In this second part of Caithlin Matthews‘ talk at Shamanic Lands this June I will recount how she described the colour of the winds. This was the heart of her talk and as well as describing their colour (from which their attributes can be surmised) we did a practical discovery session where we were asked to detect the direction of the wind which was blowing on the day of our birth. Another attribute to add to the more usual zodiacal associations that we tend to use.
I hope my hurried notes do justice to this fascinating talk, but what can’t be transmitted are her confident manner born of deep study, her ability to switch between erudite detail, incisive analysis and pertinent collation, then burst into song to illustrate an aspect or bring a point to life.
The Colour of the Winds
Caitlin roughly grouped the colours with the ones either side of a main cardinal point, so that is how I will represent them here. The designations of the directions (e.g. “NNE” are mine, and are there to give you an idea of the direction. The image below helps with that orientation too.
The colours that have been associated in lore with the winds are as follows:-
NW – Brown / North – Black / NNE – Dark /
NE – Speckled / East – Purple /ESE – Yellow
SE – Red / South – White or Clear / SSW – Sea Green
SW – Grass Green / West – Pale Yellow / WNW – Grey
There are Winter colours which are darker and these correspond to the northern half of the system. The southern half associated with Summer is the lighter coloured winds,
The Birth Wind
Now came the practical part. We were asked to stand up and we were going to be shown how to locate our birth wind. The method you can use to find the wind that was blowing when you were born is this:-
- close your eyes
- turn around slowly, asking to be shown the direction of the wind that was blowing when you were born
- tune in
- you will find that you are attracted to one particular direction
- you may be veering between two points – the wind that was blowing when you were born may have done the same
- feel your way to a point you home in on
For me it was the West. For M it was the SSE. I realised that this may account for why I have a particular affinity with Autumn and the setting sun. As Caitlin prepared to continue with her talk I had a moment of inspiration. I saw the winds as being attributed to some particular qualities associated with “want” and with the seasons.
- North = Needing (Winter)
- East = Taking (Spring)
- South – Having (Summer)
- West = Giving (Autumn)
Connections to the Spirit of the Winds
When you think that’s surely enough information to have been given, no, there was more. Caitlin discussed the three parts of our bodies through which we find out connection with the spirit of the winds. These are:-
- Through the feet on the earth (connecting with purpose)
- Through the whorls on the fingerprints of our hands (connecting with service)
- Through the crown in our hair (connecting with the spirit)
She then mentioned The Council of Winds – the collection of the spirits of all the winds together, and she encouraged us to bring them all in to get more holistic guidance. Or was that “The Counsel of Winds”? Hard to tell from speech.
One last practical exercise to complete the talk. She invited us to connect with the spirits of the winds to try to discover our true name (our spirit name). As I had already done this and knew the answer I opted to see whether I was correct. Very quickly I was told that I was, but that there was a name missing – here was a chance to fill in the third name that completes me. I have my family/ancesteral name, and I have found my spirit name, but Caitlin helped me find my heart name – the name which connects me with all those who have gone before doing the same work as me. That name was “Anander“. I register it here for my record, and hope that soon I will be able to work with the information to find out more.
Such a vast amount of useful information she delivered that day. I was truly humbled by her intellectual prowess, and in awe of her delivery style. As it was quite an information event and she was on a stall selling her books I got the chance to thank her personally, and of course I bought a book – her book on psychic protection. I am so glad that people of her standing in the community are so approachable and deliver such good quality information to us.
