The Pea and the Poem

[cedar_grove]

Hail, Ilithyia, guardian of the childbed
and of birthing mothers. Protect them,
goddess, as they labor. Lucina, we call you
bright one, source of sigt, for you are the one
who leads each birthing child into the light.
And guide them, goddess, as they grow,
and bless our elders, that they may make laws
encouraging fair and happy children,
so that in future there may be celebrations
and many nights of rejoicing in your name.

--Horace

The process of seeding, gestation, and birth is the same, whether for a pea or for a poem.

A pea or a poem... that bit got stuck in my head. Seems almost like a good title for a story, or a poem even. It's been a long while since I wrote a poem.

I used to write a lot of poetry - I used it as an outlet for my feelings, a way to express the deeper emotions that were going on inside of me, I don't mean the day to day stuff, where you might feel happy, or sad, or confused or angry... but the really deep things, the feelings that go on sometimes so deeply inside of your heart and soul that maybe even you don't realise that they're part of you until they're out of you and onto the page.

Maybe unsurprisingly they were mostly concerned with love; love and anger actually. That's the title of one of my favourite Kate Bush songs. Funnily enough the song spoke to me because of the feelings extant between my guides (one of them) and I. We always would fight - well, debate I suppose, as much as one can debate with a 'spirit guide' A celtic-warrior-priest, follower of the Old Ways himself, he was always a guiding light as I walked the path, but he certainly had his own opinions on the 'right' way to be. I miss that sureness, that certainty... I realise this as I sit here meditating feeling disconnected from my guides.

I used to - well I still do - have a large piece of rock that I picked up from one of the sacred sites I used to visit a lot. An unremarkable piece of rock, about the side of a house brick, made of granite, just a gray rock worn smooth by the passage of time. I would always place it in the North when I worked or meditated. I don't have it here now, because... well, there was only so much I was able to pack, and I didn't think a big hunk of rock was really something that was a priority. Maybe that was wrong. Left my dragon-aqua-aura quartz behind too.

It's not that I need these things in order to work, or meditate or anything of that like, but symbols sometimes help as a focus, and focus is definitely something I need... says I, realising just how far I've strayed from the pea and the poem.