Coming Home - Part 1

The spiritual, emotional, psychological goals we seek – of love, peace, trust, wisdom and so on – need time and the space to ‘arrive’ in our lives. It is in the silence, the gaps, the waiting, the ‘not knowing’, the reverence for the ‘Other’, that we have a chance to connect ourselves to something more than our wandering minds and anxious hearts. ~ Philip Carr-Gomm

Much has passed since I last checked-in here. The Gregorian Calendar year has passed, the Celtic and Druid year has passed, and we’ve moved through the dark of winter near Imbolc, the first light of Spring. My beloved Katy Grace and I traveled to the United Kingdom - England, Scotland, and Ireland - for our belated honeymoon, we attended our first OBOD Gathering, and America has elected and inaugurated a new president. I’ve also been caught in a loop of what is perhaps the busiest work schedule I’ve ever lived through, and have been struggling to maintain sanity, let alone remain grounded in spiritual and musical practice.

I have so many tales and thoughts from these past few months that I scarcely know where to begin. But here I’ll offer a brief overview of the honeymoon, with some follow-on posts that delve more deeply into the openings, awakenings and synchronicities of these past few months.

We began in England, spending time in London and Glastonbury. The first few days were filled with energy and excitement at being in a new place. But by the time we had gotten to Glastonbury I had acquired a nasty flu bug, which put a damper on my physical being for the time there. Even so, I soldiered on and participated fully in the OBOD Winter Gathering, and made it through an 18-hour day of ceremony, talks, feasting and celebration. The following day I still felt miserable, but the clouds crept away to reveal a glorious day of sunshine across the Isle of Avalon. We were treated to a nice surprise that morning, discovering that the Chosen Chief of our Order, Philip Carr-Gomm, was staying at the same Ashram as we, and we had a brief but beautiful chat over breakfast.

We spent the morning walking up to Glastonbury Tor, and down to Chalice Well. Despite my ill health, I managed to remain present in spirit with my beloved, and we enjoyed a perfect moment in the sun while sitting on a small bench in there in the beautiful gardens.

Upon leaving Glastonbury, we trekked up to the area around Edinburgh, where we connected with an old childhood friend of mine. We spent a few days with her traveling around to neolithic and sacred sites. We had no real agenda here, other than to experience the place, so I enjoyed moving through the lands in search of standing stones, circles, castles and carvings. We spent a full day in Edinburgh city, seeing the sites, partaking of the Scotch Whiskey Experience (museum), and enjoying this regal city. 

From there we flew to Ireland for 10 days, for the most magical leg of the journey. With no fixed agenda, we decided to set out towards County Kerry after landing in Dublin. Our first stop on our first day was a small town called Kildare, which is home to Saint Brigid of Kildare, who, among other things, is Patron Saint of the Bards. The lore surrounding Brigid is extremely powerful and resonant with both Katy and I, and we had stopped and hoped to see the cathedral. Unfortunately, the grounds were closed for the winter, so we nearly left empty handed until Katy recalled that Brigid’s flame was kept elsewhere.

We returned to the information center and inquired, and were told that the Brigidine Sisters held the flame in their home and they sometimes welcomed visitors. She phoned them up and we were invited to see the flame, which has been perpetually tended (save for a few nefarious outages) for over 1500 years. We went to the home, were welcomed in, spent time in the room with the flame, and as we were about to leave, we explained to Sister Mary that we were on our honeymoon. She then proceeded to light a candle for us from the flame, offered a blessing on our lives, and gave the candle to us to bring back to America to keep our own light burning for Brigid. This was DAY ONE of our journey in Ireland. Surely a sign of magical things to come.

The ensuing 10 days went by quickly, but were no less magical in our exploration of Ireland’s towns, people, music and countryside. We witnessed astonishing moments of beauty, amazing landscapes, rollicking music, and during the entire time the love between Katy and I grew deeper, stronger and even more relaxed.  This was truly a journey to remember, and one that continues to offer me many learnings and much deep wisdom. Honestly, even after a month, I am still processing the experience, but I am so honored and grateful to have had that time in my spiritual homeland, to have had that time to connect and explore and simply be with my wife.