by Emily Cavin

 

Some years ago

I had a magical night

At the Fire Circle

And was able to share that magic

With everyone there

The next day people thanked me

Appreciated my offerings

And I guess, frustrated performer that I sometimes am,

I became confused

Unable to distinguish

Not clear enough to choose

Between channeling

And claiming the channel as my own

Between Ego and Spirit

Expectation and Openness

To the Truth

of Circling On

 

A few years later

I created some static

At the Fire Circle

I thought it was working

Though my point of view

Was narrower than I knew

The next day I was criticized

Unconstructively

By one who claimed

“Everybody is saying – someone needs to talk to you”

Turns out that wasn’t quite true

Man! – that made me angry at the unkind “master”

But then things shifted

The master’s partner

A favorite drummer of mine

Had to face that threshold

To stand before that door indelibly marked

“Mortality”

and I could be angry no more

It is interesting to see what falls away

What doesn’t serve to keep me

Circling On

 

Although ashamed to admit it now

I used to judge others, judge their offerings

At the Fire Circle

Only sometimes, never out loud, but still, too often

“That doesn’t feel authentic”

“That’s arrogant, that’s over-rehearsed”

until one night, an unsought voice

Inside myself but somehow not my own

Struck me with these words:

“Not only are you being unkind

adopting such an attitude – but  know this:

given the journey you seek to make by coming here,

YOU ARE GETTING IN YOUR OWN WAY!!”

Who knew!?

Such wisdom could be gained by

Circling On

 

Now that I did know

I watched for signs

At the Fire Circle

And sure enough there came a night

Someone’s offering

Just wasn’t working for me

OK – so be it

No need for judgment – Let it go

Until the next night – Like Magic!

Oh! How well it’s working now!

Seemingly for all of us,

Rocking, flying, soaring, shining

Voices, drums, dances, stillness

Held in the hands of Beings beyond ourselves

And I knew it as the culmination

Of all the moments,

All the nights that came before

It simply could not be

This night

Had last night been any different

That’s just how it happens

That’s just how it keeps on

Circling On

 

Come the final dawn

of that gathering

At the Fire Circle

Someone is speaking

On and on and on –

And on and on

Again, for me, not quite working

On some level,

So I find another

Look up, look up!

It’s almost sunrise

The sky is nearly light

The Maple leaves

strung like petals from the Trees

witnessing our Circle

Are growing green out of the darkness

And there are birds, beautiful birds!

Different shapes, different sizes

Speaking their own language, sharing their songs

Sailing over us, crossing through center

Each flight a unique silhouette

I am spellbound

Held by the web of mystical morning coming to this mountain top

Waves of Day breaking on this Enchanted Island

Planet Earth

Circling On

 

I have come to a place

Where I am at a loss in my life

Shaken, a stranger to myself

As if I stand on shifting sands

And yet it seems I will always know

The Earth beneath my feet

Find my path lit by Spirit Fire

Can always add my voice

to the ringing music riding on the Wind

And feel the gratitude

Flowing through the Water

That is offered, and that I offer

To this sacred place

This gathering of Beings

Seen and unseen

Intuited and alchemized

Dancing and Still

Mortal, Elemental, Energetic

All coming together

Being found by what we seek

 

If we have faith and keep an open mind

If we lend a hand and follow our feet

And our hearts

To the Fire Circle

We will find our way to what we need to know

We will continue to grow on the journey

We will thrive as we continue

Circling On