A View on Awen
Awen is the wisdom, truth and most of all the inspiration, Awen is Nature, the universal power behind life, yet it is never born and shall never die. Awen is a force or energy forged from an indivisible source that is the power behind the physical and non-physical or spirit forms Existence, and distinction between the natural and the super-natural becomes meaningless, as both are the personification of Awen Every link which is a part of nature, be it a man, animal, plant or elemental force, each holds its own little piece and together make up the whole chain which is Awen. Awen is the spirit of Druid itself, it is knowing, sensing and feeling it in your essence and true being, it is the freedom to accept ones nature.
~Elustra
Another View on Awen
[A parchment lies at your feet when you awake, the faint sent of blossom emanating from the paper]
Awen - An endless river of energy
I studied our Tomes, which tells me Awen is the wisdom, truth, inspiration, nature and the universal power behind life. Every link which is a part of nature holds its own little piece and together make up the whole chain which is Awen. It gave me some frame of reference what to think of Awen, but I needed to know more. I visited the library and studied old books of ancient cultures in faraway lands to the north.
They believed Awen is a flowing spirit, a kind of life essence, a source of spiritual strength, prophetic insight and poetic inspiration. It is also associated with the deities Ceridwen and Taliesin in one culture, another culture associates Awen with the deities Brighid and the Dagda. Whatever God or Goddess they associate Awen with, they all are associated with magic cauldrons and intoxicating liquors made by the Goddess which bestowed its drinker with the Gifts of Awen.
For instance the story of Gwion Bach, who had to tend Ceridwen's cauldron for a year and a day while it was brewing. On the last day 3 drops burned his finger and when he put it in his mouth, he was instantly bestowed with the 3 gifts of poetic inspiration, prophecy and shape-shifting. The cauldron was meant for Ceridwen's son, and she killed Gwion for it by turning into a black hen eating him as he shape shifted into a grean of wheat to hide from her. From her womb Gwion is reborn as Taliesin, with the ability to compose perfect impromptu verse by virtue of Awen received by Ceridwen's cauldron. But I am wandering off in stories, back to Awen.
So how does Awen manifest itself to the Druid? It can manifest in a variety of forms such as liquid, a hawk, a woman, or the taste of honey on the lips. But to each individual, it will manifest itself in a unique way. And how do we come in contact with Awen? It is said that it can be contacted by drinking from the cauldron of the Goddess, by singing or chanting, by controlled trance induction, by vision quest, or by sensory deprivation.
It had become clear to me after studying the Tomes and ancient scrolls, there would be only one way for me to describe what Awen is to me, and that is to come in contact with Awen myself. So I set out to visit an old shaman friend, who helped me prepare a vision quest. We retreated ourselves to a dark cave in the forest, where the senses of sight and sound were deprivated. Here I lay for one day and one night while my shaman friend watched over me, softly chanting. At the end of the night, the darkness above my eyes opened up and I could see as if I was outside in the forest, surrounded by trees, plants and wildlife with the sounds of flowing water and softly breezing winds. But there was more. I saw a river of energy flowing through the forest like a grey morning fog, touching and connecting everything it came in contact with. An endless river, with endless sidearms like the branches of an old tree, and every time it touched something a faint golden glow emitted, and eventually, it touched me.
I believe I saw Awen, manifested to me like an endless river of energy, flowing gently in all directions. It is everywhere, we just have to open our eyes to see.
~Vikti