Imbolc, Feast of St. Brigid, Presentation, and

Transcription

Stirring in the Belly
A guided mini-retreat experience for February 1- 2
(Feasts of St. Brigid, Imbolc, Candlemas, and Groundhog Day)
from Abbey of the Arts
1 | © Christine Valters Paintner -- www.AbbeyoftheArts.com
Brigid icon by artist Marcy Hall at http://rabbitroomarts.blogspot.com
Preparation
 Gather Supplies
Handouts: Lectio Divina, Contemplative Walk, Poems
Cloth, candle, and fresh flowers
Cardboard round (can be a cake round from a baking supply store or a circle cut out of
heavy paper – suggested diameter of 10 inches)
Collage images (magazines, catalogs, greeting cards, etc.)
Glue stick & Scissors
CD/MP3 Player, meditative music, Christine’s guided meditation recording (click link to
access)
 Carve out Time
Decide on a 3-4 hour block of time, write it into your schedule and honor this
commitment you have made to yourself.
 Prepare the Space
Clear a space in your home where you can sit in stillness and have room to create a
collage (this retreat could also be experienced without the art-making element if you
prefer to focus on the lectio divina and contemplative walking). Turn off your phone
and your computer. Set up an altar space as a focal point with the cloth, candle, and
flowers and any other symbol that feels meaningful
Suggested Schedule (3-4 hours) - adjust the times for your own needs
 Opening prayer (15)
Settle into your space, read about the theme, savor Betsey’s poem
 Lectio Divina (30)
Pray with Isaiah 35 (with guided practice audio file) and journal any insights
 Contemplative Walk (60)
Look for signs of stirring in the world around you
 Art-making – Mandala (60)
Create a collage mandala intuitively
 Dance in Celebration (15)
Betsey teaches you the dance to Song of Brigid
Dance Along with Brigid (click for links to videos on YouTube)
 Closing Prayer (15)
Journal with the reflection questions and name the graces of the day
Read the Closing Blessing
Settle into the space you have
created for this time. Allow a few
moments to sink into stillness and
connect to your breath, noticing its
rise and fall in your body.
Introducing the Theme
February 1st-2nd marks a confluence
of several feasts and occasions
including: the Celtic feast of Imbolc,
St. Brigid’s Day, Candlemas, Feast of
the Presentation, and Groundhog
Day!
Imbolc is a Celtic feast that is crossquarter day, meaning it is the
midway point between the winter
solstice and spring equinox. The sun
marks the four Quarter Days of the
year (the Solstices and Equinoxes)
and the midpoints are the crossquarter days. In some cultures
February 2nd is the official beginning
of spring.
As the days slowly lengthen in the
northern hemisphere and the sun
makes her way higher in the sky, the ground beneath our feet begins to thaw. The earth softens
and the seeds deep below stir in the darkness. The word “imbolc” means “in the belly.” The
earth’s belly is beginning to awaken, new life is stirring, seeds are sprouting forth. This miniretreat draws its invitation from this image.
In many places the ground is still frozen or covered with snow, but the call now is tend to those
very first signs of movement beneath the fertile ground. What happens when you listen ever so
closely in the stillness? What do you hear beginning to emerge?
This mini-retreat is an invitation to spend time listening to the stirring in your own belly.
Through lectio divina, a contemplative walk, collage-making, and journaling you are invited to
slow down and listen deeply to the movements both within and without.
St. Brigid
In Ireland, Brigid (c. 451-525) is one of the three main Saints of the land alongside Patrick and
Columba. We don’t know many details of her life, and there is great evidence that she is part of a much
older lineage extending back to the Irish triple goddess Brigid of pre-Christian times who was the
goddess of poets, smithwork, and healing.
Most of what we know about St. Brigid comes from the Life of Brigid written by the monk Cogitosis in
the second half of the 7th century. The Life emphasizes her healing, her kinship with animals, her
profound sense of hospitality and generosity, and concern for those oppressed. These stories of the
Saints are not meant to be literal or historical, but spiritual, mythical, archetypal, and psychological,
resonating with the deepest parts of our souls.
Her feast day is February 1st which in the Celtic calendar is also the feast of Imbolc and the very
beginning of springtime. It is the time when the ewes begin to give birth and give forth their milk, and
heralds the coming of longer and warmer days. She is the first sign of life after the long dark nights of
winter. She breathes into the landscape so that it begins to awaken. Snowdrops, the first flowers of
spring are one of her symbols.
