Awen sometimes seems to flow down into you – it’s as if the inspiration starts off up there, out there. But other times it seems to flow up from deep down within you, deep down from a place beyond you, deeper than you – the centre of the earth, the rock below you. The island in the sea says “I am not just a floating piece of rock and sand on this ocean. My heart, my ground, my foundation is below the surface – I am part of the earth, and only a small part of me rises up above the water line.” We are all the same, all like the island, but sometimes we think we are just the part that can be seen above the shoreline – and we feel we are floating, and disconnected from life and from other people. But if we seek the Awen, the cold bubbling spring from deep underground, the molten lava that surprises us with its power when it bursts out of the earth, then we open to our Deeper Self, and our More-Than-Self that lies at our foundation.  And we feel once again united with all humanity, all Being.

Approaching a source of Awen, Dinas Emrys in Snowdonia

In 2000 I wrote a series of thoughts and meditations on Awen – which is a Druidic term for creative energy. Over the coming days I will post them up here.

Awen is chanted out loud or intoned silently within the soul, and is made up of three sounds: Ah-oo-en. The Ah sound opens you to life, evokes joy and purpose, radiates power and creativity. The oo sound expands, continues, and disseminates the energy and power you have opened to, allowing it to blossom. The enn sound completes the process, creates the boundary, the containment, and both grounds and gives birth to all that the previous two sounds have inspired and generated.

Learning how to be open to Awen is like learning how to open a window. It requires nothing more than just leaning forwards, lifting the catch, and opening the window wide. Then the wind and the sunshine, the fresh air, the rain, the birdsong that comes drifting in – all these things – do the work. And you just settle back and let go, and allow the wind to blow through you, the sunshine to flood through you. To open to Awen, all you have to do is stand your ground and get out of the way.

Emerson’s ‘Nature’, published anonymously in 1836, helped to initiate the nature-loving Transcendentalist Movement, sometimes called New England Transcendentalism. Here are some excerpts:

Nuinn's Wood

To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child. The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth becomes part of his daily food. In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows.   …

Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear. In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life, is always a child. In the woods, is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years.

In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, — no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. …

Emerson, ‘Nature’

see their website!

Either it’s because the work I do involves me in being exposed to so many wonderful initiatives I’m just getting used to them, or it’s because I’m becoming jaded in my old age, but I have a confession to make…a part of me (and only a part) groans when I get yet another petition, or message that calls on everybody to be good in some way. It seems so obvious doesn’t it? We don’t have to keep affirming that we want peace and love and so on do we? I’ve sat through some talks where the only message seems to be ‘we want more peace, more love, we must be nicer and so on.’ Well of course! Can we now move on to the practical details of how we can actually realize these ideals?

So when I got an email about the new initiative started by Karen Armstrong called ‘The Charter for Compassion’ my first reaction was ‘Well here’s another one’. But then I remembered a book of hers I have: ‘The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions’ which surveys that fascinating period when religious thinking took a leap forward, and the Buddha, Mahavira, Jesus, Confucius, and the Greek philosophers were busy feeding new ideas into the Collective. Armstrong’s work is really good, and when I looked beyond the initial presentation of the Charter (whose videoclip is given below) I saw that indeed practical initiatives are flowing from this idea. To see the website go here.

The internet is helping initiatives like this work more effectively. There is another one that also seems to facilitate effective action, and uses the power of the web. It’s called ‘Buy 1 Give 1′ and enables people to easily set up arrangements so that with every purchase a donation is made:

This is how they explain it: ‘At Buy1GIVE1 we’re ‘crazy’ enough to be creating a different world; one where we’re all playing a part in making a difference. It’s a world where every purchase makes a difference. For example:
Every time you buy a book, a tree is planted;
Every time you dine out, a hungry person gets fed;
Every time you visit the doctor, someone in need receives care.’

I’ve been looking for a project that links publishing with tree-planting in this direct one-to-one way. We’re going to use it for the next book the Oak Tree Press publishes (Journeys of the Soul – Nuinn’s biography hopefully to be released early next year). See the Buy1Give1 site here.

