Seven years ago, when Buddhist scholar and former monk Stephen Batchelor embarked on a search for the real Siddhartha Gautama, rooting through over 6,000 pages of the Pali Canon—the oldest set of texts on his teachings, which provide glimpses into his social and political world—perhaps he didn’t even dream of the Buddha that would emerge from his research. Far from the picture we have of Siddhartha as a prince who grew up in a palace, who renounced it all and became the Buddha, attracting the rich and powerful as well as hundreds of monks and nuns by his teachings, until one day he just lay down and died, Batchelor’s portrait of the Buddha “is not that simple”. In his new book, Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist, to be out in the US early March, this author of eight other books on Buddhism claims the Buddha was a man whose teachings were regarded by his contemporaries as not only radical, but “queer” enough for him to be denounced by one of his own former disciples as a “fake”, who not only managed to win the patronage of the three most powerful political figures of his time, but was worldly enough to survive in the midst of court intrigues, murders and betrayals, effectively quelling a rebellion within his own flock before he was done in by the ambitions of his own family.

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Grant, O Spirit, Thy Protection
And in Protection, Strength
And in Strength, Understanding
And in Understanding, Knowledge
And in Knowledge, the Knowledge of Justice
And in the Knowledge of Justice, the Love of It
And in the Love of It, the Love of All Existences
And in the Love of All Existences, the Love of (God, Goddess) Spirit and All Goodness

Standing around in the cold, on a drippy afternoon, imbibing the very essence of British weather through my extremities, is not usually my cup of tea, especially on a Sunday afternoon. But I found myself in one of the wonderful woods of London (one of the best things about London is that there are woods), wrapped in sixteen layers that weren’t enough, to attend an Imbolc ceremony.

Imbolc (pronounced “Imolc”) is an ancient festival that was celebrated in Celtic (and perhaps pre-Celtic) times. It is celebrated in early February when the first signs of spring appear. It is hard to believe that spring is anywhere near London, but my snowdrops have appeared, and they are usually the first indicator that there is hope! Imbolc is

strongly associated with the goddess Brigid, and in the Christian period with St Brigid – Imbolc being also known as St. Brigid’s Day. In Scotland the festival is also known as Là Fhèill Brìghde, in Ireland as Lá Fhéile Bríde, and in Wales as Gŵyl y Canhwyllau. The Day is also associated with the Christian feast of Candlemas (2 February), marking the end of the season of Epiphany.

Also known as “The Festival of Lights”, fire, initiation and purification are an important aspect of this festival. The lighting of candles and fires represents the return of warmth and the increasing power of the sun over the coming months.

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Cadhas do Bhrighde. A token of respect to Brigid. By Professor Alexander John Haddow (1912- 1978). It took 19 years to complete. Image Credit smeddum.net.

I’m lucky to have a friend, L, who is a Druid. When I learned she conducts ceremonies (Druids take it in turn to conduct and participate in ceremonies), I asked if I could come for the next one. Thus, I found myself in the freezing woods. I’m glad I went. It was an eclectic group of people, all of whom, unsurprisingly, had a deep love of nature.

We found a dell in the woodland and stood in a circle, each person taking it in turn to introduce themselves and talk about how they had been over the past few months, what winter meant to them (darkness for some, a time of inward reflection for others, and a time of joy for those who don’t like the heat!).

As a person spoke, he/she held a beautiful “talking stick,” a carved, long piece of wood with grooves. It was very comforting to hold while talking. You pass the stick on to the next person once you have finished. Everyone was given time to speak as much as they wanted, and everyone paid full attention to what each person had to say. We finished the talking exercise by saying what this time of the year means to us. For me, it is about feeling like I’m standing on some sort of threshold.

Her symbolism as a Sun Goddess remains, also, in the form of Brigid’s crosses, a widdershins or counterclockwise, swastika, found world-wide as a profound symbol, reaching Ireland by the second century, B. C. E., and is still used there today to protect the harvest and farm animals.

(from Brigid: The Survival of a Goddess by Winter Cymres).

We created an altar on the woodland floor, in the north-east corner, from where the Goddess Brigid is supposed to enter. Everyone scattered for a few minutes to go and find objects to create the altar. When searching for objects to make the altar, L instructed us to think of what we hoped would manifest in the coming year and our hopes for the spring. People added things to the altar found from the woods like leaves and twigs, but also photographs, necklaces and anything that symbolised their hopes for the future.

We approached the altar from the west, took three breaths together and “gave peace to the quarters,” i.e. invoked peace in all four directions, by facing each direction, ending with asking for peace for the whole world. We then recited the Druid’s prayer, cited above, and ended with Awen, a sacred sound similar to Om and expressive of inspiration from the guiding spirit of the universe. This felt familar, as Hindus too sometimes establish the directions before commencing on a Puja. Awen doesn’t look like Om on paper, but when one recites it together as a group, it produces the same sort of humming vibration.

We blessed our circle with water and fire. This also felt very familar, the procedure was exactly the same as when Hindus take around a sacred flame or bless someone with water.

We laid aside all disturbing thoughts and recognised the time and space as sacred.

We called in the directions, the spiritual elements and entities from all four directions and then prayed, “may the harmony of our lands be complete.”

