It's time to talk about obstacles.  I know I've talked about them before, but it's time to discuss them again.

You've seen what I've been talking about in the last few episodes, and the result is inevitable: someone, somewhere, is going to think "it didn't work."  And it is amazing when they ask why it didn't work, the ignorant will give all sorts of pseudo-reasons, generally in either the category of "you aren't good enough," or the infamous "God's will."  And of course, there could also be "God's time" and "God's higher plan" (and what did he have to be high on to make such a plan).

Take a look at the obstacles that I mention here, and you'll see that they all have one thing in common: The Divine, by whatever name or names, is not involved in them.  That is because The Divine wants you to have that which you want, need, and love.  Unfortunately, some people think that they are doing The Divine's work by speaking as if they actually knew what The Divine is thinking.

And there's a way to deal with obstacles.  And, there's a way to recognize what the situation is and move appropriately. 

And with this, you might really be equipped!

Blessed Be!

With this episode, we'll take the previous one to one of its logical "next steps."  I'll also use it to give an answer to one of the questions which every Pagan or Wiccan podcaster has already addressed at least twice, and which every teacher of The Craft probably addresses weekly.  That question is the perpetual one: "Why are there so many primers and so few advanced books?"

A major part of the answer to the question lies in the very nature of our path.  What is the main difference between your Book Of Shadows and either the Maryknoll Missal or the Book Of Common Prayer?  What would your most powerful book begin with - or as?  And where is the pen that can write the most powerful book you can ever have?

But it doesn't end there.  Let's never forget balance.  There needs to be balance.  In the same manner as I enjoy pizza but know better than to have pizza for three meals a day, there needs to be balance in peoples' spiritual lives, too!

And so, let's examine how to step beyond the bookshelf.

Blessed Be!

Snatching Excitement From The Jaws Of Dullness!  Now, there is a topic that most of us would at least like to relate to.

Where would we be in technology if fewer elementary school teachers had used math drills as a punishment?  And had more actual interest in science?  I recall how Miss Lauer, my third grade teacher, managed to make mathematics repulsive to me.  We had the little rhyme "Miss Lauer is sour" for a reason. 

And where our spiritual learning is concerned, how much of our earlier (and even later) learning was so concerned with the form that the substance was almost entirely forgotten? 

We got drilled on memorizing the words to prayers, on when to bow our heads and close our eyes, and even how to fold our hands (should the right thumb or left be on top?), but did anyone bother to consider telling us in plain English what the words to the prayers meant?  Or what the particular exercise was supposed to accomplish?  No, we just learned to recite "la-te-da-te-da-te-da", in some cases while Sister Sweathog hovered over our heads with a brass ruler in her hand!

I admit to being lucky.  Instead of being dragged into a Catholic school, I walked into an Episcopal church on my own feet, and the priests I met were a better kind than most you'd meet today.  And they taught me the substance, and let the form fall into place when it came along.  And so, I came to love and find meaning in something that so many people learned as, in essence, an empty drill. 

And so, let's see what it might be to reclaim something that was made into a hollow rote drill, and let's make it exciting!

I'm telling you how I'm going about it with something that I am reclaiming.  And, I'm giving you some specifics.

So, what might you do?  Find something that you can reclaim, and reclaim it for yourself.

The possibilities are limitless!

Blessed Be!

Just like we did a few Sabbats ago with Yule, let's do a retrospective on Litha.

As Wiccans, we have a special advantage with our Sabbats.  Our Sabbats are in a cycle, with each Sabbat having an influence on each other Sabbat.  And the end result is that there really is no such thing as a Sabbat being "over" in the same manner as Christmas is "over" on December 26th.

Sometimes in the mundane and Christian calendars, a holiday being "over" can really be felt.   It's not that way with a Sabbat.

And at Litha, we can ask some of the same questions we can ask about life itself: where am I, where have I come from, and where am I going?  Then again, the cycle of the year does mimic the cycle of life, doesn't it?

And what can we see? 

Our ancestors, most of whom had a closer relationship with the land than we get to have, looked back at the planting and nurturing, and saw at this time the crops and herds growing in the fields and pastures.  They knew what they wanted to have when the olast harvest was over at Samhain.  And from Litha they could look at what has been done and guage what needed to be done in order to arrive at Samhain with what they wanted to arrive with.

Let's look, and see how everything weaves together.

Blessed Be!

It's Litha, and we're celebrating!

It has many names besides Litha.  Summer Solstice is one other such name.  If you want to know the other names, go look. 

There are many ways to look at Litha, but here I'm going to offer one that seems to fit my situation right now.  Litha affords us an opportunity to look back on what we have accomplished, and to look forward to what is yet to be done.  A mid-point to look both ways, if you will.

This is entirely appropriate for me right now, because my Mom passed away this past week.  That means that for the first time in my life, I am without parents.  My real Mom, Deloris, the one who gave birth to me, died when I was 10 years old.  My Dad married Peggy when I was 12 years old, and she finished the job of being the Mom to raise me.  My Dad died three years ago and from that time my roof has also been Peggy's roof.

Two moms and a dad have passed on.  Even if I didn't need them to the degree that I once did, even when Mom (Peggy) may have been more in need of me than I was in need of her, the feeling of permanence, of "roots" means some feeling of stability in an unstable world.  And now, I'm the one everyone looks to for stability.

And so yes, this is the time at which I really need to look back at what has been and look forward to what I need to bring about.

And that makes this a real Litha.  And so we celebrate the Sabbat with a ritual.

Blessed Be!

