The Meaning of Ivy The grove was first convened on October 2nd, 1993. The group's first ritual was regarding the Ivy and on a Full Moon. It was synchronistic that we met in the cycle of Ivy because in reflecting on the meaning of the Ivy it fit for most of us recovering people. After all it was the moon after the Vine Moon. The myth is that Bacchus, the vine god, wore a crown of Ivy on his head to prevent adverse effect to intoxication. The evergreen aspect of the ivy represents the immortality of spirit. There is also an association with the faery folk or the Sidhe regarding this plant. In the A year and a day Engagement calendar: 1994 largely based on Robert Graves White Goddess this tree is called the Tree of Resurrection. Many of us in recovery felt we had just resurrected our lives. In the Song of Amergin it is identified with this line "I am the boar: ruthless and red". This summed up how I was when I was drinking. The leaves are described as dark green shiny and five pointed. Thus the five points represented the Great Goddess. In the definition for divination in Colin and Liz Murray's The Celtic Tree Oracle: a system of divination this card represents the spiral of the self and the search of the self. The maze is also linked to the Ivy, since it too, symbolizes the wandering of the soul, circling inward and outward seeking the nourishment and experience of the outside from within to achieve the goal of enlightenment. This is a time of soul searching and the revealing of spiritual strength and depth the individual may not of known about. This spoke again to the heart and reason why this group got together as explained on the Purpose Page. The last line in the divination says "Your spiralling dance through life also turns you outward, linking you with others through the group soul or collective unconscious that pervades and encompasses all Life. You have a part to play -- to assist in the spiritual journey of others, as they do in yours". In plain English this spoke to the
12th step in AA. It was a reiteration of the old but magical
cliché -- you can't keep it if you don't give it away. "It"
for those not familiar with AA is our Sobriety. So that's why by ordination we began in the lunar cycle that meant the most to all of us for our Purpose. So Mote it be. Return to Ivy Grove Return to the |
