It's a couple of days early, but Samhain is just around the corner and with it, the debut of the new Old Ways site. No, this isn't like the previous updates to the site. Old Ways has not only been completely redesigned, it's been significantly expanded. The new site is currently 250 pages in length and contains 140 photographs from all aspects of my path. There's everything from a guide to sacred sites with pictures of every location I've ever worked with to photographs of otherworldly footprints that came out of the ceiling and walked down a bedroom wall.
If you've been with Old Ways for awhile, you've heard me talk about faerie groves and sea caves, about groves of awakened trees and a great number of mystical experiences. Want to see them? Not only do I write extensively but I'm also an exhibited photographer and tend to take a camera with me wherever I go. In addition to the series of photographs focusing on the footprints coming down the wall (which, admittedly, is one of the more mystical things I've captured on film to date), there's a photograph of my footprints disappearing off of a beach during shamanic work and photos of rituals that have been done in my world. Essentially, I've been given the green light by the spirit world to share everything with you - so I'm going to do my very best to do exactly that.
In an interesting bit of timing, I've also been invited to begin doing a great deal of work directly with the fae. Interested in seeing the mystical side of the Craft? I'll be sharing stories and photos of a hidden faerie nursery (where new nature spirits enter our world) in a place so magickal that flowers bloom there year round (even through the snow) and the nurturing life energy is so strong that some of the trees are already getting their green spring buds - yes, at the end of October here in North America.
The schedule for the first year of The First Cycle will also be online and the course itself will run through August 2009. Articles and The First Cycle will continue to be distributed through the email edition of Old Ways, but there's also a great deal of Web-only content, mostly because it's supported by a substantial amount of photography. Every other Saturday, I'll be offering a segment called "All Around Us," that offers the world through a shaman's eyes and as captured by my camera. I'm offering a monthly special feature on sacred sites, accompanied by a substantial number of photos, that will finish its initial run in August 2008 and will then be replaced by a special feature on teaching the Craft to the younger generation.
There are 138 new pieces scheduled for the site over the next twelve months, which is in addition to my almost daily blog and any new experiences and rituals that I'll be doing in that period of time. And no, I do know what I'm getting myself into. One of the reasons why things have been relatively quiet on this end is that I've been writing a massive chunk of this material in advance. Trust me - the site, which can be found at www.oldways.com, is worth your time to check out and come back to on a regular basis.
And it all begins October 31.
Now on to your mail.
Mel greatly enjoyed the latest lesson of The First Cycle, "Energy from Physical Sources." Thank you so much for your compliments. They were extremely kind and really moved me. You may be interested to know that the next installment of the course, "How to Craft a Ritual," will publish on November 13. We're only three lessons into a three year journey together. There's much more to come!
A humorous perspective on karma (which was also the subject of the most recent article, "Why I Don't Believe in Karma"), was sent in from RavenLunaSea, which brought a smile to my face and put a chuckle in my heart. "I like believing in karma. It's a great way to deal with stupidity that seems to abound in the world today. Someone does something ignorant or stupid and I don't have to do a thing to 'get' back at them. Karma will deal with them. Did I mention that I'm getting a bit lazy at carrying grudges?" RLS offered that with tongue in cheek, one of the advantages that ages brings. Thank you for your email. It's always a treat to hear from you.
Tom offered a more pragmatic approach. "I've always thought of 'karma' in terms of the actions we take that change ourselves or that push the world nearer to or farther away from a place we'd want to live in." That's actually a very valid tool to use in our personal growth. The reality of the situation is much more complicated than what can be captured in a single article and is something I may address in more detail at a later date. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the topic.
Hawthorne, a dear sister in the Craft and one of my favorite pagans, wrote in with a question, something that I greatly encourage. (If you have something you'd like an answer to, drop me a line and I'll do my best to address it in a future installment of Magickal Correspondences.) Referencing the article, "Rules of the Road," she asked, "It seems like there is a tension in pagan teachings between an emphasis on comprehending things at a deeper level and one where knowledge equals power. The extreme of the first is that you plunk yourself down somewhere and groove with the universe, no further work on yourself or on the world being necessary, and the second where you have memorized the ingredients for 5,000 spells but have yet to attempt any. In the forward where you emphasize 'big picture' and 'holistic' perspectives and 'letting go of specifics,' I was wondering how we do this without getting stuck in a rut? That is, in a beautiful, glowing-white, peaceful rut where it all just, like, flows dude..."
