Welcome in and thank you for joining me on this meditation journey to stoke your confidence and inner fire.
Start by coming to a comfortable resting position,
Could be seated or lying down on the floor or in your bed.
Taking a cleansing round of breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Beginning our visualization journey,
You are barefoot and walking up a large hill.
The hill is covered in grass.
The grass is dry and warm.
It is the end of a spring day.
The light is golden and soft as you approach the top of the hill.
The sun is just beginning to set.
Another nice big deep breath in the nose and out through your mouth.
Noticing the sense and tastes of the air on this grassy hilltop.
Maybe you feel a little bit of burn in your calves from the climb upwards.
As you approach the top of the hill,
You notice there is a large round pile of wood at the top,
Ringed by stones.
It looks like it is set up for a bonfire.
You reach the top of the hill and survey the land around you.
You are at the highest point for miles around.
You look down and see green rolling hills and fields,
Almost like a patchwork quilt where there are some areas of wildness and other areas of pasture or agriculture.
Surveying the land,
You notice some domesticated animals in a field.
There are some baby animals and some older ones enjoying the golden light.
Understanding what type of animal you pictured,
What traits you might associate with that animal.
And then your gaze moves on into the wilder parts of the landscape,
The thickets and forests where the shade of the trees means it is dark and dusk under their branches.
And there you notice a wild animal,
Also with its young.
Noticing what kind of wild animal first came to your mind,
Taking note of any characteristics you associate with this animal might be a good gateway to where your subconscious is at as we're practicing tonight.
The sun is getting lower and lower in the sky.
The radiant colors are shining all around the hill of a beautiful view of the expansive sky.
Noticing what cloud formations surround your hill.
Noticing what radiant colors the sunset is bringing out in this sky in your mind.
As the sun begins to fade from the sky,
You start scanning the area around the base of your hill because at dusk you are expecting visitors.
Tonight,
Nine breighann are coming to visit your hill to offer you wisdom.
The breighann are a subset of Irish mythological druids who are concerned with politics and law.
You can think of them a little bit like lawyers and they declare who is worthy and righteous in the land.
These are the nine supreme breighann of the land.
In traditional mythology,
They are the nine women of judgment.
However,
In your meditation tonight,
They may appear to you as any gender.
They may appear to you as people you know,
Fictional characters that you love,
Or simply powerful strangers.
I encourage you to be open-minded about the forms the breighanns appear to you in and they may change every time you do this meditation,
But there will always be nine.
As the last rays of sunlight disappear over a hill in the distance,
The bonfire beside you lights itself of its own accord magically.
The tinder in the deepest part of the bonfire begins to crackle,
Slowly catching the smaller sticks and then the bigger sticks ablaze in the very heart of the fire.
Staring into the heart of the fire,
You resolve to accept all compliments from the breighann tonight without question.
You know,
It can be easy when given compliments or lessons from powerful beings to self-deprecate internally or feel perhaps like an imposter.
And you resolve tonight to take their word as gospel and really internalize the compliments that they give you because they are wise and all-knowing.
As the darkness around you becomes more complete,
Feel the warmth of the growing fire start to touch your cheeks and wrap around you like a warm hug.
You sense some movement in your peripheral vision and up the hill here are coming nine figures with their hoods up,
Their cloaks blending into the darkness.
You are excited to see them and hear what wisdom they have for you tonight.
The youngest breighann with their face barely lined approaches you first.
They are carrying a log of birch.
They greet you with a smile and say,
When a forest burns,
Birch is the first thing to grow back.
Likewise,
You have risen from the ashes of everything that has challenged you in this life.
You are resilient.
They toss the birch log they brought for you onto your bonfire.
And you know that you have their approval and acceptance as you move forward with your goals and aspirations.
The next breighann rises over the crest of the hill.
They draw back their hood to reveal flaming red hair.
They are holding a large log of Rowan.
They say,
Rowan grows high in the unforgiving crags and mountains,
But still brings forth delightful flowers and medicinal berries.
You are a similar bright spot in dark times to everyone who knows you.
The breighann bearing Rowan tosses it onto your bonfire which rises higher into the night sky.
As the sky grows darker,
A few stars are starting to wink in to your view.
A third breighann crests the top of the hill bearing their log and their wisdom for you.
This breighann has deep dark eyes and is carrying a log of ash.
They say to you,
Ash trees have some of the deepest root systems in nature.
Their roots penetrate deep into the groundwater below the soil.
Likewise,
You aren't afraid to go deep to find what nourishes you.
They toss their ash log onto your bonfire and it grows brighter and more powerful still,
Warming you to your very bones.
The next breighann is approaching you.
They have a wide glittering smile and they are bearing a log of alder.
