I am delighted to introduce a new podcast series, Celtic Conversations, inspired by my new book The Soul’s Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred and my time living in Ireland. I am hosting a series of conversations with authors, artists, and guides about Celtic spirituality. So find a cozy space and pour yourself a cup of tea. (Also available at Soundcloud, Stitcher and iTunes).
My guest today is Sharon Blackie and we had a delightful conversation about peregrinatio, the Celtic Otherworld, kinship with animals, the hybrid theology between pagan and Christian traditions, the sacredness of the land, the local nature of Celtic spirituality, the Heroine’s journey, and the re-enchantment of the everyday.
Sharon Blackie shared this poem she wrote “Peregrina” to begin our time together:
Peregrina
O mother of the sea
lend me a wave that is strong and true
to carry me from this Age which unbinds me.
I do not need a ship, mother,
but make it a buoyant swell
to bear me up and float me on the sea’s dreaming
then beach me on some lighter shore.
When I land there, give me warp and weft again,
and an urchin quill to remind me
how the prettiest barb can lodge under your skin
and leave you undone.
Only lend me a loom and I will
take up the threads of this unravelled life.
I will weave a braid from three strands of seaweed
I will wind it three times around my finger
I will dig my salt-encrusted hands into the soil
and wed myself to the thirsty
brown roots of a new beginning.
–reprinted from Sharon Blackie’s book If Women Rose Rooted: A Journey to Authenticity and Belonging