Stepping Stones

Awake again.

It has been many months since this site was active but after recent thought I have decided to begin once more using this place to post about the part of my life that is much more closely connected with my ‘practice’, the bedrock of each day which I endeavour to live in and concentrate fully upon moment by moment within that day.

Daily I endeavour to draw my energy from the Earth and offer what I may find, create and come to understand back into the energy I draw from. This may sound a little perverse or dipsy to some readers but that is not my concern here. What you as reader will find in the coming weeks will be my thoughts and exploration of ideas and expression through word and image of the link I feel and find each day in prayer, contemplation, study and work. The same ‘landscape’ in many ways that is drawn upon at Animated Stardust but here the specifics in way of ‘prayers’ composed, rituals and routines observed plus images and other creative ‘objects’ made will be shared.

The project I began so many months ago of placing all the ‘prayers’ I have composed for my own use here will also begin again and I hope that before Autumn Equinox the prayers that form the book I use day by day will be here for anyone who may find them of some use.

The prayer book itself has gone through various forms from scribbled-in-notebook to hand made and bound 'artist book. Combined with the prayer counter I designed I have found the two a means of reminder and reawakening each day and thought of producing both 'prayer'counter and 'prayer' boo for others who might also find them useful have been prompted by requests so this is some thing that will be worked on in the coming months. With the slow pace I am obliged to work at the books, beads and pouch they are held in will not be ready for those who have requested them for their own use for a few months but I would hope that all requests will be met before the New Year :0), which is celebrated in this household in November.

Prayer and thought.

I realise that I have not updated here for over two weeks now. The ‘word a day’ has continued to be expressed by my scrawl in notebook and doodle on cartridge paper and I am about to begin to transfer those to keyboard and jpg and then to here in this coming 24hours or so :0) Thank you for your patience if you have continued to visit during these past weeks.

The ‘word a day’ is very much part of my personal practice so notebook and cartridge pad are the means that have evolved into the medium that is easiest for me to continue this practice even when confined to bed or armchair. I thought to share it here as it forms part of my ‘spiritual practice.

I have found it links with what I write on Animated Stardust sometimes to my surprise as I do not look again at what has been scribbled in notebook until the evening doodle is completed and I come to post both here. I find myself stopped short sometimes when the pieces of thought gel together in this mind which has been a surprise gift for me in posting daily word here.

I am still unsure how such a singularly ‘my’ activity actually ‘reads’ to anyone visiting Stepping Stones but this weB log and Animated Stardust came into being because I felt a propulsion of epic nudge proportions to do this and though I don’t really understand why I find that no reason to stop :0)

Before the ‘word a day’ begins to appear in a stream of seventeen days!, I thought to share another of the Pilgrim Prayers I have composed for use on ‘special’ occasions. I recently found myself using this for someone I had never met and was nowhere near when it was said which is not the first time this has happened but it was the first time it was said for a ‘cyber friend’ which made me reassess the why’s and wherefores but I still came up with a ‘yes’ so I thought there may be readers here that might find use for it.

TASK. November 1st 03

TASK(responsibility)

Another new day brings moment to mark new beginning on many levels. Is this New Years day so different from the other 364? Activity may differ, but in all else it is the same in importance and intent. It is a moment to commit to the task of focusing my life and it’s living to the responsibility of the moment.

Time stretches inexorably into the future and the moment can be so easily lost in concentrating on the then not the now. One day is as long as each breath or life when the task is concentration.

To concentrate on the moment and realise nothing can be accounted for in myself let alone in the day or the coming year is a small step to a reality of freedom of my self.

The task is the day, the day is the task, task and day are nothing when accounted for in a life based on freedom from so-called reality.

Introducing the Daily Word.

As I have mentioned before, each day is begun in silence and thought supported by an activity other than saying my waking prayer. The activity is to consider just one word and write down whatever thoughts appear in my head. This might be seen as way of clearing my mind for contemplation or way to free up some greater inner truth for me it is neither. It is way to set my body mind and heart towards a focus other than the list of chores etc, which will soon beckon; so that when I approach the rest of the day it is with a focus born of this moment and many such moments but in saying that I realise that isn’t the truth of the matter either.

