Saturday, October 18, 2008

The Rainbow Sea

Sorrow is a sobering wave.

crashing over the rocks of events,
crashing over physical events,
crashing over the emotions,
bubbling between the rocks on the shore.

Sorrow appears suddenly,
uncoordinated, unexpected, uncontrollably effective...
Powerful waves submerging the rational mind,
tears brighten the trees and mountains.

The wave hits the shore,
salt tears well up.
The wave soaks deep into the sand,
the mind soaks into the wave.

Waves of light hit the soul,
the soul hits waves of light.
The wreckage of human lives litter the shoreline,
as emotions wash over the rocks of rational existence.

The spirit looks into the mirror,
seeing the rainbow spirit reflected in the ocean wave.
A blue pebble sails in a sea of darkness,
with waves of undetermined light crashing on the shores.

Sorrow is a sobering wave,
when the wave strikes the soul.

Friday, October 10, 2008

The Soul Journey in Celtic Mythology

by J. Liter

This is a brief, precursory, and by no means complete or comprehensive examination of the soul journey as shown in Celtic mythology. This subject could easily fill several volumes, and perhaps, one day, I will further develop this into a book...

Celtic Mythology
The human soul is dynamic. It is ever expanding, growing. It longs to connect with other souls. It is the nature of the soul to evolve; to move closer to its goal of belonging; to journey. The soul has many memories that we are no longer aware of. Most people have forgotten to listen to the guidance of the soul as it journeys through space and time, and look instead to temporal and material things, or substances, to ease the longing they are only subconsciously aware of. We have lost our connection to the memory of our souls.

The human soul is constantly in a state of oneness with the divine. This too, we have forgotten. Many avoid the memory. Many avoid the closeness of the divine out of fear; out of ignorance; out of weakness.

The human soul is merciful. When a spark of the divine fills us when watching a sunset, witnessing the birth of a child, or feeling the warm embrace of a loved one, our souls forget that we have forgotten. We know forgiveness. Our souls embrace us and we are one with it, and with the Divine in a beautiful and sacred triad.

The human soul knows no animosity. It does not judge or condemn. It wants to pass its memories onto us. It longs to be with other souls, to help them be remembered, even as it longs to be remembered.

The Human Soul is ancient. The spiritual questions that we concern ourselves with today have been part of humanity throughout the ages. They are nothing new. The need to understand the Soul Journey - the longing, the need for belonging, the search for beauty, the need for a connection to the divine – these things have been with us forever.

Through the millennia, by visions, intuition, shamanic journeying, or insights gained through experiences, certain people have been able to find answers to these and other questions. Further, they have been able to articulate these questions and at least their version of the answers into the tales that have been passed on through the ages, through the sages, shamans, and wise men. What we today call mythology exists in every corner of the globe. Every tribe, culture, or civilization has their own mythology. Mythology was, and is, a map for the journey of the soul that is as valid today as it was when it was created.

In the Celtic world, these stories came through the centuries, from many sources, to the bards, and eventually to the medieval monks that ultimately committed the stories to writing. These stories, poems, and tales are the immense body of work known as Celtic Mythology. The soul journey as described in Celtic mythology is the same in all mythologies. It is universal. It is different from other world mythologies only in the fact that it has a distinct Celtic essence. The values, way of living, and the powerful poetics of the Celts imbue their mythology from beginning to end. No other mythology in the world calls to me as Celtic mythology, especially the Irish tradition, does. It is as the roots to the tree. The Druids