February 3, 2025 • 31 mins
In this episode we discuss the Wheel of the Year, discussing its significance for modern spirituality and finding deep connections despite global differences. From reflecting on the role of seasons and natural cycles to understanding how folklore and local traditions shape our celebrations, this session offers a heartfelt meditation connecting us to the earth, our ancestors, and each other. Join us as we explore community, nature, and the shared experience of observing the ever-turning cycles of life.
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(00:10):
Welcome to thismagical life where
we explore Druidry,mindfulness, and
the magic of living.
I'm your host,Philip Carr-Gomm.
(00:35):
Hello, I havea banner to
say I'm live.
Oh crikey,here we go.
Hello everyoneI'm not sure
where you're from,but bless you
all for joining.
This is, thisis just awesome.
This is thething I love more
than anything.
Whenever I'm kindof asked to do
this, this isJust incredible.
(00:57):
What a fantasticcommunity all over
the world and I'mbabbling already
and I tell you whatI'm going to take
my glasses off.
So I'm not going tobe able to see these
things, but I canall I can see when
I look at myselfis reflections
in my glasses.
So I'm going totake take it off.
So you've allbecome a blur
now, but welcometo everybody.
(01:18):
And thank you forjoining me this
evening But Ithought, um, today I
would kind of babbleon a bit about
the wheel of theyear because it's
kind of been on mymind a bit lately.
Um, kind of havinga review, I guess
it's that time ofyear, you know, New
Year's always makeyou kind of review
(01:40):
things, don't they?
Kind of look ateverything and
go, okay, what is,what's What is it
I'm looking at?
Particularly for,for me, I always
look at what is itabout my Druidry
and, um, what isit, what are the
important things?
What are the thingsthat I look at that,
that I feel give mea good structure,
(02:04):
a good anchor pointand a good way
of working withthe natural world
throughout the year?
And, and reallythe modern wheel
of the year.
Because it is a, amodern invention.
I mean, NEN, um,and, uh, the founder
of OD and GeraldGardner kind of got
together at Spielplats, the, the,
(02:26):
um, naturist placeand sat down and,
and pulled togetherkind of the, the
cross quarter daysand the, uh, of, of,
um, you know, EMA.
and the celestialthings, so the
solstices andthe equinoxes.
Because these thingsnever used to all
be, um, celebratedin a, in one system.
(02:50):
It was alwayskind of a bit
hickledy pickledy.
And they, theycreated together
this fabulous kindof structure, which
gives us a wonderfulrolling feel
throughout the year.
A way of hanging.
a spirituality,regardless of what
that spirituality,whether you're
a druid, whetheryou're a Wiccan,
(03:11):
whether you'rea witch, whether
you're a heathen,whatever these
things are,everybody has kind
of a, a commonstructure that can
be worked whereveryou live in, in
this fabulousglobe of ours.
And I've kindof been thinking
(03:32):
about it againand going back
to basics with itand kind of trying
because I write,um, Celebrational,
um, rituals for ouropen, uh, Gorset
rituals, whereany, anybody is
welcome to come.
at the Long Manof Wilmington,
(03:54):
in Sussex.
I'm constantlytrying to find new
ways to kind of,you know, Think
about why we'recelebrating at
that particulartime of year.
So we've gotImolk coming up,
uh, or Candlemas,or various other
different names,uh, for this
particular time.
(04:15):
And for some it'sthe first, um,
buddings of spring.
It's dedicated tothe goddess Bridget,
um, It's a senseof eternal flame,
of that rekindling.
Um, it's a verysacred healing time
for divination andall kinds of things.
(04:36):
And that's a broadsense, and that's
kind of founded inan Irish mythology,
which has someconnotations with
lots of Britainand lots of
Northern Europe.
But how do we, howdoes somebody in
I don't know, sayBrazil, celebrate.
(04:59):
So do you have thatkind of Wheel of
the Year sense ofa turning season?
For us it's coldright now, the sun
is very low, wedon't have much
light, althoughit's growing now,
thankfully, afterthe winter solstice.
So how does theWheel of the
kind of relateto modern pagans
(05:23):
across the world?
I am sure thatEvery, every country
in every partof this fabulous
globe has theirown folklore, their
own ritual andtheir own way of
celebrating that.
And I'm fascinatedby how we can be a
community of Druidsand, a fabulous
(05:47):
thing that I'vecompletely stolen,
which is a Druidadjacent, which
people, which arelike minded people
in any other waycould be called,
um, a druid, butthey have their
own particularway of working.
Um, how do youwork with your
own seasons?
(06:08):
How do you work?
What is yourfolklore for the
first glimmeringsof spring?
What is your,um, what are
your stories?
What areyour things?
Because I thinkthese things
bring communitiesthat seem sort of
fairly disparate.
I think thatbrings a sense of
(06:30):
community regardlessof what your
spiritual path is.
Anybody who'slistened to me
rabbit on beforeknows that I'm
all about thissense of of a
global communityand about bringing
people togetherwith that sense
of of similarityrather than kind
of emphasizingthe differences.
(06:52):
And I think TheWheel of the Year,
as it's been takenon in various parts
of, uh, of thisglobe, uh, and
in varying, um,spiritualities,
has become a reallyuniversal language
that allows us, ashuman beings, to
(07:12):
begin to reconnectwith our landscape.
It, it's, Whateverlandscape that
is, whether you'rein Northern, the
Northern Hemisphere,whether you're
in the SouthernHemisphere, or
whether you'reanywhere around
the equator, thatsense of the turning
cycles, the cyclesof the sun and the
(07:35):
stars and the moon,and the cycles of
the land beneath ourfeet, with which we
correspond, thosecelestial cycles,
that blending.
of agricultural andcelestial has become
a really powerfultool not just for
(07:57):
reconnecting usback to nature but
for giving us apsychological moment
every six weeks orweeks or so where we
can stop and take abreath we can stop
and take a breathwith the the earth
(08:19):
beneath our feetand look down and
go, what's it doingright this minute?
Right this minute inSussex by the sea.
It's cold.
It's been verycrisp for the
past few days.
(08:40):
It's beenvery clear.
And when you gooutside, your
cheeks are kindof, you know, dry.
pinched, and, andeverything, and
the birds are allkind of going, oh,
I'm not entirelysure about this.
Could you put somefood on the bird
feeder, please?
Because it'sa bit lacking.
So for me, thistime of year is
about keeping warm.
(09:03):
It's aboutkeeping close.
It's about planning.
It's about doing allthat kind of idea.
But in the SouthernHemisphere, It's,
it's completelythe opposite.
They're goinginto, you know, the
autumn time and um,
yes, autumntime, isn't it?
(09:23):
I'm so turnedaround, we've had
such a bizarreweek this week,
so forgive me if Ibramble too much.
Um, but at thismoment, wherever
you are on thisfabulous place we
call home, what isit doing for you?
What is this time?
And what are thestories associated
with this time?
(09:45):
How do weconnect with our
ancestors at thisparticular point?
And how do weconnect with
ourselves?
So if I'm coldand I'm wrapping
up and I'm tryingto concentrate
on the growinglight in my space,
How My thoughtsturn to planning.
(10:06):
My thoughts turnto new seeds being
planted and to,um, how I'm going
to invest in whatI'm, I'm doing.
Creative projectsor, or, you know,
kind of physicalprojects with
the house or thegarden or whatever.
(10:27):
But what is,what is that?
glimmerings?
How do you findthat we, we had a.
a lady from Brazilcalled Corina,
lovely, lovely lady,many years ago, who
came to Britain tostay for a while,
and she said thereason she'd come to
Britain for a whilewas to experience
(10:47):
seasons, becausein her home, It was
the, the changeswere there, but
they were so subtlethat you had to look
very hard whereveryou were in the
landscape, whateverseason it was.
You had to lookvery hard to
find the changesbecause they were
(11:08):
very, very small.
And because, becausethe Weather was kind
of pretty standard,so how she explained
it to me, and it,and that's always
struck me, so whenI talk, when I'm
talking to a kindof global community,
which I need toput my glasses
on to see you allthere, um, I kind
(11:31):
of wonder what it'slike for you, and,
and, And at thistime of year what,
what you're doing.
I'm going to putmy glasses back on
because I'm, I'mkind of rambling
and there were loadsand loads of things
that I noted downon a piece of paper
that I'm kind offorgetting, I think.
So,
finding how thewheel of the year
(11:55):
is relevant toa modern pagan,
not necessarilypagan, but a modern
spirituality, amodern path where
we're walking andtrying to be in
tune with natureafter being subtly
and not so subtlycut off from it,
(12:16):
not necessarily bychoice, but by this
overriding senseof global kind of
what's the word?
Commercializingof the world and
seeing the world asnothing more than
sources of materialand resources to
be used, whichmade a disconnect
(12:37):
for so many of us.
It's become areally powerful
way to bring thatback and to, to
really look at thebalance of life
within ourselvesand a reconnect
(13:00):
with the balanceof life around us,
because I think The,the lack of that,
um, harmed us all,actually, I think,
in some fairlyfundamental ways.
I think it'saffected our mental
health and ourspiritual health
(13:23):
and Using the Wheelof the Year as a
focus to kind of tapin with ourselves
and align thatwith the rhythm
of what's goingon in the moment.
You get that everysix weeks, that, as
I say, that, thattime to just stop
and breathe and say,how do I celebrate
(13:47):
this moment?
How do I celebratewhere I'm at
in myself andcelebrate where
my landscape is?
Right this minute.
And how can that,how can I give and
receive powerfulenergy that's
(14:10):
always been thereand yet I didn't
have a language tocommunicate either
with myself orwith anyone else
or even with thelandscape itself.
So my thoughtson the wheel
of the year are
magically,spiritually,
(14:31):
emotionally.
It's a reallyuseful tool.
So this yearI'm going to be
concentrating evenmore on finding
kind of likelocal folklore.
to put into myceremonies when
I write them.
Even more, justtaking the time to
(14:52):
look at the subtlechanges, day in and
day out, and tiethat in with the
moon cycles, and howthe sun is at that
particular moment,and how I feel about
life in that moment.
Because it, It'ssuch an exchange.
(15:13):
It's a powerfulexchange to look
globally, whichis sometimes a
bit scary, butalso look at the
minutiae of thingsthat are going
on in the moment.
I think
(15:33):
when we can do thatfor ourselves, when
we can kind of lookat how we connect
with the landscape,I think it can heal
a lot of things.
It can heal a lot ofthings in our heads.
It can also help uslisten, listen to
(15:55):
the, to the land.
It can help us feelour ancestors and
their inspirationthrough the legacy
of folklore and, andstories and myth.
And they can helpus actually listen
to each other, Ithink, a lot more.
(16:17):
I have this image,whenever I look
up at the moon,whatever phase it's
in, whatever ishappening around it,
and I imagine peopleall over the world
all looking up atthe same moon, many
of them possiblyhaving the same
(16:37):
kind of thoughtsI'm having at that
particular moment,
and if I'm feelingparticularly
down, if life hasbeen difficult
or overwhelming,
just that That fewmoments of breath,
of looking at thatpowerful moon,
(17:00):
whatever phaseit's in, knowing
that that phase isgoing to continue
on and move aroundto the next phase,
and understandingthat that is how
my life is and howmy life will work,
and by the time thenext phase of the
moon comes around, Iwill be in the next
(17:22):
phase, next seasonalphase, and I will
be moving throughwhatever process I'm
in at the moment,it's incredibly
comforting.
And to know thefact that other
people are lookingup and doing the
same kind of thingis again, incredibly
comforting.
(17:43):
Um, I don'tever feel alone.
anymore with thatkind of feeling.
And kind ofhanging all of
that on the wheelof the year has,
has been a savinggrace for so many
times in my life.
I found that senseof being in a
(18:07):
community even whenI've been completely
on my own.
And
for somebody who'sa bit of spent a lot
of time on my own.
Um, That's quite,that's been quite
powerful for me.
I mean, it maynot be the same
for everybodyelse when they
look at the moon.
I find it verydifficult when
(18:29):
people wantto go and live
on the moon.
The idea of peoplebeing up there and
living on the moonjust kind of makes
me feel, don'tfeel comfortable
with that at all.
It's like, getoff my moon.
It's my spiritualplace, get off.
But, you know.
But, um, I thinkI'm kind of
(18:50):
rambling a bit.
So I'm putting myglasses on so you
won't be able tosee my eyes again.
So let'shave a look.
I've been chatteringon about the Wheel
of the Year andemotional states
and how comfortingit makes me feel.
I've just looked,I've just, because
(19:12):
I've put my glasseson I can see some
of the the thecomments and other
people are sayingthe same thing
about the moon.
That's fabulous.
I, I, yeah, I agree.
No peopleon the moon.
Yeah, no peopleon the moon.
Damn it.
Um, I thinkI've chatted.
Oh, I'm justlooking at the time.
Um, I think that'senough chatter.
