Staring at the Sun: The Madness of the Spiritual Path

Sometimes engaging in spiritual work is a lot like sitting in a job interview where the interviewer asks fairly random and yet personal questions. The difference is that instead of giving a generic well-rehearsed answer, if we are to actually benefit and grow from the work there must be complete honesty, because in this instance we are both the interviewer and the interviewee. Let us take some* sample interview questions I pulled from a quick google search as our example  (just read “work” as in spiritual work and not career oriented):

What is your greatest weakness?

What is your greatest strength?

What have you learned from your mistakes?

How will your greatest strength help you perform?

How would you describe yourself?

Describe your work style.

Describe a typical work week.

Do you work well with other people?

Do you take work home with you?

How do you handle stress and pressure?

What motivates you?

Are you a self-motivator?

What do you find are the most difficult decisions to make?

Tell me about yourself.

What has been the greatest disappointment in your life?

What are your pet peeves?

What are you passionate about?

What do people most often criticize about you?

When was the last time you were angry? What happened?

If you could relive the last 10 years of your life, what would you do differently? Why?

What type of work environment do you prefer?

How do you evaluate success?

Describe a difficult work situation / project and how you overcame it.

What is important to you?

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

What are your goals for the next five years / ten years?

How do you plan to achieve those goals?

If you are like me this is a lot like being back in English class and having assigned writing in a journal on topics such as our most embarrassing moment, which I always BS’ed my way through. I had absolutely no intention of revealing anything so personal to any of my teachers. However; the idea of asking ourselves these tough questions, attempting to be completely honest in the answers, and recording it for further evaluation is a tried and true spiritual practice. All of this goes back to the axiom, “Know thyself.” After all, an individual cannot be expected to knowingly make measured spiritual progress without having identified a starting point. This is the starting point, and the practice is the yardstick for measuring.

STOP! It is all a trap. By focusing on answering these questions the individual is solidifying the ego and empowering it thus. The ego is the false sense of distinctiveness and by answering questions such as “What motivates me?” is a question asked directly to ego and answered in kind. The asking of the question assumes that which will answer is the true us and so asking it to begin with is a trap. So then how does the Witch avoid the ego in such self-analysis?

Once long ago, I was taught that if something is truly be understood that first what it is not must first be known. Now the exercise can make a little more sense. By going through this journaling process the Witch is able to effectively key in on the attributes of their ego and then they can set all of it to the side and look at whatever is left over. Now the Witch can finally look directly at their Self; the Self is the eternal part that transcends the I.

FALSE! To look directly at the Self is blinding, kinda like looking directly at the Sun. Instead, the softened reflection, via the moon, is the way forward. Oh, and the whole “look at that which we are not” thing is also a trap. To identify the Self is to simply transfer the ego from the I and via this transposition to create a secondary ego and false-Self; which can be a bottomless pit of illusion. Additionally, as the Self is the total sum, it is impossible to find a part of us not a part of it. The real error of our ways is to solely identify the I as the sum of the Self or vice versa. In truth, the Self is much much more.

The task that all of this leads to is to figure out what the I is and then look as what is left and then add it all back up, all without transferring the ego unto the Self but instead sacrificing it so that our Self emerges as dominant without a false-ego; AND if that was not hard enough, to do it all purposefully without going mad in this life-time.  

So let us start back at the beginning, “What is my greatest weakness?” Write that down. Now realize that is both absolutely true and completely and utterly false—simultaneously. But don’t worry about it. Instead focus on applying that knowledge to make yourself a better person. This practice, the little step, is wherein the reflection of divinity is found, the rest is merely semantics.

Boidh Se!

-SM

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”

*By some I mean a lot.

Ostara: The Beginning and End

With today’s blog, I will have completed musings that I have published on each of the eight Holy Days. This is not to say that I have done an entire calendar year, that won’t occur until May. If you want to read any of the previous Sabbat posts they are linked at the bottom of this blog.

