“B” is for Book: How fiction has influenced my Spiritual Path

My Inner Library

As I look back over the course of events that have shaped my Path, I must pay tribute to certain authors for their visions of what magic looks like. Even though these views may be “imaginary,” they point directly to a rich source of inspiration for my magical life: imagination.

Imagination

• the ability to imagine things that are not real
• the ability to form a picture in your mind of something that you have not seen or experienced
• the ability to think of new things
• something that only exists or happens in your mind

~Merriam-Webster

If you are like me, you probably have a number of books, comics and movies that bring sparks of creativity to your magical practice(s). Of course, while I certainly wish my library looked like the above, it’s really this:

My “Real” Library

Besides cartoons, one of my earliest recollections of a magical story involved Half Magic by Edward Eager. The story tells of the adventures of four siblings who find a magical coin that grants wishes, but generally only half a wish. For example, a wish to visit a desert island becomes a thirsty trek into the desert. As you can guess, such a wishing technique causes all sorts of trouble for our intrepid heroes, but it taught me a valuable lesson early on: be careful what you wish for; it might come true, but not in the way you expect. SPOILER: yes, the children do eventually discover they can receive the full wish by wishing twice as hard.

While I did love that novel, it wasn’t until I began reading Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising in grade school that I saw how fiction was coloring my thoughts about the Universe and my place in it. I remember that my sixth-grade teacher was using the series as part of her thesis for her Master’s work. Back then, I didn’t exactly know what a thesis was, but it was clear that she had connected to some part of the work, some aspect which made a huge impression. Over the course of the fall and spring, the class took turns reading that particular novel, which is part of a larger series. I could literally see myself as Will Stanton, an average boy who discovers a most extraordinary part of himself, one that was previously hidden. He is transformed by the magical events surrounding him, encouraged by his teacher and mentor, Merriman Lyon, the Merlin of old. While I have always had a sense of being different, I had been given a vision of my future self in the pages of a book, and it was at this juncture that my spiritual quest truly began.

Comics, or as we know them now, graphic novels, also played a major role in shaping my personal cosmology. Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, and a spin-off title, Lucifer, delve deep into the collective unconscious, bringing together characters, beings and even Deities from many cultures to share incredible adventures. He opens up a world in which vast concepts like Death and Desire are personified using current cultural references, and the mind of God can be cracked open by a diabolical, self-deified rogue. My world kept getting stranger, and I was the better for it.

There was even a gay role model in my favorite genre: Herald-Mage Vanyel Ashkevron from the Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey. She explored prejudice towards the expression of love between two men, concepts with which I was already grappling, with compassion and hope. The series spans lifetimes and includes Ancestor work, which gave me the courage to ease into this as my studies of shamanism commenced. I also felt as though my own personal story was being told.

And while I have harbored a life-long fascination with the Elements (Avatar: The Last Airbender, anyone?), Roger Zelazny conjured forth the deep interplay between Dark and Light, Order and Chaos via his Amber novels. I talk about this exchange in my last post. In the reconciliation of duality, that dance between Yin and Yang, life and magic emerge. Zelazny’s portrayal of reality as frequencies of the waves emerging from Amber and the Courts of Chaos was nothing short of mind-blowing for me. When I finally experienced this in medicine trance, I was prepared for how it would feel.

Yes, I am eternally grateful for the many authors who taught me the occult arts and sciences over the years: Starhawk, Yronwode, Coyle, Penczak. However, I am truly indebted to those who’s worked fired my imagination from my earliest years. Thank you to my Brother Initiate, Chase, for sharing a love of fiction with me. You brought back many treasures for me during our chat today.

Who’s work inspired or continues to inspire you?

What visions were brought to vivid life in your mind’s eye?

Blessings

“E” is for Elements, my dear Dr. Watson

Elements of the Unnamed Path: Hot, Cold, Life & Death

While listening to the sound of the rain outside, and still completely aware of California’s drought status, I’m writing tonight about the Elements. Many spiritual traditions give particular reverence to the elements, which are believed to be the building blocks of Creation.

