Two Powers Meditation Essay

Two Powers Essay:

Grounding and Centering.  It seems at once a simple concept, but also one that is at the core of so much of our Work.  Oddly, though I have been a practicing Heathen for quite some time, this had never been part of my practice before joining ADF.  Even after attending several workshops on trance work and meditation.  I had always thought I was just hopeless when it came to this sort of visual journey work, but this one exercise began to change that for me.

The first time I did this exercise, it was at a study night with the local grove.  It was an interesting exercise in that shared space.  Four of us were doing the exercise while another spoke the meditation.  The atmosphere felt changed after doing the meditation.  I couldn’t help but wonder if my studying would have been different if we’d opened with it, rather than closed our evening.

After that, I began working with the meditation at home.  As I have grown more familiar with it, I have made some changes to make it align more with my own practice of a Norse hearth culture.  My pole-star has become the North Star, linked by the Norse with Tyr.  Though before doing this work I never felt particularly close to Tyr, in meditations on the celestial order he brings I am beginning to understand his strength and passion and commitment.

My Tree is the Mighty Yggdrassil, and my roots sink deep into the Well of Wyrd, bringing to light the actions of the past that shape and give form to the present.  It is through my connection to the Well that I can feel the spirits of those who have gone before me, and the deeds they have done and the capital they have accumulated.  Their strength flows into the tree and into me and also prepares me for the tasks at hand.

Whether this was the intent of the work or not, practice of this meditation has helped me with the mental discipline when doing other meditations to stay focused and not drift as much.  It has been a good beginning point to develop my focus, and one I continue to use, especially when I’m too keyed up to focus on anything or my brain won’t turn off enough to let me relax.