Essays and Articles

Integrated Spirituality

When I was laid off from work in 2009 as my employer, Borders Books, was on the down slide to closing for good, I was very sad but also thought, well, this will give me the time I want to design my knit patterns, work on my spiritual exercises and spend more time on my Druidry lessons. Although I was nervous about not contributing to our household income, I was delighted to get up every morning to spend hours in meditation, designing and knitting my own patterns, and simply keeping up on household and garden chores. After several months of tightening the belt, I managed to find work. Once again I tried to balance my obligations with my desire to spend time knitting and doing my spiritual practices. I’ve known since youth that my spiritual beliefs had implications for daily living and I always strove to put them into practice in all areas of my life. So now, again, I attempted to bring whatever I could of my spiritual life into my job with corporate America.

One day, I had an epiphany that left me with the urge to adopt a different strategy. I realized that it’s an illusion to think of work and home or social life as separated from my spiritual practice. There are times I focus on one task and not another but all of it is part of the same practice. No longer do I try to incorporate the lessons of my spiritual practice into my work life; my work life is part of my spiritual practice. Humans are, by nature, social creatures whose life lessons, including spiritual ones, are often learned through interactions with others. We all learn who we are- what sort of spirit we are- through others for we do not treat others the way we do because of who they are, we treat others the way we do because of who we are. I grow and develop my spirit through my interactions with others at work.

Designing my knit patterns is another part of my spiritual practice. Creativity is an expression of the spirit within. It has an energy all its own and is given birth through the spirit of the artist. We may channel energies of the world around us, but whatever is around us can’t pass through us without our own energies being thrown into the mix. Therefore, what I create teaches me something about myself, about my spirit. The act of creating exercises my spirit by requiring a deep dive into my own interiority to surface the flow of energy and give birth to it. 

All of what I do, no matter the task, can be seen as a spiritual practice. Some might call it mindfulness, others have called it noisy contemplation. All of it are parts of an integrated whole flowing and merging and ebbing and swirling into new mixes of insight and growth.

Ceridwen’s cauldron is to Awen like my body is to my spirit and its expressions. Ceridwen is a Welsh goddess (witch, magician) in whose cauldron brews an elixir called Awen. Upon completion of brewing, three drops fall onto the thumb of a lad named Gwion who ingests the drops and suddenly gains wisdom. After a series of events, he receives the name Taliesin which means “radiant brow” to reflect his wisdom. Everything I say, do and think no matter what facet of my life I’m operating in is an ingredient into the brew of my own Awen, my own spirit. Like the carefully brewed Awen that spills out of the cauldron and changes Gwion, my own elixir spills out affecting those around me. What qualities does my Awen have? What qualities do I want my Awen to have?

Everything I do regardless of the situation becomes a part of my personal history. Just like spices added to a soup, everything I add to my Awen will change its flavor making it bitter or sweet, off balance with too much of one thing or mellowed by the right ingredients over time. How I respond to someone at work, the attitude I have while designing, the care I give when planting a tree all inform who I am becoming at that moment. How I am in any situation can add wisdom or disappointment.

The cauldron, the body, is the worthy vessel in which the potent and life-enriching Awen is brewed yet is often forgotten. What I do with my body and how I treat it is the most intimate expression of my spirituality. For those of us who embrace a nature spirituality, this becomes incredibly important because we can see that our bodies are nature vulnerable under our own constant, direct, and immediate control. Do I care for and honor nature? Then how do I care for and honor my body? Do I love and appreciate nature? Then how do I love and appreciate my body? Do I work to make the land around me healthier? Then how do I work to make my own body healthier? Assessing and tending lovingly to everything else in nature- our gardens, land, waterways- but ignoring how we treat our own bodies indicates an unfortunate but common blind spot. The care of the cauldron itself adds to the quality of the Awen; let it be a sound and cared-for cauldron.

Some purposes of spiritual practice are to nurture spiritual development, increase wisdom or enlightenment, recognize and build one’s personal power, learn more deeply about oneself, and expand one’s capacity for love. The different areas of our lives are like doors to different perspectives for learning all these things, and the deepest understanding requires all the perspectives we can get.