Meditating with Music

One of the first books I read on my Pagan path was The Elements of The Druid Tradition by Philip Carr-Gomm. It guides readers from what is known of ancient Druidry to how it is practiced today. Philip Carr-Gomm is a writer and psychologist. He trained with Ross Nichols, the founder of the Order of Bards Ovates & Druids, and has been leading the Order for over twenty years. His book greatly influenced my meditation practices, so I would like to share one with you. It’s about awakening the Creative Self within.

Having read this chapter, choose a piece of music that you find particularly effective in inspiring you and helping you to “change gear” – to change your consciousness. Spend a few moments […] making yourself comfortable, and allowing and allowing yourself to come to a sense of inner centredness and calm. Listen to the music, and and as you do so, let all disturbing thoughts be laid aside. Close your eyes, and focus for a few moments on your breathing as you allow the music to flow through you. If you wish, feel yourself bathed in the light and the warmth of the sun, or imagine that you are lying on the ground, looking up at a myriad of stars in the night sky.

When the music finishes, allow yourself to stay as long as you wish in the state of consciousness that the music has taken you to. At some point drop into your consciousness this seed-question “How can I awaken the Creative Self within me?” Understand this term in its widest sense, as representing that inner potential that we all have to be creative in our live.
An answer may rise up in your awareness, or it may not. An unanswered question that we drop in the still pool of our awareness can be evocative and effective in a way that becomes clear only at a later date. When you feel ready, become aware of being fully present in your physical body – here and now. Open your eyes, and stretch before standing up […] (p. 65)