Brigid’s Flame: A Runic Healing Pathworking

Make yourselves comfortable, close your eyes, breathe in deeply, and let your bodies begin to relax.

Breathe in…and out…and in…and out... and in…and out...

As you continue to breathe deeply and slowly, and as your body continues to relax... let your cares and concerns of the day begin to melt away...you are among friends and healers…you are safe.

Breathe in…and out…and in…and out... and in…and out...

As you continue to breathe even more deeply and slowly, and as your body continues to relax even more deeply, you find a sense of peace and refuge. You are now free to travel with the sound my voice deep within yourself on a journey of healing and empowerment to Brigid’s Flame.

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You are standing in the entrance to a clearing in a forest. The night is clear and cold and far above the highest treetops you can see the inky starlit sky. In the center of the clearing is a stone fire circle, empty, waiting and beckoning you. As your breath exhales in a cloud of crystalline vapor and your toes curl from the cold ground, you think: "Ah, that’s what I need…a fire!"

Yes, you need to build a fire; only this is going to be a special fire�?a need-fire, just as your Neolithic ancestors would have built. And your "fuel" for this need-fire is going to be special "fuel," indeed. What this need-fire will burn most brightly on is all those issues, circumstances or frustrations that constrain you, limit you, or generally hold you back.

Illnesses, ailments, injuries, fears, doubts, insecurities, angers, and sadness…anything that prevents you from living your life to the fullest and being the best and the most you can be…these are the things that will be the "fuel" for your need-fire.

Go now and gather your fuel for your need-fire…if it holds you back, if it stops you from reaching your goals, if it constrains or restricts you, if it makes you "less than"…if it hurts…it’s "fuel"…go now and gather it up, go now and stack it in the fire ring in the center of the clearing.

(Pause)

Now that you’ve gathered your "fuel" to be burned by the need-fire, you need to focus on creating the spark to ignite it.

On the west side of the clearing, there is a large flat stone with a feel of an ancestor’s altar that catches your attention in the moonlight. See it in your mind’s eye. Walk over to it. See that there are two sturdy sticks lying on it, one longer, one shorter.

Pick them up and feel how comfortably they fit into your hands. As you carry these two sticks back towards your pile of need-fire fuel in the center of the clearing, imagine the shape of the Nauthiz rune, the need rune. It, too, has the same shape as the two sticks, one longer and one shorter, like a stick with a bow that you pull back and forth to cause friction to ignite a fire.

Visualize in your mind’s eye placing one end of the longer stick at the base of your fuel pile and drawing the shorter stick back and forth across it, until it begins to smolder. Smell the cold night air. Is that the scent of smoke you catch from the friction of wood rubbing wood?

You begin to hear a chant form in your head, or is it the wind whispering in the trees?

A spark leaps out from the point where the two sticks are being rubbed, followed by another and then a third. There’s a flicker, the smell of smoke grows stronger, and suddenly your need-fire is born!

The flame quickly catches; visualize it becoming a wonderful, confident fire, its warmth and energy flowing up you. The need-fire is lit…it consumes all that has held you back!

As the fire flame energy begins to flow up you, visualize Eihwaz, the yew tree. Eihwaz integrates the spiritual, the material and the potential. It represents Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, and also our spine, our axis. It is a symbol of the sushumna, the energy form of the spine, upon which the chakras sit.

Visualize the flame energy rising up your body slowly and powerfully. Feel it as an invigorating, cleansing warmth.

At the base of the spine, at the root chakra, visualize it as deep crimson red.

Feel it rise to the naval, at the sacral chakra, where in your mind’s eye you see it glowing as a deep, warm orange.

As it ascends to the solar plexus chakra, visualize it as a brilliant golden yellow.

Follow its cleansing warmth up to your heart chakra where it glows a verdant green.

Feel the flame energy rise to your throat chakra and see it shine a turquoise blue.

As it climbs to your forehead, at the third eye chakra, visualize it a deep indigo.

Follow its energy up to your crown chakra where it glows a beautiful violet.

Now, see all the colors begin to merge and visualize yourself becoming the flame/energy/light. Sense it all around you, inside and out.

Feel and see the flame burning brighter and hotter, cleansing and unifying, until all the colors become white hot and finally crystal clear as the healing heat balances and harmonizes them.

Visualize Kenaz, the rune of the torch, the inner light, the light of the divine…YOUR inner light. You are that light.

You have found Brigid’s Flame. It is you.

Allow your paths to uncloud, your goals to become clear. Know you have become your own guiding flame and light. Know you can direct your light wherever you require healing and empowerment, or to another who needs it.

You have found Brigid’s Flame. It is you.

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It is time to return from our inner journey in the clearing in the forest. It is time to return to the present.

Breathe deeply and bid your visions farewell for now. You may always call upon them again should you need to refresh or realign.

In a moment, you are going to open your eyes and awaken, fully and completely, feeling recharged and renewed. Begin now to return to your body and the present.

Feel the weight of your body - your head, your neck, and your shoulders, your chest and your back, your arms and your hands, your legs and your feet. Feel the solid touch your body makes with the chair or the ground you’re sitting on. Feel how it supports the weight of your body. When you feel ready, open your eyes and awaken, refreshed, renewed and invigorated.