Christine MacSween
Forum Replies Created
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Hi Joanne, oof what a powerful drum and experience! Our own Stephanie Nosco uses drums and made her own, which I will allow her to share more. I forwarded this to her so she doesn’t miss it!
I connected with a Cree/Metis woman from Lac La Ronge (Saskatchewan) a few years ago who told me what drums mean to them. And she said, in general, drums are masculine instruments. But. When a drum chooses a woman/the feminine, it is very potent, and they begin to learn to practice with them. She will hear the drum beat in her heart.
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Hung, my alchemical brother! It has been such a pleasure to witness the shifts and changes and endless arriving over the course of the mentorship. And thank you for that sweet recognition of being the “resident bard”.
I asked Hung if I could share the poem I wrote a few years ago, with the added addition speaking specifically about Hung. I wrote “The last of my defences” about 2 years ago, before knowing Hung. I didn’t know his story, and I was surprised I wrote about a “King”. I shared this piece with him after one of our small group meetings where we had quite the healing of yin and yang. Thank you again for sharing you with us, Hung. And so I thought of this piece and sent it his way. Then he read it at our next meeting, just wow. It of course inspired the next addition.
Original:
The last of my defences. I am the king who puts down the crown. I walk out of the castle. And lay in the soft grass.
The birds rustle in the trees. The guards remove their armour, there is nothing to protect because there is nothing here. Just wide open space. My heart beats pulsing. My lungs breathe, inhale and exhale. I remove my shoes, And dig my toes into the earth.
Every single thing I see changes me. I can’t hold back death. For it lives in every moment, every breath.
There it is. That’s the secret.
Inspired by Hung:
And now.
I hold a different kind of court.
Amongst the rocks and trees
Lakes and rivers
The sacred hearth in my heart
And these soles firmly planted in the earth
as I walk.
A court no longer built
On the empire of intellect.
Instead,
A court, so precious
That I may call my own.
Within the being of all things.
I stand for the yin.
So meet me in that district of the lakes
The welcome waters
And I may share what I’ve learned.
You, and I,
May be surprised by
what arises.
Weaving arrival
Never arriving
And yet,
Always here.
PS. I love that the first word of HEAL is Here
With so much love, gratitude and joy for the next stages of your journey!
Christine
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This is the poem that I wrote before the office hours this morning. I still love that you said the last line @benjamin@anewpossibility.com !
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Thank you @benjamin@anewpossibility.com I had not heard of that book, but looks intriguing! Especially as someone who came from a pioneering family on my Mom’s side!
I decided to make my own Wolf Willow Essence. I have included some photos of the process here. It truly has been a gift to dig in deep with Wolf Willow from so many angles. I spent the week continuing to walk amongst these guardians, basking in their scent. We had a lot of rain this week, so it wasn’t opportune weather for flower essence making.
Then today, I went for my valley walk while there was still sunshine and found myself beginning the harvest. I took a few flowers from each plant along the way and pressed them in my notebook. I had forgotten to bring something to store them in! But this turned out perfectly, now my fresh notebook smells of wolf willow blossoms.
For the alcohol, I chose to use a whiskey – Uisge Beatha in Scottish Gaelic. A connection to my ancestors from both sides of my family line. The brand is called Bear Face – which is funny as my Cree family was named Bear! None of this was planned, each step unfolded as it needed to, and we had it on hand.
“In or out?” I asked each step of the way. This whole experience is continuing to provide accelerated transformation, much as the description indicated! I have posted the first three passage from “my book” on my website. All of the technology is lining up so I can share it in the ways I didn’t know I was waiting for! https://www.christinemacsween.com/year-one-fall-off-the-earth
Also including here a photo of the Wild Roses amongst the Wolf Willows. The monarch peeping her face from the gates.
Thank you to all who have been a part of this journey!
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This was the second poem that came out after the Wolf Willow poem. I had a Magpie friend visit.
Checkers
The brilliant blue
glints in the sun
amongst the black
and white feathers
Checkers hops closer
her intelligent eye
and inquisitive chirps
beckon.
I listen, intent
to hear her message.
to live a life that is my own
A gift, imprinted
by my parents
A gift, I continue
to unwrap
The gift of this
body, this mind.
This. Being. Here.
My mom used to tell me stories about the magpie my great grandmother taught to talk. His name was Checkers. He used to follow my grandfather around the farm saying, “Wanna fight Jack?” He would call my mom, “Urpil.” (Her name was April). One day, the neighbour boy was throwing rocks at Checkers. My mom marched over to him (she may have been about 10?) and punched him. He fought back and my mom wrestled him to the ground. She made him promise not to throw rocks at Checkers. He agreed and ran away.
And so every Magpie I meet – we have a lot of them here! – I call Checkers. He was present in many of my early writings.
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Ellen, thank you for sharing this beautiful piece of reflection. Seeing this journey through time laid out, I can feel the pulse of what you were feeling through each stage. I look forward to hearing more at our small group meeting and continuing to walk with you on this journey!
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(I already shared this with Stephanie in voice note form, but I’m going to translate that here.) I’m so happy you shared this with the class as we have been musing on it for some time! Stephanie and I are intimately connected in daily life, and with our dreams and we both have fun insights that lead to deeper and deeper layers through our conversations. I love that Lorie brought up Jon too, as this was the layer that jumped out to me when I actually got to read the dream.
