My Sacred Life

I am tired, stressed with too many things to do and not enough hours a day to take care of everything. I have money worries, housing worries; it is much too easy to be caught up in the everyday stresses of life. It is time to take a break; to remember what is important. I check my calendar and see that there will be a full moon next Saturday. Perfect, I know a small lake out in the country where I can dance, sing and yell to my hearts content without anyone assuming that I have lost my mind. I will leave early enough to include a long hike in my activities.


Saturday arrives and when I look out my window, I see that it is going to be a beautiful, day. I hurry to accomplish what I must before I leave. I am not a cook so I will stop by Kentucky Fried Chicken for a ready-made picnic. Perhaps I shall stop at the liquor store for a bottle of wine too. Prior to leaving, I sit down with a magic marker and a roll of toilet paper. I take one square of toilet paper and carefully write one worry or stress on it. I also write down things that I no longer want in my life. I continue this until I can think of nothing else to write. Then I gather everything into my car to drive out to the lake.


I step out of my car and breath deeply of the fresh country air. The sun is shinning warmly upon this peaceful scene. I decide to hike into the trees and up a small mountain. This takes me away from the lake. I take a moment to ask The Great Mother to speak to me by sending me her signs, omens and synchronicity. I pick up my backpack and set out on my trek. As I climb, I feel the pull on my muscles. Steep enough to be a challenge but not impossible to climb without special climbing gear. I occasionally see a rabbit run away at the sound of my approach. About halfway up the mountain, I stop to catch my breath. I hear the chatter of squirrels and enjoy the brilliant blue colors of a couple of blue jays. The sound of a woodpecker reverberates through the trees. As I sit quietly, a big buck deer walks serenely out of the woods and grazes right in front of me. How strong and beautiful he is with his sleek muscled body and many pronged antlers. I must have shifted my weight and made a noise because he lifts his head, startled. For a moment, he looks directly at me before he gracefully bounds off into the woods. I become consciously aware of the pleasant but heavy fragrance of pine trees. I breathe in deeply. Quietly I thank the Goddess for blessing me with the four-leggeds and move on.


It is late evening when I reach the top. I slowly walk around drinking in the breathtaking view that reminds me of how small I am in the grand scheme of things. There is such a strong feeling of being closer to The Grand Weaver here! “She is the weaver of the web of life, that keeps us all alive!” Standing here alone, on the top of this mountain, gazing out for hundreds of miles in every direction is an out of body experience. I am filled with awe at the beauty and sacredness of this earth. This earth that I walk upon. This earth that I am a sacred part of. A large flat boulder sits near the center of the scantily vegetated top of this mountain. It is just the right size for an alter. I set my backpack down and lay across the sun-warmed rock to let the heat of the sun soak into my skin. The warmth of the boulder cradles my back. I rest from my climb and sleepily watch the clouds drifting past on an unseen current of air far above the earth. Occasionally a gentle breeze blows across my alter kissing my cheeks, my lips, my arms. I see shapes; faces form, disappear and reform in the clouds. A red tailed hawk soars on silent wings high in the sky. Again, I thank the Goddess for her messages. I will wait until the moon rises for my ritual. For now, I slip into a deep, sweet sleep.


I wake to a huge orange harvest moon rising on the horizon. I am hungry but that must wait until I have finished my ritual. I open my pack pulling out the chalice, altheme, incense, candles, food and worries that I wrote earlier. I carefully arrange them on my rock alter. I gather large rocks to mark the corners of my circle. I lay out my circle to include three small trees struggling to survive at this altitude. I find two stout short branches to use as drum sticks and place them on the alter. I call the corners, close the circle and raise the energy by chanting. I raise my arms to embrace the moons shining face. I take my sticks, dancing around the circle chanting and beating the trunks and branches of the trees to create a rhythm to accompany my chanting. Between the trees I beat the sticks together to continue the beat uninterrupted. When I feel the energy swirling thick around me I raise my hands and call out my intentions to the Goddess. I take my worries and carefully hang them on the branches of the trees. The Goddess will blow my troubles away and scatter them with her winds. I call in the energy that I have raised and ground it by going to my knees placing my palms flat on the ground. I let the energy flow through my arms, through the palms of my hands deep into the breast of the Great Mother Earth. I open the circle by going to each corner and thanking the Gods and Goddesses for sharing this sacred space with me.

I am famished! Creating magic is hungry work! I take the chalice and bless the earth by pouring a small libation upon her breast. I give thanks for this sacred food and for the many blessings that I enjoy each day. I bite into the cold chicken. Ambrosia! There are no words to describe the enhanced flavors of food blessed with magical ritual! I settle in to savor each bite of my sacred feast.

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