The Wisdom of the Primrose

Journey to the Spirit of the Primrose

I call to the Spirit of the Primrose and immediately I see a primrose – really big and yellow. ‘Beautiful Primrose, may I ask you some questions? May I ask for your wisdom, can you tell me about your qualities and whether you have a message for humankind?’

I get the words, ‘Wrap you up and go inside.’ That’s what Primrose wants to do. She’s folding her petals around me and then going inside me.

‘Where are you going?’ I ask. I feel it in the centre of my chest. I’m getting a feeling it’s around the sternum and the diaphragm. Not so much the heart – it’s below the heart and it’s not as far down as the solar plexus, but it’s in the middle of my sternum. She’s folding her petals into there. Primrose tells me she is linked to the diaphragm. ‘I can help with breathing, and control of the breath. I can help to protect you from respiratory problems at this time of year, when the cold wind blows, and you can be susceptible to these problems.’

‘Wrap you up and go inside,’ I hear those words again. What Primrose is telling us is that when the cold wind blows, wrap yourself up and go inside. That ‘going inside’ also represents going into your inner being and dreaming.

‘I am the Flower of Dreams,’ she tells me. ‘Breathe in my sweet perfume and it will bring you clarity in your dreams. If you want to know the answer to a question, before you go to bed, spend a few minutes breathing in and out with your hands cupped around a primrose and ask for Primrose to bring you clarity in your dreams. This translates not only to night-time dreams but also in your dreams of what you want for yourself and where you want to go in life.’

‘I am a spring flower. I am at the beginning of all things. I am about awakening – dreaming and taking those dreams into your awakening, manifesting your dreams, empowering your dreams. You can soak my petals in spring water and drink it – even better if you can find some spring sunlight to fall upon the glass. Ask for my spirit to go into the water. Drink this water – the essence of Primrose and it will help you manifest your dreams, whatever they are. I am a successful flower. I bring success. I bring about manifestation of whatever it is you desire.’

‘Thank you so much!’ I say. ‘How may I use your properties to help manifest my dreams?’ I ask.

‘Clear your altar. Put one fresh primrose flower in a small bottle of water on your altar and change it every time it needs to be refreshed. Ask me to help manifest your dreams and keep visualising the outcome of whatever it is you want. Visualise people having a positive response to whatever it is you want to create. Every time you change the flower, imagine that response. Imagine people around the world loving it, and telling their friends about it.’

‘My scent is fresh and pure. It brings hope. I am the Flower of Hope – hope that things can change for the better, renewed hope after the Winter has passed that things will get easier and more abundant with the approach of Summer; the hope that new children may come into being.’

So I ask, ‘Do you have any properties of fertility?’ Primrose answers, ‘Not me personally, but my sister, Evening Primrose does. I bring the Hope of Possibility.’

‘Is there anything that I can do to honour you?’ I ask.

‘Grow more of me. Plant more of me. Have your garden full of primroses. That’s all I ask. Just go now and manifest your dreams.’

‘Beautiful Primrose, I thank you so much. I have longed to hear your wisdom for so long and now I know.’

Lizzie Harper’s sketchbook illustration

http://lizzieharper.co.uk/gallery/sketchbook/

The Girl who Dances Amongst the Hares

Dancing with Hares by Anna Bromley 2017

I journey using  a drum with the intention of meeting the Ancient Mother and connecting with the earth.

In my journey, I walk towards the Vision Tree across luxuriant spring grass. In front of the tree, there’s a Spring picnic going on. The weather is perfect, mild and sunny, there are spring flowers everywhere, birds singing in the trees. There is a checkered picnic cloth spread with beautiful things and around this cloth, there are hares dancing in a circle. On the cloth are painted eggs, chocolate, spring flowers and lots of other goodies. In the centre of the circle of hares a little girl is dancing. She has long golden hair and is wearing a beautiful blue dress. She is seven years old.

The hares tell me they are guardians to the realm of the Ancient Mother. I ask them to show me their natural ways. They tell me that at this time of spring they are very active and joyful, dancing and celebrating life. They represent the abundance of Mother Earth at this budding time of spring. They connect me with the cycles, of the earth of the seasons and of the moon. I see them spiralling up on a path of moonlight, showing me the moon. But now, they want to show me to the realm of the Ancient Mother. So they bring me back to the tree.

