Elder: Ruis
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 five diagonal lines extending from top right to bottom left. This is the Ogham Ruis - the Elder, 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. 

It is dark and you feel that all around you the land is preparing to sleep. You take a step forwards and the mist begins to writhe and shred away. You find yourself at the mouth of a valley. By pale moonlight you can see that the hills on either side of the valley are bare of trees and covered only in thin grass.

You begin to walk between the hills into the valley itself. The path between the hills is narrow and you see that there is some very old rubbish, old leaves and old wares that have been blown or piled up from the path to the base of the hills. You walk between the piles and the smell of decay is ripe in your nose. The valley mouth begins to widen out and there is more room on the verges. These widening spaces are also filled with small piles of refuse, the refuse from the past year. Piles of old tools, worn clothing, dung and decaying food scraps dot the landscape.

As you walk you begin to look at the piles of rubbish, look at the items and piles that can be recycled. New shoots appear in the compost heaps and already from death there is the hope of new life when the Land awakens. For the old year is done but the new is not yet here.

You continue walking through the valley, as you move deeper in you see that some of the rubbish piles have trees growing from them. Bushes of Elder flourish from the dead ground, their berries ripe upon the branches, a last gift of the Earth Goddess before Winter’s sleep.  The bark is gnarled and ridged, the leaves grouped upon long stems.

The dashes of green amongst the greys and browns of moonlit decay lightens your heart. The dark berries bring the promise of sustenance and medicine throughout the winter months. New beginnings are not too far away, there are blessings contained in the place of decay and detritus.

You continue to move deeper into the valley and you see that many large Elder trees form a ring around a small clearing that is free of the rubbish in other parts of the valley. 

As you come close to the ring of trees you shed the last of your death and your past, take off your clothes and all items that you carry. Place them at the base of an Elder tree.

Stand between the trees that mark the boundary of the clearing. You stand between places and times, neither past nor future.

You look into the clearing and you understand that the floor of the clearing is free only because what had been left there was abandoned so long ago that it has become part of the landscape, new trees growing from the remains of old lives. An ancient memory. 

You cross the threshold and you see that there is a large Elder in the centre of the clearing. You enter the clearing and a feeling of peace settles upon you. 

The Elder is a tree of transition and transformation from one form to another and back again. It is the marker of cycles in our lives and the spirits of our Ancestors. It is the red dye upon the skin, the blush of youth, of pleasure, of honour, embarassment and shame. When we move from one realm to another it is how we are remembered, not what we leave behind, that matters. The memories that those who come after, carry of us, affect our lives in the Otherworld. Think about those who have passed on, do you remember them with love, do you think about their achievements, their failures? What of their honour and yours?

If you are aware of the blush that forms on your own face, you can mark this life with laughter and pride in your self, you can mark it with grief or shame, strength or mercy or both. Justice is found under the boughs of the Elder Tree. So be just with yourself and learn. Your life and the red of your skin is up to you, so use your time between worlds wisely for a new beginning is waiting in the soil that sleeps. 

It is dark, no-one can see the red in the dark, the hot flush upon your skin, so take the lessons with you as you move forward.

Now you understand the blush in the dark, the berry at the turning of Autumn into Winter. You are ready to receive a blessing of the Elder, a blessing of transition which is also protection. 

Move to the Elder in the centre of the clearing. Stand before it and attune yourself to the tree. Ask the tree to bless you with a gift of leaves and berries. To aid you in protecting this sacred space where insight, justice and transition are born.

Take some of the leaves and berries and scatter some of them to each of the four directions. As you do so, you feel the blush once more upon your body, but this is no blush of shame or embarrassment, this is a blush of pleasure and blessing.

Three times you walk around the clearing and then move back to the central Elder. In a glint of moonlight you see that there is a small knife hanging within a cluster of dark berries. You take up the knife, as you touch it you feel a burst of high pipe music run through your veins and you feel alive in the night.

With the knife, cut a long thick twig.  Sit beneath the tree and remove the leaves and berries from the twig. You see that the centre of the twig is spongy and soft. Using the knife and some old dry twigs from the base of the tree, hollow out the twig. 

When this is done, cut the twig into two long pieces. Put one aside and the other cut into small even pieces to form beads. Place them in a circle before you. Arrange the leaves and berries in the centre. Now take the knife and cut some of your hair to make a thin twine. Weave it together. Music is beginning to fizz in your veins and you find yourself working to a rhythm.  Once you have woven the strands of hair, begin to thread the beads onto it to make yourself a necklace. Intersperse the beads with berries and leaves to a pattern that is pleasing to you. A circle of Elder as the Elder reminds us of the circles of life. 

When you are finished, tie the necklace about your neck. Bury any left over hair, berries and leaves at the base of the tree. 

Now take up the other half of your twig. This time you are making a flute. With the tip of the knife, drill holes along one side of the stem. Make a larger hole for the mouthpiece. Feel the music that has been singing in your veins infuse the flute you are making. You strip away the bark and it looks like bone, but music can come from the dead wood. Hang the knife back amongst the berries in the tree.

Stand up and feel the music and the rhythm flow through you… begin to blow into the flute, you feel the breath well up inside you ready to bring new life into the world and the spirits of the tree to your call.

You begin to play and dance around the tree. You spin and whirl and becomes carried away by the trance of the music as it controls you and you control the music.

You become aware of shapes moving between Elder trees. These are the spirits of the trees, between worlds. You are protected by the Elder by necklace and blessings. You play until they reach you and then give the flute as a gift to them.

The spirits approach you and hold a bowl of elder wine. You take the bowl, spill three drops upon the earth and then drink deeply. 

You can still hear the music as the wine of transition and change fills you. You stare at the wine that remains in the bowl and visions of prohecy and change float before your eyes. Experience the prophecy of new beginnings from the death of the old…. The cycle of life of land and living… of tree and earth, sun and sky or berries turned to wine.

Now swirl the wine in the bowl to clear the visions and drain the bowl in a mighty draught. You feel the wine and music in your veins and you give the bowl to the base of the Elder tree. You feel the spirits gather around you as you all begin to dance wildly around the clearing, naked except for the necklace, you feel the ecstacy of rebirth and you dance the visions of the clearing.

Slowly the dance begins to slow and you see that the spirits are fading away… the first glow of dawn appears in the east, lighting the valley with gold. You skin takes on a reddish hue.

Gradually you stop dancing. You see that the elder trees are now covered in flowers… the transition has come once more, the land has awoken. You take your necklace of Elder and place it in the wine bowl under the tree.

You skin glows in the new dawn and you feel tired but refreshed at the same time.

Walk once around the circle of Elder trees until you come to entrance where your clothing and possesions lay.

You see that your clothing has changed as the seasons have changed. Get dressed and begin to move back down the valley. All of the piles of rubbish now have their own Elder tree, where trees were already growing, they are taller and bushier, and all have the new growth and flowers upon them. A heady scent fills the air replacing the scent of death and decay.

You head out of the valley as the path between the hills narrows. 

You come to the large standing stone. You see there is a spiral carved upon this side. Move to the stone and 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.