“It is human to fear loneliness, but dangerous to confuse loneliness with solitude. In solitude one crosses a threshold. Crossing thresholds always involves risk. There may be something on the other side that one does not wish to confront, one’s own self in this instance.” – Rosemary Davies from Meinrad Craighead: Crow Mother and the Dog God, A Retrospective
We are thrilled to share with you the first two lectures from a workshop Meinrad Craighead led in 2002 at Erdahaus in Albuquerque. Meinrad eloquently describes ancient images and rituals, giving us practical guidance for performing rituals in our own lives. Find the lectures here.
In the first lecture from Erdahaus, Meinrad Craighead examines the concept of threshold, an integral part of her spiritual and artistic journey. In her late watercolor Dogs at the Entry (2000) we have two great dogs guarding the threshold, “this threshold into the unknown,” Meinrad explains, “We approach, we approach, we approach, we approach. Our journeys come from many different places. The places are as different as each one of us is different from the rest of everyone else.”
It is a joy to share these lectures and to hear Meinrad’s voice again. Many thanks to Tamar Rachkovsky for her editing expertise and to Rachel Sauls for helping with transcription. These lectures add to those from Meinrad’s 1992 Kanuga lectures, which are already available on the website. Thanks to Carol Thomson for her editing of the Kanuga lectures and to Rachel, again, for her brilliant transcription skills. All of these lectures are available, free of charge, here.
I hope that after watching these lectures you will want to see more. You can ensure that there will be more by making a gift to the Meinrad Craighead Project. To make a contribution, send a check to RCWMS, 1202 Watts St., Durham, NC, 27701 with “Meinrad” on the memo line. Or give online at www.rcwms.org. Click the donate button and select “Meinrad Craighead Project” from the Designations. Please help us share Meinrad’s lectures with the world.
— Amy Dosser (Kellum)
Leave a Reply