Crane bag ceremony(adapted from John Machate)

I like to know as much as I can about the things I`m about to do and in my research about our shaman`s bag I came across the lore of the Celtic Crane Bag created by Mannannan mac Lir(a sea god) and carried by the kings of Ireland.Celtic bards and shamans(although they were more commonly known as either sorcerers or Druids) each carried their own version of the crane bag and called upon Manannan and the original Crane Bag when they consecrated their bags.
I found one version of this ceremony written by John Machate that invites others to modify the ceremony as needed and use it respectfully as they will.
Here`s my version;

After clearing and preparing space and self spread your shaman`s cloth on the ground to act as an altar cloth.After finding North and spreading out your cloth,place your bag,your offerings to Manannan and the Ancestors and set out markers for the 4 directions if you see fit.

Face North and begin by doing the Little Death Breath.Once completed,begin by exhaling while saying;
"I stand in the center of all three worlds and cast these circles"
"I am the Namer"(once around clockwise)
"I am the Shaper"(around again)
"I am the Watcher"(one more time)
Facing North,inhale and go to one knee,placing the palms of both hands firmly on the ground in front of you.Exhale while saying;
"I stand firmly upon the Earth"
Inhale and face east,hands at hip level palms out.Exhale while saying;
"I keep the Fire in my head and my heart"
(tap your head and heart with fingertips of both hands where appropriate)
Inhale and face the South, hands at your sides,fingers spread. Then exhale while saying;
"The sky spreads out above me"
(raise hands overhead till thumbs and forefingers form triangle overhead)
Inhale and face the West,hands behind,palms up and cupped.Exhale while saying;
"The waters always surround me"
(bring hands around,palms up and cupped as in holding water to meet and join in front)
Face North and cloth/altar

Invocation:
" Manannan mac Lir,Lord of the Mist,Guardian of the gate of the Otherworld,I ask for your help and guidance in the consecration of my my crane bag.I ask that you open the gate and allow my ancestors to join this ceremony.Spirits,I ask that you join us in the spirit of peace and aid me in the creation and consecration of this bag in accordance with Divine Will. "

Dedication/consecration:
"In times past Bards and Druids walked Ireland and the lands of the Celts.With them they carried their treasures and tools in the crane bag of Manannan mac Lir.
Today each shaman carries his own bag (hold bag up) to carry the tools and treasures of their Craft.
Manannan,I ask that you bless this bag and infuse it with the magick and energy of your own bag.Just as Fion carried the Crane Bag of Manannan mac Lir,so shall I".(make offering to Manannan)

Closing:
" Manannan mac Lir,thank you for your wisdom,guidance and blessing.It is a gift I will keep close to my heart.Go in peace with my Ancestors.
Spirits and Ancestors,thank you for your help and blessings.May there be nothing but peace between us."(make offering to Ancestors)

Release the circle:
"I cast this circle out into the cosmos as a sign of my work.The circle is open but never broken.So mote it be"


I welcome any and all comments and suggestions in regard to this ritual.

Blessings,
Daedalus

Flying lessons

We are about to depart on a new experience.We are going to follow in the footsteps of our ancestors and fly to meet in spirit leaving our bodies at home.I`ve done a little of this as astral projection but this is the first time for me trying to link up with a group remotely.As usual Chicken Bob is not liking it ("Always wit da negative ways,Moriarity") and so I gave him a task to take our mind off of it.
Surprisingly he came through.
He suggested a link be placed on the altar and one kept with the physical body,being of chicken hearted nature he suggested feathers.He even came up with a spell,or as he puts it an "incantation"(he`s very big on big words) and here it is;

Feathers
as tethers
may they tie us together
many fly but one remains
to guide us home again.

A feather in your hand and one on the altar,magick.
Even Chicken Bob gets a good idea every now and again.How could I have doubted him.

Establishing Bond Lines

We all seek to find ways of marking or setting time.Some have photos they keep in their wallets.Some have stories they retell whenever the opportunity arises. Others keep momentos of an occasion or objects salvaged from a place or event in an effort to help fix a piece of time in their mind.

