Infinity

I have to admit that while the topic for this post has been clear for a while, I am at a loss on how to approach it. How do you try to faciliate the mystical experience of oneness with the universe? It is a rare experience for me, but one that has been very precious.
I know no clever pathworking or exercise, or anything, to promote oneness with everything. You see, we all are already one with the universe, a part of infinity. We just have to become aware of it.

So this week's practise: Make sure you are not goint to be disturbed for about half an hour. Choose a position that is comfortable for you, either sitting or lying on your back. Relax, and let go of everything. Let go of stress, anxiety, work, people, everything. Let go of your thoughts. Just relax. Be open. Be receptive. Just be.

If you are truly able to let go of your self-consciousness, it can be difficult to judge time. Therefore, make sure beforehand that something will tell you that it is time to get back, either y having someone there who can call you, or by setting a clock.

So that's it – probably the most simple exercise in description, but a lot more difficult to do.

Getting in Touch with the Gods

All to often, we have an inspiring meeting with the Divine, with the Gods, in ritual, on a special day, and get smashed out of it during the grey, dull days of everyday work that follow. One antidote to that is to spend a short, special moment every day where we can meet with our Gods. That can be quite informal and spontaneous, but what I propose today is to create a five-minute ritual that is easy to perform every day. It should be a ritual that is easy to perform and that is fitting for you and your Gods. In the following paragraphs, I will give you an idea for potential elements for such a ritual.

- Preparation: Do something to prepare yourself for the fact that you are entering into a sacred moment. One possibility would be to wash your hands and face, symbolically washing away your daily stress. Another possibility would be to change into special clothes, remove your shoes or wear a special item like a scarf or a piece of jewellery. Just do not make it too complex.
In addition to all the above: take some deep, calm breaths and let your mind come to rest.
- Offering: Give an offering to your Gods. The nature of that offering can very greatly, from libations to incense to food to dancing for them, or singing, or a lot of other things. It will also depend, of course, on the nature of the Gods the offering is meant for, so it would be a good idea to do some research.
- Sing a chant, or a song that helps you to feel a connection to the deities. There are a number of well-known chants, and you can find a lot of them on the net, for example here or here. Of course, you can also write your own. Whatever you choose, sing it yourself, do not just play it back.
- Think up a ritual gesture of blessing. An elaborate example of what I mean is the fivefold kiss. Create something simple that can be used as a self-blessing.
- Talk to your Gods. Speak of the things you want to speak about, but listen for their comments and answers.
- Meditate on a symbol of your Gods. That can be either a stature or picture of the God, or a symbol, such as a cat for Bastet, or lightning for Zeus.
- Calm yourself and listen. After some deep breaths, just calm your mind and let your thoughts go. Pay them no attention. Just... listen.
- Completion: A final part is necessary to close the ritual. One possibility is to stand up an thank the Gods for their presence. What works best for me is if there is a connection to the opening part of the ritual, so that the two parts frame the whole ritual. So if you started by putting on special clothing, end by removing it. If you started with lighting a candle, snuff it now.

Do not make your ritual overly complex, or include too many elements. Instead, keep it short and simple. You want to be able to do it every day.

Now, here is an example of what I often do:
For preparation, I sit down cross-legged in front of my altar and calm my mind by taking some deep breaths. Then, I light a short stick of incense. I give the incense to the Gods as an offering, drawing a spiral with it and speaking: “Lord and Lady, thanks for your presence. I offer this incense for your pleasure.” before placing it in a bowl of sand.
The next part varies. Most of the time, I do a short meditation, either on a symbol, or just trying to be calm and listen, or a chant. For closure, I stand up and use a gesture Dianne Sylvan described in (I think) “The Circle Within”: tracing a pentagram over yourself, linking the edges to the elements and the Gods.

The possibilities for such a ritual are huge. Experiment with it, and try different ideas, until you find something that works for you.

