I perform divination to guide my day and at significant moments in the year like my birthday or Samhain. And if you ask, it’s always a good idea to listen to the answer. So I went to Earth Sanctuary here on Whidbey Island to get out in nature, as the oracle suggested. I had in mind to walk the labyrinth, walk the Medicine Wheel, and visit the Cottonwood Stone Circle.
There was a little voice at the back of my mind saying today was not the day to do the Medicine wheel. But I had made a plan and so I was set on doing it.
I have been on the main path so many times I don’t need to see the signs anymore, so I made a left at the first junction expecting to arrive at the Medicine Wheel. After walking about twice as long as I remembered it, I realized I had turned too soon and ended up on the “middle path” which I had not walked before. I decided to go with it and see where it would lead me, figuring the little voice was right. About halfway up, there was a sign that said “Detour – Muddy trail ahead! To avoid mud, take this detour.” Since I didn’t know where I was going, I chose the detour – but realized after I passed the spot of the detour there were three choices – turn back, take the detour, or engage with the mud. That felt familiar. How many times have I backed off, or bypassed, rather than engage with my inner mud.
Each option has natural consequences. Backing off is rarely an option, though being stuck is certainly always there for the taking. Engaging with the Shadow is essential for our growth. Bypassing usually just postpones the inevitable, but even that at least keeps us in motion and there will be lessons ahead that perhaps we can successfully learn to make us stronger when the mud we bypassed confronts us again.
The middle trail led to a place I had forgotten about - the Infinity Tower, which represents the cosmic axis, the joining of earth and heaven.
So during this walk, I attended to the Oracle’s message and opened myself to my surroundings – the croaking frog, the cool air, the filtered light, the beautiful mixed tree canopy, and the peace. Here is what I heard.
“Your vision for your Sacred Path is a declaration. You commit to the purpose you will serve, the principles and values that will guide you, and the practices and disciplines that will sustain you. It is not a picture of the end of your path because the choices and decisions you make ensure that the ending is in flux. You change the future each time you face a crossroad and choose, so the end is not determined.
And when the need is there, a sign will appear pointing you in the direction of your intention. You and only you must choose –which way to turn at the crossroads, the companions and resources you will take on your journey. It’s when you get moving and travel your path that Spirit can support you.”
The purpose you will serve is the one that you and your Guides, Angels, and Higher Self agreed to before you entered this lifetime. Careful consideration and divination to retrieve the essence of what you believe it to be is essential to be at peace with your journey. As you go inward you are looking for those things that have always resonated for you. Using Divination, pathworking, and journey work, you can come to a decision about what feels right to you. And you can affirm that purpose.
The principles and values that will guide you are reflected in the things for which you will take a stand. Will you trade instant gratification for a sense of integrity? Is kindness toward and service to others paramount in your life? Is your soul mission reflected in the growth and development of your children and grandchildren? For what would you risk everything? These values allow you to develop guiding principles, the guardrails for your life journey.
The practices and disciplines you choose to sustain you are those things that make you feel closer to Deity, help you plumb the depths of your unconscious to discover what is true for you, and make continual progress in mindfulness.
Once you have a vision, you have established your North Star. It is your principle means of navigation – deciding if you are on or off course in your Spiritual journey. Your guiding principles allow you to set personal boundaries and choices about what you will accept in your life, and the means to edit what gets in. Your disciplines and practices are the means for the journey inward.
You may know the actual North Star as Polaris, and you would be right. But according to Wikipedia, due to the precession of the equinoxes, a different star occupies that place in the remote past and the distant future. 3,000 years ago, the star Thuban in the constellation of Draco occupied the place of the North Star.
Similarly, your soul purpose will seem immutable when you reclaim your sacred path. But last time you were here, you were following a different star. And next time, you will again.
On December 6, I will be talking with Laura Tempest Zakaroff, "artist, author, blogger, designer, artist and Witch to name a few." Please check out her website, http://www.lauratempestzakroff.com/ . We'll discuss her work and her book, Sigil Witchery: A Witch's Guide to Crafting Magic Symbols.
Please plan to join us at 6:00 PM Pacific/ 8:00 PM Central/9:00 PM Eastern time. Here is the link to the show:
http://tobtr.com/11088187