Dreaming the Monastery of Annwn

When I founded the Monastery of Annwn just over two years ago I feared it would always be a rule of one. To my utter surprise for such a niche interest (Brythonic Polytheistic Monasticism centring on the Annuvian Gods) the monastery is thriving with a dozen members, most of whom participate regularly in group rituals, meditations and check-ins, or on our online forum. Several of us are living by vows and the Rule of the Heart.

Only a few months ago I thought it would be impossible to support myself as a nun of Annwn but I have received glimmers of hope with my soul guidance sessions off to a good start and my Patreon membership growing a little. 

This month my spiritual mentor suggested instead of trying to logically plan my next steps ahead for the future we should open a space for dreaming. She challenged me to dream my biggest dream and set it down without thinking about the ‘real world’ limitations that might prevent it happening. 

Immediately I knew this was to make the Monastery of Annwn a physical reality. I’d already had lots of flashes of inspiration so I set them down then journeyed to the Spirit of the Monastery to ask for guidance for the future. 

Below is my dream Monastery of Annwn at this point in time. I see it as a centre for worship of the Gods and Goddesses of Annwn, a sanctuary for healing and retreat, and a place for learning about the Brythonic tradition from a polytheistic perspective. It combines above ground, underground, indoor and outdoor spaces.

My hope is that it would sustain itself by growing its own food and making money from healings, retreats, running workshops and courses on Brythonic myths and Deities and polytheistic monasticism and sales of inspired works from monastic devotees.

(1) The Monastery of Annwn – The central temple space containing shrines to the Gods and Goddesses of Annwn and space for worship and ecstatic dance.
(2) The Chamber of the Heart – At its centre is the Altar of the Heart where  monastic devotees can venerate the Heart of Annwn. There will always be a monastic devotee keeping the beat of the heart day and night.
(3) Underground Caves – For communion a) Orddu’s Cave b) Cave of the Spirits of Annwn c) Cave of Bardic Incubation d) Cave of the Unknown.
(4) Gwyn’s Tomb – This will be where Gwyn symbolically lies in His tomb during the summer and monastic devotees will be able to visit and spend time in silence with Him. In winter the coffin will be removed and this will be a space of initiation involving death and rebirth prior to taking vows.
(5) The Hearth of Annwn –  A space where monastic devotees gather.
(6) Huts of the Monastic Devotees – There are three circles. The first two circles are hut for monastics who have made lifelong vows. On top of each hut is a representation of one of their tutelary spirits. The third circle is for novices and for those who are in the process of discernment.*
(7) Crazy Owl’s Library – A library containing books on Brythonic lore and monastic and mystery traditons along with mythology from around the world.
(8) Gwyn’s Feasting Hall – Here meals are served.
(9) Ceridwen’s Kitchen – Here nutritious food made with local ingredients is cooked. 
(10) Gwyn’s Guest House – A bunkhouse for guests.
(11) Awen Arts – An arts centre with an art gallery and performance space for poetry, singing and music and spaces for crafts and crafting. It will also contain a shop selling inspired works by monastic devotees.
(12) The Training Hall of Gwyn and Gwythyr – A hall for training in martial arts and other kinds of movement including dance and yoga. 
(13) Giant’s Gym – For strength training and rehabilitation. 
(14) The Healing Fountains of Anrhuna – A complex of healing waters including fountains, spas and pools and a shower house and baths for daily use.
(15) Healing Huts – Huts for shamanic healing and various therapies.
(16) The Dream Temple of Nodens – A temple for Nodens with underground dream incubation chambers and healing hounds.
(17) Creiddylad’s Garden – Here vegetables, salad, herbs and fruit are grown.
(18) Gwyn’s Wildwood – A woodland space for meditation, communion and celebration.
(19) The Blessed One’s Burial Ground – A natural burial ground for monastic devotees whose graves will be marked with small cairns. Potentially this might be expanded to provide space for others who support our aims.
(20) Ceridwen’s Compost Toilets – Four sets spaced around the monastery.
(21) Ceridwen’s Compost Heap – For recycling all waste from the garden and feasting hall.

Potentially, off scene, there will be ‘herds of Annwn’ – pigs and cattle for meat and milk and horses for horse riding and equine therapy.

