Bringing Dreams into Reality: Mythic Stories to Guide Your Life

I'm posting my personal 'dream' to go along with Uranus entering Aries tomorrow.  See what you think.

Greetings from The Bard's Grove!

We'll be gathering at The Bard's Grove this Friday night at BlogtalkRadio on the Internet.  All you have to do is grab your computer and settle down for an hour of good, old-fashion adult storytelling (and I don't mean naughty stories!).  Join us there Friday night at 7pm Pacific/8pm Mountain/9pm Central/10pm Eastern time. 

There is so much going on in our world right now - who can doubt that some form of change is coming.  Everyone seems to be saying it -  Something's Coming.  Do you feel it?  Well, stories are just what we need when our world begins to change around us.  Stories give form to chaos, they channel archetypal energy and they can lead us to new life.  So, while we don't know what the 'something coming' is, stories help us remember that we have the capacity to meet it and get through it.  We are living in a time that wants us to be creative, free, committed, courageous and unique. It is a Call to Adventure!  

The Cosmic Story is asking us to go on The Hero's Journey and bring back our unique gift to our community.  With Uranus moving into Aries on Friday, the hero's journey is about to become our template for change for the next 7 years.  Uranus will move north of the equator for the first time since 1969, when it moved into Libra and the Southern hemisphere.  We all know (or remember:) how creative and disruptive those times were.  But also times alive with possibilities.  In Aries, Uranus coming North calls us to the home of the Ancestors.  The Archetypal Wisdom that the Aquarian Water-Carrier pours out onto humanity is already calling us.  We are the first.  We will be the Ancestors one day.       

 "There are times when people need stories more than they need nourishment, because the stories feed something deeper than the needs of the body."  Charles DeLint,  The Onion Girl
Stories can feed us even when we can't afford that 3rd pint of Ben&Jerry's. There are many variations of the Hero's Journey, but they all concern discovering A BIGGER IDENTITY.  This is the archetype our soul resonates with - the Law Giver, the Peacemaker, the Lover, the Mother, the Artist, the Priestess, the Brother.   The mythic stories of our many cultures can help us understand and deal with the cultural quirks and personal intricacies of this Journey.  All you have to do is discover which stories speak to your heart and then learn how to understand and speak their symbolic language.

So when you join us at The Bard's Grove, you get to listen to ancient story wisdom.  Who knows what treasure you'll go away with, what vision will spark your interest; the story-feeling in your heart speaks to your own story so it can become story food for you.

This week at The Bard's Grove, Cat will finish her story of Sheherazade and her tale of The Water Stair - a story of sacrifice and love.  The Age of Pisces was an age of martyrs and victims, of uniting the collective heart despite religious sectarianism.  And all too often, women carried the burden of 'sacrifice'.   But let's not reject the idea of sacrifice out of hand, for the word sacrifice means 'to make sacred'.  Sheherazade's Water Stair story to the women in the Harem is a story of turning a sacrifice into a sacred contract. 

Lantern is going to surprise us tonight, so stayed tuned.  Who knows what delights he has in store for us!

So remember:  Meet us at The Bard's Grove Friday night at BlogtalkRadio: 7pm Pacific - 10pm Eastern

Merry Meet!
Cat and Lantern

Creation Stories

In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.  And the Earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  And God said, "Let there be Light: and there was Light.  And God saw the Light, that it was good: and God divided the Light from the Darkness.  And God called the Light Day, and the Darkness he called Night.  And the evening and the morning were the first day.  (1 Genesis)


And Lady Wisdom speaks of creation:

"The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.  Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the Earth.  When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.  Before the Mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth; before he had made the Earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.

