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Another Imbolc Meditation
Close your eyes and prepare for a journey to another time
and place where Bride still resides in her fire temple. Let the
surroundings fade to be replaced by another scene.
You find yourself walking on a path through hilly, yet
open, farmland. It is a very early spring evening and you can smell the
scent of fresh grass. The air is clean and smells a bit damp. It is cool
and you can still see your breath as you breathe out.
Cattle and lambs are grazing and it is quiet except for
the gentle bleating and moos of the sheep and cows. It is early evening
there and it is not quite dark.
The bright orange sun is just starting to set on the
horizon and the sky is pink with just a hint of dusky purple. You can
still see well enough to make your way along your path.
Even though you have never been here before, your feet
seem to know the way as if you've done this hundreds of times. You seem
to have a purpose and your feet move effortlessly over the spongy grass
of the pasture. Everything looks vaguely familiar and you continue.
Up and down the hilly countryside you walk until you come
upon a knoll. As you look out over the horizon you see one building near
a grove of oak trees. From a distance it resembles a great temple and it
is richly illuminated. In the gentle breeze you seem to hear your name
being called. The voice that is calling is very gentle, feminine and
very persistent.
The voice is mysterious yet soothing and almost musical.
At first you hesitate to follow the gentle voice. What if you misheard?
You carefully listen and unmistakably it is your name that the voice is
calling. Keeping in mind that you can return home whenever you wish, you
decided to follow the soothing sound, which seems to be coming from the
great temple.
As you follow the voice down the hill and move closer to
the temple, you notice the hall is illuminated more brightly that
anything you have ever seen before. The light seems to be coming from
within the temple and you notice that even though the brightness of the
light should hurt your eyes, it doesn't. You gaze upon it with ease.
The soothing feminine voice beckons you inside. As your
eyes adjust to the brightness of the room, you see a great hall and off
to the side a door leading to another room. The hall is plain but
beautiful with a wooden beam roof and a stone floor. Part of the floor
is covered with straw.
The voice continues to call and you seem drawn to the
huge oak door. Upon inspecting it, you notice that the door is open a
crack - the voice gets louder and more insistent.
You feel confident and secure, and pushing the door open
you notice that there is a large rectangular room and your eyes are
drawn to the opposite end where there is a large pit recessed into the
floor. In the pit is a blazing fire.
This room is not a kitchen and this is not a pit for
cooking as there are no cooking utensils near by. There is wood and peat
stacked up near the walls of the room. The room should be unbearably
hot, but is of a comfortable temperature.
You then notice two women in the room. Both of them seem
ageless neither young nor old. They are dressed in varying shades of
brightly dyed plaid and wool and are both wearing amber and blue glass
jewelry.
One is tending the fire and the other is seated in a
large high backed chair close to the fire. The woman tending the fire
adds more wood, looks up and says, "Oh, there you are. We've been
expecting you. Bride awaits. Come, follow me." You are then brought to
the fair haired woman who sits in the chair. Her head is bowed, but she
slowly looks up at you.
Your eyes look into her eyes and in them you see the
wisdom of the ages. You then realize that the spark of creativity, life
and passion is within all of us. The only words she speaks are, "What
will your flame of growth be during the next wheel of the year? What
skills will you use in the coming year?"
Think carefully, for it is useless to try to deceive
Bride. You hear, in the depths of your soul. The answer of the question
you have come to ask. This message or suggestion is for you alone and is
for no one else to hear.
(Five Minute Pause)
Once you are satisfied that you have the answer to your
question, you rise to your feet. You thank Bride for her wise counsel.
You make farewells to the fire tender and promise to bathe in the light
of the fire. You feel energized and softly walk out of the room and
close the door behind you.
You walk through the great hall and into the cool night
air. As you start on your journey home you look back at the temple and
notice that it is slowly dissolving into a swirling mist. It has
disappeared into the cool night air! You then start to become aware of
your physical body.
You feel your legs on solid ground, your arms are
starting to feel heavier and you are aware that you don't feel as light
as you are. Slowly and deliberately close down your inner perceptions
and return.
Slowly open your eyes and stretch and yawn if you feel
you must. Place your hand on the solid floor and feel it beneath you —
ground any leftover energy by feeling it course through your body and
down into the ground.
Shake your limbs and return to the to the here and now the mundane world in which you reside.
by Susan Reed
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