Opening Her Shrine

The Wheel turns and Ages come to pass...it was not the beginning, but it was a beginning (WoT, RJ)

We've moved, yet again. This time, it feels right somehow. All of our things fit exactly like the house was built for us. Or maybe that we've curated what we needed without even knowing we would need it. In any case, we divvied up temple spaces...SM got the extra bedroom and I got the back porch. Brigid started almost *singing* where She wanted to be, how it should look. But first, I had to do some Work.

1.      Part I: Making Sacred Space

      Morning and night “attunements” are an excellent way to get used to where the sun (and moon/Venus/Mars/etc.) crosses, get a feel for the space, while potentially making a new residence for my Well, Flame, and Hearth; Brigid's space in my home. These "day-lies" are something She and I are very familiar with, so it felt like...continuity.

a.       Coffee hour as the sun rises. Make sure the Shrine location was acceptable, look for a better place because this one doesn’t feel quite “right”, yet.

b.      Made sure the vessel in which I temporary housed them felt good and approved. I want Her to be happy here and I have to like the feel of it. 

c.       :Brainsplode, I know exactly where I want her, but I don’t know why, yet. I just like it. Move all the things, clear all the space, sweep the floor.

 

d.      Make the space Holy, rituals held, offerings made. A few weeks of seeding the energy. This is above and beyond "Day-lies", into that fantastic realm of Witchery.
 

e.      Make the room pleasant, clearing, cleaning, plants and love. The sacred space was thus made, approved, and I felt Brigid was shining radiance in Her home. It felt like the cogs had nestled into the right places.

 

2.       Part II: Plucking the Thorns

a.       Got ready for my Flametending. Involved showers and nakedness. No pictures, lol.

b.      Tower of Support. Strength. All of them. Mother’s Day. Like a column of warm light.

c.       Showered and spoke with my Shadow (spiritual purification, if you will). Took a hard look at a painful road, came through victorious. I hadn't even realized that I shied away from the most hurtful parts of my past. I can deal with the abuse I suffered, logically, from an outsider (now, anyway) perspective. But really delving into how this all feels, allowing myself space to cry and get angry, to see Truth even when it's ugly... let's just say that when I finally get 15 min. of quiet, delving into the hurt is not high on my favorite things list.

d.      There were a few breakthroughs, but one was important… the pentacostal witchcraft spell that was cast against me. The time I “lost." 

 (Short short version: Mike's mom told him to anoint the whole house with holy water and bless every item in Jesus's name. I came home to sticky notes on ev.er.y.thing. "This shower curtain is blessed in the name of Jesus" on a yellow sticky note. Hundreds of them, everywhere. And it totally worked, because I was like, "y'all are batshit crazy. Peace out." Best loss ever because meanwhile I was becoming introduced to the goddess, met my future family, and was setting my Wheel on a different track.)

e.   Speaking of batshit crazy... I've also had to examine my time that I spent engaging in Pentacostal activities. It's not so much that I participated (my grandparents took me to spirit-filled churches since I was wee), moreover it was me examining how being "taught" to experience Spirit this way has shaped my spirituality today.

                                                               i.      Speaking in tongues

                                                             ii.      ‘Slain in the Spirit

                                                            iii.      Hatefulness, slander, …indiscretions

f.  Letting them go. After examining each Thorn, some need to just be set free, like a floating island cast off to sea. There is no benefit to carrying that weight around any longer. Some, like a particular friend that I miss but can no longer connect to, were acknowledged as painful, but sent out on a tether with a prayer. And others, Thorns that have caused pain in the past, I keep anyway, because they represent people that I have a loving relationship with now, even if we all had some growing up to do. Plus, a thistle wouldn't be a thistle without some sharp bits, would it?

(So as a side note, let me tell you about old Aunt Bessie. Bessie is my hot water heater. She gets really hot, runs for a good while. But she is a heartless bitch. When your time in the shower is up, you get "half heat" for about a minute. That's the only warning she gives before BOOM! plunging you into shivering, freezing, ice cold water. Don't mess with Aunt Bessie, even in pursuit of the Light beyond the Shadow.)

           

3.       Part III: Healing and Prayers

a.       Stepped out of that wringer and onto Brigid’s couch. This was my first insight that Brigid had helped me create a Shrine, rather than an altar. Funny that I did all of the decorating and space-creating and still She unveiled it to me in the end.

 

b.      Lit Her Flames (Three and my own personal). Upper world with the Flametender, Middle World with the Turning of the Wheel (Brigid and Lugh), and the Lower World with the Warriors and Intuitive Priestess. There's a fourth segment, but for now it's more like a temporary home for some important things.

c.       Offerings and then, just relax. Let it go a bit. … But how am I? Thanks for asking, Brigid. I’m okay, the move was hard. I missed you, too. Nice to have a home again.

d.      Prayers for friends. Centering, Releasing. Just hanging out with my Lady, realizing that this couch feels more and more like friends chatting and less like the "formal altar" I was taught so long ago.

e.      Sweet Brigid, bring your healing balm. Help me to slow down and appreciate this Beauty that surrounds me. Let me plug into the Pattern that we are creating. Guide my hand that I may keep the Flame lit.

And that's how Brigid's Shrine in the Bayou was created. Facing the sunrise, over Bayou Barataria, water shimmering, birds chirping, She has a home here <3