Meeting your Selves

This is the last exercise about getting into contact with the divine self, and it is about meeting our different selves.
We all have different aspects in our personality. Perhaps I should say that I know I have them, and so I presume you also have them. Some of them are very dominant, and can be seen in everyday life. Others may be hidden and known only to ourself, or even suppressed and unknown to us. They are not different persons, just different parts of us. There can be an inner child, a mother, a business person, an artist, a scientist, a party person, a thousand different possibilities, and they might be completely different for everyone.
The idea of this exercise is to have a look at what aspects make up our personality, and what those aspects have to say to us. Take enough time for this exercise, as it can be pretty intense. It is a good idea to provide a signal for you to come back, so use an alarm clock or some music that starts after about 15 minutes or something similar. When you hear the signal, you know that it is time to return.


Create a comfortable atmosphere and take some moments to relax. Take some deep breaths and let go of your everyday stress, anxiety and anger. Go to your safe place. Take a few moments to relax, here, where you are completely safe.
Then, have a look around: There is a door somewhere that you may not have seen before. A picture of you is pinned to it. You walk over, and as you do so, you can see that the picture changes, showing you with different faces, in different moods and situations. This is a door leading deep into yourself.
Open the door. There is a corridor beyond. How it looks like is probably different for everyone. Mine is twisted, a maze of smaller corridors and doors intersecting with the main corridor. Just stay on the main corridor and walk along. Before long, it will lead into a room, or a flight of rooms. Here, you meet the different aspects of yourself, your selves. Look around. There is probably a child somewhere, perhaps playing happily, perhaps sitting in a corner, alone and frightened. There is probably a self that represents your work persona or an aspect of that. There might be a lover, a religious aspect, a writer, a dreamer, … The possibilities are endless. Try to avoid preconceived notions. Be open towards the parts of you that want to meet you. Walk around the room, greet your selves, and talk to them. What message do they have? How do they feel? Do they ask you for something?
Take you time, and interact with some of your selves – you do not have to talk to all of them. Listen to what they have to say to you.
Then, thank them for their message and say goodbye. Leave through the corridor that has brought you here, and go back through the door into your safe place. From there, return to your body. Count from ten to one. You are back.

Write down the messages you got, everything you remember. Then, after you have written everything down, take your time to think about everything. The Gods have seen fit to equip us with a mind of our own, so use yours and think about the messages and requests. Do not follow such a message blindly. However, be careful that you are not just rationalizing away uncomfortable truths.

February Eve

The sun has turned at winter solstice, and yet it has been difficult to recognize the change. From now on, the return of the light is more noticeable even though it is still winter, and nature is still sleeping quietly.
This day is also known as the festival of Brigid, an Irish Goddess and Saint. In the cycle of the God, this is the time when He grows, from child to adolescent. At spring equinox, He will be a young man, but today He is still a child.


Pathworking February Eve

Make yourself comfortable. Take some deep breaths and relax. Let go of stress, anger, anxiety.
Close your eyes and go to your safe place. Turn around and look for the door. It is there, quite unobtrusive, with an eight spoked wheel engraved.
Open the door. It is dawn on the other side, with a rosy haze, filtering through the huge trees of the forest. Before you, there is a path through the winter forest. There is snow on it, but it looks like it was used by animals regularly. You can see the tracks on the ground.
Follow the path. It leads you through the forest, among huge trees. Everything is quiet and peaceful.
The area is hilly, and your path leads you downwards, getting steeper...

You reach the bottom of the descent, and the trees give way to a wide open meadow. The snow there is covered with tracks, too, but they are mostly the tracks of human beings.
You hear laughter from the woods, and a girl emerges, chased by a boy with golden hair. They are obviously playing a game of chase.
The young God and Goddess start building snow figures. You can simply watch them as they enjoy themselves, or you can join them, if you want. They accept you at their playground immediately. In either case, take a careful look ath the figure they are building. ...

Gradually, it grows colder. You decide it is time to go and say goodbye to the God and Goddess. They bid you farewell and run towards the cave entrance, chasing each other again. You turn towards the path that has lead you here and return, up that hill and through the forest, until you stand before the door again. You open the door and return to your safe place. ...
From here, return to your body. Take some breaths to return and readjust. Count from 10 to 1. Open your eyes. Welcome back.


What figure did the young Gods build? If you feel like it and have enough snow outside, try to build it yourself. What could that figure mean for you?

