It's good to start the day in a focused, spiritual way. My days begin with a yoga-based series of exercises - called Surya Namaskar (Salutation of the Sun God), though mine vary from the pattern given in the link (and many thanks to Anita Dreyer for introducing me to this). These are followed by an address to various spirits and deities who are important to me. This has grown with my travels through life, in Britain and elsewhere. The current version goes like this:
"Hail to Q'wati, the Transformer.
Hail to T'istilal, the Thunderbird,
Hail to Woden, wisest of wights,
Howls of wolves and ravens' cries,
Be sig-runes writ on this bright day.
Hail to Freya, fiery love queen,
Witchwife, healer, warrior of trance.
Hail to Gwydion, antlered lord of forests,
Hail to Arianrhod of the starry skies,
Hail to Beli Mawr, father of all,
and hail to Dôn, the great mother,
Hail to Sulis and Sarasvati of the flowing waters,
and hail to the white serpent of healing.
Hail to the gods and goddesses all,
Hail to the ancient ones, spirits most wise.
May your blessings of strength, guidance, wisdom and healing
Be with us this day, this day and all days.
So may it be."
Q'wati and T'istilal are powerful spirit beings among the Quileute people of the Olympic Peninsula in the Pacific Northwest of America. Powerful spirits brought us together and I look upon the Quileute as an extension of my family and wolf clan. Honouring the Transformer and the Thunderbird each day confirms this connection. Woden and Freya came to me on an ancient chambered tomb-shrine during a pilgrimage many years ago, and part of my ancestral line is Anglo-Saxon, traceable back to Woden. Gwydion and Arianrhod have become increasingly important to my spiritual life as I've learned and understood more about them over the last few years. Beli (Brightness) and Dôn (Flowing) are a divine couple in British mythology, parents of a line of gods, the Children of Dôn, and of humans. I trace my ancestry back to them through the royal house of North Wales that includes Rhodri Mawr.
Sulis is the local water goddess of the area where I live. She is patroness of the hot springs in Bath and, I believe, the goddess after whom the city of Salisbury and Silbury Hill are named. I live within the triangle formed by these three places. A stream runs past my house that flows into the River Avon, past Stonehenge and through Salisbury. A beautiful ebony statue of Sarasvati has adorned my home altars for about thirty years. She is a Hindu goddess of rivers, and also of music, literature, the arts and inspiration. I think of her as a relative of our own Ceridwen, only less harsh. If I'm in Shropshire, staying with my friends there, I substitute Sabrina for Sulis. A brook runs through their land and flows into the River Severn, sacred to the goddess Sabrina.
The white serpent of healing is an almost universal spirit with whom I've been working increasingly over the last few years.
The whole thing, excercises and address, only takes ten to fifteen minutes to perform and is well worth it, especially if, like me, you spend much of your day sitting indoors working. The excercises help keep me healthy, the address links me with the natural world through the spirits that inhabit parts of it, while linking me with my family, clans and tribes whose lives are enhanced and inspired by the same spirits. It also acts as a daily reminder of spiritual blessings already received, helping to maintain the connections that enhance and inspire my path through life.
Well, that's how I start my days. How about you?
Peace, love and blessings,
Greywolf /|\