Just in Time

Lately I've encountered some roadblocks on my spiritual path. Rather than describing them once more, I'll put some excerpts here from an email I sent to my Wicca instructor.

I've been struggling lately in our courses with this idea that I'm going to do something incorrectly, or that I'm not going to practice Wicca the "right" way. In the introduction to "The Witches' Craft," Raven Grimassi mentions that the contemporary emphasis on self written ritual and practice does a disservice to students by not requiring them to learn what he calls the "basic ancient ways." He also stresses that learning the Craft is a journey that can be fraught with many challenges and frustrations, and by allowing students to follow their own intuition initially that they will not acquire discipline.

I know that it is important for a Witch to trust her own heart and speak with her own voice. I cannot say that I agree with everything Grimassi is saying. However, this has only added to my growing pile of doubt that I am not really doing all of this correctly- that my intuition is wrong. I'm also troubled to see this viewpoint out there in the body of work on Wicca. I respect other Wiccan's views on things, but I feel that this sort of attitude that the "old ways" are more genuine or something like that is rather elitist. Who can say how another person should communicate with the wind or the sky?

So that was my message, in part, to my High Priestess. She sent me back a wonderful encouraging response. I'll just share a couple sentences of what was a long thoughtful email:
"There is nothing but you, the earth, and the stars in the sky. There are no houses, no cities, no cars, no family. The earth vibrates through your feet and out into the heavens. When you close your eyes, everything around you disappears, and there is nothing between you and the rest of the universe. It is in this place that you work magick, move energy, and make changes. "

What a wise Lady.

After this, I was cruising the internet instead of working on school (my typical Sunday affliction!). I came across The Desiderata. This is a prose poem wrongly attributed for many years to an anonymous author, supposedly found in a church in Baltimore and dated 1692. Not so, rather it was written by Max Ehrmann from Terre Haute in the 1920s. I guess an Indiana lawyer isn't as exotic as the idea of some Renaissance genius penning the esoteric guide to human existence in a scrap of parchment and storing it in a book bound with vellum. Personally, I think the Midwesterner is more credible- less apt to be a drunk and with better personal grooming habits than your average Renaissance male.

This poem was also featured on Leonard Nemoy's album, "Spock Thoughts" of 1968. Don't let that dissuade you. They weren't really his thoughts. Although I have heard that Leonard Nemoy really could talk to pregnant wales. Yeah.....

So, um, anyway, here are the three concluding stanzas that spoke so loudy to me...

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Many people will tell you that when the student is ready, a teacher appears. Well, I think that a lot of the time when our soul hungers for words to make sense of things, we have but only to seek, to become quiet, and see if there isn't something speaking to us after all. I'm glad I read this today instead of Karl Marx, though that's on the books for this evening.

By the way, you can see the full poem at this link: http://hobbes.ncsa.uiuc.edu/desiderata.html