A Bridge Between - Michael Meade

In old traditions those who acted as elders were considered to
have one foot in daily life and the other foot in the otherworld.
Elders acted as a bridge between the visible world and the
unseen realms of spirit and soul.  A person in touch with the
otherworld stands out because something normally invisible
can be seen through them.  The old word for having a foot in
each world is weird - originally spelled "wyrd."  The original sense
 of weird involved both fate and destiny.  Becoming weird
enough to be wise requires that a person learn to accommodate
 the strange way they are shaped within and aimed at the world.

An old idea suggests that those seeking an elder ["teacher"]
should look for someone weird enough to be wise. 
 For just as there can be no general wisdom, there are no
 "normal" elders.  Normal bespeaks the "norms" that society
uses to regulate people, whereas an awakened destiny always
involves connections to the weird and the warp of life.  In Norse
mythology, as in Shakespeare, the Fates appear as the Weird
Sisters who hold time and the timeless together.

Those who would become truly wise must become weird enough
to be in touch with timeless things and abnormal enough to 
follow the guidance of the unseen.  Elders are supposed to be
weird, not simply "weirdos," but strange and unusual in meaningful
ways.  Elders are supposed to be more in touch with the 
otherworld, but not out of touch with the struggles of this world.

Elders have one foot firmly in the ground of survival and another
in the realm of great imagination.  This double-minded stance
serves to help the living community and even help the species.

Michael Meade
About Elders

with thanks to Love Is A Place

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering