Journey of the Heart

Hearth of My Heart By Avellina Balestri   Home is calling Tugging at the heart Piercing it through Like a fisherman’s hook Like a net cast breaking The skin of the sea I’m being called home To the place of belonging Where the turf fire burns And the cauldron boils Where the grail overflows And time is undone   Find me a thin place Where water kisses land Where the seals sing And the salmon swim Let my bowl be filled With nuts and apples And pour me spiced wine From the warrior’s horn Nine maidens to guard my sleep Nine virtues to guide my path   Blessings on your door posts And your crosses of Brighid Welcoming the weary traveler With a circle cast about me A star of elements and wounds Bring bright blessings, old and new Of earth and water, fire and air And the blood of God Love’s royal wine Drinking deeply Souls bound fast   Let the winds roar O circle me round! I shall find the forest queen Woodland fae turned Nazareth’s maid And the bird’s song will sever time An...

In the Celtic Spiritual Tradition, we acknowledge the existence of "Thin Places"… These are places where the veil separating the Spirit Realm from the Earth Realm is paper thin and penetrable. These are timeless places where wonderful visitations and visions may happen.  Along with countless other spiritual travelers, I found the sacred isle of Iona, (one of the Hebrides, off the western coast of Scotland) to be such a place. My experience there was one of tremendous awe, Presence, and Deep Love. I have since come to believe that we ourselves are such Thin Places, where Spirit and Matter beautifully, seamlessly meet. The following piece of writing welled up from the Thin Place of my own soul; where I am blessed to encounter the Divine Beloved, no matter where I may physically be. Our Place, Our Time by Cheryl Anne It is All Your Planting; this lush landscape of soul. I pray in a sodden inner sanctuary. Though the day beyond is parched and begg...

As an author and artists who greatly appreciates the Celtic Bardic tradition... ...I felt inspired to write this prayer for those who seek to enlighten through their art.  Photograph by Katarina Silva A Bard’s Prayer by Avellina Balestri Let me catch the flame Golden, glittering, glaring So my fingers may glow as I hold the pen Let me taste the wine Sweet, smooth, sumptuous So my speech may be seasoned when I tell the tale Let me smooth the cloth Crumpled, crude, queer-colored, So beauty and grace may greet each eye Let me weave with thread Silver, star-lit, spider-spun So my words may flow like a moon-kissed stream Let me glimpse the ghosts Fast-footed, fair-faced, fleeting So my blessing may reach them as eyes meet eyes Let me climb the chain Twinkling, taught, tenacious That connects the present with the haunted past Let my arrow fly Straight-shot, shimmering, shocking To cleave each heart for the sake...