Witchvox Article

Author: Kestryl Angell
Posted: June 24th. 2007
Times Viewed: 2,122

See, Inspire, Memorize, Place, Love, Identify, Find Yourself!

The mind, as we�ve discussed before, can be like an untrained puppy or a child in need of discipline, structure and work with daily in order to become a more aware, able and functional human being both within ourselves and within our environment. It is a strong human habit to over complicate life.

We learn to seek things outside our true needs (note: not wants, needs) or prevue to obtain and/or maintain, which only sets us up from the beginning of the process, to fail. Thus, we have to learn (or even just to recognize) that to truly find the roots of our own needs on every point of our personal pentacle (Mind, Heart, Will, Body, Spirit) and how to grow from them to be stronger and more well-balanced.

To this effort, I have learned over the years with affirmations, meditations and just plain mental training, to find shortcuts to remembering why I must take certain pathways in my mind to find the solutions I seek when confused.

Since I realize that it is human nature to complicate life, I realized I needed to�.

Simplify.

I needed to learn ways to strip away extraneous thoughts and processes and get to the heart of the matter. I needed to simplify. So, from there it became a path working, of sorts.

As in the beginning of the riddle of the Sphinx, one must See in order to Know. This is especially true of the knowledge of the self. You can try to follow simple axioms such as �To thine own self be true� or �Know Thyself, � but you can never truly WORK them within yourself if you do not first truly, without artifice, see yourself, through and through, good and bad, light and dark, the full balance of you. If this simple honesty is beyond you, your ego is already a problem.

If you cannot bring it out in front of at least one other person in your life, then obviously�yours is a lonely existence�but far from an impossible one. So, regardless of your own personal balance, you must be ready to see all the places you�ve been, all those you see yourself going and not going and realize that each and every one of them is a choice you�ve made.

You are the one who controls not always where or how you go along in life, but you ARE the one who always controls how you react to life�s changes and stabilities. Thus, when you find you�re having an unbalanced reaction to any extreme -- whether being a workaholic and too ultra-focused for your own good or being completely arrogant, selfish and lazy about the movements in your life -- you know what is missing to regain your balance.

Basically, the simplest rule of self-governance is to return to what worked best and last in your life. If there are things that cannot be re-attained for you, then find new ones that work. However, tools, assistance and direction are always out there if only you are brave enough to seek it and use it appropriately.

Next, we must seek Inspiration.

In ourselves, we must seek the places in which we are able to find personal gratification. This could be artistic ability, music, science, technology, writing, fishing, building or design or any other activity or ability you could name, train and hone. It is classified in this case, as the things that feed you from the inside out. But, in seeking balance within, we must also look for inspirations outside ourselves.

When you don�t know a thing, you begin by finding those that DO know a thing� or maybe even two! Whether again, to be found in people, philanthropy, a �cause� in life to take up or assist others with, literature, the news, comedy, music, art or whatever draws you to feeling good and positive and flowing, we must seek things that lead us to be inspired to be better people on all levels.

Actively seek teachers, writers or information on the topics that draw you to positives. In this way, they can begin to assist you in learning how to cement their expertise solidly into your own foundational structure. Passing along positives of thought, speech, manner and knowledge only helps develop you as both an individual and as one that works in harmony with others and their environment.

To Memorize comes next in the SIMPLIFY axiom.

When we find those things that are good within us, whether from our own background, learning experiences, work experiences, inspirational or spiritual experiences, we must memorize these good things and how they came about. We must realize, in every beautiful detail, how the stained glass window of who we are came about so that if moments come where something is thrown through it and the picture is damaged, we know how to replace, repair or totally remake the portion of the scene that was damaged.

Knowing one�s own baseline of what is best and most functional and yet, being willing to see it grow, flow and change to something better is the name of the growth game in human beings. So, to memorize, to work the mind in many directions�known and unknown, to obtain and retain information is an important exercise is learning to keep a watchful and balanced eye on ourselves as we go along.

Memorizing one�s path is also very important when one has a tendency to get lost. Remembering our own breadcrumbs and signs along the road could one day save us. Thus, if you know memory is a problem or retention is an issue, these are areas where notes, diaries, journals and keeping track of where one has been and wishes to go becomes immediately more important.

As well, if you have done something you think is wrong to another, remembering how you got there and thinking about the consequences of those actions can, if you allow it to, keep you from making the same mistakes more than once. However, if you choose to ignore those lessons, you have also chosen those consequences for yourself, which can mean severe losses and personal injury.

