Stones Rising 2006

I've been having very strong dreams all this week. Not that I never have strong dreams, but it is rare when I have them one night after another. It just isn't typical. It isn't normal.

I think it is simply residue, left over energy from the weekend. A spiritual hangover of sorts.

This past weekend I was involved in Stones Rising. It is a gathering of pagan and pagan friendly folk who get together to pull really big rocks into a stone circle. It has been a tradition ever since 1995. There are now 34 stones in the circle.


But that isn't really what I want to write about. On Friday night, there was a ritual called a seidr. It is a Norwegian word that comes from the Norse tradition. It involves going into trance and bringing back something from the other world.

We stayed up all night, either dancing or drumming or simply watching. It was a vigil of sorts.

I've participated in shamanic work before. But usually, in my experience, it has been more a guided meditation. A creative reflection. An intense day dream.

This was different. And it is very difficult to explain, so bear with me. I was dancing. The focus of this part of the seidr was the going into the woods. A journey into the forest. I was imagining it, doing the creative day dreaming thing (except I guess in this case it would be night dreaming). The drum beat continued. In my mind's eye, I looked up at the stars, that were above the forest horizon, above the canopy. It was then that things got weird. I was dizzy (even dizzier than usual) and the best I can describe it, is that I fell into the stars. The world turned upside down, and like a bunch of cornflakes from box, I fell out. I was literally dancing with the stars. I'm not sure how long this went on. Time was very strange. But eventually, someone was calling my name. I slowly came back and opened my eyes. I was guided to the cauldron from which I drew a rune. The rune was Eihwaz, which is the shamanic rune, the rune of connection with the otherworld.

I then was guided to a place that I could lay down and get grounded again. I did so, and soon was back in the circle participating.

My point in all this, is that such an experience has never happened to me in quite that way before. And interestingly enough, I was totally sober. I often drink a bit when I'm going to stay up all night long in vigil. It helps me, energy wise. But this evening, they stressed the religious nature of the seidr, so I conciously made a decision to participate in a totally dry mode. I didn't expect to receive the ultimate buzz. How often do you get to dance with stars?

I'm not sure what I brought back besides the experience. But as I mentioned in the beginning of this essay, I've been having vivid dreams all week. Something borrowed me last Friday night. It was a good something. I'm grateful for the experience. I'm grateful for the dance. To dance, even for a moment, in the stars. What a beautiful moment it was!


To return up the rabbit hole...