Walking The Ancestral Landscape

A popular phrase among people is that they are 'walking a path' when it comes to their chosen spiritual life. It's one I use myself as in 'wild or old ways path-walking'.

As well as the figurative path-walking, I love to wander the paths in Mother Nature's landscape too. It's a challenge to walk as many sacred tracks as I'd like these days - I'll write more about that at a later date - for now I'm focusing on the magic of our ancient landscapes. I'm particularly fascinated by Britain's ancient trackways. Paths such as the Sweet Track on the Somerset Levels and The Ridgeway in Southern England are on my list to walk along at some point in the future.

Many moons ago I came across a book about an antlered goddess that has walked Britain's landscapes for thousands of years. These days, many of us are now familliar with her but many years ago, I hadn't heard about her. Her name is Elen of The Ways and she is described as Britain's Reindeer Goddess, or Deer Goddess. She is an antlered goddess, linking her to reindeer (the only female deer to grow antlers).

I felt immediately drawn to learning more about this ancient British goddess. I still have plenty to learn (and I'm not expecting my learning to ever end)! It's one of the things I love most about my spiritual life; the fact that I get to keep learning as I go.

Elen of The Ways is a goddess of deer tracks and ancient paths. She is a trusted guide along paths and journeying, both on terra firma and spirit journeying. Many of those who work with her on a regular basis describe her as wise, caring and helpful - provided she is treated the same of course.

As the Roman Christians made their presence felt in Britain, Elen's name was often changed to 'St. Helen' and to this day, many holy well and places are named after her. Elen's presence has never left us, but these days we just need to dig a little deeper to find her.

To walk the landscape of Britain alongside Elen of The Ways is a sacred and powerful practice. Some people have named it 'walking the deer trods'. In my experience, to walk the ancient deer tracks is also re-tracing our ancient ancestral steps. Back when we were hunter-gatherers and following reindeer herds like they still do in parts of Siberia, Scandinavia, Mongolia, Alaska and Greenland.

For many reasons I have drifted in and out of my regular spiritual practices in recent years, sometimes feeling connected and sometimes not. I feel a strong call to explore the world of Elen of The Ways after years of 'thinking about it'. Much of my ancestral blood comes from South West England and Southern Ireland. The call to return to my ancestral magic is getting louder every year.

I have a feeling Elen of The Ways holds sacred secrets that I need to learn. We'll see if she agrees to work with me...

Image by MACKINNON(1878) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons