The Magickal Pen

Yesterday I spent the day sharing, teaching and being in the company of some very special people. Each year at this time our Tradition, the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel offers an annual event – Spring Magick.

I have participated in this event for the many years that I have also been part of the ASW Tradition and each year there are new faces blending with those known who want to know and to be more. We are reminded of our importance in this earthly realm and that we are not only a part of this beautiful realm but our value within it is priceless.

My posting this week is one that I wrote in November of last year and seemed most appropriate for this bonus week.  Enjoy!…

Underestimating Your Spiritual Value

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What is it that you most desire? What type of motivation do you need to move towards that desire? Is this desire fueled by the subconscious thoughts of what joys it will return to you? Or can you remain fully present in consciousness and awareness of both the negatives and the positives of achieving what you WILL to be so?

That part of our being that we name as the “will” can be a slippery slope to climb and defining will as it aligns with our varied states of consciousness is even trickier and less palpable to discern. We know of the will (small “w’) that fuels our actions and is at times not mindful of the effects of its cause upon whatever it exerts itself upon. We know also of the aspiration of those choosing the spiritual path to cultivate and Divinely inform the larger Will (capital “W’) so that their actions may be in accord with their higher purpose and for the good of all concerned. In and of itself, will is a catalytic and highly combustible energy filled with the potential for the lighting of a controlled blaze or the wanton destruction of a raging blaze spreading uncontrollably like wildfire. And, most often will’s bedfellow is the seductive emotion of desire; the raw and primal wanting we have for a specific and self-created outcome. Desire on its own is the basis upon which creation initiates and calls to itself what is the resultant outcome and is neutral in its pure form and reacting in positive or negative manner depending upon what the goal of the desire may be.

Desire is always part of the magickal equation for bringing into manifestation what we wish to be. And, it is the raw measure of desire that urges forward (or backward) the actions that are needed to move the energy of that desire. Your will or WILL is what steps in and helps to guide the course of what the resultant product is. If fueled by greed, lust or negativity the outcome and the actions taken are not often in accord with what is of the highest good.

If, however, the Higher Will is called into action greed becomes the ability to attract to oneself what is appropriately needed; lust becomes all compassionate love and understanding. And, the balance of negative and positive flow is stabilized within the interface of neutrality so that each may work in harmony with the other in a polarized and productive way.

If we use another analogy; that of the Kundalini awakening or Serpent of Fire, we find that the same interaction of will and desire is needed. Desire awakens the serpent of wisdom who lays coiled at the base of the earthly and primal state. We breathe deeply and call forth our will to merge with this energy. Breath and action fuel and catalyze this energy and stir it into heightened awareness as the dance of enlivened life begins. As the serpent moves along its path of return the One becomes two; separating in individualized awareness of the need for polarity and the deeper gnosis of the duality of our singular state of being. Each moves along its intended course, seducing and drawing the other into its embrace at points of quickening and awakening. The pace quickens and the two return as One in the release of catalytic seed and waters of quickening. The fires of transformed Will reach up towards the Higher Self and the Serpent bites deeply into primed matter releasing the transformative elixirs of deep knowing and spiritual union with the Divine in all of its forms. It is through this conscious effort and application of will to action that dialogue is established and the flames of unified consciousness are quickened.

Our consciousness receives, filters and disburses whatever experience may pass through it. Our normal waking state of consciousness processes the stimuli received as we move through our daily activities and stores away select experiences within the subconscious. The sub-conscious self comes to the foreground in the dream or meditative state, replaying those things held in the memory of its vastness. Eventually we react at a conscious level to those things that lay hidden within our subconscious. Albeit, this reaction is often instinctual and can remain unnoticed indefinitely, there is nonetheless, the feeding of whatever our conscious action may be by what is hidden in the deep still waters of the subconscious that flows beneath.

Shadow work and self analysis address the impact of the sub-conscious and set as their goal the bringing to the surface of conscious awareness those parts of our being that shun the full brightness of the light and resolving or forming alliance with them. We breathe deeply into these waters as the fires of intent and will stir them into action. Air feeds the flame that consumes what lay hidden until the process of transformation is acted upon and the essence of something new may arise carried and uplifted on the breath of Air that once again feeds the flame. If we replace some of these words with their resonance to our spiritual nature, it would read something like this:

Mind fuels and enlivens the will to action which provides the necessary release of those shadow and/or subconscious parts of our being so they may be broken down, reformed and synthesized becoming the Phoenix of Higher Will that aspires towards Higher Mind which is now the informed catalyst (or fuel) that feeds the Higher Will to action.

At the other spectrum lay the super or higher state of consciousness. This level of consciousness is in continual communication with the Divine spark, Deity and our Higher Nature. The Higher or illumined Will resides in this space of awareness and is informed and aligned with outcome that is for the good of all. This Will is informed by Higher Mind and enlivened with compassion fueled by the desire for at-oneness with all things. This informed state of being is crafted from alignment with the subconscious and shadow state and drawn up to the place of integration within the manifest and conscious self which allows an opening to and communion with the Higher and super-conscious Divine Self.

