From Sunday to Monday

On this blog I write what I think, what I feel, and occasionally what I’m told to write by the goddesses and gods I serve. Sunday’s post was part analysis, part rant and part prophecy. It challenged us to reclaim our sovereignty, to live according to our True Will, and to do what must be done no matter what.

On Sunday those words seemed inspiring and fulfilling. I was ready to conquer the world for Morrigan.

On Monday it all seemed a little vague and distant. The immediacy of the workplace and the material world came crashing in, diverting my attention first to the legitimate demands of my paying work (“doing what must be done”), then to the shiny trinkets and toys and power games of those whose compensation makes my engineer’s salary look like minimum wage.

And I felt my sovereignty slip away, just a bit. My grip on my right and obligation to fulfill my True Will loosened, just a bit. Not a lot, mind you – just enough to remind me that the pull of the mainstream world and its materialist values is very, very strong.

This is why daily spiritual practice is the most important thing you can do to reclaim your sovereignty and fulfill your True Will.

Prayer reminds me of what’s really important in my life – who and what I value, not what I’m told I should value.

Meditation quietens my mind and lets me hear the words of the gods and goddesses.

Walking reconnects me with the Earth, the Air, the Fire and the Water. It reminds me that my whole life isn’t lived inside my head.

Reading reminds me there are many gods and heroes and ordinary folk whose stories inform and inspire.

And writing forces me to think about all these things in an objective, organized fashion.

The more regularly I practice the tighter my grip grows on my sovereignty and the further down the path I travel toward learning and doing the things I’m called to learn and do in this life. The more regularly I practice the easier it is to acknowledge the fine things others have without becoming jealous, and without feeling like I’m somehow less because I don’t have them too. The more regularly I practice the easier it is to remember that when I chased those fine things I was miserable and they were never enough.

I have found great inspiration and fulfillment in my Pagan and Druid studies. I love leading ritual, writing and teaching and speaking, and being part of a community that stretches across the world. I love being in communion with the gods and ancestors, walking between the worlds, and those rare moments of mystical, ecstatic bliss.

But it is the regular daily and weekly and seasonal practice that makes all that possible.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go read. Taliesin and Ceridwen are calling me, again.