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.
