I’ll be posting on the points of the Pearl Pentacle for the next few Magical Mondays.