Wild Crafter

Walking in the woods, looking for those herbs to serve purpose from stews to tonics
I can hear the sounds of Woodpecker above me
I asked the Helping Spirits of the forest
To show me the way to what I need
Amongst the Shadows and the streams of golden sunlight, I must not fear and I must not react
Awareness from one’s surroundings comes from within
I attune to the stillness… whoa! Not too deep to forget what realm I walk
I rise back from the abysmal depths of within-Void
I hear Woodpecker again
I hear the river west of me
I feel warmer breezes winding between trees from the east
Attention is deliberate focus, but must be held lightly, fluidly
There is more of me than my Mind at work here
And there is more information coming to me than I could consciously focus upon at once
It is to trust the Light deep within – it’s my battery pack –
connected to Energy and Form
And here I am, the empowered receiver
Woodpecker has moved to the distance, I hear him
a tap-tap then a calling…
I distracted myself pondering connections
but move swiftly now in trust
I hear him tapping – O! Dear Woodpecker, you’re a brilliant balm to my Mind and Heart
I feel your wisdom and attention roll through me
And there beneath his tree in the mossy tangled roots and tufts of hummus
I find a prize
No preparation necessary
It Is the preparation
We’d reached the edge of the wood
at the base of the mountains
Before me is a path
One last calling and tap-tap as my Woodpecker companion goes off on another adventure of his own
He will be back tomorrow, to guide me through the forest again
But, for now, I approach the labyrinthian caverns
all on my own
It’s calling, calling…
I’m walking into the depths of my own being
guided by the Ancestors and Ancient Ones in my own Blood
supported and Nurtured by the Elementals within
my own Spirit-Mind-Body system
This is the Labyrinth of my own Self,
the coiling & spiraling form of Initiation
​

Original Poem by Cynthia Botsko,
Inspired by “#16, Initiation” from The Sacred Circle Tarot, by Anna Franklin & Paul Mason