I am still discovering what this small activity means for me and suspect this will be a continual process till I stop either because I am ‘encouraged’ to do something else or I stop breathing. I do understand one thing it is not in the knowing that the key is held but in actual doing but a doing that involves no thought in sense of structure or form preset except the word and the small notebook’s page I scribble into.

This is not a therapy session for me to iron out some long lost hurt or misunderstanding but it is a small portal through which that which I’ve always known but constantly forget may slip for a moment.

I am often astounded by what I find on the page at the end of each day, when I add my black and white or coloured doodle to the endeavour as I consider the thoughts I let free. By adding the ‘doodle’ I add words and meaning for me though to others eyes I know they are at best designs or patterns for something else but hope they might be pleasing to your eye.

Sometimes I will read the words and think I shouldn’t have bothered – if I’m being very charitable to myself :0) but have learnt it is sometimes the most incoherent phrase that will resonate for days after and discover that it’s not about meaning for the mind but for the heart and very soul of me that I continue with this exercise.
I realise that what may be coherent to me may well be absolute gobbledegook to you and as far as what I find incoherent, well, is all I can say.

By sharing this process with others for the first time I do not see it as an exercise in self-deprecation or aggrandisement it just seems I should do it. Full stop, no more understanding than that but I accepted a long time ago that this was reason enough to continue with anything.

Maybe you will be encouraged to find way to open that portal for your self in some way by realising how simple the means can be. If that were to be so that would be thrilling but I leave that to the moment and continue on my way as best I can.

Each month I have a word of intent / focus / offering….. from this word comes the word for each day. So I have twelve monthly words and three hundred and sixty five daily words. Each year is the same except that each day finds me facing a blank sheet of notepaper :0)

The twelve monthly words are as follows –
November – Responsibility
December – Humility
January – Freedom
February – Unity
March – Tolerance
April – Co-operation
May – Happiness
June – Simplicity
July – Peace
August – Generosity
September – Respect
October – Love.

I try to create something concrete about each word through the month be that art, craft, garden project, or food. Usually these are quite ephemeral pieces and are left behind each month without a backward glance but are carried in that store I call my heart.

So this is part of the map I write for my journey and hope it may encourage you to create your own map. I look forward to finding you on some distant hill with your map, laid out for compass bearings, may we both find ‘True North’.

Walking Forward (calendar)

Yearly Calendar.

My year consists of twelve months beginning from November in which I have “found” / created auspicious weeks and days.

Each of these days or weeks is marked by ceremonies, celebration and special prayers, which have evolved over time and through reflection, contemplation and study. It is a very personal path and practice born of need and knowledge; both sustained by love and light.

I am a pilgrim upon a spiritual journey, one that draws from the energies and wisdom of those who have journeyed before me and will journey after me. I would wish my steps upon this journey to be made in supplication, praise, thanks and connection to life. To this end I need signposts and markers for my journey and so follow a map made with my own hand, etched on heart and mind by other than intellect or feeling and rooted at the very centre of my being by the stardust I understand to be my make-up, my destiny and my history.

To me the calendar I follow makes complete sense but I know it is because it is echo for me of something other. A small means for me to reach towards the Unfathomable and know all the while it is in the reaching towards not the gaining that truth is found.

The invocations / prayers I have composed, the Pilgrim Beads and Bracelet I have designed are acknowledgement to the good, the Whole, to life.

As all too human, human being, I know the glory, mystery and majesty of the Universe can only be but a spec of dust in my puny effort to reflect what I see, feel and understand. But I take great comfort from this as I know that as small spec I am part and as part I am able to look up and understand I am worthy, able and honoured even as I stumble, fall, fail, get flustered, angry, despondent and even despair.

It is not with sense of duty or need to keep rules and regulations that I follow my yearly calendar. It not as chore or burden that time is given over to contemplation and celebration. It is with the knowledge that as days pass into years the journey is made more understandable, possible and enjoyable by the small moments I set aside to say “hello, this is where I am today; thanks for… help me… here is… “

That I do not address this cycle of invocations to any deity, nor align myself with a religion means only that for me the Unfathomable is just that but what I see, hear and feel beyond mere understanding and answering leaves me standing looking up and around me with gratitude, need, responsibility but most of all joy which finds expression through a daily and yearly cycle of prayers, ceremonies and celebrations.