I had a conversation with an artist friend of mine about time and story lines and how they effect our lives and work.He is a "wood illusionist"(he says wood artist but I know better) and he calls me a "metal shaman". Though we share a love and commitment to craftsmanship in different mediums we have many common bonds and are very much energized by each other`s presence.When we stop working and start talking it becomes more a meditation than a discussion.The talk centers around the work but dances around our spirituality. Which is ironic as he is Jewish and I practice Witchcraft.
We talked during our last visit about how we both feel we are conduits for something bigger than ourselves and the things we produce bring both income and abundance into our and other peoples lives.
Jacques has a history of giving his work and time away as do I and other craftmen we know.We feel it`s just part of completing the circle with our craft and sharing in order to keep abundance in motion.We give our work and time as an offering so we may continue to receive inspiration.The work is secondary to that inspiration.
Many of my friends joke that we "can`t afford our own work" so we donate it in order to help others or trade work for something a friend made and we can`t afford to buy just as they can`t afford to buy our work.What we are left with are "bond lines".

Anyone who works with adhesives will know about bond lines.
In order to get a durable and lasting join you must choose both your material and the adhesive/glue wisely.Both must be compatible for the project and the conditions you expect your work to be subject to.The join must be carefully prepared and properly fit and the application of just the right amount of glue must be calculated.The proper applicator must be used and you must be careful to not overdo things.The join must be held in proper alignment with just the right amount of pressure in the right places for enough time for the glue to set.All this requires experience,careful planning and more than a little finesse.
If you do everything right you can get a lasting and secure bond line that is at least as strong as either of the two pieces you have joined together.

My friend and I discussed this in order to arrive at the realization that those pictures,stories and objects are bond lines that join us like glue to the times they represent.The seeing,telling or holding of these things instantly transports us back to that place or moment in time that touched our heart and we hoped would last forever.Those things represent an ideal life and all the promise that life holds.We keep them as memorials to the times we have been able to see the higher self in each of us.

I told Jacques about a fellow blacksmith who had forged a hand made hammer for a relative stranger.The person who received the hammer was just passing through town and had stopped for lunch.While waiting to order he struck up a conversation with my blacksmith friend and he explained that he was a chef on his way across country to a new job.They ended up sharing a table and during the extended conversation the chef happened to mention that he did silver smithing as a hobby and how hard it was to get a proper hammer these days and how he envied my buddy`s ability as a blacksmith to make whatever tool he wanted to fit both his hands and his style of working.
The lunch and the conversation wound down and before parting they exchanged contact information.A few weeks later my friend received a postcard from the chef thanking him for sharing his time.Nate showed me that card.
Now being a blacksmith my friend notices things like hands and saw that the chef and he had similar size and shape hands so on a whim he made a hammer that he thought would be useful for his new friend and sent it to him.I saw a picture of this hammer and was impressed by the attention to detail he put into it.The quality and fit and finish of the metal and wood were superb.Nathan explained that he enjoyed the whole process and was thinking about forging one project like this every couple of months to give away at random.He wasn`t sure if the chef would really use the hammer as he wasn`t sure what type of silver work the chef did.I told Nathan I had no doubt his hammer would be cherish object,and here`s why;
I asked him if he ever noticed as he looked at the places where other craftsmen worked how you could usually pick out one object that seemed out of place,something that was different than all the other things in that space.An antique among all the newer tools or a thing that shone amid the grime and dust.An object that looked like it was held in higher esteem that the rest.When you pick that item up and ask about it a change comes over the person who owns it and the story begins.They`ll tell you about a time or place or person that made such an impression on them that the object took on new meaning and became a snapshot in time,a bond line.
I explained that even if that chef never used that hammer on silver and only kept it in a roll with his chef knives,that hammer was destined to become one of those objects,something he would want to keep it close.I went on to explain that Nate had made an impression on that chef,enough of an impression that he kept the line of communication open by sending him that card.In turn Nate was so impressed that he was moved to forge a hammer for his new friend.I knew that when the chef opened the box and took out that hand forged hammer he would think "that man thought enough of me to listen to my words that day and my words had such value to him that he made this for me".I had no doubt that hammer would touch his heart just as Nathan`s kindness had touched mine.
I told Nate that everyone should be so lucky as to find a friend like him and that every time that chef saw that hammer he would smile because he knew that for at least one person in the world his words and life had weight and meaning.He knew that at least once in his life he had truly been heard.

