Go carefully over the next few days. Listen to the wind, watch how the crows fly. Watch the patterns in the clouds, listen to the whispers swirling around you. The worlds merge and the otherworld isn't some far off place, it is wrapped around you, tighter than a winter cloak.
We have past Samhain's eve and have now descended into the dark of the year. Samhain isn't over, it is a season, not a day. Our ancestors walk with us and soon we'll reach that threshold of where Samhain leads us over to the Winter Solstice.
The path I walk takes me in search of the stories that lie behind the stories, for that is where the magic resides. behind the dooking and the guising at Samhain, it's the great pre-Celtic crone the Cailleach who brings us into the dark of the year. She makes her way to the great whirlpool of Corryvrecken and washes her plaid in it's churning waters. As she swirls the ancient cloth in the waters she utters a primordial incantation, in a language as old as the mountains whose inflections mirror the web and flow of the tides and the cycle of the seasons. As she shakes the plaid dry a few water droplets instantly freeze and turn the tops of the surrounding hills white in the first dusting of snow.
Gathering Kindling for the Deep
With each frost, we move deeper into the dark, trees and plants returning their energies back down to their roots ready for their deep rest over the winter months. What do you want to work on this deep?
The root of the word focus is hearth, a place we gather around in the winter, to keep warm, to cook, to daydream into the flames and read the shapes and symbols that appear. It's a place we gather with friends, to share stories and celebrations.
Hearth
So what are you gathering for your 'hearth' time, what is your focus this deep? The Cailleach teaches us an ancient lesson that death needs to happen in order for rebirth to take place- there can be no new growth of spring without the great dying back of winter.
Your Invited to Walk An Ancient Path
This deep your invited to walk the path of the Ancestral Mothers, we gather around the holy days of the year and at each festival, we meet an Ancestral Mother learning about her wisdom and mysteries. You work with your own intentions at your own pace with Wise Woman tools to enrich your journey:
