September 7, 2023 • 15 mins
One inspired idea can change everything – and Awen, the mystical power sought by Druids and Bards, means ’flowing inspiration’.
But learning to work with it – becoming an ’Awenydd’ – required years of preparation, steadily gaining the ability to listen and live between two worlds: the physical and the invisible.
Could we do the same today? And where would we start?
Take the first step on a journey towards an inspired life that flows, with Michael, a former creative director, and Elizabeth, a ’soul-singer’ – a pair who have learned to recognise Awen’s call!
[CC] Episode is Closed Captioned
THIS EPISODE’S SONGS:
Seren a Charreg (Star and Stone): Lyrics trad. / Music © 2023 SymboMusic / Elizabeth Jardine
Awenydd: Lyrics / Music © 2023 SymboMusic / Michael Sebastien
* * * * * * * *
BUY THE MUSIC from this series on our Bandcamp: awenscall.bandcamp.com
Our SITE is at AwensCall.com
Follow us on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK: @awenscall
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:12):
I'm Michael Sebastien.
And over the years I've explored a lot of spiritual paths,
but one seems most relevant in today's rapidly warming world.
The path of the Bard and the Druid!
and a power they seek a power called AWEN. [BIRDSONG, OUTDOOR SOUNDS]
(00:49):
A couple of days later and I'm back at the grove, except this time,
I'm not alone over there is the unmistakable sound of the Karmic Spaniel crashing about in the undergrowth.
I can kind of hear you saying,
why is your dog called the Karmic Spaniel?
Well,
partly because he insists on following me whether I like it or not.
Although to be fair right now,
(01:11):
he's not following me at all because he's shot into the sacred grove and nabbed his own sacred pine cone – which is now chewing to sacred oblivion.
Well,
there goes his enlightenment.
I'm right by the pine tree which dropped the cone – and it has a twin right next to it.
(01:31):
The branches are obscuring the way a bit and I think the stinging nettles must have doubled in my honour.
No wonder I never went in here before.
But this time there's a bit of a smile on my face and a spring in the step of my bare feet because now I know something about this tree that no one else does!
We have secrets...
This pine and I,
(01:52):
I reckon we'll start having in-jokes soon.
Probably be sharing toothbrushes by Monday.
As I push in between the pair of trees –Now you're gonna have to allow me just a little poetic license here because I am a storyteller –
A thought strikes me.
I imagine that these two make a good pair of gatekeepers.
(02:16):
I'm playing an imagining game here.
A bit like a six year-old.
Like I imagined that this was a sacred grove when I first found it.
But is it really?
Well,
one tell might be that sacred groves are usually associated with oak trees which druids are said to have cut mistletoe from with their golden sickles.
(02:36):
But there are no oak trees here at all.
Not,
not a single one.
It's a bit of a mixture.
This grove,
a strange combination of trees,
but I was dead right about what I saw.
It is two circles outer and inner,
a couple of trees missing from the outer one over there.
One of them has actually fallen and two have gone from the inner circle as well.
(02:59):
Except here,
a very small sapling has begun to grow in almost exactly the right position.
Smart woodland round here!
What you got there.
Beyond the gatekeepers
I'm now facing a Linden lithe and slender.
(03:21):
She's the first I see as I enter, and I say she,
because I can sort of see her as having a spirit keeper,
you know,
like a,
like a dryad in Greek mythology or what the Welsh call Ellyllon – the Sprites which inhabit woodlands and valleys and groves like this.
She's one of several significant trees in the grove and I kind of see her as a bit of a guardian.
(03:48):
So,
what's with all this imagining then?
Well,
this podcast has a lot to do with learning to listen and vibe with AWEN,
the spiritual presence which the Druids and the Bards sought after.
They believe that if you learn to hear it and work with it,
it would transform you,
inspire you and empower you.
(04:10):
But that is a really odd concept to get your head around in a very different, much louder world where the news cycle never stops where opinions are all constantly shouted.
Plus many of us have never considered any possibility that the universe or whatever you wanna call it
it might be talking to us or is worth listening to.
(04:31):
How would we begin?
And how would we even recognize AWEN?
If we could hear it?
To be honest,
there are probably as many ways to listen as there are listeners – and yours will be unique.
But there are common tools.I've always believed imagination is the garden gate to the unseen,
(04:53):
sharpen your imagination and it becomes intuition,
which is like the doormat to the hidden world.
