Spirits of Place

Spirits of Place exist in any natural geologic feature but, those I have always found it easiest to relate to personally have been those connected to bodies of fresh Water and the Land surrounding them.  

My ancient ancestors in South Wales would have perceived the rivers closest to them to be deity.  My parents grew up on the banks of the Susquehannah River (in the North-Eastern part of Pennsylvania) as did many generations before them.  

I grew up near the Delaware River and I now live on the banks of the Schyulkill River. The Leni-Lenape who lived here before us called the River “Turtle Creek”.  The name has the added meaning of “Hidden” or “Refuge”.  

When I first moved here seven months ago, I sought to form a relationship, a connection to the Spirit of this Place and that meant the River and the Land surrounding it. 

I began visiting the banks of the River and found a Sycamore Tree (one of the species of Trees for which I bare a strong affection and affinity).  I made offerings and expressed a desire to build relationship with the River and the Tree and the Land.

At the suggestion of one of my wise and valued teachers, I carved Othala into the soft Earth beneath the Sycamore, then scraped the Earth and the Rune into a bowl.  I collected Water from the River into a jar and brought the Earth and the Water home.

In my bedroom I created an Altar to the Spirit of this Place where I now live.  I placed the Earth and the Water into silver dishes and scribed Othala into them and I placed a small Turtle fetish carved from green stone between them.  Every day that I am home, I light a candle and sing at this Altar, and every day that I can, I visit the Tree and the Riverbank and  I sing there as well.

The Spirit of this Place supports me and I give thanks for this new Friend.  Spirits of Place have been my allies since I was a small child and I give thanks for each one of them.  

we belong to the Land...

I grew up on this Land, on Land close to where I now live.  My mother lived in the house I grew up in while she was pregnant with me and I lived there while carrying both of my children.  My body and their bodies were made from the food and water and air of this Land.  

The places where my parents were born hold a feeling of connection for me, and the Land across the sea that my ancestors lived upon before they came to those places holds a beauty for me, calls to me like no other place on this amazing planet we call home. 

The stream in the woods down the road from my childhood home is sacred to me, as is the stream in the woods just up the road from my tree-house.  These places, this Land, is sacred and is a part of me.  The Waters, the Trees, the Soil, the Stones, are a part of my body, always.  The Spirits of these places are a part of my soul, and I am a part of theirs. 

Earth is not only the planet upon which we live, nor an abstract idea of elemental power.  Earth is the Land that we belong to. I give thanks for the Land and for the Earth, my Mother.

Twrch Trwyth

My family totem is the Wild Boar.  I know what you are thinking, “Who would want a Boar as a totem animal?”  Not me, at least not at first.  In fact, it took me a long time to understand the great honor it is to have that creature as the Spirit of my bloodline.

In Welsh mythology the Boar is the gift of the Gods to humans.  It represents the Warrior Spirit.  In all of the stories, the fiercest animal of all is Twrch Trwyth, the Wild Boar.

It is not a predatory creature, but it is fierce and unyielding.  It is dangerous and wild, strong and unstoppable.  It is noble and brave. 

The Boar is not a creature that can be used other than as food.  The only way a Wild Boar serves mankind is through its death, to feed the tribe.  Hunting the Wild Boar can be fatal if the hunter is not also smart, skilled, careful, and lucky.  Many strong, brave men have died early deaths in the attempt to bring down the great creature.

The Boar is close to the Earth and has sharp tusks and cloven hooves.  It forages for food and is not easily domesticated.  If a domesticated sow is bred in captivity with a domesticated boar and then escapes captivity, the piglets she births will be wild, even in their physical appearance. 

I would have wished for a Wolf, or a Stag, or a Horse, or some other “Great Creature” as the Totem Spirit of my family but, I have come to understand and embrace the great and noble Spirit that is Twrch Trwyth.  His image is the tattoo I wear to honor my first degree initiation.  I wear a bronze amulet with his image to honor my clan.  He reminds me that I too am a warrior, brave and strong and noble, fierce and unyielding and unstoppable.

Hail Twrch Trwyth!  Hail the Wild Boar!

An open letter to my Tradition

To the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel...

When I first found you, you inspired me

to overcome my fear of…

Everything...

I look back now on the person I was…

on the life I had then…

and it feels like someone else’s life,

another person’s memory.

You inspired me to See...

magick in our world,

magick on our land

magick in each one of you

and to risk believing

that there was magick in me…

I sat in dark corners and listened and watched

silent and still and small

but I Saw

I saw people who had magick

people with honor

people who loved and lived with integrity

people who served our Earth

and the Gods

and our world

and one another

And I learned to trust

first you and then myself

Your love has taught me

how to trust

how to serve

how to heal

how to love

how to live my life out loud

without fear or shame or the need to pretend

that I am anything other than ALL that I am

And when I finally tested that

when I risked everything

and jumped off the cliff

I discovered that you had taught me to fly

and I found you were smiling

and laughing and dancing and flying

right there beside me

We looked into the future together

with joy

and magick

and love.

and what I saw has filled me with purpose and hope.

 

I will spend the rest of my life

Teaching you to see

your beauty, and strength, and magick

the way you have taught me

to see my own,

And Re-Enchanting our World…

Together…

Earth

Earth is both the foundation and the manifestation of life and of magick.  

It is the soil in which plants grow, upon which the animals of the planet live and die.  It is the stones and the sands and the mountains.  It is the caves and the valleys through which streams and rivers flow and the shores upon which the oceans and seas and lakes move.

Earth is the dust and ash our bodies become after death.  Earth is the grave.

Earth is the body, the flesh and bones, the muscle and tendon and skin. 

Earth is the womb and the belly, the food we eat, the shelter we inhabit, the sex through which all species procreate. 

Earth is the work we do and the money we earn to purchase that food and that shelter and the clothes we wear to protect those bodies.

It is the Pentacle on the Northern altar, the Salt used to purify and protect, and the plane on which we cast the Circle.

Earth is the Circle itself, divided in four, the glyph of the Kingdom at the base of the Tree.

It is the cakes we share and the community that shares them.

It is the silence we keep, and the drum we dance to, and the dance itself.

It is golden and glowing, and a million shades of greens and browns. 

Earth is texture and form and density. It is velvet and silk brocade, wool and burlap, linen and leather, wood and metal, clay and stone, honey and chocolate, meat and bread, milk and fruit. 

Earth is the anvil and the hammer and the metal upon which we work and the manifestation of our magick.