Open Spirit especially has taken the brunt on my exhaustion and of the three small 'Mystery Schools' within the wider Living Spirit umbrella, it has been Open Spirit that was placed firmly on the back burner last Christmas. Debbie also stepped back to focus on building her new retreat centre at Staverton and has latterly been laid low with illness, but will be opening now in October. Do check out her beautiful space on the link below
http://www.retreatbythedart.com/
As a new 'academic' year approaches, new courses and events are being planned and prepared for throughout Living Spirit. I'll be mailing out soon to all who have been involved with Open Spirit in the past and new enquirers too, to find out what you want to be learning and exploring. Personally, at present I'm deep into the roots of Christianity in the Ancient Goddess traditions, Ancient Mesopotamia and Jewish Mysticism... along with lashings of Christian mystics from Meister Eckhart to Matthew Fox. And I really want to settle back into regular group study and meditation on the Gospels, to complement the ongoing Torah group that I facilitate through the Tree of Life School.
But before setting forth on another journey again, I want to take a little time to look back, as last year Open Spirit concluded with an autumn term of groups on Neil Douglas-Klotz's book 'Prayers of the Cosmos'.
I've been reviewing our notes and remembering with pleasure the small group of women and men who gathered to explore an aramaic version of the Lord's prayer. I remember the honesty... of folks feeling free to say...'I never liked that bit, it never made sense' and now being able to find a new meaning to words that had seemed worn out.
Time passes and I'll not attempt any real overview at this distance, but perhaps just a personal highlight. The very first session was titled 'our birth in unity' - a very promising sounding start! What stood out for me was the aramaic word Abwoon usually translated from the Greek as simply Father. But Abwoon does not specify a gender. Klotz breaks it down as follows:
A - the Absolute, source of all
Bw - birthing, creation, blessing
Oo - the breath or spirit that carries this creative flow
N - the vibration of this creative breath as it touches form
So imagine for a moment starting to speak this prayer in the presence of a cosmic creativity that gives birth to us and all beings in every moment... to be present to and expressive of a vast and unifying love and power. This is not a prayer to be spoken carelessly, unconsciously, by rote. It's a prayer to be spoken as if the words call worlds into being, call our deepest potential into being...
O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos
you create all that moves
in light.
O Thou! The Breathing Life of all,
Creator of the Shimmering Sound that
touches us.
Respiration of all worlds,
we hear you breathing - in and out-
in silence.
Sound of sound: in the roar and whisper
in the breeze and the whirlwind, we
hear your Name.
Radiant One: You shine within us,
outside us - even darkness shines - when
we remember.
Name of names, our small identity
unravels in you, you give it back
as a lesson.
Wordless Action, Silent Potency -
where ears and eyes awaken, there
heaven comes.
O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos!
