Druidcast 102 and St. Nechtan Notes

These notes seem to dovetail in with the Knucker and the Knucker holes mentioned in the previous post...

Pools are the wells of the sacred mother, her amniotic fluid allowing for re-birth from the womb of the well. Rebirth is the unlocking of a great door with a chance for great potential. Baptism or anointment allows this using the waters from the womb of the sacred mother – see the Chalice Well in Glastonbury. It's a surrendering to a higher power or force, an acknowledgement of your frailty and humility.

Scrying in a pool allows visions to be seen, essential to know thyself, as does using an obsidian mirror. Re-birth is un-locking of the sacred door allowing enormous potential in the results (particularly if you believe in transmigration of souls aka reincarnation). To those who see water as a tool in the rituals that form the process of enlightenment pools have a spiritual importance as the womb of the sacred mother.

The discovery of the self without any further ritual work is pointless (see Abrasax in my previous post), it is the starting point for the journey and the ritual work is the journey. Recognise the potential of ritual self-awareness that is essential to cleansing before starting any sacred journey or spiritual quest. It is not a coincidence that Percival/Galahad in the Grail quest legends loses everything and recognises his own frailty and misgivings. Recognises his self-destructive patterns and conquers them to achieve the grail or the Abraxas state of mind.

Any spiritual exercise must be interactive, with the watery pool you must not just be a passive observer. The individual must allow themselves to be cleansed or work with the power of the waters. Water is a medium both known and an alien world where we can go but not survive. Ritual offerings to pools and their genius locii to ensure a continuation of their beneficial flow is ancient and continues to this day. An offering should not just be a token but something with meaning and value. Excalibur shows this, it's both given and taken back as an offering by the priestess, the lady, of the lake. This re-purifies, re-births the sword ready for re-use.

St. Nechtan paved the way between the pagan past and the Christian future. The Druidcast notes are here

The dragon is seen as part of the Goddess, her pools allowing it entry and exit to the world. The coolness of her waters balances the fiery energy of the God. Nechtans key is an area of tranquility and of self-realisation, a place of interaction between ourselves and the great forces that power the world. An area where the divine can be felt.