The concept of the threefold Goddess (Maiden / Mother / Crone) and the dualistic God (Oak King / Holly King or "Light" and "Darkness") provides us with numerous archetypes and mirrors for reflection and growth. That may seem obvious at first glance, but at this point of my path I could teach for an entire moon on just those two concepts and scarcely scratch the surface of what is offered there.
Each of the deities represents part of human existence. The Goddess represents a journey from acorn to oak tree. We begin as a Maiden, find ourselves in the role of a Mother, and assume the mantle of a Crone. We typically become aware, have change thrust upon us, and accept the new archetype we've become. It's exploration, the gathering and cultivation of knowledge, and the teaching and passing of the matured knowledge on to a new generation. For those of us hailing from a Western culture, the concepts that the Goddess offers are typically the easiest to connect with and understand.
But your question can best be answered, not by the Goddess, but by the God. At first glance, the God seems to be a contradiction. How can something be both light and darkness? Life and death? Summer and winter? What's more, how can WE be all of those things?
Imagine that the space you're finding your groove in is a watering hole on the African savannah and you aren't a pagan, but a lioness. You aren't feeding your soul, you're feeding your body. There are days you can chill by the watering hole, waiting for your four-legged steak dinner to walk right up to you. But, to survive, you must also recognize the dry seasons and know when it's time to leave the watering hole and go out and seek your prey.
That's one of the reasons why I push the whole Learning to Listen thing so passionately. Sure it teaches you to become aware of the flow of energy around you. Typically you develop a deeper connection with the natural world. A lot of students even find that they start opening to the spirit world by doing nothing more than this exercise.
As you begin to see the flow of energy around you, patterns begin to emerge. You watch as one season flows into the next. You're a witness to the way that flowers sprout, bloom, and die. The birds return, build nests, and a fly away again with a new generation in their wake.
One of the reasons why there are no pagan scriptures is that the world around us is our Bible. What we see in the world around us mirrors the world within us. And as we learn to awake to the energy and patterns in the world we live in, we also open to the energy and patterns of our own spiritual paths.
At the beginning of this process there is, quite honestly, a bit of stumbling around and trial and error. But this is perfectly fine - when we begin something new we're mirroring the energy of the toddler Maiden, finding our balance, taking a step or two, before falling once more. But if we keep at it, we'll learn to walk, then run, and then from there, who can say?
The big thing to remember is that we're not hear to simply chill into a groove and Zen out all day. This is School. If we expect to move on to the next level, we need to embrace our lessons, do our work, and be responsible with our paths and our own energy. This requires us to spend some time with our heart and our spirit, discovering who we truly are and honing instincts to know what is right for us.
Combining these two approaches is imperative. We discover who we are and become aware of the patterns around us. Doors and opportunities present themselves that are appropriate for our growth and we step through those doorways and embrace the opportunities. Repeat endlessly.
The whole groove thing is useful for two things. One, it helps us recharge, recenter, and renew our passion - all of which is just as important as the work we do. Two, it's a doorway to concepts we'll look at later (most notably shamanic journeying) that can provide us with a wealth of insight and knowledge. Which in turn gives us additional insight, which provides us with a clearer perspective of the patterns around us, which provides a better mirror for our personal growth... and the wheel turns and turns and turns.
So yes, it does seem like a contradiction. But both are absolutely necessary for us to deepen our paths and really begin to embrace, not only our own growth, but some pretty incredible levels of magick and mysticism.
And now I'm off to test the code for the new site. I have two pages that need a bit of tweaking and then it all goes online. If you haven't guessed yet, I'm pretty excited to be sharing it with you.
In peace and light,
Jeffrey Pierce
www.oldways.com