It’s a great big beautiful oak, like a tree from a fairytale. There is a little green painted wooden door into the tree. The hares open the door and take me down to the realm of the Ancient Mother.

We go down, down, down to a cave. It’s not a dank, dark cave. It’s like a fairy grotto full of sparkling crystals. There are many landscapes going off in different directions. There’s a stream of water. Sitting on a throne beside the stream is the Ancient Mother. She welcomes me. She has hares hopping all around her, sometimes hopping into her lap. She calls me to her lap and embraces me. She does hand gestures over me to bless me and readjust my energy. She realigns my chakras. She massages my toes and the soles of my feet to help my connection with the earth. Then she sits me up on her lap and makes me put my feet down in connection with the earth. My roots grow down. She places one hand on my sacrum and the other at the front on my lower abdomen. She is healing my root chakra. I feel warmth and energy coming into my lower back.

‘May the solidity of Earth be yours dear Child,’ she whispers in my ear. ‘May you be connected beautifully and gently with the earth. May you walk gently on the earth.

Now she heals the sacral chakra. ‘May you feel safe. May your basket of creativity be filled with wondrous things for you to give and receive.’ She shows me a picnic basket full of Easter goodies. She places it inside my abdomen and tells me it is my basket of creativity. In the basket there is a pen and paper. There is a beautiful book for me to write in. There are beautiful crystals for me to work with and to give to others. There are flowers for me to create herbal medicine, healing balms and beautifying creams. There are hares and all the gifts of Easter and the abundance of the fertile earth.

Now she moves up to my solar plexus chakra. She opens it at the back, like opening a trap door, and takes something out. ‘You don’t need that!’ she says and throws it behind her where it is consumed in flames. She is tracing a spiral of energy on my back. It is a warm, ruby, glowing red. It goes through me to the front and back again. It is healing, clearing and energising my solar plexus. It feels lovely.

Now she comes to my heart space. ‘Loving, beautiful child, let the gold of your heart, the golden fire energy of your heart spread to all those around you. You have this gift of love – lovingness and care. Let it spread to all those around you. And equally, may you receive love and care from those around you.

Then she puts her hands either side of my throat chakra and says, ‘May the silver words of your heart ring like bells from your throat and your tongue, making delightful, delicious music for all those who hear you speak.’ This makes me feel very emotional, because I have felt so blocked in being able to voice my beauty. ‘No longer, dear Lady!’ she says as she heals my throat chakra.

Now she comes to my brow chakra and says, ‘Vision and Beauty are yours already, my dear dear Child. May you see truly and clearly. May you know what is yours and what is others’. May you use this gift wisely for the benefit of all.

Then she moves up to my crown chakra. ‘This chakra needs no healing, dear Beautiful one,’ she says. ‘Your connection with the Heavens is strong. Keep it open.’

She says, ‘You are a multi-dimensional being. You know that already. The Book of Your Life is open to you. You may come back again whenever you like to look into your Book of Life. For now your message and your healing are complete. I send you home with my blessings and my love.

So I thank the Ancient Mother and retrace my steps escorted by the Hare Guardians. I thank them and return to this reality.

Meeting the Seven Year Old Girl

When I reflected on the journey, I wondered who is the 7 year old girl, the one I saw dancing at the picnic amongst the hares? So I lit a candle and invited her to speak to me.She told me she is my 7 year old soul part who left because of religious oppression – being made to go to church every Sunday, sometimes to more than one service, which seemed to take up the whole day. She hated it because it was dull and boring and indoors, where she was preached at about sin and all the things she shouldn’t do and must not do, where she was told that magic is evil, when all she wanted to do was to put on a pretty dress and dance in the garden and in the woods and the fields amongst the hares and the wild animals. She wanted to have fun and to dance and be free and to feel the sunshine on her face and to know that there IS magic in the world.

So I sat in my sunny garden, where the bees hummed in the prunus blossom and the lambs bleated in the field next door. I painted my seven year old and then I danced with her and then we ate chocolate birthday cake together. It was blissful, especially because it is something I rarely let myself do.

