During the very first week of instruction, students of The Divine Fingerprint are asked to identify and confront their “Spiritual Burdens”. One of their pre-class assignments is to read “The Coming of the Ship” by Kahlil Gibran. A passage from this story is below: Almustafa, the Chosen and the beloved, who was a dawn unto his own day, had waited twelve years in the city of Orphalese for his ship that was to return and bear him back to the isle of his birth. And in the twelfth year, on the seventh day of Ielool, the month of reaping, he climbed the hill without the city walls and looked seaward; and he beheld his ship coming with the mist. Then the gates of his heart were flung open, and his joy flew far over the sea. And he closed his eyes and prayed in the silences of his soul. But as he descended the hill, a sadness came upon him and he thought in his heart: How shall I go in peace and without sorrow? Nay, without a wound in the spirit shall I leave this city. Long were the days of pain I have spent within its walls, and long were the nights of aloneness; and who can depart from his pain and his aloneness without regret? Too many fragments of the spirit have I scattered in these streets, and too many are the hidden the children of my longing that walk naked among these hills, and I cannot withdraw from them without a burden and an ache. It is not a garment I cast off this day, but a skin that I tear away with my own hands. Nor is it a thought I leave behind me, but a heart made sweet with hunger and thirst. What does the “coming of the ship” mean to us? How does this apply to a pagan-rooted or an earth-based spirituality? Many of us are drawn and “called home” to these types of religions and spirituality from a previous religion. It is, more often than not, the religion of our families, cultures, and societies. Being trapped inside a religion that does not resonate with your inner truth and knowing of one’s own soul is very much like Almustafa, trapped inside a city with high walls and gates. Knowing that there is something out there: a thought, a religion, a spiritual structure that is truly meant for us, and not quite knowing what it is just yet, is very much us standing on that hill top and awaiting a ship to take us “home”. Instead of returning to an isle of our birth, we are returning to the true spirituality of our soul. When we finally catch glimpse of our “ships” on the horizon, many of us feel that sense of overwhelming joy and excitement. We know, we feel, like we are going “home”. Yet, in all the excitement and preparation (learning the new spirituality or religion of our choice) we often overlook that which we are leaving behind. In this story, Almustafa realized that he could not just simply walk away from this city in which he spent so many years. He could not easily turn his back on those he shared the city with, nor on the experiences within its walls. He felt that burden of letting go, and knew that he could not just take of a garment and leave these things behind. He knew it would be like tearing away a layer of his skin, a piece of himself. I have seen several pagans who, when seeing their path for the first time, shed all of the previous notions about good and evil, God and Devil, Male and Female, right and wrong at their very first steps. Or… at least they claim to. I’ve seen many begin this path, for example, and leave in the first few steps of their path the concept of hell or eternal punishment of some sort. They begin practicing magick, they worship new God/desses, they begin communing with the elements and nature, and they begin forming relationships with ancestors they have never met. Yet, in the very backs of their minds, they do so out of fear. The realization and reality of what they are doing can suddenly turn its head and they find themselves confronted, seemingly out of nowhere, with the fear of going to hell because they turned their back on their previous God. Many, at this point will either return to their previous religion (returning to the walled city that they do not truly belong in) with the longing of freedom and true awakening, or they may continue their path, but do so with fear in their hearts and doubts in their minds. Neither of these options is positive or constructive in any way. Remaining in a spirituality that does not feed our souls or bring us closer to our own truth forces us to back-peddle on our paths and takes us further and further from our Divine Purpose. Practicing any energetic work and spirituality in fear or with doubt can not only be ineffective, but dangerous. I recommend to the students of The Divine Fingerprint to identify and encourage them to list the burdens that they are carrying with them. Ranging from cultural pressures, previous ancestral religions, or societal judgment, these burdens can pop up at the most inconvenient times if the student chooses to ignore them. Most importantly I encourage my students to be truly honest with themselves. For example, if the fear of hell or eternal punishment for worshiping nature, other deities, practicing magick/witchcraft, then the student must not only identify it, but recognize it as a burden that they carry. Instead of attempting to drop the burdens at the gate of the path, allow yourself to carry the burden until you can fully let it go. Once that burden has been identified and properly worked through, it will not suddenly pop up on you later on down the road forcing you to backtrack and block the path to your Divine Purpose Make a list of those burdens that you still bear. Be truly honest with yourself. Take time to work through each burden, one at a time. Ask yourself why you carry this burden and what affect it has on your spirituality. Don’t rush it!
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 16:15:15 +0000
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