On the eve of January 31st it is traditional to leave a piece of cloth or ribbon outside the house. It was
believed that St Brigid’s spirit traveled across the land and left her curative powers in the brat Bride
(Brigid’s Mantle or cloth). It was then used throughout the year as a healing from sickness and
protection from harm.
Brigid’s feast day is also connected to the Christian liturgical year, followed by the Feast of the
Presentation of Jesus on February 2. Spiritual writer and teacher Jan Richardson describes how this
day invites us to “remember Mary and Joseph’s visit to the Temple to present their child Jesus on the
fortieth day following his birth, as Jewish law required, and for Mary to undergo the postpartum rites of
cleansing. Luke’s Gospel tells us that the prophets Anna and Simeon immediately recognize and
welcome Jesus. Taking the child into his arms, Simeon turns his voice toward God and offers praise for
the ‘light for revelation’ that has come into the world.”
Jan goes on to write that inspired by Simeon’s words, “some churches began to mark the day with a
celebration of light: the Candle Mass, during which priests would bless the candles to be used in the
year to come. Coinciding with the turn toward spring and lengthening of light in the Northern
Hemisphere, Candlemas offers a liturgical celebration of the renewing of light and life that comes to us
in the natural world at this time of year, as well as in the story of Jesus. As we emerge from the deep of
winter, the feast reminds us of the perpetual presence of Christ our Light in every season.”*
In Ireland Brigid is even called Mary of the Gaels and was said to be present as a midwife to Mary at the
birth of Jesus. She crosses thresholds of time and space and these stories often break the boundaries of
linearity. It is said that she was born as her mother crossed the threshold of a doorway. Women giving
birth often stand on the threshold of a doorway and call out her name.
Brigid was a powerful leader and one of the founders of monasticism in Ireland. She was an abbess,
healer, soul friend, prophet, and more. Many miracles are connected to her, especially related to milk.
She had a white cow who could give as much milk as needed. A small amount of her butter miraculously
feeds many guests. There is a sense of lavish hospitality and generosity connected to the spirit of Brigid.
Many of the stories connected to her, reflect the dignity of the ordinary tasks, especially in the home. No
more divisions between what is worthy of grace and beyond the scope.
There is the story of how Brigid received the land for her monastery in Kildare. She asked for what her
mantle would cover and was told she could have that much. When she placed the mantle on the ground
it grew until it covered enough land for the monastery. The word Kildare comes from the Irish Cill Dara
which means church of the oak.
Brigid is especially connected to the elements of water and fire. Many holy wells across Ireland are
dedicated to her and wells are places of healing, where those suffering with illness come to be
transformed. In Kildare is the perpetual flame of Brigid. When she was consecrated as a nun (and
legend says she was inadvertently also ordained bishop) a flame extended from her head up to the
heavens. She is invoked for protection in travel, in prayers at night, and in the work of the day. Brigid
would also have been immersed in herbal traditions of her time.
She is also connected to the seabirds known as oystercatchers and legend says that she traveled by ship
to Scotland. Indeed the name Hebrides is rooted in Brid, another Irish/Gaelic version of Brigid’s name.
The story says that the wind became quiet and her ship could proceed no further until the
oystercatchers came and flapped their wings to provide enough air and momentum for them to land on
shore. The oystercatcher is known as Giollabride which means the Guide of St. Brid.
Often in Ireland, I have heard Brigid described as a bridge between the pre-Christian and Christian
traditions, between the other world and this one. She bridges the natural and human world. Brigid sees
the face of Christ in all persons and creatures, and overcomes the division between rich and poor. Our
practice of inner hospitality as monks in the world is essentially about healing all of places we feel
fragmented, scattered, and shamed. One of her symbols is her cloak which becomes a symbol of unity.
All can dwell under her mantle.
She believed that having a soul friend, or anam cara, was also an essential part of healing on the
spiritual journey. She says anyone without one “is a body without a head.” The soul friend is the one
who helps us to become whole again, who witnesses our journey with love and compassion, as well as
challenges us in the hard places where we fight against ourselves over and over.
I have come to embrace and love Brigid more and more the longer I live in this sacred landscape. From
visiting her holy wells, to participating in the festivals for her feast day which continue to celebrate her
gifts for the world, to her kinship with creatures, I discover in Brigid a powerful source of wisdom for
how to be with the places within me which often feel divided. I find myself calling on her name in times
of illness or other places where the gap between my heart’s longing and how I am living feels too very
large.
*from Jan Richardson's reflection Feast of the Presentation/Candlemas
What Can Be Done While Waiting
You can’t force open a bud.
You can pause to marvel at the
petals all tightly packed, compact,
held within, barely emerging from the cloak of green.
But you can’t force it open.
