Suffering to Learn

As I write this, its just the end of June and not even deeply into what most people know as Summer. 

Oh goodness, it is HOT!  Hot, hot HOT, I say!  I've watched the seasons since I was a child and all I can say is -- its hotter now than it ever was when I was a child, for this time of year.  Climate changes are a reality. 

Yet, even with the heat index topping 115 some days this week, it is also one of the most beautiful times of year to be seen.  A time of growing, a time of grains, fruits and vegetables ripening.  A time with health, well-being and even our mood is governed by the ever-present Sun God's smile.  It is a time to watch the goals we made in February become the fruits of our labor and sometimes, to be parched to death in the light of day, if they are not carefully tended in these heated summer months.

I'm a summer baby, born in mid-July, hard on the cusp between Cancer and Leo.  I often say that I am as confused and dual-natured as any Gemini or Pisces.  And, as a mother of five babies, only two of whom were born in summer, I can only have the deepest compassion for my own mother, who was heavily pregnant with me in this steamy time of year!  Thank you, Mom!  I truly do appreciate the way you suffered to get me here, alive and whole, so that I could grow up to serve my Gods and my community!  I couldn't do this without that sacrifice of personal comfort in the name of growing something to full summer's fruition -- namely, me.

As the fruits of our labor grow before our very eyes, we may note some that grow like wild, needing vines and tendrils pruned back on occasion so they don't choke other, less vigorous, more delicate plants.  Others, we watch wither, turn brown and die -- sometimes even with vast amounts of loving care, kindness and attention.  They simply weren't meant to bear fruit.  Whether for the nutrients too abundant or too lacking in the soil, a seed that simply wasn't able to properly germinate and grow or too much or too little water, our garden grows both as we tend it and as the Gods will.  Those of us that observe our garden even as we observe our own growth, take this process very personally.  Often, we find ourselves empathizing strongly with our plants, truly and closely identifying ourselves with their patterns, be they strong or weak, heavily blooming and fruited or barren, deeply and firmly rooted or easily uprooted by the elements, they become literal extensions of our own experiences in life.  Sometimes, a simple transplant will help a plant to thrive. Other times, we simply have to take the death for what it is and either plant a new plant that still has time to bear fruit before the growing season is over, or accept that we must start over in the new year.  Either way, we are what we grow just as, in many ways, we are what we eat.

I encourage you to think about the perverbial seeds you planted just before Valentine's Day this year.  What projects did you start?  What friends or business connections did you make?  What things did you begin to work to manifest in your life in terms of personal changes for the better (or worse)?  Now, take a strong inventory.  What grew?  What didn't?  Did it grow wild or struggle?  Is it hard work to make it thrive or was it as simple as sticking a seed in the soil, giving it a little water and light and watching it go nuts?  Is it bearing the fruit you intended when you planted it or is it not even flowering yet?  The answers to these assessments may give you surprising results.  Others may not surprise you in the least, but you can definately see where you went right or wrong and what needs to be done about it.  Other times, you may need to consult an "expert" to make certain you're doing everything right to truly manifest your desired outcomes.

There is an old nursery rhyme that reminds me often of the steps for proper growth of my "seeds" in life:

"Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row."

Though this short poem was written about Mary Tudor from the court in England, that isn't what it reminds me about.  What it reminds me is the following:  Silver bells are delicate and a symbol of the Goddess, as well as a draw for the Fae and cockle shells, in addition to being much needed calcium for some plants when ground up and put in the soil, are also an indicator that some plants need sandy soil, not my native clay, to grow properly and are also a symbol of the God.  The phrase at the end, pretty maids all in a row, which refers -- for me -- to the flower-faced beauties of the season, growing in proper alignment to their environment and each other, a strong reminder indeed to keep one's self in balance with the elements and our commmunity, as well as our Universal and the calling of the Gods. 

I hope this self-assessment of the season gives you food for healthy thought!  May the bright blessings of the Sun God shine light into the darkness of your life and help you grow on to bigger and better things!  And about the suffering involved in dealing with the Summer's heat?  Don't worry... drink plenty of water and keep chanting to yourself...Fall is coming sooner than you think!

Humble Learning

From any level of learning, no matter whether it is in school, in society, in the Craft or elsewhere, any time we are being taught, it behooves us to have true listening skills and an utterly humble attitude.  No one has cornered the market on learning and anytime we find ourselves not wishing to listen with every part of our being, we're missing something.  If we challenge immediately what is being presented, we've already stopped learning.  If we place ourselves above others we might learn something from, we've stopped learning.  If we choose to think ourselves better than someone else, whether because of our creditials when others have none or simply because we feel our perspective is more learned for one reason or another, we've already become blind, deaf and dumb on some level that we might otherwise learn from.

As a third degree High Priestess of the Alexandrian Path, some people might consider me "in the know" on some levels.  Yet, I am constantly finding places where I am right down in the kindergarten school yard with those that have never studied a lick of spirituality.  I have been taught from the very beginning of my learning that no matter what level we attain, learning is something that should be approached from a standpoint of abject humility and humbleness.  Sometimes our best teachers are those not as far along on the Path as we, ourselves are at that time and I am often shown lessons from those just beginning to learn about themselves and their spiritual connections in the Universe.  When stepping into any new arena of society or learning, it becomes absolutely necessary to walk in the door of that experience as though we know nothing at all and truly find out where we're at in that moment if we wish to gain the most from the experience.

It is traditional teaching that when you are given an opportunity to learn from Elders, Crones and Sages in our faith community, that all who are newcomers - no matter their level of elevation in their Craft - are wisest to literally or figuratively place themselves at the feet of the collective Knowledge represented and learn what they can before ever opening our mouths to state what they think they know.  It doesn't matter the subject or what our own mind or ego would like to make us think we know, it is about what we can learn.  Further, nuance is completely lost on those that are too busy asking questions or otherwise challenging the status quo in these circumstances to truly listen to the wisdom being shared. 

It is considered rude, not curious, to constantly question in the middle of conversation.  It is considered childish to present one's own viewpoints over and over and over again in a "comparison study" when those who have been on the Path longer than we have give us the gift of sharing their experiences.  It is considered extremely unwise to ever place one's self above another, no matter where they are on the Path or their personal struggles or mistakes.  And it is further considered one of the biggest acts of ego-based mistakes when we put our own life's choices in judgment of another life's struggles or perceived areas where our own moral values do not match.

Even when one has strong psychic ability to see more than the average person might, they never know all of another person's actions, motivations, issues or experiences.  Therefore, it doesn't behoove anyone to place in judgment where we think another person might be coming from or why they do things we don't understand.  If we don't understand, we should spend more time learning.  If we see repeated reflections of specific lessons in all those whose lives we touch, those are often the whispers of the God and Goddess teaching us a lesson all our own.  So, the next time you think you have something to teach, try listening instead.  You might have more to learn than you realized!