A Threshold Path (Poem)

Hey, Readers!

Long time no see, eh? I've been meaning to update, and of course there are several things I could have written about, I just haven't made the time in my busy schedule lately. Tonight, I got online intending to spend an hour or so answering messages and emails, and then watching a few videos. Well, a few hours later, I was still answering messages, and now I have a list of topics to mention next time I do a video.

One thing I will mention is the impetus for this post, which is that I received an email notification of a comment left here on my blog. The comment was letting me know that I have been added to the Pagan Blog Directory! And there is a brand new blog button on the sidebar of my blog to prove it. =) (Shown to the right, here.)

The directory was evidently lost, so it's being redone, so if you know of any blogs that used to be on it, please submit them to the directory so they may be re-added. Likewise, if you know of any that you would like to see on the list that may not have been before (I do not believe I was on it before, or if I was, I wasn't notified then), let them know! There are separate directories for websites and things like Facebook Pages, but this specific one is for blogs. And do use it to find others to follow!

As for the title of this post, I was prodded by the manner in which my blog is listed in the directory. The Witchy Stuff is listed under the category "Wicca." This may seem obvious to those of you who know me as a Wiccan, but it is less so to me, being the one living my path. Now is a good time to put down some thoughts I've been having for a while now, some of which I've expressed in the past, some which have gone unspoken, and some altogether relatively new. And, well, apparently it's going to be in poem form. Enjoy.

~

My path began with a Wiccan tilt, with Cunningham and Ravenwolf,
with mama's Native influence and my own love of this green Earth.
I read and studied, practiced, erred, and kept it secret for a while
Until I felt more comfortable with calling "Wiccan" my own style.
But I was young and all the Wiccans on the internet weren't fond
of my quite broken lineage and lack of ini-ti-a-tion.
They said I wasn't one of them, that my beliefs were not enough,
that I had to be taught, somehow, and if I didn't do that, tough.
But I, resilient, knowledge-lead, had some informants of my own
who gave me confidence to tread, and so I came into my own.
"I am a Wiccan," I would say, "though eclectic and solit'ry"
and over years a Wiccan Witch is how I have come known to be.
Yet over time, from year to year, my knowledge and experience grow
and less often am I comfortable with names by which I used to go.
I still have Wiccan beliefs, yes, and I intend to keep that part
of my young path, wherever I go, because it spoke to my young heart.
But as of late, the general term of "Pagan" more appeals to me.
Yet when I use it, I am sometimes struck by what the others see.
In arguments sometimes, when I attempt to hold a wider view,
speaking from my Universal tendencies and attitudes,
"You're only speaking from a Wiccan point of view," I now am told,
"That's the Wiccan way of things." Thus the verdict they behold.
And yes, I cede, I do come from a Wiccan sort of origin,
But can I never branch back out from somewhere I was not let in?
The traditional Wiccans never claimed me (so I never claimed to be one of them),
and now the general Pagans shame me, too much Wiccan, then again.
Not enough for the one extreme, but too much one for this, the other.
And where exactly does that leave me? On my own path, same as ever.
An in between is where I walk, a balance on the railroad tracks.
Balance is my major goal, and here I walk, a threshold path.
It's neither in nor is without, nor is it perfect dark or light,
it isn't kin or kind to yours, and it contains both "wrong" and "right."
Is it "Wiccan"? Who could know? Some say yes, and others, no.
The thing I'm sure of is that there is always forward left to go.
From one exit, another entrance. Another threshold left to meet.
And lifetimes hence from what's "complete." And miles to go before I sleep.

Blessings~
-C-

Working Witch

Hey, Readers,

As always, there are several topics I want to address here, but I've been so busy lately that I haven't had much time at all to sit down and write, make videos, or do much of anything that I usually do! So this is just a quick update to let you all know what's been going on that's keeping me from my online life.

Firstly, everyone probably knows by now (especially if you watch my YouTube channel) that I've been assistant-directing/stage managing a teen musical. Tech week for that show begins this Sunday, after which I will be there EVERY DAY for rehearsals and the shows next weekend.

