Tag Archives: Philosophy

What matters to you?

19 Tuesday Jul 2011

Posted by in Following Delight, Reflections

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This week I’ve had the fortune to get on a management and leadership course, which began yesterday.

The organiser was talking to us about how the most important thing that comes out of the course is the connections you make (when is that not the case?!) and that this newly forming network can lead to opportunities.

It reminded me of a very simple fact – if I hide what truly matters to me and only share with the group the parts of my passions which I consider safe to be shared, like my desire to lecture in Philosophy, then that will be the only area in which opportunities can open.

The only way to follow all of my loves is to allow them all to be present in my interactions with people.

A scary thing, for me, to be risk being seen as nutty… but if I don’t take the risk, the doors won’t open even if they’re there. And if I hide the pagan elements in my life in case people reject me, or my love of art and music because I’m being ‘serious’ and I’m shy about sharing those things with strangers in person, then the opportunities that come up in the areas I am open about won’t allow room for those things either.

So I ask myself, and you, what matters so much that you’ll take a risk and speak openly of it in order to invite it further into your life?

Whats worth the risk?

Dreaming of a Grove

26 Sunday Jun 2011

Posted by in Creative Process, Faery, Following Delight, Magic

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The Enchanted GroveI have a dream…

A dream of a place where people can gather and share and support each other in the path of enchantment, of Faery, of magic and spirit.

A place which holds space for play and the search for delight in the everyday.

A place where people can discuss serious thoughts about a-rational things, and playful thoughts about serious things.

A place for art and music and devotion and learning and healing and empowerment.

A place where your religion doesn’t matter, where magic as metaphor and magic as real is equally as precious because it is the experience and the enchantment it gives you that matters.

An Enchanted Grove.

I dream that one day this will be a physical place, a tangible space, or maybe even many spaces across the world…

For now, I’m planting the seeds of an online grove… there are a few feylings there already and soon I hope to open it up to more wandering wonderers.

I’m making my dreams come true…

Would you care to join me?

Being a Creative Philosopher in an Analytic World.

26 Thursday May 2011

Posted by in All Posts, Creative Process, Following Delight, Philosophy, Reflections

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Emerging

Many things make up who we are - what do you share and what do you keep precious from the world? When do you ignore the 'sensible' and leap into what you love?

How often have I tried to hide?

I know it would be safer to keep my head down, to keep my lunacy separate from the rational academia in which I’m slowly-slowly carving a place for myself, and yet I also know that to hide is to deny myself.

So I shut my eyes and I leap.

I see a scary thing ahead, and I take a deep breath and tell my Sensible Self to close her eyes… and then the moon-kissed heart of me steps off the cliff and trusts the wind to carry her.

It’s never dropped me yet.

I know as well as you do the risks of being seen as crazy – it’s a not-so-secret fear of mine, you know? – if they see me and dismiss me I’ll be left out in the cold. If they think I’m crazy they’ll turn me away… I’ll lose friends and opportunities and it’ll all be for nothing.

So says my Sensible Self. She has good reason to believe these things, and yet I know that even if the worst happens, the Wind will not drop me. At least, he will not drop me far!

I’ve friends who have seen me star-struck and moon-kissed and standing on edges. I’ve friends who’ve stood beside me as I’ve opened doors and boxes which Sensible Me says would be better left closed. In leaping I’ve found people who encourage me to fly, even in the most unexpected places.

Those who shake their heads and sigh do not need to know my heart, but as long as I follow it, the Wind will carry me when the ground falls out beneath my feet. Those that know what flying means will soar with me, even if they ride another breeze.

And only those that understand dreams of flight are worth sharing my secrets with. Only those who already share a spark will understand what I say.

And so I come full circle.

No longer do I hide, but neither do I need to tell everyone I meet my deepest, brightest secrets. That those lights guide me is no reason to announce it to the world.

My dreams, my passions, my obsessions filter into my academic work, and you’d be amazed at how often people ignore the bits they do not understand. It’s not easy to have a touch of the irrational in a world of rationality, but they feed each other and both grow stronger from it.

I am me. Every day I learn to be more me, I am always becoming, and I do not hide…

But I do keep secrets.

***

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Pearl Pentacle – Liberty

04 Monday Apr 2011

Posted by in All Posts, Magic, Pentacles

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Pearl - Liberty Painting

Choose your limits

Everything that you do requires power. Power is the ability to make things happen.~ Hiro Boga

And when you claim your power to make things happen, you gain liberty…

Standing strong in yourself, with power in your heart, you see the way open before your eyes.

You know you are capable of choice, of action, and your ability to choose your path means you are free, free to choose your own responsibilities, free to be yourself, free to choose when to say yes and when to say no.

