Nimue Brown's Blog, page 60

Beyond the Mirror

(David)

BEYOND THE MIRROR

Just a glimpse:
a single flicker of instant recognition;
one cosmic flash,
and my mental shutter clicked 
and recorded the image on my memory.

One glimpse:
that’s all I got, and yet it was more than enough
to warm my soul
and raise goosebumps and convince me
that I have seen the Garden of Delight.

You were there:
dancing beauty; dancing life and strength and freedom
and you were
and are and will be an integral part 
of the Garden and you share Delight.

I loved you
and love you and will love you as only we who have seen
beyond the mirror
can love the dancing spark of another
who has shared a glimpse of the Garden.

Dancing with the Light:
colour shining through you
and fanning from your fingertips;
spinning swirls of life and love and beauty
paint the wild flowers with rainbow inspiration.
Sitting on a grassy bank, I watch you dance;
inhaling your slowly sparkling
and deeply jewelled wisdom;
at one with the Garden.

Dancing with the Word:
understanding everything
in perfect clarity; exploring
original inflection with inspired stress;
portraying the truth with immaculate movement.
Sitting on my grassy bank, I understand.
The flowers understand too.
For a remembered second,
dancer and watcher
and Light and Word
are One Spark.

Out and about

(Nimue)

As my health has improved dramatically in recent months I’m more confident about going out to events. There are quite a few hats I can wear for event purposes at this point and I thought it might be worth talking about that in case anyone wants me for anything.

I’m in the UK, and only doing physical events in the UK. I have done a few online events and talks at this point and am up for those, although I’m not desperately clever late at night so that can be an issue with time zones.

I’m an experienced speaker when it comes to Pagan topics, I’ve talked at enough events in the past that I’m not sure of a number off the top of my head. I’m comfortable talking on a broad range of Pagan and Druid topics. I prefer talking in a structured but off the cuff way, I’m not really cut out for presenting formal papers. What I do is never a thinly veiled sales pitch for a book. I’m also comfortable talking about writing and creativity.

I have a number of workshops I can offer very easily – themed around creativity and participation. I’m especially interested in getting people to have a go and creating safe spaces for people to try things. I usually do this around music or writing, but I can push into other areas at need. 

As a performer, I can sing solo and I have a lot of folk and Pagan material to draw on, and a large enough repertoire to have a shot at engaging with other people’s themes. I have my own poetry and I can read that at events, and I can read short stories and have a small number of stories I can tell. I’m part of Jessica Law and the Outlaws, with my viola, and I sing with The Ominous Folk of Hopeless, Maine. There are other configurations I could likely pull together depending on what’s needed. 

I’m not a huge fan of book signings, although I have done a couple. I’m also not a huge fan of sitting behind a table all day, so if I’m at an event I’d much rather be deployed in a more entertaining fashion. 

Comment if you’re interested and I can email you.

High magic or low magic

(David)

I’m not attracted to ceremonial magic. Not inclined to explore it, at least not to this point on my path. Low magic versus high magic, this is, where neither word describes status or quality. For me, high magic traditionally refers to ceremonial magic, cosmic magic, universal magic, astrological magic, while low magic is folk magic centred upon the land and its spirits. Folk magic is Earth magic.

This is my thing. Folk magic feels natural to me, and I believe I inherit this from some of my ancestors. It works for me because I can merge it with my everyday activities, blending the magic with the mundane so that, actually, everything is magical and nothing is only mundane. I wouldn’t say that’s my conscious intention, but it is the result and I’m happy with it.

Where does Druidry sit within this perspective? Well, I am both a druid and not only a druid. What attracts me to Druidry, the being one with nature, is precisely what for me makes Druidry folk magic. Perhaps it will be more accurate, more realistic, for me to see my Druidry as a result of my practice in folk magic. It is of the Earth, isn’t it? Druidry is. Even for those Druids who (unlike Hedge Druid me) practice ceremonial magic, Druidry itself is definitely of the Earth. Strongly so, no? If I have to categorise it – which I don’t but for the purposes of this post I’ll have a go – I’ll suggest that Druidry is Earth magic, and therefore low magic, which some practitioners choose to elevate by their ceremonies to Cosmic magic, which is high magic. All perfectly valid.

Acts of faith

(Nimue)

There’s a context for this photo. Back last Autumn, Keith Errington (pictured above) confessed to me that he sang a bit, and played guitar and wrote songs but that this wasn’t anything he normally shared much with anyone else. Somewhat nervously, he then shared some of his music with me. A few things were immediately obvious. He had the makings of a good voice, definite potential with the guitar and his songwriting was interesting. This was the experience that inspired me to get the viola out and to try to play again, so it was a really significant moment for me, too.

The above photo was taken by Karl Burnett (of Cogkneys fame) of Keith playing his first gig as a singer songwriter.