*

Daily Routine

Communal worship will take place in the monastery mornings and evenings. Rather than breaking up the day with regular communal prayers like the Benedictines** prayer will be integrated into daily activities. Each will open with prayers of praise and petition and end with prayers of thanksgiving. For example, prayers to Creiddylad for gardening, prayers to Gwyn and Gwythyr for martial arts, prayers to Anrhuna for healing work. Meals will be preceded by prayers of thanksgiving to the spirits of the land.

Additional rituals will take place for Holy Days and on the dark, new and full moons.

Week Days

5am Communal worship in the monastery – morning prayers and songs for Gwyn ap Nudd and His family, the Spirit of the Monastery, the spirits of place and ancestors. 

5.30am Communal silence in the monastery (the only thing that will be heard is the beat of the Heart of Annwn).

6am Breakfast.

6.30am Communal practice in the monastery – Readings from Brythonic texts followed by meditation and contemplation or a shamanic journey.

7.30am Study in small groups in the library – Brythonic texts and Lectio Divina.

8.30am Exercise – Run, walk, strength training, martial arts, gentle movement (ie. yoga or chair yoga).

9.30am Shower and snack.

10am Study and practice in small groups – Brythonic lore, meditation, journeywork, spiritwork, divination, plant and tree spirit medicine, shamanic healing.

12 noon – Lunch.

12.30pm Devotional creativity or healing work.

2.30pm Manual labour – cleaning, laundry, groundskeeping, gardening.

5pm Baths.

5.30pm Tea.

6pm Free time for private prayer and study and group discussions.

8pm Communal worship in the monastery – evening prayers and songs for Gwyn ap Nudd and His family, the Spirit of the Monastery, the spirits of place and ancestors.

8.30pm Retire for evening prayers to Nodens as God of Dreams.

9pm Bed.

Saturday

5am Communal worship in the monastery – morning prayers and songs for Gwyn ap Nudd and His family, the Spirit of the Monastery, the spirits of place and ancestors. 

5.30am Communal silence in the monastery (the only thing that will be heard is the beat of the Heart of Annwn).

6am Breakfast.

6.30am Communal practice in the monastery – Readings from Brythonic texts followed by longer meditation and contemplation or shamanic journey.

9am – Snack.

9.30am – Ecstatic dance.

11.30am – Shower.

12 noon – Lunch.

12.30 – Free time in which some individuals and groups may choose to spend time in the woods or gardens or go for a longer walk in the local area.

5pm Baths.

5.30pm Tea.

6pm Free time for private prayer and study and group discussions.

8pm Communal worship in the monastery – evening prayers and songs for Gwyn ap Nudd and His family, the Spirit of the Monastery, the spirits of place and ancestors.

8.30pm Retire for evening prayers to Nodens as God of Dreams.

9pm Bed.

Sunday

5am Communal worship in the monastery – morning prayers and songs for Gwyn ap Nudd and His family, the Spirit of the Monastery, the spirits of place and ancestors. 

5.30am Communal silence in the monastery (the only thing that will be heard is the beat of the Heart of Annwn).

6am Breakfast.

6.30am Communal practice in the monastery – Readings from Brythonic texts followed by longer meditation and contemplation or shamanic journey.

9am – Snack.

9.30am – Personal spiritual development.

12 noon – Lunch.

12.30 – Pilgrimage walk involving prayers and offerings to local spirits.

4pm – Community gathering for sharing news and developments.

5pm Baths.

5.30pm Tea.

6pm Free time for private prayer and study and group discussions.

8pm Communal worship in the monastery – evening prayers and songs for Gwyn ap Nudd and His family, the Spirit of the Monastery, the spirits of place and ancestors.

8.30pm Retire for evening prayers to Nodens as God of Dreams.

9pm Bed.

*The Huts of the Monastic Devotees were inspired by Danica Swanson’s ideas around a ‘cottage cluster monastery’ and the bee hive huts of monastics associated with the south-western Irish seaboard.
**Matins / vigils (nighttime), lauds (early morning), prime (first hour of daylight),  terce (third hour), sext (noon), nones (ninth hour), vespers (sunset), compline (end of the day).

If you would like to see the Monastery of Annwn become a physical reality please like or comment.

Review – Devotional Polytheism by Galina Krasskova

‘This work, devotional work, is the heart, the beating, pumping, living heart of a tradition, the lifeblood of a faith. I believe it is that for which we were made.’

