Well this year again its been a rather significant time for me, so I've decided to put it on here.
I began in the spirit of the time of year, going to my allotment to do a couple of hours work. The first thing I did when I got there was to set the altar up and put some incense sticks there to burn, and I filled the bird feeders, the spent the next couple of hours clearing away all the old plants away to the compost heap. I also cut the tops off some of the sweet corn to decorate my altar at home.
So, home in the evening and I had a feeling that I would have a busy time. I decorated my home altar, re-arranged things, and put photos of my mother and my grandmother on there.
Whilst the dinner was cooking I carved a pumpkin and kept the seeds to toast later on. Then with dinner ready, I opened a window and served dinner, for us plus one extra place for my ancestors, I had to get an extra chair out from under the stairs, and I also poured them a glass of beer to go with their meal.
With dinner over with, the food was cleared away and taken outside to the outdoor altar, where I lit some incense and a tealight, and invited the spirits of place to share the food, which was left there
Back in the kitchen I baked a bread pudding for Sunday's ceremony, toasted the pumpkin seeds and bottled up 7 litres of elderflower wine from the demijohns that I had started at summer solstice
Sunday was the day of the ceremony, in North wales. When I'd actually found the place and met up with everyone we began. The ceremony was held in a small wood henge, with an avenue to the west. We had started with a guided meditation about our ancestors, which had thrown up some unexpected emotions for me, and during the ceremony, food and drink was set out at the quarters for the ancestors, who were invited into the circle with us. POW!!! I wasnt prepared for what happened next, immediately that they were invited in, I felt a rush of energies coming to me, circling round me, crowding round me. It was really intense and was becoming a bit much for me - not in a scary or unpleasant way, just overwhelming and unexpected. I closed my eyes, and their presence was all around me, packed in tight, my whole body was tingling, right through from my skin through to the core of my being, filling me with energy and emotion... it felt like... being packed on a tube train at rush hour, but with people I could only 'feel' rather than see.
And then they left, when it was the right time, and I was left feeling quite shaken. We gathered round the fire, and as i stared into the flames tears were welling up in my eyes.
ELECTRIC!
Fast forward a few hours, and I was at home, a couple of hours before it was time to go to work, and I decided to go to bed and have a nap before my night shift. Ready for bed, I lit a tealight on my altar, and got into bed. Could I sleep? No way.I tossed and turned, my mind just full of energy and thoughts. My stomach felt like one big knot in it, very tense, like 'butterflies'. If I lay still, all I could hear was the BOOM BOOM BOOM of my heart pumping away and I could feel it beating so hard inside my chest.
So restless. I tried to get my partner to come up and just lie with me but no joy there, so I brought one of the dogs with me. She lay on the bed with me, but not in a relaxed way, she had her head straight up, ears pricked and concentrating. I put my head in the pillow and all I could hear was my blood rushing through my veins. As I was facing the clock, I counted my pulse, and it was 110 give or take a few beats. Eventually all relaxed again and I got sleepy. the dog fell asleep too. And then my alarm went off because it was time to get ready for work
You know what? I bloody love this life of mine. I'm so alive!
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Monday, 18 October 2010
Buddhist ceremony
Well, here I go for my first post on my blog.
Yesterday, Sunday, I went along to a Thai Buddhist ceremony at a house in Mold, the ceremony was for good luck, and it was a great day. My Thai friends and I set off at 8.15 in the morning, after I had stopped to take in the wonderful view of the meadows next to the river Dee, coated in frost and mist, from the elevated position of the road.
So... I'm not a Buddhist, but I've been to a couple of these ceremonies and I get the jist of whats going on, even though its all in Thai, and from my druidic practices i can understand in my own mind whats going on and appreciate the similarities in outlook and rituals, so this may not be an entirely accurate description from Buddhist eyes, it is my understanding from druidic eyes.
We were there early, bringing food, and as time went on, more and more people arrived, bringing more and more food with them, more being cooked in the kitchen, and the tables set up crammed with plates and bowls for the monks, who arrived later on in the morning.