A Visit to Cae Thomas’ Holy Well, Llanveynoe, Olchon Valley, Black Mountains

Cae Thomas Holy Well

Yesterday, Phoebe and I set off on an adventure. Our quest was to find Cae Thomas’ Holy Well near Llanveynoe. Rumour had it that this beautiful natural spring was to be found somewhere in the mystical Olchon Valley of the Black Mountains on the border between Herefordshire and Wales. So far no-one we knew had been able to find it. Local folklore has it that the water has special healing properties and is particularly good for rheumatism and strengthening weak eyes and this was good enough incentive for me. Perhaps it would be good for my gammy hip and maybe I’d even be able to read the small print on labels after a draft of the elusive water.

So, armed with an OS map and a sketchy description from on elderly guide book on the Holy Wells of Herefordshire, we set off. Phoebe was as excited as me and had prepared a bag of provisions – a bottle to put some water in, some extra strong mints and a bag of jelly babies – excellent emergency rations!

We drove off up Long Lane in the direction that leads away from civilisation and into the mountains. I love this route – turn right at Bob Shop, through Michaelchurch Escley and then dipping down into the valley of the River Monnow. The verges of the narrow lanes spilled over with wildflowers – purple vetch, the magenta of rosebay willow herb and the frothy cream flowers of meadowsweet, to name but a few. Amongst these, waved the golden fronds of tall grasses bleached by the August sunshine. We passed quaint cottages with flower filled gardens, tumbled down stone ruins, glossy red post boxes set into garden walls, each turn in the road unveiling a scene more beautiful than the last. Rounding a bend, the imposing ridge of Black Darren reared up in front of us. Round another bend we were treated to a lovely view of the craggy end of the Cat’s Back Mountain, also known as the Black Hill, made famous in Bruce Chatwin’s novel.

Now entering the Olchon Valley and crossing the Olchon Brook, we kept a beady eye out for anything that might resemble the description in the book.

‘Ooh, hang on, that tiny little gate might be promising. It’s not big enough to get a tractor through and why else would you have a gate only big enough for pedestrians going into a field?’ I asked Phoebe. She thought it looked like a good bet too. I squeezed the car off the narrow lane into another gateway, hoping that we wouldn’t meet an irate farmer wondering what we were up to. But I needn’t have worried – there was not another soul about. We went through the little gate and hearing the sound of running water, thought that we must be onto something. Going through another small gate, we found ourselves at a beautiful waterfall flowing into a pool. We sat and enjoyed this lovely place for a few minutes. Phoebe was keen to fill her water bottle, but I was sure that we hadn’t found the right place. So near and yet so far. How frustrating.

We started making our way back towards the car to try again further along the road. I pondered about the little gate and then something made me stop and turn around. This time I noticed another gate off to our left. Not a small gate this time, a full size farm gate, but it was propped across a gap that again wasn’t big enough for vehicles. Phoebe got really excited by this and ran back ahead of me. I heard a shout as she disappeared round the corner.

‘This is it Mum. I can see the enamel cup hanging from the tree with the initials carved into it, just like it said in the book!’ We had found it at last. I negotiated the broken wooden gate and immediately, the atmosphere changed completely. It was serene, peaceful and welcoming. The vegetation was somehow different here too – short neat grass, soft moss and shamrocks, gave the impression of a magical garden. A three-limbed ash tree grew out of a rock above a little pool, into which the spring was merrily gurgling. The water in the pool was crystal clear and very inviting. The ancient enamelled cup hung from this tree, left there by some thoughtful person who would like others to enjoy the spring. With great reverence, we took it in turns to have a drink from the cup, and to bathe our eyes and feet. The water from the spring was the sweetest and freshest I’ve ever tasted. We stayed and enjoyed the atmosphere of the Cae Thomas’ Well for a while before saying a little prayer of thanks for such a lovely place and hoping that it always stays as unspoilt as this.

We returned to the car, feeling refreshed, soothed and very satisfied that we had accomplished our mission to visit such a beautiful and magical place.

New Course – Shiatsu and Shamanic Journeying

Bill and I will be running a weekend course – an introduction to Shiatsu, Shamanic Journeying and Chi Gung on April 18th and 19th. It will be in a beautiful venue on the edge of Paradise Woods, near Bacton in Herefordshire. The woods will be full of the scent and colour of bluebells – a delectable backdrop to our work.

About the course…

Reconnect, Replenish, Renew

An introduction to Shiatsu,
Shamanic Journeying and Chi Gung

April 18th and 19th 2015

Reconnecting with ourselves and with Nature.
Replenishing Body, Mind and Soul.
Renewing our sense of purpose and finding support to move forward in our lives.

Venue: Paradise Woods, Herefordshire

• Learn how to give and receive a basic shiatsu treatment.
• Go on a shamanic journey, to meet a Power Animal and Spirit  Guide.
• Learn about the five elements – water, earth, fire, metal and wood, using Chi Gung and gentle stretching exercises.
• Spend time in beautiful woodland, connecting with Nature and experiencing the five elements.

Further information from Anna and Bill on
0788 062 7108

Course details…

Learn how to give simple Shiatsu treatments

We’ll give you an overview of shiatsu, which is a gentle way of balancing the body’s energy system using acupressure points and stretches.

We’ll provide a safe, supportive environment for you to learn to give and receive a lovely relaxing back treatment.

Journey to meet your Power Animal and Spirit Guide

You will learn how to go on a shamanic journey to meet your Power Animal and Spirit Guide. We will teach you how to create a sacred circle for your journeys. Shamanic Journeying is a way to access information and healing for ourselves and others. It deepens our innate connection to the web of life and helps us to find insight to support us in moving forward in our lives.

Use Chi Gung and the Five Elements to energise your body

We will be learning about the Chinese five elements of water, earth, fire, metal and wood, using Chi Gung and gentle stretching exercises to balance these elements in the body. The exercises will help you feel energised and centred.

Being centred and sensing energy

We’ll show you how to be in touch with your centre of energy and centre of gravity (the hara) from which all shiatsu moves originate. We’ll also show you how to sense different qualities of energy – a simple and effective method of diagnosing which areas to treat.

Connecting with Nature

We will have some experiential time in Nature, in the beautiful bluebell woodlands. You can experience the Five Elements first hand and tune in with Nature.

What happened to Spring?

Ostara, the Goddess of Spring

The snow fell thick and heavy here at the foot of the Black Mountains. That was some time ago, but the snow is taking such a long time to melt and the icy North wind is cutting through all attempts to try and enjoy the great outdoors. So I retreated to the fireside and contemplated what had happened to the Spring. This is what I found…

I am met by my guide wearing a thick, heavy cloak. He pulls it close around him and leads me through a snowy, frosty landscape. I am on horseback and a little fox trots alongside us. Eventually we arrive at a cave. My guide enters and kindles a fire. He motions for me to come in and draw close to the fire.

‘Things are changing, Anna,’ he says. Do your best to survive this in whatever way you can. Stay in, keep warm, keep the fire burning. Toast your toes in front of the fire. Mother Nature is in mourning.’

I ask what has caused this and if there is anything I can do to make this better. He replies, ‘The bad and unkind deeds of greedy people are the cause. Kindle a light in your heart. Spread warmth and beauty. Be warm and open to people. Be giving and kind. Do not operate in the way that the greedy takers do.’

I get a sense that there is more to this that I am not being told about. My guide strokes my hair and says, ‘Oh wise, golden child, keep spreading Warmth, Beauty and Love in the world. It’s all that you can do. Keep warm, nourish yourself, nourish your child. Keep spreading Joy and Beauty. Turn your back on the greedy ones. Find ways round their policies. If we all do this, it takes away their power.

‘What of the earth?’ I ask. ‘When will Spring come back?’

‘Soon enough,’ is his reply. ‘The birds will soon be nesting in the hazel thickets and before long you’ll be eating strawberries again.’

‘The Goddess of Spring is in mourning. Keep doing what you can to celebrate her Light and Life. Put a picture of her on your altar and light a candle to her. Honour the light within each other. Make offerings to the Earth. Tune into the Divine Feminine. You are a Divine Spark.

The energy of Imbolc is still carrying on. We all need to kindle warmth in our hearts, to combat the cold. Shine your light in the darkness. The world is changing. Meditate to kindle the warmth of fire in your heart and then beam it out into the world.’

The Spring is a time for us to focus on the growth of the dreams we nurtured in the long winter months. They are ready to emerge now.

The Wisdom of Snowdrop, 5th March 2013

Snowdrop in the Spring sunshine

What a glorious day to be alive on this sweet earth as she casts aside her mantle of Winter. It makes me want to sing and skip through the hills. I’ve just come back from a walk and I feel so blessed to live in this beautiful part of the world. I can wander out into my garden, hop over the fence and walk up through meadows, past stands of oak trees and hazel, to climb a favourite little hillock next to the ruins of a stone barn. From the top of my hillock, next to a wonderful gnarly hawthorn full of mistletoe, I can see down into the Golden Valley one way and across to the Black Mountains in the other direction. I am surrounded by the tweeting and twittering of birds who sound as happy as I feel, and the bleating of curious sheep who are watching me carefully in case I might have come on behalf of the farmer with some extra food for them.