Sometimes what people most need is permission to try. Having one person believe it is worth you giving something a go can be life changing. Of course it can also be a lot of responsibility and no decent person wants to set another person up to fail. When it comes to music, I can put my faith in people confidently as a consequence of years of experience. I know what kinds of qualities make for a good musician and what kind of things in a voice are signs of the potential to be a good singer. I’ve never told someone they could sing and then found out they couldn’t, despite many people along the way being sure that they were going to be my exception. But, you don’t actually need that level of experience to encourage someone to try. 

I seriously underestimated Keith’s potential as a vocalist, and what he’s been able to do this year has surprised me. I was entirely right that he could get out there and sing. He’s been singing with Ominous Folk as well and turns out to be a natural at harmony singing. That’s not something I can predict.

There’s nothing like having someone else’s confidence in you to help a person push past nerves and self doubt. When we have faith in each other, things become possible that were previously unthinkable. When we reach out to lift and support each other, good things happen. When people are met with encouragement, they reliably grow. No one starts out perfect or able to do anything to a professional standard. We all have to spend time learning, and when there’s support for that process, the results can be impressive. In my experience you can do more to help a person grow by telling them what’s working than by picking holes in their efforts.

Seeing someone step into their own power is a beautiful thing. Watching someone do with joy the things they have longed to do is magical. Putting your faith in someone and seeing that faith lift them and change things for them is a beautiful experience to have. I can heartily recommend doing it. Praise can lead to amazing things, and we all have the power to do this for each other by boosting and encouraging each other whenever the chance arises. Compliments are little acts of magic that have the power to change lives. 

We are all creatures

(Nimue)

Self care starts with the recognition of being a mammal. We aren’t machines. We cannot push forever, work tirelessly or pour from ourselves as though we are limitless resources. We are physical beings with soft bodies, limited and finite. There is only so much use and abuse a human body can bear. There is only so much time you can spend running on willpower.

Most of the people I know would not willingly work an animal to death. They would not demand that some other soft creature trudge on relentlessly no matter what. They would not deny a small being the basics of sleep, rest, food and comfort. And yet, so many of us do this to ourselves.

If you could see yourself in the same way you would see a cat, a dog, a child, or some other limited and fragile being, would you do differently?

Generally speaking, mammals left to their own devices do not do what so many modern humans feel obliged to do. Mammals do not normally work themselves into states of misery, illness and exhaustion. 

The idea that we are separate from nature enables the idea that we can treat ourselves as something other than soft mammals. We are squishy things, and while we can be resilient in bursts, we cannot tough things out forever. We did not evolve to run endlessly with no respite.

If your soft mammal body is tired, be gentle with it. Speak kindly. Don’t ask that creature to push on without rest or comfort. If you have a hard time being kind to yourself, try to see yourself as the sort of animal you find endearing, and try to treat your physical being in the same kind way that you would respond to such a creature. 

When we can see each other as creatures in this way, it may be easier to be kind to each other. Rather than expecting the impossible and demanding that other people work like machines for our benefit, perhaps we can see our shared creaturehood and with it our shared humanity. When we can accept our humanity as being a physical thing, needing of care and gentleness, perhaps we could collectively learn how to be kinder to the rest of the world as well.

ERGOT ALKALOIDS

A poem by JW Summerisle

ERGOT ALKALOIDS

my life is a parasocial experience.

fractcals of something
black, screened purple

by the feedback loop.

amberlynn reid occupies

my absence of need, turns
the shower head on full
speed, dashing the
bathroom with wheat.

girls are much too
clever to fall
out of their prams

but not to check for poison.

girls are much too clever
to fall out of
their prams seeming

sweet but
structuring the work
of all our blame.

hard for stupid
girls to cope when

given such slick
and fragile rope.

can i hold the whole of me?

how hysterical we
women are when

called to justify
the rye and
calculate just how
much we are lost.

how hysterical we women
are and the girls just don’t

know it yet daisy-chaining
the sickened wheat thinking

the grass stems from their feet and
their whole inheritance is the sky.

JW Summerisle lives in the English East Midlands and often appears on TikTok @jw_summerisle . Their first poem appeared in the 2007 Foyles Young Poets pamphlet, and their first chapbook, kinfolk, came out somewhat recently with Black Sunflowers Poetry press.

Book reviews beyond the paradigm

This lovely blog post includes a review for my book on sustainability, a review for one of Keith Errington’s Hopeless, Maine books and a review for a spiritual book by my lovely friend Cat Treadwell.

The Passing Place

Hello, how you doing?

Yes I know that is an odd way to start a blog post but its the most important question we can ask each other, even if its the one that normally elicits gentle lies rather than uncomfortable truths. Also I am not the greatest at small talk, but I am trying to get better at it. Or at least less awkward. And sure there is probably a point to me asking beyond that which may becomes clear, or not as the case my be, but enough of that…

Regular readers of the book reviews I post will be aware of two things. The first being that I never give bad reviews, if I don’t like a book I just don’t review it, as I may not like it but that may just mean its not for me. The second thing regular readers will be aware of…

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Trust and intuition

(Nimue)

Using your intuition depends on being able to trust yourself. You need a sense that your instincts are good, that your ability to interpret is good and that your sense of how to act based on that intuition is good. This isn’t always easy and many people will have had experiences that undermine their intuition.

