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I was really quite nervous when I was asked to write for Eclectic Magick. A spiritual magazine? I don’t follow a particular practice, so what could I possibly have to offer? Ah, but I had to remember that spirituality, in it’s basic form, should it have one, is as free flowing as energy. It is not bound by rules and comformities. Spirituality is all encompassing and is as individualistic as the being who practices it. I often forget that. It is, rather, a hard concept to grasp. We are so used to having rules and limitations.
Merriam-Webster goes so far as to define spirituality as ‘Something that is ecclesiastical law belonging to the church or a clerical as such’, Or ‘sensitivity or attachment to religious values’ and even ‘the quality or state of being spiritual’. We have been conditioned to see things as black or white, right or wrong, good or bad, but spirituality is none of those things and yet all of those things.
I can’t explain or define spirituality any better than Merriam-Webster, or religious scholars and gurus. I can only try and convey what spirituality means to me.
For me spirituality is about listening to that inner calling, whatever that may be. Those whispers that align and speak to my physical, my mental and my emotional being. Listening to my spirit. It's a curiosity and wonder that looks to see how all my states of being work together. It’s a wondrous journey of exploration. What is the meaning of life and is there a meaning of life?
I have never liked being bound or labelled by anything. Labels, I have found, are limiting. It adds a floor and a ceiling to the openness of life. I have, and continue to look at a host of various teachings. Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shamanism, Mystisism, the study of crystals, philosophy, Astrology, the list goes on. With each curiosity I found another piece that would speak to me, and another way to expand my view of the world and my place in it. I can’t say that I have stumbled across any definite answers. Each exestential drop of wisdom has provided me with more questions than anything. I don’t, however, find it frustrating. No. I am a contemplator, an observer. I have discovered that I truly am not looking for answers. I seek inspiration and endless wonder. That’s what brings me joy. Well, maybe it's the Joy that I seek? Perhaps there rests my answers?
LOL!! See!? Spirituality, for me, is seeking and contemplating! It's a connection. Connection to other people, to the Earth, to the world around me, to the heavens. A way of seeing how everything is interconnected. Knowing that though I may feel like I am but a drop in this vast ocean, I serve a purpose that I am likely not to know in the here and now.
So what can I offer when it comes to spirituality? The only answer is that of the individual.
In my book, One Minds Book of Incomplete Thoughts, I said that ‘spirituality doesn't define my life so much as it's shown me the greatness of my life and of all life.’ In many ways, perhaps that's what spirituality is and what I can offer.
What does it mean to you?