When you claim your power for yourself, you are at liberty to decide to manifest your own destiny, or not.

When liberty rises, you choose.

And there are limitations, we are not infinite beings, we are embodied, we are finite, we are living with limitations and obligations…

But these do not change the fact that we are free to choose how we respond to them, how we live within them.

That the world is only so big does not mean we are not free, it only means that we have only a certain amount of land to walk upon… and we are free to choose whether we start walking, or whether we stay put.

You have the power to choose your own path, you are free to walk the way you choose.

The path may only be two feet wide, but you choose to look up as you walk, or down at your feet, or to sit by the side and refuse to move at all.

Claim your power, your ability to act and choose within whatever limits may exist, and feel the freedom that rises within.

As Epictetus, a Greek Philosopher and slave, insisted, there are certain things we do not have control over, but in those areas where we do, we are free. As such, even he, a slave, felt himself to be free.

Liberty is possible when we accept our own power, and where we are powerless, and we then begin to choose.

 

What do you choose?

 

This is the fifth post of seven on the Pearl Pentacle, part of my Pentacles series, which started with the Iron Pentacle. I’ll be posting on the points of the Pearl Pentacle for the next few Magical Mondays.

 

Pearl Pentacle – Knowledge

28 Monday Mar 2011

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Knowing

Knowing

What do I know?

What are my skills?

What have I learned in my time incarnated?

 

We all know something so well we forget others may not understand it.

We all have skills we have learnt to help us survive.

When we begin to know ourselves, we begin to know what we know… Who we are includes our skills and knowledge, and who we are is expressed through that which we have invested much energy learning about. We are, in the world, what we do; our actions are a true reflection of what and who we are… Even when we wish we were different.

 

What do you know?

How do you express that knowledge?

When you act from what you know you express that part of yourself in the world. Only you can share that knowledge, those skills, that understanding in that way.

Know what you know, and know how you express your knowledge, and you will know who you are… And, perhaps, what you need to change in your expression in order to become the best you that you can be.

 

Know your self.

 

Know your skills.

 

Know your role in your world…

Pearl Pentacle – Introduction

28 Monday Feb 2011

Posted by in All Posts, Magic, Pentacles

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Earlier this month I wrote a series of posts on the Iron Pentacle, a meditational  tool for self-discovery and transformation used within the Reclaiming tradition. The Iron Pentacle, and its partner, the Pearl Pentacle, came from the Feri tradition, and have evolved within Reclaiming to become something slightly different.

I spoke of Iron, now it is time for Pearl…

The Iron pentacle is the foundation of self, the work of a lifetime.

The Pearl pentacle is what happens when you are strong and balanced in yourself; healthy relationships and communities arise. Pearl is, therefore, the work of many lifetimes.*

Energetically Pearl is what happens when the energies of Iron come into balance and vibrate up, expanding from a self-centric to a community-centric relationship with the world. Conceptually, Pearl is what happens when you take the ideas of Iron and imagine them expressed in community and in the world in a healthy way.

The point of Pearl grow out of the points of Iron…

Sex becomes Love

Pride becomes Law

Self becomes Knowledge

Power becomes Liberty

Passion becomes Wisdom

We need a strong sense of Iron in order to act through Pearl… if you do not have a clear, clean access to lifeforce, you cannot express it in support of others and connect healthily. If you do not have an sense of your place in the world, you cannot understand the natural Law which places all things in relationship, in the flow of cause and effect. If you have no knowledge of yourself you cannot know the world… and so on.

Continue reading →

Feyhearted – Pixie Kiss 11 – Seeing Faeries without Sight

11 Friday Feb 2011

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This is the eleventh of a series of suggestions for re-enchanting your life, one pixie kiss at a time. The introduction is here, and you can watch the path unfold here.

I’ve always looked for faeries, and very rarely seen them.

I often feel them, however, or know that they are near.

It turns out that not everyone can translate their experiences into something visual, and that is ok. This means, however, that in a world which emphasises sight so much, we can overlook our own experiences in the pursuit of a pattern which does not suit us, as I did for a long time.

Always looking, rarely seeing, but I knew they were there. I knew there was something to see… when I finally gave up on seeing, I found them.

Don’t worry, then, if you cannot see them. They are still there.

Continue reading →

The Iron Pentacle

09 Wednesday Feb 2011

Posted by in All Posts, Magic, Pentacles

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I’ve been involved in the Reclaiming tradition for about 7 years now, and one of the tools which is taught as a ‘core class’ in Reclaiming is the Iron Pentacle. Paired with the Pearl Pentacle, this meditational tool came from Feri and has evolved within Reclaiming into something slightly different, and just as useful. I shan’t be talking about the history, or much about the differences, here, but I would like to share some thoughts about these pentacles over the next few weeks.

