Journaling Nature Folklore Course part 2
more ‘Journaling Through The Seasons With Nature Folklore’.
Thank you for continuing to read my introduction to my ‘Journaling Nature Folklore’ course. Here is the link to part one. So here is the second part …
At the end of part one, I was starting to introduce what connection we may have with books too, but …
Putting aside our wonderful resource of books for a moment, I believe that you will find ‘prompts’ to be a much more powerful conduit and platform for connecting to more wholesome wisdom that you can use, and feel very comfortable doing this.
With books I find I can have frustrating experiences, such as … “now where did I read that?”, and I may frustratingly spend hours looking for ‘that chapter’ that I have suddenly become obsessed about.
With such momentary obsessions we may end up leaving the intimate wisdom feeding connections that we had desired to make.
I find that a ‘book knowledge obsession seeking approach’ can eventually be quite damaging to us emotionally, mentally, psychically, and some people may even say ‘spiritually’.
You may find yourself already interpreting what I describe as ‘prompts’ as actually being an entry into a very enlightening realm of personal ‘clairvoyance’ ability, and even a realm of ‘prophecy’. I do believe this is visioning ‘prophecy of our present’ and where our ‘story’ is going, at least.
It is from my father’s family that I first picked up and learned about this craft of ‘prompts’. My father, uncles, aunts, the great aunts, etc., actually did describe this connection with ‘prompts’ as a form of clairvoyance.
They did share this as a practice in service to others, mainly part time, in exchange for offerings. Family members also happily showed me some of their ‘prompts craft’ when I was very young.
I’m not a ‘seventh son of a seventh son’ though, as the Willmotts did not seem to breed so abundantly. I now describe us as our contribution to the world population slowing down.
My approach with you, through this course, is to show you things and leave you to interpret what this course is for you in your own words, or arts craft. There’s certainly no cult, or doctrine style intent.
Through Nature Folklore, what I have also discovered is that I am also covertly sharing my memoirs and biography. I am doing this through a ‘Nature Folklore’ medium rather than writing a more traditional subjective version of memoirs.
What I love about my ‘Nature Folklore’ ways is that I can also invite you to have a go doing something similar through the same medium. Then enjoy seeing what you come up with for your own life’s story of past, present, and what’s to unfold.
This is why I mentioned earlier ‘I was being placed by other people into an ‘elephant in the room situation’. I have been sharing my memoirs and biography for many years. But not always through ‘me, me, me’ style storytelling, but also through a shared platform of ‘Nature Folklore’ activities rather than writing up a personal account.
Here’s another thought about why I am inviting you to ‘Journaling Nature Folklore Course’ …
When I have attended some workshops and courses, in the past, I found myself ‘longing’ because a lot of the course content presented came across more like ‘book reviews’. I just wished each presenter would share her or his lives that they have actually lived or living, through the subject they are teaching and sharing.
I suppose this is because I love stories, passionate stories from presenters, rather than their endless bullet lists of facts. I also love to hear how some things they tried just did not work out, but they then became defined by how they got up again and tried again.
For the rest of this ‘Introduction’ to my course I will now meander a bit through the trinity of how how this works, again …
‘Prompts’
‘Journaling’
‘Action’
Hmmm, Prompts? What can we use as ‘Prompts’? Yes, ‘Prompts’, not ‘Props’.
A lot of people love the symbols and concepts of Ogham symbols and so called Ogham ‘alphabet’, especially any connection that the Ogham set symbols has to trees.
Several people also ask themselves, “how can I connect back to being closer to nature”.
What if you could make use of the mysterious Ogham folklore in a much more profound and natural nature connecting way?
I am envisioning being much more connecting, meaningful, and using you life story of experiences guiding you, rather than trying out some divination through juggling a few ogham symbol carved sticks, or ogham symbol cards.
I can show you how to do this in ways that bring much more focus than trying to make sense of the ogham symbols used for solar charting. Some people seem to attempt to do it as an alternative to astrology?
To me, Ogham is a bit like that woman’s shopping list, in the story of her I shared much earlier in this introduction. I was fortunate to have been introduced to those Ogham symbols through my father’s family when I was a child.