The Lion was pacing to and fro about that empty land and singing his new song. It was softer and more lilting than the song by which he called up the stars and the sun; a gentle, rippling music. And as he walked and sang the valley grew green with grass. It spread out from the Lion like a pool. It ran up the sides of the little hills like a wave.

~C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew

According to classical cosmology, Air is in the east, Fire in the south, Water in the west and earth in the North. In my baby Pagan days, I came across these associations in many of the books on wicca or witchcraft. The elements represent many things: the states of matter (solid, liquid, gas, plasma), the building blocks of the body (bones, blood, breath, electrical impulses), etc. It wasn’t until I became acquainted with Native American traditions that I learned that different cultures have their own correspondences; I was fascinated.

In preparing for this post, I picked up T. Thorn Coyle’s Evolutionary Witchcraft, to gain her perspective on the classical elemental view. She writes that while studying in California, she learned from a Tradition that assigned the elemental directions based on what they could see or experience: the ocean is in the West; vast forests own the North; dry heat to the South. The sun rises in the East, which naturally speaks to new beginnings and the clarity of Air. The assignments are not arbitrary but based on deep connections to the natural world.

I was truly struck by her descriptions, which resonated deep in my gut. After all, I’ve lived in California for nearly 14 years; they make perfect sense to me. However, I want to share a little about what the Unnamed Path teaches about the Elements and the Directions. Just so you know, what is revealed below does indeed differ from what Eddy originally said about the Elements, which he broadcast back in 2008. During his continued work with the Ancestors of Men Who Love Men, more was revealed which expanded and shaped his thinking. As the inheritors of his legacy, it will be up to the current and future Initiates to maintain this ancestral dialogue, thereby illuminating more of their teachings.

This emerging shamanic path for Men Who Love Men draws its power from the resolution of polar opposites. For us, the Elements function as opposing pairs:

• Hot in the East
• Cold in the West
• Life in the South
• Death in the North

The assignment of the directions follows a primal instinct, much influenced by our Ancestors as they traveled from place to place, tribe to tribe. For us, the sun is in the east, the source of warmth for the entire planet. It quickens new life in the soil and stirs us all into action. It’s opposite, Cold, rules the west. Indeed, the deepest, darkest parts of our world lie at the bottom of the oceans. Warmth fails in the face of an embracing darkness, and dreams come.

Going even deeper, we have Life in the south, the direction of the tropics and lush jungles. Vegetation and animals are found in abundance. Finally, we look north towards the mountains, places that become quieter the farther we travel. The fewer people we encounter, the more silent and still our journey becomes. The ultimate silence and stillness: Death. Again, two sides of the same coin of duality.

We as shamans stand as a bridge between states of being. We work with and speak to the Living, and to the Dead and Dying. When we call up our sacred space, our Circle, our Crossroads, we stand in the center between Hot and Cold, Life and Death. We see this as a place of power, a nexus from which to summon the energy of Creation into our workings.

Are you familiar with the Powers that stand with you in the Four Corners? You work with them, perhaps even daily, but have you taken the time to stand upon a high cliff and revel in the fleeting nature of the wind in your hair? Have you looked into the flame and seen echoes of the Big Bang? Using your visualization and meditation skills, try journeying directly to the elemental sources and commune with them, feeling them deeply. Learn from them, about what forces they bring to bear in magical workings. Trust your instincts. The Elements are much more than just constructs in our mind, more than tools at hand. They are allies who continually work with the Powers That Be to give birth to the unfolding Creation. Allow them to help guide and shape your magic, just as they help gather and contain the forces that you call up in spell work. As you become more familiar with their power, you become more familiar and comfortable with your own. After all, aren’t we all made up of the essence of stars?

Blessings

“C” is for Conference: PantheaCon 2014

Oh PantheaCon, how I love you, let me count the ways.

