Snake Medicine

י״ט בטבת תשע"א
Grael 22

Commentary on Shemot from Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee - Snake Medicine.

Winter Solstice Sunrise Live From Newgrange

י״ד בטבת תשע"א
Grael 17

Witness the Winter Solstice sunrise live from the inner chamber at Newgrange here.

RTÉ.ie will be streaming the Winter Solstice sunrise from the inner chamber at Newgrange from 8.55am GMT on 21 December. This time corresponds to Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 02:55 AM CST in the United States.

The Five Ladies of Avalon In My Life

י״ב בטבת תשע"א
Grael 15

In follow-up to my previous several entries, as my descent to the uplifting Tor and confrontation with my Ancestors are linked to Avalonian Ladies Rhiannon and Ceridwen, respectively, and as Lady Arianrhod emerged (following descent, uplifting and confrontation) as I have lived and do live my life continually like Lady Blodeuwedd, daring to be true to myself and rejecting to remain within the confining expectations of others, like Lady Branwen, integration issues forth (as described in The Tribes of my Soul).

Names

י״א בטבת תשע"א
Grael 14

As we head into Shemot, the Torah book called Names, among my own names, those connecting most closely to my pan-Celtic and pan-Jewish folksouls are:

Heulwen/Hwylwen, my Avalonian name - meaning "light of the sun, light of unity"

Myfanwy, my Noble name - meaning "fine, rare one"

Lleucu, my Craft name - meaning "beloved light" and "daybreak"

Liorah Chanah, my Hebrew names - meaning "my light and grace"

The Tribes Of My Soul

י״א בטבת תשע"א
Grael 14

Commentary on Vayechi from Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee - The Tribes of my Soul.

Arianrhod: The Tribe Has Spoken

י״א בטבת תשע"א
Grael 14

In follow-up to my previous entry In Our Likeness, as I sat at the kitchen table with my pitcher of cooled wax thinking about my dream, in the other room, my father was watching the Wheel of Fortune (like Arianrhod). I was tapped out of my daydream about my dream by the synchronicity I heard blasting from the other room. One of the show's contestants shouted the answer to a puzzle, "the Tribe has spoken!"

In Our Likeness

י׳ בטבת תשע"א
Grael 13

The Na'vi say that every person is born twice. The second time is when you earn your place among The People forever ... [Jake Sully in Avatar]

וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ
And Elohim [Divine Ancestors] said: 'Let us make the human in our image, after our likeness ... [Genesis/Bereshit 1:26]

Early this morning I dreamt.

Like the twice born Druid-Bard Taliesin (whose name means shining brow and who was first born as Gwion) was chased by the shapeshifting Welsh goddess Ceridwen to earn the gifts of Divine wisdom and prophecy, I was chased up a tree by a mythic sized white cow like the sacred white cow of Irish goddess of bounty Boann. Amidst the upper branches of the tree, the white cow bit at to eat me. She was shot by a bullet and (like the Glastonbury thorn tree was recently felled) fell from the bough of the tree.

Like the sacred white cow fell, I too fell from the bough of the tree and discovered that, also like the cow, I too had been shot with a bullet. I had been shot in the left hip, like my twice born Jewish ancestor Jacob was injured in the hip when he wrestled with the Divine stranger in the darkness and earned the greater name Israel, like Gwion earned the greater name Taliesin through his wrestling with Ceridwen.

When I fell from the bough of the tree, I landed in a pit, like my Jewish-Egyptian ancestor Joseph had been thrown into a dry snake and scorpion filled pit by his brothers, which in my dream, was like an underworld cavern, like the cavern in the Celtic Avalonian immram to the Tor.

The living inner surface of the dark stone walls and floor of the pit-cavern emanated brightly like my guide-myself Heulwen-Hwylwen. The bright living emanations reached out, moved toward and surrounded me. The emanations were made of myriads of intertwining arm-like roots like the roots of the Celtic Tree of Life and surrounded me like the Celtic Tree of Life's roots surround the tree itself. Like the roots of the Mother-Ancestor Tree of Souls of the Pandorian Goddess embraced Jake Sully in the movie Avatar, the bright arm-roots emanating with light walked out from the cavern's surfaces shapeshifting into the embracing loving arms of my Ancestors.

Like Jake Sully in the physical body of his avatar, embraced by the Ancestors in the arms of the Divine Tree of Souls, I woke up.

Like Jacob is reborn Israel, and Gwion is reborn Taliesin, I am reborn Heulwen-Hwylwen.

The Cloak of Invisibility

ה' בטבת תשע"א
Grael 8

My dream early this morning confirmed Hwylwen's continuing protection of me even beyond the meditative Avalonian immrama. Among the dream's scenes, I and a male companion were cloaked with invisibility from the entities of judgment.

