Druidry - The Hunter Ally

Guardian of the Seven Sisters
by Laura Smith-Riva

Owl is a most beneficent hunter ally. She watches, her eyes receiving even the faintest of light. She listens, her tufted ears cock towards the faintest of sound. She sits calmly and waits, her head swiveling silently. And then with all the precision of a ruthless hunter, she glides on silent wings and pierces her prey with powerful talons. She consumes the smallest prey whole. Large prey is torn to pieces and consumed in smaller chunks.

And so it is with the work of hunting down all that blocks me or is no longer useful or needed on my spiritual journey. Small changes are integrated more easily. Larger shifts require smaller bites, time to process. Perhaps a bit of the prey is stashed in a tree hollow or some marsh grass to be returned to later.

In Druidry, the hunter ally is first invited in during the Ovate grade - a time of deep reflection in which the student begins to see and acknowledge those parts which are out of balance, bloated or diminished. We hunt for the energies which feed off our fears and siphon our magic, our possibility, our power - all that impedes us on our journey.

My hunter ally came as Owl. She is the perfect response to my sun sign leonine qualities. She teaches me to become a warrior, but not the warrior that is familiar to me who lives within the more yang qualities of reason and logic, the extroverted problem solver, an action oriented doer in all forms. Owl, as a supplicant to the darkness, thrives on the stillness, the silence, contemplation. The moon is her companion and as such the yin qualities of receptivity, deep intuition, and the watery depths of feeling and emotion are her offerings. And yet, she is a fierce hunter, moving through the nocturnal landscape with stealth and surety.

 

The Ancient

"Calm" by Niki Katiki (nikifineart.com)

The dream:

I am a youth with B (a man in my life who is a trusted father figure, mentor). He is on his boat and I am on my own, a small little disc shaped boat which is tethered to his. We are exploring out on the ocean and he is navigating us through the water. My small craft is so low on the water that my little body is floating in the water but yet I still feel safe, connected. I look up and he is at the helm of his boat  which from this angle looks a bit unstable like mine. He is looking back at me and tells me to stay close to him. We pass over some ledge just below the surface and I ask him about it. He tells me it’s call The Ancient and I run my hand over its smooth dark surface. 

This dream for me holds a moment of presence. There is no particular destination that I am aware of, though perhaps the dream imago of the guiding father knows where we are to go. He tells me to be attentive to him, to stay in connection. I am the child, curious, connected to my father, in his care and protection, present to a moment. The dream offers the gesture of stroking my hand across the smooth black stone, The Ancient, to remind me of this presence. Slowing down, sensual touch, innocence. 

The stone is a threshold between the above and below, reminding me of the depths and what lies below the surface and also what arises from the depths with the waxing and waning of the tides of life. Ancient and deeply rooted. Terra Firma at one with the waves.  Mariners, from all times, have navigated the shoals of life just as my navigator guides me. He guides me close enough to touch the smooth surface of The Ancient, perhaps a mountain top at the threshold, as am I.

The Green, Dreaming of Me

 

❂  The Green, Dreaming of Me  ❂

I was not drawn so much to the darkness as to the crucible,

To wrap myself in crisp white muslin, to enter the desert, the burning sun, 

To walk the serpent’s path to the beating heart at the center of it all. 

Blue eyes fading into red corporeal dusk,

Pain kidnaps blackened feet,

One in front of the other, a trod well worn, both flower and thorn. 

Each cairn a hope, a wish, a prayer, a promise. 

Where is my oasis? 

Thirst licks tear, dust meets knee,

A cry to heaven…

A holy vision - the green, dreaming of me. 

Death Valley, 2018 Earth Wander