Welcome to another article in the weekly survey of life. This past week has been tough: it is end of term report writing coupled with finishing assessments and also the imminent arrival of an exam week that I have yet to write the exams for! You know that old expression, “ it never rains it pours” seems apt. Then again coinciding with a week where questions regarding relationships are also coursing through my mind as they always do: I hold the past and the present in my minds eye constantly as you know.
Sunday past I began my day with my hands open as I stood in front of my altar with incense rising and gave thanks to my Goddess Mother Earth for my body and bones, the blood coursing through my veins and my breath that connects me in spirit with all of you and every living creature and of course Her.
Spring Equinox was on my mind. My heart yearned to be back in Darlington and to do a walk to the gentle Spirit of Rockwell and to see the anemone and Celandine open in splashes of yellow and blue as in celebration of this new balance of the year. I will be repotting my house plants this weekend as part of my equinox ritual. What some Druids including myself call, Alban Eiler.
As school began at 7am and lessons started my altar seemed like a distant memory. This week has been a crazy week of report writing, teaching, marking assessments, exam preparation, writing exams and wholesale catch up from day to day. I have never been in front. Only behind the whole fortnight.
Still, the weather has been beautiful here in Bahrain. It is not too hot yet. Just like a summers day in England so perfect for walking. I have walked home from school most days. Let the sunshine and breeze work natures magic through my jaded mind. It will soon be to hot to walk home sensibly. So Im thinking of walking to school in the cooler mornings instead in a week or two’s time.
Then Thursday came. This marked the start of Ramadan. So my school day is shorter but not the energy or thought I need to do the tasks. This year I also decided I wanted to fast at the same time as my Muslim colleagues and the entire culture around me! Why not, I reasoned, join in the general society this time? See what I can learn throughout this ritual.
After all as readers already know I use intermittent fasting all year round already. I have an 16/8 ratio at the moment so it has been a case of aligning the timings to coincide with the daylight timings for Ramadan. So still a 16/8 but now the time to eat begins at approx 6 pm local time until 2 am.
After two days a couple of things have been already apparent to me. Firstly the camaraderie and the feeling of a society practising this together is palpable. This is not about atomised individuals. It is communal. Why I have never engaged before in the many years I have been here? I was not ready in my spirit, my mind, my ability to engage are the only answers. Part of that answer shames me.
In just two days I have felt that connection. I am not a muslim nor will as it stands become one. This is not about conversion. It is about understanding, appreciating and on this occasion walking alongside my colleagues and friends here as they practise a vital part of their religious duty. One that I as a stranger am free to partake of as my conscience leads.
Secondly, water! In intermittent fasting I have been taught to drink water. When fasting from food keeping the body hydrated is vital. So I am used to drinking water on my normal fasting regime. However, Ramadan for adults means abstinence completely from food and water. As I prepared I thought that would be the harder adjustment for me to make. Especially if I do walk to or from school over this coming lunar month.
I was not hankering after water so much until I walked home on that bright sunny and warm Thursday afternoon. Yet it was pleasantly enhanced with a cool breeze drifting from the seas to caress my perspiring frame! I really could have downed a 500ml of water then. Yet I did not. I got home, changed and for the next few hours read articles, did a spreadsheet, listened to a fantastic album by Kit Armstrong called “The Visionaries of Piano music”.
Then it was 6 pm. On this first day I went to a lovely little restaurant not far from where I live and broke my fast with their traditional Iftar menu.
I plan to give you, my dear readers, an Iftar special in the next week. Because boy, do I love Iftar meals more than I had previously!
Have a great week!
Syre Byrd