Driving home from work and listening to Loreena McKennitt’s recording of “All Soul’s Night”. A deep longing for a return to a simpler place and time comes over me. The same feeling I remember early on when I had just begun the path of a witch.
I remember hearing this song, and having a visceral and very palpable reaction to the music, the voice and the weaving of the lyrics. The simplicity of dancing around a fire, drums urging you on and the coolness of the night seemed as real as the van I was driving at the time.
I remember the newness of finding a spiritual path so beautiful in its nature and expanse of devotion. And, the simplicity of honoring the Gods and Goddesses in heartfelt song, movement and small tokens of devotional offering.
Flash forward to the present. I think on the many years that I have studied, trained and moved forward on this same path. Tears well up in eyes that for too long have sought out the complexity of the path and extended far beyond the simple act of acceptance of its beauty at face value.
So, for tonight’s class, no fancy altar to make the lesson better understood. A single white candle lit in honor of our being fully and simply present to do the work of reaching out to the Divine.
