Walking the Mist
Excerpt from "Walking the Mist: Celtic Spirituality for the 21st Century":
Celtic Spirituality is to be enjoyed and revelled in, not suffered or
struggled with and that means only allowing to happen what you feel able
to cope with. Working with the spiritual world is a new experience and
you need to proceed cautiously until you become comfortable with what
is happening around you. At this stage, a few simple steps are really
quite sufficient to keep you in control.
The first is to mark out your home territory. To do this you need to mark on the ground the boundaries of your house. What you are doing here is creating a safe space. It is an empowering ceremony to yourself so that you will feel safe and secure within your home. These ceremonies were common in Celtic times and even today towns and villages in the Scottish Borders have Common Ridings where the folk of the parish ride out along the parish borders marking the territory and sealing the land.
Next you need a sign for yourself that you are starting and finishing spiritual work. The Celts lived in a spiritual world and there is no real evidence that they needed this, but we do. We live in a highly complex and multi-faceted world. Ideally our spiritual and our "real" existence would be one and the same. But this is not so, we cannot be contemplative and inward looking while we are driving the car or operating computers at work.
Finally you need to remember that there is nothing to fear in this work. There is no evil lurking out there. The Celts understood that there was no such thing as demonic creatures or malicious spirits. We all like to be scared by stories of devils and evil monsters. But that is all they are - stories.
Creating
a Sacred Space in Your Home
Your home should be somewhere that you feel safe and comfortable in. It
also has to be a practical place where you can cook and eat, sleep, entertain,
relax etc. There are many functions that it has to fulfil. One that is
often overlooked is that it should inspire as well. A home is a place
where you should be able to find space and time to meditate, explore pastimes,
learn musical instruments or even write poetry. In the modern house even
just finding a comfortable space to read a book can often be difficult.
But you need this inspiring nurturing place. I call this area your Sacred
Space.
This
space doesn't have to be large, a corner of a room is sufficient. It might
only be the end of the couch where you normally sit. It doesn't even have
to look different from the rest of the room. It just has to be your special
space and everyone else in the house needs to know and respect that, so
that when you go to sit there you don't find a surly teenager, or a pile
of old newspapers. It is your special space. To show you are claiming
this space, the easiest way is to move things around.
For the Celt there are several components to a Sacred Space. The presence of nature is the most important. My very first consciously constructed Sacred Space was in a flat in Leith where we had a turret in the corner of the room. It wasn't as grand as it sounds, but there was a step up into a circular area with about a five foot diagonal floor with three windows facing out over the river. There I placed lots of green plants around a comfy seat. Nature is important because it signifies the unity that exists between all living creatures on this planet. It is, if you like, Gaia.
Next you want candles. There is something very special about candle light and although you may not be able to light them as often as you would like, bright multi-coloured candles make an attractive addition to the area. If you wish, you can see the lighting of a candle as a ceremonial act, the opening up of your Sacred Space. Even if the lights are on in the room, still light the candle or else pass your hands over the unlit candle and use that as your opening ceremony instead. A practical point is to keep some matches nearby. There is nothing more infuriating than getting nicely settled and then having to spend twenty minutes finding a light.
You also need to have some water. This can literally be flowing water. There are some very attractive inexpensive indoor fountains available nowadays and of course you also get the lovely gentle calming sound of running water. Alternatively you could have a postcard with water in the view. You could combine the water and fire by having floating candles, you could even add nature to this by sprinkling some dried petals. There are endless possibilities.
Now you need some incense and, to complete the four elements, some sand or earth. Incense is not everyone's favourite, so select your sticks or cones with great care in order that they don't overpower yourself and the rest of the people in the house. Japanese incense tends to be more delicate and perhaps more appropriate. Again you don't have to light it. Put the sand in a small bowl and then stand the incense stick in the sand.
The creation of this space is truly important for your spirit's sake. You need a gentle and healing place to spend time in. In modern houses there is often no space for the individual. If all else fails why not use the bathroom as your Sacred Space? Plants generally thrive there and everything else discussed above would fit in perfectly. What could be more relaxing and contemplative than soaking in a herbal bath by candlelight with the gentle aromas of incense carrying your thoughts to far and inspiring places?