Bardic Lesson #1

[Twig]

Introduction:

The purpose of these lessons will be to increase the "Bardic Fire in the Head".

First,find a small pebble or rock. Not just any old rock,this should be one that calls out to you or,one that has special meaning to you.

Carry this rock with you wherever you go. Get to know it and LISTEN to it. At the end of the week we are going to write a story about this rock so listen carefully to what it is saying.

Responses will be written in this thread. There is no grading,no pressure. This is a lesson to have fun with! The one week is an arbitrary time and noone is bound by it.

So get going folks and find that rock! :)

Peace,
Twig
:elf:

PS Remember to take your time when listening to your rock. They are old and speak veeery slooooowwwwly.;) :D

[Astraea]

I just wanted you to know that I'm going to participate. I'm interested in learned what I can, my interest in Druidry grows with each day. I'll be back to share! Thank you for this thread.

[Astraea]

That is, interested in "learning," not learned. I can't type.

[3by3]

i'm not a druid, nor have i ever seen myself as one. but children do what they do, and i muct tell you that this lesson is straight out of my childhood. i'm enjoying it already--and i haven't found the rock yet! that's proving to be an adventure in and of itself-finding a rock in this city. ;)

read you around!

--3by3

[Mairwen]

Excellent idea, Twig!! I've been studying the Druidic Arts in our Tradition and have been dabbling in the Bardic ... This is the push (shove?) I needed to get off my butt and do something!

mari
who'll be here with bells on!

[Qabalarina]

I"ll be here too. I"m not a Druid, but Bardcraft is definitely a path that I walk, and you can never learn too much about your craft. I"ll be here!

[Lavender]

I have my rock! :)

[sarhea]

I'm also here, going rock looking in the morning(Mornings rule hehe)
~Sar

[Ilailea]

I'm going to participate too. I already have my rock which I found when I was in the Rocky Mountains this summer.

Ilailea

[Morgan OwlWolf]

I have a rock!! I am so excited!! Thank you Twig for telling me about this! Let the listening begin!!

[Silver Venus]

I just found a rock from a visit to see my dad in spain this morning ~ in my handbag! & though hmm why is that there! I have it with me now and will listen with pricked ears from now on.

Thank you Twig this is an excellent idea! :) I dont come in here much but will have a good look around now.

Peace, love and light

[Shy Hawk]

Just got here...but I'm ready to participate...whoops, need a rock first. Well, I'll be back!
~Shy

[Sora]

Near the Bow River, right behind my house, there is a strech of shore that takes a good hike to reach. I love it there. Whenever you grab a rock from teh sand, I swear by this, you will pick up three perfectly round pebbles, so shiny you can see yourself in them. No more then three, because after that you just cannot seem to find anymore. I took my best friend there the other day, we both experienced this and we both came back with pebbles. I'm ready for lession one.

[Mairwen]

I've kept my crystal here on my pc desk. It sings! It's better than a radio!!:D

[xjsjaglvr]

OK Twig my old friend here is that stone which bears listening to! I was born in the belly of a star so long ago there are no words for the time which passed. Swirling in a maelstrom of fire and surrounded by my brothers and sisters I became the core of a new world. Melted by fire it was by shear force of will alone that I stayed unchanged. Time passed, the world I was part of went through upheavals, violent spasms. I found myself one day upon the surface. A strange new vista greeted me. I was upon a beach with uncounted others like my self. For centuries we watched the star of our birth rise and set upon the world, the sound of the sea upon the beach all we heard. Then one day I saw a small thing crawl from the water and move to the land.
In the eons to come more things came to crawl upon the land. Some we saw for the briefest of moments others stayed much longer. They added new sounds to the world and became great in numbers. A great fire storm came one day and I was buried again. I did not see the destruction of most of the creatures I had watched every day. I lay buried for so long.
Then one day, a sound. I had never heard such sound. It grew louder. Then light again, not the light of the star of my birth but a strange new light. Sputtering and unnatural, and in the light a creature the likes of which I had never seen. When the creature saw me it cried out and took me. I was placed it a dark hole and there I could feel others like me. We were the focus of the strange creatures searching.
Later I was washed by several of the creatures and they examined me closely. I was passed to others and found that I was moving to strange new places. Then the destruction of my body happened. Through eons of time I had stayed as I was born yet in an instant the creatures changed all that. Parts of me were taken away by horrid sounding things. Cutting me, grinding me, till much of what I had been was gone.
At first I was in shock, then one of the creatures held me to one of their strange lights. The effect was amazing. Light exploded from me. I shined like the star of my birth. I was joined to another distant cousin in a strange fashion and eventually found myself attached to one of the creatures. The creature apparently was quite pleased to have me joined to it and would show me to other creatures like it at their every meeting. I was apparently some source of pride. Eventually the creature stopped displaying me as much but kept me always attached to it.
So for now I guess this is my fate. I have seen much and missed much. I have been here since before these creatures and will be here long after they too are gone. If you should see me or one like me think about what we have seen and will see.
Copyright 2001 by Michael St. Germaine

