Path To The Old Ones

י"ג שבט תשס"ט
Imbolgen 13

This past week I've felt particularly under psychic attack. Literal happenings have contributed to this feeling, though their actual role in the psychic pressure surrounding me has been unclear. Nevertheless, right before leaving work yesterday, I was given mildly disturbing news. Consequently then, I went into this shabbat with a feeling of uneasiness and unrest.

To get to the source of and to eliminate the negative energy disrupting my shabbat rest, I enlisted the aid of my Ancestors. Simply, my spell was "help me."

A little later in the evening, I drew one card of divination from my Well Worn Path deck. That card was The Old Ones. The teaching of this card calls us to examine the foundation of our beliefs. The Old Ones of Tradition are prehuman Primal Earth spirits of the Forgotten Age in complete unity with Ancestral Memory. They stand, as a Multiplicity in Unity, as first stirrings of Human Awareness in connection with All, and in singularity as the Seed of Religious Awareness. The Old Ones call you to attention, to wonder how you have arrived where you are, to ponder where you are going, and to lead you to the Memory you now seek.

The Old Ones answered my call.

On the divination card is depicted four pale-cast standing megalithic stones with weathered faces surrounding the personal altar of Human Awareness. Faces of Living Spirits see from within the trees of the forest behind the stones, gathering around The Gathering. I lovingly placed this divination card, along with a vintage skeleton key I have, a specimen of blood root, an amber gemstone, a fava bean, and a glass skull (purchased for Samhain) on my altar in simple ritual acknowledgment of my Ancestors, The Old Ones.

Later in the evening, getting ready for bed, a vision 'startled into' my awareness. As I walked past my altar to leave the room to do something, my consciousness 'jumped' and I was seeing ...

... among The Old Ones. 'I' was both an individual megalithic Standing Stone and, simultaneously, the collective of megalithic Standing Stones. 'I' was a complete link in a timeless chain of transmission. 'I' too was an Ancestor, even in the present, to my descendents. Time was both present and absent. 'I' stood as a timeless Ancestor and as a being in time seeking my Ancestors. It was an incredible split moment in time.

My seeing originated among pale-cast Stones set among 'seeing' trees of the forest, like those depicted on the divination card. Proceeding from my origin of seeing, a path opened up before me, leading to a site of dark-cast Standing Stones (like Stonehenge) set in a clearing and standing like black shadows against the full silvery-white moon-like light of the earth. Though the ground was not raised, it was clearly a 'raised place' (גאות, geut/high tide).

I knew immediately that the Path I had come upon was a faery path [1] (kefitzat haderekh in kabbalah), and that the 'jump' (dilug) in consciousness I was experiencing was one example of the phenomenon known in witchcraft as Second Sight.

And now, my spirit is at rest. There is no separation between myself, my Land, my Ancestors and Divine Awareness.

Footnote:

[1] Short excerpt on faery lines/paths from The Living World of Faery (R.J. Stewart): "Faery lines may be broadly described under two headings. First are the ancient or enduring lines that are confirmed by folklore, including 'secret' lines which are known traditionally to individuals or families. Second are those which are discovered either by accident or through intent ... once you are attuned to the faery tradition you will be able to find such lines for yourself. A feary line is where power flows over and through the Land, but also flows between realms. Think as lines and paths as alive, not circuits or conduits, but living connectives ... an organic whole."