{"id":22347,"date":"2020-05-01T01:10:30","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T05:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/?p=22347"},"modified":"2020-05-02T00:15:19","modified_gmt":"2020-05-02T04:15:19","slug":"gael-song-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2020\/05\/01\/gael-song-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Gael Song Second Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Hidden Gem of Solitude<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With most folks staying at home during this pandemic, I thought an article about solitude might be helpful. I\u2019ve lived a contemplative life for twenty years now, mostly by myself, writing, meditating, in complete silence 90% of every day. Besides three mornings of volunteer work a week, my life is very, very quiet. When my last daughter went off to college twenty years ago, I chafed against the isolation but within a very few months, I began to cherish it and still do. What I discovered fairly quickly is that silence opens the doorway to the Otherworld. In general, beings on the other side are gentle, full of understanding, and have peaceful loving natures that are far easier to be with than nearly all the humans I know. Over these many years, I\u2019ve talked with trees, dogs, butterflies, dragonflies, lakes and rivers, a wide variety of floral plants, fairy women, (who are absolute EXPERTS on cooking, gardening, sewing ceremonial wear or just goofy clothing, and ritual), along with druid teachers, ancestors, and my family of light in the seventh heaven, not to mention God\/Goddess. Instead of rushing around to drive a family member somewhere or fix innumerable meals every day, which I loved doing but didn\u2019t really learn much from, I am engaged in wildly interesting conversations in my mind that have taught me more than any book I ever read, by FAR! I have journeyed in my imagination to ancient stone circles, hundreds of other star systems, past lives by the dozens, and learned to heal old, old fears that no longer bind or weigh me down. I can\u2019t begin to enumerate all the things my druid teachers especially have taught me. And these inner connections have helped me in every difficulty I\u2019ve encountered all these years as well, helped me to my roots. This is the best part of being \u2018isolated\u2019 (which is certainly a misnomer if you include the spirit world).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Plus, I\u2019ve grown used to being quite open about what I think and feel with my spirit friends. There\u2019s no holding back at all any more, and this has carried over to the times I\u2019m in company with other people. I speak my mind in gentleness usually but I\u2019m and far more open and truthful with virtually everyone than I ever was before. I LIKE it!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The second thing I love about my contemplative life is the utter freedom I enjoy. I can wake up whenever I want, go skinny dipping, if I like, dance under the moon, walk for miles in beautiful country, play my little harp, and write any book I can think up. I do need to earn some income at times but that, too, tends to be in a free-spirited sort of way and in silence. There has never been any judgment about my activities from the spirit world, though there are frequently suggestions for me to consider, usually about new books to write. When I was very involved in working with clients or groups many years ago, there were often disagreements, often other folks who were a bit controlling, a quality I particularly dislike. But in my own quiet space, I have no social constrictions at all about what \u2018should\u2019 be done or said. So much freedom is utterly LOVELY! And gradually, all this lack of constriction has unfolded my inmost being, too. I slowly expanded over the years, opened parts of myself the world wasn\u2019t kind to before, discovered hidden talents and dreams for good that were buried under all that busy-ness or criticism of before.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Another advantage to living in contact with the spirit world so much of the time is that there is absolutely NO rushing on the other side. It\u2019s always calm, peaceful, and unhurried as if time just isn\u2019t real. I get the sense I have forever to do whatever I\u2019m engaged in, and over the years, this interweaving of my life and spirit has slowed me down, far more than I ever thought possible at first. In fact, this slowing down is the major difference I see between my own lifestyle and those who are out in the world nearly all the time. When I do have visitors who come to stay for a time, I nearly always feel hurried again, a bit uncomfortable for me now. Complete lack of time pressure, another wonderful perk of solitude.