Monday, December 29, 2008

potholes in my spiritual path

I have previously and at great length related how I went from Catholic schoolgirl to tree hugging daughter of the Goddess so I won't go into all that again, but each of us come to this path in our own unique way and my path, I am discovering, has some large holes in it.

I have cruised along mostly on auto pilot since opening myself up to the Goddess and I have been most happy doing this, no regrets. I have just been happy to be released from the feeling of judgement and doom hanging over my head. I have done some magick on a semi regular basis and once I learned to just let go in my rituals I found that simple and from the heart gave me great satisfaction and peace. I have not really pushed myself to go farther, rather I have just let my curiousity drag me along in a scattered fashion.

I started the blog A Pagan Tapestry primarily as a learning experience for myself and it certainly has been that, and hopefully will continue to be. So as I am doing more and more studying and more and more research for the blog I am discovering some things lacking in my education.

On the plus side, I understand from many sources that I do some fairly advanced work in the Craft.
For example, I am heavily involve in working with the Elements, not just invoking and calling and asking them to guard but really working with them, often just with one of them, no other entities involved. Now supposedly (or so I read) this takes much study and dedication to the Craft, but I cheated. I have been talking to the Elements since I was a small child and have been guided by them often.

Another example, I have begun some formal study of Shamanism and find it fascinating, but again, I jumped ahead of where I should be. I have had a relationship with The Trickster of the southwest since I was in high school. I lived in New Mexico, spent quite a lot of time on the reservations and met some Healers and met The Trickster, so I did not come to know him through years of study and trial and error. He is another familiar entity that I made excuses for in my Catholic days.

On the minus side...I call myself Celtic. I am actually half Irish and my grandfather was an immigrant and full of stories about banshees and stuff. I do know most of the major Celtic gods and goddesses. I dedicated a (horse related) business to Epona, I give cursory salutes to the appropriate Goddesses at certain times of the year. I have even studied some of the nearly incomprehensible Celtic mythology. But I have never bothered to really study the myths for information about how better to relate to the deities. I have never really delved at any depth into the pantheon that I claim.
My relationship with them has been superficial.

The primary focus of my path to divinity has been The Goddess, the Mother Goddess, Mother Earth, Gaia, The Creator, whatever you want to call her/him. That won't change, but I do believe in a multitude of deities, not just multiple faces of one, and yet I have been neglecting all the rest.

So in this upcoming year I am planning to start filling in all those potholes in my path. I want to learn how people have related to the Elements over time, especially if they did not consider them childhood playmates, and how this relationship has evolved.

I want to start at the beginning of Shamanism and begin to learn the mysteries. Even The Trickster says this is a good idea, there is more to it than an overly familiar relationship with him.

And most important, I want to explore the history of the Celtic gods and goddesses and learn more about this history with a goal to develop a better understanding of them and a better relationship with them. A more personal relationship.

I plan to work on some of that here on this blog and it will spill over onto A Pagan Tapestry which will begin to reflect more "who" instead of the "what" that I have limited myself to.

7 comments:

  1. Hi Celestite,

    Thank you for your heart-felt post and good luck with your progress on your path. If it helps you, may partner and I produce a podcast re-telling the stories from Celtic Mythology and it might make a difficult subject slightly easier. We started the podcast for similar reasons to you starting your blog - to help us learn and record our progress :)

    All the best

    Gary
    The Celtic Myth Podshow
    http://celticmythpodshow.com

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  2. Hi Celestite! I am a huge fan of the Celtic Myth Podshow because it helps me wrap my head around Celtic mythology in a way I wouldn't have otherwise. The Celtic deities seem to my mind at least, to be 'chummier' than those from other pantheons. More prone to make mistakes and start from scratch, more accessible. The myths tell us about heroes and heroines rather than unattainable paragons of goodness. I love that about my heritage!

    I'm a lot like you, as I think we've discussed, in that I love to KNOW things. I'm learning in this 40th year of my life that knowing and experiencing are two very different things. I feel a shift in you from earlier reading toward more experiential craft, and I'm very excited to see where that leads you!

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  3. Thank you both.
    Gary, Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment. I have listened a few times to your podcast and guess what...it's NOT incomprehensible, I love how you relate the stories. But I have not been a regular listener. I am going to be from now on, your show is a great resource.

    And Darkly Fey, love your comments as always. Yes, I am ready to spread my wings. I honestly did not see this coming a few years ago, but now it seems perfectly natural.

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  4. Gods bless you! Sounds like you're at a good place. Starting the new year right eh? Take care!

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  5. SOunds like you are right where you're supposed to be and I wish you Beauty and Love on your continued path of enlightment~

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  6. wow...I commend you on you not ever stopping with your studies and rituals. I have been lacking in that area since I started my business :-( You are truly an inspiration to start my meditations again and start connecting with my Power Animal and my Spirit Guides. I do miss them though

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  7. I go in cycles. I find that the blogging helps, it sort of makes me more aware. I don't know why we tend to put off things that make us feel good, but we all do it. Definitely try to find the time you need for yourself.

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