“The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn,
Now is the time for a child to be born....”
My opening words are from Sydney Carter’s gentle beginning to his chilling song, the Crow on the Cradle. They tell how warfare kills and therein reminding us that every casualty has been some woman’s baby. These words sadly so relevant now as war torn refugees flee North Africa, drowning in the turbulent waters surrounding our landmass.
I start with these words as they have been my constant companions over the past month while I attempt to capture them to memory. Those of you who endeavour to learn by heart might find it an easy task...sadly I do not have a natural capacity to absorb that level of detail and have to repeat, repeat and repeat them. In the shower, as I walk into town and as I cook supper. And in my efforts I pay homage to those from previous oral cultures who committed so much to memory; yes their brains grew extra memory tracts but it is still an amazing achievement.
And in the last few days the meadow opposite has welcomed back its four legged bovine companions from their winter confinement. After initial jubilation; free running and general friskiness, the whole herd walked around the perimeter of their new summer territory. It seems a solemn process and the heeding to an inner calling. These wise creatures, full of curiosity and timidity, in equal measure, will come to bless the fields with their slow munching and regularly delivered dollops of manure.
These beasts sadly exemplify the old concept of service...they certainly serve the needs of a meat eating agrarian society...
I have recently read a piece by William Meader on the esoteric understanding of ‘service’...perhaps one that we need to be reconnected with so we move away from the old patriarchal, status dependant concept that may well, quite rightly, repel many.
He writes: ‘Service to humanity is the hallmark of life when the soul is sensed deep within. Experienced as an inner call or prompting, availing oneself in service is an inescapable necessity when walking the spiritual path’...I have used the words ‘to serve’ in my past letters as a call to this deep inner connection through the Sacred Feminine and the divine soul within. Meader reminds us of the need to connect with our ‘being’ rather than our ‘doing’...which gives a different quality of wholesome service rather than the drive to rescue through our own aggrandisement, need to please or assuage other discomfort.
At this wonderful time of year may our interconnection through the sacred feminine open the expression of her through our loving service in the world; both of our being and thereby our doing.
All hail Isis in Hathor. May we, through her, recapture our inherent connection with the greening; the soul of nature and of the spirit calling within and be her expression on this beautiful earth.
Blessed be, dear Friends,
Cressida
Archival Link: Letters from Cressida Pryor