(19:34):
What I'd actuallylike to do now
is, is maybe
let's just connectwith the kind
of notion of thewheel of the year.
I've just seenanother one.
Get off my moon.
Um,
I think I wouldquite like to
(19:55):
do a meditationbecause I'm feeling
that actually.
I need to justfeel that sense
of communicationand connection,
regardless ofwhatever your
season is.
Let's just takea few minutes, if
(20:16):
you are willing.
Let's take a breathand maybe close
our eyes together.
And take a long,slow breath
with the earthbeneath our feet.
(20:46):
Take a long,slow breath
and breathein the season.
Wherever youare, whatever
is happening inyour part of the
world, feel theseason, whether
(21:08):
it's warm, cold,whether it's humid.
Or dusty, or snowy.
Breathe in thatsense of the moment.
How the land is.
(21:36):
And take a long,slow breath.
To feel theancestors.
Through theirstories.
Through theirlegacy that is
held within you.
Like the roots of agreat, great tree.
(22:01):
Feel yourselfconnected to this
nurturing land,
held by it
in all itsseasons, in all
its majesty, in allits frightening and
(22:23):
beautiful moods.
Feel your feetfirmly placed
in this season,
in this moment.
A
(22:45):
sense of community.
A sense of awe, asense of majesty
at the turning,moving cycles going
on all around us.
Sustainingevery plant,
(23:09):
every animal, everyrealm of existence,
this great,powerful globe
that is our home.
(23:31):
And now take along, slow breath
with the bloodpulsing through
your veins.
Feel that blood,that life surging
through you.
(23:53):
And feel itconnected to every
stream, every river.
All the waters ofthe earth running
through like veins,feeding, nurturing,
cleaning, andnurturing more life.
(24:21):
Our blood pulsingwith the rhythms
of the earth,ebbing and flowing
like the oceans,
rising and falling
with the tides,with the moon,
(24:43):
with the seasons,flowing through the
land as it changes.
As it grows,
as it flourishes andflowers and fruits
and then turns toautumn and winter.
(25:03):
At times it is ice,
at times itis parched,
but always itflows once more.
And then takea long, slow
(25:25):
breath with
the air fillingyou along.
The breath of liferunning through us.
The breath of life,
(25:46):
the breath of song,the breath of story,
the inspirationsthat fly
through the air.
Coming on thewings of birds,
of butterflies,and of all
(26:07):
flying things.
Feel your voiceriding on that
breath, singing thesong of now, singing
the song of thepast, and singing
into the future.
(26:31):
A chorus, a symphonyin harmony with
all life thatlives and breathes
on this beautifulplace we call home.
Take a long, slowbreath again.
(26:56):
The stars in theheavens above us,
with the spiritsunknown that
surround us.
Feel how theyebb and flow, how
creativity risesand falls, how the
(27:17):
cycles of life turn
and shift,
carrying usup and down
through emotions,
so many emotions,so much love, so
(27:40):
much laughter.
Sadness at times,but always with
every breath.
We are inspired asthe wheel turns, as
we keep ourselvesaligned with the
power, the beauty,and the nurturing
(28:03):
energy of theseasons, of the
earth, and withall life upon it,
ever free.
We are a worldwidecommunity that
(28:26):
come together Withour similarities,
our loves ofthis nature,
this nurture,
this inspiration
that is
(28:48):
The turning wheelof the year and
one long, slowbreath with this
global community.
Powerful,
(29:09):
inspiring
and strong
in our care for eachother and for this
place we call home.
(29:34):
And as webreathe together,
let's open oureyes once more
and feel
that senseof community,
that senseof Druidry.
that hangs onthis modern, yet
(29:57):
beautiful toolthat we call the
Wheel of the Year.
And however itworks for you,
however your seasonsmanifest, however
your lives alignwith your stories
from your ancestors,and for new stories
(30:18):
that you create inthe future, know
that there arealways people who
will look up at thephases of the moon.
And feel you,and feel me, and
feel each other.
And no, we arenever alone.
(30:39):
This is a circlethat is open, but
it is never broken.
The ever turningwheel of the year
is a powerful thing.
And with that, Iwill wish you good
night, and thank youfor joining me, and
I hope to see youagain in the future.
(31:00):
Look up at themoon, and I'll be
looking at you.
Through that mirror.
Be well, bepowerful, change
the world andkeep them off the
wretched moon.
Bless them.
Good nighteverybody.
