So, I did it. I do get credit for that. It´s not easy to stand in front of a group of like 15 people and try to relate a concept that one had been working with. I prepared for quite some time, always looking here and there to find written sources from way back when, which would relate something about the Awen, where everyone could look and read up on it some more. We mainly sing and write about Awen in the form of poems which will then attempt to bring about the feelings in the reader, which the bard experienced. And that with a good reason. It is something that needs to be experienced, something that will nurture your life and you will feel it moving you - the Flow of the Awen. I told some of the old tales (no, nothing secret about those!!) and the Rays and the Cauldron in possession of the noble Lady known as Ceridwen. I am not sure if I was able to relate what I have experienced so far. But simply through the preparation of my talk, I was sent on a journey where I had not been before. Therefore I am convinced that it was good.
For all those who were not able to come - I started the Talk with a short meditation - because I found it hard to talk about something that has to be felt. I wanted to evoke the feeling in all those attending:
Guided Meditation:

Standing by the seashore, you can feel the sand beneath your feet, a beautiful blue sky above you and you are looking out upon the ocean. You see the waters playfully reaching the shore, bathing your feet and then drawing back into the sea. You feel the winds coming from afar who gently touch your face and then withdraw once again. You lift your head up and look towards the sky. You see the Sun but you can´t look directly at it, you squint your eyes just a bit and there you notice its light falling in the shape of three golden rays, all emanating from this being of light. And you can feel the warmth of the Sun, seemingly penetrating every pore of your being, entering into your third eye and spreading through your whole being. And you feel a moment of bliss, of happiness, of truth and a moment that has no time and does not pass. The flow of warmth from the Sun floods you and your are at peace. You take a deep breath and with this breath you consciously give yourself life, your draw it in, and it then travels through your body by the means of the red way/flow and your spirit awakens and then at this point, when all the daily stuff has seemingly washed out of your system, pictures and words emerge, a song comes to mind, a voice is heard and you don´t know where it is coming from, but it is there. And now you are aware that you took this breath, that it worked in you and now you are the one that will give it shape on this plane (earth). It is in your hands. Inspired by those who might have no name, by those who have gone before us, inspired by your very spirit, which is comprised of all of them, you are a vessel for the Awen. You carry this abundant and creative life energy in you, for otherwise you would not be here, the creative spark at the beginning of your life has given you a shape on this plane and now you have become a shaper of many things to come.
And you intone AAAA——UUUUU—–EEEEEE—–N
(copyright Hermilin 2009)
And now should you feel tickled to find out more about the Awen:
Intone it, feel it, be it.
For those, who would like to read some more about it, I put together a short reading list, where one can find a few bits and pieces
!
*Book of Taliesin
*Hanes Taliesin
*Journey through Wales - by Gerald of Wales
*Barddas - by Iolo Morganwg
*Taliesin, the last Celtic Shaman - by John and Caitlin Matthews
*The Mabinogion and other medieval welsh Tales - by Patrick K. Ford
*Historia Brittonum - by Nennius
…and there are many more out there, but that should give you a head start !
Hermilin



