Coming Home

Coming Home

Without question traveling is a rich experience. It alters our understanding of other cultures and traditions. It broadens our previously held ideas about them. And, through meaningful conversations with people we meet, our ideals hopefully become more universal. But after months of travel, there's nothing quite like Coming Home. It's that glorious moment when you walk into your house and the familiar settings, the books, the crystals, the altar with its lingering smells of burned down incense, reclaim you. There's a silent pause as you look around and hear the house saying, I've been here waiting; where have you been?

Returning home is another part of the travel experience. But, re-animating the home can take a while. Travel laundry has to be done. Suitcases, battered by TSA across two continents, need to be put away for another year. Then food and supplies brought in. This sounds rather ordinary and routine. But, in mindfulness practices, the process is quite deliberate and methodical. For when a house sits alone for months, it develops its own silent but very noticeable patterns. A calm stillness is tangible in every room. It's held its own space without benefit of human intervention. The objects, lovingly placed by careful hands, look somewhat tenuous. It's as though each one could easily dissolve into the ether.

So, re-introducing human contact is a slow and sacred process. It must be done gently while respecting the energetic patterns the house created without us. It continued to provide shelter and cooling from the elements, though no one was around to appreciate it. Silly as it sounds, that must be acknowledged. Just as we ask the house spirit to be watchful and protective when we leave for travel, the same way we thank it for its service and duty when we return.

Once food has filled the refrigerator it's time for the more subtle animations to begin. Flowers are brought in. Their colors permeate everything. Flower-presence enlivens the house, telling it, take note, they're back! The flowers never overwhelm, but are a compliment to the décor. But the one thing above all others that signals to the house that "they're back" is the smell of incense. Once lit, the light blue tendrils of smoke linger as the smell of Champa wafts through the atmosphere. Anyone coming in the front door remarks about the signature fragrance.

Each sense of sight and smell and touch and taste bring life back into the house. But the powerful sense of sound announces a unique harmony when the various chimes are returned to the garden. The bamboo chimes play a tubular melody against the tinkling pipes of the Woodstock chimes. Then, when the deep vibrant tones of the long Neptune pentatonic tubes sound their baritone notes, the garden and house fall into resonance. This is when the tones and aromas awaken the "house-spirit" and it once again becomes a spirit-home. 

While these are most notable animations, balance must always be envisioned. When the elements are in harmony, balance is restored. When the sun moves across the heavens, announcing a new season every three months, balance is restored. When a house has its people, balance is restored. When its people animate the house, balance is restored. Coming Home restores a sacred balance. Gardens, left idle during travel, are weeded and fertilized, and balance is restored. Morning walks on the beach, not enjoyed since June, resume, and balance is restored. Sharing the journey with friends and students restores the balance.

In the end, it's these mundane acts of Coming Home that reclaim our space, renew us, and make us settled again. In these simple acts, great happiness and gratitude permeate the return to normalcy. May there be balance and happiness when you come home this Thanksgiving.

Jo Mooy - November 2015 

THE 13 CLANMOTHERS - THE CLARITY OF GREY

The Clarity of Grey

When 2015 arrived it seemed world events would ease a bit. But the geopolitical  predictions for the year pointed to more turmoil with extremists and terrorists of various persuasions running roughshod over others. How can this be? All over the world there are groups praying for peace, for a change in human hearts, or for a better way of life. Yet, their sparks of light get lost in all the dark and dreary events in the news. What can we do?

Reflecting on it one morning in meditation I heard a voice say, Summon the Clanmothers.  It seemed like the answer! Especially because this month is the Equinox - the seasonal point when the earth is covered with equal hours of sunlight and darkness. It's a cosmic point of balance for the earth, where extremes are harmonized. At the midpoint everything that is black or white becomes a neutral gray. In that moment The Clarity of Gray appears. It simply blends and neutralizes both extremes of black and white.

So, if the ancients considered the Equinoxes holy and sacred why not us? The word went out and the Clanmothers were summoned. One was a peacemaker. Three led  spiritual centers. One worked with the oceans and her inhabitants. A few taught "earth ways" in their practices while others led meditations. All of them responded to the call, knowing that on this day, in this season of balance, the sound of their prayers would fill the ether, and the discerning would hear it. They knew in this brief moment of balance, the extremes of black and white would neutralize for a few days, and they would influence the outcome.

The 13 Clanmothers represent aspects of the Divine Feminine - aspects ignored for 3000 years. The Divine Feminine kept the wisdom ways, told the stories, acted as a healer, counseled the afflicted, weaved and spun, prevented war and honored the visions. Each of the 13 Clanmothers was a matriarchal elder in ancient tribes. Each matriarch held the truths of the aspects. They performed the rituals and ceremonies, presiding over births and funerals. They were keepers of the names, dispensing them at birth and returning the name at death.

The Clanmother was not just the wisdom keeper but also the dispenser of justice. She would remove a Chief who did not follow the guidance of matriarch. She negotiated and harmonized all tribal disputes. Wars could not begin unless the Clanmother approved. She rose above the petty arguments and extreme positions, using her skills as peacemaker and mother to keep everything in balance. She was the epitome of The Clarity of Grey.

Each Clanmother is aligned with one of the 13 moons of the lunar. It's more natural because it acknowledges the feminine and lunar cycles. It logically assigns thirteen months of 28 days to the lunar calendar. This totals 364 days of the solar year. The extra day was one of celebration, honoring the year past and welcoming in a new year.

On the Equinox, the Clanmother acts as harmonizer for the earth and peacemaker for the people of extreme positions. She will take all extremes of black and white and blend them into the clarity of grey. She will insist that weapons of war and the voices of hate be sheathed as she summons peace upon the land. She sees far and weaves a web that raises humankind. For her duty is to hold a vision of hope, ease, and grace. But most of all she sees to the children who will live the vision of the 13th moon.

Jo Mooy - March 2015