And thank youfor joining me.
(31:20):
I hope you willhave beautiful
turning season.
Take care.
That's all forthis episode of
This Magical Life.
If you enjoyedit, don't forget
to subscribe andshare with friends.
Welcome to thismagical life where
we explore Druidry,mindfulness, and
the magic of living.
I'm your host,Philip Carr-Gomm.
(00:35):
Hello, I havea banner to
say I'm live.
Oh crikey,here we go.
Hello everyoneI'm not sure
where you're from,but bless you
all for joining.
This is, thisis just awesome.
This is thething I love more
than anything.
Whenever I'm kindof asked to do
this, this isJust incredible.
(00:57):
What a fantasticcommunity all over
the world and I'mbabbling already
and I tell you whatI'm going to take
my glasses off.
So I'm not going tobe able to see these
things, but I canall I can see when
I look at myselfis reflections
in my glasses.
So I'm going totake take it off.
So you've allbecome a blur
now, but welcometo everybody.
(01:18):
And thank you forjoining me this
evening But Ithought, um, today I
would kind of babbleon a bit about
the wheel of theyear because it's
kind of been on mymind a bit lately.
Um, kind of havinga review, I guess
it's that time ofyear, you know, New
Year's always makeyou kind of review
(01:40):
things, don't they?
Kind of look ateverything and
go, okay, what is,what's What is it
I'm looking at?
Particularly for,for me, I always
look at what is itabout my Druidry
and, um, what isit, what are the
important things?
What are the thingsthat I look at that,
that I feel give mea good structure,
(02:04):
a good anchor pointand a good way
of working withthe natural world
throughout the year?
And, and reallythe modern wheel
of the year.
Because it is a, amodern invention.
I mean, NEN, um,and, uh, the founder
of OD and GeraldGardner kind of got
together at Spielplats, the, the,
(02:26):
um, naturist placeand sat down and,
and pulled togetherkind of the, the
cross quarter daysand the, uh, of, of,
um, you know, EMA.
and the celestialthings, so the
solstices andthe equinoxes.
Because these thingsnever used to all
be, um, celebratedin a, in one system.
(02:50):
It was alwayskind of a bit
hickledy pickledy.
And they, theycreated together
this fabulous kindof structure, which
gives us a wonderfulrolling feel
throughout the year.
A way of hanging.
a spirituality,regardless of what
that spirituality,whether you're
a druid, whetheryou're a Wiccan,
(03:11):
whether you'rea witch, whether
you're a heathen,whatever these
things are,everybody has kind
of a, a commonstructure that can
be worked whereveryou live in, in
this fabulousglobe of ours.
And I've kindof been thinking
(03:32):
about it againand going back
to basics with itand kind of trying
because I write,um, Celebrational,
um, rituals for ouropen, uh, Gorset
rituals, whereany, anybody is
welcome to come.
at the Long Manof Wilmington,
(03:54):
in Sussex.
I'm constantlytrying to find new
ways to kind of,you know, Think
about why we'recelebrating at
that particulartime of year.
So we've gotImolk coming up,
uh, or Candlemas,or various other
different names,uh, for this
particular time.
(04:15):
And for some it'sthe first, um,
buddings of spring.
It's dedicated tothe goddess Bridget,
um, It's a senseof eternal flame,
of that rekindling.
Um, it's a verysacred healing time
for divination andall kinds of things.
(04:36):
And that's a broadsense, and that's
kind of founded inan Irish mythology,
which has someconnotations with
lots of Britainand lots of
Northern Europe.
But how do we, howdoes somebody in
I don't know, sayBrazil, celebrate.
(04:59):
So do you have thatkind of Wheel of
the Year sense ofa turning season?
For us it's coldright now, the sun
is very low, wedon't have much
light, althoughit's growing now,
thankfully, afterthe winter solstice.
So how does theWheel of the
kind of relateto modern pagans
(05:23):
across the world?
I am sure thatEvery, every country
in every partof this fabulous
globe has theirown folklore, their
own ritual andtheir own way of
celebrating that.
And I'm fascinatedby how we can be a
community of Druidsand, a fabulous
(05:47):
thing that I'vecompletely stolen,
which is a Druidadjacent, which
people, which arelike minded people
in any other waycould be called,
um, a druid, butthey have their
own particularway of working.
Um, how do youwork with your
own seasons?
(06:08):
How do you work?
What is yourfolklore for the
first glimmeringsof spring?