It is said a child draws before the child writes, isn’t it?. Even today, I still doodle weird images, sometimes, before I write an article to enable me to travel into a psyche realm needed to write the article.
Ogham symbols as ‘prompts’, does this for me, especially when I think of the trees that people from ancient times to modern times have associated with each Ogham symbol.
I also associate Ogham symbols with the cycle pathways of the solar year and its four seasons.
But I do not practise this in the divination ways like Robert Graves and Gerald Gardner created and taught. I do use the Ogham symbols, and their tree associations as a map through the solar year cycle though. But they are not exclusive prompts, yet these ‘prompts’ are a huge help towards keeping us ‘connected’.
Through this use of Ogham I find it is a wonderful aid for expressing the Nature Folklore of the seasons. Through the ‘Journaling With Nature Folklore’ course I offer 5 very descriptive ogham symbols prompts per season. A total of 20 symbols and suggestions of their prompting through the whole annual cycle.
I do use the Ogham and tree symbols to prompt closer connections to water, our trees, wild flowers, herbs, animals, gardening, farming, domestic and kitchen management, hospitality, and the respected presence of the Sidhe.
On top of this, I have always written and archived articles, along with photos and some doodles. Through my article, I journal. And that is my life story/memoirs/biography that people ask me to write. It is already there and written.
My articles have always been written through observations, poetry, songs, and stories in quite a biographical way.
And it’s amazing how often I pause to think of trees, and their folklore I have learned from other voices, other speakers, and their Ogham associations.
So, despite my epic introduction here, would you like to learn all or part of this, exploring the wonder of ‘prompts’, that has profoundly helped and guided me, lifelong?
My course is not regimented with deadlines, and does not include application of ‘floggings’, if you are late with assignments. I try very hard not to apply domination through this.
I would like to think I am offering this course to you in the same way I may be offering you a cup of tea with a homemade biscuit, scone, or soda bread with home made butter and jam.
All it takes for you to subscribe to my ‘Journaling With Nature Folklore’ at present, is to sign up as a Sponsoring Subscriber on my Substack pages. This is currently deeply discounted at just €30, or equivalent in your own currency, for a year’s access.
I will be aiming to publish 5 x ‘Ogham Tree Prompt’ assignments each season, relative to the season we are currently in, and let you know when each one is published and ready for you to refer to and use. I will also add some other plant prompts too.
On your side I will encourage you to write or draw how you respond to these prompts. You will be invited to share your creative expressions with me, and be invited to take these out to a wider audience. This could evolve into you creating a blog, books, recordings, or a choice of various media these days, if you do not do so already.
I will be here to coach and guide you into your preferred directions when needed, without pressure.
As subscription membership participation within ‘Journaling With Nature Folklore increases we will invite participants to online and offline gatherings and seminars to bring us together for the craic, and to gather more connections, leads and shared wisdom from experiences..
Of course, joining me with this ‘Journaling Nature Folklore’ course, also gives you access to my growing Nature Folklore vault of seasonal articles, photos, videos and audio podcasts that I publish relating to the seasons that could be extra wonderful promoting resources for you.
Just click here and join my Substack at the Paid Subscription tier level, and I will contact you and set up the rest for you so that you can explore and participate in ‘Journaling With Nature Folklore’.
Thank you for reading this long introduction, and considering sharing our world of ‘prompts’, that may feed into your journals, and into your sacred and precious actions.
If you have not subscribed to ‘Journaling With Nature Folklore’ yet through my Substack platform, this button below will do that for you. It's the €30 annual subscription you need to click. Then I will contact you personally, to help you start with the ‘Journaling Nature Folklore’ elements …
Looking forward to Journaling with you …
Morning John just upgraded and looking forward to this course it feels natural and organic to write this way. Blessings ❤️
This sounds very exciting, John! I am struggling finding time to produce the extra content for my own Substack just now, and having recently finished my Masters, which I found quite stressfull tbh, I'm just not ready to join any new courses right now. Maybe in the summer? Can one join in at any time?