Secondly, last week I acquired a job working at the Medieval Faire, selling runes! My employer is a musician, well-known to the faires around here, and he's recently re-opened his Runeworks business. My mother is friends with him on Facebook so she heard he wanted to hire a salesperson and got us in contact. He hired me last week and this past Saturday and Sunday were my first weekend ever as a vendor at the faire, rather than a patron. It was different in a lot of ways, but very fun, and I look forward to the next five weekends. Although it does mean that I can't attend Circle meetings or field trips we had planned, the faire is a great reason to miss a few things.

Between those two jobs and the fact that my boyfriend is home for summer break, I have been very busy. But add onto that one final thing, and you've got a crazy busy theatre-filled summer for me. Yesterday I learned that the group from my college (whence I recently graduated, in 2012) wants me back to work the summer theatre camp. I can't do all of it because of the show I'm already working on, but they want me to work the mornings. So my upcoming week looks like this:

• Early morning drive to campus (the first day)
• Be on campus working on theatre camp until early afternoon
• Drive to musical
• Rehearse/perform musical
• Drive back to campus
• Sleep on campus
• Wake up early morning and start camp again
• Repeat list from second entry

Busy, busy! And in these busy times, it's more than important to find some quiet time. I've enjoyed coming home to my boyfriend each evening after a long day of theatre, to have some dinner and maybe watch a movie, and then go to bed. There is no real back yard here, but there is some grass I can walk around in while on the phone. And I don't have all my personal items here yet, so I don't have an altar space or anything like that, but I still sing and chant in my car while driving to and from work, keep herbs hanging from my car visors, brake for animals sent by the Goddess, and of course, I constantly represent my faith in real life and online. I've been keeping up with messages on YouTube, and with emails, as well as having conversations with people in person about what I believe. A friend of mine recently learned through several conversations that I'm Pagan, and asked me to explain a bit about my beliefs. Many of my cast members have commented on my pentacle necklaces. The Medieval Faire is a great place to meet other pagans and generally like-minded folks, and the people I'm working with on the musical also have similar views (see previous post).

So no, I haven't been doing any ritual or spellcraft recently, owing largely to my hectic schedule, but that never means that I am not being an active member of my faith. I know that a lot of people often struggle with these times, thinking that they're slacking or not doing enough, so I hope this will be a reassuring thing for them. I am not only a witch when in circle, and odds are, neither are you.

Blessings~
-C-

Post-Solstice

Hey, Readers,

Once again, there are several things I want to talk about, and they keep piling up before I decide what to talk about and when. So I'll start with the first one I can think of and move on from there. Sometimes, it is best to begin at the beginning.

An obligatory post-solstice note. On the eve of the solstice, I spent hours of the day divining with my oracle cards. I wore a "witchy" outfit to rehearsal and got back to the house around 10pm. Grams asked me to fetch the mail, so I used that as an excuse to spend a few extra minutes outside in the dark--after which I composed this Tweet:

Click to view on Twitter

On Solstice Day/Litha/Midsummer, I spent most of the day on the warm, sunny porch, again working with my cards and generally soaking up the sun (not physically--wear sunblock!). On Sunday I had a Circle meeting where we were scheduled to watch a documentary about mythology and perform a Solstice celebration ritual. (I Tweeted a photo of my gold toned attire.) We ended up spending the first hour and a half of our meeting playing with the adorable foster kittens my friend is caring for, and then finally getting to the documentary a while later after some snacks. It was a History channel Clash of the Gods episode about Medusa, which certainly makes you view the gods in a different way. But after that, no one else seemed interested in doing a solstice ritual. Nothing formal was planned but I don't mind spontaneity, so I was hoping to get to do something. However, everyone else was content to just eat and chat for the next couple hours. So I'm very glad that before going to Circle, I went to a local park/nature reserve by myself, found a secluded spot in the woods off the main trail, and did a short devotion there. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten to do anything for the sabbat at all.

Oh, and afterwards it was still light out at 6:30pm, so I went to the lake by my old house where I had celebrated Litha last year at dawn, and where Willow resides. The beach has been grown over a lot by grass, and algae creeped along the water line so that I had to search for a section of water I could wade into. I shared freshly picked strawberries and blueberries with the fish, and left some for Willow, as well. It all made me think of the song we had listened to in church that morning--"Canned Goods" by folk singer, Greg Brown. This is the video of it that we watched during service.