As I know them both, I know that Stephanie and Jon have some similarities that are often a wonderful joy, and can be a source of lead for them too. Stephanie’s frustration with Jon in the dream reminds me of how she can be frustrated with those same elements in herself. (ie not paying attention to the details, not navigating “properly”)
Her conscious self in the dream makes me think of the control of the mind over the body. And that she became lucid is like a leap or another layer of consciousness. Where Jon is more like the body, “why does it want to go this way?” The “Just drop it” could be “Just drop the control of the mind”.
This has been such a fun dream to explore!
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Thank you Benjamin, and very good point about her sun in late Capricorn. Of course. 24 degrees Capricorn. My Saturn is at 25, NN at 28. Pluto has been in the area the entire time we’ve worked together.
Her NN is at 25 degrees Taurus. My Mars at 27 Taurus. She told me the day before the eclipse.
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Thank you so much Joanne. When my shares can allow someone else to relax and feel they don’t have to rush, even when everything is quickening…this just brings me such joy. 💜
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Lorie, coming back to this to reread this beautiful quote (and to explore the Earthsea series!). Earthsea…feels so Capricornian! As does this quote. So much water imagery that we forget is a part of Capricorn.
It feels particularly potent following this morning’s eclipse and the tarot spread that came out. I pulled the 8 of cups for me today, which prompted a dive into the spread “The Journey” which is a part of the Shadowscapes Tarot. I will include an image of the spread here.
The first 3 cards (Magician, Death and 9 of pentacles) are what I’m leaving behind. The why, the tend of cups, my guiding star was the Tower. And the Challenge was the world. With the destination being the 8 of swords.
I wrote this about the 8 of swords for someone birthday one day and it feels appropriate to pull out again:
What might appear
To be a limitation
Is freedom for the mind
A gentle weaving
Forward and back
Up and down
The hummingbird flies
In all directionsThe brambles crone
Watches closely
Where most fear her
Hummingbird
Chirps in her ear
As she circles her head.The entrapped swan
Thrashes
Until she learns
hummingbird’s dance
Between rest and activity
The gift of torpor
A deep replenishing rest
And the brambles crone
Releases her hold.Freedom within limitation.
I wrote this morning: “The next destination. Freedom within limitation. Cleverly balancing rest and activity. The tower is crumbling, the challenge and the why, this requirement of completion. Letting go of the creativity within the grief of my mom’s death. This creative independence that was so necessary, and…complete. the next stage of the journey beckons. A new path opens up before me. Why, communion with another another a much deeper level. the climax that comes with a release of illusion. The tower falls. Towers of control, towers of separation, towers of perceived safety. What some consider a trap is a structure that can deeper true partnership. What belief structure is falling that is a guiding star?
The Tower of self-protection. Moving towards the brambles that may be found out in the World.
My partner and I just booked our flights to do the Camino de Santiago next May/June. And I’m just realizing we will be there for Taurus season and the next eclipses!
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“The court built on the empire of intellect” were Hung’s own words that inspired this whole addition to the poem. I love that you picked up on the resonance of that! The process of co-creation and inspiration is just so delightful.
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Thank you for your words and Anderson’s podcast.
Ps. I just finished compiling the first draft of the manuscript!
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Thank you for this reply and your questions!
Christianity (Catholic in articular) was a large part of my childhood. There is a lot history here in my ancestry that is also quite fascinating, though I will save that for another time. I grew up in a small village, and met one of my closest friends at church when we were toddlers. We sang at church, we were altar servers and over time we began to question and peel away. My father gave me many books that helped in the questioning process, and set the foundation to look deeper and more broadly (sometimes to his surprise!).
I also went to a Catholic university (public by the time I went, but it’s foundations were Catholic). The town where I went to university is also primarily catholic and is the town my dad was raised in. It was the centre of the diocese and actually had quite a scandal while I was there. I even lived across the street from the Cathedral! Although I was not attending regularly by that point, I still witnessed the decimation of the congregation because of the scandal with the Bishop. It is still a strong Catholic foothold, but I doubt it has been the same since.
And yes, I feel you with the “many lifetimes as a Celt, Celtic christian, and likely in the middle of the conflict.” John O’Donahue’s writing was nourishing for me in the healing process. I also found it healing learning about other religions. When I did my Religious Studies degree I began with Easter traditions and then when I had no courses left I took the ones within Christianity. My seminar courses were particularly fun as I loved challenges the perspective that Christianity was purely a Jewish offshoot. I was also bringing in the Hellenistic viewpoints, and cross referencing the myths that are found in both.
My father’s Virgo moon is square is Sun in Gemini. He also has a Pluto/Jupiter conjunction in his 1st house. I’ve attached his chart here if you curious to look further! His Moon trines my Saturn/NN in Capricorn, which I hadn’t consciously noticed until now. He is currently in “audition” with the 3rd order of Franciscans, and it’s so fun to find our paths reconnecting around the body.
I didn’t know hollyhocks don’t grow in Maine (or not well)! Must be the dry heat here, even if the season is short!
Thank you for your recognition of my process, and the ways you can see my mom coming through me. Tomorrow is the anniversary of her death 💜
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Funny that you asked this only a few days after I felt my body say I feel complete with Wolf’s Willow. Complete as far as taking the flower essence goes. I took it every day for a full lunar cycle, and then noticed I was only taking it every few days. Finally, I picked it up on a day late last week and body said no, put it away. Not long after this, the next stage of my creative expression is taking shape. The energy for the novel is returning. Which is also related to the connection with my father. I can now see the direction for this inner child in the story, because after her mother dies, the quest is to reconnect with her father, even (especially) amongst the grief.
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Thank you, Erin for voicing your appreciation of my “melodic musings”. I like that phrasing!