March 19, 2021

The Light Of Ancient Wisdom

The whole landscape is a manuscript
we have lost the skill to read,
a part of our past disinherited.
John Montague

He said he was ten years too late. When Paul Devereux was researching his book on fairy paths and spirit roads, published in 2003, he found those he interviewed were fading physically and mentally. Their recollections were often fuzzy and confused. And in that fading we lose the wisdom of those who could read the manuscript.

It doesn’t mean that the landscape is no longer available to be read. It just means that we must find a new way to read it. As Devereux writes, “…if we were to spend long periods of time far from city lights in mountains, deserts or forests, especially if in the company of people of a cultural background that allowed spirits into its worldview, our experiences might be very different.”

In every ancient culture spirits were part of the worldview. In the ancient roots of every culture, in landscapes around the globe, a manuscript lost can be found. It is a manuscript available to be read, a manuscript that is calling to be read.

Beannacht,
Judith – judith@stonefires.com