You might be interested in this project: from The Friends of St.Nectan’s glen site: Saint Nectan’s Glen is an area of woodland in Trethevy near Tintagel, north Cornwall stretching for around one mile along both banks of the Trevillet River. The Glen’s most prominent feature is Saint Nectan’s Kieve, a spectacular sixty foot waterfall. It is spectacular and we believe it should be preserved for future generations in it’s pristine state and as it is for sale, we’re concerned about the future of this sacred site, so we have set out to buy to keep it as a sacred place of pilgrimage for all to enjoy.

This is a special interest group set up for the establishment of a group of trustees, friends and benefactors to collectively buy the sacred site near Tintagel, Cornwell, which was the place where King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table went to be anointed by the monks there before setting out on their Grail journey.

These days it’s still a site for modern pilgrims and spiritual seekers alike who are drawn to the Arthurian sacred sites and to the magnificence of Cornish coast and temperate rainforest. St Nectan’s Glen has been for sale for about three years. Here’s an advertisement for the property:

http://www.tintagelweb.co.uk/For%20Sale.htm

We are in the process of setting up a collective of investors who will buy into St Nectan’s Glen as trustees and we are also be registering it as a non-profit charity organization so that it will be a place of spiritual pilgrimage rather than a profit-making commercial operation, to preserve it’s spiritual value and not to taint it with too much commercialism.

We need new nursery rhymes and songs that reflect the very different world we live in now…  OBOD member Claire Gilbert has created some fabulous new songs with great lyrics like: ‘I like worms: They don’t sting and they don’t have germs’. From her websection on ReverbNation:

Claire is a nursery nurse and has worked with young children in many different settings since 1991. Throughout that time she has enjoyed most of all encouraging and developing the children’s interest in music and in the natural environment, both of which she is passionate about. Although she fully appreciates the rich heritage and musical importance of nursery rhymes, she thought it was about time someone came up with some new material for children to enjoy that reflects the wide range of cultures and influences within the modern UK population. So with a sprinkling of inspiration she started to write some herself.

Paul is an accomplished musician experienced in composing, performing, recording and producing many different genres of music. He has been the front man of the UK’s premiere Jethro Tull tribute band The Dayglo Pirates for 11 years and is one half of the rock duo Sossity, writing and performing new and exciting material with his wife Marcie, an accomplished singer and flautist. He also composes and records ambient music as a solo artist.

We have been developing this music together, writing parts to be played on real instruments to create a full and unique sound, in contrast to the cheaply made synthesised music that is more often available for young children these days. We believe that they deserve better efforts… Hear the music now!

Read this description of London’s Camelot and the Secrets of the Grail – a new book by Christopher Street of ‘Earthstars’ fame:

Only one place actually called Camelot appears on old maps. So far it has been overlooked by those in search of this legendary location. It is hidden in woods on the outskirts of London. Archaeological digs show it had a massive drawbridge over a moat, walls five and a half feet thick and a dungeon. It also has apparitions of a Guinevere-like “White Lady” and is regarded locally as a place of visions, healing and inspiration, with some very definite and intriguing connections to the Grail Myths and Arthurian Legends. . .   Was the real Camelot here in London? What is its Round table? Is its holy well haunted by a Grail Maiden? Is Arthur’s sword-in-the-stone still in London, built into a wall?

Available as an e-book or a paperback. More details from www.earthstars.co.uk

Lady Godiva in Pre-Raphaelite style by John Collier

You think I’m joking?
From the BBC website:

“A giant human puppet of Lady Godiva and three 30ft (9.1m) crocheted lions are among the artworks selected to showcase British culture at the 2012 Olympics. More than 2,000 entries were received in what the Arts Council dubbed “the most ambitious and wide-ranging art prize in the UK”. The 12 winning designs, from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the nine English regions, will share £5.4m….
Coventry icon Lady Godiva will be recreated as a giant human puppet and lead a cast of thousands in a processional performance, before making her journey to London.”
More here