On Being a Spiritual Mutt

So the new year is upon us. It ended up being a surprisingly rich spiritual time for me I found.

First off a look behind. Looking back on 2012, I entered the year identifying primarily as a unholy hybrid of a Traditional Witch/Revival Druid who was getting tag pretty heavily by the Morrigan (Whom I basically told “I’m not ready yet! Go away!”). I then got the Hermetics bug and enrolled in R.O.’s Black Work course and spend much of the year focused primarily on learning Hermetics and undergoing spirit initiations. I then decided to add some Chaos magic into the mix and re-visit my old chao-roots again. Throughout this year Hekate has been my primary deity relationship. Actually, I’ve been bordering on the Monoalatry I’ve always threatened, as pretty much every other deity relationship I’ve had has been silenced. It’s been a busy year.

It interesting that when I thought I’ve walked off the path entirely I find that I was on it all a long. Sarah, The Witch of Forest Grove, wrote an article about labels that made me want to stand up and clap. I felt like it pretty much described my situation perfectly, and the situation of many others I know. What the hell do I call myself these days? What is my main practice? If you’ve noticed recently I’ve tried to refrain from donning any label at all, because the moment I do it doesn’t fit any longer for me. So Sarah’s article really hit home. Dver, from A Forest Door also wrote her thoughts on the matter and here are my own (now outdated) thoughts, that being the idea that the spirit world does not care what you call yourself. Labels are just for ease of communication amongst humans. My own path has been all mixed the hell up, even as I’ve struggled for a name to call myself. The scientist in me however, loves to label things. Not always easy. My case in point is below:

So labels aside, as the new year dawned I can say safely that I have no idea where my path will take me this year. However, whats is  old is new again. I’ve been pretty silent about my practices these past few months other than crafts or interesting enchantments I wanted to share mainly because things have been way to convoluted for me to make sense of privately let alone to write about! So here’s my try on describing what been going on with me (if anyone cares), and where I think I’ll be going this year.

It’s hard to tell these guys no when they show up.

Since the fall  I’ve pretty much dived back into my Druidry practice with Gusto!  I took a break from Druidry to study Hermetics last January, but never really intended to leave it for good (knowing full well where that path leads). There is just something about Revival Druidry that draws me back time and time again. It’s the only spiritual practice that really fulfills me in a way nothing else does.   I’ve been very happily digging deep into discovering what my own personal Druidry practice is going to be again, refreshed and renewed. Also, my old patron who was silent almost all year whom I can only safely call “The Great Horned Spirit” (not to be confused with the Great Pumpkin), has entered my life with a whirlwind force again, this time bringing in a ragtag band of Celtic and Norse gods with him (such as Cerridwen, The Morrigan again, Wuldor, and Skadhi). So I’ve got this hybrid Vana-Celt-Druid thing going on that I am trying to figure what the hell to do with. Interestingly Hekate, though I still venerate her, has really stepped back as Old Horney has stepped up. Not sure if this is just temporary or not. Truthfully I know it’s heresy in this age  to suggest it, but I’m not entirely sure that Hekate and Cerridwen aren’t the same being at some core level (Yes, I’m still a Squishy-Polytheist and proud of it. No hate mail please.). I’m not sure where any of these deity relationships are going right now, but I’m in wait and see mode.

Now the interesting thing I find about Revival Druidry is that it encompasses so many paths and threads to follow. My own persuasion is the Ovate path. It’s my own personal gnosis and belief that European Cunning craft is the remnants of the Ovates that got passed through the people of the country side over time. Thus Traditional Witchcraft still holds a huge interest for me. Also, Revival Druidry had much of it’s missing gaps filled in as a system with Hermetics, like a dinosaur with frog DNA. Thus, you can see why I say my explorations of Hermetics was not leading me off the path, but deeper into it. It’s part of the legacy of the path I’ve chosen. There is a sign at my gym that says “Exercise will make you better at everything you want to do”. I think of Hermetics the same way. The more I practice it, the better I get at everything thing else.  Oh, and lets not forget a heavy helping of Strategic Sorcery which finds it’s way into pretty much everything I do.

So on any given week you can find me doing Druid Stuff, Conjuring an angel and contemplating climbing the spheres, Casting sigils, or doing folk magic charms as needed. If someone asked what my religion was I’d say Druidry without hesitation. That’s probably the one thing I’m sure about. Among fellow practitioners I suppose I could use Sorcerer or Magician pretty accurately to denote my magical interests, which are tied into but remain separate from my main practice. I’ve tried narrowing it down further to just concentrate on one path, but it always comes back to bite me on the ass. So for the moment I’m happily a Spiritual Mutt 🙂 Right now I know one thing is or sure. Change is in the air. I’m not sure where I’m going from here, but I’m enjoying the ride.