I see the celebration of life as central to my religion. Without life, we would have nothing and would have no way to enjoy anything anyway. Everything else is an exploration of how to celebrate that life, preserve it, and make the most out it.
(This post is part of #ChangingPathsChallenge2024. For more information about the challenge and a list of topics, please check out Yvonne’ Aburrow’s post announcing it.)
The other day I got thinking about the Myth of the Goddess as published in Gerald Gardner’s books, Witchcraft Today and the Meaning of Witchcraft. I’m not an initiate of Gardnerian Wicca nor any of the traditions related to it. In fact, I prefer to call myself a Vanic witch in recognition of my close ties to Freyja and the fact that much of my spiritual and magical practice revolves around her. And yet, I love and identify with this particular piece of Gardner’s writing. I think because while it is from another tradition, it resonates very well with my own path and spiritual views.
The part that I’ve really been focusing on and want to write about is the end of the myth, after the Goddess’s encounter with Death is complete and things have moved from narration to discourse:
For there are three great events in the life of man; Love, Death, and Resurrection in a new body; and Magic controls them all. For to fulfill love you must return again at the same time and place as the loved one, and you must remember and love them again. But to be reborn you must die, and be ready for a new body; and to die you must be born; and without love you may not be born. And these be all the Magics.
That closing sentence has always spoken to something deep in mind to me. Birth, love, death, and rebirth. These things form a cycle which is governed by and defines all magic. To me this is an incredibly profound statement which I feel like I don’t fully understand and probably wouldn’t have to words to explain it if I did.
The paragraph reminds me of how I previously wrote about the fact that I serve a goddess who is life-affirming. But whereas I spent that post talking about celebrating life, reading the quoted paragraph makes me think about how devotion to Freyja is also about maintaining the cycles of life. We do that by living our lives and working our magic, remembering that those two things aren’t as separate as some people may think. After all, to a witch, every act of will is an act of magic. So living life continues it on.
In the cycle described in the paragraph, love is also mentioned. The obvious face-value reading of the text suggests that it is primarily talking about romantic and sexual love. But I don’t think that is a deep enough reading. Other forms of love and relationships are also important to the continuance and abundance of life. No man is an island and neither is a couple. Friends, family, mentors, helpers, and many other people in various roles are need in order for one to have a truly prosperous life. So we celebrate and work out our wills to strengthen our relationships with others in our communities. Indeed, it’s how we build communities in the first place. Our communities themselves have lives, and we are a part of those greater organisms and its lifeblood.
I feel like there’s more there, but I can’t quite put my finger on it tonight. Maybe another time. In the meantime, may your life be blessed and a blessing to those who share it with you.
Over the weekend, my eighteen year old niece contacted me to ask me a bunch of questions for an AWANA project. I found the questions interesting, if a little simplistic (and maybe slanted), but I did the best I could to give her short, somewhat simplified answers. I’ve decided to take at least some of the questions and turn each one into a blog post, where I can explore the thoughts that the question brought up for me in a bit more depth.
Why are you here on earth?
I think that the answer to this question flows directly from the answer to the previous question. If I am a part of the Divine Universe trying to grow and recreate itself, then my purpose for existing is to help continue that process.
First and foremost, that means that my purpose here is simply to live and to celebrate and honor that life. This means that insofar as it is my power, I am called to live an abundant and passionate life, one that is as full and vital as possible. Life is not meant to be drudged through or born as some grand test, but to be enjoyed.
Of equal importance, as part of the greater whole, I am meant to celebrate and honor life collectively with the rest of the universe. A hedonistic life of abandon that ignores others who struggle to merely survive or a life that thrives at the expense of others is not in line with my part of the greater whole.
There is also the continuance of the creative process after my own time passes. As I mentioned, my actions and the legacy I and those around me leave behind will lay the foundation for the future as creation continues. As such, my purpose is to help keep the whole thing going and to build something that will allow for the lives of all who come after me to be even better.