[magicbabs]

My whole yard is full of rocks I pick up when I kayak in rivers. My house is so protected...it is so wild.

I have rocks in my purse - rocks in front of my computer....been collecting these bad boyz for over 30 years....

LOVE EM........

Babs

[Shadowulfe]

Just to let you know twig, I am searching for my rock and will listen to it.
might take a little bit to find one that "speaks" to me.

Blessings,
Shadowulfe:crazy: :crazy: :crazy:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
:smash: :smash: :smash:
:wave: :wave: :wave:

[WildSpirit]

I am SO participating, as soon as I find a good rock!

There is a small stream down near my house, so I'll go find one from there. This will be great for me, as I am studying Earth Science and am now officially self-initiated as a Bard (I know, a bit of an oxymoron, but oh well), this will be an awesome experience, and will make for a good article on the site I am building! So I'll try and find mah rock and take part in this!

WildSpirit

[mol]

Well, Twig...

My stone just says: "Will you please put me in the other pocket without the loose change...Im getting all bruised up in here."


(class clown)

[Silver Venus]

LOL :D

Where is Twig anyway? We miss you!!

[bansidhe]

ive got the net at home now so ill be hanging round here more often so if its not too late id like to find a rock and join the class! :)
blessings, bans.

[Twig]

De Bump!

[UnSolon]

Merry Meet to most

This is just a note, since the responses have already started in the other tread... that I will be participating as well. Choose my rock from one of the many scattered about my room.

For years I have oft carried a solitary rock in my pocket when I go on long hikes. I fondle it as I walk, juggle it, play with it.

This happens to be one of those rocks... now I shall see what it says...

... Peace

[º¤Wãt€rÃñg€L¤º]

halo's to all!!! :)

yes this is a newbie alert lol

i haves me a rock (tis a big one :) )

and i want to join!

love the idea tis cool :)

[lucidfire]

I am rock, therefore I am....rock. That is, being a rock is what I am, which proves that I am. That's how things work with me. They just are. Oh sure, many people will say that's non-truth, but those are just the newcomers.

I was in this place long before they came. I sat there, with the ripples carressing me. All day and all night, this happened, but only my one side. The other side was rough, having never been tumbled in quite this fashion. They were both two sides of the same stone though, one rough, one smooth, one stone, sitting by the copper falls in Wisconson until one day an unwittingly young fellow was walking about with his family and native american friends, and he looked at me, and something so bright lit up in his eyes. He looked at me as if I were an old lover, or a long lost friend he had been waiting for. It kind of creeped me out at first, but when he picked me up and just looked at me with those innocent eyes, not moving an inch, just looking, I couldn't help but love the guy. His mom even took a picture, which he gave to his girlfriend. He looked at me, almost as if he thought I was...divine. We all have our source I suppose. I don't really remember much before I was a rock, because only rocks think like a rock. I wouldn't remember it anyways.

He doesn't really carry me around much anymore. He has other stones now, but I was one of the first. I was the one he first fell in love with. The other stones are all shiny, have different colors, weird shapes, and I am but a simple grey. I'm his favorite to hold, I think it's the contrast of rough and smooth, and all that water that rippled over me for decades and decades. I love him almost as much as the fellow who had me before; he was a strange one.