~

Fast forward to Monday evening at rehearsal, and the director and I were walking toward the back door to get something from her car when we passed by the tech director. The director asked of him, "How was your Solstice soirée?" He proceeded to describe how he and his kids (two of my cast members) went to a show reunion party and then to the Observatory Park for the solstice event. Then he asked me how my solstice was. Mind you, I have not told anyone there that I'm pagan, though I do wear pagan jewelry every day, so if they know what it is, it's visible. No one's ever said anything, though. So I told him, I was supposed to go to a group celebration but we just watched a documentary instead and no one wanted to do a celebration, to which he responded, "Oh, TELL ME they didn't blow off an esbat for a documentary!" Not just everyone in the world knows the word "esbat." All in all, this summer working with the show has been a lot better than last year when the young kids always managed to work the topic of dying into the conversation, which was followed up by going to Hell, the devil, Satan, and so on. This year, I've received multiple compliments on my pentacles (I wore a few different ones over the past three weeks), heard about a cast member's love of Greek mythology and who her divine parents would be if she were a demi-god, and had a short conversation about everyone's solstice/esbat plans. The director has always randomly talked about solstices and full moons, all the years I've known her, and she wears a lot of crystal jewelry. But I never let myself assume that meant she was pagan/a witch/anything similar, whatever the term. And I was never aware if she knew that I was. But it certainly is an interesting feeling to have someone whose religious affiliation you don't know, ask you casually about your sabbat. Through years of being met with strange reactions, I got used to editing my statements so as not to startle people. I even said "celebration" instead of "ritual" when I described what I did, just to feel it out and see what was really going on. Might I live in a world where finally, a question like "How did ritual go?" is as commonplace as "What did you learn in school today?"

Click to view on Twitter

Blessings, and I hope you had a Happy Solstice~
-C-

Promises to Self (Yoga)

Hey, Readers,

One of the hardest things about being solitary is keeping your own schedule. If you work alone and something comes up, it's easy to put it off until another time or postpone it indefinitely, because at least you're not letting anyone else down, and you can justify it to yourself fairly easily!

In this case, I haven't been to Yoga in weeks. I only went to two classes so far, two weeks in a row, at the end of March and beginning of April. Last time I was there, I paid for the "new student" package of the next three classes--The one I attended that day, and two more. So I have two classes paid for that I haven't attended yet! This just means that whenever I get there again, the next two times I go are already paid. But after the last class I attended, I was extremely busy all the days they offer the particular class I attend. I could go almost any night and take a DIFFERENT class, but I really think the one I've been going to is the best for my level right now. The class is offered Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and Sunday mornings. Lately I've been doing other things on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and of course I'm in church on Sunday mornings. So I've just gone weeks without going back to class.

The good thing is that I have managed to practice Yoga at home during that down time. At least I can say that much! I didn't do it every single week, but some weeks I would do it multiple days as I felt like it, and others just for a few minutes since I had some time.

Tonight, I decided I would try to get to class again. The class has always begun at 6:30pm, so 5:15 came around and I thought I would have time to eat dinner, have some down time, and then head to class. But I checked the schedule on the website just to see if I could make a class later this week, in case I didn't make it today, and discovered not only that I still can't make the other classes this week, but the Beyond Basics class I usually attend has also been changed to 5:30pm. So I lost an hour, and I haven't eaten anything all day so I definitely don't want to go on an empty stomach. And there's no way I could eat enough in fifteen minutes and get there in time, besides the fact that you're not supposed to eat right before a Yoga class. So due to health reasons, I decided staying home to eat would be better than rushing to class, especially since the teacher is so intense, she'd have me working HARD. Not good on an empty stomach and low sleep.

Here comes the promise part. In order to feel like I'm not just making excuses over and over, week after week, I have to keep a promise to myself to practice on my own. If I've elected to stay home and eat, giving me the rest of the evening to myself (since my Pagan Perspective video is uploading), then I should ideally practice a little on my own this evening. I have ALL NIGHT to use, so I can break it up into just a few poses at a time with long breaks in between, or I can set aside an hour to play some meditative music and just work on as many poses as I can during that time. However I choose to do it, I should do it.