What is your,um, what are
your stories?
What areyour things?
Because I thinkthese things
bring communitiesthat seem sort of
fairly disparate.
I think thatbrings a sense of
(06:30):
community regardlessof what your
spiritual path is.
Anybody who'slistened to me
rabbit on beforeknows that I'm
all about thissense of of a
global communityand about bringing
people togetherwith that sense
of of similarityrather than kind
of emphasizingthe differences.
(06:52):
And I think TheWheel of the Year,
as it's been takenon in various parts
of, uh, of thisglobe, uh, and
in varying, um,spiritualities,
has become a reallyuniversal language
that allows us, ashuman beings, to
(07:12):
begin to reconnectwith our landscape.
It, it's, Whateverlandscape that
is, whether you'rein Northern, the
Northern Hemisphere,whether you're
in the SouthernHemisphere, or
whether you'reanywhere around
the equator, thatsense of the turning
cycles, the cyclesof the sun and the
(07:35):
stars and the moon,and the cycles of
the land beneath ourfeet, with which we
correspond, thosecelestial cycles,
that blending.
of agricultural andcelestial has become
a really powerfultool not just for
(07:57):
reconnecting usback to nature but
for giving us apsychological moment
every six weeks orweeks or so where we
can stop and take abreath we can stop
and take a breathwith the the earth
(08:19):
beneath our feetand look down and
go, what's it doingright this minute?
Right this minute inSussex by the sea.
It's cold.
It's been verycrisp for the
past few days.
(08:40):
It's beenvery clear.
And when you gooutside, your
cheeks are kindof, you know, dry.
pinched, and, andeverything, and
the birds are allkind of going, oh,
I'm not entirelysure about this.
Could you put somefood on the bird
feeder, please?
Because it'sa bit lacking.
So for me, thistime of year is
about keeping warm.
(09:03):
It's aboutkeeping close.
It's about planning.
It's about doing allthat kind of idea.
But in the SouthernHemisphere, It's,
it's completelythe opposite.
They're goinginto, you know, the
autumn time and um,
yes, autumntime, isn't it?
(09:23):
I'm so turnedaround, we've had
such a bizarreweek this week,
so forgive me if Ibramble too much.
Um, but at thismoment, wherever
you are on thisfabulous place we
call home, what isit doing for you?
What is this time?
And what are thestories associated
with this time?
(09:45):
How do weconnect with our
ancestors at thisparticular point?
And how do weconnect with
ourselves?
So if I'm coldand I'm wrapping
up and I'm tryingto concentrate
on the growinglight in my space,
How My thoughtsturn to planning.
(10:06):
My thoughts turnto new seeds being
planted and to,um, how I'm going
to invest in whatI'm, I'm doing.
Creative projectsor, or, you know,
kind of physicalprojects with
the house or thegarden or whatever.
(10:27):
But what is,what is that?
glimmerings?
How do you findthat we, we had a.
a lady from Brazilcalled Corina,
lovely, lovely lady,many years ago, who
came to Britain tostay for a while,
and she said thereason she'd come to
Britain for a whilewas to experience
(10:47):
seasons, becausein her home, It was
the, the changeswere there, but
they were so subtlethat you had to look
very hard whereveryou were in the
landscape, whateverseason it was.
You had to lookvery hard to
find the changesbecause they were
(11:08):
very, very small.
And because, becausethe Weather was kind
of pretty standard,so how she explained
it to me, and it,and that's always
struck me, so whenI talk, when I'm
talking to a kindof global community,
which I need toput my glasses
on to see you allthere, um, I kind
(11:31):
of wonder what it'slike for you, and,
and, And at thistime of year what,
what you're doing.
I'm going to putmy glasses back on
because I'm, I'mkind of rambling
and there were loadsand loads of things
that I noted downon a piece of paper
that I'm kind offorgetting, I think.
So,
finding how thewheel of the year
(11:55):
is relevant toa modern pagan,
not necessarilypagan, but a modern
spirituality, amodern path where
we're walking andtrying to be in
tune with natureafter being subtly
and not so subtlycut off from it,
(12:16):
not necessarily bychoice, but by this
overriding senseof global kind of
what's the word?
Commercializingof the world and
seeing the world asnothing more than
sources of materialand resources to
be used, whichmade a disconnect
(12:37):
for so many of us.