You can sit with that bud, and let it know
that you are alive to witness its own aliveness
waiting, brimming to break forth.
You can remind that bud of the long, many long dark hours
it spent deep within the earth,
as a dream, a hope, a whisper, a promise.
With your own long deep breath,
you can remember to that bud
how water is even now drawn up its
very stem to fill the slender stamens sequestered within.
You can sit in silence together
while the sun beams its light on closed quarters,
as if to call – “Lazarus, come forth!”
Quietly, you can recall together the dream of what’s to come.
And while you are believing and waiting and believing
sometimes you can spy the almost imperceptible
curl of a petal unfolding
and the glint of color poking out, streaming through. . .
But mostly it will happen
when you close your eyes and open them again:
there it will be – bursting forth in unabashed
inexplicable exquisite beauty –
a blossom opening itself so boldly,
so brilliantly, so divinely to the world,
proclaiming such delicate praises before your awe-filled eyes.
© Betsey Beckman – www.thedancingword.com
Feast of the Presentation
Reflection by John Valters Paintner
When the days were completed for their purification
according to the law of Moses,
Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,
and to offer the sacrifice of
a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,
in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord. (excerpted from Luke 2:22-40)
Lest one think that Luke’s Infancy Narrative of a humble birth in a simple manger with only
the animals and common shepherds as witness is too lowly a beginning for the Son of God, the
Gospel moves on to another event that re-emphasizes Jesus’ importance to the world.
In this reading we learn that, according to Mosaic Law, every first born son is to be dedicated
to the Lord at the Temple in Jerusalem. It even states that the parents are to present two turtle
doves (one to be burnt as an offering to God and one given as payment to the priest) for
sacrifice at the time of the child’s presentation. I don’t think most people today understand the
daily activity of the ancient Temple. We tend to think of it as a serene church or cathedral,
where prayers were recited and Psalms sung. We might even have images of incense burning
and an altar, but even there we tend to associate ‘altar’ with the table of the Last Supper more
than a place where grain and animal sacrifices were made. In fact, the Temple in Jerusalem
was quite the slaughter house. Animals were brought (or bought in the outer courtyard) and
ritually killed and burnt as offering to God. Part of the priests’ garments was an apron, because
of all the blood. It was a loud, messy affair. The incense and bells and singing may have been,
at least in part, to distract from the Temple’s main events.
In this way, the day-to-day activity of the Temple in ancient Jerusalem wasn’t too different
from that of their contemporaries’ temples. The Jews never offered human sacrifices, but the
main difference between them and the neighboring polytheistic religions of the time wasn’t so
much what they did (or even that they were doing it for just one God), but *why* they were
doing it. The ancient polytheists that surrounded the Israelites of the time tended to have a
very negative worldview. They looked around them and saw all the evil and suffering in the
world and figured it was because it reflected the malevolence of their gods. The ancient
polytheists sacrificed because they were afraid of their gods and wanted to placate them. Their
thinking was that the gods were going to destroy part of their livestock/crops and kill some of
them anyway, so it was better for them to pick what was going to be given rather than have all
of it taken. It was more ‘damage control’ than worship.
By contrast, the ancient Israelites had a remarkably positive outlook. When they looked around
them, they saw first and foremost the bounty of the world. They saw that it was full of good
things and concluded it was because God loved them and wanted to care for them. (The
question of evil and suffering becomes a major theological wrestling point throughout
Scripture, but that is another question for another time.) As I stated, the Israelites sacrificed
animals and grain in much the same way as the polytheistic cultures that surrounded them . . .
but for completely different reasons. The Israelites saw their sacrifices as a way to give thanks,
to give back, to the source of all that they had been given. In much the same way one might
offer a glass of wine or piece of chocolate to the dinner guest who brought a bottle of wine or
box of chocolates, the Israelites were saying to God, “Thank you for giving us our flocks, our
crops, and our children. Please share in our blessings.”
And so, when Mary and Joseph present Jesus in the Temple it is an act of gratitude. It was a
public acknowledgement of the blessing a good and loving God had bestowed upon them.
Jesus’ presentation in the Temple by Mary and Joseph is their way of thanking God for the gift
of their son through the sacrifice of the turtle doves and the dedication of their child to God’s
continued good work through Creation. Every Jew present in the Temple, even those with no
direct relation to Mary and Joseph, would have been reminded of God’s fulfillment of the
promise made to Abraham and Sara, that their offspring would be as numerous as the stars of
the sky.
