~stonehenge~

 

 

i have had to take an extended break from my laptop as my bout of bruxus continued through most of last week, its only the last few days that i have really been back to 'normal' and felt able to fire up the laptop again.

 

i am so glad it has passed because sunday was the

 

gorsedd of cor gawr midwinter gathering at stonehenge

 

the gorsedd has been meeting at stonehenge since the 1990's for rituals the dawn on midsummer's...

 day and again on the sunday before the winter solstice at around sunset...

 

 

a group of us met up in the main car park and waited until the site was closed to the public and then following the sound of a drum we all made our way onto the site where we waited just outside the huge outer circle of saren stones before walking in one by one, being smudged as we stood under the trilithon.

 we all then walked around the huge inner stone gates and ring of bluestones where we found a place to stand.

swampy and i chose to stand by the two remaining bluestones that are just inside from the sarsens we walked in through, directly opposite the alter stone...i found this picture of the exact stone on wikipedia...

 

 

the space we walked through is the central one here and i spent the entire ritual connected to the rounder of the two bluestones here.

the stone in the distance on the right is the heel stone (research suggests there were two of them) which shows the point of the mid-summer sunrise.

 

 

i love this photo as it shows the waning moon slightly to the left of where i was standing with 'my' bluestone.

 

this was a very special time for, not only was it my first trip to the stones in 28 years-during which time the opportunity to get up close and personal with the stones became all but impossible but un-beknown to me at one point there was the opportunity to choose to be initiated as a bard of the gorsedd of cor gawr.

when it was announced about an hour into the ritual that initiation into the gorsedd was going to happen i thought it might have been for people who had been previously selected to undertake initiation but i was soon aware it was for anyone there.

when those who wished it were invited to form a ring around the great bush of mistletoe hanging from a tripod in the centre of the circle it was as if  something took over my feet, in fact i don't even really remember the feeling of physically 'walking' up to the mistletoe...its as if my body was just 'transported' and i joined the group of about 20 people who all then turned to face outwards and joined hands and recited three times the dedication....
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*there are various translation options for cor gawr, one being 'giants dance' which i think is most perfect*

 



~out of a pagan closet~

i have never 'broadcast' myself as following any particular pagan path, i have always kept any particular leanings, one way or t'other, tucked deep inside me

i have found myself wandering more and more down a certain path and recently i finally felt an invisible push to take a leap...to be more open about my path and celebrate it

its only a matter of days now until the winter solstice and since samhuinn i have been working my way thorough the perennial course in living druidry and reading emma restall-orr's 'what is druidry?', provided by the druid network~going from leaf dance moon to fire friend moon and soon, to move onto the quickening moon~a blue moon which falls on new years eve.

anyone who has read this blog for long enough will know i have had times where my spirituality tucks itself away deep inside me and there have been times when i felt as if it was gone from me forever.
but no, it would always come out from its warm hiding place, if only briefly, to remind me in small ways it was still there~to deep within me for too many years to ever leave me...

~a glimpse of the moon
~stopping to dip my hand into a brightly running stream
~walking some sacred or ancient space and being aware of the ancestors~of the feeling of being so at one with the land beneath my feet and with those who had walked here before me...

my spirituality has been as cyclical as the the turning of the wheel~over the years i have dipped into different strands of the pagan path, satisfying myself with knowledge gained,friends met, but never feeling settled, never feeling that particular path was right for me~never really feeling at home.



about two years ago i discovered the order of bards, ovates and druids and the british druid order and was introduced to the druid network by a fellow blogger.
i dug deeper and bought some books on the history of druids and finally i found druidcast ~ listening to the the music, interviews and stories it felt as if i had finally come home~things fell into place and made more sense than anything~in a way nothing has ever done in my spiritual life.

i have been creeping my way around the perennial course for some time now and listening to druidcast gave me the gentle push i needed.



i have found the work and thinking needed for the perennial course and the words from 'what is druidry?' to be really inspiring~really sparking my awen into life and bringing me such joy.

of course like anything you only get out of it what you put into it and i would say to anyone here looking for more insight into druidry to check the links i have here on this blog.

~all photos*laoi~