When we make choice to be fully engaged at a conscious level with the actions we take and allow our desires to be in accord with divinely inspired will we create the space of synthesis where our subconscious and super-conscious can interact one upon the other. Breathing into this space and expanding the electrified spark that occurs from this co-mingling allows us to walk a path that is more intent-filled and grounded in the foundation of being fully present as the fires of will take hold. And it is this intention that enables us to will-fully act in a catalytic way that that sends this potent fire upward in offering to our Higher Will and Higher Consciousness.

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Strip away the masks
Strip away the illusions
Strip away the isolation
Strip away the desperation.

Strip away the bright joys
And the sorrow filled
Victories of darkened soul.

Break me down in surrender
Strip away the flesh
And render me further
Still to hollow bone.

I will still have
What connects me to
The conscious whole.

I will always have the
Refined and informed self
I have tested and diligently
Trained on the embattled
Fields of community
And interwoven paths.

Despite all that may
Be taken away I will
Always have the sweet
Memory of my humanity.

This week on The Pagan Experience the suggested topic was Humanity, with these questions looming large:
How do you define “humanity”? What is your contribution to the collective space of humanity? How does your spiritual path support this definition and contributions?

For me the word “humanity” means many things. It is the collective species of humans of which I am a part. And, it is the action of expressing those human qualities in a way that is in alignment with all parts of myself. This second definition is the one that I most often get hung up on.  Finding my humanity in my emotional self means being able to understand how my responses form the base from which I interact (or react to) with others.  Finding my humanity in my actions means accepting the consequences for those actions and than relying on informed decision before proceeding. Finding my humanity in my thoughts requires that I am open and aware of the balance between rationale and logic and creative inspiration. Finding my humanity as I manifest, possess, and leave my physical “human” imprint in the world demands that I honor and respect my physical form, world and state of being as the tool I have been in the lifetime. And, looking at the connectivity of these definitions cycles back to the first definition of the collective species of humans.

This is the greater responsibility of exploring the defining properties of your own humanity. Now, for me this, thins brings to mind another thought.  I see this process of definition intimately connected to the simple (yes, I did use that word in association with the next statement) pursuit of defining your life’s purpose. This is where it gets a bit tricky; although if we were able to continually be in alignment with our higher selves- ALL if this would be a moot point. I like to think of the seeking and self-inquiry that I engage in in revealing my intention ( life’s purpose) in this lifetime is one of contributing to humanity by virtue of my place within it. The more I learn of myself, the more I can identify and resonate with in others. Everyday that I acknowledge my physical self and the gifts of being able to express myself through all of my elements and parts is a deposit into the bank of humanity.

And, to the last question about how my spiritual path supports this. Because I have chosen a path that seeks community and common experience and does its work, even as a solitary practitioner, with the intention and realization that we are interconnected to all life, humanity by default is part of the work of that path. We seek to individualized and yet to also remain cognizant of our place in the collective whole. Our strivings are those of living our spiritual truths 24/7-365 days a year, making those achievements gained the pearls of wisdom that reveal the true nature of our spiritual self.

Humanity flexes its muscles and stretches reaching towards the limits with each act of kindness. And, although many would not agree, I think humanity learns the boundaries of overstep and force in each act of injustice. As humans this is how we learn and grow and although unpleasant in some instances, many times these actions that show humanity at its less than desirable, gives rise to something productive  and uplifting from the depths of adversity.

So, I will hold myself accountable each day for how I chose to express my humanity and offer up gratitude for the experience of being human.

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I’ve written many articles on Spiritual Practice; its benefits, creating and personalizing and so on. So, when this topic came up again, I realized that I have been doing things a bit differently for a while now as far as what my personal practice has BECOME.

When I have thought in the past about what constitutes my personal practice, the usual list of methods and tools came to the foreground. Staples such as meditation, energy protocol, spell work, Esbats, devotionals, Sabbats, etc… all have been prominent in my craft and have carried and sustained me to the place I am along that path now. One of the tools I did not consider in that mix was my writing. That is until now.

I work full time, have a family, High Priestess a coven and write! I write daily and at times a good portion of my lunch, early morning or late evening hours are spent writing. At times this writing and the self-imposed deadlines have eclipsed the time for engaging in my “personal practice” and I have duly reprimanded myself for not making time for meditation, personal Sabbats, and such.

Instead, I have chosen to experience them through my writing and various blogs that were finely tuned to be attuned to these cycles; although at the time I did not realize the writing to fill these blogs was the practice I was cultivating. As I dug deeper into disciplining myself to write about various topics in a variety of styles, I realized that this was a practice unto itself. I formalized this writing in a ritual of personal dedication to become a conduit for information to flow and shared experience of what I have learned along the way. And, in this sacred space, I put to paper some of the first writings that would evolve into a daily practice of many.

Now, I see that the writing has opened me in ways that I would not have imagined. It is a way of projecting the experience I am writing about into the world as bits of energy to draw from. It is a way of connection to the Divine as words flow and ideas take creative form. It is a way of re-membering and re-telling those memories as they evolve into what may be used in practical form in this life’s experience. It is the action of contemplative/meditative, energetic and spell weaving using words, hands, mind, heart and the will to write.

So, for now if asked what is my personal practice I would say writing!

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