Book recommendations

I started this blog with the intention of writing a one year course on getting into contact with the divine daily. The year is almost over by now, and this course draws to a close. I have four more posts planned: one for Imbolc next week, and one final meditation for each of the three aspects of the divine in February. Today, there will be no exercise but a list of book recommendations for everyone who wants to look elsewhere for inspiration. Most of these books have inspired me for this blog.

Meditation – the Complete Guide by Patricia Monaghan and Eleanor G. Diereck
This book deals with meditation throughout all cultures and religions, covering topics as diverse as gardening, pilgrimage, creative meditations, tai chi, sufi dancing, yoga and shamanic journeying. If you want to get an overview over the different aspects of meditation or some inspiration every now and again, this book is a good choice.

Meditation Made Easy by Lorin Roche
This book treats meditation without any reference to tradition and history. It is a collection of shorter and longer innovative meditation techniques. If you want to approach meditation without a specific world view attached, this is an interesting book.

Wiccan Meditations – The Witch's Way to Personal Transformation by Laura Wildman
If I had to restrict my recommendations to one book, it would be this one. The first third of the book is dedicated to techniques for relaxing, getting into trance and getting out again. In the rest of the book, meditations for learning and transformation, for the cycles of the year and for coven work are given. A significant part of the book is dedicated to group work, but it is still a valuable resource for a solitary Wiccan.

All one Wicca, by Kaatryn MacMorgan-Douglas
This is the basic textbook of my tradition, Universal Eclectic Wicca. All one Wicca is a good place to get started when you want to learn about Wicca, and it is also interesting for more advanced students.

Sacred Time and the Search for Meaning by Gary Eberle
I found this book in a second hand bookstore, and it proved to be a gem. The book is neither about Wicca nor about meditation, but it examines our relationship with ordinary and sacred time.

The Artist's Way – A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
This book is not about meditation, or Wicca, but about finding your personal creativity. There are many enlightening insights to be found. I started writing my Daily Pages after I reading it. If you are interested in art – drawing, writing, creating – but feeling unsure, have a look at this book.

The Earth Path by Starhawk
This book is about rediscovering and connecting to nature as well as how to build a sustainable relationship with the earth. If you want to get into contact with the divine universe in the aspect of the divine earth, Starhawk provides a wealth of exercises and meditations.

The Goddess Companion, by Patricia Monaghan
Patricia Monaghan has collected 366 Goddesses from all over the world. For each, she gives a prayer, hymn, or poem, and a short explanation. If you want to get into contact with the Gods, this book is invaluable.

The beauty of a snowflake

Winter has finally arrived in Munich. There are loads of snow out there, and when I first thought about this meditation, it was still snowing. All too often, we walk through our lives, head down, without risking a glance to the sides. This is an exercise about recognising the beauty that surrounds us every day.

Do the exercise on a day when it is snowing, or at least when you have some snow lying around. Dress warm and comfortable. Then: leave your house and go outside. Walk through the snow and watch the beauty that enfolds around you: The snowflakes whirling through the air, the snow covered landscape, the branches of trees, loaded with snow or covered in ice, glittering in the light. Take your time and simply adore the beauty of winter.
Try to catch a snowflake with your sleeve or glove, or scoop up a bit of snow. Look at the snowflakes: can you see the sixfold symmetry, the intricate design, the beauty of it? I always find that snow is something to be admired.
Watch the snowflakes melting as the warmth from your body reaches them. Beauty is fleeting, sometimes. But look around you: there is so much of it, in the next snowflakes, in the snow covered landscape, in the trees, everywhere: beauty is pervasive.

Goal Setting

One of the last exercises was retrospection, and originally, I planned to include some parts about exploring yourself next. Due to the unexpected hiatus, I will skip these, and today's topic is about planning and setting goals.

Traditionally, New Year is the time for setting goals that are forgotten by the end of January – the classical New year resolutions. Obviously, these are useless and a source for frustration, and that is not what I have in mind.
However, I believe that it is important to reorient yourself in your life every now and again, and the change of the year is one possible time for that. Reorientation requires you to look back as a first step – what has happened, what have you achieved? Where are you standing now? The exercise in retrospection is one possibility for that. This week's exercise is the second step: looking into your future.

