Merry Meet All
This lesson caused me to think a lot about my life, and the life of people in general. It is harder to think in some cases of things you can do, rather than things you can�t. Five points does not initially seem like there are many guidelines to follow. After consideration of these points I have realized how much they encompass.
Well here are some things I thought I could do� The ethic of Constant Improvement says we must always strive to be better people. However it is much easier to say, �I will try to be a better person�, than it is to examine oneself carefully, and pick specific aspects to be conscious of improving all the time. Hence I must examine all my actions carefully in order to realize how my actions may affect others, or even myself. If I start seeing negative patterns then I can change them, which will make me grow as a person.
Help people and animals in need of some kindness. The Wiccan Rede says that we cannot do harm. The CUEW interpretation of the rede also says that we should strive to always be helpful. I generally try to help people if I can. I do not know if it is a major fault or not, but I am generally more willing to help animals than people. I believe that by just not harming others, but not trying to help them, I would not be living my life according to the rede.
Learn to see bad experiences as not something we regret, but as something that just happened. We cannot avoid problems in life, and if we did we would not learn any valuable lessons. Some people say that things that have happened to them are �unfair� and that why couldn�t it have happened to someone else. For me this would be living against the Ethic of Self-Responsibility. Along with taking the blame for our own actions, we should learn from any experience given to us. We are given challenges in life for a reason, and should strive to avoid saying �why me� when these events happen.
Living with the Divine, in all three aspects, is an amazing experience when we stop and think about how much we are surrounded and filled with it. Everyday I make sure that I think of the divine in some form. Many days at work a willy-wag-tail (which is a small bird if you don�t have it in America) comes and sits right outside the door and sings for about 2 hours. This bird always comforts me as it reminds me of how all-living things on earth come from the divine, and are the divine. I worship the God and Goddess in simple prayers, more than I do in full rituals. For me just watching a sunset, moonrise, beautiful clouds etc and thinking of the God and Goddess is worship. Seeing the divine in oneself is often the hardest concept to grasp. For me the best way to feel attuned to myself is through meditation. My favorite mediation for reminding how amazing life is involves visualizing parts of my body as if I am inside of myself. Almost like seeing a science documentary when they place tiny cameras inside the human body. Recognizing and being attuned to divinity is hard at times to accomplish, but I feel that it can be one of the most rewarding.
This is not really a complete list of how I see that I can live my life, but for me it reflects the most important aspects regarding the points of Wiccan Belief.
BTQ:I have always believed in karma, and have tried to see how it was affecting my life. However I did find it rather difficult to find �karmic warnings� that had happened in my past. After much thought, I finally came to a realization about a past event in my life. About one year ago my family did not approve of my path in life, hence I did not tell them how much I was studying or how much I had done. Through a local Wicca shop I had joined a study group and coven. My sister knew and approved of my path, but I lied to my parents each week about my location. I have always hated lying and kept thinking to myself that I was being extremely cowardly and rude by not telling people my true activities. As the weeks continued the High Priest made numerous comments that I found unacceptable as they were of a sexual nature. After two months of progressively worsening behavior I had to leave, as I feared for my safety. I ended up leaving the group as a result sexual harassment. The High Priest was terrified I�d go to the police, so he got there first and tried to take legal action against me, by saying it was me who made sexual advances. The police and lawyers refused to believe these allegations so I was not forced to go to court. However during this ordeal he rang my house, and sent letters to my home from lawyer�s offices. I ended up having to tell my family of my activities and true religion. For me this event was a karmic warning in two ways. It first made me tell the truth, as I should have all along. It also was a warning to be careful in whom I trust as I may end up in a worse situation if I am not careful.
This is kind of off the subject for this lesson but as I have been contemplating it all week I thought I�d mention it. Lately we have been discussing life philosophies in university classes. Along with karma my whole philosophy of life seems to be based on �balance�. I have been noticing most things in life must be balanced in order to live successfully. This is a short list of things I have been thinking about in reference to balance, the God and Goddess, light and dark, happy and sad, good and bad, work and play and right and wrong. Now some people say why have sadness, bad behavior and wrong actions? Why shouldn�t we all wish that we were happy, right and good from when we were born? My answer to this was that life would be pointless. We would not grow as people, or learn from mistakes we made. We all strive to live by the five points of Wiccan belief. Making mistakes in reference to these points is still needed for us to grow as people, and so achieves balance in the world. Anyway that was just rambling from the confused jumble that is my mind. I would not mind hearing others opinions on the subject if they had any.
Blessed Be Miw Sheri