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But underneath all these delights is the bedrock truth of my desire for solitude. In energy school, twenty-four years ago, I saw a couple falling in love. And I noticed a very bright light from high above was sending a stream of brightness into the back of that man and woman\u2019s hearts. Then the woman and man were sending this love out to one another. It was an \u2018aha\u2019 moment that totally changed my life, for I suddenly realized that love doesn\u2019t come from other people at all, it comes from a higher Source. And in the twinkling of an eye, I realized I didn\u2019t NEED anyone at all, not really. All the years before of trying so hard to be acceptable or loved by partners, friends, parents, just fell away in a single instant. And whenever I sit in silence and call in God\/Goddess, I ALWAYS feel a gentle, preternatural, loving presence. It\u2019s subtle, not like fireworks or startling miracles. But it fills my heart on the inside. <\/b>I can feel my insides actually filling up like a balloon sometimes, a very gentle touch on the inside of my skin that sends tingles down my spine. THIS<\/b> is what I can never get enough of, what I still long for after all these years, this love that feels more alive and far truer than anything else in my entire life. It\u2019s peaceful, a river of utter tenderness that has no beginning and no end, that I can steep in whenever I want. And it holds understanding for my mistakes, too, my troubles, even my gifts, often helping me release old pain, forgive when I though I never could, attempt new songs on my harp that I\u2019d consider too difficult on my own. But mostly, it\u2019s a soft sweet Love I CANNOT live without. THIS<\/b> is the hidden gem of solitude, the intertwining of the One Heart with my own, which has slowly, slowly softened and released my own self from the harsh constrictions of the outer world. May you, too, find such sweet solace in your quiet time away from the world, out of Covid\u2019s way. Stay safe, and blessed be, every one.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

May you, too, be filled in ways you never thought possible, during quiet mornings or evenings as this pandemic holds you in your own home. Truly, home IS where the heart is as the old saying goes. Blessed be, every one.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a> Jill Frew Ph.D.<\/b><\/span><\/span> is a Clinical Psychologist and energy\/light healer, who has followed a druid path of enlightenment for over 30 years. She is founder of The Celtic Heaven School, a nine-month program that teaches druidry, ascension, and healing. And she is author of the Alba Reborn Trilogy (the life story of a druid priestess and priest in BCE Scotland and their teachings of enlightenment), A Guidebook to Druidry, and Light Healing for Children. <\/span><\/span>CelticHeaven.com<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Hidden Gem of Solitude   With most folks staying at home during this pandemic, I thought an article about solitude might be helpful. I\u2019ve lived a contemplative life for twenty years now, mostly by myself, writing, meditating, in complete silence 90% of every day. Besides three mornings of volunteer work a week, my life is very, very quiet. When my last daughter went off to college twenty years ago, I chafed against the isolation but within a very few months, I began to cherish it and still do. What I discovered fairly quickly is that silence opens the doorway to the Otherworld. In general, beings on the other side are gentle, full of understanding, and have peaceful loving natures that are far easier to be with than nearly all the humans I know. Over these many years, I\u2019ve talked with trees, dogs, butterflies, dragonflies, lakes and rivers, a wide variety of floral plants, fairy women, (who are absolute EXPERTS on cooking, gardening, sewing ceremonial wear or just goofy clothing, and ritual), along with druid teachers, ancestors, and my family of light in the seventh heaven, not to mention God\/Goddess. Instead of rushing around to drive a family member somewhere or fix innumerable meals every day, which I loved doing but didn\u2019t really learn much from, I am engaged in wildly interesting conversations in my mind that have taught me more than any book I ever read, by FAR! I have journeyed in my imagination to ancient stone circles, hundreds of other star systems, past lives by the dozens, and learned to heal old, old fears that no longer bind or weigh me down. I can\u2019t begin to enumerate all the things my druid teachers especially have taught me. And these inner connections have helped me in every difficulty I\u2019ve encountered all these years as well, helped me to my roots. This is the best part of being \u2018isolated\u2019 (which is certainly a misnomer if you include the spirit world). Plus, I\u2019ve grown used to being quite open about what I think and feel with my spirit friends. There\u2019s no holding back at all any more, and this has carried over to the times I\u2019m in company with other people. I speak my mind in gentleness usually but I\u2019m and far more open and truthful with virtually everyone than I ever was before. I LIKE it! The second thing I love about my contemplative life is the utter freedom I enjoy. I can wake up whenever I want, go skinny dipping, if I like, dance under the moon, walk for miles in beautiful country, play my little harp, and write any book I can think up. I do need to earn some income at times but that, too, tends to be in a free-spirited sort of way and in silence. There has never been any