This is one of the books that first introduced me to devotional polytheism in 2015. On a reread I found it not only provides a really solid introduction to the subject but that many of the words within still speak to my soul as they did then. 

Krasskova describes devotion as ‘the heart of our traditions’ ‘the art and cultivated practice of loving the Gods’ and building and maintaining ‘right relationship.’ I related strongly to this heart-focused approach and noted how close it is to Bhakti in the Hindu religion. If we’re going to do devotion our hearts have got to be in it, we’ve got to do it for love, for the path can be tough.

Covered are a number of ways of building relationships with the Gods including prayer, meditation, altar and shrine work, offerings, and daily and seasonal rituals. There are also sections on other essentials such as grounding, centring, shielding, discernment, dealing with miasma and cleansing.

What spoke to me most as a polytheistic monastic was the emphasis on prayer. I agreed wholly that ‘prayer is the gateway to devotional practice.’ Krasskova defines prayer as ‘communication with the Gods (or ancestors)’ and speaks of the different forms of prayer including ‘set prayers,’ ‘freeform’, ‘formal or informal’. I found the following to be incredibly helpful in describing something I have experienced but hadn’t quite found the right words for: ‘The formulaic prayers help build consistency and the actual conversation – extempore prayers – build relationship. Both are necessary.’

I felt an affinity with what Krasskova says about ritual. ‘For a devotional polytheist, the purpose, first and foremost, of a ritual is paying homage to, honoring, and expressing veneration for the Holy Powers (Gods and/or ancestors).’ Whilst social gatherings and seasonal celebrations have their place I’ve always found the rites that move me into deeper and more meaningful encounters with the sacred are worshipful and focused on the Gods.

Krasskova writes beautifully and honestly on the joys and perils of mystical experience – on ‘opening oneself up to the experience of the Gods’ and the extremities of emotion and life-changing effects this brings. ‘The sacred always goes hand in hand with terror.’ ‘Devotional experiences can shake and shatter the world, move the ground from beneath our feet, open us up in ways we never, ever conceived of and that is the nature of devotion.’

Meeting the Gods is life-changing, revolutionary, knocks our ego from the centre of our lives and places the Gods there at the very heart instead. They become the ‘central focus of our lives around which everything else revolves (and around which eventually, everything else falls into place).’

She also speaks openly about dark nights of the soul and fallow periods. ‘We have all walked the monstrous road alone and weeping in the darkness.’

She provides support for those in spiritual crisis (which is different to ‘ongoing pathology’) saying ‘it rips away the brittle masks of our ego, it helps us cleanse ourselves of all those things that keep us from seeing clearly, that keep us mired in the masks and facades a very diseased world creates.’ It is ‘ulitmately very, very beneficial’, ‘necessary and good’, ‘but oh, it is hard.’

It was heartening to find the value of devotion upheld so passionately. ‘It is the most important work that any of us will ever do and I think it’s crucial.’

Devotional Polytheism is valuable because it not only provides a good introduction but goes into the deeper and more difficult aspects of Deity relationships you don’t come across in the wider Pagan community. This landmark book is a must-read for all new newcomers to devotional polytheism and includes a depth of wisdom for those further along the path.

The Altar of the Heart

Through addiction and anxiety,
anger and jealousy

to the Altar of the Heart
I come to make my offering again.

This time You accept it and say:

“May its fire light the way 
to the worship of my family.”

I wrote the words above a few years ago when I offered my heart to Gwyn  on an altar in meditation (I’d tried once before and that time He rejected it!).

Since then my heart has been with Gwyn in the Otherworld. I first saw it again around six months ago in a shamanic journey in an icy pool thawing out.

In a meditation for Gwyn’s Feast with the Monastery of Annwn last September Gwyn returned my heart and said that the Heart of Annwn now beats in my chest as it beats in the chests of all living creatures. 

When I returned to those words in my prayer book and looked at the image it was no longer my heart on the altar but Gwyn’s and I received the gnosis that if I succeed in founding a physical monastery He wants an altar to His heart.

This happened after I finished my ‘Mystics of the Sacred Heart’ series. It seems that an exchange of hearts of sorts has happened between us after all.