And if you're willing and serious,
the universe will invite you inside.
There are similar ideas in Hindu visualization or shamanic journeying.
And Christ told his followers to become like little Children to enter the spirit world. And what do Children do? They play,
(05:20):
they play creatively. And they imagine,
didn't you?
Well,
so did those Bards and Druids down the ages and their way to get over the threshold and access the hidden realms that they called on a creative force called AWEN.
(06:18):
All over the world,
you'll find people seeking a spiritual presence which we can never truly explain,
but which we hope might guide us in some way.
(06:42):
The Druids were no exception.
AWEN is their term for spirit,
more specifically the creativity of spirit.
It's the Welsh word for flowing inspiration and it implies a spiritual connection.
Those who sought it,
the Druids and the Bards of old,
they were the thinkers and speakers and history keepers of their time.
(07:06):
A kind of walking,
singing,
Wikipedia.
This meant that although Bards were poets and minstrels and communicators,
what they did was considered more than simply poetry or storytelling because they spoke with the AWEN's authority and that came closer to what some would call channeling.
(07:34):
the receiver of AWEN's inspiration was called the Aweneth – someone who actively wanted to be inspired like the Bards who sought to connect with the AWEN in many ways as they studied for years,
as they walked the land along rivers through groves,
learning to use their imagination,
(07:55):
their third eye, and hear that cosmic voice through nature and through their everyday lives.
Something else we do know is that sometimes the Aweneth sat in darkened rooms,
entered a state of meditation,
deprived the senses.
There's something about darkness that is very good for your imagination.
(08:17):
I mean,
just try walking through a creepy wood at night and see what you come up with.
So I can easily imagine those bards sitting in a darkened room,
candles out,
fire out,
waiting for the spark within,
waiting to become an Aweneth.
(09:13):
SONG - AWENETH
(11:34):
My sister is no stranger to sitting in a darkened room to meditate and she does it early in the day.
Although I was unaware of just how early.
LIZ (11:50):
around about the 20 past 3 to 20 to 4. MICHAEL
the early hours of the morning is when the energy is rising naturally.
So I have found just by being woken up and kind of going ok.
Well,
I'll get up and meditate because I won't be able to sleep if I try and get back to sleep.
Now,
it is incredibly easy to find a very quiet space inside yourself.
(12:12):
And I know people find it quite hard to do that through the day.
And I think it's because it is a period of time as well.
When nobody is awake,
nobody around you is awake.
And we do get affected by other people's auras,
by their energy.
And that period of time is absolutely silent.
And I find that I'm silent as well,
MICHAEL (12:33):
but it's not just Bards is it,
it's a lot of spiritual teachers,
practitioners take themselves off,
you know,
just do the solitude thing,
you know,
cave or up a mountain LIZ: or up into the Himalayas above the snow line where they're left alone to go into their quiet space.
But it is possible to find that within,
we don't have to go after the Himalayas.
(12:54):
We don't have to go into darkened space necessarily when we're intending to become still,
it can just descend and then we find ourselves in that quiet.
MICHAEL That's interesting.
The idea that AWEN alights spontaneously when you reach a sweet spot.
LIZ (13:12):
Yeah,
absolutely.
And it can take many moments to get to that one moment.
MICHAEL (13:16):
How do you start going back to imagination first?
LIZ (13:20):
You have to imagine that it's possible because I think a lot of people just think I can never do that.
I could never be there.
I could never gain that kind of AWEN that flows and takes us into a higher space.
But doing a meditation practice,
the habit of opening ourselves will in time take us there
MICHAEL (13:46):
experiencing the AWEN descending on you as you find a quiet space – opening up your imagination like a child as if it were a spiritual door.
That's where we're beginning this podcast.
But where does it all lead? Ffrom imagination to intuition,
from intuition to awareness,
from awareness to action and through action, Change,
Never underestimate imagination!
(14:12):
So when I say,
I think there's a dryad in that tree and she's the boss of the grove,
you might justifiably say,
no,
you're just making that up!
You just imagined it!
To which I would say.
Of course, I imagined it.
How else would I have known it was there?
So for now,
I'll take the door to the hidden world.
(14:33):
I'm happy to imagine the trees are listening and I'm happy to imagine that this grove is sacred.
Sacred,
only means set apart for a specific purpose.