It's become areally powerful
way to bring thatback and to, to
really look at thebalance of life
within ourselvesand a reconnect
(13:00):
with the balanceof life around us,
because I think The,the lack of that,
um, harmed us all,actually, I think,
in some fairlyfundamental ways.
I think it'saffected our mental
health and ourspiritual health
(13:23):
and Using the Wheelof the Year as a
focus to kind of tapin with ourselves
and align thatwith the rhythm
of what's goingon in the moment.
You get that everysix weeks, that, as
I say, that, thattime to just stop
and breathe and say,how do I celebrate
(13:47):
this moment?
How do I celebratewhere I'm at
in myself andcelebrate where
my landscape is?
Right this minute.
And how can that,how can I give and
receive powerfulenergy that's
(14:10):
always been thereand yet I didn't
have a language tocommunicate either
with myself orwith anyone else
or even with thelandscape itself.
So my thoughtson the wheel
of the year are
magically,spiritually,
(14:31):
emotionally.
It's a reallyuseful tool.
So this yearI'm going to be
concentrating evenmore on finding
kind of likelocal folklore.
to put into myceremonies when
I write them.
Even more, justtaking the time to
(14:52):
look at the subtlechanges, day in and
day out, and tiethat in with the
moon cycles, and howthe sun is at that
particular moment,and how I feel about
life in that moment.
Because it, It'ssuch an exchange.
(15:13):
It's a powerfulexchange to look
globally, whichis sometimes a
bit scary, butalso look at the
minutiae of thingsthat are going
on in the moment.
I think
(15:33):
when we can do thatfor ourselves, when
we can kind of lookat how we connect
with the landscape,I think it can heal
a lot of things.
It can heal a lot ofthings in our heads.
It can also help uslisten, listen to
(15:55):
the, to the land.
It can help us feelour ancestors and
their inspirationthrough the legacy
of folklore and, andstories and myth.
And they can helpus actually listen
to each other, Ithink, a lot more.
(16:17):
I have this image,whenever I look
up at the moon,whatever phase it's
in, whatever ishappening around it,
and I imagine peopleall over the world
all looking up atthe same moon, many
of them possiblyhaving the same
(16:37):
kind of thoughtsI'm having at that
particular moment,
and if I'm feelingparticularly
down, if life hasbeen difficult
or overwhelming,
just that That fewmoments of breath,
of looking at thatpowerful moon,
(17:00):
whatever phaseit's in, knowing
that that phase isgoing to continue
on and move aroundto the next phase,
and understandingthat that is how
my life is and howmy life will work,
and by the time thenext phase of the
moon comes around, Iwill be in the next
(17:22):
phase, next seasonalphase, and I will
be moving throughwhatever process I'm
in at the moment,it's incredibly
comforting.
And to know thefact that other
people are lookingup and doing the
same kind of thingis again, incredibly
comforting.
(17:43):
Um, I don'tever feel alone.
anymore with thatkind of feeling.
And kind ofhanging all of
that on the wheelof the year has,
has been a savinggrace for so many
times in my life.
I found that senseof being in a
(18:07):
community even whenI've been completely
on my own.
And
for somebody who'sa bit of spent a lot
of time on my own.
Um, That's quite,that's been quite
powerful for me.
I mean, it maynot be the same
for everybodyelse when they
look at the moon.
I find it verydifficult when
(18:29):
people wantto go and live
on the moon.
The idea of peoplebeing up there and
living on the moonjust kind of makes
me feel, don'tfeel comfortable
with that at all.
It's like, getoff my moon.
It's my spiritualplace, get off.
But, you know.
But, um, I thinkI'm kind of
(18:50):
rambling a bit.
So I'm putting myglasses on so you
won't be able tosee my eyes again.
So let'shave a look.
I've been chatteringon about the Wheel
of the Year andemotional states
and how comfortingit makes me feel.
I've just looked,I've just, because
(19:12):
I've put my glasseson I can see some
of the the thecomments and other
people are sayingthe same thing
about the moon.
That's fabulous.
I, I, yeah, I agree.
No peopleon the moon.
Yeah, no peopleon the moon.
Damn it.
Um, I thinkI've chatted.
Oh, I'm justlooking at the time.
Um, I think that'senough chatter.
(19:34):
What I'd actuallylike to do now
is, is maybe
let's just connectwith the kind
of notion of thewheel of the year.
I've just seenanother one.
Get off my moon.
Um,
I think I wouldquite like to
(19:55):
do a meditationbecause I'm feeling
that actually.