Mystics of the Sacred Heart Part Seven – Peggy Allen’s Bible

As a remarkable coincidence at the time of writing this series, whilst I was cleaning, I stumbled across the Bible of my grandmother on my mother’s side, Peggy Allen. My grandmother was sent away to boarding school at a Catholic convent in France when she was 12 years old. Tucked within the pages of her Bible I found two prayer cards relating to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The first features a prayer from Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus called Au Sacré-Cœur with an image of the saint and Jesus showing His Sacred Heart. In England she is known as Therese of Liseux (1841 – 1884) ‘the Little Flower of Jesus’.

The other depicts Blessed Marie Deluil-Martiny (1841 – 1884) a French religious sister who was the Founder of Association of the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus. She was murdered in the convent by a gardener.

Although my grandmother was not religious when I knew her she was obviously familiar with the tradition of the Sacred Heart when growing up.

Might my draw to Gwyn’s Sacred Heart be partially based on ancestral memories?

Mystics of the Sacred Heart Part Six – Sister Mary of the Divine Heart and the Consecration of the World

Mary, born Maria Droste zu Vischering, (1863 – 1899) influenced Pope Leo XIII to consecrate the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1899.

She was educated at the boarding school of the Sacré-Coeur Sisters in Ridenburg, Bavaria. During a return home from school to recover from pneumonia she had a vision of Jesus who told: ‘Thou shalt be the wife of my heart.’  This led her to join the Sisters of the Good Shepherd aged 25.

For Mary devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Blessed Eucharist were inseparable no doubt as the blood of Christ flowed from His heart.

Whilst on mission in Porto in 1898 Mary received several messages from Jesus requesting that she contact the Pope and request the consecration of the world to His Sacred Heart. In her letter to the Pope she wrote: ‘On the eve of the Immaculate Conception, I seemed to see (interiorly) this light, the Heart of Jesus, this adorable sun, whose rays descended on the earth, first narrowly, then more widely, and finally, lighting up the whole world. I recognized the ardent desire He has to see his adorable Heart more and more glorified and known and to spread His gifts and blessings over the whole world. Our Lord… has shown me the ardent desire he has that his Heart be more and more glorified and loved for the good of the nations.’ (25)

The Pope was persuaded by the promise of a longer life at a time of illness. ‘And He has chosen Your Holiness, prolonging your days, so that you might render Him this honor, console his outraged Heart and draw on your soul the choice graces that come from this Divine Heart, this source of all graces.’ (26)

The Pope agreed to consecrate the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus saying he expected ‘extraordinary and lasting benefits for Christendom in the first place and also for the whole human race.’ (27) Much controversy surrounded the consecration of all the world including non-Christians. Mary sadly died three days before the world was consecrated in 1899.

REFERENCES

(25) ‘A Forgotten Nun who Influenced the Pope, National Catholic Register, https://www.ncregister.com/blog/a-forgotten-blessed-nun-who-influenced-the-pope
(26) Ibid.
(27) Ibid.

Mystics of the Sacred Heart Part Five – Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque and the Flaming Heart

The devotion to the Sacred Heart only reached popularity amongst Catholics in the 17th century and this was due to the influence of Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647 – 1690).

Margaret lived in France and entered a Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial aged 24. There Jesus appeared to her four times revealing His love of humanity through visions of His Sacred Heart. These are recorded in her diary.

I. The Flaming Heart

In her first vision she reports that she reposed ‘upon His Sacred Breast’ and ‘for the first time, He opened to me His Divine Heart.’

Jesus said: ‘My Divine Heart is so inflamed with love for men, and for you in particular that, being unable any longer to contain within Itself the flames of Its burning Charity, It must spread them abroad by your means…’ 

This was followed by an exchange of hearts. ‘After this, He asked me for my heart, which I begged Him to take. He did so and placed it in His own Adorable Heart, where He showed it to me as a little atom which was being consumed in this great furnace, and withdrawing it thence as a burning flame in the form of a heart, He restored it to the place whence He had taken it.’

Jesus then said: ‘My well-beloved, I give you a precious token of My love, having enclosed within your side a little spark of its glowing flames, that may serve you for a heart and consume you to the last moment of your life… I now give you that (name) of the beloved disciple of My Sacred Heart.’ (20)

I relate to the imagery of the flaming heart because a few years ago I offered my heart to Gwyn on ‘the Altar of the Heart’ and it burst into flames and He told me that its fire would light the way to the worship of His family.

