Creating Circles and Ceremonies: Rituals for All ... - reading...

144 Creating Circles & Ceremonies
163. Love Like a River (round)
Love like a river,
Flowing from my heart,
Flowing from my heart.
Love like the waves of the sea,
Washing over you, and
Washing over me.
—Loren Lightbeam
164. Water Song
Water rushing, water flowing,
Ever moving, ever changing!
Water rushing, water flowing,
Ever moving, ever changing!
—Miriam Arachne
T he Invisible Sword
By Farida
III. Air
165. Litany to Water
Thanks to thee, O Mother for water
Without which we would not be.
Man is born of water,
The body is full of water,
Life would not be long,
Were it not for water.
O Thanks unto thee!
For salty seas, cascading glaciers,
Silent streams, brittle icicles,
And singing rivulets—
Water is the source of life,
Whether it be ocean, or blood, or issue,
Water is our source of being—
All hail unto Water!
—Mark Will, 1974
Air is the Element we are most immediately and vitally dependant
upon. One may survive up to forty days without food (Earth) and
perhaps several days without Water. Body temperature (Fire) may fall for several
hours before life is threatened. But how many minutes can one exist without
Air? It is impossible to consider our relationship to Air without considering our breath,
the taking in of oxygen and releasing of the toxic by-products of the living processes.
Take a normal but full breath, in and out, through your nose. Does the inhalation seem
rough, hurried, or shallow? When you exhale, do you have a tendency to blow it out, sigh
deeply, or release in a shaky or broken way? Notice that when you are upset or agitated your
breath is more rapid and noisy. When you are calm and peaceful, your breath is also. It is
possible to control, to some extent, the emotional atmosphere around you through controlling
your breath. This simple fact was a secret of the ancients and is still taught today in
spiritual communities, most notably Zen, Yoga, and Sufi.
The breathing process is with us from the beginning to the end. As taught by slower
cultures, breathing is meant to be enjoyed. Let us begin with our conscious connection with
the Element Air by learning to enjoy breathing and learning to notice what effect different
types of breathing may produce in our emotional state.
Here is a breathing practice given by the Lord Buddha to his disciples:
Breathe in a noisy breath, and know you are breathing in a noisy breath. Breathe out a
noisy breath, and know you are breathing out a noisy breath. Noisy breath in, noisy breath out.
Breathe in a quiet breath, and know you are breathing in a quiet breath. Breathe out a
quiet breath, and know you are breathing out a quiet breath. Quiet breath in, quiet breath out.
Breathe in a deep breath… (and so on, repeating the above form, moving through
shallow breath and bringing awareness to a number of different kinds of breath—always
through the nose—and ending with refined breath, refined by lengthening and quieting it).
With this refined breath, breathe in all the joy you can. Joy in and joy out, fill the room,
fill the town, fill the country, the world…
Then breathe in all the love you can, and breathe out all the love you can. Love in and