Ostara, or Spring Equinox is about many different things, many of which I have no plan of getting into with this post. There are enough other people posting about the flowers, spring, eggs, bunnies, and the whole lot. All of which is great, don’t get me wrong, but not the whole story. I, however, like talking about this other stuff too. Generally, when I have strayed into talking about other parts of the mythos I have done so wrapped in a cloak of symbolic language. Whereas I can’t say that I won’t have some of that in today’s post, I’m at least going to attempt to expound upon the thought process.

It is our tendency to take the various Sabbats and attempt to lay them out into a neat straight linear line whereby the process of enlightenment is exposed. This of course is all in folly. After all, the Wheel isn’t the whole of the sphere but only the marked circumference. In truth, each and every point is the beginning and the end. Understanding the nonlinear intrinsic meanings that are each the sum of the rest is done by experiencing the relationship between the various points. In Contemporary Pagan Witchcraft* we do this via myth** and points keyed to specific cycles, processes, times of the year, life, and the human experience as a reflection of our Lady and our Lord.

Let’s start this analysis at the beginning, or at least one of them having already established that every point is a beginning (and end), and that beginning shall be today, as are all beginnings. Did I ever mention that all time is now? Anyway, I digress.

Today, Ostara, is the beginning. It is the beginning of knowing. Please take a moment and note that Ostara on the Wheel is cardinal East and is associated with the principal of the mind.

It is also when the Morning Star, which is the planet Venus and associated with the Goddess Venus and also our Lady, rises just before the dawn and is the brightest “star” in the sky as if heralding the arrival of the Sun, which She is. At this point, in our lives, She has returned from the Underworld, the place of inner reflection and is announcing, “Behold.”

Looking back at Yule, we see that our spiritual spark, the Lord Sun Child, was born from the darkest night of the Dark Night of the Soul. This same flame had to be nurtured and tended through the Winter onslaught through Imbolc, or else it might die. This aspect of us, the process, any process, and everything else from Yule until this morning with the rising Sun has at its center the Black Heart of Innocence. This is to say that the Child had not yet reached the age of reckoning; the first identity of I had not yet happened. In other words, the spark that was born and has been tended had not yet developed into a life of its own. This morning, all of this changed and so ended the innocence of not knowing.

Let us not confuse today with Beltane, though the spiritual self has emerged from the womb of the heart, sovereignty via marriage with the Land does not happen until Beltane. So no kingly Crown on the head just yet; still a divine Prince though.

In the beginning, now, the emergence of the Sun from below the horizon, which is the movement of the sun associated with Ostara, and the simultaneous return of our Lady with Him brings forth the fervent fertility, excitement, and exuberance of youth. Previously, life descended into death, but today the rebirth of the new has been reflected from a solely internal process into the outwardly. In regards to all of this, think colored eggs (rebirth), flowers (youth), and bunnies (fertility)***.

The knowledge of oneself, a.k.a the understanding of having come to know our inner divine, begins today. From here it will move around the rest of the Wheel until in silence it manifests itself into the physical and earthly plane of our existence. In time, we are able to take the spiritual and reflect it into the rest of our lives. This is demonstrated by continuing to follow the points deosil around the compass. The mind having become aware and knowledgeable (East) when having had the fire of Will added (south) mixed with the courage to apply that knowing towards our Will (West) manifests itself into the Here in which we keep close (North).

So yes, today is about spring, bunnies, flowers, and colored eggs, but it is also about a whole lot more. Life is a complex myriad of depth. All of this, of which I have written, is only a small portion of what today, Ostara, now, the beginning and end is about.

Boidh Se!

-SM

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”

Beltane

Litha

Lughnasadh

Mabon

Samhain

Yule

Imbolc

*Not all Contemporary Pagan Witches follow an eight-spoke holiday wheel.

**This should not read: myth = lie. For a good basic and general introduction to myth check out The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell.

*** Each of these has a whole host of other meanings which I am not going to delve into at the moment.

Life Upon the Altar of the Sacred

Consecrate your daily life in the holy. Make each and every act one of magick, of worship, of the sacred, and of devotion. It need not be a complicated process or one that subscribes to anyone else’s idea of what your divine path should be. Nope. All that is required is the mindful, deliberate, and knowledgeable effort to apply the practice to one’s life so as that our very lives become a Temple in which our Lady and our Lord will dwell with us as the Priestess or Priest of ritual therein.

