Taking up the Path of the Bard, Part II

The Druid's Garden

Creativity is the singing of the soul.  When we create, we draw from the deepest parts of who we are and express ourselves to the world.  The act of creation, the drawing forth and connecting to our inner selves, is the joy involved in creativity.  Having something nice in the end, to me, seems like a bonus! I believe this act of channeling the awen is not only inherently spiritual, it is also part of what it means to be human.  But to allow our souls to really sing, we have to grow comfortable with what we create, we have to set aside our judgement, and and to grow our skills as bards.

Last week, I explored what the bardic arts are, the cultural challenges associated with the bardic arts, and some ways community groups circumvent said challenges.   We looked at the creative spirit of children, and how that spirit…

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TECHNIQUES FOR WORKING WITH POWER ANIMALS

Good Witches Homestead

Throughout our lives, we may encounter animals of a special nature that bring to us certain gifts of the Spirit. These are power animals… and they visit us for the purpose of sharing knowledge, giving us necessary abilities, or teaching us wisdom that it is important for us to know. These may be called familiars by some (a common European term), allies (a more common North American Indian term), totems, guides, or power animals. Different cultures and different faiths have different views on exactly what constitutes a power animal. I won’t address those distinctions here. I’m not the end-all expert in every culture’s traditional correctness! But more importantly, there are certain features of power animals and how we can relate and work with them that are true and effective regardless of what they are called.

First and of greatest importance, always understand that power animal is gifts of the Spirit…

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