work

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An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of the Cure

Over the years I’ve done a lot of work with personal sovereignty. This is work that is never-ending. Why? Well, we must be vigilant in so many areas or our lives and in our own sovereignty, in order to cultivate it and nurture it: it’s not a one shot deal. We don’t do the work once and that’s it. It’s a process. Like learning, expanding our horizons, becoming better people, becoming who we are meant and want to be; it’s all a process.

I’ve had to learn how to be discerning in my life: in who gets to be a part of it, whose energies I will allow in, and also what I consume. Life throws so many things at you that you can’t control. However, what you can control is your own actions and your own personal sovereignty. It’s all about choice. You can, for the most part, choose who gets to be a part of your life, and who doesn’t (as an adult, at least). Yes, you will have colleagues, bosses, other people in your life who aren’t chosen, but here I’m talking about the inner circle of your life. Who gets to affect you on a personal, energetic, physical and even psychic level? Who can you leave at the door, willingly, when you walk into your personal space?

Discernment is such an important concept in our lives. When we have the power to choose, we are taking part in our own discernment and our own sovereignty. And we do, in fact, have a lot of power to choose. It’s all about finding out which areas you can boost in your discernment. Income, environment and other factors will have an affect on your discernment, and so you have to make the choices that work for you. What works for me may not work for you, or even be available to you. So we have to work with what we’ve got, first and foremost.

In this article I’m going to talk about some of the things that we consume. I’ve spoken many times about what we consume on a physical level, from a Druid’s and Pagan’s perspective, and from a Zen perspective as well. But here I’ve going to talk about what we consume on an energetic level.

Protection magic is probably the biggest area of spellcrafting in Pagan circles. Why is that? Because we are exposed to all sorts of energies throughout the course of a single day that we need to take a closer look at, and think about how it is affecting our lives. For me, it’s important to work with prevention, and that way we won’t need so much of the cure. Taking a look at the energies that we allow into our lives before they begin to affect us is the first step in this process of discernment. We may do this on a physical level already, ie., we take off our shoes before we enter into the home, to keep the dirt, bacteria and other nasties out of our home. Think about it: your shoes have been in public toilets, walked through pavements covered in all sorts of nasties such as dog wee and poo, gum, spit, etc. Do we want to track all that back into our house? Hell no. So we take our shoes off at the door. One moment spent in an airplane, train or public toilet will have you wanting to remove your shoes before you take all that into the house with you. Guaranteed.

Doing the same with energy is extremely beneficial for you too. Did you have an argument with your boss, or did someone express road rage at you on the way home? Did someone say an unkind thing to you online, or in person? Have you watched the latest world tragedy on the news, or had your television pumping out violent scenes in your living room? These all have energy, which can build up in your home and in your soul. It’s already been proven that when we are exposed to violence, we become de-sensitised to it. What I want to do is to sensitise you again, so that you are aware of these energies that affect you on a daily basis. Words and images have power, names can hurt you just as much as sticks and stones. In a world where there is more media than ever being consumed, the sheer amount of information being thrown at you whether you wanted it or not is completely staggering. So what can we do about it?

This is where discernment comes in. We can choose what we allow into our personal space in so many ways. Do you watch the news first thing in the morning on the televison while having your breakfast? Do you feel down and a little depressed with the world afterwards? Maybe you should consume this form of media at a different time, and perhaps even in a different way. Reading the newspaper can be a big help for those of us who are sensitive to images of violence and grief which are the mainstay of all the major news networks on television today. I literally can’t watch 30 mins of news with crying, because the energy of people’s suffering on the screen is real, and I know that. When I see people wailing as they search through the rubble for their child, I know that it is real. It’s not an abstract or a movie, it is real life. That energy will affect me for the rest of the day. Some people are a lot less sensitive, and can watch it and get on with their day. But I, for one, would never, ever want to be de-sensitised to violence and grief, because that is the mainstay of my own personal compassion for others and my ability to empathise. I can’t turn it off, and I wouldn’t want to, for compassion and empathy I feel make me a better person. But what I can do is to select just how much I intake these energies, so that they don’t overwhelm me on a daily basis. There is not a lot that I can do for earthquake victims thousands of miles away, apart from donating to a charity to help them. But what I can do in my own environment is a lot more, and that is where I need to spend my energy.