This year, the abundance of the Snowdrop has really caught my attention, and I wanted to share its wisdom with you, before it goes over and gives way to the later Spring flowers. I did a journey to the spirit of Snowdrop to ask what wisdom it had for Humankind, and this is what it told me…

Journey to the Spirit of the Snowdrop

I saw a huge snowdrop in front of me. I felt surrounded by pure white petals.

‘I am the Spirit of the Snowdrop. My whiteness represents purity, the purity of the snow that covers the land in winter, the purity of the snow that wipes out, erases memories, traces of last year and puts the land to sleep ready for the new beginning. I am about new beginnings, new energy, the energy of the Winter Solstice coming into being. The energy that started with the Solstice, as I lay underground in my bulb, beginning to wake up, beginning to come. I am the first flush of life after Winter, the first hint that spring will come again.
The fresh scent of snowdrop brings hope to Humankind, hope that all the troubles of last year are left behind. I am aligned with the energy of Bridie, St Bridget. I am her totem flower. I bring all the qualities of Bridie. Put me on your altar if you want to step into new beginnings, with purity, freshness and hope. The green edgings to my petals are like the first green shoots of spring. Contrary to my appearance, my whiteness and association with snow, I have the quality of warmth within me. I have to carry my own warmth to offset the cold of winter. I carry the spark, the warmth of new life, new dawns, new Spring. I am a flower of the dawn. I represent the light coming back at the dawn of the day, the warmth of the sun coming back. So as well as representing the beginning of the year, I also represent the beginning of the day.
Notice how my petals close at night-time, in the darkness, to protect my inner self, then open again when the sun warms me. So too this is a message for humankind that when the darkness comes, you need to close down a little, to fold your outer petals around you and draw your energy inwards for a little while, before you are ready to unfurl again when the warmth of the sunlight comes back into being.
I am a gentle flower. I nod on the breeze. I also have great stamina. I am robust. My gentle, delicate appearance belies the strength and robustness that I have. I preserve my strength and robustness by having these protective qualities, knowing when it is time to furl my petals around me and draw my energy in and having the innate knowledge about when it is safe to open and unfurl. Then it is time to smile and enjoy the light again. This is a quality that I bring into human relationships. I bring the wisdom for when it is time to fold your petals around you and protect yourself against any onslaught, anything that is like a harsh cold wind to you – furl yourself around and imagine that you have snowdrop petals to wrap around you and protect you. I bring you the quality of wisdom to know when it is safe to unfurl your petals again and to smile into the sun. This is the wisdom of the Snowdrop.
If you are having trouble with this, if you do not know where your boundaries lie, if you do not know when it is safe to unfurl, if you do not know when you need to furl yourself and draw your energy inwards, tune into the energy of Snowdrop. Put some snowdrops in water on your altar, light a candle and pray that the spirit of the Snowdrop will help you with these qualities.
I am about boundaries. I am about having the innate knowledge about when you need to furl yourself and when it is better to unfurl yourself. I am about having good instincts about your own safety and protectedness. This is what I bring to you – knowing when you need to protect yourself from the onslaught of an icy blast of wind.
I bring the knowledge of how to restore yourself over Winter, how to conserve your energy, how to draw you energy in to conserve your health, before it is time to unfurl again in the spring. This is how you preserve your energy and protect your health, contain your reserves and renew yourself in the spring, just as Bridie does, just as Bridie is the mistress of the secret of the renewal of youth for women. Be careful of going to too many parties in the winter. Conserve your energy. Rest, have long, deep sleeps. Sleep more in the winter, than in the spring and summer, just as the hours of darkness are longer in the winter, so your amount of sleep should be longer in the winter. Tune yourself to the seasons. Nurture your seeds in the winter.
The fragrance of snowdrop represents the freshness of new beginnings. If you are having difficulty retaining your hope about the freshness of new beginnings, go and visit the Snowdrop. Breath in the freshness of its scent. Let hope return to you. Let health return to you.
Thank you for wanting to share my message with humankind.’