L said, “we have gathered here to celebrate season of Imbolc, season of the Goddess Brighid, goddess of poets, goddess of healing, goddess of the forge.”
She called upon someone to speak for the land in this season, and someone spoke of the qualities of the land in this season.
She called upon someone to speak for the spirits of place in this season and someone spoke for the spirits of place in this season.
She asked if someone would summon the Goddess and someone summoned the Goddess.

The representative of the Goddess entered from the North-East and said:

“I bring pure water melted from the snow and ice of winter.” The representative circled us blessing each with water.

“I bring fire, the flame that we have each nurtured through the dark times of winter. Let each of you now, if you want, light a candle at the altar of the goddess and express your hopes, silently or aloud, for what you wish to manifest as and hope return to the earth.”
The representative circled us and blessed us with the flame.

Everyone lit candles and placed them at the altar one by one. We ended up placing the candles in a circle, so we had a beautiful warm ring of fire in the light of dusk.

Whoever wanted to then read out poems, sang, prayed while everyone else listened. L read out a poem by Wordsworth on snowdrops. I must add here, that L is a brilliant poet herself, in the way she writes and in the way she conducts ceremonies.

L said, “It is the time of recall. As our ceremony ends in the apparent world may its memory live in our minds and hearts.”

The whole circle took the Druid vow, three times, their hands interlocked.

We swear by peace and love to stand
Heart to heart and hand in hand
Mark oh spirit and hear us now
Confirming this our sacred vow

Awen, Awen, Awen

The directions were closed and the circle was uncast.

L concluded the ceremony with a final blessing:

Today. Here Now. This was the New Year for the Aztecs. This is the new year for Tibetans. It is the time of Candlemas in the Christian tradition and for us, as Druids. Imbolc. May our whole earth be blessed with water and with light, with peace and with harmony. May this time of Imbolc mark the beginning of the stirring of a new spring within our lives.

A blessing on our lives, A blessing on the land.

*****

More articles on Brigid and Imbolc here.

Books and Resources on Druidry:

The Living Wisdom of Trees: Natural History * Folklore * Symbolism * Healing
The Book of English Magic
Druids Herbal Of Sacred Tree Medicine
Celtic Tales of Birds and Beasts: 1
The Book of the Bardic Chair
The Druid Animal Oracle
A Druid Abroad: A Quest for the Lady in Druidry
Druid’s Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year
Pagan Paths: A Guide to Wicca, Druidry, Asatru, Shamanism and Other Pagan Practices
Living Druidry: Magical Spirituality for the Wild Soul
The Druid Craft Tarot Deck (Tarot Cards)
DRUID PLANT ORACLE (Book & Card Pack)

*****

I found the Imbolc ceremony very moving, life-affirming and tantric*, not just because there was a Goddess at the centre of the ritual, but because the ritual managed to create a synthesis; to remind us that we are part of a larger creation, connected to each other, the trees around us, the seasons, the blades of grass underfoot.

*The word “tantra,” though associated with various religious philosophies and scriptures, means “to weave.”

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Mohan has used western music, employing harmony better than some have in the category of devotional music and in Indian film music. She often comes up with a rather upbeat “pop” sound. It’s all quite new-agey, but I go through phases when I quite listening to the albums she’s conceptualised, before going back to something more classical.

One of the advantages of Mohan’s renditions is that the enunciation is clear, and one can sing along. I’ve found myself remembering the words to a lot of Sanskrit compositions because of Uma Mohan. Children, and those who don’t have an ear for Indian classical music, but who still want to listen to Sanskrit chants might like them too. What I don’t like is how synthetic the orchestration can sometimes sound, wish I could cancel that out.

Below are some albums that have some good music in the devotional genre.

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When Rupert Dickinson, the chief executive of one of Britain’s biggest property firms, left his BlackBerry behind in London while on a business trip to Ireland, he simply ordered one of his staff to get on a plane and deliver the device to him.

For Dickinson’s then head of sustainability, Tim Nicholson, the errand was much more than an executive indulgence: it embodied the contempt with which his boss treated his deep philosophical beliefs about climate change.

In a significant decisiontoday , a judge found Nicholson’s views on the environment were so deeply held that they were entitled to the same protection as religious convictions, and ruled that an employment tribunal should hear his claim that he was sacked because of his beliefs.

The judgment could open the door for people to take their employers to tribunals over their stance on a range of issues, from animal rights to feminism.

Link

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Just came across a website, called “Ship of Fools” that had a “worst verse” competition-based on the Bible. They’re not atheists, neither are they people belonging to other religions-they are Christians. Here’s what they said about the competition:

Because the Bible is probably the most important book ever, but it sometimes seems that the only people who care about it are rival gangs of fundamentalists, Christian and atheist, determined to beat it into the shape of their own prejudices.

We want to rescue the Bible from their rival takeover bids. We want to take it out of the hands of people who hit you over the head with it.

It doesn’t have to be a textbook of infallible information and unbreakable laws to be God’s book. And it doesn’t have to be one big pile of lies and atrocity just because it has its dodgy bits.

We want to remind non-Christians that Christians can see the flaws of their own faith as well as others can. And we want to remind Christians too.

Let’s have a bit of balance, shall we?

The competition is now over, but I liked the idea of it of very much. It could do with some replicating across religions and atheisms I think.

The winning entries can be found here: Link

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