glyndwrthedruid

[glyndwrthedruid]

Most of the work here is dedicated to my book-in-progress, “Forge Yourself.” 

My intent is to share my work as it evolves. Let me know what you think! This is a journal of sorts. This work will surely be strange at first look.

It all probably looks a bit chaotic, but as you get into the writings, I trust it’ll make a little more sense. 

All book entries can be read in chronological order if you scroll to the start of my Tumblr! I tend to add more entries every few days to a week.

P.S. You will also find posts regarding my new music (I’m an emcee! Hip-hop raised me) and photos of my visual art. 

Re-blogging what feels relevant, I intend to stay on-theme regarding personal growth, consciousness, Gong Fu, and love. Despite this intent, be sure to know I will wander into odd places!

Thanks for being here! You could be anywhere in the world right now.

- Druid

[glyndwrthedruid]

The following text is an excerpt from a book *in progress* called FORGE YOURSELF by Glyndŵr the Druid    : entry 25 👋 all entries can be read chronologically- see my Tumblr page for more!

January 7, 2021 – CLUBS

Progress with my club work has been a bit slow, though enjoyable and invigorating. 

Two or so days ago I purchased two eight-pound wooden-handle sledge hammers from the local hardware store. These hammers are to be substitutes for Gada clubs and Persian Meels. 

The intent is to use these hammers as heavy maces, swinging them behind my back, either both at the same time or putting one away and solely training with one. 

I have been terribly lethargic lately, and my Taijiquan has been out of practice. This has led my physical health to be “lesser than” in regards to being “healthy.” 

Maybe this lethargy is exactly what my being has needed, but nevertheless, I am treasuring having the hammers and oak indian clubs at hand to bring life to my joints, organs, etc. 

I can tell this exercise is a great work for me from the spontaneous laughter the swinging of these clubs often brings out. 

I feel like I have loved these movements in another life, and the more I practice the more I feel I am simply remembering. 

What sort of benefits does swinging a heavy hammer yield for the nervous systems and brain? I hope I learn more deeply about this.

Miss Victoria Seddon - Queen of Clubs

During the 19th and early 20th century, some of the most amazing athletes of all time arose, engaging in feats which would seem impossible today. Unfortunately, many of their names and faces have been lost to history. Previously, Ben Miller made a documentary about the gruelling Indian club swinging endurance contests of that period, which lasted for days on end with absolutely no rest, and which…

[glyndwrthedruid]

The following text is an excerpt from a book *in progress* called FORGE YOURSELF by Glyndŵr the Druid    : entry 24 👋 all entries can be read chronologically- see my Tumblr page for more!

January 7, 2021 – I TOOK A BREAK, A SMALL ONE

From the last entry to now, there is a lapse, a break. 

After that last journey, I had slowly decided to create a series of books, with each one focusing on a specific topic. This idea felt more digestible for a reader, as if there were writings of thirty-three days of Shamanic Journeying in a row, or thirty-three days of Zhan Zhuang. Instead of meandering from topic to topic, it would be more specific in scope.

If someone wished to learn specifically from my personal experiences, these focused books may be more accessible, more logically arranged, perhaps? 

But, opening this page to take this book out of my writing binder, which means to decommission the book's further progress, I got a hint of a gut feeling that my multi-book concept was a way for Resistance to kill this book, fresh in its tracks.

Looking over the first writings of Forge Yourself, what I had so far looked so pristine, like the surface of a lake, or the Aurora Borealis. The words on the page looked so happy to exist. I realized in that moment that perhaps it’d be better to let this book live instead of overcomplicating my writing process, bending to “what could be better.”

Resistance is the force discussed in Steven Pressfield's book, “The Art of War” where you eventually and spontaneously have thoughts, emotions, and rationalities of opposition regarding what you intend to accomplish. 

In creating a grand intent to grow as a human being or to aid humanity, Resistance appears, rearing its head. 

The idea is this: Resistance is PART of the process of accomplishment - in making your goal, in sticking to your guns in regards to your success in your endeavor, Resistance is manifested. Know this and continue with your work! 

Be aware of Resistance, fear it not, and celebrate its death. Thank you, Steven!

I have decided to keep the process of writing Forge Yourself alive, instead of turning these writings into multiple books. Inevitably, if these subjects continue to hold value to me, there will be more writings regarding their substance in the future anyways. Nothing to worry about at all.

