| Unmasking the Crone This meditation is to help people face their fears; mainly those associated with death in the form of the Crone. This may be best used in conjuction or in addition to the Ride with the Wild Hunt medtation. This time you are riding with the Hunter, approaching the place where you first called to him, ask him to let you remain a little longer. "Let me tarry awhile and see the great spiral. Let me ride with thee now into thy dark bower. Let me see the path followed and how the lives flow. Let me ride with the Rade as your travel below." The Hunter nods his antlered head and now you see the mound in the grey light of early dawn. AGain, the Crone, in her tattered shrouds, stands before the entrance and you hear her cry out, "All must pass through me!" and you see her getting closer as the horses continue their wild plunge into the gateway. There is a sudden roaring wind in you ears; a sound like spinning millstones grinding corn fills your consciousness; the darkness closes around you and you smell a scent that reminds you of the damp, dark, rick earth. The temptation is to close your eyes, but you force yourself to keep them open and realise that the shadow flying past your face has a substance liek cobwebby shrouds and the cold dank air of deep caverns. You are passing through the Crone, and feel nauseous with the sensation of death, the noxious odours of disease and decay, and the scrabling thin fingers scratching at your flesh. Yet the horses ride on and the Hunger holds you firmly in his grasp, and you cling to him and call out to the fearful image of the Crone as you pass through her: "I know who you are! You are the Mother of All, and I do not fear you!" She laughs and turns to you as you pass through her, and, increaibly, you see a lovely lady, smiling and more beautiful than words can describe, and you laugh with her. You hear her gentle voice as she replies to you, "Only those who do not know me fear me." Suddenly, it is as though you had been a child all along, playing in a dark room, letting your imagination frighten you. Now you know that the face of the Crone hides the lovely Mother who awaits you with open arms, and you feel secure, loved, and at peace. The Hunter races his mount through the dark realm, and you see spirits taking their rest by still, dark pools overhung with cypress branches and long grey moss. Soft, silky grass and delicate pathways beckon to you to walk and relax. Yo are tempted to stay here and enjoy the Shadowland with its night-blooming flowers and air scented with lilacs, but the Hunter does not let you down from his steed. Through a dark forest padded with the sodden leaves of autumns past you now race, and then you burst upon a sunlit meadow. There are children playing and the shining bright Other People wave to you as you pass. Spirits appearing to be of all ages and ageless move in this bright place, and you realise that there is light and shadow here for you in the Summerland, close to the Otherworld of the Fair Folk. Still, the Hunter holds you tight, and you sense rather than see you are passing through another veil. "Here goes one who has rested and now desires to resume the great dance of life," the Hunter whispers in your ear and mind. You see a shadowy figure as it appears to be moves through a greyish swirling mist towards a distant light, and you realise that this is a spirit departing the Shadowland to be reborn. Now your own race is ending and you see the dark earth close in around you, pebbles and snails, and earthy creatures wriggle by on many tiny legs, or none at all. The ground seems to open and a starry night appears before your eyes, and when you look back around past the Hunter, you see the great mound behind you. He clasps you with one strong hand and effortlessly swings you off his mount and onto the ground, then laughing, rides off into the night, the Wild Hunt behind him, on their rounds anew. You see the dawn now coming, and as you return to normal awareness, you are at peace, and hold the memory of the beautiful lady who laughed with you when you penetrated her disguise. You know that life is eternal. There is no death, only passage. *Taken from Green Withcraft II: Balancing Light and Shadow; Anna Moura |