Meditation: An Otherworld Landscape

(This exercise involves the construction of an Otherworld landscape, in which you will eventually meet and converse with the many Otherworld contacts who work through the Irish Celtic magickal tradition.)

Ideally, this Otherworld landscape should contain a river with a lord, a large open plain, mountains, woodlands (which can include your own grove), a seashore, and a large, Celtic-style fort. This fort should be constructed of wood and surrounded by a palisade, and should be typical of the period (definitely not a later, stone-built mediaeval castle).

Spend some time on this exercise, and construct in your visual imagination, as clearly as possible, this Otherworld version of the physical Green World. You will be spending a good deal of time here as you make progress. When you get the chance, even in day-dream if not actually in meditation, close your eyes and see your Otherworld landscape unfolding before you. Go for walks in the woods. Stroll along the banks of the river. Cross the ford and see what is on the other side. Climb the mountains. Watch the wildlife on the plain. Have a good look around the outside of the fort and see what it is like inside. Explore its many rooms and outbuildings until you are completely familiar with it. Remember to open up all of your Otherworld senses, not just sight, and do all the things you would do in this world. Smell the air, and the scents of the trees and flowers around you. Touch the earth, the trees, rocks and anything interesting lying around. Feel the wind on your face, and notice any changes in temperature. Listen to the birds singing, hear the river bubbling over the wet rocks. Feel totally at one with the Otherworld life forces as you walk about this green and fertile place.

Do not, for the moment, visualize anyone else being with you. That will come later. Just enjoy the solitude and feeling of belonging that comes with the construction of your own Otherworld place of work and study.

Meditation: Feeling Ireland

Start by visualizing Ireland as a flat plain with no rivers, lakes, or mountains on its surface. Despite this, it is teaming with wildlife and many different types of trees and plants. There is a feeling of tranquility and stability about the place and you instinctively know that everything is in perfect harmony.

Once you have a good mental picture of this virgin Ireland, visualize the arrival of Cessair with her original ships and crew. See her vessels in the form that feels most suitable to you. Visualize her and her companions as clearly as possible. Hear them speak in whatever voice or language feels appropriate. Most important, while you are visualizing all of this, see and feel how the land of Ireland itself reacts to this incoming of people where there were no people before. See and feel new rivers, lakes, and mountains erupt forth from the smooth plains. Feel how the island joyously becomes aware of its growing potential. Realize that the coming of Cessair has awakened the energies of Ireland and helped it start to progress and mature from the influences and energies the people bring with them, just as human beings, as infants, learn from the influence and energies of others around them, and start to become individuals in their own right.

Eventually Cessair and her companions die, but the changes made to the land remain. A period of inactivity now follows, and the consciousness of Ireland, which has been so stimulated, starts to slip back into a sleep like state. See now the arrival of Partholon and his followers. Again, see and feel how the land reacts to these newcomers. More rivers, lakes, and mountains appear, and the consciousness of Ireland advances a bit more. Like Cessair’s people, though, Partholon’s also eventually die, and Ireland falls back into its state of inactivity. This is interrupted by the arrival of Neimheadh, and the whole process starts again, with the outer face of Ireland changing once more, and with its mental and spiritual self progressing and learning from these new shapers of its appearance.

Feel these changes taking place, not only on the surface of the island, with the four Elemental building blocks of the physical world - Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. Carry on this visual and emotional exercise by studying the various invaders and their effects on Ireland, right up until the arrival of the Tuatha De Danann. Remember to include the arrival of the Fir Bolg, even though they did not change the land, and, to a certain extent, had a negative influence on it.

Once you reach the stage of the arrival of the Tuatha De Danann, stop your mental advance through the centuries and see how Ireland looks and feels at the time of her most influential invaders. Realize that the Tuatha De Danann were the first invaders who recognized, understood, and Worked with the creative forces of the physical level, and who were aware of, and Worked with the creative forces of the mental and spiritual levels as well. It is this state of total awareness and harmony which these exercises are designed to help you achieve.