Finland photographed by Mikko Pekkala

[glyndwrthedruid]

The following text is an excerpt from a book *in progress* called FORGE YOURSELF by Glyndŵr the Druid    : entry 23 👋 all entries can be read chronologically- see my Tumblr page for more!

December 12, 2021 – SHAMANIC JOURNEYING

This next entry details the first shamanic journey since beginning the writing of this book. 

I go through phases – there might be months in between journeys, but other times just days. This journey was a joyous surprise. While out walking, a thought passed through my head saying “visit Bear.” 

On my shamanic journey, that is exactly what I did. Long story short, I came home and laid in bed with headphones playing the shamanic drumming track I use for journeying. I begin to enter journey-state and venture off to the lower world, where I felt called. 

I heard, as an intuitive thought, “Come visit the Norse world in the lower realms.” 

As I moved into the journeying state, I began to see my body canoeing in a cold, arctic-looking water, between large floating ice-chunks. A giant bear was there on one of the ice-chunks, and I got out of the canoe to sit with it. 

I called one of my guides, Jormungandr, to teach me in this world, to help me understand more about the bear and the environment. Jormungandr erupted out of the ocean water, silently, wordlessly. I believe they told me to pay attention to the bear.

At that moment, the bear started ripping my body to shreds. 

I was piece-by-piece dismembered, from my head to my feet. My head was replaced with a Norse woman's head, my chest had been ripped open and so too were my legs. The bear ate my feet. My guts were pillaged, and I wept. 

I knew in my heart that this was an immensely healing event. 

Dismemberment doesn’t happen to me often - I am grateful to have these glorious experiences! What a weird shift/strange contrast to regular waking life.

he loves his baby that is all

[glyndwrthedruid]

The following text is an excerpt from a book *in progress* called FORGE YOURSELF by Glyndŵr the Druid    : entry 22 👋 all entries can be read chronologically- see my Tumblr page for more!

December 10, 2021 – TAROT

I pulled three cards and flipped the deck of my Tarot to see what would happen. 

“The wisdom of the cards,” basically having asked a very ambiguous question about “magic” (the word magic simply popped into my head) showed me that the theme of the reading was The Magician. 

The spirit of my being was The Fool, and the cards to the left and right were the Eight of Swords and the Nine of Wands. 

Long story short, I felt I was being shown that there was a part of me that I mistakenly was keeping in bondage, despite the fact that I didn't have to. 

The Nine of Wands pointed to an “almost there” and “almost finished” sort of energy, and both of these cards sandwiched around The Fool. 

One of my favourite dovetails with Tarot reading is releasing trapped emotions – often there are trapped emotions related to the cards you pull. 

In this particular instance, I had the trapped emotion of FEAR from when I was seventeen years old (you can dowse to see when it was trapped). 

I am twenty-seven years old now. Fear of being The Magician and uninhibited Fool in my story. Fear of a life unhinged; fear of stepping into new situations with a will of a creator.

“The Fool bears the number 0 because all things are possible to the person who is always ready to go in any direction. He does not belong in any specific place; he is not fixed like the other cards. His innocence makes him a person with no past, and therefore an infinite future. Every moment is a new starting point.”

Rachel Pollack, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom.

[glyndwrthedruid]

The following text is an excerpt from a book *in progress* called FORGE YOURSELF by Glyndŵr the Druid    : entry 21 👋 all entries can be read chronologically- see my Tumblr page for more!

December 10, 2020 – INTERRUPTION'S END

I conclude this introductory interruption with this: you will be a witness to my experiencing odd things which you have potentially never gone through. 

You will learn more of who I am. You will learn, perhaps if read in the future-now, what my life was like and that will fill out your history books a bit better. 

You may become acquainted to arts that you soon fall in love with. Who's to say you won't love throat singing and the vibration of the skull that comes with it? 

Will Gada clubs become your new life focus, and transform your body and mind like you never dreamed of? 

Are you riddled with trapped emotions and through witnessing my strange experience of life, you understand and learn how to effectively release them, and the physical/mental tensions that go with them? 

This book is written to share knowledge, with the added benefit of the inherent accountability that comes from writing a book. 

In writing about my learnings of these practices, I will need to actually participate in training them to have something to write about. 

