Should one have a spiritual study? That\u2019s one thing.
\nShould one have a spiritual practice? That\u2019s another.<\/p>\n
Something basic, though, There\u2019s a saying among pagans, \u201cAs above, so below.\u201d It means there\u2019s no separation between this world and another higher plane. No line of separation.<\/p>\n
If there is a line of demarcation, it\u2019s right here in these words, saying \u201cno\u201d to the idea of being apart. So, having a spiritual study, or practice, at it\u2019s root sense, maybe shouldn’t be a separate thing, maybe it should be a life thing.<\/p>\n
Should I meditate? Should I pray? Who to, if. What does \u201choly\u201d or \u201csacred\u201d mean?<\/p>\n
A life thing.<\/p>\n
That out there, then. What study? What practice?<\/p>\n
There is an organization called The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. One of the things they teach is to look to your own ancestors ways of spirituality. If you are looking for a spiritual path, do that. I believe in the wisdom of the ancestors. For one reason, because it seems to be accumulative, so passing on wisdom is needed. Another is respect.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a cold power out there that wants to rip apart everything we hold sacred, every story of our ancestors, every picture or statue of our gods, every fairy gate. This is where everything comes down to a mirror, a breath, the world spinning round. It\u2019s reality. It\u2019s the gods. If you believe that spirit, or the gods, are here now, then you have to believe that we are in \u201cthat\u201d place, that we just need to open our eyes. It\u2019s not them being separate from this place, it\u2019s us being in, and part of, a spiritual realm. It\u2019s here now.<\/p>\n
Stories are wisdom, but here now is something more. Maybe sometimes it is the blade that parts our illusions, maybe simply a reminder to not go away.<\/p>\n
When I was younger I walked away, not from God, but my idea of god. Because it was hurting me and others. Now, and decades later, I\u2019m still committed to that spiritual side of life, but more trying to allow a framework.<\/p>\n
The Grandmothers say to follow the path of your ancestors, that\u2019s yours. That will be your spiritual path. Learn that. I say learn that first. \u00a0Remember, they\u2019re primarily talking to people who feel lost. They\u2019re talking to colonials who feel a guilt in their blood, and may believe in a cool \u201cotherness\u201d of the indigens around them.<\/p>\n
And they\u2019re talking from a position of oppressed. They\u2019re saying \u201cstop\u201d. And, in that, they are right. Stop taking. Stop seeing it as something outside yourself. But more importantly stop taking. There is a respect of culture that has to happen. It hasn’t. \u00a0In turning that around, we can right ourselves. I can see all that.<\/p>\n
But in my vision I also see the gods, and spirits of place in the here and now. \u00a0What gods will follow us into space? \u00a0There is no room for tribes on the International Space Station. \u00a0We need to grow up.<\/p>\n
I see a world where all spiritual paths exist and grow freely, not favored or mandated by a state, or popularity, or the latest correct thought. This would be a place where the paths who see themselves destroying all others are held in check. They have to be. That\u2019s the only way to stop the bloodshed. Rightness needs to die. There is a pathology of spirit that drives \u201crighteousness\u201d and the destruction of the other. It\u2019s the opposite of tolerance. It\u2019s the opposite of love.<\/p>\n
I can smell that world. It would be a place where people are free to be who they are. Where they can believe what they want.<\/p>\n
And what that means to me, is that, you can choose. Yep, I don\u2019t believe that your spiritual path is determined by birth. I don\u2019t believe that anyone, or any one people, own the \u201cright\u201d gods, or path. And spiritual teachers, when they are called to explore, should be able to go where they are called. We as adherents, need to confidently be ourselves enough to follow, or not.<\/p>\n
These are hard things, tough decisions to make, and questions to answer. More than anything why we need a study, a practice, in order to do these without hurting ourselves, or others.<\/p>\n
We have the right to be who we are, separate from our ancestors, to move on. No, I believe we have the responsibility to do so. This battle we are moving into, it\u2019s with ourselves.<\/p>\n
We need to figure out how we can stop consuming the earth we are on to the point of destruction. We\u2019re doing it. It\u2019s not an outside kind of analysis. It\u2019s us. Just like the spiritual realm isn\u2019t \u201cabove\u201d, with us \u201cbelow\u201d. It\u2019s here now.<\/p>\n
Where to start? Ask your grandmother. But you know what? If your grandmother isn’t around, or if you don\u2019t have access to what your birth records say you belong to? That\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n
No one gets left behind.<\/p>\n
Ask Grandmother, then follow your heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Should one have a spiritual study? That\u2019s one thing. Should one have a spiritual practice? That\u2019s another. Something basic, though, There\u2019s a saying among pagans, \u201cAs above, so below.\u201d It means there\u2019s no separation between this world and another higher plane. No line of separation. If there is a line of demarcation, it\u2019s right here … Continue reading “Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Ole Days”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[8],"tags":[5,4],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3UYCu-n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dabreez.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dabreez.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dabreez.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dabreez.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dabreez.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.dabreez.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32,"href":"http:\/\/www.dabreez.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23\/revisions\/32"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dabreez.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dabreez.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dabreez.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}