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Surviving The Magickal Rut
By Yasmine Galenorn
Have you ever reached a point in
your magickal practice where everything seems mundane, including your
rituals? There you are, sitting in a stagnant pool of water; the
earth beneath your feet has gone fallow; the air is still and full of
haze and those gorgeous leaping bonfire flames are just a bunch of
burnt-out embers. Your wand is drooping, your athame has rust spots
and the Gods seem to be having a high old time at your expense.
What's a Witch to do?
Once the glow of entering the
Craft wears off, the work begins. For months and years we focus
ourselves on learning magick, on developing our connection to the
Gods. During this time, our attention is taken up by hard work and
the desire to get the basics down-whatever system we are learning,
whether we are developing our own or joining a coven, we have the
enthusiasm that comes with learning a skill. Then, one day, we come
to a place where we are confident in our magickal skills, where we
understand our basic connection to our spiritual path, and we look
around and find we are bored.
It is at this time that we need to
expand our awareness. Unlike some of the major religions, Paganism
must adapt if it is to thrive. We do not have a Bible or book of
rules that we consider absolute; we do not have a Queen of Witches or
a Sovereign Priest whose word is law. Even within traditional covens,
the changing needs of the members affect how the rites are performed.
In some cases, our boredom and
diminished inspiration will come from our reliance on rote
mechanics-we do the same ritual in the same old way every time. We
get in patterns and don't remember the need for change. We must look
for ways to interject a new energy into our traditions. It helps to
think of the Wheel of the Year as being a three-dimensional spiral in
our lives-we don't come back to the same point as we were at the year
before, but spiral up to a similar, yet different energy. Each Sabbat
brings us to a new stage in our lives-the harvest rituals we did last
year may not be germane to the harvest energy in our lives this year,
and so we must adjust the focus.
Perhaps this will only require a
little "tweak", at other times it may necessitate a
complete change in direction. If we look at our patterns and see this
is the problem, a change in ritual can be enough to spark off our
interest again. By reading through books of rituals, by watching
magickal movies, we might find our imagination sparking off new
ideas-and remember, we do not have to use the ritual verbatim; we can
adapt as necessary.
At other times, no matter what we
try, we cannot spark an interest in our rituals and magickal work. We
must question whether this is a natural part of our cycle. There are
times when we reach a point in our pathworking that requires we learn
something new. We may be lacking a balance of energy-if we only work
with Celtic ritual and deities, perhaps we need to balance out the
energy and so we will find that we are attracted to the Yoruba
traditions, or to a more shamanistic view. Or if we only work with
Native American energies, there may come a day when we find that we
need the less-earth focused, more intellect-focused energy of
Ceremonial Magick. When we are in a magickal rut, it helps to
question our intuition to see if we need a different focus.
Many people develop
guilt-complexes surrounding this issue-they feel that they are
turning their backs on their first love, that they are being 'untrue'
to their tradition. This should not be a concern-just as we read
different genres of books, just as we want to try out different types
of food, and vary our routines, so we will, at times, need a variance
in our magickal traditions. I work with Hawaiian energy (mainly
Pele's tropical fire), but my roots are in the forest and
hunt-oriented magick of Mielikki and Tapio-Finnish forest deities.
Even though I am pledged to Mielikki and Tapio, this doesn't mean I'm
two-timing them if I want to work with Pan and Aphrodite for a
change, unless I get the specific guidance that I am not to do so.
Then there is the issue of being
too steeped in the pagan world. Usually this happens when we enter
the Craft-everything Pagan seems wonderful and lovely and perfect,
and as we go along, we begin to rediscover the parts of ourselves
that like other things-just because we're Pagan doesn't mean we can't
listen to rock or country or whatever other music we like; just
because we're Pagan doesn't mean that we can't hang out with people
who are not of that persuasion; just because we're Pagan doesn't mean
that we have to embrace every one and every thing within the Pagan
community. Sometimes we begin to tire of our rituals and traditions
because we are trying too hard to make our entire lives magickal-too
much of anything will cause a negative reaction after awhile. Try to
balance out your contacts and activities and see if this helps.
When all else fails, ask yourself
if you need a break from magickal work. Perhaps it is a fallow season
for you, perhaps you need to recharge. There's nothing wrong with
taking a break-sometimes the most magickal of moments come when we
stand outside, staring at the full moon, simply saying a quiet
"hello" to her; or when we hike into a glade and crawl
under a waterfall; or when we reach out and snuggle a four-legged
friend and feel that intense connection as we remember what a miracle
it is that love can connect through such differing beings.
This is the most basic of magickal
energy-the life that surrounds us, that fills us with wonder, that
reminds us of our connection to the Earth and to one another. In our
pursuit of tradition and ritual and raising energy, we must never
forget from where those sparks of energy emanate, and the brilliance
that is to be found in beauty that fills our lives on a daily basis.
Copyright 2000 © by Yasmine
Galenorn unauthorized use prohibited. |