Can you see how I am using this book's unfolding as a creation tool? Can you see how this book keeps me accountable?

If we become angry at our anger, we will have two angers at the same time.  We only have to observe it with love and attention.  If we take care of our anger in this way, without trying to run away from it, it will transform itself.  This is peacemaking.  If we are peaceful in ourselves, we can make peace with our anger.  We can deal with depression, anxiety, fear, or any unpleasant feeling in the same way.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Art: Claudia Tremblay

[glyndwrthedruid]

The following text is an excerpt from a book *in progress* called FORGE YOURSELF by Glyndŵr the Druid    : entry 20 👋 all entries can be read chronologically- see my Tumblr page for more!

December 10, 2020 – WHY WRITE ABOUT TAROT & RUNES

Lastly (for now – more may be included later throughout the writing) is the act of reading Tarot and Runes throughout the writing of this book. 

This piece of writing is essentially a journal of an eccentric human being doing odd/unfamiliar things, and often practicing new arts/crafts. In this process, guidance can be helpful. 

Some may shy away from these practices – I solely make clear that God is in all things, including the Tarot cards and Runes. 

Why include Tarot/Runes in this journal? What's the goal? Where am I right now with these practices? 

I include Tarot/Rune readings to expose where this mind of mine ends up, and from which guidance I often move from. I may have a Tarot reading which alters my life-choices – you'll know why I chose to shift gears, pivot, change directions.

The goal is to learn more about my life and self through essentially whatever means, if there are effective results. I have learned from these mediums already throughout my life. 

I read Tarot for those who are open and thoroughly enjoy doing so (especially with an double-shot Americano bringing the heat to the reading!). Remember God in all things, trust the process of life, and enjoy what you can while you are here! Treasure the moment. 

The Hermit - a Major Arcana tarot card illustrated by me and @vivtanner for the Sefirot Tarot

[glyndwrthedruid]

The following text is an excerpt from a book *in progress* called FORGE YOURSELF by Glyndŵr the Druid  

 : entry 18 👋 all entries can be read chronologically- see my Tumblr page for more!

December 10, 2020 – WHY WRITE ABOUT STRETCHING INTO THE JOINT & BLOOD PERFUSION

There are only a few focuses left on my list: Why focus and involve the concept of stretching into the tendon/joint & blood perfusion? 

What's the goal? Where am I so far with this practice? 

I know very little about either of these ideas. This is a very fun place to be, being a newbie, a novice: there's so much to learn! 

My goal is to keep this combo of concepts together in my awareness, to remember them as I train other practices, and to delve into a greater understanding of what both of them entail. 

What is blood perfusion? What does stretching into the joint look like? How is it different from typically taught stretches? 

This is my goal in learning: to understand and to share my learnings. I know very little about these exercises, these concepts aside from knowing they exist – thank you, Dr. Medici (@straighttalk.cc)! 

I initially heard of both stretching into the joint/tendon and blood perfusion from a radio show of his. 

What does an experience of mastering blood perfusion look like? What does the human body look like and feel like, how does it operate and affect the emotional/mental bodies, when one dives into properly stretching into the joints? How many joints are there to be stretched into? Are there “secrets” to affecting blood perfusion?

[glyndwrthedruid]

The following text is an excerpt from a book *in progress* called FORGE YOURSELF by Glyndŵr the Druid    : entry 17 👋 all entries can be read chronologically- see my Tumblr page for more!

December 10, 2020 – WHY WRITE ABOUT ENERGY HEALING & WORKING WITH COMMUNITY

Okay, so now I ask: Why include energy healing & working with the community?

What's the goal? Where am I so far in this work, how learned am I, in regards to this practice? 

Well, I intend to share this work, what I have become familiar with at a basic level, with anyone who will listen. 

I am a new instructor of an energy healing modality called Quantum-Touch and I intend to share the value of this work, in the ways I understand.

I involve this topic in this book to show my experiences, while exploring the growth of my working with community. 

Learning how to socially integrate energy work into my locale, this city in which I live currently, has been a challenge. 

I feel in the not-too-distant future, we will stand together and investigate this unfamiliar work of energy healing together! I strongly feel shamanic journeying trained in tandem with energetically focused works such as Quantum-Touch, Reiki, Reconnective healing, Pranic Healing, or otherwise will blossom within our world. 

