The Vine: MUIN 
by Blayze

Sink your awareness down into the earth. Become aware of your breathing. Enter a trance state (using usual breathing techniques…)You find yourself standing at the foot of a large hill - all around you is darkness pierced only by the brilliant light of the stars… twinkling like jewels embroidered into the velvet cloak of the night sky above you.By the light of the stars you can see that a path winds in a spiral about the hill. You move to the left and begin to walk along the path - ever twisting and spiralling to the left. You begin to feel the ground slope beneath your feet as you slowly walk the spiral path. 

Your awareness shifts with each turn as you sink deeper and deeper into trance.You are aware moonlight growing brighter as you near the summit of the hill and you realise that the moon is rising to hang just above the hill itself. 

Bathed in the moonlight is a tall, ancient stone that stands in the centre of a flat plateau. The spiral path winds ever towards the stone in the centre, one half of which is in shadow, the other illuminated by the silver light of the moon.Gradually you find yourself walking in a ever tightening spiral as you move closer and closer to the stone… always and ever moving to the left. 

At last you come face to face to with the towering and ancient weathered rock. By the light of the moon you see that there is an image carved upon its surface… A straight line runs from an inverted V at the base to the top of the stone. Halfway up the line you see one diagonal line bisecting the upright line. It moves from the top left to the bottom right. This is the Ogham Muin - The Vine, carved into the single upthrust spur of living rock.You feel the power awakening in the stone and sigil as the moon continues to rise. The Ogham stave glows and you run your hand along its length. 

You feel the energy tingle through you from the tips of your fingers to your feet upon the earth. Suddenly everything shifts and you find that you have passed through the stone into another realm. Mist envelopes you and you experience a moment of disorientation, but you can now feel the stone standing at your back. 

You begin to move forward and as you do the mist begins to shred away directly in front of you. You see that you are on path of red earth. Keep walking straight ahead. You see before you the trunk of an old and gnarled vine. Thick and twisted with age. It grows from thick roots that go deep into the red volcanic soil. The vine is supported by an equally old fence of twisted wire strung between petrified driftwood hammered into the earth. The vine and its support have been carefully tended for many years, cultivated by unknown hands, knowledge taught from generation to generation. Follow the path of the vine, feel the thin twisted branches and the wide green leaves as you walk. Soak up the memories of the grape harvests of generations. 

Look at the entwined vine... see the patterns as it twists and turns, a live thing that needs support to grow. Feel your conscious and unconscious minds begin to twine together as you walk... feel the trance becoming deeper. The vine makes its own twists and turns, it sends its lessons ever onward.

Keep walking along the path of the vine. You begin to notice that there is a row of trees that cross the vine at an angle that resembles the ogham stave marking the entrance stone entrance to this world.  The trees are still fuzzy with mist and you can't make out exactly which trees they are. You walk up to the row of trees and you see that whilst the vine still marches on straight ahead, it also branches off down to the right and up to the left. The wild trees are joined to the cultivated vine. Patience and care releasing the inhibitions and the restrictions placed upon them. Release your own inhibitions. Remove your clothing and any items you carry with you. Place them before the junction of the vine.

Move to the right hand branch of vine and trees. The mist swirls away and the tall silvery bark of the Birch is revealed. Look at how the vine entwines its trunk and branches, how are new beginnings woven with the path you have been on? Move further down the path and you see that the Rowan is also joined by the vine. You feel the essence of the Rowan, the power of mountains and sun and protective magics... what does the vine teach you about the Rowan and yourself? You follow the vine further down the path and come to the Alder. Strong shield entwined by the intoxicating vine. How is your intution guided by the twining of your inner self? Again you follow the vine down the path and you come to the Willow... fronds gently moving in the breeze, another tree that can be bent to your will if you know how to let go first. What does the vine teach you? Move down the path once more and follow the vine to the Ash. Tall and prophetic, remember the call of the lightening and the power of prophecy. Look at how the vine climbs to the highest branches and beyond... strongest of effort is the vine. Now follow the vine around the Ash and back past the Willow, the Alder, the Rowan and the Birch. Look at the vine from the other side, how the twists and turns reveal more of themselves, feel understanding beginning to twist inside you. 

You come back to the central cultivated vine. Climb over the vine and through the leaves, feel them brush against your skin. You feel what it is like to reach for the skies and struggle to stay aloft. You reach the other side of the vine. Follow it up the path to the left and you come to the Hawthorn. It is spiky and beautiful, the vine heedless of its own peril wraps itself around the thorny trunk and branches. It entwines and draws from both the danger and the protection, the chasity and sexual abandon. Vine, highest of beauty. Think about the paradox of the Hawthorn and the fruit of the vine... intoxication. What does the vine teach you about the Hawthorn? Now follow the vine up the path once more and you come to the mighty Oak. The King tree of strength, yet even the oak can be entwined by the vine as it struggles up towards the sun... Endurance is key to both. Continue up the path as you follow the vine that links the Oak to the Holly. As the vine balances the conscious and unconscious so the Holly balances leadership and justice. The Dark grape and the White. What does the vine teach you of the Holly? Again follow the path of the vine until you come to the Hazel. Like Willow before it, Hazel can be bent into shape but both knowledge and wisdom are needed. Salmon knowledge is hard won and the vine teaches the worth of effort made. Think on this. Now follow the vine to the Apple. See how the vine climbs the gnarled old tree that still bursts with the fruit of divine inspiration that holds within the divine madness. Both vine and apple have fruits that when fermented can release the self from the ties that bind. Beauty and inspiration, madness that floats within reach. Follow the spiral of the vine around the apple tree and think about the balance of moderation and excess. When do you reach the point of too much beauty? Is it the fallen apple or the tree that reaches above all others?

Now follow the vine around the Apple and back past the Hazel, the Holly, the Oak and the Hawthorn. Observe how the twists and turns reveal more of themselves, feel understanding burst forth from within.

You arrive back at the junction of the Vine having bridged the worlds of the first ten trees. You have experienced the teachings of the cultivated and the wild.  You can see that the cultivated vine stretches on into the mists.  Remember the teachings of the Vine and take them with you. You see that there is a thin tendril of leaf and vine trailing towards you. Touch it and the thin branch comes away into your hands. Twist it around itself to form a circlet and place it upon your head.

You are now the teacher and what you have learnt here may be passed onto others as the Vine stretches into your own world. But now is the time to leave this place. If you stay too long the vine will climb you.

Take up your clothes and put them back on. Still wearing your circlet of leaves make your way down the path of red earth into the setting sun. Follow the vine back to the Standing stone.

When you arrive back at the Stone you see it now bears a spiral marking. Begin to trace the spiral as it twists to the right. You become aware of mist forming around you once more and again a feeling of disorientation. As the mist begins to clear you find that you are once again standing upon the hillside under the fading light of the setting moon. By the light of the stars you begin to walk the spiral path out from the centre, ever moving to the right. You begin to feel the path sloping downwards as you tread the spiral path around the hill. As you walk you feel yourself becoming heavier and heavier, you begin to be aware of other sounds…. Slowly you reach the bottom of the hill and sit at its base. You become aware of the feel of your body, the shape of your skin and your breath. You feel the blood flowing through your veins . You become aware of the sounds around you… When you are back… open your eyes.