II. Wearing the Heart

Margaret’s second striking vision is the source of the representation of the Sacred Heart in Catholicism today: ‘The Divine Heart was presented to me in a throne of flames, more resplendent than a sun, transparent as crystal, with this adorable wound. And it was surrounded with a crown of thorns, signifying the punctures made in it by our sins, and a cross above.’

Margaret was told: “This Heart of God must be honored under the form of His heart of flesh, whose image He wanted exposed, and also worn on me and on my heart.’ (21)

This led to Margaret wearing and creating and distributing images of the Sacred Heart which after her death were used to ward off the plague in Marseilles.

This isn’t something Gwyn has called me do… yet…

III. First Friday Devotion

Jesus appeaerd again to Margaret with His breast like a furnace. ‘Opening it, He showed me His loving and lovable Heart as the living source of those flames. Then he revealed to me all the unspeakable marvels of His pure love, and the excess of love He had conceived for men from whom He had received nothing but ingratitude and contempt.’

To make up for their ‘ingratitude’ He asked her to ‘receive Holy Communion on the First Friday of each month’ and tells her that ‘every night between Thursday and Friday I will make you partaker of that sorrow unto death which it was My will to suffer in the Garden of Olives.’ (22) This is the source of the Catholic Holy Hour between 11 and 12 midnight every Thursday.

IV. The Feast of the Heart

In her fourth vision Jesus opens His heart to Margaret again and asks her to inaugurate ‘the first Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi’ as ‘a feast in honor of My Heart.’ This usually takes place in the month of June.

I was called to start celebrating a feast for Gwyn on the 29th of September over ten years ago and began with just one friend. Many Gwyn devotees celebrate His feast on this day and we hold a group rite at the Monastery of Annwn. I feel it is the power of Gwyn’s heartbeat that has drawn us together.

V. Disciple of the Sacred Heart

More controversially, when Margaret dedicated her life to Jesus, ‘she went to her cell, bared her breast, and, imitating her illustrious and saintly foundress, cut with a knife the name of Jesus above her heart. From the blood that flowed from the wound she signed the act in these words: ‘Sister Margaret Mary, Disciple of the Divine Heart of the Adorable Jesus’. (24)

Margaret’s visionary fervor and discipleship quickly spread following her death but the devotion to the Sacred Heart was not approved until seventy years later.

REFERENCES

(21) https://www.churchpop.com/visions-of-the-sacred-heart-of-jesus-4-mystical-messages-to-st-margaret-mary-alacoque/
(22) Ibid.
(23) Ibid.
(24) Monseigneur Bougaud, Revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Blessed Margaret Mary and the History of Her Life, (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1890), p. 209 – 210

Mystics of the Sacred Heart Part Four – The Graces of Saint Gertrude

Gertrude (1256 – 1302) was a Bendictine nun at the monastery of Helfta and received many of her teachings about the Sacred Heart from Mechtilde.

Like Mechtilde, Gertrude was a ‘Bride of Christ’. He bestowed upon her four graces. The first was the impression of His wounds on her heart. ‘O most merciful Lord, engrave Thy Wounds upon my heart with Thy most Precious Blood, that I may read in them both Thy grief and Thy love; and that the memory of Thy Wounds may ever remain in my inmost heart, to excite my compassion for Thy sufferings and to increase in me Thy love.’ (15) I often feel like with this with Gwyn – His stories being engraved upon my heart.

Her second grace was an arrow of light that shot from the side of Jesus and pierced her heart. ‘After I had received the Sacrament of Life, I saw a ray of light, like an arrow, dart forth from the Sacred Wound in Thy right Side, on the Crucifix . . . It advanced toward me and pierced my heart.’ (16) This resulted in a tide of affection and desire to be united with Jesus rising within her. 

