Saturday, August 25, 2007
Contemplation on Meaning
Life is not fair. Fair is a human concept and the cosmos doesn’t give one whit about it. Life straight up flat out is not fair. But it is purposeful and therefore, it is possible to both discover and create meaning in it. This is the purpose of humanity. We are the meaning-makers of creation. Human beings are resilient. We can survive almost anything except for meaninglessness. This kills our spirit. And when we live in a meaningless world it is because we have not exercised our Divinely gifted creative power, which is to forge meaning from purpose. This is the purpose itself of our Free Will. So that when the One looks at itself in the mirror that is our world of Creation, its reflection is not just a bunch of images—it’s a story.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Lammas Reflections
I know this is all so very late...but I do have some reflections coming from Lammas. Basically, it is this...
Back in Ye Olden Days...when things were not so good with a drought or the harvest (such as now) we might sacrifice a "king" in order to be an intercessor for us in the spiritual world. Willing sacrifice...not murder. And a connection was kept...tied to the community...I think through whoever his lover was. That's my feeling or intuition. This is an idea that is really not understood now. I think it's weird how people get totally freaked out by the idea that we would have someone who might sacrifice himself willingly to be an intercessor and save his people from starvation, but don't think it's weird at all for soldiers to "sacrifice" themselves by killing others and dying in violence. Society is strange.
So, this Lammas, before I could even understand the words (it took me a while to figure them out) I was compelled to learn "The Maid She Sat a Weeping." And then I was thinking about this and I was thinking that this is probably about the intercessory sacrifice. That's my feeling about it.
Steeleye Span has a lovely version...I think it's called "Once I had a true love." But they have some later verses and I think the first three are the only real ones that show up in most if not all of the versions.
The Maid She Sat a Weeping
Once I had a true love, but now I have none
Once I had a true love, but now I have none
He has gone and left me, gone and left me
Gone and left me in sorrow to mourn
Last night in sweet slumber, I dreamed I did see
Last night in sweet slumber, I dreamed I did see
My own darling jewel sat smiling by me
My own darling jewel sat smiling by me
But when I awakened, I found it not so
Yes when I awakened, I found it not so
My eyes, like some fountain, with tears overflowed
My eyes, like some fountain, with tears overflowed
Back in Ye Olden Days...when things were not so good with a drought or the harvest (such as now) we might sacrifice a "king" in order to be an intercessor for us in the spiritual world. Willing sacrifice...not murder. And a connection was kept...tied to the community...I think through whoever his lover was. That's my feeling or intuition. This is an idea that is really not understood now. I think it's weird how people get totally freaked out by the idea that we would have someone who might sacrifice himself willingly to be an intercessor and save his people from starvation, but don't think it's weird at all for soldiers to "sacrifice" themselves by killing others and dying in violence. Society is strange.
So, this Lammas, before I could even understand the words (it took me a while to figure them out) I was compelled to learn "The Maid She Sat a Weeping." And then I was thinking about this and I was thinking that this is probably about the intercessory sacrifice. That's my feeling about it.
Steeleye Span has a lovely version...I think it's called "Once I had a true love." But they have some later verses and I think the first three are the only real ones that show up in most if not all of the versions.
The Maid She Sat a Weeping
Once I had a true love, but now I have none
Once I had a true love, but now I have none
He has gone and left me, gone and left me
Gone and left me in sorrow to mourn
Last night in sweet slumber, I dreamed I did see
Last night in sweet slumber, I dreamed I did see
My own darling jewel sat smiling by me
My own darling jewel sat smiling by me
But when I awakened, I found it not so
Yes when I awakened, I found it not so
My eyes, like some fountain, with tears overflowed
My eyes, like some fountain, with tears overflowed
Done is Good
As of today, I am Dr. Hermione. WOO HOO!!! Sorry it has been a while since I have posted, but I have been very focused on becoming Dr. Hermione and finishing things up. What I have to say is: Done is Good. This has been my motto throughout.
There has been a certain amount of hurry up and wait, but I've been pushing hard. Now...on to the next adventure. I will be spending the next year trying to determine what I should be doing. I have been telling myself I wasn't going to worry about it until "IT" was DONE. Now that I am Dr. Hermione, Occult Librarian, I can begin this next academic year of thinking about what I am going to do.
