Wood Sisters Spring Equinox
Preparing the Wishing Wells
Twelve of us gathered to share and celebrate the Spring Equinox last Saturday in true Wood Sisters style. And what is that style? Well, it involved both spaciousness and richness. It was a day full of contrast and balance.
I found myself walking alone through a meadow of celandines in the sweet spring sunshine at one point; at another I was telling one of my favourite myths to the group; later in the afternoon, I got to listen to another ancient story told by someone else. We chatted and laughed over tea and a delicious feast; we moulded beeswax to float on the well water, alight with our wishes for the world; and we explored our inner worlds through guided meditation.
But most of all, we shared. This is a collaborative group and the sense of wealth when 12 woman of all ages and backgrounds share their thoughts on mysteries everyday and ancient, practical and profound, is a moving, enlightening and inspiring process. Sometimes we share jokes, songs and poems, sometimes insights from our lives, sometimes knowledge from our studies. No-one has to contribute but everybody does and it would be difficult to leave not feeling richer.
Making floating candles for the well
The menu of the day is simple and for many of us these days are a sanctuary from the busyness of our everyday lives. Yet the ingredients are soul food and they open us and stretch us in ways that are slowly but surely transformational. By allowing ourselves the space to explore both the surface and the depths, we are granted insights that nourish and change us.
The Spring Equinox is a swirl of green and yellow for me: nettle soup, celandines, Persephone the Spring maiden; a green sacred grove in the forest of my heart. But it does not leave unacknowledged the fertile, dark, composted, gloom of the underworld, nor Arianrhod, the fierce, silver goddess of the moon; nor the difficulties of our lives and the learning that comes out of that.
I look forward to the 1st May, the beginning of the Celtic Summer, Beltane, our next gathering. I shall be preparing the Arthurian myth, The Loathly Lady, and can hardly wait for the wisdom pot to be full of everyone’s reflections and understandings of that story, plus all the other mysteries that will emerge.
Sue
After the outdoor Storytelling