I haven’t had an experience like this but it puts me in mind of the ecstasy of St Teresa of Avila wherein an angel thrusts a ‘long spear of gold’ into her heart and entrails leaving her ‘all on fire with a great love of God.’ (17) 

Like Lutgarde, Gertrude exchanged hearts with Jesus and this was her third grace. ‘Thou hast granted me Thy secret friendship, by opening to me the sacred ark of Thy Deified Heart in so many different ways as to be the source of all my happiness. Sometimes as a special mark of our mutual friendship, Thou didst exchange It for mine!’ (17)

Her fourth grace was the placing of the infant Jesus within her. ‘It was the anniversary of the blessed night of Our Lord’s Nativity. In spirit, I tried to fulfill the office of servant of the glorious Mother of God when I felt that a tender, new-born Infant was placed in my heart. At the same instant, I beheld my soul entirely transformed. Then I understood the meaning of these sweet words: ‘God will be all in all’ (1 Cor. 15:28).’ (18) I found this vision particuarly beautiful. Over the Twelve Days of Devotion last year I explored Gwyn’s birth and infancy and felt He was very close to my heart although not quite in it.

Jesus further disclosed His heart as a treasury, a harp, a fountain, a golden thurible and an altar. Like Mechtilde she delighted in its ‘harmonious beatings’. He offered His ‘Divine Heart’ to her as an instrument to ‘charm the eye and ear of Divinity’ and said of all those who had asked Gertrude to pray for them, ‘they may draw forth all they need from my Divine Heart.’ (19). 

This imagery is similar to Mechtilde’s and relates to my own delight in the beat of Gwyn’s heart and to the joy and inspiration that I draw from it.

REFERENCES

(15) Anonymous, St. Gertrude the Great: Herald of Divine Love, TAN Books, Kindle Edition
(16) Ibid.
(17) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecstasy_of_Saint_Teresa
(18) Anonymous, St. Gertrude the Great: Herald of Divine Love, TAN Books, Kindle Edition
(19) Ibid.
(20) Ibid. 

Qualifications and Experience for providing Spiritual Guidance

A couple of months ago I started providing ‘soul guidance’ one-to-one sessions focusing on helping others on their spiritual paths in the Brythonic tradition. I was instructed to do this by my patron God, Gwyn ap Nudd, who told me that one of my roles as a nun of Annwn was to be ‘a guide of souls’. 

When I began this work I wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested, whether I would be any good at it, or whether I would enjoy it as an autistic person and introvert. I’ve since had quite a bit of interest and worked with several clients.

Not only have I enjoyed it but I’ve felt when doing this work my heart beats as one with my God’s and I’ve found a real pleasure in helping others. I think this is because it is sacred work and I’m working with the guidance and inspiration of Gwyn and my spirits. It’s what I’m here to do. My clients have benefited from the sessions and I’ve learnt a lot from them. 

Now I’ve established that I have a gift for this work (gifted to me by the Gods) and it’s something I want to pursue long term I’m looking to grow my clientele.

I’m aware that when I’m seeking spiritual guidance I look for proof that the person has the skills and experience needed. In the Pagan and Polytheist world this can be difficult to determine because we exist apart from and are often in conflict with mainstream society. There aren’t many formal qualifications. Thus we tend to rely on word of mouth or by whether a person is recognised in their communities as a trustworthy guide.

To complicate things further initiations and training take place not only with other humans but with the Gods and spirits. In fact They are our truest teachers. This is absolutely legitimate. But anyone can claim such experiences. Establishing a person’s authenticity comes from recommendation and checking out their background and works.

Here I’m listing the formal and informal qualifications and the experiences I see to qualify me as a guide of souls within the Brythonic tradition. 

2004 – BA Philosophy and English (First Class).

2005 – MA European Philosophy (Merit).

2011 – 2014 – Member and bardic co-ordinator of the Druid Network.

2013 – Initial vows to Gwyn ap Nudd, a King of Annwn and Faery, as my patron God.

2015 – Publication of Enchanting the Shadowlands – a collection of poetry and short stories gathered from my local landscape in response to an imperative from Gwyn.

2016 – Publication of The Broken Cauldron – a book exploring the cauldron in Brythonic mythology putting into question the hegemony of Arthur and Taliesin.

2017 – Publication of Gatherer of Souls – a book recalling the forgotten mythos mythos of Gwyn ap Nudd and His relationship with Orddu and her ancestors reweaving Their stories back into the landscape of northern Britain.

2012 – 2018 – Member of Dun Brython.

2012 – 2019 – Member of the Druid Network Oak and Feather Grove.

2012 – 2019 – Completion of seven year apprenticeship to Gwyn and lifelong vows to Him.

2018 – 2020 Co-founder and member of Awen ac Awenydd.

