by Magpie, inspired by Living Druidry
No, it's not about the ancient past, or the iron age. Sorry.
This one's about human relationships in a much more direct fashion than the
Tree Meditation is. This deals with the sticky thread-like connections we
form with people - specifically, with our most direct ancestors. Our parents.
Like it or not. It's occurred to me that there's a preoccupation within Druidry
with reaching back into the past to form relationships with distant ancestors
- whether they be ancestors of tradition, of place or of blood. But we hardly
ever focus on those relationships with ancestors who we've had to deal with
in the most direct fashion. This meditation focuses directly on our relationships
with our parents, because it is so often through this set of relationships
that we base our understanding of other relationships.
A word of caution: This exercise can provoke emotional
responses, particularly if our parental relationships have been difficult.
However, there is no requirement to confront tricky or painful issues. The
keyword with this meditation is acceptance. Where it is difficult to accept
the relationships we have forged, that too is ok to acknowledge. There is
no requirement to make great sweeping changes, or to acknowledge more than
you can handle - if it's too much, simply honour the connection that exists,
and re-ground yourself, perhaps using the tree meditation. It will become
easier in time. Again, practice is key.
Begin again, as you would with the tree meditation - sitting,
or standing comfortably and using your breath to relax down. Centre yourself
and feel stable and secure - perhaps growing your roots to become steady and
nourished.
We then turn our attention to feeling threads. Firstly, we
exist at the end of two threads, which extend out behind us, to both of our
parents. Extending from us, might be more sticky threads, which connect us
to our children, if we have any. Some people have told me they can feel potential
children before them, which is good, too. Start this part simply by feeling
the threads, noting their tension or looseness. Their quality.
Now, turn and face the opposite direction, so that the threads
which connect you to your parents are in front of you. (You can do this mentally,
or if you're standing, it might be helpful to physically turn). Facing one
parent (your choice), we return again to our breath. Beginning again on the
in-breath, we draw in from the sticky thread that connects us, from our blood-line
all that makes us who we are from this person. With each in-breath we accept,
listening to the stories that come to us, that helped shape us, with
all the wonder and love, all the pain and brutality there may be. This need
not be a happy process - we aren't trying to achieve some utopic state of
relationship with our chosen parent, rather we are listening to them in their
truth, acknowledging them in all that they are, without blinkers of denial
or fear.
Having established a steady rhythm of breath, having breathed
our immediate ancestor in, we can use our out-breath to offer our
own story in return. With each out-breath, breathe out your own story, your
own song, your own truth. This doesn't need to be accepted, necessarily, for
often the reality is that our own ancestors are as human as us, and find it
equally as difficult to accept our truth as we find it to accept theirs. But
in offering, we at least allow them the chance.
When you feel finished, acknowledge the connection, perhaps
giving thanks, and turn again with your parents behind you, feeling once more
the earth beneath you, your centredness and your stability.