If you haven’t yet attended PantheaCon, let me urge you to do so right away! Move heaven and earth if you have to but please join us.

Living in the Bay Area for seven years, I kept hearing through various circles about the annual gathering of Pagans known as PantheaCon (PCon). Every year, thousands of my kin descend upon the DoubleTree hotel in San Jose, CA. There, we meet new friends, network with old ones, expose ourselves to traditions and techniques outside of our personal paradigms and participate together in some of the most intense spiritual rituals. As with most things, you will benefit in proportion to what you put into it, but there is generally something there for everyone. According to the presenters:

We are a conference for Pagans, Heathens, Indigenous Non-European and many of diverse beliefs that occurs annually over President’s Day weekend. Well over 2000 people attend more than 200 presentations that range from rituals to workshops and from classes to concerts.

While I could go into great detail about the Con as a whole, I would like to share my personal experiences from the latest incarnation of this amazing event.

You may remember that I posted previously about the death of my spiritual teacher, Eddy Gutiérrez, aka Hyperion, which occurred this past January. Since then, my fellow Initiates in the Unnamed Path have been holding space for each other on a daily basis in an online presence via Facebook. Not all of us were able to attend the conference this year, but for those who could, PCon provided us with an in-person opportunity to share our collective grief and plan for the future of our tradition.

For the past two years, Eddy was approved by PCon’s Programming Committee to present rituals from our Path. This year was to be a return of our highly successful Circle of Bones, a spirit contact circle. Check out the link for more about our sacred holidays. With Eddy’s passing, the community banded together and decided instead to hold a memorial and Circle of Light, a ritual in which Initiates offer energy healing, one of the four parts of our path, to the community. Many, who were unable to attend the funeral services, stood up and offered words of tribute to a man who’s work touched their hearts.

Memories were shared and many tears flowed. However, I was most humbled by how my fellow Initiates stepped up to the challenge of leading ritual space in Eddy’s absence. Everyone contributed to the work, but I am especially grateful to David S. who came up with the ritual’s framework, one that needed few tweaks. Participants later shared with me about the power of seeing all of us perform our circle casting in unison. I feel pretty sure that we did Eddy proud.

This year, PCon was much more about fellowship than ever before. Due to our various locations across the country, it is difficult to have all the Brothers together in one place. The Con provided the perfect backdrop for our continued grief, and many other traditions expressed their deep sorrow over the loss of such a powerful voice in our community. Indeed, I and my fellow Brothers felt very held by the community at large. We began  dialogues with other traditions to find out how we can support each other. To T. Thorn Coyle, Storm Faerywolf, Orion Foxwood, Christopher Penczak and many others, we are forever grateful.

Among the myriad happenings, one other stood out in stark relief: Taking of the Veil, a ritual led by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. According to their website, the Sisters “use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit.” While I have seen firsthand the generosity of these men and women, who work tirelessly to enrich the LGBTQ community, I had not yet been fortunate enough to witness to power of their Priesthood. They may be known at large as nuns or Sisters, but these individuals are deeply in touch with their Inner Power, and I could only marvel at the power and majesty that was revealed.  I am in debt to Sisters Krissy Fiction and Dirrtie San Chez for their puissance.

Finally, I must take a moment to honor my new Mom, Vicky G. Vicky is Eddy’s mother and she has embraced me and my fellow Initiates as her own sons. She attended PCon this year for the first time, after acquiescing to Eddy’s repeated requests. I know it was a bittersweet time for her, but like everything in life, she jumped in and allowed the spirit to move her with abandon. It was truly an honor to have her witness rites of the Unnamed Path, the legacy left behind by Eddy.

This year was a first for me, as I let go of the need to attend a session during each time slot. More important was the time that I spent in the company of like-minded, yet fully individual souls who are pursuing their own unique paths to Spirit. Namaste my Brothers and Sisters.

Blessings