2012 – present – Giving talks and running workshops on the Bardic Tradition and Brythonic Polytheism in person in the north west of England (Pagan Con, Space to Emerge) and occasionally further afield in the UK (The Druid Network Conference, the One Tree Gathering) and online (Land Sea Sky Travel, Touta Galation).

2013 – present – Practicing core shamanism with the Way of the Buzzard.

2022 – present – Founder and co-ordinator of the Monastery of Annwn. Running and co-running online Brythonic polytheist monastic rituals and a meditation group. 

2022 – Initial vows as a Nun of Annwn.

2022 – present – In supervision with shamanic practitioner and wild therapist Jayne Johnson.

2024 – Four day course in Radical Embodiment with Jayne Johnson and Alex Walker.

2024 – 2027 – I soon begin the Sacred Trust’s Three Year Professional Shamanic Practitioner Training.

Mystics of the Sacred Heart Part Three – Saint Mechtilde and the Eternal Praise of the Heart

Mechthilde (1240 – 1298) was born into the wealthy Hackeborn family and entered the Benedictine convent of Helfa in Saxony at the age of seventeen.

She had numerous visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, spoken of in The Book of Special Grace, which she compiled after a spiritual crisis aged 50. 

I. The Mighty Beating of His Heart

Mechtilde shares a vision in which she rests against Christ’s bosom, listening ‘with attentive ear to the ceaseless and mighty beatings of His own sweet Heart’. Through these ‘beatings’ He sounds ‘invitations’: ‘Come… my love, and receive all that the Beloved can give to His beloved; come. My sister, and possess the inheritance of heaven, which I have bought for thee with My precious Blood; come, My spouse, and enjoy My Godhead.” (5)

This resonated with me deeply for listening to the sound of Gwyn’s Heart, the Heart of Annwn, mighty, awe-inspiring, deafening sometimes, is one of my core practices. I’ve experienced the Heart calling me, inviting me and other monastic devotees to come to Him and worship Him in the Monastery of Annwn. ‘Hear the heart, the heart of Annwn, / hear the heart oh monk and nun / Hear the heart, the heart of Annwn, / “To the monastery we come.”

II. Eternal Praise

On other occasions Mechtilde lays her mouth on the Divine Heart of Jesus and gains sustenance. ‘Drop by drop’ she is gifted verses to offer to His Mother. (6) She also draws from His heart a ‘sweet fruit’ which she places in her mouth signifying ‘eternal praise’ which ‘floweth forth from Him’. (7)

The praise of God is shown to her in another vision as ‘a tube, as it were, coming out of the Heart of God, to her own heart, and then winding back again from her own heart to that of God, by which was signified the praise of God.’ (8) This is later expanded upon. ‘Then straightway she saw tubes, as it were, going forth from the hearts of the angels to the Heart of God, and they made such sweet melody that no man can utter it’. (9)

In another vision Jesus shows reveals His heart as a lamp ‘overflowing’ with large drops of light yet not ‘anywise lessened’. It overflows ‘by little strings of lamps; some of which seemed to stand upright, and to be full of oil, while others were empty, and hung upside down.’ Mechtilde understands ‘by lamps that burnt upright were signified the hearts of those who were present at Mass with devotion and longing desires, while by the lamps that hung down were signified the hearts of those who refused to be raised up by devotion.’ (10) 

These remarkable visions show how the praise of God / Jesus, flows from His Sacred Heart to the angels and is gifted to His most ardent devotees. This puts me in mind of the gift of awen ‘inspiration’ to awenyddion in the Brythonic tradition, which flows from the cauldron into the cauldrons of those who praise the Gods. Gwyn owns ‘the Cauldron of Pen Annwn’ and is ‘my patron, inspiration and truth’ and my awen from Him also feels like a gift from His heart.

In The Triads of the Island of Britain  we find 90. ‘The Three Perpetual Harmonies of the Island of Britain: One was at the Island of Afallach, and the second at Caer Garadawg, and the third at Bangor. In each of these three places were 2,400 religious men; and of these 100 in turn continued each hour of the twenty-four hours of the day and night in prayer and service to God, ceaselessly and without rest forever.’ (11)

It is notable that one of these ‘Perpetual Harmonies’ was ‘at the Island of Afallach.’ Afallach, from afal, ‘apple’ is another name of Gwyn’s. This makes me wonder if an earlier tradition of eternal praise for Gwyn once existed. Whether that was the case or not I long found a monastery wherein the beat of Gwyn’s heart is played and His praises sung day and night.