Take something to write and go to a quiet place where you will not be disturbed. Light a candle and some incense, if you want to. Then, think about important topics or areas of your life. Restrict yourself to three or four areas if possible. For me, they would be something like family and friends, religion, work and writing.
For each of these categories, look into the future. If everything continues the way it is now, where will you be? What will happen, in the next months, the next year, the next five or ten years? Is that what you want to happen? If yes, then fine: just move on to the next topic.
If not, imagine your future as you want it to be, in five or ten years. Imagine it vividly. Then, think: what can you do to move your life in that direction? What should happen over the next year? What steps can you take now to make it happen? Do not start with good intentions. Start with a vision of your future – then make plans that lead to that future.
Go through all the important areas of your life, and develop a vision for each of them. It might be that you want to change your life everywhere – just be aware that you do not have to change everything at once and that it might be easier to focus on one thing at a time.
If you are familiar with a divination system such as tarot cards, it might be helpful to support this exercise with some divination.
Write your visions and your plans down. Place them on your altar, if you have one. If you want to, create a picture of some kind – a drawing, a collage or whatever you like. Keep your visions and plans in sight, so you will have your future in sight.

I am speaking of a plan in a very general sense here. It can be as simple as “Exercise more” or as detailed as “Getting a gym membership for the winter months, running during the summer month, check with friends who might join me, set up a calender for documenting my training”. If you are interested in more detailed and thorough planning,there are a number of possibilities. Dianne Sylvan has described an interesting concept of several nested circles – daily, weekly, monthly and yearlong actions to achieve your goals - that sounds interesting to me. Use a planning system as simple or detailed as you need. But know where you want to go!

Late post - Winter solstice

My last post has been quite a while, but I hope to go back to writing regularily in 2010 again. The post for today is late, too, because it is a pathworking for winter solstice, or Yule.

Right now, it is dark, very dark. Many people now leave their houses in the morning when it is still dark and return in the evening, when it is dark again. It is during this time of the year that we have time for slowing down, for introspection, because the lack of light keeps us in our homes. Of course, this is less true in our world full of artificial light, but it is still noticeable.
The days grow shorter and shorter and we long for the return of the sun. Then, at the winter solstice, it is time: The sun child is born, and brings with it the promise of light and life returning. Even though we know that it is a long time until spring, we rejoice and celebrate the promise that it will return.


Pathworking Winter Solstice

Make yourself comfortable. Take some deep breaths and relax. Let go of stress, anger, anxiety.
Close your eyes and go to your safe place.
It is gloomy today. Turn around and look for a door. It is there, quite unobtrusive, with an eight spoked wheel engraved. Open the door. It is night on the other side, you can see some stars that give at least some illumination. Before you, there is a path through a winter forest, covered in fresh snow. Follow that path. It leads you through the forest, among huge trees. There are animal tracks in the snow everywhere, from the tini signs left by a bird hopping on the ground, to big paw tracks.
Strangely, most of the tracks seem to be leading into the direction where you are heading.
The area is hilly, and your path leads you downwards, getting steeper. ... You reach the bottom of the descent, and the trees give way to a wide open meadow. The edges at the meadow are filled by the animals whose tracks you have seen – and a lot more. Fortunately, the leopard and the bear are at the far end of the meadow, peacefully besides each other. Everybody is quiet, and peaceful, as if they are waiting fore something. You ask the squirrel next to you what is happening, ant it answers: “Can't you see it? There – the Goddess gives birth to the new sun.” It points across the meadow, and indeed there is a hushed light coming from the entrance of a cave. “And hight time, if you ask me, too.”
You join the animals in their silent vigil and watch the entrance of the cave. It is still night, but dawn seems to be setting in, and it is slowly getting brighter.
Suddenly, the light at the entrance of the cave grows brilliant, and at the same time, the first rays of the sun cross the horizon. You hear the animals cheer the birth of the sun.
A woman leaves the cave, carrying a baby on her arms. It seems to be the source of light from the cave, it radiates a warm light. The Goddess looks tired. She addresses everyone present: “Behold Him, the reborn Sun. From now on, the light shall grow in strength, until it is time for the dark to return.”
The baby stretches its arms towards the sun, and it seems as if the sun stretches its rays towards the child. The cold of the snow is forgotten, and you watch the display. ...
It is time to return. Slip away silently. You realize that a lot of the animals have done the same, pusuing their own business once they have seen proof of the return of the sun. You follow the path that led you there, up the hill and through the forest, until you stand before the door again. You open the door and return to your safe place. ...
From here, return to your body. Take some breaths to return and readjust. Count from 10 to 1. Open your eyes. Welcome back.

