When my son was very small, maybe three years old , he had a tough time falling asleep. He was afraid of ghosts and monsters and for some reason that I can not explain... hobos. I made up a story to give him comfort. I told him that in 1960, when our house was being built, the mason who laid the bricks was so much more then just a bricklayer. The man was a shaman, a priest, a holy man. I told my son that he didn't just mindlessly lay the blocks in mortar. I said that with each brick he placed he uttered a prayer, an incantation. He said, “ May no evil pass or dwell within these walls.”
This week I have been busy working on my front entrance. I ripped out the old rotting oak threshold and cast a replacement in concrete. I'm going to replace the door with a modern unit, fitted with a leaded glass window.
After I pushed and bumped the heavy, new threshold into place, I spoke the words, “ May no evil pass or dwell within these walls”.
4 comments:
looks good, p. good to see you are using your time off to get some very productive things done. may your blessing upon your house be true.
my mom also gave us a spiritual lesson around bricks as a child. she would say that the devil is sneaky in the way he tempts us. he does not build an entire brick wall of temptation all at one time. rather, he slowly lays down one brick at a time allowing a lot of time to pass between each brick. that way, we don't notice the small temptations we give into, because they are seemingly insignificant. but then before we know it, there is entire wall, and we have given in to a very large pattern of temptation that turns to sin. she always called it "the brick trick" and told us always to be watchful of his sneaky ways {the devil's, that is}. and as an adult, i now see what she is talking about.
i always enjoy your posts and your use of symbolism.
What a great job you've did with the story for your boy Peter. I wanna thank you for paying me simpathy. Maybe I'll look for some cement soon to put my broken heart togehter again. But it's great to hear from you. Love Dagmar
This is positively beautiful! I wish I'd known that story for my son, who had nightmares as a child. Well, we're never too old to learn and perhaps I'll still use it someday.
That was a great way to deal with your son's fears. My son was afraid of nightmares, so I hung a dreamcatcher in his window to keep the bad dreams out, but that idea's not so original.
That would also make a nice sign to hang above your door.
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