In the Women's Circle I attended last Sunday, for the girls in Coming of Age at church, we talked about the word "should" and how "You should not should on yourself." The word is problematic at best, especially when other people ask me what they should do. Well I don't know what anyone should do, and I don't presume to tell them what to do! But in this case, I don't think this is coming from outside myself. I don't think I feel that I should work a little on my Yoga tonight due to anyone else judging me. Why should I do it? Because I feel that it helps me, and I recognize that I haven't had the time, so I need to make the time.

If I want something to happen, I have to work for it. Whether it be Yoga, work, magick, relationships, or any other part of life. Why should I do this? Why should I do anything? Because I want to. Because I feel that it helps me. Because I am responsible for my own enlightenment.

Blessings~
-C-

13 Goals of a Witch, Interpreted

Hey, Readers,

I got a message on YouTube from someone wanting to know exactly what these 13 Goals of Cunningham's mean, in layman's terms. If you Google the subject, you'll find many pages where other people have given their personal interpretations of the goals. So I thought, why not post my answer to my blog, for future reference? My interpretations are not drastically different than anything I already read, which is good. It means we're all on the same track about what we should be doing! But I did find some things in other people's pages that I wouldn't have thought to say, and I also have some quotes and things I like that I haven't seen elsewhere yet. Without further adieu, the 13 Goals of a Witch, interpreted by yours truly.


The 13 Goals of a Witch


1) Know Yourself -- This one comes first for a reason. Have you ever heard the saying, in these or similar words, "For anyone else to love you, you have to love yourself first"? It's the same concept. In order to learn about the rest of the world, in order to make magick happen effectively, in order to create positive change in your life, even in order to have healthy relationships in general, you have to know yourself first. It all starts with YOU. So what does it mean, to know yourself? It means to know who you are, what you believe, what you stand for, what you like and dislike, what you feel deep in your heart about different situations, and most of all it means being HONEST with yourself about who you are. It means knowing your strengths and being proud of them, and also knowing your weaknesses so that you can work on them. In the story of Rumpelstiltskin, he is bested by the character who learns his name, because names hold power. Think of Rumpelstiltskin as one of your negative traits, something you know is part of you that you want to work on. It is much easier to defeat something if you can name it. (Back when exorcisms were still something Christian clergymen did, part of the process was learning the entity's name in order to banish it correctly. I read that recently and I would direct you to the source if I could but remember it, I read so much...) When you recognize your own short-comings and negative attributes, you can better see them coming and work on improving. But don't forget to recognize your positives, too. Give yourself what credit you deserve! This one is all about YOU, knowing who you really are, and being the best you that you can be.

2) Know your Craft -- This one may seem pretty obvious, but it's important to remember. This is about knowing your stuff! Strive to know as much as you can about the Craft in general, but also about your personal favorite ways to do things. Find out different ways to do the same thing, try them all out, and see what works best for you--YOUR craft. If you don't know yet what works best for you, that's a sign to test different ways. Observe or chat with other people to find out how they do things, and try it out. Read about new ideas, even when you have a pretty set way of doing things, just to freshen it up and stay sharp. Your tastes may change, or you may just add it to your growing knowledge of the craft and how people practice it. I think it's very significant that the word "your" is used here. Know the Craft, but also know your Craft.

3) Learn and Grow (sometimes written as just Learn) -- You've heard me say it before, and I will never mind saying it again. We are ALL, ALWAYS learning! Life in general is about learning. This path is one of learning and practice, trial and error, trial and success. It's called a "practice" for a reason. Learn from books, websites, and other people, but also remember that a lot of your learning comes from your own experiences, nature, and if you believe in a deity concept, from Deity, as well. By learning as much as you can, and accepting that there WILL always be more to learn, you ensure that you are constantly growing. Be ever a student, of this and all subjects. Even when we "master" certain things, there are always yet more things to learn along the way.

