"I travelled over the earth
Before I became learned person.
I have travelled, I have made a circuit,
I have slept in a hundred islands, dwelt
in a hundred cities."
___ Taliesin, "Cad Goddeu" (trans CM)
The Welsh poet Taliesin speaks here of his spiritual peregrinations - not only his physical travels but also his soul's circuit before it became
incarnated in its present form. The way to spiritual maturity is through personal and interactive experience. We travel to wisdom along the roads that our soul is drawn to explore, eventually evolving a map that we being to understand. Even within formal religions this journey must take place; otherwise, spiritual stasis sets in.
In the old language of craftspeople, there are three aspects to the spiritual path: first we are the apprentice, painstakingly learning the basics of our craft; then we become journeymen, trained apprentices who are able to travel from place to place practicing our craft; finally we become masters of our craft and are honored as repositories of skill. Our journey to wisdom, to a mature spirit, must go through all three phases. And even when we have arrived spiritually, we face the devastating revelation that the spiritual path is just that - a path, not a destination.
This is a lonely realization for many, yet we are not unaccompanied on our path. Upon it we encounter others who are traveling our way, some of whom will become close personal friends because they are spiritual kindred. These encounters and spiritual friendships mold our understandings as soul calls to soul, bringing new insights and concepts. By working with such friends, we realize the validity of our journey, we absorb new concepts that modify our own. we become more practical and less theoretical, and we change and grow in spirit.
"Draw an overview map of your own spiritual progress, noting significant features and encounters that have helped mature your soul."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]
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