We are the flow, and we are the ebb

As we prepare for Samhain, the witches new year, Jack and I have been singing a chant that is very popular at this time of year.

Spiraling into the center
The center of ourselves
We are the flow, and we are the ebb
We are the weavers, we are the web
We are the spiders, we are the thread
We are the weavers
We are the woven ones
We are the dreamers
We are the dream
Spiraling into the center
The center of our lives

In our celebrations, we often do a dance we call “The Spiral Dance”. This dance represents that all of life is a repeating pattern:

The sun rises, birds sing, and the day becomes lighter as we prepare to go about our busy days. The sun is high and the day is busy. We work, we eat, we laugh and play. Then the sun starts to set and we come together again at home to prepare for the quiet of night. The night comes and we rest, until morning.

Spring comes, trees blossom insects come alive, and birds return. Summer becomes warm, the sun is high, and all the world is busy and in fruit. Then comes autumn, the last harvests are brought in, the world starts to look golden and then dry and brown. And then comes winter, and the snow and the cold force us into our warm homes to wait sleepily for spring.
We are born, we grow up, we find partners, we have children, we grow old, and we die. Our children are born, they grow up, they find partners, they have children, they grow old and they die. Their children are born, they grow up, they find partners, they have children, they grow old and they die.

We honour these patterns as the basis of all meaning in human life.

But this song reminds us that what we make of our time in the pattern is still up to us. We are born where we are born, and we have the talents that we have – we don’t make the loom or the thread. But we can decide what to make of the thread and the loom before us. We can make a beautiful pattern of the colours we have, or we can make a tangled mess. We can make use of the talents we have or we can sit and cry that we don’t have other talents that we think we might like better.

I really like this song. :)