My goal is to encourage a more true, deep understanding of what these modalities offer, these energetic works, and explore what value they hold for our world today.

Healing yourself is your gift to the world.

Maryam Hasnaa

[glyndwrthedruid]

The following text in an excerpt from a book *in progress* called FORGE YOURSELF by Glyndŵr the Druid   : entry 16 👋 all entries can be read chronologically- see my Tumblr page for more!

December 10, 2020 – WHY WRITE ABOUT THROAT SINGING & VIBRATIONS WITHIN/OUT SELF

I have loved this next practice since the day I heard it: Throat singing.

There is something so... primordial that echoes through my being upon hearing the deep, guttural vibrations, and the overtones as well.

Why focus on this? What's the goal of involving this practice with this journal, with my life? Where am I so far with the practice?

I have learned what I'd guess are the basics of Tuvan throat singing from a man named Matthew Kocel (thank you, Matthew!), and have continued to practice throughout the past few years. Why focus on this art?

Because I feel like there is something very powerful here, very significant involved with this training of using the human voice box, the vocal folds... When the entire cranium vibrates from a sound being emanated, I feel there are benefits to the brain and body.

How does vibration affect the nervous system, the master glands?

How does bringing these vibrations from inside of you affect the totality of your being? How do these sounds affect your body, your brain? Your nervous system? Have you heard of Cymatics, and vibrational therapies?

My goal is to deepen learning of these sounds, of this art; I am a novice and an enthusiastic one at that.

Huun Huur Tu - Ancestors (2010)

[glyndwrthedruid]

This is the first track I ever performed live at an Open Mic. Mixed and mastered by DJ Big Smoke, an excellent job. I have since finished writing the last verses for this remix and look forward to releasing it. 

[glyndwrthedruid]

Recorded this track as a remix on top of NF’s Therapy Session. Enjoy!

[glyndwrthedruid]

This was mixed by DJ Big Smoke here in Abbotsford, BC - wicked job. 

Of all of my songs, this is honestly one of my favourites.

[glyndwrthedruid]

This is a roughly mixed track about pushing past your limits, or rather, perceived limits. And, especially, not to take others limits as a truth, without critical thinking. Sometimes people have limits that aren’t true for you.

[glyndwrthedruid]

I’ve learned the basics of making lo-fi beats! This is the first one. :)

[glyndwrthedruid]

True happiness is not only achieved by creating the next top selling novel, becoming a world famous singer, or being the head of a huge corporation. True happiness is what ever you yourself define it as being. So head towards your dreams with the fire in your heart, regardless of what they may be.

(via siir-poesia)

[glyndwrthedruid]

The following text in an excerpt from a book *in progress* called FORGE YOURSELF by Glyndŵr the Druid  : entry 15 👋 all entries can be read chronologically- see my Tumblr page for more!

 December 10, 2020 – WHY WRITE ABOUT AFRICAN DREAM ROOT (Silene Capensis), DEEP SLEEP & DREAMS

I am going to dive into something strange: this book will also focus on my dancing with a plant called African Dream Root (Silene Capensis), while also bringing account to Deep Sleep & Dreams. 

From my previous experiences of working with African Dream Root, I have learned this plant may enable incredibly vivid dreams. 

In the practice of Lucid Dreaming, this vividness is very important. I have heard Dream Yoga to be a true path to follow for understanding thyself. 

Why include this? What's the goal? Where am I in this art so far, and where am I working in tandem with this plant? 

I include this section to highlight the importance (in my opinion) of dreams, of deep sleep and how one may meet dream-states differently with this beautiful plant ally. 

I focus on this work, this training of becoming more in tune with dreams to honour those before me who have preserved knowledge on how to do so, and to honour the consciousness that resides in the human being and beyond, unlocked and understood in dreams. 

In a seemingly three-dimensional world, I dive into what is unfamiliar, to me, and unfamiliar to my culture, with the intention of bringing helpful knowledge back.

The goal is to develop proficiency in dream recall and lucidity, with consistency of Silene Capensis ingestion. I am not very learned in Lucid Dreams and my sleep in not nearly as deep as it could be. 

I do not know how well I sleep - this is an account of my experience of learning, of deepening. How do I find out how well I sleep?

tucked in