Tuesday 11 June 2013

Journey Inward: Exploring the Inner Landscape

Those who know me, will know that I'm currently in a spiritual "funk", and I'm been trying my best to get by.
I decided that I should do some internal work.

Recently, Artemis has come into my life as my 3rd goddess, now making the Trinity (Maiden: Artemis, Mother: Branwen, & Crone: Ceridwen) I decided to do an internal ritual to her, to honour her and ask for her help with this "funk" (I believe it now to be a 'Dark Night of the Soul' experience) An internal ritual you may ask? Yes, it is much the same as a ritual you would perform in the outer world, but it is all internal, it requires the same amount of prep and focus as a normal ritual, probably more so because it's all going on inside you, it was one of the first things I read about when I start on my spiritual path (I believe the book was called Solitary Wicca for Life) All of my inner work start at my sacred centre, if you're read my previous blog you'll remember that it is a cabin in the woods by a stream. I won't tell you the ritual because it is private, but after it was over, I decided to follow the stream to see where it might lead. I followed it deep into the woods accompanied by my spirit animals; Raven, Airmid the white wolf, Isis the black wolf & my nearest companion Selenus the brown mother bear. The stream became a small waterfall which fell into a sacred pool, I instantly recognized the pool from other internal work I've done, it's a place I go to for renewal & healing.


Feeling good about my experience I decided I would explore some more, the next night. So I played my music & went inward. First I cleaned & cleansed the cabin, dusting, sweeping & smudging with pine (pine has been a strong presence in my life lately & I connect him to Raven). I left offerings to my goddess statues, and added some more things to my cabin to make it more 'me'. When I was satisfied I went outside where everyone was waiting & we set off following the stream to the sacred pool. My intention was to see if there was others rivers or streams running from the pool. Shortly we arrived at the pool and sure enough I spotted another waterfall & stream running in the other direction, we climbed carefully down the bank & with the help of Selenus I climbed up the other back to the top of the small waterfall, and when Selenus had climbed up we followed the new stream to see where it might lead. Time passed & I saw the trees being to part and we found ourselves at the ocean, another place I had been before. It was night & the moon a waxing crescent, the breeze blew making my robe ripple, I could feel it on my face and taste the salty air. While I was drinking in the view, Airmid, Isis & Selenus were all playing in the waves, I stood with my feet in the water watching them play with Raven perched on my shoulder.
Then I saw a fin in the water and a great white shark emerged from the wave (Great White has been a totem of mine for a number of year, he come in & out of my life) He looked at me as if to say "Come we me I have something to show you". Know that this was my inner world & nothing can harm me, I trusted Great White, despite my great fear of the deep water (I'm not a confident swimmer & any water that comes to my neck terrifies me), I removed my robe & waded into the water beside Great White, I took hold of his fin and we dove, my spirit animals, even Raven following suit. Down and down we swan, I could not see a thing only darkness & I felt like I was holding my breath for ages, then we emerged in an underground cave. The cave was surprisingly light & upon the small patch of land sat a woman with long Rapunzel like hair the colour of seaweed. She gave me a friendly warm smile & beckons me closer, I stepped forward and the green-haired woman produced a large pearl, about the size of a tennis ball & she held it out to my on out-stretched palms, feeling that it was a gift I cups my hands to receive the pearl, but before I could grasp it, the green-haired woman by-passed my hands and places the pearl into my heart chakra. Surprised, I instantly feel a warmth in my heart which sweeps down my arms to my hands & back again. The scene shifts, I open my eyes and find myself back on the beach. I released that the music had changed & was now playing Damh the Bard, I did not know what the song was at the time but in the lyrics I heard "She takes me to a distant cave", this made me remember that there was in fact a cave further along the beach, so I began to walk in the direction of the cave. The cave is in the side of a cliff that over looks the ocean, it a small cave, I sat there in front of a fire with an old native American (the details of the encounter escape me, sadly). I peer inside the cave but see nothing of interest, but something pushes me to look more and sure enough I glance at the floor to see a stone staircase leading down, and so I descend. As the stair go deeper, it become darker, I place my hands on the walls for support. Finally I reach the end of the stair case, but I hesitate, I feel that there is no floor, I pause and something make me step forwards and I fall into darkness, but in my faith my wings (raven wings of course) emerge, letting my glide safely to the floor. I am still surround by darkness, but I'm not along, a hunch figure shuffles forward. Her white/grey hair disheveled and she is completely naked, beside her is a grey wolf. She is La Loba, the Wolf Woman, The Keeper of Bones. My encounter was brief because my music change to something that disrupted & I was pulled out prematurely, the last thing I remember is standing in the entrance of La Loba's cave and looking out over the desert...




Green Blessings /|\

Raven Dreamer