When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the Earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of humanity."  Proverbs 8:22-31)

And a third creation myth - from ancient Greece:

"In the beginning, Eurynome, the Goddess of All Things, rose naked from Chaos, but found nothing substantial for her feet to rest upon, and therefore divided the sea from the sky, dancing lonely upon its waves,  She danced towards the south, and the wind set in motion behind her seemed something new and apart with which to begin a work of creation.  Wheeling about, she caught hold of this north wind, rubbed it between her hands, and behold! the great serpent Ophion.  Eurynome danced to warm herself, wildly and more wildly, until Ophion, grown lustful, coiled about those divine limbs and was moved to couple with her.  Now, the North Wind, who is also called Boreas, fertilizes; which is why mares often turn their hind-quarters to the wind and breed foals without aid of a stallion.  So Eurynome was likewise got with child.


Next she assumed the form of a dove, brooding on the waves and in due process of time, laid the Universal Egg.  At her bidding, Ophion coiled seven times about this egg, until it hatched and split in two.  Out tumbled all the things that exist, her children: Sun, Moon, planets, Stars, the Earth with its mountains and rivers, its trees, herbs and living creatures.


Eurynome and Ophion made their home upon Mount Olympus, where he vexed her by claiming to be the author of the Universe, Forthwith she bruised his head with her heel, kicked out his teeth, and banished him to the dark caves below the Earth."  (Greek Myths, Robert Graves)

The 12 Days of Christmas: Time to Create the New Year!

The 12 Days of Christmas is an ancient tradition concerning the days between Christmas (December 25) and Epiphany (January 6).  These are days outside of time, when the old year dies and the new year is yet to be born.  

Since these days mark a symbolic 'turning of the tides', these chaotic energies can be shaped into powerlines to the future.  That's why this time is especially open to divination and prophecy concerning the new year to come.

One way to connect to the prophetic energies is to keep a dream journal during this time.  The 12 days begins on Christmas night (since we begin the new day on the evening before) and the 1st day is December 26th, while the 12th day is celebrated on Epiphany, the day the Magi came with gifts for the Christ child. 

On the evening of January 5th we celebrate 12th Night (remember, this is the beginning of the 12th day) with festivities on Twelfth Night, including feasting, along with the removal of Christmas decorations. 

So, the dream journey of the 12 Days of Christmas represent the 12 months of the zodiac for the next year.  The 1st night's dream symbolizes what you might expect to experience during the astrological month of Aries (March/April2011) while the 12th night represents Pisces (Feb/March2012). You can just record your dreams, or if you have the time and desire, you can incubate the prophetic dreams by spending your 12 days this way.


1.  Day 1/Dec. 26 - Aries:  Go out exploring.  Be brave.  Try something new.


2.  Day 2/Dec. 27 - Taurus: go do something sensual, go find beauty, relax and enjoy the day, your people, your body.


3.  Day 3/Dec. 28 - Gemini: read, think, communicate, learn something, go to the opera, the ballet, the theatre. Take a short trip.


4.  Day 4/Dec. 29 - Cancer: stay home and cook.  Hang out in your pjs.


5.  Day 5/Dec. 30 - Leo: create something, play with kids, connect with a lover, have FUN!


6.  Day 6/Dec. 31 - Virgo: help someone.  Exercise.  Hang out by yourself or with your pets. Talk with your mentor.


7.  Day 7/Jan. 1 - Libra: practice balance in your relationships.  Do you give as well as take?  Be with other people.


8.  Day 8/Jan. 2 - Scorpio: let go of toxic emotions; make mad, passionate love; talk with your ancestors, those who have passed on.  


9.  Day 9/Jan. 3 - Sagittarius:  Go on a long trip; visit a church, temple, synagogue, or mosque.  Pray and meditate.


10.  Day 10/Jan. 4 - Capricorn: make your work your holy dharma; figure out how you can help change our government or financial system.  Take responsibility for something big.


11.  Day 11/Jan. 5 - Aquarius: find a group whose ideals you believe in; invent something we actually need; work on your vision of the future.


12. Day 12/Jan. 6 - Pisces: dream, pray, do art, ask for a vision.  You might want to have a drink.  Have faith and trust.

If you incubate your dreams by doing these things each day, you'll dream stronger and truer.

I hope your New Year dreams come true!