judgment about my activities from the spirit world, though there are frequently suggestions for me to consider, usually about new books to write. When I was very involved in working with clients or groups many years ago, there were often disagreements, often other folks who were a bit controlling, a quality I particularly dislike. But in my own quiet space, I have no social constrictions at all about what \u2018should\u2019 be done or said. So much freedom is utterly LOVELY! And gradually, all this lack of constriction has unfolded my inmost being, too. I slowly expanded over the years, opened parts of myself the world wasn\u2019t kind to before, discovered hidden talents and dreams for good that were buried under all that busy-ness or criticism of before. Another advantage to living in contact with the spirit world so much of the time is that there is absolutely NO rushing on the other side. It\u2019s always calm, peaceful, and unhurried as if time just isn\u2019t real. I get the sense I have forever to do whatever I\u2019m engaged in, and over the years, this interweaving of my life and spirit has slowed me down, far more than I ever thought possible at first. In fact, this slowing down is the major difference I see between my own lifestyle and those who are out in the world nearly all the time. When I do have visitors who come to stay for a time, I nearly always feel hurried again, a bit uncomfortable for me now. Complete lack of time pressure, another wonderful perk of solitude. But underneath all these delights is the bedrock truth of my desire for solitude. In energy school, twenty-four years ago, I saw a couple falling in love. And I noticed a very bright light from high above was sending a stream of brightness into the back of that man and woman\u2019s hearts. Then the woman and man were sending this love out to one another. It was an \u2018aha\u2019 moment that totally changed my life, for I suddenly realized that love doesn\u2019t come from other people at all, it comes from a higher Source. And in the twinkling of an eye, I realized I didn\u2019t NEED anyone at all, not really. All the years before of trying so hard to be acceptable or loved by partners, friends, parents, just fell away in a single instant. And whenever I sit in silence and call in God\/Goddess, I ALWAYS feel a gentle, preternatural, loving presence. It\u2019s subtle, not like fireworks or startling miracles. But it fills my heart on the inside. I can feel my insides actually filling up like a balloon sometimes, a very gentle touch on the inside of my skin that sends tingles down my spine. THIS is what I can never get enough of, what I still long for after all these years, this love that feels more alive and far truer than anything else in my entire life. It\u2019s peaceful, a river of utter tenderness that has no beginning and no end, that I can steep in whenever I want. And it holds understanding for my mistakes, too, my troubles, even my gifts, often helping me release old pain, forgive when I though I never could, attempt new songs on my harp that I\u2019d consider too difficult on my own. But mostly, it\u2019s a soft sweet Love I CANNOT live without. THIS is the hidden gem of solitude, the intertwining of the One Heart with my own, which has slowly, slowly softened and released my own self from the harsh constrictions of the outer world. May you, too, find such sweet solace in your quiet time away from the world, out of Covid\u2019s way. Stay safe, and blessed be, every one. May you, too, be filled in ways you never thought possible, during quiet mornings or evenings as this pandemic holds you in your own home. Truly, home IS where the heart is as the old saying goes. Blessed be, every one. *** About the Author: Jill Frew Ph.D. is a Clinical Psychologist and energy\/light healer, who has followed a druid path of enlightenment for over 30 years. She is founder of The Celtic Heaven School, a nine-month program that teaches druidry, ascension, and healing. And she is author of the Alba Reborn Trilogy (the life story of a druid priestess and priest in BCE Scotland and their teachings of enlightenment), A Guidebook to Druidry, and Light Healing for Children. CelticHeaven.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":236,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10004],"tags":[11777,11776,11782,11775,11779,10472,10559,10297,10283,11785,10113,11773,10229,10165,11781,11786,10596,10502,10441,11778,10245,11784,11780,10937,11774,11783,10470],"class_list":["post-22347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-monthly-columns","tag-acceptance","tag-alone","tag-ancestors","tag-being","tag-beings","tag-celtic","tag-druid","tag-faery","tag-fairy","tag-floral","tag-garden","tag-gem","tag-god","tag-goddess","tag-heaven","tag-heavens","tag-hidden","tag-light","tag-of","tag-otherworld","tag-plants","tag-quiet","tag-seventh","tag-silence","tag-solitude","tag-teachers","tag-the"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/236"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22347"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22380,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22347\/revisions\/22380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}