4) Apply Knowledge with Wisdom -- Okay, you did all that learning and growing and studying and practicing, and now you know a lot of stuff! Good for you! Now comes what may be the harder part: Using that knowledge wisely. Sometimes this can mean applying common sense. Other times, it might mean thinking creatively or outside the box. (You can almost hear your older family member, handing you a few dollars and saying, "Use it wisely...") Essentially, this goal is about remembering that knowledge alone is not always enough to work out there in the real world, whether it be in magick or mundane aspects. The knowledge is necessary, a separate goal in itself, but it's not much good if you don't know how to apply it.

One quote that I love, from the Tao Te Ching: "In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is acquired. In the pursuit of wisdom, every day something is dropped."

5) Achieve Balance -- This is what it's all about, man! Haha. Wicca especially, is a religion about balance. But even for non-Wiccans, balance is an important goal. On the spiritual side of things, we might be talking about the balance between Yin and Yang energies, masculine and feminine, light and dark, positive and negative, fire and earth or air and water, or between earth, air, fire, and water, or between elements of other cultures and belief systems, like earth, metal, water, wood, and fire. In Yoga, you might try to achieve physical balance, mastering a pose you couldn't do before. Gymnasts, dancers, and other athletes certainly strive for this kind of balance, as well. But it goes beyond even these things. You should strive for a balanced diet, a balanced meal, one of the other links I read mentioned a balanced checkbook! A balance between school and social life, or between work and play. A balance between caring for your family and caring for yourself. There are many, many aspects of our lives where we need balance, and this is why it's a goal. Not only for witches, but for everyone.

6) Keep Your Words in Good Order -- It may be a cliche, but it's for good reason: "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." That's just one part of this goal, in my mind. Keeping your words in good order means thinking before you speak, absolutely. And when you think about it, the best decision may be not to say anything at all. Cutting over into the Wiccan Rede, "Speak ye little, listen much." Maybe it's better to save your words for now. But another part of this goal is just finding the right words. It's not always appropriate or even helpful to remain silent, so keep your words in good order by thinking about what you're going to say and saying it in the best way possible. Many people speak before they've thought it through and may end up regretting their words, either immediately or later on. Save that trouble by being aware of the words you're using. Know why you use certain words. Use the best words for the purpose. This applies to speaking, writing, spellcraft, any time you use words to communicate.

7) Keep Your Thoughts in Good Order -- One of the other links I read switches this goal with #6, making the point that before we can keep our words in good order, we must first keep our thoughts in good order. Thus, think before you speak. I like to think of it that way, though I maintained this order for the list. Very similar to the previous, this goal is about keeping track of what we're thinking. I do a lot of spellcraft using positive affirmation. I believe that thinking positively affects our lives for the better. And I know for a fact that negative thinking breeds negative results. Without even getting into the psychology of it all, I think many people, witches and non-practitioners, can agree on the fact that the way we think influences our actions, our relationships, the way we interpret things that happen to us, and so on. Keeping your thoughts in check is extremely important, and also extremely difficult for some people, or even for all people at certain times in life. We think things before we even notice it consciously. I will not pretend for a second that I have this goal mastered. Remember, that's why these are goals. Know yourself, and be honest with yourself, enough to keep working on the goals that elude you. It's all a process.

Helpful Hint: You know how people knock on wood after saying or thinking something that might "jinx" a situation? I definitely do that. Always three times! This comes from knocking on trees to ask the spirits of the trees, or creatures living inside, for help. You can knock on wood as a reminder to yourself not to think a certain way. Or, you can do what my mother, Rev. Rose does! When she thinks or says something that she realizes is not the best order for her thoughts or words to be in, she looks up to the sky, sometimes points or gestures, and emphatically says, "Cancel that!"

A theatrical trick: Just then, I said "not to think a certain way." This is not the best order for my words! In the theatre, actors are given motivation for their character. As a director, one of the least helpful things is to tell an actor what NOT to do. Think about it, when someone tells you "Whatever you do, do not look at that lamp," it's going to be really hard not to look there! "Don't think about polar bears." Same! It's much easier to give an actor a positive motivation, such as "Look at the door," or "Think about water buffalo." So take a stage hint, and give yourself a POSITIVE motivation. That is, give yourself something TO DO, instead of trying hard not to do something. One of my old roommates had the personal mantra, "DON'T PANIC." I used to replace her notes to herself which said that, with the positive mantra, "BE CALM."