Social media. Yikes. When I think of the past times and energy that I have spent with people whom I don’t know from a hole in the wall, I literally cringe. Don’t waste your time and energy arguing or even interacting with nasties on social media. It depletes you and just adds to the barrage of energy that is sapping you dry. Instead, be discerning about who and what you interact with on social media. And spend less time on there overall, because the real world matters a whole lot more. Doomscrolling is a disease. Get out and turn your face to the sun, the wind, the rain, the stars. Those are energies that are a whole lot better to consume than insults or even material from people you don’t know and over which you have very little control in how it’s being presented to you. Choose your friends, your contacts,  your groups wisely. Be selective about the ads that you see. Don’t let the algorithms dictate what you will see, but instead create your own. You are not 100% at the mercy of social media providers. You are a consumer, and so you will have a say in things, even if it’s a lot smaller than you would wish. And if this is a really big issue for you, then leave it altogether. More and more people are doing this, and it’s not entirely a bad thing. Choose your social media intake wisely. Be discerning, and be sovereign.

I could probably write a whole book just on this subject, and so I will keep this article in check and just remind myself, and others, to look deeply at what it is that you are consuming and bringing into your personal space. If we are discerning about the energies that we allow in, we will need a lot less protection magic and work in the long run. It’s the first step in any energy work, and the basis of all personal sovereignty.

Blessings to you and yours.

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The birds have gone…

It is a melancholy time of year. Most of the fields are now lying still, shorn and with the stubbly remains jutting defiantly into the last of the summer sunshine. The house martins departed over the weekend; I had spent much of last week watching the elders teach the young ones how to glide and ride the air currents in preparation for their long trek to their winter homes. The sky is so silent and still without them, and there is a small space in my heart that is sad to have said goodbye to them. Good luck on your journey, little ones. May you be as safe as can be, and I hope to see you again next summer, when you herald in the start of the season of warmth and sunlight once again, alongside the calls of the cuckoo.

The full moon makes sleep difficult; dreams are seemingly random and exhausting, and will only have meaning when the actual events happen. My skills in divination and the sight are through dreams more than anything, but right now I’m so tired that I’ll be lucky to remember anything upon waking. It’s only in the actual doing or being somewhere that I’ll remember that I dreamt it, like on Saturday when I signed a new contract, and remembered writing an email with a query regarding it. In the dream, I had no idea who I was writing to or why; now it all makes perfect sense.

It is a time when we are seeing the fruits of our labour. But it is also a time when we cannot yet rest or lay down our tools, for there is still much to be done. There are many other harvests that await. I have had a good crop of raspberries this summer, and another one on the way. The first apple harvest was abundant, and the second looks to be even better from my three little trees. I have just released my seventh book, with another written and in production, and a whole new one to work on. Druid College’s next Year 1 session begins in October, but we have our first session of our Year 3 apprentices beforehand to journey with on pilgrimage to Glastonbury in September. There is still much to be done.

The leaves are beginning to change, and a soft sadness tinged with relief lies within my breast. It feels like I’ve cried a long time, and am releasing that juddery sigh that often follows a good sob. New things await, but the old ones are being put to bed first. Everything in its own time. Nature does not hurry, and yet everything gets done.

So this evening I will be honouring the full moon and the Lammastide, with ritual in the company of a couple of lovely ladies. As the combine harvesters grumble relentlessly in the background, we shall sing to the moon, and share in the bounty that we have received with the spirits of place, the ancestors and the gods. Bread that I will bake this afternoon will be our offering, as well as words and vows of the work to come.

The times of sadness and stillness are required, just as the times of light and laughter. For we cannot have one without the other. They are not opposites, but simply on different places in the spectrum of human emotion. We ride the currents in keeping with the tides and seasons, and work towards integration and harmony.

May we be the awen.

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Reblog: Harvest-Time

Here is my latest post for SageWoman Magazine’s blog channel at Witches and Pagans…

Every day at this time of year, either morning or evening, I do some gardening, keeping back the riotous growth that excels in this season. If I didn’t, many plants would simply take over the garden, crowding out some other favourite plants. Though these crowders may be near the end of their cycle, in their death they will still smother those that have great potential, as their time is arriving. It’s a hard time of year to keep on top of things, as the sun is so hot in our south-facing garden, and time is limited to mornings and evenings when we won’t burn to a crisp or keel over from heat exhaustion. Jack in the Green is running riot, uncaring, reaching for the sun, drinking in the rain.

