The Universe Speaks to Each of Us

Somewhere once I read something about spirituality, particularly animistic practices, being location-based.  This old tree is made of the essence of something alive, that pile of stones is made of the bones and atoms of the Universe, the shower curtain, if you care to think of it in this way, is made of star dust. The energy, created by atoms swirling around each other, is different in the desert, in the forest, at the top of a mountain, down by the edge of the ocean, inside vs. outside.  The ‘characters’ one finds in each place may share some similarities, may be ‘the same’, may not be.

I was sort of worried that recently I’ve been anthropomorphizing Hekate (crossroads, liminal space, thresholds) and Tara (deep compassion) too much lately, given my stated non-belief in “deity”, but the naming itself is part of what gives boundaries & defines thresholds (yes, even around you, Hekate) and helps us understand our own traverse through space/location (physical, psyche, or otherwise) and experience.  One of the things we discussed during my undergraduate years was what is “Truth” — facts can be strung together to create untruths, and a piece of wholly fabricated, fantastical fiction can contain truths more elegantly expressed than anything “real”.  This is as true for spirituality as it is for more mundane matters.  The Universe speaks to each of us in our own way, and one of the things that I really like about my favorite peoples’ stated and practiced position is that they/we [hold space for] and [practice radical diversity from] and [acceptance of] one another (within defined ethical boundaries).

We all have our own personal practices and beliefs, that we all bring something unique to the table to share that the rest of us can learn from, enjoy vicariously if we can't/don't access The Universe, God/dess/es, Kami, Devas, Loas (and respectfully All The Rest) in the same ways our fellow travelers can/do is a powerful reminder that we are strengthened through our diversity. In building out strong groups of people, one looks to balance one's weakness (not quite the word I'm looking for) with others' complementary strengths – why should spiritual practice be any different?

On Ethics

I will need to revisit and add more over time.  Summarized: one’s ethics must be understood, not just what but why, as well as not solidifying into a conceptualization that is not sufficiently flexible in practice to allow for the truly ethical thing to happen or to evolve into a deeper or different understanding.

Calendar April 27

Calendar April 13

March Homework

(Answering questions not captured here)... Starting with the thing I think I want to prioritize as most important first:

3. Recognition that we all have our own personal practices and beliefs, that we all bring something unique to the table to share that the rest of us can learn from, enjoy vicariously if we can't/don't access The Universe, God/dess/es, Kami, Devas, Loas (and respectfully All The Rest) in the same ways our fellow travelers can/do is a powerful reminder that we are strengthened through our diversity.  In building out strong groups of people, one looks to balance one's weakness (not quite the word I'm looking for) with others' complementary strengths -- why should spiritual practice be any different?

1. My idea is that witch is defined by the person claiming the title.  A coven is a group of people who choose to practice/celebrate together.  I feel that many very effectively dismiss a broad swath of witches with 'western Europe' and '="Wicca"' in a way that I find pretty disrespectful, right off the bat. I don't care if a root worker or shaman or anyone else and/or self-identifies as a witch.  I tend to think of witch as one who works in liminal spaces, outside a context of 'mainstream', I think you can be a witch and not a pagan and vice versa or both/and.  Some witches have a tendency to ritualize intent to accomplish something which then is followed by significant elbow grease to get the job done (and now and again The Universe kicks us a freebie that makes us look/feel good).

2. The code of ethics, down with it conceptually. The framing of this in pseudo/archaic language and framing sets my teeth on edge, possibly irrationally so.  It makes it significantly more difficult for me to take seriously.  Possibly why I haven't bought any books on the topic matter save one or two on recommendation from deeply trusted friends in a long time... There's so much tooth on edge to wade through to get to what are often pretty useful ideas and practices. Perfect love and perfect trust... Somehow either I managed to entirely tune this out until the teen witch phenomena of the mid-90's or glossed over it because gleefully anti-authoritarian solitary reasons. Gonna roll with 'assume the best' and move right along!

Calendar April 6

On Daily Practice

 I seem to have ended up with both a morning and evening practice, both include the daily practice.  The evening one when I’m coherent and can feel something other than grar morning ughhhhhhh, includes the daily practice and a request for compassion (for all) and expression of gratitude. The thing with daily practice is that it takes time to build up a ‘charge’ of sorts, some time to settle in and start gaining the sense of benefit.  Sort of like it takes a while of dragging your feet on the carpet before you start shooting off sparks because of the retained static electricity that’s built up over time.