[jimbomaxf]

To rediscover the shamanic roots of England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland is a journey in itself. it cannot be undertaken through the hallowed halls of academia, where the trail runs cold very quickly. It can only be undertaken by working with spirits of the land and place where we find ourselves.

We can pick up a slight aroma of these ancient trails in the current Path of Pollen, which is a modern day practice that stems from the shaman beekeepers when these ancient lands were known, to the Celts, as the Isles of Honey. The word 'mel' is a Latin root for many words to do with bees and honey, and so we find that the Bee Shamans of the Isles of Honey are linked to the melissae, the Bee Mistresses of the Egyptian temples and the Greek goddess, Melissa, who Zeus turned into a honeybee. Melissa was also the Greek goddess of intoxication and sexual passion ~ in the same way that the bee is a copula (link) between the male and female elements in a flower. The bee, in mythology, also acts a guide to the dead ~ iow, a psychopomp.





"To BE" or "human BEing" are words that are fundamental to our consciousness.

The bee is the symbol of life and immortality and this is reflected in the Celtic language from Cornish beu, the Irish beo and the Welsh byw which can all be translated as 'alive' or 'living'.

I learned all of the above from Simon Buxton, who was my shaman teacher for a time, and who has written about his apprenticeship under an English bee shaman in his excellent book, The Shamanic Way of the Bee.

Ross Heaven is another well-known shaman of this land, and he has also written about our own indigenous traditions in the forms of the Druids, although he quotes Emma Restall Orr who makes the important distinction that the ‘classical’ Druid (the Celtic ‘priest’), as a man "in white robes, bearded, with ornate staff and golden sickle tucked into the belt is little more than two hundred years old, and was created during a period of revived interest in the tradition when one picture from the classical literature of two millennia ago was chosen from many: Pliny’s image of the Druid cutting mistletoe from the sacred oak. If Strabo had been used, the stereotype might be rather different, but his Druids – in red, adorned with gold – had not perhaps the dignity and nobility that was needed".






However, Ross continues, "despite its fanciful nature ... this is the figure that is responsible for drawing many into the tradition. But what is that tradition?"

SHAMANS OF BRITAIN

Druidry is the native spirituality of Britain, which has its origin in the animistic principle of honouring the earth, the ancestors, the elements, and the connection between all things. "Druidry emerged out of the rocks and forests and rain of Britain, and its very nature is wrapped in the beauty, power and shifting stories of all that Britain has been over many thousands of years".

For Orr, the focus of Druidic practice is ‘awen’, an old British/Welsh word which means ‘flowing spirit’. The word contains notions of creative genius and poetic imagination, in a similar way to the Irish word ‘imbas’, which refers to a sense of wonder and inspiration.

"Understanding that all creation is imbued with spirit (matter and physicality being the creativity of spirit), the Druid knows that it is in relationship, spirit to spirit, that inspiration is found… In recognizing the spirit of some aspect of creation, be it elemental, plant, animal, rock or human, we are given the opportunity to know our own spirit, to respond from our own spirit… Where spirit touches spirit, where there is communion on this level and the energy of life is exchanged, awen flows. [Awen] is the lightning that reaches between earth and sky, between lovers’ eyes.

"Yet simply breathing in the beauty of inspiration is not enough. It is the Druid’s responsibility to ensure that this energy continues to flow, spirit to spirit, for energy which is held in the body or soul stagnates and swells with sickness or pride. So inspiration must be expressed, the energy inhaled must be exhaled, and this is done through the Druid’s creativity".

What we might call the Keltic ‘Path of the Hero’ had, we imagine, three ‘Ways’ or areas of expertise: The Way of the Bard, the Ovate and the Druid, each with its own means of inspiration and creative expression.

THE BARD is the poet and storyteller, who weaves magic and mystery with words, and can find mystic prayers, blessings and songs of empowerment, of protection, and enchantment. His words have the power to harm or to charm, to soothe and to transport the listener into the worlds of poetic imagination, where the wellspring of creative genius, the shamanic landscape, is to be found.

THE OVATE is the seer, who perceives the holism of the world, the bigger picture of life intertwining with forces beyond the mundane and the human. His is the power to foretell futures, to witness the past, and to understand its cosmic dance into the life-yet-to-come. Through this, he may unravel the past and shift the events of the present so that new potential and healing may come in to being.

THE DRUID is more fully the shaman, the rounded Man of Power, who knows the arts of the Bard and the Ovate, and is able to use these skills, and personal magic, to negotiate with the spirits, the elements, and the power of nature Herself, in order to bring back their gifts to the tribe. The church of the Druid is the sacred grove of the forests – a "church not made with hands" – which exists within, is part of, and represents the infinite power of Nature.

"The sacred text is the landscape within which we live. Its language is that of the deciduous forests, the ancient oaks, the heather-tinged moors, the meadows of grass lit with buttercups and daisies, the long dark winters that creep into the bones, the laughter and dance of chilly May evenings. Its path has been trodden for many thousands of years by those who found inspiration in the beauty and fertility of these lands".

The very mention of ‘Celtic shamanism’ will inevitably lead to debate, discussion, and argument, notably between academics, frustratingly unable to pigeonhole the meaning of that elusive concept; but also among ‘new agers’ with a cosy modern notion of forest rituals and flowing robes; and among more conservative members of the public, who are likely to view it as in some way similar to ‘witchcraft’ or perhaps even ‘Satanism’. It seems that we all have a notion of who the ‘Celts’ were and of ‘natural British magic’.

For that reason alone, it may be best, in some ways, to forget the word ‘Celtic’ altogether (‘Keltic’ is, in any case, more accurate) – but not to forget the power of its tenets and beliefs.

Creative genius, poetic imagination, the power of Nature, and the living Spirit of the World; these are the things which will create positive change in our lives, the skills which need to be honed.

Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, and Loves Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his sacred journeys to the shamans and healers of the Amazon. Many thanks to Gary Colcombe of The Celtic Myth Podshow for the use of this extract from Ross Heaven's article.

[freddyujnf]

Me, not to sound too

Irreverent, here

I prefer shamanic miocene apes.

Who possesed cognition.

hoka hey

john

[h98hhYxM]

Oh boy!

“The Path of Pollen”
And Rosslyn Chapel

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8594724.stm