I do not need a priest, I do not need an altar, I do not need a church, and I do not need a congregation in the sense that anyone who talks about religion seems to mean. I have found that it is I who is priest, altar, church and congregation for it is only as this one individual that I can be one with the Whole and it is in my living and being that this one small alone touches The Alone, which echo’s in all hearts and minds if only ears and hearts are open enough to hear.

For me routine and ritual enable, not stifle, growth, learning and loving. It is very much a ‘needing to’ rather than ‘having to’ that has led me to create prayers, beads, calendar and would only say that for me it works. Anyone wishing to use the format of either calendar or prayer beads is welcome to do so with just one caveat – adapt as much as you wish to meet the ‘need to’ on your journey for our footsteps may take us towards the same arrival point put our routes may need to be very different only you will know.

November 1st- New Year Day - Celebration.
Set paper boats to sail with spiritual resolutions written upon them and small T-light within whilst watching first sunset of the year.
Awakening / Praise Prayer. Resolution Prayer.
WARRIOR I AM AND FROM THE BATTLE I EMERGE TRIUMPHANT

December 21st – Winter’s Eve – Acknowledge the dark.
Prepare special foods, light open fire. Light spills and let them burn away as the darkness of heart and mind is offered to the coming light. Light candle from fire to burn through the night. Keep watch on and for the light.
Leaving Behind / Casting Off The Dark Prayer. Vigil Prayer.
December 22nd – Winter’s Morn – Welcome the light.
Put candle into fire, go to viewing point to watch the sunrise leave gift for the light. Celebrate with feast breakfast, relax and play throughout the day.
Welcome The Light Prayer.
I SEE THE GOAL. I REACH THAT GOAL AND THEN I SEE ANOTHER

January 6th – Night Of Wisdom – Time for arrival.
Spend the day considering my journey where it has led me thus far. Be open in heart and mind to the waiting, to the wondering, to wisdom. Watch the stars and listen; meditate upon the footsteps taken and those still to take. Consider what my gifts for the journey will be. What will be the gold, frankincense and myrrh I offer to the understanding of Love I find at the completion of my journey.
Openness / Preparedness Prayer.
LOST AM I IN LIGHT SUPERNATURAL, YET ON THAT LIGHT I TURN MY BACK

February 4th – Earth Awakening – Creativity.
Light fires of the imagination, spirit and matter. Create a piece of work for / of the Earth, meditate and light a bonfire of welcome and cleansing.
Awakening of Creative-Self Prayer.
WATER OF LIFE AM I POURED FORTH FOR THIRSTY MEN

March 21st – Spring – Celebrate the Passage of Time.
Time is the dimension of transformation. Spend time cleansing home, heart and mind.
Laying Bare Prayer.
I LEAVE MY FATHERS HOME, AND TURNING BACK, I SAVE

April 14th – Daffodil Moon – Yellow and Green Day.
Go into the green and yellow of nature. Make a sculpture from found materials as gift to nature spirits. Meditate on love, healing, new life and energy.
Opening Like a New Leaf Prayer.
I COME FORTH AND FROM THE PLANE OF MIND I RULE

May 15th – Fertility – Protection and Co-operation of the Spirits.
Celebrate the richness of Earth, life, fertility, growth. Plant a shrub or tree, cook a new meal use fresh fruit of the season etc.
Spirits of Home and Garden Prayer. Fertility Prayer.
I SEE AND WHEN THE EYE IS OPEN ALL IS LIGHT

June 2oth – Summer’s eve – Energy.
Spend day in silence, making myself ready to be contained by and container of energy.
Energy Staying, Being, Giving Prayer.