In the space of a week, we in the US have two occasions which celebrate the masculine.  At least, those of us who are Wiccans and Pagans have such a double-opportunity.  One is Father's Day, which in the US is always a Sunday in June.  The other is Litha, the Summer Solstice. 

Litha celebrates the full maturity of the god who was born at Yule and who will be dying at Samhain to be born again at the Yule which follows Samhain.  He came of age at Beltaine, but this is his full maturity.  In terms which most Americans will appreciate, it means that while he could buy his own drinks at Beltaine, at Litha he's matured enough to not get "carded" anymore. 

There are those who criticize Wicca and Paganism for supposedly over-emphasizing the feminine.  It is true that there are those who might not have bothered with balance, but it is also true that it takes a goddess to give birth to a god.  And those whose idea of the Divine is "A white man in the sky keeping score on you," might see any thought of the Divine including the feminine as being overboard.  But it seems to me that there is a need for both.  And this is the time of year when the god is in full maturity.

What a perfect time to have a celebration of the most important role which a god or a mortal man could have!

And so, let's look at that and celebrate it!

Blessed Be!

And what, would you imagine, is the most censored subject in contemporary society?  If television is any indication, the most censored subject is death.  Yes, death - even more so than sex.  And I think it fair to say that experience dealing with the current mundane world might demonstrate that fact.

Most folks readily acknowledge where babies come from, and that it's not from the stork or a cabbage patch.  But what about where old folks go? 

On TV, you'll see death being a part of war, western, and crime dramas, but then it's the "other people" that die.  In the family-oriented shows, most of the acknowledgment of death is when someone is dressed in black because they had just been to a funeral of someone who was never on the show.

In the movie "Braveheart," there is a profound quote: "Everyone dies, but not everyone lives."  That is true.  Nothing is more utterly unavoidable than death. 

And so, it might well behoove us to acknowledge it and get some understanding of it, from what genuine knowledge is available.  If you look, you will find some available.  Not a whole lot, but as much of a peek as we'd be able to handle. 

Blessed Be!

Last time, we spoke of Indiana Jones, the fictional hero archaeologist and how he relates to your own spiritual journey.  All that having been said, how about going on your own exploration?  The fact that you're not Indiana Jones or a Schliemann (in real life) doesn't have to hold you back.  Neither does the thought that your travel opportunities might be limited.

First off, it needs to be understood that a lot goes on before any archaeologist gives any thought to packing any bags.  It's always a good idea, after all, to have some idea of where you are going and what you might be looking for.

And what are you looking for?  I know what quests I've been on, and I also know the quest I've been on for the last two years.  Or has it actually been most of my life?  No, in the last two years, I've explored something that has been a major part of most of my life.

You might be surprised at the tools available to you.  And you might be surprised at what you find.

If you are Pagan, Wiccan or Gnostic, you have the opportunity to re-discover what our spiritual ancestors knew.  And if you aren't, you can still find what's at the root of things.  And never lose sight of the fact that you might be dealing with something that took your ancestor many years to learn how to deal with.  And yes, common sense is a good tool, too!

There is much waiting to be found!

Blessed Be!

So, what does Indiana Jones have to do with your spiritual quest?

Perhaps more than you know.  I do know that I was surprised at how much he had to do with my own spiritual quest.  It was only when watching some TV shows concerned with how his latest movie relates to his earlier shows that I noticed some facts that really got my intention.

Notice how the main subjects of Indiana Jones' quests are physical objects which either are, or are related to, something which an aspect of The Divine did for the sake of humankind - or at least the portion group of people withing humankind which that particular aspect of The Divine was caring for.

Notice also how the people who oppose Indiana Jones do an excellent job of embodying a definition of evil.  After all, what else is most evil other than someone (or several someones) perverting something good to fit a greedy agenda? 

And that is merely the beginning.  Indiana Jones is just as much of a frail mortal as you and me.  He might be skilled with a handgun and a bullwhip, he might be fluent in Hebrew, Coptic and Hindi, but he can't speak a word of Hovitos if his life depended on it (it almost did), he can't figure out how to fly a plane, and he becomes a total wuss whenever any kind of snake appears.  But whether we agree with his ideas of right and wrong or not, he is true to what he believes.  And he has respect for all aspects of The Divine, whether it be El Shaddai of the Ark Of The Covenant, or Shiva who gifted people with the lingam.

There is much to discover in Indiana Jones, and some of it you might be able to use on your own spiritual quest.

Blessed Be!

Open eyes are very nice to have, especially if you are looking for something. 

And a statement like that is perhaps reminiscent of the time when Mahatma Gandhi was asked his opinion of Western civilization.  His reply was: "That would be nice."

It is a good idea to have eyes open when looking for something, but sometimes that is easier said than done.  There are always the people who want to mind your business for you and tell you what you are seeing.  And there are the false leads that look like what you are seeking but are not.  And then there are the distractions which try to get you off of your path.  And then, of course, there's the situation in which you are looking at what you are seeking, but you don't recognize that what you are about to overlook is what you've been after all along!

Of course, there are those folks who don't even know that there is something to look for.  But they're not likely to be listening to a podcast like this.

I will admit that I've never had a burning bush want to discuss something with me, and I've never had a heavenly lady, angel, goddess or god suddenly appear and introduce herself/himself and give advice.  But that does not mean that I might not occasionally hear from The Divine or from someone who has gotten to be much closer to The Divine than I am right now.

On my own spiritual quest, the most major discoveries have not been accompanied by a "Eureka," but more often by something to the effect of "Well, DUH!"

And so, something on the subject of open eyes.

Blessed Be!