Monthly Archives: November 2012

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Circle round the Tree

Circle round the tree
Walk it sunrise round
Looking up towards the sky
See the branches bare

Cold the breeze
Whispering in your ear
Hinting at secrets
This tree can reveal

Withdrawn from life it seems
Grey and dark it’s form
Waiting, ever waiting
The Sun’s return
And Spring

Spiral round
Spiral round
Till that which looked outward
Looks once more within

Deep in the soul
Where wonders abound
Know the mystery once more
You and the Tree are one.

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Mornings

Let go, the heart seems to say
Let the world of mind be swept away
Let the rational be rationed
Let the imagination soar
On wings of Faeries
And songs of Bards

Off to a world
Where dragons and wyvern’s fly
Great ships sail before the wind
Finding new lands
Where adventure begins

Lift the staff
Light the way
Into dark caves
Where the mysteries lay

First step taken
Then without warning
The Alarm goes off again

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Day of thanks

The Myth of the day
We know it well
Pilgrims and Natives sitting around
Sharing in a feast
In a town called Plymouth
Beside the sea

Harvest shared before the Winter comes
Thankful for the bounty
That would see them through
The time of the freeze

More to the story?
Of course there is
Other perspectives see pain and death
In memories of thanks

A day of mourning they wish it called
Anger at the harm done
By those most “learned”
Ignorant men

Mourn in the morning
Beginning of the day For the ignorance of us all
Be thankful at Noon
As the feast is served
For the chance to make things right
Recall in the evening
When the feast has been cleared away
The choice that’s been given
For a new day

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Who am I

Who am I.
Who is it that looks out from behind these eyes,
Experiencing a new world, and an old one
At the same time.

These eyes now opened
Can never close again
The world seen from within
Known as something more
One never forgets

The quest goes on
Not some destination sought
Companions for the road
Already known, but not yet met
Circle comes around

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The Last Strange Night

I was cold. The wind was howling outside, and a draft was present in this room. The season had changed and soon, very soon, the Cold times would be on us once again.

It didn’t bother me much really for I did not have much time left anyways. I would not see the light reborn this year. Soon She who was the Great Queen would greet me, take me by the hand and we would walk together into that other land that is between times.

All would be well. My apprentice was ready to take up my responsibilities. In fact he had already in many ways. The people would be well served by their new Bard. He was a fine lad and I was proud to have been able to train him in the Old ways.

I had made my peace with my people. I’d visited with many of them this past harvest season, even though it took me longer to get around the village than it had in my younger days. Only one was left to whom I needed to speak, She who had been my priestess for oh so many years. A message had been sent to the outlying village where she had been assisting with the birth of a child, and I knew she was on her way. I’ve always known where she was, and though in this life we had not been mated, the love we shared transcended time.

As I lay there huddled beneath a pile of skins and blankets, my mind drifted back to other times. One of the benefits of being this close to the end of one’s life is that you can glimpse backwards to other lives. I looked back to our first meeting, in another time and place.

We were both so young, newly pledged to the temple in Helios. She was to be a Daughter of the Moon, and I was to be a Son of the Sun. On that first day all of the newly pledged met in the courtyard, to hear the High Priestess and Priest speak. It was not a large crowd, perhaps five or six boys, and an equal number of girls.  We mingled about in a gaggle of children’s voices. We were all honored to have been chosen, but perhaps a little anxious as well.  This was a new life and none knew for sure everything it would entail. Glancing about, my eyes locked with hers, and a spark ran through me unlike anything I had ever known. I saw her shiver as well, and then nod at me. Even at that early stage, we recognized that there was a bond between us, one that would only grow as we trained together.

The years of training were joyous. Together and separately we learned the skills that would allow us to serve our people in the Temple. The Ending however was bitter.

I had now seen 16 summers, and was away from Helios with my Teacher. We were touring one of the outer colonies. I had learned much that summer, here among the marshes of an Island called Albion. On this day preparations were underway to begin the journey home on the evening tide. I was excited to see all my friends again, especially her, and share all I had learned.

I had wandered to the shore, and was imagining what our homecoming would be like when a flash of light brighter than anything I’d ever seen appeared in the western sky. At that very moment a pain shot from my forehead right down to my toes, and I heard screams, which were almost immediately silenced. I collapsed onto the sand, tears streaming down my face.

It was here that my Teacher, Gwion, found me. Looking into his eyes I could see my pain reflected there, and tracks of tears were on his cheeks as well.

“Something has happened”, he said to me. “I do not think we will be heading home. From the looks of you, you have seen this too, aye?”

I could only nod, for words had deserted me, a nasty thing for a Bard in Training.

