What motivates you to do the things that you do whether that is to create or to set out on new and untried paths?
The stillness, serenity and peace of winter still holds a firm grasp during the arrival of snowdrops in the northern hemisphere. These are the days when the atmosphere is so still and there is no movement at all except the silent fall of snowflakes from the clouds.
There is something truly magical in these peaceful moments and in the celebrations of Imbolc when lighting many lamps and candles and feeling the internal stirring of coming springtime.
Now it is time to enter a phase of self healing and realise the importance of self love, giving yourself the required time and space to be able to breathe amid the chaos of life.
This path working is an excerpt from the Initiate’s Way which you can order from the publishers:
Welcoming in Autumn in 2020 this year has been like the embrace of an old friend. Long awaited and just the right time for the Initiate’s Way book to be unleashed on the world. Merlin the Hermit has been instrumental in this process of guidance in the form of an inner guide, a teacher who stepped forward to lead the way, so that I could choose with confidence this path that I have taken.
This book contains full colour plates of the twenty-two magical images which correlate with the Major Arcana of the Tarot. They each tell the archetypical story of the spiritual journey into enlightenment.
You can, as a solitary practitioner, use this book to learn how to build up magical images and tread each step of this amazing journey for yourself. If you are working within a group, it is a guidebook for creative visualisations during the year, to align with the seasons. One of the group members can lead the others through each stage of the journey. This path takes strength and courage as you become who you are truly meant to be.
In Tarot usually you will find here a male figure of the wise old man archetype which I attribute to Merlin. The importance of silence and retreat from the physical world for the purpose of meditation is stressed here, and the internal seeking of one’s own being.
In terms of psychology this archetype represents a journey into the underworld or the world of shadows. If you cast a light onto something, it casts a shadow and you cannot ignore it, instead you must retreat further into the silence and reintegrate these parts of yourself before you can progress any further on this journey.
In silence, solitude and retreat is where you can heal yourself, by going within and spending time alone. It is an intensely personal journey and each person is unique by having different life circumstances, but if you do not allow yourself significant time to explore the shadows and avoid doing inner work on yourself, it can manifest in physical and mental illness. The hermit is carrying a staff which is topped with the orphic egg, also being protected by the snake that is climbing up the staff, this is a universal symbol for wisdom.
The chapter for the Initiates Way concerning the Hermit and Numerology is a fantastic contribution written by Richard Abbot.
I have to thank Richard from the bottom of my heart for his numerological readings and the guidance that he gave me because it was priceless, at the outset of the journey of writing the Initiate’s Way.
Richard is Author of ten wonderful books and is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to be reckoned with. I would highly recommend his services if you every found yourself in need of his counsel.
This video contains a chapter from the Initiate’s Way Strength/Fortitude written by Caitlín Matthews and read by Jade Melany. The Initiate’s Way contains concise and complete instructions on how to create and use magical images …
