Meeting Persephone

I've received my first shipment from OBOD's Bardic Course. It was actually pretty amazing that it arrived as quickly as it did. I'd ordered it late last week and Monday morning it was in my mailbox! I'd expected it to take about a month to show up but was very pleasantly surpised. How it can take so long for things to arrive from here in the states - upwards of two weeks - but so quickly from the UK is beyond me. I'm sure that this came in a more direct path and I'm sure that helps. I've actually tracked orders that I've placed elsewhere and the routes they take are unbelievable. For example, I placed an order for a piece of jewelry that was coming from Arkansas and I'm in Missouri. For those not familiar with geography here, that's just south of where I am. Anyway, this piece of jewelry went from Arkansas all of the way out to Utah (way west of here - 3 states over) and then gradually made its way to me. Waste of fuel, time, and energy!

But the course is here! I'm not sure if I got everything I should have gotten but time will tell since shipments comes each month.

Monday night I was up until 4 a.m. poring over a couple of the booklets. One of which was about planting trees and specifically a grove - sacred grove. We planted trees last spring though it's still in its original spot waiting until it's strong enough to be transplanted to a permanent spot. At that time I'll likely try to plant them in more of an oval pattern instead of the rows they are presently in. Of course that also depends on where all of our utilities sit in our yard to make certain we don't have digging or root problems with the trees. Worst case scenario, I will choose a favorite tree or two and plant them in a special place and then begin working out a stone circle either in their midst or at another location in the yard. For the first time in 8 years I actually had a moment of regret about leaving Nebraska and that was only for a moment. In Nebraska we had more space, unimproved space, that would have been perfect for a sacred grove. Of course trees had a great deal of difficulty growing in Nebraska which was 98% of the reason I had to get out of there!

The stone circle was something I'd also been considering long before ordering the course. What the course does offer is a way to make these processes feel more divine with rituals to accompany the events. I had gone through my own sort of ritual when planting my trees but the idea of being more connected to what others are doing, despite the fact that I'm very much a hermit, gives the events a more "tribal" feel. The advantage to the stone circle is the fact that I don't have to worry about utility locations in my yard and the fact that my husband has access to tons of stones in his line of work that he can always bring to me.

So that's the beginning of things. I have a very long way to go in this course and I intend to take my time. My husband keeps asking how long I think it will take me to go on to the next grade (Ovate - which is going to be more "me" than the Bardic grade), but I've been very clear that I'll spend as much time as it takes in each grade to make myself completely comfortable before moving on. Having each step of the course to reflect back on means I never have to move on completely but I do want to retain as much as I possibly can before ordering the next course. At any rate, it will take at least one year per grade because that is how long it takes for all of the course shipments to be made.

Beginnings, continuations, the future.