 Determine that which is sacred and has the qualities of the holy in which you wish to consecrate into life. These “things” aren’t really things though, but the intangible qualities of the divine, such as compassion. Once you have gathered up the materia needed for this rite of life, use the practices of the Craft to lay them upon the vessel that is our existence and imbue them into the heart of being via the breath of the will. Breathe life into to the holy and let it be the heartbeat of your life.

Once our life has taken its place upon the altar of eternity, enter into communion with the divine source that is the flames upon that altar by making offerings to that which we have created as if it were the sum of all that is holy. In that moment, life will be nothing but the sacred and the sacred will be life.

Boidh Se!

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”

Pause and Allow Resonance

In the practice of the Craft, it is important to pause between the actions taken in the arte. Rushing onward does not allow the resonance of the moment to seal itself into our presence. The rhythm and cycle of a routined practice shifts our consciousness into alignment with that which is holy but periods of allowing this to occur needs to happen. Sit in the moment and allow our mind and heart to sit basking and be shaped. The spiritual union in the moment must be given precedence and space in the life of the Witch in order for it to do the work. This does not mean that further actions are not taken but that before moving onward worth is given to each part. Kind of like writing a sentence, there are spaces between each word for a reason.

Boidh Se!

-SM

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”

Our Divine Heritage

From the womb I came, and so too everything was born forth from the womb. Coursing through my veins is the primordial heritage of every heart beat that drummed the eternal song before I took up the rhythm. From the silence of nothing the utterance proclaiming life heralded forth from my lungs and all of creation reverberated in the resonance of the chord.

When asked where we come from, our response is usually the name of the town/city or the state in which we most identify as growing up in. Let’s ponder this same question but a bit further back.

Many, those which affirm that there is no separate Self that transcends the flesh, the origin of our existence has its root in the womb. Another side of the coin is that seated upon our physical manifestation there is a core essence in which existed prior to the corporeal formation. There are theological contradictions that lay in the strict adherence to either. We are both nothing but mere flesh and an eternal being; both at the same time. Considering this, where forth do we come from?

The answer is each tied to the other. As such, it can be deduced that our origin of one is the same as the other. Literally we are all born in an act of blood, flesh, and bone forth from the body and essence of another living flesh and blood being. Herein is the whole composition of everything. In that flesh, that which is eternal and the transient are one. Just as the cloak of the body came from the womb where our physical substance was created, so too came the spark of our divinity from the womb of an eternal being whom unto us is the Mother of all essences.

Taking this same approach, think further back. Where did we come from before being formed in the womb? How about before then? This chain of birth is the divine heritage from which our eternal Self/no-self is shaped.

Boidh Se!

-SM

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”

By Holy Rite and Sacred Word

Consecration of the Crown

Silent voice that speaks to me,

              Thou who art the spark and the vessel.

Holy art thou!

I consecrate thee in the sacred names of providence!

I consecrate thee in the in the vision of the eternal landscape!

I consecrate thee unto all, both hidden and illuminated!

Carry upon thy voice of all creation the Will manifest and make our tools

                the weaver of the mysteries shrouded.

I anoint the name of names upon my brow and stir forth that which

                has been here from the beginning!

Oh Thou, I hear!

Boidh Se!

-SM

"Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon thorned path."

Reaching into the Hidden: Practice as a Key

Conventional wisdom isn’t always; often times it turns out to be a half truth, misnomer, or flat out wrong, though not always. This applies across this board no matter the subject. Conventional wisdom, however, exists for a reason; something observable, perceived, or believed to have been must act as the catalyst. Let’s take the world being flat as an example. At one time conventional wisdom said that this was fact and it was widely believed and taught. The reason as to why is simple. The world from the viewpoint of people living at that time appeared to be flat. The point though, is that there is more to existence than our limited perspective can provide.

Science holds this as true as well. There are many forms of energy, or the like, in which we without the proper equipment don’t have the ability to perceive. In all likelihood there is much more still to be discovered via the use of our intellect and such tools.