First was some praying, then there was offering rice to the monks, we all got a bowl of cooked rice from the kitchen of from a table, and bowed before the monks, dividing our offering between 2 pots for the 2 monks.
Then as traditional, the monks were taken to the table to eat first, from their pots of rice and anything from the food laid out on the tables. More and more food was brought out from the kitchen and offered to them. When they had eaten their fill, it was open buffet for the rest of us, it was a really relaxed friendly affair, people mingling or sitting around in groups sharing the food around. The leftover rice from the monks' pots was brought round and shared between everyone as this was good luck.
After we'd all eaten so much food that we could barely move, there were more prayers, chanting and then the blessing for the water - when the monks blesses his bowl of water, we also pour water from a cup or bottle into a bowl or other container, so that as it pours through the air, it is also pouring through the chanted blessing and is itself blessed. Next we, and the house were blessed by water by the monk, who went round splashing water over and around us, before our own poured water is taken outside and used to water plants outside, taking the blessing into the outside world. Any water left over from the monk's blessing is bottled to drink later.
As far as I know, the monks are not 'paid' for their work, they survive on what is offered to them, so as well as the food from today's meal, people had bought shopping, groceries for them, and this was given to them at the end as another part of the ritual. They have a small cloth bag which is laid out and the groceries or anything else, was put on the table, on top of the bag, for the monk to accept.
At the end of the day, any remaining food is bagged or boxed up and taken away to eat at home, at work that night I shared steamed fish with cabbage, rice and mushroom and bamboo soup to finish off the day's ceremony.
Yesterday, Sunday, I went along to a Thai Buddhist ceremony at a house in Mold, the ceremony was for good luck, and it was a great day. My Thai friends and I set off at 8.15 in the morning, after I had stopped to take in the wonderful view of the meadows next to the river Dee, coated in frost and mist, from the elevated position of the road.
So... I'm not a Buddhist, but I've been to a couple of these ceremonies and I get the jist of whats going on, even though its all in Thai, and from my druidic practices i can understand in my own mind whats going on and appreciate the similarities in outlook and rituals, so this may not be an entirely accurate description from Buddhist eyes, it is my understanding from druidic eyes.
We were there early, bringing food, and as time went on, more and more people arrived, bringing more and more food with them, more being cooked in the kitchen, and the tables set up crammed with plates and bowls for the monks, who arrived later on in the morning.
First was some praying, then there was offering rice to the monks, we all got a bowl of cooked rice from the kitchen of from a table, and bowed before the monks, dividing our offering between 2 pots for the 2 monks.
Then as traditional, the monks were taken to the table to eat first, from their pots of rice and anything from the food laid out on the tables. More and more food was brought out from the kitchen and offered to them. When they had eaten their fill, it was open buffet for the rest of us, it was a really relaxed friendly affair, people mingling or sitting around in groups sharing the food around. The leftover rice from the monks' pots was brought round and shared between everyone as this was good luck.
After we'd all eaten so much food that we could barely move, there were more prayers, chanting and then the blessing for the water - when the monks blesses his bowl of water, we also pour water from a cup or bottle into a bowl or other container, so that as it pours through the air, it is also pouring through the chanted blessing and is itself blessed. Next we, and the house were blessed by water by the monk, who went round splashing water over and around us, before our own poured water is taken outside and used to water plants outside, taking the blessing into the outside world. Any water left over from the monk's blessing is bottled to drink later.
As far as I know, the monks are not 'paid' for their work, they survive on what is offered to them, so as well as the food from today's meal, people had bought shopping, groceries for them, and this was given to them at the end as another part of the ritual. They have a small cloth bag which is laid out and the groceries or anything else, was put on the table, on top of the bag, for the monk to accept.
At the end of the day, any remaining food is bagged or boxed up and taken away to eat at home, at work that night I shared steamed fish with cabbage, rice and mushroom and bamboo soup to finish off the day's ceremony.
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