A Wicca Graduate

I have been doing an on-line course since March of this year on Wicca and got my final pass certificate the other day.

It's been a great course because I got to do lots of research on the history of Wicca which was very interesting and also I had to write about the various traditions and areas that I am interested in so my love of the Druid path has really helped.  I also had to write essays on the wheel of the year and how the various Sabbats celebrate the changing seasons and the cycle of life and death.

I liked the way that on this particular course I could show my own views on how I feel about the ever changing wheel of life and how I celebrate these magical times of the year.

 I am really looking forward to Samhain (tomorrow) as we are going for a walk to a stone circle then back home for pumpkin carving and a bonfire. This is one of my favourite Sabbats as it was during Samhain that I felt I wanted to follow the pagan path.  Samhain is seen as the New Years Eve, a time for reflection, remembering those who have gone before us and looking to the future.

It is also a time of feasting and fun which I will be having in abundance!

The Worlds of wonder event - Stepping through the Gates of Autumn

To celebrate the Autumn equinox ( Mabon) I attended a wonderful event run by Steve Rumellhart.  I love this time of year, dark and light are in balance and it is a time to reflect on the year gone so far and plan for the winter months ahead. Although I am a sun worshipper and a sun sign, I can still appreciate that we need this balance when the world starts to become darker until the sun gives way to rests and then returns strong once again.

 We started with a magical story telling by Cliff Eastabrook - The Travelling Talesman. As we walked through the beautiful woods, he weaved a magical tale into every part of the landscape.
 

It really made me think about every time I go into my woods, how I look at things and it inspired me to try it for myself.    

These events are so much fun too.  I love dressing up and in one day I managed to shape shift into a fox and a wolf!

The other guest was Leo Rutherford (Shaman and author) pictured below and I managed to catch up with him after his talk!

 

This is so true and something I will remember. Why have a dream if you do not intend to try and make it come true?

A drum of my own!

 
My drum was delivered at the weekend and it was a very special occasion as I have been waiting for months to buy one.

There is something about a drum beat that gets to me, it's a healing and uplifting sound that soothes or energises most people. Even though I am not an expert and probably sounding awful to everyone else around me, at least I can take myself off to places where I don't bother anyone and can enjoy my own noise in my own magical way.   

My drum is a 'fair trade' drum so I feel it is from a good source, the skin is from goat which has not just been killed for this drum but as food.  I would not wish to upset any people who disagree with using animals in this way but I believe that the animal has fed someone and then its skin used just as we do with leather handbags or shoes. 

The difference to me is that this animal will live again through the beat of the drum because I will honour its heartbeat through the beat of the drum.

First Storytelling event - The Cauldron of Inspiration

Ceridwen for the day on the shore of Lake Bala in North Wales

I did my very first storytelling session the other day to the wonderful and very receptive audience of Wrekin Writers. It's strange, as for months I had been dreading it. I have never done anything like this before and didn't even know if this sort of thing would fit in with a writers circle but it did and I loved every moment.

I told the story of Ceridwen and Taliesin and had visited Bala a few months back to gain some inspiration for my story.  It certainly worked as since enrolling on my bardic course I have not stopped writing and looking for inspiration every day. I have a thirst to learn more stories and be able to recite them without a script. Now I know I can do it. I only learnt the story of Taliesin a few months ago so now I am collecting stories and having a go at writing some of my own.

I loved every second and came away with my mini cauldron full of inspirational words that I had set as an excercise. The group selected three drops of the awen (three words) and they will come up with a piece of work using those words.  I can't wait to see what they come up with.

My first story telling event at the Wrekin Writers meeting

This course is teaching me to just be creative and not worry if it's not a great piece of art or literature, if you are creative then you just want to do it and that is why I am posting these funny little pictures today.

The horse below is not a great picture of a horse, I know that but I painted him with a paintbrush made of my own hand. I cut a piece of hazel and whittled it down into a pointed end then used ink to paint this funny little equine.  I loved just making something natural and getting creative with it. In a time before paint brushes were invented I am sure my ancestors may have used something similar.






I have also been learning the ancient Ogham ( tree alphabet) It is like a form of short hand and very interesting. I wrote the name of my house for a bit of fun and was delighted that Author and good friend Catherine Cooper actually managed to work it out.  We decided in the end that it would be a bit time consuming to use this ancient language too often but it's great fun to have a go.







More creative stuff. This is a branch of peace. This seems to come from the medieval Irish bards who carried a branch of peace throughout their training. It is simply a branch with a few bells attached to it and a leaf. I love just shaking it, it makes me feel happy and my Morris dancing side comes out every time I pick it up, I want to skip round the room.





This was one of my first exercises with my Bardic course. It is a personal map and what I feel about each of the quarters -  North, East, South and West. I had to produce something to represent how I feel about these areas. The North is considered as winter and darkness, the element is earth and so includes such animals as the bat, bull, raven or owl.   The East is connected with sunrise and of spring, the element is air so the birds have a close association. The South is the quarter of Summer, with the element of fire and sunshine and finally West is the region of Autumn and has the element of water.  I have always been fascinated by mermaids so that is what I chose to represent  this area.






