"Unrest" by Don Marquis

There is a (completely non-required) book that goes along with the Faery Seership program I've been talking about. My copy arrived in the mail this morning, and I am in love with the poem which was chosen to open the whole thing. I've reread it 3 times already, and I get chills every time.

Here it is: "Unrest" by Don Marquis (1878-1937)

A fierce unrest seethes at the core
Of all existing things:
It was the eager wish to soar
That gave the gods their wings.

From what flat wastes of cosmic slime,
And stung by what quick fire,
Sunward the restless races climb!--
Men risen out of mire!

There throbs through all the worlds that are
This heart-beat hot and strong,
And shaken systems, star by star,
Awake and glow in song.

But for the urge of this unrest
These joyous spheres were mute;
But for the rebel in his breast
Had man remained a brute.

When baffled lips demanded speech,
Speech trembled into birth--
(One day the lyric world shall reach
From earth to laughing earth)--
When man's dim eyes demanded light
The light he sought was born--
His wish, a Titan, scaled the height
And flung him back the morn!

From deed to dream, from dream to deed,
From daring hope to hope,
The restless wish, the instant need,
Still lashed him up the slope!

I sing no governed firmament,
Cold, ordered, regular--
I sing the stinging discontent
That leaps from star to star!

Do you feel the power in that?

Faery Seership 1

As it turns out, the spiritual ennui which I complained about in my last post was not accidental. It was my spirit clearing the way to embrace something new. I'm sure that I will pick up pieces of my old daily practice eventually, but for now I am free to throw myself whole heartedly into a new system of practice.

You see, this week-end I completed the first intensive of the faery seership program I posted about in April. It was a great experience and has left me with a plethora of new tools to learn and work with.

For the last several years I have had a fairly consistent Mabon ritual. I did not perform that ritual today. Instead, I took the most important part (offering up seasonal foods) and kept that. I placed the offering at the base of the apple tree which has shown interest in me this past season. Then I performed several of the techniques which I learned this week-end, which are designed to help one to attune to the elemental forces of the land. It was a good experience and left me feeling energized and open. I'm very excited about this new direction!

Daily Practice Ennui

I would like to blame my lack of spiritual pursuits (and thus my absence from this blog) on the construction which forced me to dismantle my altar for nearly a month. However, that is just an excuse. I could have set it up again in my living room, but I didn't. And even now that my front porch is open again and my altar has been restored to its rightful position I'm still not doing much of anything.

It's been tough even to motivate to do my morning devotions, which is surprising. I usually find them very rewarding, but lately they've been leaving me feeling flat and empty. I don't feel depressed, so I have to guess that the problem is simply that this routine no longer works for me. I'm sad, but I'll just have to find a new morning practice that does work for me, where I am right now.

I did acquire a new tarot deck recently (the Paulina Tarot: check it out!) of which I have grown intensely fond in the past week or so. Perhaps I should look to it for guidance on this issue, or integrate it into my new morning practice. I've always wanted to try pulling a rune a day, but never got around to it. Maybe I should do a rune and a tarot card? I'll see what presents itself in the morning.