I leaned a little more heavily on my mediation practice this week, as it’s been very stressful both at work and at home. (Emergency Vet visits are neither fun nor cheap.) While I did a few formal meditations, I’ve also started just “visiting” my Mental Grove, especially as I get ready to go to sleep.
I’ve also started to do some visualization exercises around creating the Sacred Center, that I’ll be posting this week (hopefully). Most of these visualizations involve around viewing an open gate or portal, once the Hallows have been established, through which I can see or feel the presence of other Druids working at their Hallows. This is an attempt to build on what we do in formal rituals, and to feel the connection to the sacred resonance/currents that exist in ADF style Druidry.
Little Druid on the Prairie 
I am very interested in the visualizations! Are you talking about opening a gate through visualization after establishing the Hallows physically? Is this something you actually need skill for, or will just practicing it allow you to do it?
Blessings,
Victoria
Victoria –
That’s pretty much exactly it. I’m establishing the physical Hallows (silver to well, incense to fire, sprinkle and cense the tree) – at which point I’m doing the visualization exercises (with the help of a Gatekeeper – I’m asking Garanus for this). Basically I’m opening a “portal” in my visualizations. I think it’s a practiced thing, since I’m not very good at it yet, but I’m getting to where I can regularly feel the portal there. I don’t quite feel the “universality” of it, but I can definitely feel it opening.
It’s a little bit like ritual and a little bit like meditation, kind of combined.