Friday 24 January 2014

Spiritual Progress

Is Spiritual Progress, or a seeming lack of, important?

Yes it's a tricky one, how to use my time? Do I sacrifice physical well being (cycling), our family environment (gardening), family time itself or money and lifestyle (work) for dedication to a spiritual path? Obviously, family comes first then work (to an extent - but being mindful of the work / life balance) which leaves personal time fairly short. This personal time has to be split into physical well being which for me is cycling, environmental well being which is the garden and spiritual well being (Gewessi) which is a mix of Druidic and Heathen work.

My spiritual work is broken down into:
small regular practice - meditation around 3 times per week usually in the bath after cycling, monitoring of the forums I look after on the OBOD forum website
more detailed ritual - the 8 fold year Blot's recorded on this Gewessi blog
wider themes - such as the Druid Ovate work which has to fit in around other things - practically this means that I only progress this work over the winter as in the summer gardening and cycling fill my personal time.

For me the Gewessi worldview is that spirituality should enhance your life and relationships (this is key for me) and also be integrated into your daily life. So each mountain bike ride into Nature is in itself part of my spiritual engagement or Gework with the land where I live, gardening is part of my Druidic practice and the herb work informs my Ovate studies.
Even things like waiting to pick the kids up (from school, clubs etc...) can be a 10 minute downtime to compose a little bit of Bardic poetry or meditate on the natural world around me.
So have I completed my Ovate work as quickly as I'd like? At 5 years plus now that's a no...,
Do I write to my OBOD tutor as often as I feel I should?.. no,
Are my rituals as elaborate and significant as I would like...no
Does this really matter? Probably not; as long as Gewessi is enhancing my life & relationships (including that with the land), making me more balanced as a person and through this I am reducing my family's impact on the planet and current eco-systems. The Gods, Land-Alfs and Ancestors know that I remember, honour and respect them and I feel that this is sufficient, they do not demand more.

Gewessi is a path for living life not subsuming it into a religious fervour

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