8) Celebrate Life -- Yay, Life! Spiritually speaking, we revere life. We revere the cycle of nature, which is the circle of life (cue The Lion King). Birth, life, death, rebirth. There are many different cycles, not all of which I can name in a short paragraph. This goal is just about that. Celebrate Life in all its forms. Celebrate your life, the life of others, the life of non-human animate beings, and even the life and existence of inanimate beings. Celebrate life rather than mourning death. Honor the Life of all things, all peoples, all places. Sometimes, when a baby cries and screams in a public place and other people are getting annoyed with the child and its parents, I tend to smile to myself remembering this goal. I have to smile, because yes that baby is crying right now and that may be distracting and sad, but that baby is ALIVE and doing what babies DO! And that's awesome! People in general can get really annoying and make you sad or angry or any number of negative emotions. Some people just really are not worth our time to worry about. But hey, that's just another part of life, too. Adversity. Experience. Life. Life is worth celebrating.

9) Attune with the Cycles of the Earth -- Okay, I just talked about cycles. But this goal is specifically about tuning into that cycle of nature I just mentioned, being on the same frequency, riding the same waves. Maybe even literally! Many pagan paths are nature-based. And even if not, our own lives follow the basic cycles we can observe in nature. So however you have to view it in your own mind, in order to make it fit your path and your way of seeing the world, attuning to nature is a great goal to have. You learn so much more about things when you focus on them, and really find them interesting. The Earth continues in its revolutions and orbit no matter what we're focusing on, but when you tap into that energy yourself, and become an active part in the cycle, that is so much more. Don't let the world just go by without you, under the radar, doing its own thing. Make it part of your thing, happening with you, not to you or despite you. You are a part of Nature, and you live on the Earth (presumably?). You're a part of this. Be an active participant.

10) Breathe and Eat Correctly -- If you follow the Wiccan Rede (I say if because I do hope that non-Wiccans read this, and I truly believe most of these goals apply to many more types of pagans/witches, and even to completely non-magickal people, and all the goals apply if you think of them in your own context), then you may see this goal as being an essential part of following that advice to Harm None. Harming None starts with the Self. This goal is so simply stated, but so hard to do for a lot of people. It is just about taking care of yourself, for you are your greatest asset, your most prized possession. Staying healthy and working toward that actively is a necessary goal for anyone, but on a pagan path it extends to our non-physical body, and affects our practice. It may also mirror our belief. If you believe in taking care of Nature, you are part of Nature and should therefore take good care of yourself, too. If you like meditation (more on that soon), then breathing correctly is important for your health but also for your focus, intention, and relaxation. Whatever your reason is, this goal is about caring for yourself, and is a very important goal.

11) Exercise the Body -- Remember all that stuff earlier about reading, learning, studying...? That's a lot of exercising for your brain! But unless you run back and forth to the library, that stuff doesn't necessarily take care of the rest of you, namely, your physical body. For some people this is very difficult, and personal conditions always vary. But quite simply, that's the point of this goal: Remember that working out your brain is great, but you cannot neglect your body. Your physical being is still YOU. A part of you. Your vessel in this realm, if you like to think of it that way. Your physical body is just as important as your mind and spirit, which is why we frequently talk about the three together.

12) Meditate -- There are so many ways to meditate, and so many purposes for meditation. You might meditate to relax or to clear your mind, or you can also meditate to focus and work out a problem. Meditation involves practice in correct breathing, posture, focus and concentration, maybe also visualization, practice in receiving messages auditorily or in other ways... Basically, since there are so many ways and reasons to meditate, everyone can do it. You just have to find the way that's right for you. Some people meditate while walking or driving, often subconsciously. We get focused on a single task and part of our mind wanders and goes through different streams even while our conscious mind remains completely alert to the task at hand. This is why I have often found myself snapping back from a meditative state while driving, even knowing full well that I was at no point ever unaware of the road or unfocused on driving safely. When I was in high school concert band, we played the same songs so many times that during class and even in concerts, I would find myself ending a piece, not remembering having played ANY of it because my mind was in a meditative state, yet knowing that I had played the entire piece accurately and with complete attention from a different part of my brain. My point being, anyone can meditate, and most people probably DO meditate without even knowing it. Meditation doesn't always have to be sitting in the lotus position with zither music playing in the background, or with incense burning and someone gently intoning the instructions for what you should be seeing right now. I think many people shy away from meditation thinking it's not something they would like, or would want to do. But I posit that there is a way for everyone, and the benefits of meditation are multiple and varied, so it's a good goal to strive toward.