June 21st – Summer – Reflection of life.
Follow the rising and setting of the sun time to understand the longest day is but a moment like all life. Celebrate and create, give thanks and party. Light bonfire, make music.
Rejoice and Embrace Prayer.
I RECOGNISE MY OTHER SELF AND IN THE WANING OF THAT SELF I GROW AND GROW

July 15th – Within The Home – Bricks and Mortar / Self.
Recognise the passing of time, the movement of weather – the climate I create for others, that which I embrace within and how my actions or inaction affect the climate of Earth. Consider how harmony is created within and without near and far.
Nurture / Water, Earths Harmony Prayer.
I BUILD A LIGHTED HOUSE AND THEREIN DWELL

August 13th – Bounty – Thanksgiving, Abundance, Light.
Fire as offering, cleansing, power. Prepare a feast, invite others to share in celebration. Make fire sculpture for thanks. Give home made gifts of food and craft.
Harvest Prayer.
I AM THAT AND THAT I AM

September 21st – Autumn – Celebrate the Passage of Time.
Time is the dimension of transformation. Spend time cleansing home, heart and mind.
Letting Go / Recognising the Dross Prayer.
I AM THE MOTHER AND THE CHILD. I GOD, I, MATTER, AM

OCTOBER 31ST – New Years Eve – Continuity.
Remember those loved, those to be loved and those who love me. Let off three rockets one to welcome spirits into my heart and home, one to set free those spirits to go where they may, one to welcome the new years beginning. Light candles to send out light into the coming months and beckon light into the coming months. Light bonfire to place the remains of the ending year upon and to cleanse the coming year. Release the negatives of the year for myself into the flames, embrace the light and warmth for the year ahead for myself. Consider what is needed concretely in the coming year write this down and do not look at again until this time next year. Look at the years list and give thanks.
Embrace, Release, Celebrate Prayer.
I CHOOSE THE WAY WHICH LEADS BETWEEN THE GREAT LINES OF FORCE

Thoughts on the word soul.

I know for some people the word soul is bound up with particular philosophies or faith practices. For me it is a word that sings, a tune way beyond heart or mind or body. It is that song at the centre of me but way beyond there, it is that song that I know the words to and the tempo of without ever having knowingly read the music. It is the song that powers, persuades and promises and, it is the song that I ache to sing knowing as I hit the first note the last will never be found.

Soul is a dynamic, dancing word. It is word that expresses the un-expressible and lets my faltering steps in finding that expression feel lighter, more purposeful than any other word or phrase I have come up with so far.

Soul, for me, is not something that can be saved, captured, cleansed, shackled or trained it just is and that is where the echo of the Unfathomable comes in.

Introduction

This web log will be place for the prayers I have written, to go with the prayer counter I designed and call 'Pilgrim Beads', to find a home where others may enjoy reading them. I make no claims to being a great writer neither poet or artist but I am committed to expressing my spiritual journey with as much creativity as I may whilst offering honour, seeking understanding and realising how little I know about the Unfathomable.

In the nexts weeks and months I will slowly post not only the five daily prayers I use each day but will add the 'special' prayers, 'extra' prayers and my personal calender prayers too. There are thoughts to add to this with thanks and celebratory verses I scribble from time to time but that is still only thought at this time. This will all take weeks rather than days because I choose to limit my time using this technology and my body chooses to limit my limit even more much of the time. So, I ask for your patience and trust you will accept my offerings in the spirit they are offered - with open heart and mind.

Here will also be another element of my daily practice. The thought for the day,l not in the sense of giving a quote or some such for others to ride off into their day with. Rather I will share the postcard to myself I create each day. This is made up of two elements the first is my consideration of a word or phrase at the beginning of each day, the second at the end of the day is my expression of the day in colour. This will mean that each postcard will reach you the next day, a little like a good letterbox and postman system:0)
This particular part of my practice, like much else, grew from a niggle, devolped into an itch which I realised would only be settled when I took time to 'listen' and the clear outline of how I was to do this did percolate up and I found myself with a focus word for each month of the year and a word for each day of the year which encourages my intent, focus and considered concentration each day in echo of the monthly word.

That's probably all as clear as mud :0) I trust that when I begin to publish the 'postcards' their sense to my daily journey will become clear. I intend to start publishing the 'postcards' at the beginning of my year which is November 1st not January 1st so only a few weeks.

Like my other web log Animatedstardust I hope to include pictures, not only of my 'Pilgrim Beads' but possibly of places, objects, images that draw me towards contemplation and thought.