The Iron pentacle rewards repeated work. It has as its points topics which hold a great deal of power for people in our culture, and which our society has denigrated and damaged and made taboo. The words themselves have power, and were chosen for this reason; if we can reclaim them in a healthy way, we can heal the divisions within ourselves that denying parts of our birthright has caused.

The points of the Iron Pentacle are:

Sex

Pride

Self

Power

Passion

Why Iron? Well, the earth has a core of iron, and we are of the earth, made of starstuff which has settled into a planet and lives. Our blood contains iron, iron strengthens us, keeps us alive. Iron is also an irritant; it scratches and stimulates and brings things to the surface. When red hot iron energy flows through us it burns away blocks, releasing energy which we have bound up in those places, which has not been allowed to flow.

We start with Iron to cleanse and strengthen our foundations as human beings. As human we are alive and sensual, we all have something we can be proud of, we have selves which are worthy of care and love, we hold the power in ourselves to act in the world and shape our lives, and we have passions and feel. Our culture has denigrated all these things. We are alive, we are blessed to walk this earth, and we have a right to delight in being alive, in community with other embodied beings. I intend to write a series of posts exploring each of these points from the perspective of the Reclaiming tradition.

At its heart, the Iron Pentacle is about healing ourselves and becoming strong in ourselves, in order to heal our community, our culture, the world. As everything is connected, healing one part heals part of the whole, and this ripples out…

 

Further Reading:

Reclaiming’s Principles of Unity

Starhawk, Spiral Dance

T. Thorn Coyle, Evolutionary Witchcraft

 

Retreats

08 Tuesday Feb 2011

Posted by in All Posts, Art Craft and Beauty, Creative Process, Philosophy

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Every time I come across mention of a creative retreat, I wish I was on one.

People talk of meeting other writers and spending a block of time just writing together, sharing stories and ideas and support, challenging each other and being there for each other. This appeals to me.

People talk of getting together with other artists to carve out a precious piece of time dedicated to creating art, honing skills, and immersing themselves in the creative process. This, too, appeals to me.

I love working with other people around, also working on the same kind of thing. Going on the university run Philosophy conference sets aside time in a beautiful place dedicated to just doing Philosophy and inspiring each other, and means that all sorts of things happen in writing and sparking ideas.

Maybe, then, instead of trying to set aside time to study each day I can plan a ‘private conference’ for myself, where I listen to philosophical podcasts, hunt down articles and offer up ideas for comment soemwhere like Facebook. Perhaps doing this will inspire me to dive back into my studies, and interacting with others will help me keep motivated?

Perhaps I could invite others over for creative afternoons, even if we just connect through Skype and blogs and Facebook? And perhaps, if no-one else is available, I can allow myself time for specific projects that I can get excited about in the anticipation-soaked wait… so half the reason, the retreat side of retreating, can at least be pressent.

I could join in on Play-date Tuesday, or workless Wednesday.

I could join the One World, One Heart giveaway to focus myself.

I could solicit interest here and now… Anyone up for getting together sometime? Either digitally or, even better, in person? Bring your creative project and I’ll bring mine, we can picnic in a park or make forts in a living room! Any other philosophy students out there? We can share interesting online talks, share summaries of our current pieces for inspiration and support, maybe even *gasp* get some discussion going?

Anyone else interested?

In the meantime, I’m going to experiment with reframing ‘study-sessions’ into ‘private conferences’ or retreats and see if I can get back into my studies by imagining they’re as fun as they are!

(I enjoy my studies while doing them, its getting started that I’m struggling with… bribery, time-limits, and making a schedule hasn’t helped so far, lets see if making a game of it will!)

Naked Lunch – Creation is Dangerous…

23 Tuesday Nov 2010

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An essay on the film, Naked Lunch, and the act of creation…

Vision of The Artist – A Portrayal With Bug Writers in Naked Lunch

Setting The Scene

The film, Naked Lunch, tracks the journey of a man who returns to writing after murdering his wife. Contrary to many accounts of art and creative activity, rather than being the production of beauty, the artistic endeavour in Naked Lunch results in the releasing into the world of horrific creations that are controlling, violent and downright dangerous. Based on a book of the same name by William Burroughs, and on Burroughs’ life itself, Cronenberg’s creation echoes the philosophy of many of his previous films; creation is dangerous.

 

For the rest of this essay, an exploration of the idea portrayed in Naked Lunch of creation being dangerous, please click here.