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AN IRELAND FANTASY

March 22, 2006

I had the pleasure of launching my ENTERING THE CASTLE CMED class this past weekend, which also happened to fall on the feast day of St. Patrick – as all the Irish know. The workshop was more than a remarkable experience for me; it was a turning point in my life because it marked the formal debut of the manuscript – also entitled ENTERING THE CASTLE – that will be released later this year. In so many ways, entering the castle represents the entry into an entirely new domain of consciousness for me, which is the territory of the mystical journey into the soul. Throughout my career, I have opened passageways into emerging areas of consciousness, so it may well be that the mysticism and the exploration into your Castle – the metaphor for your soul – is that which naturally occurs as one expands the exploration of their archetypes and their Contracts with God.

During the course of the workshop, several people inquired about the trip that I am leading in late August to Ireland, particularly since the focus of that trip is also on Ireland’s mythic and mystical past and present. While professional tour guides will cover the lectures on Ireland’s mythic history – including their enchanting relationship to fairies and fairy circles and other spirits that inhabit the land – I will be doing lectures on your personal, inner mythic and mystic journey. As I have so often lectured, all nations have their individual souls and their individual Sacred Contracts. I would not teach the same lectures, for example, on personal soul travel, if we were traveling together through Greece or Egypt because those magnificent countries stir different psychic patterns in your soul. They aren’t romantic and seductive nations in the same way that Ireland is and they lack the aura of enchantment that surrounds Ireland like a subtle mist. But more than my trying to describe the mystical spirit of Ireland to you, I decided to let one of Ireland’s greatest poets do that for me.

In, “The Song of the Wandering Angus”, William Butler Yeats writes about a man who makes the bold decision to follow his soul into the mystical woodlands in the second half of his life “because a fire was in my head” – he was seized by a fire and could do nothing else. Instead of waiting to be on one’s deathbed to review the choices one should have – could have – would have made (like wearing purple hats and living a more outrageous life) – this man who went into the hazel wood, as you’ll read, followed the call of his soul. As you read this mystical Irish masterpiece, you cannot help but wonder if your soul is calling you into deeper experiences of your own life – into the mystical expression of your life.

THE SONG of the WANDERING ANGUS
By William Butler Yeats

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I turned to blow the fire aflame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name;
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

The soul calls many people to come to the hazel wood. It seizes you with a fire in your head, a wondering about the meaning and purpose of your life and life itself. And then there is just the desire to enjoy the ascension to enchantment – to travel into the ancient territory of myth and druids, celtic legends and history because it is in our nature to want to pierce the mystic veils and saturate ourselves in another time.

This past weekend reminded me of the many reasons why going on a trip to Ireland is such a wonderful experience. My lectures will by on what it means to explore the mystical experience of your life and how that profound form of empowerment would transform the whole of the rest of your life in ways you cannot imagine. For once – let your soul do the work.

Come join me in Ireland.

Love,
Caroline