Recently, I was on a mission/day out several hours from home. I had not slept at all well for a couple of nights previously, and at the end of the day I found myself exhausted with a long drive home ahead of me.
I made sure that I had eaten and had plenty to drink and a bit of a rest before setting off, I also found a route home away from the motorway so that my mind could be kept active on the route.
As I set off, there was a short distance on the motorway before I could leave it, and as I turned off to go through the country roads, I made a prayer to Rhiannon asking for her assistance to carry me home safely.
I fared well on the journey, I actually felt more revived than before I had set off and enjoyed the journey, watching the view, the hills. woodlands, fields and changing countryside, feeling connected to the land and the rivers we crossed.
Roll on a couple of weeks to this weekend, and I came across completely by accident, a plea from a horse and pony sanctuary to clear ragwort from a new field they had obtained - ragwort of course being poisonous to horses, and this much needed new field was absolutely covered in it.
Giving thanks to Rhiannon for carrying me home safely, I volunteered to help out and also got a couple of friends to come along with me, and spent a lovely afternoon, actually working and making new connections and horsey friends. This is the point about a relationship with deity for me. It is a relationship, it goes both ways.
In modern practice it is common for us to ask the gods for something, and make some sort of offering or sacrifice to pay for it. In ancient times it was the other way round, that the deity in question would be asked for some service, with an offering/gift/sacrifice made when or if the action was completed. This runs in line with my own relationship, if I have petitioned the gods for something and they have acted for me, I am aware that they will also present me with an opportunity soon afterwards to repay the favour, and it is up to me to keep that in mind and to see it.
So, in this case, my sacrifice was my time, and my aching muscles at the end of the session. A small price to pay.