And though the words would not come, in that moment I could see her, and feel her being ripped away from me in this life.  I knew we would meet again, for that is one of the first things we learn in the Temple, but this life had only just begun. We had pledged that we would find each other at Beltane and take the steps together into that special initiation only a young man and woman can know. That would not be happening now. I would carry on, and while there would be another who would be Priestess to my Priest, it would not be she, in this life at least.

I was brought back to this present life by the sound of the door gently closing. Opening my eyes, our eyes locked once again, as they had on that first day. My Priestess was standing just inside the doorway. I have said we were not mated in this life, for our duties prohibited that union, but we had always recognized that this was not the first time we have served the people together. She was a few summers younger than I, and still held the youthful look in her eyes. It wasn’t so long ago that I shared that youthful spark as we stood across from each other, balancing the polarities of Inspiration and Reflection, while my Lord and his Lady balanced those of Energy and Form.

“Oh my friend is it truly time?” she said to me with a small quiver in her voice. “Are you sure?”

At that moment a part of me wanted to say: “NO, It is not yet my time. Do what you can for me. Bring me back”.  Instead I simply nodded; aware that to say this would only be denial of the proper order of things.

“My dearest lady, I am remembering now our first meeting in this life. You had recently come to the village from your training in Avalon. I had been here for some time. When I first saw you, I didn’t even know who you were. It was a Market day, and the village square was bustling. I turned to you, as you were standing behind me and said somewhat perplexed: Do I Know You? Four little words, which in an instant, opened the gates of memory. From that day to this I have known you.”

It was her turn to nod. I could see in her eyes that she too was reliving that day.

“Sit with me, Hold my hand?” I asked. She pulled up the side chair to bed in which I lay, took my hand and lay her head upon it.

We sat that way for some time. No words were spoken, for none were needed.

I drifted for a time, and visions of strange things I did see. Sky’s as broad as the sea, Carts with no horses, writing appearing as if by magic, set there by no hand that I could see. One image became clear to me in that drifting time. Standing in a grove of trees, with a roaring bonfire, someone stood at my side. Here was a glimpse of a future incarnation, and there she stood, My Priestess. I could not see her face, but once again we had found each other. I could tell that we had only just again met in that life, and where the future would go, was unclear.

A coughing fit brought me back to myself, and she held me as it ran its course. The time was near, and I could hear the Raven’s wings beating outside the door.

“I’ve not much time left, but I have one last favor to ask of you”, I said.

“Anything, you know that”, she said with that mischievous twinkle in her eye.

“I’ve just seen us finding each other again in some future time and place. Only one thing I have never learned about you.”

“What is that?” she said to me

“You have known me in many ways, and I have not hidden my name from you”, I said. “I am Bedwyr Gwion, but I do not know that secret name by which you may be known. I know the Woman’s Mysteries are such that the name is rarely shared outside of the marriage bed, but my dearest lady would you share it with me now. I will take that knowledge through the Veil and beyond, so that in that future time I shall truly know you, and not be deceived by another”

Another coughing fit took me as I finished speaking; it would not be long now. Even now the edges of my vision were dimming and I lay back exhausted and ready.

Bending close to my ear my Priestess spoke the final words I was to hear in that life. “Dearest Gwion, Know me you will, for I too have seen this. By she whom I serve, The Great Queen who is present at both beginnings and ending I swear it.” Squeezing my hand in a last final farewell she then said, ”My Name is Her…..”

 

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A deep pool

A deep pool on a moonlit night
A great desire to dive right in
Rises in the soul
To seek the treasure
In the depths
Submerged in wonders
Of all that is
Contained within

Formed from tears
Of joy and sorrow
And stories yet untold

The mind urges caution
The heart listens not
Find the middle way I must
And only go in “this far”

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Guardian of the gate

Guardian of the Gate am I
Standing as a glaive against the fears of the night
In service to the light
Honoring all who pass me by

On this last night of the year
I stand in a place often filled with fear
Fear of what lies beyond
Fear of the draw to travel there and stay
Fear of what darkness might slip unknown into the light

I stand as guardian of the gate
In one hand a candle’s flame
To light the way of all who pass me by
Whose journey here is through

In my other hand a sword
To block the way to those whose time is “Not Yet”
They still have work to do
They still have things to be

Guard the door I shall
As I ever have
As I ever will

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From Green Man to Grey

From Greenman to Grey

Once not so long ago
I was a sprightly young man
As the season of spring began

The birds sang the warmth’s return
The squirrels scampered about
As the Ewes suckled their lambs
And the leaves came out

Warmer it grew
And Love was in the air
Lady and Lord
Man and Maid
Each found their joy
In that space around the fire

Through gentle rains
And the bright sun
The grains they grew and grew
Till first Harvest time had come
And Barleycorn they slew

Now the culling of the Herds is over
For the dark days they come
Honored again those gone before
With the sinking of the Sun

Now I stand at the falling time
My branches go bare
My leaves form a blanket
For my sleeping lady
As I go from Green Man to Grey