But there is even more going on here in Luke’s Gospel account. Upon entering the Temple,
Mary and Joseph are confronted by two separate people who had been waiting a long time for
the arrival of the Messiah. First Simeon and then Anna tell the grateful parents how special
their child is, not just to them but to the world. In keeping with Luke’s down-to-earth and
inclusive tone, these two messengers of God’s grace are not kings or high priests, but common
people. Anna is described as a prophet, but she is not a court-prophet. Anna may spend her
time at the Temple, but she is not an official part of the power structure. She and Simeon are
simple commoners who recognize that their fellow commoners (Mary and Joseph) are
presenting a most uncommon child.
In an odd twist of modern translation, while Mary and Joseph are presenting (or offering)
Jesus to the Lord, Simeon and Anna are acknowledging the present (or gift) of Jesus to the
world.
With the Feast of Imbolc we celebrate the first blossoming of Spring. What do this gift of new
life and the wisdom of Brigid present to you?
Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading)
There is a guided meditation podcast accompanying this retreat where I lead you through the
lectio practice with the following scripture passage (download at this link). If you would
rather pray lectio on your own, please feel free to disregard the recording.
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like
the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. . . Then the
eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame
shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall
break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall
become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall
become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. A highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Holy Way. -Isaiah 35:1-2, 5-8
Preparation:
Take some time to become fully present to the moment. Close your eyes and become
conscious of your breathing. Place your hand on your own belly. Feel your stomach
slowly rise and fall. Draw your attention down into your belly and see if you can begin
to notice what movement is happening there. Sit in silence for several minutes quieting
your mind and opening your imagination to the blossoming within. What are the colors
you notice? What is the fragrance? What is the shape of the blossom sprouting deep in
your belly? What is the invitation calling you to new growth in this season?
First Reading: READING – Lectio (Listening for God’s Address)
What is the word or phrase calling to me?
In your initial encounter with the “text” listen for a word or phrase that ‘shimmers’,
beckons, addresses you, unnerves you, disturbs you, stirs you, seems especially ripe with
meaning. Repeat this word to yourself in the silence.
Second: RECEIVING – Meditatio (Receiving God’s Address)
What are the memories, images, and feelings being stirred within me?
Gently repeating the word or phrase to yourself, allowing it to interact with the feelings,
images, memories, and symbols that come to you during this time. Allow the word or
phrase that has spoken to you to unfold in your imagination and speak even more
deeply.
Third Reading: RESPONDING – Oratio (Responding to God’s Address)
What is my invitation in this moment of my life? How am I being called to
respond?
Allow your whole being to become prayer by the honest expression of your deepest
thoughts, feelings, and desires in dialogue with God. Attend to the way this word,
phrase, feeling or image connects with the context and situation of your life right now.
How does it relate to what you have heard and seen this day? How does it connect with
what is happening at home, at work, in your leisure time?
Take an extended time of exploring this connection (In thought, in a journal, in art, in
movement) How is God present to you there? Is God calling you to anything in your
present circumstances? Is there a challenge presented here?
Contemplative Silence: RESTING – Contemplatio (Beholding God’s beauty)
A time for simply resting in God and offering gratitude for God’s presence
Reflection and Journaling
Close with some time to reflect in writing about what has emerged during your prayer.
You might want to write down the word or phrase, the images which unfolded, and the
invitation you experienced.
Excerpted & Adapted from Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening and Awareness
© Christine Valters Paintner & Lucy Wynkoop, OSB (Paulist Press 2008)
Groundhog Day
Celebrate this unlikely oracle,
this ball of fat and fur,
whom we so mysteriously endow
with the power to predict spring.
Let’s hear it for the improbable heroes who,
frightened at their own shadows,
nonetheless unwittingly work miracles.
Why shouldn’t we believe
this peculiar rodent holds power
over sun and seasons in his stubby paw?
Who says that God is all grandeur and glory?
Unnoticed in the earth, worms
are busily, brainlessly, tilling the soil.
Field mice, all unthinking, have scattered
seeds that will take root and grow.
Grape hyacinths, against all reason,
have been holding up green shoots beneath the snow.
How do you think spring arrives?
There is nothing quieter, nothing
more secret, miraculous, mundane.
Do you want to play your part
in bringing it to birth? Nothing simpler.
Find a spot not too far from the ground
and wait.
© Lynn Ungar, from Bread and Other Miracles (available here)
Contemplative Walk: Listening for what is Stirring
This is a slow contemplative walk. Do not be in a hurry. Allow it to take its own shape (you
don’t need to walk a long distance, perhaps only a few feet.)
