Meditation: May 11th, 2025

"The roots of wisdom grow not in clear sunlight, but in the shadowed earth where darkness and light dance together in ancient rhythm."

Physical Setting & Preparation

Find a place where you can feel the late spring breeze on your skin. Ideally, position yourself near flowering plants or trees, perhaps under the dappled shade of a newly leafed oak or beside a stream whose waters have been warmed by the strengthening sun. Remove your shoes to feel the earth beneath your feet. Have a small vessel of water beside you, representing the flowing energies of mid-spring

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Opening Invocation | Fosgladh

Tha mi 'gairm air spiorad an t-samhraidh òig
I call upon the spirit of young summer

A' tighinn le blàths agus beatha ùr
Coming with warmth and new life

Ann an Cèitean, mìos nam blàthan is nan duilleagan òga
In May, month of blossoms and young leaves

Thig a-steach do mo chridhe, thig a-steach do m' anam
Enter my heart, enter my soul

Feel the warmth of mid-May surrounding you. Notice how the world has transformed—no longer tentative in its growth but now surging with confidence toward summer's fullness. The birds have established their territories, nests are filled with eggs or even hatchlings, and the first butterflies dance through air heavy with pollen and promise.

Body of the Working | Corp

Èist ri guth na talmhainn
Listen to the voice of the earth

Mothachadh an t-sìol a' briseadh tro ùir
Feel the seed breaking through soil

Mar a tha e a' sìneadh suas, tha mise cuideachd
As it stretches upward, so do I

Today, on the eleventh day of May, we stand within the growing surge of life. The wheel turns toward Beltane's fire, and the Green World revels in its power. Let your awareness expand to embrace both the vibrant joy of spring and the deep reflective melancholy that sometimes accompanies such beauty.

Joy and melancholy—these twin companions walk with us today.

An gàirdeachas de bheatha ùr
The joy of new life

Is an cianalas airson na chaidh seachad
And the melancholy for what has passed

Feel the joy bubbling up within you like a spring of clear water—pure, bright, and irrepressible. This is the joy of witnessing the Earth Mother's abundance, her endless creativity expressed in every unfurling leaf and opening blossom. Allow this joy to fill your chest, to make your breath come quicker, to bring a smile unbidden to your face.

Now, feel alongside it the gentle melancholy that often accompanies beauty—the awareness that all blooms are temporary, that change is constant. This is not a heavy sadness but a sweet ache that deepens your appreciation. In Celtic tradition, this feeling is called "hiraeth"—a homesickness for a place that perhaps never was, a longing that enriches rather than diminishes.

Ann an gàirdeachas, tha mi a' faireachdainn mo cheangal ris gach nì
In joy, I feel my connection to all things

Ann an cianalas, tha mi a' tuigsinn luachmhorachd gach mionaid
In melancholy, I understand the preciousness of each moment

Let your awareness rest in this complex emotional landscape—joy and melancholy intertwined like the roots of ancient trees. Neither overshadows the other; they exist in perfect balance, each enhancing the depth of the other.

The Deep Working | An Obair Dhomhain

Leig do d' anail a dhol domhain
Let your breath go deep

Mar freumhan seann darach
Like the roots of an ancient oak

A' sìneadh sìos gu meadhan na talmhainn
Stretching down to the center of the earth

Visualize yourself as a young tree in mid-spring. Your roots reach deep into the soil, drawing up the Earth Mother's nourishment. Your trunk stands firm yet flexible, able to bend with the winds of change without breaking. Your branches reach toward the sky, newly adorned with bright green leaves that capture sunlight and transform it into life energy.

Feel joy in your leaves—the dance of photosynthesis, the exchange of breath with the world, the simple delight of existence. Feel melancholy in your roots—the connection to ancestors, to cycles of decay and renewal, to the knowledge held in darkness.

Tha gàirdeachas agus cianalas mar shruth is cuan
Joy and melancholy are like stream and ocean

An sruth a' ruith le beothalachd
The stream running with vitality

An cuan a' gabhail a-steach gach sruth le foighidinn dhomhain
The ocean receiving each stream with deep patience

Imagine now that you can feel the Earth Mother's heartbeat through your roots. It is steady, powerful, ancient. With each beat, send your joy down into the darkness, offering it as a gift. With each pause between beats, draw up the sweet melancholy of deep time, the wisdom that comes from embracing both light and shadow.

Your joy nourishes the Earth Mother. Your melancholy connects you to her ancient wisdom. In this exchange, find balance.

Ann an còmhradh leis a' Mhàthair
In conversation with the Mother

Tha mi a' toirt seachad mo ghàirdeachas
I give my joy

Tha mi a' faighinn a cianalas naomh
I receive her sacred melancholy

Agus ann an iomlaid seo, tha mi a' faighinn leigheas
And in this exchange, I am healed

Remain in this state of connection for several breaths. Feel how the joy and melancholy cease to be separate emotions and become instead a single, complex experience—the full richness of being alive on this turning Earth at this precise moment in the great cycle.

Afterthought | Smuain Dheiridh

Take a moment to contemplate:

How might embracing both joy and melancholy simultaneously enhance your experience of the natural world? In what ways does the Earth Mother teach us that apparent opposites can exist not in conflict but in complement?

Closing Blessing | Beannachd Dheiridh

Mo bhuidheachas don Mhàthair Talmhainn
My gratitude to the Earth Mother

Airson a' ghàirdeachais a tha i a' toirt dhuinn
For the joy she brings us

Airson a' chianais a tha a' teagasg dhuinn
For the melancholy that teaches us

Gum bi an cothromachadh seo nam chridhe
May this balance be in my heart

Mar a tha e ann an cridhe na talmhainn
As it is in the heart of the earth

Beannachd leibh, a spioradan an àite seo
Blessings with you, spirits of this place

Gum bi sìth eadarainn gus an coinnich sinn a-rithist
May there be peace between us until we meet again