[Cross posted on Blogger and LJ]
A couple of people have asked for a feed to my blog on blogger so that they can add it to their LJ friends list. Well, thanks to the help of my fabulous friend misericorde, who actually blogs on LJ enough to have a pay account, a feed has been established! You can use the LJ "Add Feed by URL" feature to get Righteously Hexed on your Friends page.
Go to this page:
http://www.livejournal.com/syn/
And put in this URL:
http://syndicated.livejournal.com/righteoushex/
Please beware that the feed was only created today, which means that for some reason it may show all of the posts from my blog on your friends page for a while. After a few days it should clear itself up and you will receive one post at a time like normal.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
First Contact
Star Finder
One of the Giants who reaches the sky,
I am Star Finder
and I seek your light.
I walk the edge.
between night and day
and show you the direction
your light must flow.
I rule over this age
with new power
and new love.
I pull you up
with the rising of the sun.
I am Star Finder,
and I seek your light.
Original artwork and poetry by Jonah Dove.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Good to the Last Drop
I've just had an amazing and beautiful weekend with a fine group of people led by the lovely T. Thorn Coyle. We sang, we danced (uh, or at least swayed side to side!), we worshiped. We aligned our souls and began learning how to make the most of our daily practice.
One of the participants brought up a very interesting point that, unfortunately, we didn't have much time to discuss. She wondered about the value of self-focused spiritual work when the state of the world seems to be in continual decay. Wouldn't our time be better spent addressing those issues directly? This is not a new question, and it has been asked in form or another by some of my favorite bloggers [links are to blogs, not specific posts]. But it is an important question with a very real, albeit illusive, answer.
Effective Work
Personal spiritual work is of paramount importance for the simple reason that it makes us more effective in the rest of our lives. Whatever causes we fight for, whatever work we do, however we seek to help others or the world - all of these things are strengthened by our spiritual work because we are strengthened by our spiritual work.
Learning about ourselves helps us to understand why our work is important and how we can best perform it. Caring for ourselves helps us to be prepared for our work and keeps us from burning out. Disciplining ourselves gives us the strength and fortitude to carry out our work when it gets difficult.
For these reasons and more, I think that regular and focused spiritual practice is a worthwhile endeavor, indeed.
Reclaiming Power
As is so often the case, the day following the intense wonder of the long magical weekend was a bit odd. Returning home, returning to work, and returning to routine is no easy task. Especially so when you are trying not to immediately forget all of the excellent advice-for-a-better-life you were so recently endowed with.
So, today, I found myself caught up in my same old cycles of rushing to work, getting upset with my road-warrior companions, being less-than-happy with some of my coworkers, etc. etc. But... wait... what was that key phrase? I FOUND myself caught up. Yes! Yes yes! I wasn't 'magically' set free of my unhelpful patterns, but I did notice them! There they were, right in front of my face! And in record time, too.
Yes, I am sure it will take me time to understand these patterns, integrate them, and reclaim the life force that I've tied up there. But I am now a step closer to doing so, and therefore a step closer to being self-possessed and fully present in the world.
Small Pebble, Big Pond
It's anyone's guess how many times I've said this: The first thing magic changes is the self.* This means that the global changes we seek - whether they be environmental, societal, or other - start with us. And that can be very hard to accept in a world where what you want is what you get as long as you give up control.
But there's a built-in bonus here: the ripple effect. Our work ripples outward, affecting not only ourselves and our little corner of the world, but those around us as well.
Imagine a huge room filled with tiny wooden people standing on the floor, all tied together in a web of red yarn. The people represent us, and the yarn is the relationships between us. If you were to find the little wooden person that stands for you and lift it, what would happen? The web of interconnection would slowly lift all of the people connected to you. Lift high enough and some of those people will start lifting others around them.
If we are truly making spiritual progress, we will inspire others to do the same, simply by being near them. To change the world, it is going to take a world of spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically awake individuals.