Being lied to takes a toll. If you’re experiencing something one way and being told it’s another, this can make you doubt your judgement. If it happens a lot, your ability to trust your own perceptions and responses can be sorely undermined. This is a deliberate goal with gaslighting where the victim is lied to in order that they become unable to trust themselves. 

It’s tricky if you don’t want the things you are told to want. If your heart doesn’t lie in some conventional space, then you may have heard a lot of things that undermine your trust in yourself. To be wilder and crave wild things when surrounded by people who are all about the money may make you second guess yourself. If you crave magic when everyone around you is obsessed with their paycheck… if you long for justice when surrounded by people who want power over others…all of these experiences can make it harder to invest in your own truth.

There are lots of ways of being in the world. However, some of those ways don’t have room for diversity, and some people are threatened by difference. Living your own truth and trusting your own vision can be an existential threat for some of the people who will encounter you. If your way of existing makes some people uncomfortable they will try and crush you to avoid their own discomfort.

If you aren’t living your truth, then you won’t be able to work with your own intuition. If your feelings have to come second to what everyone else wants, it won’t matter what your gut tells you. If you aren’t allowed to have boundaries or your own emotional responses then there is no room for your intuition to occupy.

There’s a flip side. If you have the power to make other people go along with what you feel is true regardless of any and all evidence to the contrary, you’re not being intuitive. For people who already have power, intuition is just another thing that can be weaponised for bullying. Is it really intuition? Or is it a neat trick for getting your own way? Trusting intuition certainly doesn’t mean being obliged to go along with someone’s power-over moves, no matter what they try to dress it up in.

Our intuition is strongly linked to identity, boundaries and what is right for us. How we read the dynamics of a situation should be about our own needs and preferences. If something doesn’t feel right for you, then it isn’t right and you should never be called upon to have to justify those feelings. Equally, if you feel that something would help you, or be good for you then you are entitled to those feelings no matter how anyone else sees things. We all have a duty not to harm each other, but so long as we aren’t causing harm, we should be free to do as we see fit. Intuition should be part of our navigation systems as we decide what we need and what we don’t need. If you aren’t able to trust your gut feelings, it may say far more about your circumstances than about whether your intuition is reliable.

The Norns

(Nimue)

I love Irisanya’s writing, which reliably brings passion expressed with clarity. This is an excellent little book that explores the Norns in both historic writing and modern Paganism. If you are interested in working with these enigmatic figures, this would be a great place to start. There’s a solid mix of historical information, personal experience, guided meditation and advice about working with the Norns. That advice has a lot of wider application for any relationships you might want to explore.

The Norns are most usually presented as three older women involved in spinning or weaving fate for humans. They’re part of Norse mythology, but their exact nature is never clear. Are the deities? Are there three of them? What exactly are they doing? This book explores those questions and more, managing to cover a lot of territory in very few pages.

If it seems resonant to you, then you should definitely check this book out.

https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/authors/irisanya-moon

Going Green

(Nimue)

If going green feels difficult, you might not even try. If you want to persuade someone else, then making it easy is clearly going to be the most persuasive option. Here are some tips.

Start with something that aligns with things you actively want. Saving money works well for most people. Looking for efficient, low waste, durable options is a good way of being greener while doing yourself a favour.

Sometimes you can be greener by doing nothing at all. No Mow May is a great opportunity to feel virtuous by doing nothing. Look for opportunities to be good by making less effort. Don’t go to all the hassle of replacing things that are fine. Don’t spend money on new things you don’t even need. Don’t obsessively clean everything all the time. Be kinder to yourself and the planet at the same time.

Look for the easy swaps. There are plenty of environmentally friendly things that don’t cost more, aren’t lower quality and will easily replace the things you were using. This applies to health and beauty products, cleaning products, laundry stuff and things of that ilk. Swap in something that does less harm.

Do things that directly benefit you. Eating a lot of fruit and veg (if you can) is better for your body than eating a lot of animal products and refined starches. It’s also better for the planet. Taking some of your journeys on foot or cycling (if you can) improves your health and fitness, while cutting out the short car journeys has a benefit to the environment. Putting fewer chemicals into your home environment is better for you, and for the rest of the world.

There are a lot of people out there pushing the idea that to be environmentally friendly we have to give up all the nice things and be miserable. It isn’t true. We can actually have a better quality of life if we move away from the things that harm people and planet alike.

If this sort of thing appeals to you, then you might want to check out my book – https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/our-books/earth-spirit-beyond-sustainability