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

To gain “Oneness” and through understanding this concept,
we acknowledge and work with wisdom from other sources
beside our own traditional sources (contained in our oral
and written lore) as well. The Divine will choose to speak through
whom they will and it would be ignorant and disrespectful
to deny wisdom only because it comes from a
“non-traditional” source.

The sources are everywhere around and within us; different
traditions and religions offer different viewpoints on many
subjects for example but we also look into the depth of the
writings of the Bards as well as the messages coming directly
from the earth, sky, sea and fire on an equal level
- so everything that is indeed out there - be it manifest or
unmanifest.
We will challenge the message and the source, but from this we
gain the understanding we need.

Let me give you an example:
If I see a flower, which grows directly out on the asphalt of a street
or if I touch an old tree and feel its power, knowledge and
wisdom or I see a bird flying in the sky or something else around
myself or if I have a special feeling or pictures in my mind, this
could be a message of the Gods and so it could contain deep
wisdom for myself and for others.

Why should I deny these messages? Why shouldn’t I listen to what
the Gods want to tell me? And so, we walk with everything around
and within us in love and peace and with deep appreciation for its
“Being”.

Copyright by m_a and Hermilin

Um das “Einssein” zu gewinnen, und dieses Konzept zu verstehen, arbeiten wir mit Weisheit aus Quellen, die nicht unserer Tradition entstammen (das schließt mündliche und schriftliche Quellen ein).  Das Göttliche spricht durch wen es will und es wäre ignorant und unrespektvoll eine  Weisheit zu ignorieren, nur weil sie nicht aus einer “traditionellen” Quelle stammt.

Die Weisheitsquellen sind überall um uns in uns. Unterschiedliche Traditionen und Religionen bieten beispielsweise verschiedene Sichtweisen zu bestimmten Themen an. Wir schauen ebenso in die Tiefe der bardischen Schriften, wie auch in die Weisheiten, die Erde, Himmel, Feuer und Wasser direkt für uns bereithalten. Alles hat den gleichen Wert - alles, das dort draußen zu finden ist - sei es manifestiert oder unmanifestiert.

Wir wollen die Botschaften dieser Quellen herausfinden um von ihnen das Verständnis zu erlangen, das wir brauchen.

Lass es mich anhand eines Beispiels erklären:

Wenn ich eine Blume sehe, die direkt vor mir aus dem Asphalt der Straße hervorbricht, oder wenn ich einen alten Baum berühre, dessen Kraft ich spüren kann - kann dies eine Botschaft von den Göttern sein. Wenn ich einen Vogel fliegen sehe oder ein bestimmtes Gefühl wahrnehme, Bilder in meinem Kopf sehe - all dies kann eine Botschaft von tiefem Wissen für mich und andere beinhalten.

Warum soll ich diese Botschaft nicht anerkennen? Warum sollte ich nicht zuhören, wenn die Götter mir etwas mitteilen möchten? Und deshalb ehren wir alles um und in uns mit Liebe und Frieden, sowie tiefer Anerkennung für sein “Sein”.

Copyright by m_a and Hermilin

Many things have been written about Awen - the Flow, the Inspiration - but here I would like to take the opportunity to tell you about the connection to our Order. Are you interested?

As you can hardly miss, our Order is part of the Awenyddiad - those are the traditions that are based largely on what is considered bardic lore and experiences. We are Awenyddes, which means in contemporary welsh translation “Poet/Poetess” but in it´s oldest and truest meaning it means the “Inspired One”. We also incorporate druidic and shamanic lore to the same extent. So we have all these “influences” but we do not consider us Bards, Druids or Ovates. We find our path to enlightenment by drawing on all of these linages in the Awenyddiad and recognize that we will find what we seek - Inspiration-  not just within one part solely, but within all of them as a Whole.

So why is Awen, the Inspiration, so important? We go through many exercises and years of training to place us again in the Flow, to be able to navigate it and experience life to its fullest extent by feeling, seeing and working with and in the Flow, which we are all part of. By recognizing this energy exists everywhere and anytime, we shift our awareness and are then able to draw and focus our minds and as such ready ourselves for Inspiration. We step into this Flow of Awen, where time does not exist and as such it facilitates the communication and the recieving of Inspirations . We practise this until it has become one with us, something as usual to us like brushing our teeth. That does not mean that we would not be “inspired” otherwise, or that there aren´t other ways to Inspiration. Many paths lead us to where we need to go.

——————-

Vieles wurde geschrieben über das Awen - der Fluß, die Inspiration -aber ich möchte hier nochmals die Gelegenheit ergreifen, zu erzählen, wie das Awen mit unserer Order verbunden ist. Bist du intressiert?

Wie dir sicherlich nicht entgangen sein wird, ist unsere Order Teil der Awenyddiad - dies sind die Traditionen, die Großteils auf den Lehren und Erfahrungen der Barden basieren. Wir sind Awenyddes, was aus dem walisischen übersetzt “Poet/Poetin” bedeutet, in seiner ältesten Bedeutung aber meint das Wort “der/die Inspirierte”.In unsere Tradition haben auch druidisches und schmanisches Einzug. Wir haben all diese “Einflüsse”, bezeichnen uns aber nicht als Barden, Druiden oder Ovaten. Den Weg zur Erleuchtung finden wir, indem wir all diese Linien in unsere Tradition einfließen lassen und erkennen, dass das was wir suchen - Inspiration - nicht nur in einem dieser Teile allein gefunden werden kann, sondern in allen von ihnen als einem Ganzen.

Also warum ist Awen, die Inspiration, so wichtig? Wir gehen durch viele Erfahrungen und durch viele jahre des Trainings, um uns wieder in den Fluß zu bringen - um in der Lage zu sein das Leben in den vollsten Zügen zu leben, zu fühlen, zu sehen und mit dem Fluß zu arbeiten, denn wir alle sind Teil dieses Flusses. Wenn wir erkennen, dass diese Energie jederzeit und überall existiert, wächst unsere Bewusstheit und wir sind in der Lage Inspiration aus allen Quellen anzunehmen. Wir begeben uns in den Fluß, wo Zeit nicht existiert, und öffnen uns für die Botschaften und Inspirationen. Wir üben dies so lange, bis es zu einem Teil von uns wird, etwas so selbstverständliches wie das Zähneputzen. Das bedeutet aber nicht, dass man anders nicht “inspiriert” sein kann, oder es keine anderen Wege zum Ziel gibt. Viele Wege führen uns dahin, wo wir schlussendlich ankommen sollen.

Hermilin