Retrospection

As a new year has begun, it is time to look back over what happened during the last year. Take something to write and go to a quiet place where you will not be disturbed. Light a candle and some incense, if you want to. If you have been writing Daily Pages in the last year, or some kind of journal, take that with you, too.

First of all, think about important topics or areas of your life. Restrict yourself to three or four areas if possible. For me, they would be something like family and friends, religion, work and writing.
Mentally go over the last year for each of these areas. Try to answer the following questions:

What happened in that area of my life during this year?
What have I done and achieved in that area of my life during this year?
What were my goals? Did I achieve them or not. If not, why? Especially compared to those goals I have achieved?

Look into your journal while you answer those questions. It will help you to remember achievements, events and failures you already forgot. Repeat this exercise with all of the major areas of your life, maybe tackling one area each day.

When you are done with all of the topics, there is one last question to consider:

What kind of a person have you been over the last year?

Write the results of your retrospection down. It will help you to sort your thoughts, and we will need the notes again at the end of the month. Additionally, if you have done retrospection for some years, your notes can help you to see the broader picture of your life.

Introspection

In some traditions, the New Year starts at Samhain. The year starts with the dark half, with winter, just as the day starts with the evening, at sunset. Therefore, for me the time around Samhain is the time for introspection, for looking back over the last year, and for looking forward into what I want to do and be next year. In terms of the three aspects of the divine, introspection means getting into contact with your divine Self. And that is what we are going to do during this November: introspection. We start this week with retrospection and look back over the last year. Then we will do two different exercises to explore ourselves. Finally, on the basis of these results, we will make plans for the next year.

Samhain

Blessed (belated) Samhain to everyone.

I am sorry, but what happened this Smahain was kind of unexpected and I did not manage to write a meditation this week. I will hopefully resume blogging next weekend.

Prayer to the earth

After getting up in the morning, before you do anything else, go outside. Bring a cup of water with you. Go to a place where you can stand barefoot on the earth, your garden or a nearby park, or somewhere in the wilderness. Do a grounding exercise, and connect to that earth beneath you. Become aware of the air around you, the winds, the sounds that reach you. Take the cup of water, and take a sip from it. Then, pour the rest on the ground, meditating on the live giving qualities of water. Turn towards the sun, and feel its warmth, its heat, reach you. Be aware of the fire that is necessary for life. Enjoy standing there, in the centre of the four elements. Speak a short prayer to thank for the life-giving qualities of each of the elements, of the Earth.
Then, go back inside for breakfast or whatever you do to start the day. Repeat this little exercise over the day as often as you like. Try to do it at least thrice: morning, during the day, and in the evening.

Bringing religion into your daily life

Part of the reason why I started writing this course was that I wanted to find a way to build a regular meditation practise that would help to integrate religion and spirituality into our daily lives instead of reserving it for special holy days. This week, I want to have a look at the interaction of our religion and our life.
In my Wiccan tradition, one of the first things we ask our students to do is to analyse a news story from a religious point of view. This week, we are going to do something similar: each evening, analyse your own story, the story of this day, from a religious point of view.
That, of course, raises the question: what is your religious point of view? This is a question everyone has to answer for himself. A good starting point would be the ethical guidelines of your religion. They might include the Wiccan rede (“If it harms none, do what you will”), the law of return (“what you send out will come back to thee”), and the fact that your actions, your choices, are your own responsibility.

