The Meaning Beneath the Meaning

The Meaning Beneath the Meaning

"The journey we begin as we answer the call is long, and filled with all that we have been and all that we will become."   
   ____ Cairstiona Worthington, Modron of the
     Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids

  Our spiritual journey leads us through many stations of experience. We feel the need to travel in company with others: we join churches, courses, movements, and groups, learning all that we can from their leaders and exponents. Sometimes sharing the journey is helpful and supportive to our unique spiritual call; other times it is very dissatisfying, causing us to give up and continue our journey elsewhere. This period of spiritual nomadism can be lengthy, as we move from place to place, from religious movement to spiritual group in search of the meaning beneath the meaning.
   It is good to realize early on that whatever is spiritually important to us must be identified and made use of, not discarded later in the journey because it does not 'fit' our current spiritual practice. It is in the experiences that have along our way that our spirituality grows and matures. Dancing, catching leaves, meditating in the bath, praying while singing, walking in the countryside - all these are ways to honor Spirit.
   In order to live our spiritual path, we cannot leave out any part of ourselves to our experience: every single bit of who we are and what we do has to be included. It is in recognizing the mystic we always were rather than in mimicking the pious practices of our faith that we discover the meaning beneath the meaning which has always been calling us.

"What causes you to be aware of the meaning beneath the meaning? Begin to incorporate your own innate spiritual responses into your daily practice."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Month of January - smoky is the vale;

Weary the wine-bearer; strolling the minstrel;

Lean the cow; seldom the hum of the bee.

____  anon. Welsh poem

January see the growing of the cold. This month's meditation themes include: the soul's circuit, beginnings, and approaches, the gifts of youth, mediators, mutual care and separateness with clarity.