rise and root

***

~*~*~*~



The Flame Haired Solstice Dreamer

Cold winter brings the Everfrost and jewels every tree
In a forest new as birth and old as old can be
A flame~haired dreamer wanders there and shelters from the wind
And spins her dreams around the trees to break the ties that bind
She takes her thread and spins anew and how the Greenwood smiles
As she spins a spell for freedom and for her spirit Wylde

The dreamer finds an ancient oak and shelters in his lee
In a forest new as birth and old as old can be
Tis summer now and birdsong weaves its magick through her spells
And humming bees drum drowsily in the foxglove's bells
The dreamer sits beneath the oak with yarn upon her knee
And spins and knits and weaves her dreams and sets her spirit free

***
"When birds fall from the sky and the animals are dying, a new tribe of people...shall come unto the earth from many colors, classes, creeds, who by their actions and deeds shall make the earth green again. they will be known as the warriors of the Rainbow"

Hopi Prophecy

~ancestors~

i think you all know me enough to know how important my past is to me...not my own particular past but the past that reaches back in time.
the past that incorporates the blood of my ancestors from all branches of the tree that is mine.

some people do not take too much notice of their past, do not find it important, do not feel thay need to honour people they never met and so feel no connection to.

i am so not that person.

i think of the blood running through my veins are the same that has run through that of my ancestors going back...how long?

my irish ancestors i am still tracing, i have only been able (so far) to go back to the 1800's (irish records are so very difficult).
 however i have just been linked up with a cousin~decendant of my own great grandpa john gaul's brother thomas robert. i have had my e-mail passed onto thomas roberts own granddaughter and i am hoping to find out some new information on the family.

my williams ancestors of county durham/wales are still proving to be incredibaly difficult (even more than the irish!)

however it is my family from the south that i know the most about and it is these that really connect me to this area and it is these that i think of when i read about this...


and


and this


okay i hear you say, we kind of get what you are saying here...but...get to the point!

i will, just let me ramble for a bit!

my ancestors have been in this area for hundreds of years.
by this area i mean this one

written records only take us back so far with tracing our own personal tree and so a degree of imagination is needed to think beyond the written records.

i have traced a branch of my ancestors, the lywood, martin, barter, francis and kinsman's to a group of small villages~steeple langford, barford-st martin, south newton and compton chamberlayne~in wiltshire to the 16th century

the 1500's~good king henry, the virgin queen, shakespeare, the mona lisa is painted, the reformation in germany...

knowing the names of these people i am directly linked to through blood, walking about their tiny villages when all this is happening in the world just blows my mind!

but think a bit harder...way back then people did not travel the way we travel now, their whole world was usually a smallish area with their village being the centre of it all.

i have this dream in my mind that my mind goes way, way further back than this...to pre-history.
given the area i like to dream that my blood goes back to pre-history and that my distant ancestors maybe saw the creation of nearby stonehenge and avebury.

now to the point, i didn't mean to become so sidetracked...

the burial of the ancestors, or rather re-burial of the ancestors.

can you imagine the outcry if it was decided to exhume people from their graves and display their bones in museums?

so why is there no outcry at the display (not only display but also stashing remains in boxes) of the ancestors?

the ancestors burials were much more symbolic, they had a better evolved link with the spirits of the ancestors, the afterlife etc than many people do today and to tear their remains away from their resting place is heartbreaking.

i shall return to this topic soon~right now i need to get packing.
we are off to caln today, the base of our yearly stonewylde gathering.
a friend is getting handfasted among the stones at avebury on saturday and next week we will be making our usual trips to glastonbury, avebury and west kennet long barrow again (not so busy during the week!)
i may well post on tumblr so please check to see if i have...the link is to the left on a photo of a tree lined lane!






















7 comments:

jill said...

I dont think you ramble on its all very interesting,I wish I knew more about my roots.Have a lovely time away looking forward to seeing your photos,have fun love Jill xx

Laura said...

Laoi - I understand exactly what you are talking about. I am almost obsessed with my family history. In fact 10 years ago, I was obsessed - but due to health had to back off. I've started working on it again recently. One line is from Wales, Merthyr Tyddfil to be exact and my dream is to see it in person.
I hope you have a wonderful trip and look forward to reading about it when you get back.
blessings
~*~

Anonymous said...

I find this fascinating. I think it's amazing to feel the same blood running through your veins as those who left this world long ago. We are, after all, of their DNA. Absolutely amazing- your journey.

When I gave birth to my daughter, I imagined all my ancestral great great great -grandmothers cheering me on, that they KNEW ME and were involved in the process of me bringing another life to our family tree. Perhaps I should do a search one day - grandparents who came here directly from Italy, I bet there's some great history to discover in my own family.
You've really got me thinking.

laoi gaul~williams said...

boho i hope you start the journey~its fascinating, sometimes frustrating, but wonderful!

Mad Madam Mel said...

hi laoi,

sorry I have been meaning to comment on your post for a week now, but veg plot calls. my ex inlaws are Williams and live n Co Durham, and I know my father in-law lived in wales as a child, not sure if he was born there or moved there when little but I could find out for you. Probably no connection, but let me know if you want me to check :) melanie

laoi gaul~williams said...

oh mad madam mel how interesting :)
can i email you some details...it may be a long shot...but as i always say...you just never know :)

Mad Madam Mel said...

sure :) you can catch me at elfdream_orkney at yahoo.com

All things share the same breath~the beast, the tree, the man, the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.



Chief Seattle






Johney Gaul~1915

Johney Gaul~1915
1890-17 september 1918~France