Goddess Centered Practice
In the woods behind my house rest a collection of nine large flat rocks. Daily, I walk down to these “priestess rocks” for some sacred time alone to pray, meditate, consider, and be. Often, while in this space, I open my mouth and poetry comes out. I’ve come to see this experience as "theapoetics"—experiencing the Goddess through direct “revelation,” framed in language. As Stanley Hopper originally described in the 1970’s, it is possible to “…replace theology, the rationalistic interpretation of belief, with theopoetics, finding God[dess] through poetry and fiction, which neither wither before modern science nor conflict with the complexity of what we know now to be the self.” Theapoetics might also be described, “as a means of engaging language and perception in such a way that one enters into a radical relation with the divine, the other, and the creation in which all occurs.”
An Invocation and Practice for Brigid’s Day
Invocation
I stand in the center of the wheel, Goddess, and I ask for your guidance, your essence, and your blessings.
I turn to the East and call it in. Cool air. Fresh breath of wisdom. A sigh of release and freedom. The whisper of poetry on the 
wind.
I turn to South and call it in. The brightness of new ideas. The warmth of the sun. The fiery forge of transformation. The heat of my own skin.
I turn to the West and call it in. The rainfall. The sweep of the river. The healing waters of her well. The swift hum of blood in my veins.
I turn to the North and call it in. The solidness of stone. The grand arc of the trees against the sky. The steady heart of the sacred oak. The anchoring of my own feet on this beautiful ground.
The time between Winter Solstice and Imbolc is “liminal space.” This time out of time allows the opportunity for contemplation, reflection, and visioning for the year to come. This year, I would like to share our Brigid mandala practice as a gift to you.
This powerful mandala can be used in multiple ways:
- To color and enjoy as a calming, meditative artistic project just for fun.
- In combination with your “Core Desired Feelings” for 2018 (see DanielleLaPorte.com for more on CDFs). You might
write your CDFs on the goddesses or around the edges of circle. - In combination with Womanrunes, intentionally selected or intuitively drawn—you may wish to draw the rune symbols on the goddesses or around the border of the mandala.
- In combination with other oracle card decks—you may do a reading for the month for yourself and add keywords and insights to the mandala.
- To metaphorically “hang” your prayers upon as pilgrims to Brigid’s sacred sites do upon “clootie trees.”
- As a personal meditation and reminder of what you need to tend your flame—last year, I chose to write the things I know I need to “tend my flame” around the upper edge of the circle between the arms of the goddesses and this year I chose to include my Core Desired Feelings.
- As a grid with crystals and mini goddesses for healing, intention, or other purposes.
Note: In our newsletter this month we also offer you the gift of the complete digital ritual kit, Tending Your Flame, from which this mandala is excerpted, in honor of Brigid and in appreciation for your presence in our lives.
“As the season of Believing seems to wind down for the rest of the world, please let me gently make something very clear. Many dreams still wait in the wings. Many aspirations are just within our grasp…Many hungers need nourishment. Many yearnings must be acknowledged… Many authentic sparks must be fanned before Passion performs her perfect work in you. Throw another log on the fire…”
–Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance
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