To start, make sure you have about 20-30 minutes of uninterrupted time. Get comfortable. My recommendation is to have pen and paper ready and write everything down, but you can also do this exercise in your thoughts only if you want to.
Mentally, walk through your day: what have you experienced? What might be the deeper meaning of your experiences? Of course, not everything has to have a deeper meaning – but some things might, and you will never find it if you do not start looking for it. What have you, yourself, done? How have you interacted with other people? What choices did you make? What will be the consequences of your actions, your choices? From a religious point of view, based on your own moral and ethical guidelines, were your actions, interactions and choices the right ones? Or did you cause unnecessary harm, make poor choices, or act unwise? If you did, try to find out why. Accept your responsibility for your own actions. If you followed the advice of someone else, think about why you did that instead of following your own good sense – but do not put the blame on the other person. What would have been a better course of action?

Do this exercise each evening over a whole week. If you want to, you can include it in your daily pages or your personal journal. After the week, go back over the whole week. Has being more aware of your actions and choices caused you to act differently? Why?

Autumn candle meditation

The season I like best is autumn. When the weather is fine, I like to go outside, enjoying the last warm rays of a sun that is quickly loosing its strength, and watching the changing colours and the winds that carry away the leaves from the trees. When the weather is rainy, however, I like to do an autumn candle meditation.
For this meditation, you need: a rainy day, at least half an hour of time when you will not be disturbed and a comfortable chair that faces a window with a good view. I like to do this in the attic where the rain is drumming on the roof light, or in a place where I can look out into the garden. You also need a cup of hot tea, maybe a blanket and of course a candle.
Prepare your tea, and make yourself comfortable, facing the window. Start the meditation by lighting the candle. Be calm and relaxed. If you want to, focus on your breath for a few minutes in order to relax. Then, allow yourself to watch the autumn rain. Enjoy the warmth of your tea. Let everything else go. No hurry, no planning, no reflection – just let everything else go. Whenever your mind wanders back to something that happened yesterday, just bring it back to the moment. Whenever you start thinking about something you will have to do tomorrow, just come back to the present moment. Be present. Whenever you feel anger, fear, stress, let it go and come back to the present moment. Just be.
End the meditation by blowing out the candle.

Enjoy the fruits of the Earth

Currently, it is harvest time, and that is a good reason to enjoy the pleasure the harvest can mean for us. On a beautiful day, sit in the sun. Connect to the earth below you and the sky above you. Take some fruits that grow where you live and that are currently ripe – if it is possible and safe to do so, gather them yourself. An example would be to pick some apples from the tree in your garden, if you have one.
Look at the fruits, admiring their colour, their texture. Eat them slowly, enjoying their flavour, their sweetness. Of course, this works best if you choose fruits that you like. Take you time and enjoy life's pleasure.

Personal Harvest

Last week was Autumn equinox, a sabbat that is considered to be a harvest celebration, the second of three harvest festivals in some traditions. In our times, few people actively participate in the harvest by collecting vegetables from a field, canning fruits or doing any of the work associated with harvest. Mostly, we enjoy that a variety of fresh, local food is available.
However, harvest time is also the perfect time for a personal harvest. Take some time for yourself and think back. Write a list: what have you already achieved this year? Have you learned something new? Completed an art project? Gotten a promotion? Read five books? Have you come to know yourself better? The Gods? Have you been able to appreciate the turn of the seasons? Have you raised a kid for another year? Have you finished one of your many projects? Have you found the courage to say no to yet another project? What were the important, the beautiful, the most moving times, the most rewarding moments, the most breathtaking scenery, the most joyful company? Take your time to make this list of things you have achieved or received during the last year.
Then, if you want to, make a second list: the year is not yet over, and quite likely you have some projects you would like to finish, or at least take another step towards finishing them. List everything that comes to your mind, and think about what you can do tomorrow – or better yet, today – to get closer towards including that project in your personal harvest for this year. Or, if it is something you think you should be doing, but do not really want to do, let it go.

Finally, go back to your first list. Read through it. Chances are the list is much longer than you would have guessed initially. If it is not, you probably forgot a lot of things that would be worth being mentioned in your personal harvest. Read through the list and realise that there are a lot of things you have received, and also a lot of things you have achieved. Be grateful for the gifts of the universe. And allow yourself to be proud of your achievements. This is your harvest.

Autumn equinox

This week is the time of autumn equinox (the exact date is 22nd of September). Day and night are of equal length. The sun is slowly loosing strength. In nature, it is early autumn right now: the first coloured leaves can be seen, and harvest is in full swing. In my area, the first pumpkins are ripe and the temperature has dropped below 20°C most of the time, so it is easy to notice that autumn has arrived.



