Post by robincragin on Oct 27, 2015 16:47:58 GMT -5
Spirit develops much like the changing of the seasons. In the environment we notice that the turn of seasons ushers in changes of growth, warmth, and light. The briskness of autumn follows upon the lazy, leafy days of summer. There is a simple wholesome purity in this seasonal process. And in many ways, this same simplicity applies to our own lives. Wicks take note of this and see the four seasons of our planet as metaphors for human spiritual development.
Some of the features that share commonality with spiritual development are:
* Both spiritual and seasonal progressions are cyclical. There is no forward movement per se. Both represent perpetual cycles of change.
* Both the changing seasons and spiritual development are a process of unfolding. Seasonal changes come upon us gradually, in tune with the right planetary conditions. Similarly, your spiritual understanding unfolds in a gradual manner, facilitated by certain conditions such as regular spiritual practices.
* The seasons do not strive to change their inherent nature. Winter does not try to be something more or less than cold, rainy, or snowy. It realizes its full potential by being itself fully. Similarly, you express your greatest spiritual power by being what you are completely. Repressing your fullest expression is a dark, unhealthy, and magically destructive path.
* All that ever changes about the seasons is your experience of them. The same holds true of spiritual changes. You can live in reaction to the seasons, loving or hating them, or you can live in harmony with them, learning from their pace, their rhythm, their very presence. Similarly, you can live in reaction to your own true nature by either loving or hating yourself—or you can simply accept what is.
Exercise: Learning Your Season
Today’s task involves determining your individual spiritual season. To begin, review the list below that describes the seasons as metaphors for your current spiritual life phase.
* Spring: newness, beginnings, birth, potential, seeding, awakening,
freshness, individual way
* Summer: achievement, fruition, full potential, activity, growth,
externalized expression, group way
* Fall: ripening, wisdom, maturity, reaping, receiving, realization,
gratitude, reflection
* Winter: silence, internal expression, inward movement, release,
repose
Perhaps you have additional or alternative seasonal associations. If you do, please take time to add those to the words listed above. As you consider your life as it is right now, which season seems to represent your current phase? Which represents your spiritual life? Homer your seasonal phases today by dressing in seasonal colors, eating seasonal foods, or listening to music you associate with your season. It is a good practice to periodically note your current spiritual season, so be sure to try this exercise again—perhaps at the time of the next full moon.
Some of the features that share commonality with spiritual development are:
* Both spiritual and seasonal progressions are cyclical. There is no forward movement per se. Both represent perpetual cycles of change.
* Both the changing seasons and spiritual development are a process of unfolding. Seasonal changes come upon us gradually, in tune with the right planetary conditions. Similarly, your spiritual understanding unfolds in a gradual manner, facilitated by certain conditions such as regular spiritual practices.
* The seasons do not strive to change their inherent nature. Winter does not try to be something more or less than cold, rainy, or snowy. It realizes its full potential by being itself fully. Similarly, you express your greatest spiritual power by being what you are completely. Repressing your fullest expression is a dark, unhealthy, and magically destructive path.
* All that ever changes about the seasons is your experience of them. The same holds true of spiritual changes. You can live in reaction to the seasons, loving or hating them, or you can live in harmony with them, learning from their pace, their rhythm, their very presence. Similarly, you can live in reaction to your own true nature by either loving or hating yourself—or you can simply accept what is.
Exercise: Learning Your Season
Today’s task involves determining your individual spiritual season. To begin, review the list below that describes the seasons as metaphors for your current spiritual life phase.
* Spring: newness, beginnings, birth, potential, seeding, awakening,
freshness, individual way
* Summer: achievement, fruition, full potential, activity, growth,
externalized expression, group way
* Fall: ripening, wisdom, maturity, reaping, receiving, realization,
gratitude, reflection
* Winter: silence, internal expression, inward movement, release,
repose
Perhaps you have additional or alternative seasonal associations. If you do, please take time to add those to the words listed above. As you consider your life as it is right now, which season seems to represent your current phase? Which represents your spiritual life? Homer your seasonal phases today by dressing in seasonal colors, eating seasonal foods, or listening to music you associate with your season. It is a good practice to periodically note your current spiritual season, so be sure to try this exercise again—perhaps at the time of the next full moon.