Dark Moon, we hear you calling.
Bright Moon, we call your name.
Crescent Moon we sing with you.
Crescent Moon we sing with you.
Ivo Dominguez Jr.
For the past week, I’ve been on the first part of my spiral journey to stillness and to the center of the heart. The road has been rocky indeed, with the attraction of the political spectacle pulling me backwards toward the outer world. I allowed myself a day of unbridled joy and celebration, periodic reflection on the disappointment the other party must be feeling, as I remember my. own stomach-churning feeling of loss, four years ago. I slept very well for one rare night, and then picked up my bundle and continued on. I have rounded one circuit of the spiral, and the bustle of the world is fading away. The Jolly Bungalow is a backdrop to the journey, a refuge in the dark of night.
I am outdoors most of the day, seeking healing among the naked trees which stand tall. I have cut a narrow path from the treehouse to the pond. For the first time ever, I walked across the beaver dam. I didn’t grow up in the company of beavers, and would not have thought this possible, but it is like walking on a firm but narrow path, made especially firm by the very dry autumn. I got sidetracked by a large rock, and sat to gaze into the water and ponder my questions. Gran would have accused me of woolgathering, but my Grandfather would have understood.
The notion of common ground means something else in the woods. It is literally the ground beneath our feet. Hawley schist is the geologic term for what is deep underfoot. It is a metamorphic rock, changed to its current form by heat and pressure. How have I been changed by heat and pressure in my life? What is my current form? What about the glacial erratics which dot the landscape, boulders from elsewhere dropped by the movement of ancient glaciers? I’m sitting on one right now. When we accept their otherness in the landscape, do we learn the skills to accept those who we initially see as other? Is that how common ground is formed?
The moon is a waning crescent right now, lingering in the daylight sky until early afternoon. This is another piece of common ground for us to experience. We all look to the same moon in the sky. We do not necessarily draw the same experience from it. We all see a shadow on a rock circling the earth, repeating the cycle of its phases every 29.3 days. I choose to keep my calendar by it, using a variation of the Druidcraft Calendar. See the site www.druidcraftcalendar.co.uk for more information. I also choose to acknowledge the Goddess Luna in the moon’s presence. I acknowledge that the First Nations call her Grandmother Moon and humbly accept the Haudenosawnee words of thanksgiving which has been given freely beyond their nation. I appreciate this way of sharing common ground.
Common ground. Getting down to bedrock. Common moon. Lifting our eyes to the sky.
Breathing deeply and letting peace flow through me. In the words of the Druid Prayer for Peace:
Deep within the still center of my being, may I find peace.
Silently within the quiet of the grove, may I share peace.
Gently within the greater circle of humankind, may I radiate peace.
Iolo Morganwg
Tales from the jolly bungalow 