And I have a purpose for it in my mind.
So I will call it Sacred – sacred for me and for anyone else who imagines it. ENDS CREDITS
(14:55):
AWEN CALLING is written and lived by me,
Michael Sebastien and sung by our resident Aweneth, Elizabeth Jardine.
Music mix by Louis Janota and the whole kit and kaboodle is a SYMBO production
(15:20):
Follow the show.o you won't miss an episode and we'll see you again soon.
Links and goodies in the show notes! OUTRO MUSIC
I'm Michael Sebastien.
And over the years I've explored a lot of spiritual paths,
but one seems most relevant in today's rapidly warming world.
The path of the Bard and the Druid!
and a power they seek a power called AWEN. [BIRDSONG, OUTDOOR SOUNDS]
(00:49):
A couple of days later and I'm back at the grove, except this time,
I'm not alone over there is the unmistakable sound of the Karmic Spaniel crashing about in the undergrowth.
I can kind of hear you saying,
why is your dog called the Karmic Spaniel?
Well,
partly because he insists on following me whether I like it or not.
Although to be fair right now,
(01:11):
he's not following me at all because he's shot into the sacred grove and nabbed his own sacred pine cone – which is now chewing to sacred oblivion.
Well,
there goes his enlightenment.
I'm right by the pine tree which dropped the cone – and it has a twin right next to it.
(01:31):
The branches are obscuring the way a bit and I think the stinging nettles must have doubled in my honour.
No wonder I never went in here before.
But this time there's a bit of a smile on my face and a spring in the step of my bare feet because now I know something about this tree that no one else does!
We have secrets...
This pine and I,
(01:52):
I reckon we'll start having in-jokes soon.
Probably be sharing toothbrushes by Monday.
As I push in between the pair of trees –Now you're gonna have to allow me just a little poetic license here because I am a storyteller –
A thought strikes me.
I imagine that these two make a good pair of gatekeepers.
(02:16):
I'm playing an imagining game here.
A bit like a six year-old.
Like I imagined that this was a sacred grove when I first found it.
But is it really?
Well,
one tell might be that sacred groves are usually associated with oak trees which druids are said to have cut mistletoe from with their golden sickles.
(02:36):
But there are no oak trees here at all.
Not,
not a single one.
It's a bit of a mixture.
This grove,
a strange combination of trees,
but I was dead right about what I saw.
It is two circles outer and inner,
a couple of trees missing from the outer one over there.
One of them has actually fallen and two have gone from the inner circle as well.
(02:59):
Except here,
a very small sapling has begun to grow in almost exactly the right position.
Smart woodland round here!
What you got there.
Beyond the gatekeepers
I'm now facing a Linden lithe and slender.
(03:21):
She's the first I see as I enter, and I say she,
because I can sort of see her as having a spirit keeper,
you know,
like a,
like a dryad in Greek mythology or what the Welsh call Ellyllon – the Sprites which inhabit woodlands and valleys and groves like this.
She's one of several significant trees in the grove and I kind of see her as a bit of a guardian.
(03:48):
So,
what's with all this imagining then?
Well,
this podcast has a lot to do with learning to listen and vibe with AWEN,
the spiritual presence which the Druids and the Bards sought after.
They believe that if you learn to hear it and work with it,
it would transform you,
inspire you and empower you.
(04:10):
But that is a really odd concept to get your head around in a very different, much louder world where the news cycle never stops where opinions are all constantly shouted.
Plus many of us have never considered any possibility that the universe or whatever you wanna call it
it might be talking to us or is worth listening to.
(04:31):
How would we begin?
And how would we even recognize AWEN?
If we could hear it?
To be honest,
there are probably as many ways to listen as there are listeners – and yours will be unique.
But there are common tools.I've always believed imagination is the garden gate to the unseen,
(04:53):
sharpen your imagination and it becomes intuition,
which is like the doormat to the hidden world.
And if you're willing and serious,
the universe will invite you inside.
There are similar ideas in Hindu visualization or shamanic journeying.
And Christ told his followers to become like little Children to enter the spirit world. And what do Children do? They play,
(05:20):
they play creatively. And they imagine,
didn't you?
Well,
so did those Bards and Druids down the ages and their way to get over the threshold and access the hidden realms that they called on a creative force called AWEN.
