Visioning: A New Year of Possibilities

Great site to talk about gathering seeds

Happy New Year.

T and I went down to the garden one more time.  Monday they plan on plowing everything under.  We spent a good two hours picking green tomatoes, peppers, dill and dug up carrots and turnips.  We cut the arugula and lettuce for a last week of salad.  I went around cutting dried cosmos, zinnias and marigolds – seeds for next year.

The sky was over casted and the wind picked up.   It took me half a book of matches to get the incense lit.  This happened back in April when we started planting….  The wind made the smoke rise in little spirals.  One more time I thanked the garden and then turned and walked away.  It’s hard to say goodbye, but I know this isn’t the end.  The flower seeds tell something different.

A gardener knows this season is needed.  It isn’t final, but a part of a never ending pattern.  The gardener knows this death is necessary to bring about a successful harvest next year.  Everyone needs a rest – even the dirt and the spirits.

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"When we realize the extent of the myriad interconnections which link us to all other life, we realize that our existence only becomes meaningful through interaction with, and in relation to, others." ~ Buddha

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This past year I’ve been reading from many of my old friends.  Authors who I found tucked away in my bookshelf.  I’ve discovered new nuances in their writings – a “Mary Poppins Factor” so to speak.  I’m amazed at what I missed the last time I read the texts.  Specifically, how essential it is to see a goal completed – even those goals which seem overwhelming like seeing a world where everyone is fed, everyone feels safe, or everyone shows empathy for their neighbor. 

In Dreaming the Dark, Starhawk talks about the interconnected principle.  Meaning – nothing on this earth or universe exists in isolation.  We are all linked together.  If one changes we all changes.  When talking about dreams and goals – these won’t come to fruition if we don’t do some work.  This work includes seeing the goal completed and saying and doing one concrete thing.  An individual who does this changes themselves energetically and this causes everything else to change due to the interconnected principle.

As a gardener, I can hold the seeds in my hand and easily can picture the flowers blooming next summer.  Seeing people not in need of food pantries, I admit this is something I struggle wrapping my mind around.  And, maybe this is one of the reasons why energetically speaking hunger, domestic violence or any social justice issue is hard to tackle.  We can’t see it and we all have different ideas on how to begin.

I keep going back to Starhawk’s book and the interconnected principle.  If we each set a goal to do one small thing; “we make a change in relationship in which we take part” (44).  I might not be able to see the ending of hunger, but I can help hand out food or grow tomatoes to share in my garden.  I can see this and I can do this.  This in turns helps transform the energy around me. 

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Activity

New Year Goals to help change my world

Make a list of 3 things you could do to change the status quo energy of exploitation, pollution and destruction.

1. In 2013, I will grow nine tomato plants strictly for the food pantry.
2. On Earth Day 2013, I will participate in my community’s activity of cleaning up a corner.
3. During Sexual Assault Awareness Month – April 2013, I will post daily on facebook information about promoting healthy relationships.

River of Souls by Dan Fogelberg

 

 

Intaglios-Learning to Read Road Sign Etchings

Hermit

 “Intaglio are techniques in art in which an image is created by cutting, carving or engraving into a flat surface and may also refer to objects made using these techniques.”  Wikipedia

"Mythological symbols touch and exhilarate centers of life beyond the reach of reason and coercion.... The first function of mythology is to reconcile waking consciousness to the mysterium tremendum et fascinans of this universe as it is." Joseph Campbell

Whenever I see the Hermit, I think of all the “ah ha” moments that I’ve been alerted to turn right now, cautioned to look more closely and grow here, or warned to make a U turn on my spiritual journey.  As I glance at the picture, the Hermit is holding up a lantern and to me is lighting my way back to Motherfather Spirit. But, there is something deeper going on. The Hermit is not only exposing the familiar stop signs, but also the ancient mythological symbols that many cultures and belief systems have left for us. Joseph Campbell would say the Hermit is shining a light into our collective human subconscious revealing myths and symbols that help us to understand how life works.

I studied tarot with Marti Sinclair in Columbus in the late 1980s. I liked how she compared what’s going on in the tarot cards by observing children’s movies. For example, understanding the differences in what an 8 year old sees in Mary Poppins versus an adult. To that 8 year old self, the movie is an entertaining and has many catchy tunes: Chim Chim Cheree or Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.  However, there is another layer that is revealed in that film as the adult. The eight year old surely didn’t catch political messages regarding women’s suffragette and working class versus wealthy class during the Edwardian era. Same is true with the tarot deck. There are other signs and symbols appearing in the pictures that are overlooked by the novice. Yes, it’s easy to memorize the traditional card meanings, but adding the other nuances brings with it other layers in meaning.

Gotland Rune Stone

Marti’s class has led me on an adventure to read and understand signs and symbols the ancient ones left. On vacation, I feel a lot like Dan Brown character or Indian Jones who’s interest lies in understanding religious iconology and symbology. Last summer my adventure put me in front of Denmark’s Jelling Stones and Gotland’s Rune Stones.

Triquetra

Triangle and Triquetra
“Three – two get together and give birth to three, a new circle or Universal egg of Maiden, Mother and Crone.”  Shekhina Mountainwater (Stein, Diane The Women’s Book of Spirituality. Llewellyn Publication, St. Paul Minnesota. 1989. 205)

The triangle is one of those symbols for me.  It alerts me to: coorperation and harmony.  It asks am I disconnected from creation or Motherfather spirit? 

Look closely at the Hermit’s lamp light you see a six pointed star. The star is made of two triangles. Some would say that the star represents a balance between male and female energy. Meaning the triangle with its point at the top represents male energy and the triangle pointing down female energy. In many traditions, the triangle symbolizes a balance between mind, body and spirit; past, present and future; or aspects of a triune God or Goddess. The triangle pattern is seen in the pyramids of ancient Egypt or etched in a symbol pattern to awake the Celtic dragon. The ancients (i.e., Sematic people, Greek, Phoenician, Early Christian Church) believed the triangle to be the symbol of a doorway between earth and the heavens.

So going into a church and seeing the dove (i.e., Goddess aspect) within a triangle puts a whole new spin on things.

In the Celtic tradition, the trinity knot is another form of the triangle.  It is a design that is unending.  The design can be found on ancient crosses and stones throughout Ireland.  It can also be found in the Book of Kells. 

The Celtic triquetra knot reminds me that we are all interconnected.  That there is an unending love between Motherfather Spirit and creation.  It reminds me I need to do my part to keep the circle strong. 

Activities:
Sew your own triquetra

Copyright BEM

Materials needed:

6” x 55” piece of fleece
Thread
Sewing Machine
Stuffing
Needle
pins

Fold over right sides together and pin.

Sew ¼” seam.
Turn tube so that the right sides are out.
Stuff (I used a ruler to help with the stuffing)
Fold into triquetra knot and sew ends together.