Begin by reading the poem “Groundhog Day” by Lynn Ungar. Take some time to center
yourself before beginning. Connect to the rhythm of your breath. Bring yourself fully present
to the invitation of this moment in time and allow your walk to unfold in this way, without a
particular goal or destination, simply listening for what is calling to you next. You might return
to placing your hand on your belly, listening for the stirring there as you begin this journey.
As you begin the walk notice what is capturing your attention. See if there is something in
nature that wants you to spend some time with it simply being present to its wisdom.
Pause every few steps and look around you. Notice what the places where nature is quickening
and stirring. Listen for what your body is saying in response.
When you encounter something you find especially moving, take time to meditate with
gratitude on it, appreciating all of its qualities, how it simply is what it was created to be. Allow
yourself to fill with joyful gratitude for the gifts of the earth. Open yourself to experience the
fullness of this creation and all of the ways God delights in the beauty of it.
Then shift your focus from the creation to yourself. Take this sense of wonder and awe at the
beauty of the natural object and imagine how God gazes with delight on the beauty of who you
are. What aspects of your being can you imagine God relishing? What are the longings inside
of you God is asking you to embrace?
Rest in this awareness of the joy and delight of God in your own beautiful blossoming for
several minutes. Notice what new longings it stirs in you.
As you near the end of your time, take a few moments to notice what are the inner invitations
you have experienced? What has the Creator been saying to you through creation? Where did
you discover a stirring in the world around you.
Simply dwell in silence allowing your heart to fill with gratitude for whatever has been
revealed.
Collage Mandala
Collage is a wonderfully accessible and simple medium. Gather some magazines and catalogs
(if you don’t have any, consider purchasing a copy of National Geographic – you can often find
used copies at library sales or thrift stores – and work with the images from just one magazine.
Setting limits on your materials can be a helpful way to ignite creativity by working with what
you have.
Create a base on which to work. I often purchase cake rounds from a local baking supply store
in 10-12 inch sizes, however you could cut a circle from some heavy paper in whatever size feels
pleasing. A smaller size is another helpful limit on your creative process because you are
forced to make choices about what images to include and which to exclude.
Before you start choosing images, allow a few moments to connect with your breath. Sink into
your body’s wisdom and release your thinking, judging mind. This process is a journey of
discovery where you are invited to listen to what your longing is in a given moment and give
yourself the freedom to respond without worrying about creating something “beautiful.” Allow
this to be a time of prayer. Open yourself to how the Creative Source is revealing the new
stirrings of your heart to you through image.
Take some time to sort through the images. Pay attention to those which create an energetic
response: either resonance (an experience of joy or delight) or dissonance (an experience of
resistance or strong emotion like grief or anger). This is an intuitive process. If you notice
yourself drawn to an image, but then your mind starts making judgments about why you
shouldn’t choose it, connect again to your breath and choose the image without having to make
“sense” out of it.
Gather a number of images and after about 10-15 minutes shift your attention to begin
arranging them on the mandala surface. Notice how the images want to be placed in relation
to one another. Continue to stay open to the ways God, the Great Artist is moving through you
in this time of prayer. Use the scissors to cut away parts of the image which feel extraneous
and use the glue stick to fasten your images to the surface.
Once your collage is completed, spend some time simply being with the images. Enter into
each one in your imagination, imagining that it is a part of yourself, and speak with the words
“I am” describing the internal experience of being this image. Write your responses in your
journal, again allowing this to be an intuitive response rather than thinking analysis.
Invitation to Dance
For this first month we invite you into a song about St. Brigid composed by Laura
Ash for the Abbey. Betsey teaches you the dance and then invites you to dance
along. (Click for link to videos on YouTube).
Reflection Questions
What practices would help you to cultivate more spaciousness?
In the midst of signs of winter all around us, how might you give yourself some time to just
listen for spring’s quiet rising?
What does the new life stirring in your inner world sound like?
Can you hear it deep within you?
How might you give room for this new life to grow?
How can you nurture this seedling in the fertile dark earth of your soul
in the coming days?
Closing Blessing
May you feel the seeds in your belly rumbling
as they yearn to break open and release new life.
May the breaking open of these seeds be
an earthquake shifting the plates of your soul.
May you notice the tiny green shoots
breaking through the ground of your awareness.
May you feel the pull of your very being
reaching toward the abundance of God,
as the stem is drawn toward the sunlight.
May you experience the unfurling of your petals
one by one in a blaze of color.
May you feel yourself stretched wide
in a posture of welcoming to all that is yet to be spoken within you.
As your petals fall gently to the ground
May you remember that after blossoming
Comes the journey toward fruit.

Imbolc, Feast of St. Brigid, Presentation, and

Transcription

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