This year we made "Ranger" cookies and one of his specialties, Molasses cookies. I'd bought him a professional Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas. We hadn't used it yet, so I tested it out with the Ranger cookies. What a timesaver! I'd hesitated to use it before as it was my gift to him and fairness dictated that he should use it first. But, since it hadn't been touched for four months, it was open season! Neither of us had ever used a Kitchen Aid, so we were both thrilled with it.
It's probably a dire warning for my diet, though. It's way too easy to stir a batch of something yummy right up.
Cookies baked. Check.
Tiki torches loaded. Check.
"Altar" tables loaded. Check.
Miscellaneous supplies loaded. Check.
Saturday morning I headed to Spirit Hill for the event. The day was beautiful, with sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 70's. It was a lovely drive. I was sorry I had so many things in the Jeep that I didn't dare put the top down. It would have been fun. But, I was on the Interstate and wasn't crazy about backtracking to pick everything up.
Most of the vendors and participants were already there when I arrived. The fellowship included several new people from previous years. Everyone was friendly and anxious to interact with each other. Things looked good from the perspective of those of us who planned the event.
We began with a breakfast of fruits, juices, teas, coffees; we also had banana bread a breakfast casserole, and an apple coffee cake. Then, after some introductory remarks and announcements, we broke into various groups for workshops.
Those darned socks I'm trying to knit have put me in a crafty mood this year. The first workshop I attended was a paper bead-making workshop. Spiritually, it was designed to give us a way to make affirmations for things we wanted to work with; the intent was put "into" the bead as we made it, and it was sealed with glue and wax and then could be utilized as a necklace or bracelet to wear and keep our intentions with us at all times.
The sad part to this is, I carefully crafted my beads, and left them out there. I hope my intentions work for whomever finds them!
Another crafty workshop was one I'd mentioned on an earlier posting about this event. It was a workshop on spinning fiber with a drop spindle. Spinning is a very repetitive, almost meditative craft. Once you know how to do it and do it well, you can drift along in your own quiet place. And, you end up with yarn to make other things.
Note I said "once you know how to do it well". There's not going to be much meditation from me for quite a long time! Spinning with a drop spindle is one of the most difficult things I've attempted to do. I wonder if actually using a spinning wheel would be better? I'll have to check into that sometime.
I also attended a workshop on Fluid Dynamics. This workshop dealt with the aspects of water properties from quantum physics researcher Dr. Emoto. This was extremely interesting to hear about and consider. If any of you are interested in reading more about water energy research, you can check out this link.
Of course, we had breaks for lunch and dinner, and after darkness fell, it was time for ritual.
The theme of Symposium this year was "Simple Spirituality". Our goal was to bring people back to a less technical pace by recognizing communication with each other and most importantly, with ourselves without the modern world intruding.
So, ritual was a meditative labyrinth. It was built in a very simple Tree of Life design. The following picture (snagged from the internet) gives an idea of what the labyrinth looked like as we came down the hill.
No matter what your religious or spiritual path is, if you haven't walked a labyrinth, please take the opportunity to do so if you can. I will guarantee you will feel closer to the Divine and yourself if you walk the path.
The High Priestess' invocation was very simple - it was a charge for us to look into ourselves as we walked the candle-lit paths. She waved us into the maze single-file, making sure each of us had enough space in between each other so we could only hear our own footsteps, the beating of our own hearts and our own thoughts as we traveled through. Our approach to each of the Directions, or Quarters brought a musical sound, and a question to ponder as we walked.
At the center of the labyrinth, the embers of the firewood glowed red, inviting us to pause a moment and feel the heat, the warmth of Spirit. When we were ready, we left the fire and made our way back to the entrance.
Walking the candle-lit paths must be done carefully. The candle glow illuminates enough to see your feet as they take each step toward the center, but not enough to make a quick walk. Instead, you must place each foot down carefully; the ground is rough and bumpy with the earthworms' tunneling underneath, and several steps into the light, you begin to realize that as you place each foot, you are concentrating hard on how your foot should be placed in order to remain safe, you become focused. As the focus invades, you begin to realize that you're filled with thoughts of pure Self. There's just enough room in that Self to reach out and explore the things that come to your mind, almost unbidden. In many cases you find that those thoughts are the ones you may have been avoiding, or those for which you have been searching for answers.
You're almost sorry to come to the end of the path. But you know that the things you've discovered on that quiet journey of faith will be in your mind, waiting for the time you can give more thought to them. And, that's why I encourage people to walk the labyrinth. If you do get the chance, come back and tell me about it.
I know there are people reading this whose religious beliefs may not match mine. But we all ultimately have some sort of Divine presence we turn to, be it our own selves or a Deity called by another name.
Whichever it may be for you, I wish you peace and joy.
1 comment:
The Symposium sounds like a great experience. I love the idea behind making the beads. I've never walked a labyrinth, but have always wanted to try it.
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