Up until now I have mostly discussed Witchcraft as being a spiritual path, and it is. However there is another portion of the vehicle in which we ride that I have not really given much focus on. Witchcraft affirms that there are forces, energy, powers, entities, spirits, aspects, essences, whatever you want to call it, to existence that are beyond our subjective scope of perception and that these forces are not always best understood via conventional wisdom. Additionally, it is part of our Craft is to seek to interact via our practice with such so as to better understand our place in existence, mutually benefit, and open our senses to the hidden.

Those individuals that only maintain a philosophical approach to Witchcraft aren’t practicing the Craft. No matter how much one may think about the importance of cooking dinner, review recipes, and buy expensive utensils and appliances, until that individual actually beings to prepare said dinner it won’t get cooked by them. This is not to say that understanding the ins and outs of Crafting is not important, for it is, just that as some point the threshold between solely thinking about the Craft and doing has to be crossed. This is an important step to make. Our Craft is experiential and based partially on knowledge thus derived, as well as from academic study. Without the experience of the forces/spirits* the previous mentioned reasons will not begin to manifest themselves in the life of the Witch.

Although Initiation is not required to work with spirits, part of the purpose of Initiation, in addition to the reasons listed here, is for those that already have a working relationship with these spirits to then act as a bridge whereby the individual and the spirits become acquainted, and to do so in a method that is safe, proven, and familiar to both spirit and Witch. As I said though, these forces can be approached without such an introduction; it is just easier with it. Any Witch that practices regularly regardless of whether or not they have group affiliations will make allies within the myriad of the hidden.  

The nature of the allies in the mist is similar to the nature of the Gods and Goddesses, which I discussed previously here and here. I have many such relationships on many different levels of interaction, but such is the way of the Craft when one practices. If for no other reason, I urge individuals to act upon practice so as to gain the benefits that unlocking the hidden brings into our sphere of influence and lives.

Boidh Se!

-SM

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”

*Etcetera, what have you… we are just gonna go with spirits for now, for no particular reason other than my mood while writing this.

Returning to the Gravesite: Thoughts on Pagan Last Rites

Back in 2010, I wrote a guest post for the then operating blog, Pantheon, which is now defunct, as happens. That post can be found here. I recommend you go read it to see my thoughts at that time. Note that the picture is not related at all to this service. Lately, I have posted a lot about death and I figured it would be a balance to discuss physical death just a bit, albeit via ritual.

For those that don’t know it, I have in the course of the past several years attended an estimated hundred and fifty or so graveside services of many different religions. Most were Christian, some Jewish, many of no faith, at least one Islamic, and a couple that I cannot identity. Some of them were only the funeral director, our small contingent, and the maintenance folk. These were always touched with a bit of sadness but also with another consideration. I may not have known these people or even recall their names, but I can say and hold their memory up because I was there to witness their rite of passage unto the pale halls of the great unknown. I have also been to services where entire towns come out and line the roads and on foot follow the procession, with hundreds upon hundreds crowding the cemetery. These are no less or more a sacred time because of the quantity of people.

This familiarity with death has done much to shape my thoughts on the subject. Death is natural and it is a very sacred rite of passage. At the time that I had to perform the rite I discuss in the article, I had already been witness to all of this. Yet, until then I had never been the one conducting the ritual whereby the carriage of flesh is set into the earth.

The liturgy I settled on was formed from the private rite our Coven/Tradition uses and modified to be more familiar to all those in attendance. Of the forty or so people that would be at the gravesite, all but a small handful only know the Christian form. It was my duty to make sure these people were included in the rite; they were just as much a part of the family and community as us. They needed to be brought into this threshold and shown the beauty and sacredness of the life that was moving on.

Death is the great unknown and so in Traditional communities it is often referred to as the Last Great Initiation. This time is just as an important part of life as is birth or any other rite of passage. However; in this moment the mystery to what happens after life is finally known. It is a moment that comes for us all whether or not anyone marks it or not. It is not only rite of passage for the dead but for the community. In these moments our own death is placed upon the table and informed by this recognition of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

Initiation rituals universally follow the same format, regardless of the religion. They follow the same format of the cycle of the wheel: life, death, and rebirth. Simply put, one comes out of the ritual a different person than when they entered. Rites of Passage are all a form of initiation and as they are a group activity all participants undergo the process, either as the initiate, those reliving the transition, or having their own threshold primed. This last one is especially applicable when physical death is concerned.

