Meditations on The Great Work
Increasingly, as we become more attuned to holistic approaches and the intersection of body-mind-spirit, we are expanding our awareness of the diverse influences upon physical, emotional, and energetic well-being. We pay attention to home, leisure, and work environments. We read labels to determine the integrity of ingredients that we put into our bodies. We shift to natural cleaning solutions to eliminate chemicals from our quest for cleanliness. We bring peace into our bodies with meditation and yoga. But, though we can feel great love and affinity with Nature, we don't always necessarily extend our awareness of the impact of the environment upon our overall health to that of Nature around us, particularly as it relates to the annual dance through the cycle of the seasons. There is much informal evidence to support the concept that, consciously or not, we innately understand this impact. Many of us feel the urge to cocoon in the cold, barren months of Winter. We feel our spirits come alive once more in the refreshing, warming breezes of Spring. We tend to feel amazing in the long, hot days of the Summer, but we can become melancholy in the face of the decay we see around us in the Fall.
For the full article on The Llewellyn Journal, click the seasons picture above.
0 Comments
Recently I was asked a question that gave me pause. It was a simple question that opened up whole worlds of inquiry which have echoed through many hundreds of years. The question was, “Do birds have souls?” This is not such an unusual question. For a very long time in history, we have been told that only humans have souls. As God gave mankind dominion over the animals (Genesis 1:26), this seems to imply that, though animals have the ‘breath of life’ to animate them, they are not connected with the Divine in the same sense as mankind. They do not have souls nor do they go to heaven. We have come a long way in appreciating that animals have thoughts and feelings. Anyone who owns a pet (and this implication of ‘ownership’ becomes interesting language itself) can attest to the different, particular personalities that come through. Many of you reading this likely have already answered the question of animal’s souls in your own minds. For me it was an invitation to a more expansive question, “What exactly is a Soul and does it differ from Spirit?”
For the full article on The Healing Wheel blog at PaganSquare, click the swans picture above. It has not necessarily been the easiest of winters. We had fair warning. We were told it was going to be a doozy. In my part of the world, we were expecting record snowfalls which thankfully did not come to be. Instead we got record freezing temperatures. Day after day of minus 40 Celsius (which actually puts the US and Canada on par). In our household, we went through weeks of frozen pipes, washing dishes in the bathtub, and burst pipes during a brief temperature respite. I heard similar tales from many corners, not least from the incredibly busy plumbers who arrived to save the day, darting from one home in need to another.
For the full article on The Healing Wheel blog at PaganSquare, click the icy buds picture above. |
The Great WorkA long-time enthusiast of Alchemy, I have often been awed by its relevance to the path of self-discovery. The Alchemist knows - you are The Great Work, the Opus Magnum. This blog explores the many intersecting paths that lead to embracing the Self and living an empowered, fulfilling life. Archives
August 2017
Categories |
Our Services
|
Company
|
Copyright © 2012 The Hive and Grove Inc. | 226 Frederick St, Kitchener, ON N2H 2M8 |519-578-LOVE (5683) | hiveandgrove@gmail.com