13) Honor the Goddess and God -- Obviously, the way this goal is written makes it the most belief-specific. In a Wiccan context, it's pretty self-explanatory. Honor the Goddess and God in your own way, respect them, and respect them by respecting yourself, for you are their child, their sibling, their lover, their friend. Give them a place in your rites, in your heart, in your mind, and in your life. Thank them for what they have given you, what they've done for you. Thank them and know that they are (t)here. If you're not Wiccan, but are some other sort of Theist, this goal can easily be thought of as honoring whatever Force or Form you do honor and revere. For my mother, this goal might be simply "Honor God." For other polytheists, maybe "Honor the Gods." For even me, beyond God and Goddess I usually refer to what I feel is the ultimate connective power, that which the Goddess and God represent to me, which the energy of the Universe itself, Universal Energy. I may choose to instead think, "Honor the Universe," or even "Honor Your Connection with the Universe" which would mean my relations with other people and things on this earth as well as the over-arching concepts of the Universe at large. The final principle of Unitarian Universalism is "respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part." That could easily be thought of as this last goal. And if you're a non-theist, atheist, agnostic, or some other such term, think of this goal as being about whatever it is that you do believe in and hold dear. Maybe you believe, above all, in Truth. Honesty. Friendship. Loyalty. Maybe you want to Honor Honor. Maybe it's Family. Love. Humanity. Not everyone has religious faith, or even a spirituality, but people still generally hold something very close to their hearts. Something personal, a code they choose to follow. That's what this goal is about.


Thank you all for reading, and I do hope it helps not only this questioner, but those who have wondered about these goals in the past, and also those who will find it in the future. Do read other people's interpretations of the same goals to get a different feel, and try writing out what the goals mean to you. I will put some links at the bottom, to the two other pages I read (which I mentioned here), and there are many more online for you to find.

I wish you luck and light on your journey.
Blessings~
-C-


Here are some other people's interpretations:
--http://www.thewiccanway.org/13goals.html
--http://www.angelfire.com/ma/cyrannahome/goals.html

Enlightenment Road

Hey, Readers!

Sometime last year, my mother gave me yet another wonderful gift: a small box of cards, labeled "Words of Wisdom from His Holiness the Dalai Lama." She got the set from a friend and thought I would be interested in it. She knows me very well! I immediately read the biographical information about the Dalai Lama on the first card, learning a lot that I hadn't known before just because I never really researched him specifically. Then I decided to look at one card each day. I kept that up for a while, but of course missed a lot of days, as well. Now, I change to the next card whenever I remember or feel the need to. Sometimes one message is necessary for more than one day.

My "Words of Wisdom" card for the day.

Today, I switched the deck to show the next card in the stack:

"YOUR ENLIGHTENMENT RESTS ON YOUR OWN SHOULDERS."

My enlightenment rests on my shoulders.
Your enlightenment rests on yours.

This is a very important thing to remember. It is not Enlightenment (capital E) that rests on you, only YOUR enlightenment. It is personal and individual. No one else is responsible for our own personal journey to enlightenment, whatever that means for us. And likewise, we are not responsible for anyone else's journey. Each of us will get there in our own way, in our own time.