I left Jacques` shop feeling I had a better grasp on both my craft and the process of establishing those bond lines.
On the drive home I was overtaken by a deep sadness for those people who carry nothing but cash or plastic cards in their wallets,pockets or purses.
It must be very sad to live a life that doesn`t allow the time to establish strong bond lines.

The Glory of the Waning Time

Down here in South Georgia, we're fully into autumn color. This is my favorite fall photograph, taken from the banks of the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta, which is past its peak now. But it was more glorious that usual, breathtakingly so, to a girl used to a more subdued seasonal changing.

Into the Blue again

I am very much feeling the pull of the water.
I`ll be going about mundane tasks and my thoughts will be pushed aside by a flash communication from who knows where and I have learned to keep pen and paper at hand to record them before they evaporate.
Some are playful ;

Anyone can be a Shaman
If they have the stones

Others give me the feeling they are connected and telling a larger story,like these random thoughts that came hours or days apart;

I am the rabbit on the forest floor,keeping to the shadows
I am the falcon riding the high winds with the sun on my back

I am the first tender shoots of Spring
I am the iron blade of Autumn`s harvest

I am the fly
I am the spider
I am the web that ensnares one,feeds another and connects us all

I am the newborn baby,hold me and feel your past
I am the old soul at the gates of Summerland,sit with me and know your future

I am the hand that tills the soil,sews the seeds and tends the fields
I am the mouth that sings the names of the Gods and then consumes their blessings and bounty.

I`ve come to think of these as "freefall visions" as it feels like I`m in freefall till I write them down.

Turning and Returning by Tina

Last night I asked Reverend Jane if I could come and walk her labyrinth under the full moon.  It was partly cloudy, so I couldn't see the moon at all times, but it was always there, just beyond the shifting clouds.

This is the waning Blood Moon, the October moon.  It is only only a week until Samhain season, my fourth since I started walking this path.  So for tonight I did a ritual to honor beginnings and endings, the cycles of life and time.  I followed the path that many others have walked before me upon entering a labyrinth -- release, receive and return.

I brought my cauldron filled with pomegranate seeds and a red candle.  I lit it as I entered.  Jane had brought some Native American flute music -- she played this as we walked.  As I turned the first circuit, I thought of all the things I wanted to release. Attachment, need, requirement.  Judgment and blame, guilt and regret.  Fear -- of the future, of the past, of not being fully present.  When I reached the center, I placed my cauldron on the rock and lay my hands on it.  It was cool.  Somewhere in the woods, I heard an owl.  I released all these emotions into the earth, grounding them, returning them to the ferment of the universe, fertile matter for creation.  I released stagnation and obstacles of all kinds -- into the earth, into stone, into the keeping of Mother Earth. Jane calls the stone Mama Rock -- I understand.

After a moment, still in the light, I ate six of the pomegranate seeds, to symbolize the taking on of darkness, willingly and with full knowledge.  To accept it, like Persephone.  To grow and change in its cool receptive nurture.  To break all unhealthy ties and sever all connections that do not serve the highest good.

I blew out the candle.  The way back now lay in darkness.

And then I opened to receive.  Grace, abundance, and acceptance.  All the forms of peace and all its parts -- patience, love, faith, connection to spirit.  And these I hope to return to the world, to return myself into the world as their vessel.  I exited with this thought in mind, turning back to the labyrinth for one final moment of gratitude.