The Divine in the Real World

Some folks think that it is no longer posible to have actual interaction with the Divine outside of meditation or dream work. They think that the Divine can not be seen or interacted with in the real waking world. I have to say through my own personal experience that this is not the case.

I have seen the face of the Greenman in the trees. Not only did that image last for several minutes but it was witnessed by another. The timing was also rather stunning in that I was wondering whether to bring a male energy back into my practice. I had been neglecting that for a couple of years and really only acknowleging the feminine.

This experience alone would not necessarily cause me to conclude that the Divine is still very active in the real waking world. Now the fact that an old and forgotten African Goddess first had me draw a portrait of her and then try my hand at sculpting for the first time kind of convinced me. The lack of focus and sleep until these things were done, the very real circles under my eyes, they did give me pause.

I have seen and communicated with the Fey. I don't mean in that place between sleeping and waking either. I mean wide awake, 6 inches from my face, it was looking at me and then a flash bright enough to leave spots and then it was gone.

I have heard a guardian spirit howl a warning. Oddly within a day a non-magick practioner had reported seeing it in her back yard. It was nice validation that what I heard had not been in my head, but the eccho was really all the proof I needed.

Some folks have asked me what's so special about me that I have these interactions. Well the answer is simple and not. I am open to having them. It does not scare me to see the Divine in my real life. I do not draw a line between my "magickal" time and the rest of my life. I found that many people do draw a line and I can not for the life of me figure out why. Your spirituality is what makes all this, this life, worth living. It is the aroma, flavor and color of our world. Frankly, in my opinion it is the main reason we are here in the first place.

Love and Light

Wisdom ?

There are a few folks who have called me wise. This always makes me chuckle
because I make huge missteps in my life at times. The other night I decided
to look up the word wisdom in the dictionary.

Again I found myself chuckling as I read through the definition of the word.
Much of what it said just did not seem to fit. I decided to look up the word wise, just
to see if that would shed some light on things for me.

One line caught me, "to be aware". That is a powerful line. It is also the
one aspect that seems to fit with me and my own perceptions of myself.

I am aware; of myself and the world around me, of people and how they think and feel,
of the unseen and often unacknowledged. I am aware enough to be aware that most folks
choose not to be aware of much.

I have said for a long time now that I am awake, while sometimes it seems
that many in the world around me are sleeping. The word aware though, strikes
me as more to the point. Awareness implies choice and work. Any "sleeper"
might be awakened, acted upon, by some outside agent or incident.

Awareness, though, is a choice of the individual. It is the choice to remain aware,
awake, rather than drift back to the comfort of sleep and ignorance.

Awareness implies a willingness to learn and experience life in all it's
aspects, not just those that we think of as positive, but all of it. Even
pain, sorrow, and introspection which are hard and often ugly things are
part of being aware.

I realised as I was sitting there just how aware I am. I was taken aback by it.
I note exits when I am in a new place. I note people, faces, attitudes and groups.
I can feel the mood of the place and purposely open up to it. I watch body language.
I listen to the tones of voices. I watch for changes in both of those things.
I watch other traffic as I drive. I listen and feel as much as I can where ever I am.

I am also aware of my own body. Through subtle shifts, I know when my mood is about to change,
when a migraine is going to strike. Hell, I know within the hour when my moon cycle
is going to start.

I am aware of the unseen around me. I know when I am not alone, though my eyes would
have me believe otherwise. Energies fluctuate and I prick up and feel what is around me.

I am aware of my limits. More to the point I am aware that I am the one who places those
limits upon myself.

I suppose then if awareness is wisdom, I am wise.

There is a price for wisdom. That price is innocence. For, to be wise, to be aware, one must
be willing to experience. With experience comes the loss of innocence and the burden of
accountibility.

To be wise then is also to be accountable.

Love and Light

Why Lie?

Some folks seem to have a hard time with this question. I don't know why though it seems obvious to me. I am going to try to explain what a lie is in my own view. To get at what makes a lie, first we need to agree on what is truth.

Truth is both objective and subjective. I know some think that it must be one or the other but that isn't so. There is an objective truth. We will most likely never see it though. The problem is individual perspective.

I may see an auto accident from one angle while you see it from another. Both of the drivers involved have their own perspectives as well. All four of these will likely be slightly if not wholly different. When we tell our view of what happened if all do not agree, are we lying? No we are not we are telling the truth from our own perspective. (at least we will assume no one is lying on purpose.) There is an objective truth as well as the subjective truth. We must try to wade through all the stories and then add any physical evidence to it to get to the truth.

There are different types of untruths that we deal with everyday. Are they all lies? No. We read fiction and watch made up stories in the theater or on TV. The creators are not liars, they are story tellers. We do not stigmatize them for telling us lies. We revere them for all the emotional out lets they provide. They teach us about the best and worst in mankind. They are the Bards and Shaman of our techno world.

So what is the difference between our bards and a liar? Intent. Telling a story with the intent to defraud somehow. Telling a lie in hopes of gaining something for the self only (or even for a nation) is what we can not tolerate. Why is it that these strings of words hurt us so. Why do folks choose to lie rather than tell the truth?

I know why some folks lie. They do it to gain respect, to gain funds, to be loved, to protect themselves and many other reasons to be sure. I think that it is hard to be lied to, not because it hurts us personally, but because it affects the way we see the world when the lie is uncovered.

Suddenly we doubt everything when we discover a lie. We ask questions like: What else did so-and-so lie about? Did thus-and-such know so-and-so was lying to me? Why didn't thus-and-such tell me it was a lie? Was any of it true? Who else has lied to me?

We become filled with doubt. We doubt our own instincts and intelligence. We also begin to doubt all those around us. Our world is shaken. It takes quite some time for most folks to let go of the large lies. Sometimes it takes even longer to let go of the more subtle, small lies. We spend our time watching and waiting for the next lie.

So a lie is something that alters our reality. A lie in a sense is magickal. With nothing but mere words we can change someone's world forever. I wonder if in knowing this it can stop us from lying. I know it has curbed my own natural tendency to lie.

I hope when you read this you will stop and think about the lies you have told. I hope that the next time a lie seems like an easy way out you will think twice about how much harm you can do with a few little, seemingly harmless words. I hope you will choose honesty.

40 Years and Counting

Well, I am at 40 years and counting as of today. It has been a good half life for the most part. Oh, there have been challenges and changes to be sure. The last 18 months have been full of both, I must admit.

I have to say though, I am mostly happy. Happy with who I have chosen to become. I know it isn't popular to think that we choose to be who we are. It is easier and more convenient to claim that our circumstances make us who we are. I have never opted for easier and more convenient though.

I like accountability and responsibility. I like working with the powers that be, rather than for them. I would rather act than be acted upon. To be sure, I coast from time to time, we all do. For the most part though, I am the Leo I was born to be.

The next forty years will be better than the last to be sure. I won't waste the first 25 of them deciding who I want to be. I know who I am and who I want to be when I finally take flight from this rock.

I hope those who read this will take the lesson from it. I wish all those folks who would rather tear down the ones who work, the ones who have earned what they have, would take note. There are a few of us, a handful who know who we are and accept it. Know that we are strong, we are powerful, and we will not be put down.

(That last bit was for my sister in the craft and the spirit.One of these days Sis we need to do a Queening for me. Or maybe a Princessing... one Queen may be enough lol.)

Anyway I love some of you and like most of you. The rest just make me laugh! I will let you all decide who is who.

Love and Light