A World of Change
Our world is largely asleep. Not really the best state in which to take action and create change. As spiritual people - as witches - it is our job to wake ourselves up first. Then we can be effective at rousing others from their slumber. Spirituality is not a goal, it is a process. When performed properly, it's a process that can be used to set and achieve our goals.
I want an awakened world. First, I have to crawl out of bed. -Sniff, sniff- Is that a fresh pot of daily practice I smell?
-Jonah
P.S. To all of the new friends I met this weekend, thank-you-thank-you-thank-you again for your kindness and generosity, and for making our experience together so totally awesome!
*Anyone who can tell me who said it first gets a prize... cuz I can't remember!
One of the participants brought up a very interesting point that, unfortunately, we didn't have much time to discuss. She wondered about the value of self-focused spiritual work when the state of the world seems to be in continual decay. Wouldn't our time be better spent addressing those issues directly? This is not a new question, and it has been asked in form or another by some of my favorite bloggers [links are to blogs, not specific posts]. But it is an important question with a very real, albeit illusive, answer.
Effective Work
Personal spiritual work is of paramount importance for the simple reason that it makes us more effective in the rest of our lives. Whatever causes we fight for, whatever work we do, however we seek to help others or the world - all of these things are strengthened by our spiritual work because we are strengthened by our spiritual work.
Learning about ourselves helps us to understand why our work is important and how we can best perform it. Caring for ourselves helps us to be prepared for our work and keeps us from burning out. Disciplining ourselves gives us the strength and fortitude to carry out our work when it gets difficult.
For these reasons and more, I think that regular and focused spiritual practice is a worthwhile endeavor, indeed.
Reclaiming Power
As is so often the case, the day following the intense wonder of the long magical weekend was a bit odd. Returning home, returning to work, and returning to routine is no easy task. Especially so when you are trying not to immediately forget all of the excellent advice-for-a-better-life you were so recently endowed with.
So, today, I found myself caught up in my same old cycles of rushing to work, getting upset with my road-warrior companions, being less-than-happy with some of my coworkers, etc. etc. But... wait... what was that key phrase? I FOUND myself caught up. Yes! Yes yes! I wasn't 'magically' set free of my unhelpful patterns, but I did notice them! There they were, right in front of my face! And in record time, too.
Yes, I am sure it will take me time to understand these patterns, integrate them, and reclaim the life force that I've tied up there. But I am now a step closer to doing so, and therefore a step closer to being self-possessed and fully present in the world.
Small Pebble, Big Pond
It's anyone's guess how many times I've said this: The first thing magic changes is the self.* This means that the global changes we seek - whether they be environmental, societal, or other - start with us. And that can be very hard to accept in a world where what you want is what you get as long as you give up control.
But there's a built-in bonus here: the ripple effect. Our work ripples outward, affecting not only ourselves and our little corner of the world, but those around us as well.
Imagine a huge room filled with tiny wooden people standing on the floor, all tied together in a web of red yarn. The people represent us, and the yarn is the relationships between us. If you were to find the little wooden person that stands for you and lift it, what would happen? The web of interconnection would slowly lift all of the people connected to you. Lift high enough and some of those people will start lifting others around them.
If we are truly making spiritual progress, we will inspire others to do the same, simply by being near them. To change the world, it is going to take a world of spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically awake individuals.
A World of Change
Our world is largely asleep. Not really the best state in which to take action and create change. As spiritual people - as witches - it is our job to wake ourselves up first. Then we can be effective at rousing others from their slumber. Spirituality is not a goal, it is a process. When performed properly, it's a process that can be used to set and achieve our goals.
I want an awakened world. First, I have to crawl out of bed. -Sniff, sniff- Is that a fresh pot of daily practice I smell?
-Jonah
P.S. To all of the new friends I met this weekend, thank-you-thank-you-thank-you again for your kindness and generosity, and for making our experience together so totally awesome!
*Anyone who can tell me who said it first gets a prize... cuz I can't remember!
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