my croning~goddess ritual

well, I did it! early Saturday morning i gathered together all the rocks and items of nature, the wise words and cards from my lovelies all over the world.... I packed them into a basket along with the candle that Judie sent me and some incense that Blue sent me... matches, a white tablecloth, my reading glasses and camera... and I drove to Katoomba Falls lookout, stopping on the way to buy myself a coffee and pain au chocolat... a girl has to have sustenance!... the rain stopped as I got out of the car and as I walked to the 'cave' I felt at one with Mother Earth.. the air is fresh in Katoomba, no smog or pollution.. pure and earthy after rain... I drank in the wetness of the trees and noticed the O'Yarrarng growing everywhere.. the sacred herb used by Aboriginals to smudge.... I arrived at the shelter and proceeded to take a photo as I set up... first of the 'cave'

sorry about the fuzziness of the photo, it was misty..

and then the batteries went flat.... ok Universe, I get the message... a solitary ritual is just that... not shared with anyone.. a sign that this was truly meant to be a solitary venture....I then saw that someone had 'grafittied' on the wall the words: 'Our Lady of Guadalupe'.... that is all that was written. So I began.... I set up my altar.. laying the white tablecloth, lighting the candle and incense and setting all the gorgeous nature items out along with the words..... and I settled myself on the comfy cushion. I realized then, that I had forgotten to pack my journal and a pen... great.. I had to remember anything that came to mind instead of writing it down as it came to me. And I started reading... and gasping, and realizing, and crying and feeling at one with each of you who were lighting candles and thinking of me at that very moment... I felt Daisy there, whispering to me to let all the self-help books go for the time being and to settle into this goddess time of mine... the time for the books will come but I need to just be with myself and to absorb all these wise words... and as I read.. a man ran past and startled me....he just said 'sorry' and went on.... so I let go of my embarassment that i had been feeling earlier... it is ok to be me.. no-one is thinking anything of my 'ways'..this lovely message came to my mind. And I read further, feeling so loved and cared for and each word made sense to me... each and every word helped me ~ alot ... then a woman walked past and gasped ~ "what are you doing? You look like you are very spiritual"... and I explained about my birthday coming up, and about Daisy and about all my lovely friends and how they had written some words of wisdom for me to read on this my croning ceremony. I told her about my search through life ~ she told me that we all search, it is what we are meant to do and that we are all connected... and I asked her how old she was... 54 she told me... and we looked at each other with a knowing.....then she told me that she had sold her home in London and had bought an old house in the wilds of Scotland. She had retired from a high powered job, due to ill health and was now travelling the sacred areas of the world.. I told her of my ancestors in Cornwall and how I wanted to visit and I told her of my connection to Wales and Scotland and she told me that Scotland is a very special place and asked me if I had a pen as she would love me to visit her if I ever get to Scotland... of course, I didn't. And her words:'well, it wasn't meant to be'..... she wished me luck with my journey and as she walked away, I noticed her deep azure blue eyes, the pupils ringed with gold...... she was an angel. I am sure of it.

so I continued reading and tears streamed down my face...... until I finally finished reading, knowing that I must take them again, to Juliets Balcony, when it is sunny & dry and read them all again.... I packed up my things.. wishing I could take a photo of the mist in the gully and putting my camera away, I thought i would try it again.. and it worked... but you know... I didn't take a photo because it just didn't feel right.....as I walked back to the car, I picked a small piece of o'yarrarng to take home for my altar...and the first car that drove past me had the number plates :ANG 111. the angels were with me! then it started to pour with rain.

so now I am in-utero as a crone, absorbing all the wisdom that has been given to me.... awaiting my birth on January 1st 2008.... to burst forth into my Goddess years... and this tale is my contribution to Sacred Sunday....


Australians will pause for a minute's silence at 11am today to remember the sacrifice of Australian soldiers who died fighting for the nation.
At the 11th hour on the 11th day on the 11th month Australia, and other countries around the world, will mark the anniversary of the armistice, which ended The Great War in 1918.