I used to be a regular rock, this was before I was rough or smooth; back when I was just normal. He chipped around all my rough edges, until I was the shape he liked. Then he tied me to a stick and hit things with me! I'll tell you, I got to be quite a tempermetic fellow back then. I liked him though, because he counted on me. I really think he needed me. Sure, it could have been any other rock, but it wasn't. He chose little old me to shape and mold, and who knows if this new fellow would even have noticed me if I wasn't shaped already, by the other one.

This new fellow, Brian I think is his name, he looks at me different. I think he really loves me, he doesn't just use me or need me. He holds me, and tells me I'm a good rock! Even when he gets these huge crystals, he still takes time out for little old me, because I was his first. Before he even heard the word magick, or knew of the Goddess and his destiny, there was me, the lone 2 sided rock from Copper falls.

Now he thinks of me as an elder rock, I think. It's hard to tell with these humans; they always seem to have a use for everything. It gets rather confusing. But I know not a single ritual has gone by where I wasn't on his altar, rain or shine, Summer or Winter. I couldn't imagine going back to the life of hitting things now. It gets rather cold out there too, come to think of it. I think I'll stay on his altar until I'm needed elsewhere. I try to take care of him; it's the least I can do.

[UnSolon]

A bell tolls
A Boy
A snake
The boy wears blue shorts, a white shirt and is frolicking in a field of grass,
There is a rumbling in my ears...
It wants to speak, but I cannot listen...

[HerbGurl]

:boing: I know this is an old post, but I want to join in on the fun too!:boing:
Right after I looked at this post, I realized that I was missing my keys. I lifted up the keyboard in my effor to look for it and I found a rock underneath it!!
I was incredibly stressed out that I could not find my keys and I was pretty surprised to find a ROCK underneath my keyboard. Anyway, I picked it up and I had the feeling that it was telling me that I need to slow down. I'll write more as it tells me.
Blessings,
HerbGurl

[Twig]

if someone posts.;)
I don't belive in coincidence as a rule, how about you? Hold it when you meditate (if you do meditate that is!) From what you say, I'd recommend it also!:)

Can't wait to see what comes!

Peace,
Twig
:elf:

[flar7]

sits by me keyboard, or goes in me left front pocket. Considered
lucky. I found him after a memorable game of ad&d.

flashback- I am the DM, I run the villians and npc characters.
One of whom happens to be a halfling that nobody likes. The
party, thinking themselves smart, sent Podo to his certain death
to scout out a dragon cave and report back. He took his lucky
rock with him that he kept in his boot even though it made his
foot hurt. Inside cave he sees(while hidden) 3 Identical Green
Dragons(Mirror images) he uses one arrow and magic rock to
shatter and kill two of them, thus leaving only one for the party
to handle. Surely they can, he took out two! Was very funny,
they didnt do as well, they won but it was costly...-

next day at creek, found podo's rock! Been with me for...15+ years.

[DawnBringer]

I found a very pretty crystal/rock in the river by one of the less-traveled natural areas in my town. (Read: Park no one bothers to go to anymore.)
Anyway I've had it for maybe.....two or three weeks, and it gave me this story:
~*~
Listen, and listen well,
for now my story I shall tell.
Of many years I have been,
whispers heard, many scenes.

When the river ran a creek,
so young the water, it could not speak.
As the crystal, as the stone,
chipped and broken, became its own.

From that bed, inside my cave,
watchful, in time, a child did save.
Sitting upon her shelf, watching her grow,
soon she passed, and did her daughter,
as did her son, who gave me again to the earth,
by mother's grave.

Past is time, I was released, by a jeweler, form the ground,
from by breast, he took a chip, to make a ring, of iron grip.
And then again to child, taken from my perch, upon the case,
unto the river, down and deep, there I stayed, for time unknown.

Again time did pass, the river dried, and creek remained,
and many played in times of bloom, the lonely sand, twas my room.
Until one had rescued me, from my sheets of sand,
and with him I am, as time edges along. ~*~

Though, oddly enough, i cant bear to keep it anymore, so I'll have to go to said park and give it back later, and see if the wind will tell em anything......