Ghostes on postes

[poliphilo]

One of my party pieces when I was a Wiccan was, "Look, Halloween ain't that special. We celebrate eight festivals and they're all of equal importance."

It irritated me when journalists came a-calling and all they wanted to talk about were spooks and skeletons and magic pumpkins. "No," I said, "Wicca is just as much about spring flowers and high summer and icicles hanging on the wall...."

But I was always an awkward cuss. Show me an orthodoxy and my instinct is to start doing some spadework round its foundations.

For example, our temple was dedicated to the Sun.

Hermes, Aphrodite and the Unconquered Sun- those were our patrons- and as often as not we worked in daylight.

I was impatient with the mystification, with the smoke and mirrors, the mind games. I cut that stuff back and cut it back until finally I was standing in an open meadow with the sun directly over head and a clear view in all directions.

Then I shouldered my scythe and left the field, shutting the gate behind me.

Clink!

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Moonlight is tricky. The sphere of the Moon is the sphere of illusion. Living only by the Moon can lead you into all sorts of trouble and confusion

My interest in Wicca was always about getting to the Truth. I'm not going to rubbish what I found in the Craft. I did a great deal of learning and growing. But eventually the search for Truth led me back out into the everyday world.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

Same here, and I think that is what is supposed to happen to Seekers on the Path. It isn't a butterfly thing- flitting from faith to faith, instead, it is a progressive thing: sifting the kernels of truth and insight from a practice, and integrating it into your life experience. The critical part is knowing when to move on.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's what I feel too.

I stayed with Wicca for a long time after it ceased to engage me because I had obligations to oyhers. It wasn't altogether a chore- I enjoyed doing circles and talking about the gods- but it was getting to be like watching repeats of a favourite TV show- I wasn't learning anything new.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

That is an excellent analogy- TV repeats. I need to learn new things- I am not content to run in place. Sometimes I take breaks from my studies in order to absorb what I've learned, but as soon as I do, it's time to learn more.

From time to time, though, it is helpful to take a 'refresher' course- to review things you've learned. It is interesting to see how your progress changes your perceptions of different concepts. I plan to do that with my Rosicrucian material- it'll allow me to revisit the concepts, as well as index and file my monographs in preparation to continuing my studies.

Life is a learning process. That's what makes it interesting.