This cloak of invisibility is related to the protective cover of Hwylwen's black Raven wings as described in My Guide Heulwen (Hwylwen). In another scene, my companion and I, to proceed on with the journey, jumped off a cliff in the moonlight toward the sea - however, we never hit the water. Instead, we landed on dry land in the sunlight. Interestingly, as I didn't describe entering the water of the Red Spring in the linked report of the immram, neither did I enter into or become swallowed up by the water in my dream.

Dance of the Dragons

ה' בטבת תשע"א
Grael 8

Commentary on Vayigash from Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee - Dance of the Dragons.

Hwylwen-Heulwen and the Unified Collective Celtic Folksoul

ד' בטבת תשע"א
Grael 7

In follow-up to my blog entries [Cryptic Message For My Sisters and Brothers and My Guide Heulwen], I am excited to note that Heulwen can also be written Hwylwen.

The first syllable hwyl, in addition to meaning sun, also means sail (sounding like the encrypted double word Sale Sale seen in my first dream)! I interpreted this "encrypted" word Sale to be referring to the Ogam letter Saille (which can also be written in English as Sail).

The association of Heulwen/Hwylwen to the word hwyl is significant to me. Michael Quionion provides insight on the word hwyl:

This is how it was described in Garthowen, by Allen Raine (1900):

Will was certainly an eloquent preacher, if not a born orator, and possessed that peculiar gift known in Wales as “hwyl” — a sudden ecstatic inspiration, which carries the speaker away on its wings, supplying him with burning words of eloquence, which in his calmer and normal state he could never have chosen for himself.

That’s much how it’s understood in English. But in Welsh the word more often refers to a complex and intangible quality of passion and sense of belonging that isn’t easy to translate but which has been said to sum up Welshness in a word.

Its origins lie in a much older sense of the sail of a ship and hence elliptically one’s course — in life rather than on the sea.

Hwyl is to the Celtic folksoul as Achdut is to the Jewish folksoul - both terms refer to a unified collective folksoul. My Hwylwen represents my enduring immutable connection to the Celtic folksoul - this is so very exciting to me! My Guide not only represents my Avalonian High Priestess-Goddess self, She also represents my Celtic birthright and Place as both a Timeless Ancestor among and Descendant of the collective Celtic Folksoul.

Blessed be Goddess for bringing to this day!

My Guide Heulwen

ד' בטבת תשע"א
Grael 7

Tonight, as I walked from the shore of Avalon to the Mother Tree at the Isle's heart, my dark haired faery friend (as described in this blog post) followed me along the way, always staying within the cover of trees. At the Mother Tree, my faery friend disappeared and re-emerged enveloped in light as my Guide. She said nothing at all. She communicated her name ~ Heulwen ~ wordlessly. Heulwen, pronounced Haylwen, means light of the Sun. An aura of shimmering light dancing with a multitude of tiny twinkling lights surrounded her always. She wore a beautiful Celtic circlet of white gold. Her fluid white gold hair and gown blended perfectly into the light and space around her - they were all one. She was not separate at all from the environment. As we joined hands, I joined Her in this inseparable union with Avalon - my Being too glowed with the light of Her. Before we completely united at the water of the Red Spring, She revealed and spread beautiful large black Raven wings for me to see (which had been hidden until that point). I am still completely enveloped in the protective power of Her sacred wings.

Cryptic Message for My Sisters and Brothers

ב' בטבת תשע"א
Grael 5

I received my copy of Avalon Within a few days ago and undertook my first Immram to Avalon last night. I willfully completed this first Immram at the point where I stepped from the barge for the first time upon the shore of Ynys Afallon, willing to be shown my guide before proceeding any further. I thought I would be shown my guide in a follow-up dream over night. However, immediately and unexpectedly, I saw the face of a hobbit-sized dark haired faery creature peek out at me from among the island trees at the edge of a beautiful grove just off the shore landing.

Following this Immram and unexpected encounter with the faery creature of Avalon, early this morning I dreamt a dream, the details of which I am not write for the safety of one whom we have been protecting down through the ages. However, there was one portion of the dream containing a cryptic message that I am to write, and to make known to the Sisterhood (and related Brotherhood as well, which includes both my Celtic Druid and Jewish Mystical School kindred), who are working together to protect this person) even though it is dangerous to do so - for in writing it, it provides a navigational tracking fix (so to speak) for those from whom we are protecting this archetypal "person" (AND to track/locate the person who is carrying him down any particular path through time). Despite this danger, I am to write it because someone among us needs to know this encrypted information, which is:

The critical message is contained within the arrangement, as the wooden blocks are "lined up." In "lining up" the wooden blocks resting on top of his clothes (as they were left during this past period of time) in the middle drawer in his abandoned chest of drawers, as they fit together the letters become revealed. (In the dream) the letters revealed formed the doubled words "Sale Sale." The true meaning is not the obvious meaning of the words as they are seen. The true meaning is hidden within the context of this message.