Pathworking Spring equinox

Make yourself comfortable. Take some deep breaths and relax. Let go of stress, anger, anxiety.
Close your eyes and go to your safe place. Turn around and look for a door. It is there, quite unobtrusive, with an eight spoked wheel engraved.
Open the door. It is day on the other side, with the light filtering through the huge trees of the forest. Before you, there is a path through the forest. The normally green forest is dotted with the red, yellow and brown of the changing leaves. Some late flowers are blossoming, and an elder is heavy with berries.
Follow the path. It leads you through the forest, among huge trees. Everything is quiet and peaceful.
The area is hilly, and your path leads you downwards, getting steeper...
You reach the bottom of the descent, and the trees give way to a wide open meadow. In the centre, you can see a huge buffet laden with the fruits of forest and field, and with mouth-watering dishes made from those fresh fruits. There is a large table where people are sitting and eating, presided over by a kingly man you recognize as the God. He has aged a lot since you last saw him, but he and everyone else seems to enjoy himself. He notices you, and begs you to join them, so you get a platter of food from the buffet and sit down with the others and celebrate the harvest festival with them.
...
You have finished your plate, and it is time for you to go. You turn towards the path that leads you home and return, up the hill, and through the autumn forest, until you stand before the door once more. You open the door and return to your safe place. ...
From here, return to your body. Take some breaths to return and readjust. Count from 10 to 1. Open your eyes. Welcome back.


Note
What did you pick from the buffet of food? Can you create it and celebrate harvest by sharing that dish with your family or some friends?

Pathworking: The Dark One

On a night of the new moon, sit down in a quiet spot, preferably somewhere where you can see the night sky.
Take some deep breaths and relax. Gaze upon the night sky while you let go of anger, stress, anxiety and distractions.
Then, close your eyes. Go to your safe place. It is a very dark night here. Only the slimmest crescent of the moon is visible in the sky. Its light touches you, and in response, you feel your wings grow once again, delicate, slightly luminescent, strong enough to carry you easily. Stretch your wings experimentally.
Then, the last light of the moon vanishes. There is no crescent visible anymore, and yet you can feel the presence of the dark moon, there up in the sky.
Now, with some strong beats of your wings, you raise yourself into the air. Feel the resistance of the air, against your wings, the air that is rushing around you as you fly into the sky, into the direction of the waning moon. There is an updraft that carries you higher... and higher... effortlessly higher and higher...
You look ahead and you can see a shadow where the dark moon has to be. It grows bigger and bigger, until you are no longer sure whether it is there. Then you can make out features, rocks, mountains, crater. As you flow even nearer, you can see a round, darker shadow on the black moon surface. You fly closer, and you can see that it is a building, so you land at one side of it. Follow the wall until you find an opening. Very little light shines through, and as you enter, you see that the huge room is illuminated only by candles, one in each corner and one in the centre.
The room is filled with statues you cannot quite make out. However, at least some of them seem to be monsters, and you are not sure whether all of them are statues or some of them are moving when you are not looking.
There is a moving figure in the centre of the temple, so you walk there. The figure turns out to be a woman waring a black cloack, with the hood up. You shiver. She seems to notice, because she speaks up:
“There is no need for you to fear me. Unless you wake my wrath, I am quite peaceful. But woe betide those who do raise my anger by violating basic human rights. Those I pursue without remorse, and they shall have no rest.
If ever you have truly need of me, do not hesitate to call me – I shall come, whether it be for protection from evil, rightful revenge, or company at your last breath.”
She looks at you intensly...
Silently, take your leave of the Goddess and leave Her temple. Look into the sky. There, in the distance, you can see the earth, blue, green and beautiful. Stretch your wings again and rise into the sky. Fly back, home to your safe place. There is a feeling that is gently leading you into the right direction, a pulling, like a homing instinct. You follow it, flying back, and finally, you return to your safe place. As you land, you feel your wings dissolving.
Return to your body. Take a few deep breaths to return and readjust. Count from 10 to 1, open your eyes. Welcome back.