Yet if I want my irises and lilies to survive, I must release them from the choking hold of ground creepers/covers that threatens their existence. I must carefully weed out and try to keep under control those plants whose vigorous growth would otherwise overwhelm others. In this, I feel a kinship to my ancestors, not only my recent ancestors whose work with plants runs in my blood, but also ancestors of this land who depended upon agriculture to survive. Both physically and metaphorically, this is the ideal time to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Even as I hear the tractors and combine harvesters rumbling in the fields on the other side of the street, so too do I look both within and without to see what needs harvesting, and if the harvest has been good. Getting out in the garden brings it all home, showing that if you take on the responsibility of growing things, of nourishing them, then you must do your job well in order for your harvest to be good. Walking out in the fields after supper, running my hands over the tops of the wheat and barley that grow around here, I make my prayers for the harvest to go well, for the people to be nourished and for the land to be treated well. The time nears for when we give back in great gratitude as Lammas, Lughnasadh, Harvest-time arrives…

To read the full article, click HERE.

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Working with the Gods

Working with the gods in Druidry is perhaps one of the most intense, exhilarating and powerful experiences we can have. Why is this?

To work with the gods, we require utmost honesty and truth. If we are to open our souls to the gods, and see theirs in return, we have to be utterly aware of who and what we are, baring all without the masks of self-protection, negation, pride or any number of human foibles. It comes close to the Wiccan saying of “in perfect love and perfect trust”, yet I would simply change the word “trust” to “honesty” here.

Trusting a god of nature may not always be a wise thing to do. Gods of nature do not always have our best interests at heart. Gods of nature are there to express their soul song, whether that be in the gift of nourishing herbs and berries or the destruction of a hurricane. I don’t necessarily put my trust in an oncoming storm, but I am willing to be utterly open and honest with it. The same could be said of any interaction or relationship. Trust is an odd thing, an investment in the behaviour of others of which we have no control. I’d rather focus on being open and honest in my relationships with the gods, with the humans and other animals around me, with the tree and stone folk. They do not necessarily require my trust, but by working and being truthful and honest, a deeper and more meaningful relationship is established.

Over the last few years I have worked deeply with Brighid. She came to me at Imbolc three years ago, as a goddess of these British Isles. She was the land itself, not a goddess “of the land”. It’s difficult to describe the difference, but in the bones of the earth beneath my feet I see her solid foundation. In the energy that rises and falls with the seasons I see her own tides rising and falling. In the air that moves across this land I feel her breath, sometimes filled with the scents of the sea less than a mile away, sometimes with the rich earthy scent of the heathland. The rain that falls is filled with her blessings, the sun that shines filled with her joy and nourishment. She works to her own cycles, and I must learn to work with her.

She is not always giving, she is not always nourishing. She asks that we stand on our own two feet and have the courage to help ourselves. She blesses my garden with her light, but she does not do it for me – I have to work with that, for sometimes it can be too strong, and I must balance it with the water caught in my rain barrels from her previous storms. I have to learn to dance with her, to follow her rhythms and movements with respect. I have to listen, deeply, to the music that is the great song, the Oran Mòr. From that deep listening comes an understanding and inspiration, the awen that is sought after and the heart of Druidry.

I cannot deceive my gods. Not because they are omnipotent, but rather the relationship wouldn’t work, wouldn’t flow smoothly if I was anything other than open and honest with them, about myself, about my relationship with the world. I wouldn’t be deceiving them, but deceiving myself by trying to hide behind facades. There is no room for growth, for change, unless we make room by letting go of certain things. We must empty our cup for it to be filled.

When we are open and honest with the gods, their wisdom and energy can flood through us, helping us to understand our place in the world, how we can work in the world in balance and harmony. This is an exquisite gift, an exchange of energy that we see reflected in nature all around us, yet which seems so out of reach for us so often. The mere simplicity of it all is what makes it the greatest challenge, for it requires us to throw away all the dross, to change our own mindset and see the world with a new perception that may or may not support our current view. To change our view of the world can turn it upside-down, can shake our foundations down to the ground. However, sometimes this is necessary in order to rebuild a stronger foundation, with clear perception, un-muddied by our habitual thinking.

Years have passed and still I am only beginning to learn this wonderful new dance with my goddess. She is teaching me new steps, new movements, new music. With an open heart I am willing to learn, to give it my best, and above all, to enjoy every single moment of it.