The Home Coming

ב' בטבת תשע"א
Grael 5

Beautiful traditional Celtic music.

Dream Mistress on the Art of Reconciliation

כ״ח בכסלו תשע"א
Grael 1

Commentary on Miketz from Garden of the Dark Moon Jubilee - Dream Mistress on the Art of Reconciliation.

BRAINS!

כ״ו בכסלו תשע"א
Shamash 29



Related entries:

The Grim Adventures of CHUD and Myfanwy
CHUD - The Face of My Worst Fear?

The Grim Adventures of CHUD and Myfanwy

כ״ו בכסלו תשע"א
Shamash 29

In follow-up to my previous entry CHUD - The Face of My Worst Fear?, I must say that right now I feel a bit like Mandy (from the cartoon The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy) in the episode BRAINS!

Wiki describes the plot of BRAINS!:

Billy has nobody to play with late at night, and so he wishes upon a star for a friend. The star falls into his backyard - but it isn't a star, it's a brain eating alien meteorite. First, he tried to eat Billy's brain, but there's nothing in Billy's head. The Meteorite (through song) uses Billy to get all of the brains in town, while Billy is thinking that it's all just a game, and that the meteorite is his friend, who oddly gives Billy a zoot suit to wear. Eventually, there was only one brain left in the town - Mandy's. When she came over to see what's going on, the meteor eats her brain, but with unexpected consequences. Once the meteorite eats Mandy's brain, he melts away, screaming in pain, resurfacing as a pink brain, shaped as Mandy's head. Mandy explains that her brain was too spicy, and commands Billy to go and fetch more brains.

In other words, the brain-eating alien meteorite who, after eating Mandy's brain, is Itself eaten and taken over by Mandy's superior brain!

I totally love this cartoon.

UPDATED with video of the episode BRAINS!

CHUD - The Face of My Worst Fear?

כ״ו בכסלו תשע"א
Shamash 29

Last night I dreamt.

There was a designated group of people. I traveled through a series of scenes where each person in the group died in various gruesome ways and in various extraordinary situations that could never happen in real life. It was like death was picking each one off. I was the last one left alive.

I escaped death by making it to a castle where the magical King and Queen lived. They were the ones who had set all this in motion. But, they didn't kill me. I killed them defending myself. But, I was still not safe.

It, whatever It was, was still after me. I hid in a closet-hall in the castle. It was looking for me. I heard a Voice say to It, "CHUD, she's in there."

Then, It found me and I saw It, the thing called by the name CHUD. CHUD was a beautiful blue-white sphere of energy-like light. It paused at the end of the hall as It detected me. With nowhere to run or hide, I looked at It as It looked at me, we each meeting the "gaze" of one another inasmuch as one can meet the gaze of a sphere of light. Then, It rushed forward toward me and "killed" me as It made contact and merged with me. I "died," shapeshifting into a supernova of light ... and woke up.

CHUD? Wiki on Stephen King's novel It (which by the way, I've not read nor have I seen the film) and It's CHUD:

The Losers are not the only persons to encounter It; various children vanish to be found dead and mutilated days, weeks, or months later, if they turn up at all. The Losers determine to destroy the supernatural being and seek out means to that end. After some research in the town library, Bill discovers an ancient spell known as the Ritual of Chüd, in which a shapeshifting monster called a "talus" and a human shaman lock tongues and tell jokes; the first to laugh is devoured by the other.

At the house the boys are attacked by It, each perceiving a different form of the creature: Bill sees It as Pennywise and Richie sees It as a Werewolf.

There was alot of mutilation deaths throughout my dream. One of the deaths in my dream involved a man's tongue getting bitten off by the teenage girl protecting me (who is axed to death by the man whose tongue she bit off protecting me). I never laugh. I am hidden and hide throughout the dream, which I why I was the last one left alive.

Bill believes this ritual will allow them to defeat and kill It. While the seven are building an underground clubhouse in the Barrens in mid-July, Mike Hanlon brings his father's photo album and shows it to them all. The group discovers that Pennywise has existed for many centuries in the Derry area. In one photograph, Pennywise again appears and threatens to kill them all, appearing to them all as their worst fears.

A sphere of Light? This is the face of my worst fear? It's got to be kidding. Now, I'm laughing.