Stories of Spirit…Honoring the Ancestors [part 3/ looking betwixt & between]

I love this time of year.  I love the darkness & the rain, I love the shift of energy as the Earth begins to draw in upon itself.  Living in Northern New England, I am fortunate enough to experience the changing of the Seasons.  It keeps me in touch with the land I live upon & the Spirits I coexist with.  Today has been particularly lovely on my little, mountaintop; the wind is blowing through the leaves and the mist is heavy on the land.  This weather reminds me that the veil between the world is thinning & the mist itself gives plenty of opportunity for Spirits to be more visible.

In Celtic tradition the Mist is sacred; it is seen as a crossing point located Betwixt & Between.  Mist hides the harsh edges of reality and allows us to see more clearly with our 3rd eye.  It also gives Spirits something to work with, a backdrop of sorts.   Looking into the Mist is often like being in a waking dream, our minds open and we allow for the unexpected to happen.  Fairy Tales often tell about people being lost in the mist, or wandering through it into unknown worlds.  I believe this does happen, but most often in a dream-like state.  Stepping into magical landscapes where the Dead are more visible and Nature Spirits can be seen is most often experienced within our mind.

Here is where the skeptic would say that it is all our imagination.  But as my sister is fond of saying “we can think a thousand thoughts every second…why this one?”.  Yes, it is important to have a healthy dose of skepticism.  We should not all wander around in la-la land on our magical, rainbow, unicorns.  But we should also not create unpenatrable walls that nothing can get through.  Belief in the unknown is called Faith.  I have Faith that what my mind shows me, what I feel deep within myself is just as real as me sitting on my couch writing to you all through cyber space.  When I see things I do not blindly accept…I question.  But I do so with the possibility that I may be experiencing the unknown.

I once had a friend who was such a skeptic that he could make it impossible for a Master Dowser to get clear answers around him.  I finally told him one day that he had tremendous gifts, and that if he used half as much energy on believing as he did on disbelief it would be remarkable what he could do.  Over the years he has let go of his steady disbelief & he has experienced a thing or two himself.  When we let go of disbelief, we are opening the door to possibility.  We are simply saying “maybe”.  Maybe, I am seeing the Spirit of my Grandfather at the foot of the stairs, Maybe I am seeing the Spirits of Native Americans in the Mist by the river.

In the beginning it is important to not judge.  Simply experience without the analytical dialog to go with it.  Don’t set down to solving the mystery of what and how you saw something.  Simply sit with the experience itself.  Analysis comes later when you become more comfortable with having the experiences.  This is where the Betwixt & Between comes in…The Betwixt & Between is a term that represents that which is and is not.  Dawn & Dusk are Betwixt & Between as they are both day & night but are neither one completely.  The time of year from the Autumn Equinox-Halloween & from Spring Equinox-Beltaine are also Betwixt & Between…for they are neither Summer nor Winter.  Mist is also a representative of the Betwixt & Between for it is neither wet nor dry, visible nor blinded.  Betwixt & Between is also a matter of lighting.  Like Dawn & Dusk and the times surrounding Halloween & Beltaine…is filled with Shadow.  This is powerful time & like I said above it helps us to let go of the rigid view of reality our modern world has forced upon us.  I say that this view has been forced upon us because we are shown constantly through television and movies what is real and what is not.  Spiritual things are sensationalized into fantasy & what every day life is suppose to look like is described for us in detail.  The truth is this way of thinking and being told/shown what is real and what is not is really quite modern.  Human Beings have spent thousands and thousands of years prior to the talking-box (TV) comfortably believing in the unseen world.

So how can we use the Betwixt & Between to connect & give honor to our Beloved Dead (friends, family, ancestors & loved ones)?  We can start by simply sitting in it.  On days like today…the dreary, sleepy days of Autumn-sit comfortably where it’s warm & look out your window.  Do so with your eyes slightly lidded, and your view wide.  Spirits are more easily viewed when using our periphery vision.  When we look at them straight on, they often disappear.  That is because they exist in a different dimension.  When we use our periphery vision we are using more of our sight, we are also allowing our 3rd eye to be more active.  In fact almost all how-to information on seeing Auras, Spirits and the Unknown World focus on using your periphery vision.  Now that we have the vision right speak out loud to your Beloved Dead.  Tell the ones you love & miss how much they mean to you & that you are looking for a sign that they hear you.  Try to avoid making up what that will look like.  When we have an open mind with many avenues we are more likely to get what we are looking for.  After talking to your dead, keep looking & start singing a little bit.  I recommend singing Spirit Song, which is simply the song of your soul.  It seldom has sensible words.  Think about how you sang in the back of your family car as a kid.  It was pure, true and unjudged.  It takes time and practice, so don’t beat yourself up if at first you don’t succeed.  It is not a perfect science and some people are better at it then others.  Remember you are not being graded & try not to judge your experience.  I do recommend keeping a journal though & revisiting it often.  Progress is easier if we keep track of where we have been.

I hope you enjoyed the read folks and take some time to sit with your Ancestors in the Betwixt & Between.  I know I will.

spreading love-salicrow

Living on top of a small mountain I often experience Mist…the reality of it is I am in the clouds.  If I drive just 10 minutes down the hill I can see low setting clouds in the sky,