Knowing and Walking

Anyone who has found oneself on a spiritual path understands this quote from Morpheus. Knowing the path, understanding the tenets, is not the end.

Most people want to find a guru or teacher or master or whatever title they choose to give the person. There is that universal, internal drive to find someone who has the knowledge and the practice, to instruct in their chosen path.

What I've experienced over time is that a teacher can only take me so far. I can learn steps and practices as I gain a mental understanding of the path. That's all good. What takes me to the next step is actually doing the practice, walking the walk, of the path.

More than two decades ago, I studied with a Native American medicine woman as part of a women's circle. At the time, I was fully aware the Red Road, her particular tradition, was not mine. Although it was an amazing journey for me, it was not the course, the path, the tradition, that called most deeply to my soul. Walking the Red Road for a time gave me an incredible foundation. Whenever I find myself feeling out-of-sorts and off track, I breathe deeply into that tradition. It centers me and becomes the springboard for continuing on to the path that does call most deeply to my soul. That path has been pretty much a solitary one. I have uncovered multiple facets of it from an intuitive practice that encompasses my past lived practices and rituals, deep contact with the ancestors, steady communication with the Ineffable One, and use of other tools I have picked up along the way.  None of this would have been possible without walking the paths I walked in my youth as well as the Red Road of my dear sister.

What path calls to you? Do you practice one of your own choosing? Have you experienced others? How do you feel when walking your path stretches you? How does that stretch look to you? What signals that you have gone from 'knowing' to 'walking'?

Summer Solstice 2015

Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and the shortest night of the year, arrives today. The majesty of the Sun shining through 14 to 20 hours is awe-inspiring. Then Lady Moon shows herself, this year in a dainty growing crescent, for so brief a span.

This Summer Solstice brings with it more renewal. There have been a number of gateways of change and shift happening in 2015 ~ even though the energies may have begun as long as two years ago.

Solstice is a time of celebration, and in particular, of fire and fecundity. Look at the flowers, at the gardens, at the fields. Every thing is in bloom, bringing with it ripeness and sweetness. This year, many of my gardener friends have told me that their gardens have ripened early. They continue to speculate ~ and noisily discuss ~ about the duration of the growing season. Will the plants continue to produce their crops (berries, tomatoes, etc.)? Or will they complete their growing cycle more quickly, leaving a fallow time to fill out the remainder of the summer?

Summer Solstice also brings with it a time of reflection. It is one of the Quarters that marks the seasonal calendar. I choose to burn incense ~ sage, to cleanse and renew; frankincense to reconnect with the Holy Mystery. Drumming calls in the directions and honors the guides who show up and grace the entry into a new season. Ritual always connects me, connects us, with the threads running through our lives and all of Life in, on and through the Earth.

What do you do to celebrate the Summer Solstice? Why? How do you honor the change of the seasons? Are they important to you? Why or why not?

Sacred Vision

Colette Baron-Reid: Wisdom of the Hidden Realms 

After pulling yesterday's card, my question shifted to "On what do I need to focus for the coming week?" The Altar Priestess showed up.

From the Guidebook: "(T)he Altar Priestess brings the ritual of reverent interaction with the mundane world. You're being required now to see everything as sacred..."

My personal practice of Lent has been to re-connect and re-member that everything around me is holy, that everyone is a blessing to the world. That's not always easy. There are a variety of incidents in the world that often do not appear to me as holy ~ as a matter of fact, they feel downright horrible: war in Syria, mudslide in Northern Washington, train derailment at O'Hare Airport, 'disappearing' Malaysian flight. What of these situations is holy? What about those injured, killed or left behind? It's easy to see the holy in an opening rose, the smile of a baby, a fresh cup of coffee. It's not as easy when we know that pain is involved. I don't know how to see it any differently than it is. I continue through this week praying for the gift of sacred vision to be able to see the holy moment.

What do you see in those most difficult and challenging situations? In those moments, how do you find the holy? Is sacred vision important or relevant to you?