(06:18):
All over the world,
you'll find people seeking a spiritual presence which we can never truly explain,
but which we hope might guide us in some way.
(06:42):
The Druids were no exception.
AWEN is their term for spirit,
more specifically the creativity of spirit.
It's the Welsh word for flowing inspiration and it implies a spiritual connection.
Those who sought it,
the Druids and the Bards of old,
they were the thinkers and speakers and history keepers of their time.
(07:06):
A kind of walking,
singing,
Wikipedia.
This meant that although Bards were poets and minstrels and communicators,
what they did was considered more than simply poetry or storytelling because they spoke with the AWEN's authority and that came closer to what some would call channeling.
(07:34):
the receiver of AWEN's inspiration was called the Aweneth – someone who actively wanted to be inspired like the Bards who sought to connect with the AWEN in many ways as they studied for years,
as they walked the land along rivers through groves,
learning to use their imagination,
(07:55):
their third eye, and hear that cosmic voice through nature and through their everyday lives.
Something else we do know is that sometimes the Aweneth sat in darkened rooms,
entered a state of meditation,
deprived the senses.
There's something about darkness that is very good for your imagination.
(08:17):
I mean,
just try walking through a creepy wood at night and see what you come up with.
So I can easily imagine those bards sitting in a darkened room,
candles out,
fire out,
waiting for the spark within,
waiting to become an Aweneth.
(09:13):
SONG - AWENETH
(11:34):
My sister is no stranger to sitting in a darkened room to meditate and she does it early in the day.
Although I was unaware of just how early.
LIZ (11:50):
around about the 20 past 3 to 20 to 4. MICHAEL
the early hours of the morning is when the energy is rising naturally.
So I have found just by being woken up and kind of going ok.
Well,
I'll get up and meditate because I won't be able to sleep if I try and get back to sleep.
Now,
it is incredibly easy to find a very quiet space inside yourself.
(12:12):
And I know people find it quite hard to do that through the day.
And I think it's because it is a period of time as well.
When nobody is awake,
nobody around you is awake.
And we do get affected by other people's auras,
by their energy.
And that period of time is absolutely silent.
And I find that I'm silent as well,
MICHAEL (12:33):
but it's not just Bards is it,
it's a lot of spiritual teachers,
practitioners take themselves off,
you know,
just do the solitude thing,
you know,
cave or up a mountain LIZ: or up into the Himalayas above the snow line where they're left alone to go into their quiet space.
But it is possible to find that within,
we don't have to go after the Himalayas.
(12:54):
We don't have to go into darkened space necessarily when we're intending to become still,
it can just descend and then we find ourselves in that quiet.
MICHAEL That's interesting.
The idea that AWEN alights spontaneously when you reach a sweet spot.
LIZ (13:12):
Yeah,
absolutely.
And it can take many moments to get to that one moment.
MICHAEL (13:16):
How do you start going back to imagination first?
LIZ (13:20):
You have to imagine that it's possible because I think a lot of people just think I can never do that.
I could never be there.
I could never gain that kind of AWEN that flows and takes us into a higher space.
But doing a meditation practice,
the habit of opening ourselves will in time take us there
MICHAEL (13:46):
experiencing the AWEN descending on you as you find a quiet space – opening up your imagination like a child as if it were a spiritual door.
That's where we're beginning this podcast.
But where does it all lead? Ffrom imagination to intuition,
from intuition to awareness,
from awareness to action and through action, Change,
Never underestimate imagination!
(14:12):
So when I say,
I think there's a dryad in that tree and she's the boss of the grove,
you might justifiably say,
no,
you're just making that up!
You just imagined it!
To which I would say.
Of course, I imagined it.
How else would I have known it was there?
So for now,
I'll take the door to the hidden world.
(14:33):
I'm happy to imagine the trees are listening and I'm happy to imagine that this grove is sacred.
Sacred,
only means set apart for a specific purpose.
And I have a purpose for it in my mind.
So I will call it Sacred – sacred for me and for anyone else who imagines it. ENDS CREDITS
(14:55):
AWEN CALLING is written and lived by me,
Michael Sebastien and sung by our resident Aweneth, Elizabeth Jardine.
Music mix by Louis Janota and the whole kit and kaboodle is a SYMBO production
(15:20):
Follow the show.o you won't miss an episode and we'll see you again soon.
Links and goodies in the show notes! OUTRO MUSIC
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.