The veil is thin

Ancestors, departed friends, loved ones long since gone, hear my words on this night as the veil between us parts but brief...

We honor you,
You are forever in our thoughts,
You have helped shape who and what we are,
We welcome your wise council,
We thank you...

Blessed Samhain to all
(and Happy New Year)

Afternoon tea with a Matriarch in the forest...

She is a grand and elderly lady, my best guess would be at least 100 years old if not more. A beautiful Gambel Oak, resplendent in her fall colors of amber, we discovered on our afternoon trek through the forest. All the others around her (her children, it appears) have trunks no thicker than my forearm or leg, but her girth was nearly more than I could reach around with my arms, and no others matching her regal majesty nearby. On the south face of her trunk, from ages ago damage of some sort, is a little cave, a safe-haven perchance for weary, cold or frightened animals, safe in this loving matriarch's embrace.

So, after spending a little time in this Grand Dame's company, we left a bit of "thanks" to her with what we had, a carrot muffin and a splash of green tea... afternoon tea with a Grand Lady of the forest, a wonderful way to spend an autumn afternoon.

During our excursion, we managed to catch glimpse of not just one, but two, grey foxes, several elk, my wife caught sight of some white tail deer, and the rare sight of a raccoon.

Ogham staves

Well, I've completed my hand made set of staves, made from birch (fortunately that's what the craft store had) disks about the size of a half-dollar and inscribed with a wood-burner. I placed the Ogham Letter and the Gaelic Name for the tree on the front. On the back, I decided to place a few "study aides", so I inscribed the English tree name, the Number Ogham, the modern alphabet correspondence, the color association, and the Elemental correspondence, all based out of JMG's "Druid Handbook". It was about six hours of solid work, but I think well worth it, they turned out just as I had envisioned them. I'm still debating if I want to get some enamel paints and put colors around the edge on the front, for the Element Associations and the Color Associations (kind of like the Element colors around the AODA symbol, but three instead of four). Ah well, perchance at a future time. For now, they are done and I can start using them. I'll probably type up a "reference chart" for the symbolism, to use while I'm memorizing the meanings, so I don't have to keep flipping through the book.

I feel it's important to construct one's own magical tools, when you can. I know that in our busy daily lives, this can't always happen. But it does give one a good feeling of accomplishment, as well as fully bonding these tools directly to you. Thus far, besides the Staves, I've constructed my own Creabh Cuilil (spelling? "talking branch" such as the one King Cormac was gifted with) and Crane Bag. Although this might not be a "necessary" thing to do in Modern Druidism, I feel it's right for me, and would encourage others to try it. It has it's rewards.

Oh, and a side note, while inscribing the Staves, I noticed some patterns that I'm going to ask JMG about...got my curiosity piqued...

Clack-bill the Raven

I wish I could get a picture of him with my phone's camera...but he just won't allow it!

I call him Clack-bill (probably couldn't pronounce his raven-name anyhow), because that seems to be his morning greeting for me as I step out behind the store for my morning practices...two sharp snaps of his bill...Clack-clack. He's a big, old, fellow...probably weighing a good 15 pounds at least, about a 4 to 4.5ft wingspan, and at least 2ft tall while walking. Although you can tell he's the Alpha in the area, he's rather relaxed about it until one of the younger males gets cocky, then, look out! Loud? Oh yes! He'll croak and caw loud enough to drown out a full freight train only two blocks away! When he takes to the air from his favorite utility pole, you plainly hear (and sometimes feel) the whispery whoof-whoof of his wings lifting that immense glossy blue-jet body aloft.

He seems to get a kick out of my imitating his guttural clicks, often cawing wildly if I "mispronounce" a series, as if I've just made a raven-language fauxpaux and he's laughing his feathery butt off. Other times he'll repeat a certain series until I get it right, then switch to another series. Kind of understanding this old bird a bit, I wouldn't doubt it that he's teaching me every insult there is in Raven, I'll try them on some other raven one day, and my car will become a target for "bombing runs"...it would be just this character's speed, I think.

Anyhow, he's a confort in the mornings. Rain, shine, snow, he's around. Sometimes just to say hello, other times to chat or watch me do my daily practices.

Quality time, relaxation, and spirituality...all rolled into one

What a wonderful day!

My wife was actually feeling up to getting out of the house after being sick for over a week, the store actually left me alone to have a real "day off", so we drove to Flagstaff merely to enjoy ourselves and be in each other's company.

In the process, we stopped at two different metaphysical shops, picking up some insence charcoal at one and two small elestrial quartz crystals at another (oooh! They had some elestrials at one of the shops that had yellow topaz in it! Talk about beautiful!...but well out of price-range). We also patroned two of the used bookstores (found a fiction novel in a series we've been reading, but nothing worthwhile in the metaphysical sections). As well, stopped by the craft store and picked up some birchwood blanks and a woodburner etching tool so I can begin work on my Ogham Stave set that I want to craft for my divination work.

The drive back to Winslow was uneventful, save for the wonderful light show from the storms moving through the high country here. I've always enjoyed the ephemeral beauty of the clouds being lit by lightning against a stark-black night sky. Fleeting, illuminated sculptures against the jet velvet of night...

Yes, all in all, a really good day...

Nature Spots

A Kiva (spirit house) at Homolovi (Hopi-place of the little hills) Ruins, just a little ways from Winslow on the banks of the Little Colorado River at Midsummers. We (my wife and I) went out to the Ruins at Midsummerst to "connect" with the local "energies". This is one of the largest and most well preserved Kivas in the region. You can still plainly see the fire-pit at the far end.



Bear Canyon Lake, late afternoon, just before Midsummers. There are qite a few lakes up on the Molgiollon Rim (a huge tectonic shelf rising up to 7500ft in elevation), but I think this one has to be my favorite.