A question Answered, a quarter completed, a brotherhood bonded in marrige

I have been away a while from my computer. I was at the wedding of my sister in law to her long time boyfriend. It is an excellent union supported and loved by all. The ceremony was a typical out door wedding, with perhaps one special change. the ones leading the ceremony were the brides older sister and brother in law. This made it a very personal one. Much was said and in ways that pries or other religious leader or outsider who could not have had such insights to the relationship. It was touching. At the reception I stood and in my own way cast a spell. A spell of binding. Not in the usual way of binding another so that they do no harm. In this instance it was a binding to help bring the family closer together. My wife is the oldest of three daughters. No brothers. The sisters are close, very close, and thus I know the husbands of said sisters will be seeing each other often. In fact the other two men are already best friends and have been for a long time. I guess I felt the need to let them know, that I too, am there for them. I stood and I told each of them that we are the three luckiest guys in the world. I told them that through the love of our wives we were not merely brothers-in-law, but in fact simply brothers. With that I told them I'd be there for them all to the best of my ability no matter what.

Before I left, I finished my work with the element of water in the OBOD training. At the end I did what is called the "water weaving ritual". I was looking forward to the ritual a lot. I set it up and proceeded as instructed. Sadly, in the scrying portion I had no visions. In the end I really didn't feel anything. The ritual didn't do much for me. It's not that it was a bad ritual. In fact I think it's a great ritual. I think the problem is that at this point it's a bit to rudimentary for me at my place spiritually. I know that sounds egotistical, but let me try to explain, dear readers, before you jump the gun. As stated a while ago, I studied Taoism extensively. One of the main ideas of Taoism revolves around water. Then there is the Chinese elements, one of which is water. I have studied the elements long before I took up the druid path. though I am learning new things here and there, much of it, at least in the case of water, I have already known and Incorporated. Thus the ritual didn't move me. I suspect working with Air, which is next is going to have a far greater effect on me spiritually.

While I was away, I got the question of what is the 3 cauldrons exercises and what is the CoP (circle of protection). I'll start with the CoP. The Circle of Protection is energetic spell from John Micheal Greer's book Druid Magic. It's a spell that one does daily. I think it's purpose is similar to that of the Lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram, but don't quote me on that as I don't know much about that. In the CoP we invoke the 5 elements of earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. However spirit is divided into 3 aspects. Spirit above, spirit below, and spirit within. We ask for the blessings of the elements and to banish all unbalanced manifestations of said elements. In the end we finish with a protective sphere of energy. The 3 cauldrons exercise is a way of storing larger amounts of Nwyvre in our bodies. This can be used for increased power in spell casting as well as increased health and vigor. It can also be found in the Druid Magic book by JMG.

For the next few weeks I shall be journying through the element of air as per my OBOD training. I'll also be applying for my next level in AODA as my year and a day are about up.
Gwynt-Siarad