In addition to my official course with the British Druid Order, I am also working through the Bardic Handbook  by Kevan Manwaring.  I think I mentioned this book in a previous post. It's brilliant and once again full of inspiring exercises that I find myself doing every day.  Last week I wrote three short poems during my lunch hour.  I sat on the banks of the river severn reading this book and jotting ideas as I couldn't help but be inspired at the wonders of nature.

So this is only the first 3 months of my training and already I have done things that I never imagined. I have stepped out of my comfort zone in so many ways and it is paying off.  Some of the things I have done have led to further opportunities so I seem to be finding extra inspiration for my writing and getting results from that too. 

Earth, Air, Fire, Water - in a bottle!

I have been wondering for a while what to do with these old bottles that the hens found in the garden. I scrubbed them up and made them into bottled elements - Earth, Air, Fire and Water. The natural elements of the earth are so powerful and each one is special in its own way.

The Earth (North/Winter). The soil came from the garden where earth dwelling creatures live, the badgers and even the humble earth worm which I was careful not to include in my bottle!

The Air (East/sunrise and Spring) This is a symbol of the creatures of the wing, all the birds that claim the sky as their home. It has strong connection with the cuckoo and the blackbird.  These feathers were left in the garden, one by a magpie and the other from a wood pigeon.

Fire ( South/Summer and the midday sun)  This is the symbol of the sun at its most powerful, the buttercups make a perfect bottle of sunshine, I can't help smiling when I look at it.  It also has association with the mythical creatures such as the phoenix and the dragon

Water (West/Autumn)  The setting sun. I took a small bottle of sea water from the coast of Wales. This is a symbol of the all the creatures that dwell in or by the water such as the otter, dolphin and whale.

So now I have bottled the elements and have a little bit of natural magic at my fingertips!

Earth

Air

Fire

 

Water

Declaring my Bardic Chair - a very personal journey

I started my full Bardic training just over a month ago on May day, Beltane. I chose that day as it's a special day, to me it feels like re-birth, new beginnings and I though it a good day to remember as a year and a day from then I hope to be able to claim my Bardic chair which will be a symbol of my graduation for the first year of my study in druidry. That is only the beginning but it's a start and already I have learnt so much that I know it is the right path of study and indeed a way of life for me.

Last month I went to Glastonbury for a few days. It's an incredible place and though we were celebrating our wedding anniversary which was magical, I was also on a personal journey too as it felt that I had truly begun to tread the steps of my own path of where I want to go to in life.

I had been recommended a wonderful book by some members of the British Druid Order called The Bardic Handbook by Kevan Manwaring  and while I was browsing the abundance of magical shops in Glastonbury town, I found it, bought a copy and started reading it straight away

In the first chapter, one of the first exercises is to go out to a place that you feel is right, a hill, a stone circle etc and declare that you want to claim your bardic chair a year and a day after you start training. This was so wonderful to read as for once I had the excuse to go out and do what I believe in and not feel foolish.

Before climbing the great Glastonbury Tor we went to Wearyall Hill  where the Glastonbury thorn once grew.  Legend has it that Joseph of Arimathaea planted his staff and that is where the tree started to grow.  The tree had stood there for centuries until mindless vandals decide to cut it down so now all that remains is a stump but I was so moved by the sight of the battered tree adorned with ribbons fluttering in the breeze that I decided to make my declaration right there on the spot. 

Wearyall hill looking towards Glastonbury Tor

It was an incredible feeling as because I was actually saying it out loud, I felt that it was real and I would make it happen. With the sheep as my witnesses I made my declaration that a year from now I hope to graduate to the next stage of my bardic learning. My words felt like they were carried on the wind towards the Tor and later when I climbed the path towards St Michael's tower on the top, I truly felt that my incredible journey had begun. However long it may take, it will be time well spent

                                          Glastonbury Tor and the path to St Michael's tower



Living the life, not just writing about it

It's only a few weeks since I started my Bardic course with the British Druid Order and I feel that I have learnt so much already.  I love the studies and exercises but I want to actually live the life and not just do a distance learning package in order to call myself a Bard. 

I recently went to the wonderful Wildways in Shropshire which was mentioned in my previous post and enjoyed a magical morning learning how to wattle.  It may be easy to some but there is still an art to it. You have to pick the best material - hazel or willow, you have to be mindful of birds and other creatures when you take some to use and how flexible it is at certain times of the year. All of these things count.

I was also shown how to light the best fire.  I have been used to lighting fires all of my life but I still learnt new things that can help to get a great fire going when out in the open.

All these magical forestry skills are so important.  It's not just about keeping the poetry and stories alive, it's about keeping the ancient crafts alive too, after all that is how people lived centuries ago, they needed all of the basic skills to build and make places for worship or just to live and celebrate life, telling the stories of old in their roundhouses or just sitting out in the woods around a fire.

I have been experimenting with outdoor cooking and my fire pit and tripod work well. In fact the other day I boiled this 'potion' quicker than my kitchen kettle boils.  Soon I want to buy a proper cooking pot and make food over an open fire but better get a nice clean cooking pot first as this one belongs to the chickens and they are not pleased that I have pinched their corn pot to experiment with!