III. The Fortress of the Heart

In an astonishing vision Jesus takes Mechtilde into His heart and shuts her in. He shows her the upper part is ‘the sweetness of the spirit of God’ and the lower part ‘the treasury of all good’. In the south is the ‘eternal paradise of all riches’. In the west is ‘eternal peace and joy without end’. In the north is ‘eternal security’. (Jesus does not mention what lies in the east). (12) His heart is elsewhere described as ‘a fair house’ and ‘a house of miraculous beauty’. (13)

This reminds me a little of the depictions of Gwyn’s fortress as filled with fair people and revelry. For me Gwyn’s hall is the heart of the kingdom of Annwn His heart, the Heart of Annwn, beats in its midst. I wonder if there was a mystical tradition wherein His fortress was seen to be the interior of His heart.

When Mechtilde asks how to cleanse her heart Jesus replies: ‘In the love of My divine Heart I will wash thee’ and shows her a ‘river of love’ filled with golden fish. (14)

Here I’m reminded of the sparkling rivers of mead and wine in Annwn and of a personal vision I had of rivers of blood, like veins, pouring from Gwyn’s heart and connecting with the hearts of all beings in Annwn and in Thisworld.

IV. Greet My Heart

Jesus appeared to Mechthilde and said the following: ‘In the morning let your first act be to greet My Heart and to offer Me your own. Whoever breathes a sigh toward Me, draws Me to himself.’ (15)

I found this profoundly beautiful. Every morning Gwyn’s name is the thing I say in my morning prayers and I could imagine incorporating a greeting of His heart and an offering of my heart to Him into my devotions.

There is much modern polytheists could learn from this remarkable saint about the nature of visionary experience and devotion.

REFERENCES

(5) Anon, Revelations of S. Mechtilde, (1875), https://dn790004.ca.archive.org/0/items/selectrevelation00mech/selectrevelation00mech.pdf p117
(6) Ibid. p112 – 113
(7) Ibid. p126
(8) Ibid. p118 – 119
(9) Ibid. p133
(10) Ibid. p136 – 138
(11) Rachel Bromwich (ed), The Triads of the Island of Britain, (University of Wales Press, 2014), p232
(12) Anon, Revelations of S. Mechtilde, (1875), https://dn790004.ca.archive.org/0/items/selectrevelation00mech/selectrevelation00mech.pdf p133 – 135
(13) Ibid. p138, p142
(14) Ibid. 119 – 120
(15) Mechthild, St Joseph’s Abbey, http://spencerabbey1098.blogspot.com/2014/11/mechtilde.html

Mystics of the Sacred Heart Part Two – Saint Lutgarde and the Exchange of Hearts

Lutgarde (1182 – 1246) was born in Tongres, Belgium, and entered the Benedictine convent at Saint Trond aged twelve. During this period a potential suitor visited her and during one of these visits Jesus appeared to her revealing his spear wound and telling her: ‘Seek no more pleasure of this affection… here in this wound I promise you the most pure of joys.’ Lutgarde denounced her suitor saying: ‘Go away from me for I belong to another Lover.’ (3)

Afterwards Lutgarde was blessed with a number of graces including levitation, healing, a miraculous understanding of Latin and illumination about the meaning of the Psalms but none of these made her happy. 

This led to her exchange of hearts with Jesus:

‘Jesus asked her: “What… do you want?”

“Lord… I want Thy Heart.”

“You want My Heart? Well, I too want your heart.” 

“Take it, dear Lord. But take it in such a way that the love of Your Heart may be so mingled and united with my own heart that I may possess my heart in Thee, and that it may always remain there secure in Your protection.”’ (4)

Lutgarde was elected as superior of the convent at the age of twenty-three but left to join the Cistercian convent (known as Trappists) at Aywieres.

Although I haven’t directly exchanged hearts with Gwyn attaining a union of my breath with His breath and my heart with His has long been a part of my practice.

REFERENCES

(3) St Lutgarde of Aywieres, Mystics of the Church, https://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2015/09/st-lutgarde-of-aywieres-first-known.html
(4) Ibid.