Luckily, we can still help each other along the way, sharing ideas and insights and experiences, and we will and DO benefit so much from each and every person we encounter. This is wonderful and beneficial to all involved. The past several weeks at the UU church I attend have been centered around Buddhism, the basics of the beliefs/philosophy and how we can incorporate them into our own lives. I really like the unison Chalice Lighting we have all said each week, and I think it applies here:

"May no one who encounters us ever have an insignificant contact. May the mere fact of our meeting contribute to their fulfillment. May we be a protector of the helpless, a guide to those traveling the path, a boat to those wishing to cross over. May we be a lamp for those in darkness, a home for the homeless, and a servant to the world."   -Shantideva, 8th cent. Buddhist spiritual master and mystic

A Unitarian Universalist "Flaming Chalice"
Photo by Nancy Pierce, from UUA.org

For those unfamiliar with Unitarian Universalist practice, the Chalice Lighting is whatever words are said to accompany the physical lighting of the Chalice, a symbol of UU faith. It has a specific look in most cases (the photo at left shows a traditional style), but can be any style of lamp or flame. At my church, the Chalice is a stout pillar candle sitting in a large, shallow ceramic bowl on a stand. The bowl/stand itself is a work of art, clearly handmade though I don't know by whom.

The words said vary from week to week, but always reflect the idea of the congregation being a light, illuminating something for ourselves and each other and the world. So for this Buddhism series, the minister chose that quote and chose to have us all recite it. (The first week, we were also making scarves for the homeless, making our position as "a home for the homeless" that much more relevant. I'll write about that another time.)


The Dalai Lama's words are important to think about. This past Sunday at church, we focused on meditation, and this card's simple message could be a great mantra. Shantideva's words are also poignant and meaningful. While these two ideas may seem contradictory--one saying it's up to you, and the other desiring involvement in other people's journeys--they really do work together. We can and should be helpful in other people's lives, and we should strive to make every meeting and connection a positive one for all parties involved and for the world at large. And that striving to positively influence others is part of developing our own personal journey to enlightenment. My personal enlightenment absolutely includes leaving positive impressions on everyone I come into contact with, as well as learning from those who can leave a positive impression on me in return.

I'm aware that this sounds a lot like the cycle of Selflessness-to-Selfishness that my undergrad history class discussed in relation to Saints and other religious figures. The idea is that although people are being selfless, putting themselves out there as servants of God, it is also because the work makes them feel fulfilled or promises them a good afterlife. Therefore, the more selfless their work, the more selfish they are, and in being selfish they work harder to be selfless for other people. It's impossible to tell exactly where in this cycle they lie, because it goes around continually. So yes, this topic sounds a bit like we're being selfish, but that makes sense. Of course my own enlightenment is about me! Yours is all about you, too! It is self-centered, by nature, in the most literal sense. Our journey is centered on our Self. It has to be. If we do not put our own enlightenment into our own hands, who will? No one else is responsible. Other people can help, and I could name so many people right now who have been and continue to be instrumental in my journey! But it should not offend them, nor should I feel that I am offending them by saying, that when it comes right down to it, we are all responsible for taking action toward our own Truth, our own Enlightenment.

"YOUR ENLIGHTENMENT RESTS ON YOUR OWN SHOULDERS."

It doesn't mean that we can't assist others, or that we should ignore others by focusing resolutely on ourselves. It simply means, to me, that I have to remember one thing: If I desire to be Enlightened, then I have to make that effort. It's not up to the people who help me along my path to make sure I reach Enlightenment. I have to make the effort, put in the energy, make the changes myself. I already know that my personal Enlightenment Road passes by many areas where I help others and they help me. But I also know that I've already had to explain to some people that THEIR personal enlightenment/journey/spiritual experience is not my responsibility. I can lend a hand, give ideas, and share what I personally have experienced, but that cannot and will not replace someone's own experiences. I can write as much as I want on here, or make as many videos as I want sharing what I have learned, but that will never substitute for my readers or viewers having their own epiphanies. (And knowing how great those moments are, I would never dream of taking them away from someone!) Similarly, I can seek advice from my spiritual friends, but it only supplements my own path. I have to do the work of thinking about their advice, ruminating on it, trying things out, and figuring out how it applies to me. And I believe it is the same for you, and for everyone.

Paths cross. People walk together. One long, wide road is made up of many smaller, overlapping paths. Whether moving forward in a crowd, or taking another route utterly alone, you are on your path and no one else's.

Blessings~
-C-