I need to justfeel that sense
of communicationand connection,
regardless ofwhatever your
season is.
Let's just takea few minutes, if
(20:16):
you are willing.
Let's take a breathand maybe close
our eyes together.
And take a long,slow breath
with the earthbeneath our feet.
(20:46):
Take a long,slow breath
and breathein the season.
Wherever youare, whatever
is happening inyour part of the
world, feel theseason, whether
(21:08):
it's warm, cold,whether it's humid.
Or dusty, or snowy.
Breathe in thatsense of the moment.
How the land is.
(21:36):
And take a long,slow breath.
To feel theancestors.
Through theirstories.
Through theirlegacy that is
held within you.
Like the roots of agreat, great tree.
(22:01):
Feel yourselfconnected to this
nurturing land,
held by it
in all itsseasons, in all
its majesty, in allits frightening and
(22:23):
beautiful moods.
Feel your feetfirmly placed
in this season,
in this moment.
A
(22:45):
sense of community.
A sense of awe, asense of majesty
at the turning,moving cycles going
on all around us.
Sustainingevery plant,
(23:09):
every animal, everyrealm of existence,
this great,powerful globe
that is our home.
(23:31):
And now take along, slow breath
with the bloodpulsing through
your veins.
Feel that blood,that life surging
through you.
(23:53):
And feel itconnected to every
stream, every river.
All the waters ofthe earth running
through like veins,feeding, nurturing,
cleaning, andnurturing more life.
(24:21):
Our blood pulsingwith the rhythms
of the earth,ebbing and flowing
like the oceans,
rising and falling
with the tides,with the moon,
(24:43):
with the seasons,flowing through the
land as it changes.
As it grows,
as it flourishes andflowers and fruits
and then turns toautumn and winter.
(25:03):
At times it is ice,
at times itis parched,
but always itflows once more.
And then takea long, slow
(25:25):
breath with
the air fillingyou along.
The breath of liferunning through us.
The breath of life,
(25:46):
the breath of song,the breath of story,
the inspirationsthat fly
through the air.
Coming on thewings of birds,
of butterflies,and of all
(26:07):
flying things.
Feel your voiceriding on that
breath, singing thesong of now, singing
the song of thepast, and singing
into the future.
(26:31):
A chorus, a symphonyin harmony with
all life thatlives and breathes
on this beautifulplace we call home.
Take a long, slowbreath again.
(26:56):
The stars in theheavens above us,
with the spiritsunknown that
surround us.
Feel how theyebb and flow, how
creativity risesand falls, how the
(27:17):
cycles of life turn
and shift,
carrying usup and down
through emotions,
so many emotions,so much love, so
(27:40):
much laughter.
Sadness at times,but always with
every breath.
We are inspired asthe wheel turns, as
we keep ourselvesaligned with the
power, the beauty,and the nurturing
(28:03):
energy of theseasons, of the
earth, and withall life upon it,
ever free.
We are a worldwidecommunity that
(28:26):
come together Withour similarities,
our loves ofthis nature,
this nurture,
this inspiration
that is
(28:48):
The turning wheelof the year and
one long, slowbreath with this
global community.
Powerful,
(29:09):
inspiring
and strong
in our care for eachother and for this
place we call home.
(29:34):
And as webreathe together,
let's open oureyes once more
and feel
that senseof community,
that senseof Druidry.
that hangs onthis modern, yet
(29:57):
beautiful toolthat we call the
Wheel of the Year.
And however itworks for you,
however your seasonsmanifest, however
your lives alignwith your stories
from your ancestors,and for new stories
(30:18):
that you create inthe future, know
that there arealways people who
will look up at thephases of the moon.
And feel you,and feel me, and
feel each other.
And no, we arenever alone.
(30:39):
This is a circlethat is open, but
it is never broken.
The ever turningwheel of the year
is a powerful thing.
And with that, Iwill wish you good
night, and thank youfor joining me, and
I hope to see youagain in the future.
(31:00):
Look up at themoon, and I'll be
looking at you.
Through that mirror.
Be well, bepowerful, change
the world andkeep them off the
wretched moon.
Bless them.
Good nighteverybody.
And thank youfor joining me.
(31:20):
I hope you willhave beautiful
turning season.
Take care.
That's all forthis episode of
This Magical Life.
If you enjoyedit, don't forget
to subscribe andshare with friends.
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