We stand at the crossroads of stepping forward into the Light as we approach the Winter Solstice at week’s end. And with that movement into the waxing year is the potential to support the projects that will become the legacy we leave to those who follow us on this spiritual path. The article below brings to light one such project- The New Alexandrian Library.
Preserving Our Heritage for an Informed Legacy
Historically, we have struggled to decide how, when and where to effectively bring forward those foundational teachings from our past that have served as the cornerstones of the multiple streams that make up the pagan community today. Too often, these golden pieces of our history and information were either kept in the shadows of secrecy or diluted and restructured in the manner of “whisper down the lane” leaving nothing intact that had been at the core of the original concept or energy of powerful rituals and protocol. Valuable resources of writings, teachings and artifacts have been unintentionally lost or buried away in personal file cabinets and collections. Many of these have been handed down to those inheritors who knew nothing of the true value stored in the dusty corners of the attic. We have all heard the stories of this or that magickal tool, painting or book being rescued from the local antique dealer, thrift store, second hand bookstore or being sold on e-bay.
The complex and multi-layered question continues to center around what actions we can take to insure that the legacy we leave to our future communities is one of authenticity and grounded in useable information. Moreover, we want to be sure that we guarantee that these resources are inclusive of the genuine artifacts and teachings of what has served to inform and move us forward as a community and will inspire what will become the newly birthed forms of solid spiritual practices?
Funding is always in short supply for any endeavor that hopes to pull together a vision of this magnitude. It is in even shorter supply for the creation of places of repository for those things of antiquity. Large and established museums continually fall prey to the lack of funding available for preservation of what they already have accumulated, let alone the acquisition of new finds. And smaller projects, in particular those that are religious or spiritually based rarely receive the support they are deserving of. Despite this often discouraging state of affairs, headway is being made in the way we think about archiving and preserving what has brought us this far and some physical steps are being taken to manifest those thoughts.
The New Alexandrian Library project of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel Tradition is a work in progress that hopes to serve as a resource and home to many of these original texts, full collections of scholarly works and magickal items that have been scattered. Its goal is ambitious, but much needed in these times of proliferation of teachings and books; and the growing alliances between multiple streams of esoteric and magickal paths. A large portion of the energetic stability of these endeavors is dependent on the reliability and efficacy of the past experience and expertise that can be infused through access to the core materials of that energy. The axiom has always been “quality over quantity” and we are in no short supply of books, teachings and protocol of quantity that has never been grounded in the quality of tried and true as a resource.
Like the original Great Library of Alexandria, the schools of Qabala in medieval Spain, and the flourishing of magick that occurred in renaissance Italy, this diverse confluence of practices and resources would result in great leaps forward in theory and practice. The vision is that of the New Alexandrian Library serving as one of the cornerstones of a new magickal renaissance that is evolving more rapidly than we can keep pace. And, the dynamics of its function will be to serve as a magnet for the teachers, leaders and philosophies of many spiritual paths, each informing the other’s work.
Fundraising events generate some revenue, but the fact of the matter is that fundraisers only go so far in acquiring all that is needed just to initially open the doors, let alone acquire, maintain and catalogue what is housed within. In addition to financial support, what is needed is the fostering of a mindset that sees the vision of our collective efforts creating a foundation of sustainability that insures the finances, time, energy and the action needed will be available and have relevance to those who will become its stewards. The endorsement and support of our spiritual leaders in the community is invaluable in bringing awareness to projects such as the NAL, but ultimately, it is up to us as members of the pagan community to decide what our priorities are and how we can ensure that our future generations will have the resources they need to leave their own inspired legacy.
For more information on the New Alexandrian Library, pictures of its progress and how you can be part of preserving a legacy in the making visit us:
Facebook: The New Alexandrian Library
Website: http://sacredwheel.org/new-alexandrian-library.html
E-mail: sacredwheel@sacredwheel.org
Write: Assembly of the Sacred Wheel
14914 Deer Forest Rd.,
Georgetown, DE 19947
The Assembly of the Sacred Wheel: http://www.sacredwheel.org
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