Dark of the Moon, November 2011

Darkness. For many today the word itself is enough to raise gooseflesh or offers a reason to turn on a light. But to the ancients, darkness is the beginning.

For my Celtic ancestors, everything begins in darkness… the year begins in winter and the dark half of the year… the day begins with the darkness of night… and the awakening of new life begins in the darkness of the womb. Everything – the universe, the earth and all of its beings – emerges out of the womb of the Great Mother, out of the Cauldron of Potential.

Darkness is not loss. Darkness is not lack or even absence. Darkness is the place of potential. It is the place of raw materials, the ingredients for the stew before the cauldron is placed upon the fire. Darkness is a place of renewal, a place to release the old and discover possibilities yearning to awaken.

Above us the moon is being reborn in darkness. Like Her, we can sit in darkness, can draw inward and return briefly to the womb. We can rest in darkness, in a new beginning and remember the potential of self. We can drink again from the Cauldron of Potential.

Winter’s Dark
by Jennifer L. Jacoby

Tonight the world
is silence
steeping darkness
devoid of even a moon
The space around me
as within
yawns empty
a fertile hollow
awaiting the dawn

Peace and long life… Jennifer

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Full Moon, November 2011

Outside my window the moon is swelling, drawing Her light to fullness even as the darkness gathers around Her. It is November, the first month of the new year according to the Celtic calendar, and the beginning of the dark half of the year. It is the season of cold, courage and long nights around the fire. It is the time we remember the blessings of the hearth fire… for the hearth fire is a beacon, a promise that says: here life is sustained.

People gather around the fire to share warmth, food, stories. They gather too for shelter – from the cold, from the dark, from the night. The fire is a microcosm of the sun as well as of the earth’s core. It warms, protects and casts the light into the darkness allowing us to see where our eyes alone cannot. Dancing before us, it awakens us to the memory of our own internal flame.

For the hearth fire is an echo of the Fire of Life, the flame that has its spark in each and every one of us. It is the flame of creation, the light that draws life out of the dark. To tend the hearth fire is to tend the flame of our soul. It is to remember… here life is sustained.

The Shadows of Creation
by Jennifer L. Jacoby

Wandering deep in winter’s dark
the hearth fire warms me
Its dance of dark and light
casts the shadows of creation
into the night

Into me
one lost amidst the trees

I come to this fire empty
my tears spilling
Water into flame
my only offering
for sacred right

Still

Quietly the hearth fire warms me
Water and fire dance
the spiraling steps of dark and light
Creation casts upon me
seeps into me

A seed
a dream for life

Peace and long life… Jennifer

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Hello world!

Welcome to Through Shamans’ Eyes…

To begin, a poem:

The Truth of One
by Jennifer L. Jacoby

In the silence
between words
freedom dwells
In the cracks
and stretches
that defy definition
The thin spaces
they yawn with vitality
pour the lifeblood
of eternity
Here
between is and is not
we die to live
the Truth of One

More soon… Peace and long life. Jennifer

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