Note: As you can see, it seems rational to meet the Goddesses during their assigned moon phases. However, that is not necessary. All of them exist, no matter whether we can see their moon phase or not, and they are associated with the moon phases but they are not the moon itself. Use the symbol, but avoid being bound by the symbol.

The Dark One

The fourth face of the Goddess is her terrible one: destruction, war and death. She is the Dark Mother, the one who takes back what the Mother has given. A mythological example might be Persephone, who reigns the underworld, or the war Goddess Morrigan. She is not gentle, and Her wrath is terrible.
Most often, this forth face is not part of the mythology of the moon Goddess. Her warrior aspects can also be attributed to the maiden, and her death aspect may be attributed with the crone, and rightfully so. A fight for freedom and independence is definitely something that would find the approval of the Maiden, and the wisdom of the Crone would help those passing the veil. So if you are uncomfortable with the idea of meeting this dark Goddess, skip this pathworking, go and do some of the earlier ones this week.
The Dark Goddess is different. Experience for yourself.

Pathworking: The Crone

On a night of the waning moon, sit down in a quiet spot, preferably somewhere where you can see the moon.
Take some deep breaths and relax. Gaze upon or visualize the waning moon while you let go of anger, stress, anxiety and distractions.
Then, close your eyes. Go to your safe place. It is night here, but the night is illuminated a bit by a waning moon shining dimly in the sky. The moonlight touches you, and in response, you feel delicate, luminescent wings grow, strong enough to carry you easily. Stretch your wings experimentally.
Now, with some strong beats of your wings, raise yourself into the air. Feel the resistance of the air, against your wings, the air that is rushing around you as you fly into the sky, into the direction of the waning moon. There is an updraft that carries you higher... and higher... effortlessly higher and higher...
You look ahead and see the moon in front of you, huge, and growing even bigger and bigger as you approach it, until you can no longer see it in its entirety. You can see a building, shaped like a crescent, waning moon. It is a temple of white marble, dappled with black bits.
You land in the middle of the courtyard framed by the crescent. There is an open entrance in front of you, and you fold your wings and walk towards it. You notice the lack of statues, but as you look upon the floor, you can see designs and symbols inlaid, grey in white.
You enter the temple. It smells slightly of incense. Inside, there are some statues, and again mosaics on the walls and floor, displaying partly abstract symbols, and designs, partly scenes such as a woman with a torch guiding another woman through a maze of corridors.
In the centre of the temple, there is a cauldron, bubbling over a fire pit. An old woman stands beside it, stirring it and adding something. She is singing softly, but you cannot understand it. It appears as if she has not noticed you, but before you can make up your mind to do something, the singing stops and she says: “Come over. I won't bite you”, without turning away from the cauldron. You go closer and look into the cauldron. The contents look like boiling soup.
The crone stirs a last time and then turns towards you. “Ah, a guest.
Expect no fancy words of me. I am the old one, and I have no need or want for them. I know that which is hidden, the secrets dark. Mine is the art of change, the mystery of transformation.
I grant you a drink from the cauldron of change. Choose what you want to transform. But be careful, for change may come at a prize.”
She looks at you and giggles, then begins stirring the cauldron once more. From somewhere, she produces a cup, fills it from the cauldron and hands it to you. It is hot, and even if you wait, or stir it, it does not cool down. Choose something to transform, then focus on it as you drain the cup. You may decide to skip, then give the cup back to her. ...
You can take some time talking to her, or just explore the temple. ...
It is time to return. Take your leave of the Goddess. You leave the temple. Look into the sky. There, in the distance, you can see the earth, blue, green and beautiful. Stretch your wings again and rise into the sky. Fly back, home to your safe place. There is a feeling that is gently leading you into the right direction, a pulling, like a homing instinct. You follow it, flying back, and finally, you return to your safe place. As you land, you feel your wings dissolving.
Return to your body. Take a few deep breaths to return and readjust. Count from 10 to 1, open your eyes. Welcome back.

Note: The moon pathworkings might be a bit difficult to memorize because of the speeches they include. I recommend recording these pathworkings. Alternatively, it is possible to adapt them by listening to what the Goddesses say of themselves instead of memorizing the speech.