As part of the ritual I performed, I followed this same basic format, but only part of it had to be the focus. The rite of passing is done post death vice per-death as with other rites of passage; just as birth rites are done post-birth and not before. So focusing upon the post-death rebirth into the great mystery portion I attempted to bridge the life of the person through into the now. I did this via memory; memories that were invoked in the minds of the assembled by issuing forth the various names of their life and then sealing those into the moment. For a quick aside, the red dirt in the cauldron was ochre I had collected myself and mixed with a bit of ash from incense that I had remaining from an ancestor rite.

Below is the rite with light commentary (thus):

-----------------------------------------------

-Opening prayer

(This prayer was taken from a piece of traditional prose but with exerts removed or altered so the language did not alienate or separate anyone due to unfamiliarity. I have purposely not shared it publically because it is a bit too personal to this particular rite and I only want to share format, not specifics that may be private.)

-Naming

“Into death, the true initiation, we name you just as you were named when you came into this world. We name you with the many names of your life, and may their beauty echo from our hearts and into the next world.” (The various names used will vary from person to person. The below are the ones I used. It was a lot of work to work through, I had to put myself in each relationship/role.)

(pause)

“_____________: the name given at birth by those who loved you before they had met you.”

(pause)

“Beautiful in all her names.” (This is normally repeated by all in the Coven Rite, however, at the graveside only several people did so. It was still awesome.)

(pause)

“_____________: the name you chose as Priestess and honored the Old Ways by taking.”

(pause)

“Beautiful in all her names.”

(pause)

“_____________: the name your god children gave and you lovingly accepted.”

(pause)

“Beautiful in all her names.”

(pause)

“_____________: the name your siblings gave because although sister you may be, to them you were more.”

(pause)

“Beautiful in all her names.”

(pause)

“Crone: the name you took in honor of the life you had led and the many things you had to share.”

(pause)

“Beautiful in all her names.”

(pause)

“Mama: the name your children called you because no one else is quite like Mama.”

(pause)

“Beautiful in all her names.”

(pause)

“_____________: the name you accepted from the love of your life.”

(pause)

“Beautiful in all her names.”

(pause)

“Many have been your names, more than could ever be listed”

(pause)

“Beautiful in all her names.”

(pause)

“Beautiful in all her names.”

(pause)

“Beautiful in all her names.”

(slightly longer pause for transition)

-Anointing

(I read the part and traced the degree sigils in the air towards the casket after which visualizing it descend into the remains.) (Also Intitiates will recognize the basic format but note that it was purposely altered.)

“Thus you are named and blessed be thy feet, that walked a path you made your own.”

(pause)

“Blessed be thy knees, that knelt in reverence of the wonder and beauty of this world.”

(pause)

“Blessed be thy womb, that brought forth life.”

(pause)

“Blessed be thy heart, that loved both fiercely and generously.”

(pause)

“Blessed be thy lips, that broke the silence with the presence of you.”

(pause)

“Blessed be thy nose, that breathed the many fragrances upon the wind.”

(pause)

“Blessed be thy ears, that learned to listen to the beat of the heart.”

(pause)

“Blessed be thy eyes, that marked witness to your journey.”

(pause)

“Blessed be you, in all your names.”

(slightly longer pause for transition)

-Descent

“The veil has parted and you are returned to the cauldron of the mother, and we are blessed to have been a part of your life. Blessed Be!”

(I then lightly spinkled some of the dirt mixture on the casket and made the offer that anyone who wanted to offer their own blessings could come up and sprinkle some as well. Several people did and while they did the below poem was read by someone that brought it to contribute at her gravesite.)

(Note: Author Mary Frye 1932)

Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there;
I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there;
I did not die.
Blessed be! (This line added.)

---------------

I hope my review of this rite is helpful for others.

Boidh Se!

-SM

“Lost in a thicket bare-foot upon a thorned path.”