They come close to you and say alder trees release chemicals in their roots that break down bedrock to make nutrients available for all the other trees and plants in the forest.
You are not afraid to break down barriers to help your community thrive.
They toss the log of alder onto your glowing fire.
The next breighann approaches you carrying a log of willow.
Their long hair is blowing in the slight breeze.
They say to you,
Willow is known for its flexible branches and is associated with the phases of the moon.
You too can be flexible through whatever phases life throws at you without losing your true nature.
They toss the willow onto the fire,
Which is glowing brightly in the dark.
Sparks are beginning to drift and crackle off of the fire,
Rising up to mingle with the clouds of stars that are winking out of the dark night sky.
You take a moment to notice your favorite constellation.
And then you notice the next breighann approaching you,
This one bearing a thorny branch of hawthorn in their large hands.
They say to you,
Hawthorn is gnarled and thorny,
Traditionally used as hedgerows to mark the boundaries of land.
You honor and protect the healthy boundaries in your life.
You feel those words wash over you as they throw the hawthorn branch onto the merry blaze.
You see the tallest widest breighann approaching you carrying a heavy trunk of oak.
They approach and share this wisdom with you.
Oaks are incredibly slow growers,
Resulting in huge,
Hard,
Sturdy trees.
You know that good things take time,
And you aren't afraid to go slowly and steadily in the direction of your goals.
They toss the oak log onto the fire,
Which has grown to an impressive and beautiful size.
You know it must be visible for miles around.
The next breighann approaches you.
You notice their smile and their pink cheeks as they hold a log of holly.
They say to you,
Holly has bright red berries and burns very hot and bright.
Your passion and vitality radiates outwards to inspire others.
You let those words sink in as they toss the log of holly onto your bonfire where it does indeed burn very hot and bright,
Adding beauty to your fire.
You notice the oldest breighann slowly approaching you with a staff of elder.
They smile and say,
Elder produces lovely edible flowers in spring for Beltane and delicious dark berries in fall for Samhain.
As such,
It is considered the tree of beginnings and endings and embracing the circle of life.
You have an incredible intuition for when things need to end and when the time is ripe to start something new.
Listen to that intuition.
The elder drops their staff of elder onto your fire.
The nine judgments cluster together,
Give you a smile and a small bow.
And then they proceed to walk down the other side of the hill.
You feel warmed from the inside out by their observations about your true nature.
You watch the colors and shapes of this beautiful bonfire.
Noticing the different woods,
Alder,
Willow,
Oak,
Hawthorn,
Holly,
Different gnarled shapes,
Some thorny,
Some still with leaves as they all burn down and become indistinguishable.
The fire feels like a warm hug against your skin.
You are grateful to the breighann for coming to your bonfire tonight to bless you and declare you worthy of your goals and aspirations.
Their compliments permeate to the deepest levels of yourself and stoke your inner fire.
You meditate on the kind things that were said about you and perhaps notice and unpack if you had any resistance to those powerful observations about you.
The stars swirl overhead and your fire starts to burn down as you contemplate the powerful words that the breighann shared with you about yourself.
You reflect on all the different ways that they declared you worthy and enough.
The sky is beginning to lighten now and your fire has grown small.
You feel the smoke washing over you,
Permeating your hair and your clothing and your skin,
Baptizing you with those blessings that you received.
If you have any pets or familiars or animals significant in your life,
Imagine them joining you and also being bathed in this smoke.
This is a powerful Beltane custom of the Celtic people to have themselves and their animals anointed by the smoke of the Beltane fires.
May the smell of this smoke or any smoke you encounter in your life remind you of this time of hearing your worthiness and standing in your power.
As the suns rays begin to peak over the tall hills and mountains surrounding your hill,
Your fire has completely died down but you know that you carry with you from this place an inner fire and confidence in your quest that is unshakable.
If ever you need to return to the lessons that you gleaned from this meditation,
I would recommend focusing on the area around your belly button,
Perhaps laying a hand there and imagining your own inner fire and confidence burning in that place,
Burning brighter with every inhale of your breath.
The hill where the Beltane bonfires take place in Ireland is called Ischna,
Which is considered the navel of Ireland.
It's right in the middle.
And similarly in yogic tradition,
We have the Manipura chakra,
Which is symbolized by the element of fire that lives right above your navel that symbolizes your inner confidence and your drive.
So whenever you need to access this place of power that you felt during this meditation,
During the wisdom session that you had with the Brahan,
I would recommend connecting to that power center in your own body,
Just above your navel,
Where your inner fire is always burning,
Waiting for you to connect and tap into it.
Thank you so much for joining me for this meditation about your confidence and inner fire.
I do hope that you enjoyed it and know that you can revisit it or my other meditations whenever you like.
