On January 11, 2016, I began a daily practice of writing a joke meditation of the day, called Cracked Pot Meditations. I was still recovering from the treatment of cancer, and I was having very challenging cognitive issues, so I chose just to put something simple and easy to write every day. Posting it to the blog allowed me to hold myself accountable. Some of those meditations were poorly written and unedited. I have gone back and begun editing these and adding an illustration, starting with the April 27th meditation. I hope you enjoy.
Meditation for July 25th
The Language of Gods
At one point in history, God came down to earth, disguised as a burning bush and then a super bright light, and spoke. It sounds like for about three hundred years, God would wander out of the desert, be disappointed with His chosen people, correct the situation, and then return to the desert.
All the Gods have spoken to a human once or twice. Some Gods have spent a lot of time down on earth hanging out with humans. Some Gods are jealous of mortals, while other Gods hate mortals with a deep resentment. Some Gods like to come down and lie with humans, and some of the humans get pregnant and have half-gods and messiahs.
Gods and the rest of the divine have a language. This is the same language that exists in creating magic. It is knowing the name of something. This is knowing their real name. You might have been christened with a name as a baby that you go by for the rest of your life, or you may change your name for one reason or another, but that’s not your real name. Knowing someone’s real name is having power over that person.
Think Rumplestilskin. Think of Yahweh (End of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). Think The Name of the Wind.
We can’t even pronounce these words. Our tongue, mouth, and vocal chords cannot recreate the language of the heavens. These words are sacred. If a human does learn a word, that person becomes divine. That person has power over whatever they know the name of.
What we can do that Gods can’t is create the definitions of these words. We can make the perfect definition for each feeling, moment in time, and the true essence of what cannot be put into words.
This is called poetry. This is the closest a person has to speaking with angels. When one sits and writes down words to describe a moment, an emotion, a history, or anything in stanzas, one is sitting at the precipice of being divine as well. When one reads poetry out loud to a group of people, this is channeling the divine’s energy into others.
You will never know my real name, nor do I want to learn it myself. However, you can familiarize yourself with the poems about me. If you cherish someone and you want that person to be warded away from evil, write a poem about that person. If you wish a moment would be infinite, write a poem about that moment.
Telling stories is just mortals staying warm at night. Music is the way we connect with our primitive past and recall the dances we performed to please the Gods for our crops. Poetry is describing what’s behind the stars. All the mystical sides of religions share poetry from Koans to Psalms.
If you are up late at night and you just scrolled through Facebook and a bunch of blogs. You feel that the whole world is crumbling around you and that the political system is failing you and is unjust, and that people are killing other people senselessly. You feel alone and betrayed by your own culture because you have a hard time fitting in, even if you have all the elements to fit in. Still, you want to get to sleep because you are going to a job the next day that you are not being filled by joy or satisfaction from, but you need to pay your bills and hopefully afford to do the things you love, but work makes you too tired to do; write some poetry. Turn off the computer, refrain from reaching for a screen, and avoid using your phone’s note app. Instead, grab a pen and some paper and write. Don’t worry about getting it published. Don’t worry about winning any awards. Don’t worry about anyone else reading it; write a poem. It’ll save your life.
Prayer
Bragi
You created the runes,
That was mixed with mead,
and created language,
our language.
To write and say,
to show gratitude and appreciation
for the beauty that surrounds us,
to put into words,
the love we feel for another,
to sing songs that stir our hearts,
to feel something,
other than melancholy and disdain,
to know that there is beauty in the world,
and it should be written about.
With poetry and song,
We will have eternal youth.
Craft
All you need to write a poem is a pen and paper.
Don’t worry about rhyme or rhythm.
Just write what comes to your head, even if it doesn’t make sense.
What does it look like?
How does it make you feel?
What do you yearn for?
How much do you love?
How do you feel when you grieve?
How do you feel when you see a single yellow maple leaf fall from the canopy to the forest floor?
Goal
While a great deal has been written about suppressing negative feelings, we also often suppress our joy and wonder. Don’t do that. Write poetry; it is the language of the gods.