So many, many possibilities. I am trying to figure out how to best be of service. What can I do to me of most use to the gods and the world(s). After all, there are many planes and many lives that we are interconnected with that are not necessarily apparent, but that we should be working with. We humans are "The Distracted Ones," as apparently we are known to some of the Fey. I think that is really, really funny. I think the most important use of our mental powers of discernment is to distinguish the Important from the Trivial. I know everyone always says to know the Apparent from the Real...but I think the other encompasses that as well. By the way, it isn't that I do this myself so well...but I am trying.
Here are some of the possibilities:
1. Stay at my current job where I have a decent salary, tenure, and can basically contain it to 40 hours a week and spend the rest of my time on spiritual activities including maybe publishing because I LOVE to write.
2. Try to swing a different position where I set up a Waldorf teacher training center within the context of a university specifically geared towards training PUBLIC school teachers in Waldorf style education and methods. Maybe an additional certificate or something.
3. Maybe with #2 or maybe not...try to establish a Waldorf Charter School in my area. We have broad choice rules and a lot of disadvantaged students.
4. Set up a parochial school for Witches based on a Waldorf model. That would be SO fun and is really tempting...but I'm not sure that there are really enough of us in this area to be able to support such a school. Wouldn't that be fun, though? A real education and a spiritual education for witches or maybe for pagans? Broaden it out.
5. Stay in my current field but pursue a higher level position. The danger there is that I will lose containment and...it just isn't my bliss.
So, those are the five options I'm kind of thinking about right now. I guess there is also the possibility of staying in my current job but teaching as an adjunct in another field...again, we would lose containment and I do need time to focus on my spiritual endeavors. What I really want to do is to have a job that directly supports my spiritual activities and where I can be of use. What I have right now doesn't get in the way of them...except for the time that it takes and, as a librarian, I have access to all the research materials I could want...but it also doesn't directly support it. We shall see.
So, that is my thinking of the moment. On to The Next Adventure!!!!
There has been a certain amount of hurry up and wait, but I've been pushing hard. Now...on to the next adventure. I will be spending the next year trying to determine what I should be doing. I have been telling myself I wasn't going to worry about it until "IT" was DONE. Now that I am Dr. Hermione, Occult Librarian, I can begin this next academic year of thinking about what I am going to do.
So many, many possibilities. I am trying to figure out how to best be of service. What can I do to me of most use to the gods and the world(s). After all, there are many planes and many lives that we are interconnected with that are not necessarily apparent, but that we should be working with. We humans are "The Distracted Ones," as apparently we are known to some of the Fey. I think that is really, really funny. I think the most important use of our mental powers of discernment is to distinguish the Important from the Trivial. I know everyone always says to know the Apparent from the Real...but I think the other encompasses that as well. By the way, it isn't that I do this myself so well...but I am trying.
Here are some of the possibilities:
1. Stay at my current job where I have a decent salary, tenure, and can basically contain it to 40 hours a week and spend the rest of my time on spiritual activities including maybe publishing because I LOVE to write.
2. Try to swing a different position where I set up a Waldorf teacher training center within the context of a university specifically geared towards training PUBLIC school teachers in Waldorf style education and methods. Maybe an additional certificate or something.
3. Maybe with #2 or maybe not...try to establish a Waldorf Charter School in my area. We have broad choice rules and a lot of disadvantaged students.
4. Set up a parochial school for Witches based on a Waldorf model. That would be SO fun and is really tempting...but I'm not sure that there are really enough of us in this area to be able to support such a school. Wouldn't that be fun, though? A real education and a spiritual education for witches or maybe for pagans? Broaden it out.
5. Stay in my current field but pursue a higher level position. The danger there is that I will lose containment and...it just isn't my bliss.
So, those are the five options I'm kind of thinking about right now. I guess there is also the possibility of staying in my current job but teaching as an adjunct in another field...again, we would lose containment and I do need time to focus on my spiritual endeavors. What I really want to do is to have a job that directly supports my spiritual activities and where I can be of use. What I have right now doesn't get in the way of them...except for the time that it takes and, as a librarian, I have access to all the research materials I could want...but it also doesn't directly support it. We shall see.
So, that is my thinking of the moment. On to The Next Adventure!!!!
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