But, as with all things, the God/dess gave us free will, so we do have the choice to continue destructive paths or not, even when we feel it is beyond our control. Just remember, that perception is only a self-protecting illusion. What the true question becomes is whether or not we feel confident we can accomplish the work needed to turn one�s self around to another direction and correct the damage done in the process of making the wrong decisions.

Usually, if one feels outside that challenge or knows of themselves they do not complete projects well, they may feel they themselves are not �worthy of the trouble� to make those changes. Then come into focus issues of self-image and self-worth for most people�and if there are needs for balance there, you can go back to the Inspiration portion of our discussion for reference on where to go.

If one step forward is even too hard�which sometimes it can be�then take one step back, think again, breathe and try again. Just don�t let yourself take more steps backward than are truly necessary, for in those moments you only jackpot your own progress and deepen the ideas within yourself that already have difficulty believing in your own successes in life.

We are blessed daily, hourly and moment-to-moment with renewed opportunities to change our lives. It is only up to us to use them. When you�re ready to move forward, then you�re moving into the realm of our next subject�

Placement.

To Place something is to select where it goes either permanently or semi-permanently. It can be an object, a thought or idea, a practice�it can be anything, really. But those things we do �religiously� on a daily basis, those practices that never leave our lives or are comforting to us are those things that have found their place within our environment and us. Good or bad, memories or dreams, this is their �spot.�

We, as human beings too are often seeking our �spot� in the world. That is the root of many human beings struggle both inside and outside them selves. Placement is the area where we also touch on expectations vs. realizations. When we realize the placement of expectation in our lives and how it effects us, we come to the realization of what controls truly exist for us in this often nebulous and difficult-to-navigate part of our selves.

Many people mistake expectations for needs in their lives. Expectations are actually more akin to our wants than they are our needs. Yet, very often it is our expectations of others or of specific situations that trip us into shattering disappointment.

We expect one thing of a person or circumstance and get another because we did not consider something� often something as basic and essential as the person or situations background and ability to attain our expectation of them. If one is not taught what our expectations are and how to get them or are not given the tools with which to accomplish our expectations of them, then when they fail it feels like they fail us personally�when the fault is actually our own for expecting the unrealistic in the first place.

Thus, in the case of expectation being akin to wants and responsible thoughtfulness being attached to needs, we come closer to finding the Place that is a happy balance for ourselves.

This path, shown here on the idea of expectations and realizations, can be related to anything we find that we need to Place in our lives or personalities in order to find that simple balance we�re seeking in the end.

Next in line, but at the heart of the word and in our selves, lies LOVE!

As many of my teachers have taught me, �Love is the Highest Law. It is the greatest weapon and the greatest defense, for none can stand against Love.�

Ego would like many of us to make the mistake of thinking that to Love one�s self is a given in life. Those who go overboard with �love� of self are those that end up so ego-ridden that they cannot free themselves of the delusions of perfection they either work constantly to attain and fail at or become obsessive about maintaining, if they end up as one of the lucky few that actually obtain their own ideal.

To truly Love one�s self or another in the world is to have the willingness to be honest no matter what occurs. To truly Love means taking the good with the bad and trusting another to follow their own truest nature, not what our expectations of them or their behavior lead us to feel is correct for them.

Love is natural. Children love completely and without reserve, for the most part. They are taught over the course of time that life is cruel and that to love too much or too often or in the wrong places can cause great harm and pain, both to themselves or others. So if you meet someone that is jaded and feels that love is an impossible thing to find in them selves or toward themselves from another, those are the ones that have usually been taught by life that Love is cruelty.

True Love is not cruelty. It is the biggest, most wonderful gift that anyone can experience�in the giving or in the receiving of it. Love should be the governing force, the balancing point, and the baseline on which to work nearly every decision you make in life. For if you look upon life and decisions with loving eyes�NOT blind eyes, loving eyes, BIG difference there! �then you too can learn to see clearly what is best nearly every step of the way.

Love is what brings Compassion to the heart and mind and many of the world�s greatest minds and hearts have been teaching lessons of Love and Compassion as appropriate ways of living for centuries. How can so many unconnected sources be incorrect? Try it on; you might be pleasantly surprised. Love truly can heal all wounds�if given the chance.

Once we have learned to See, Inspire, Memorize, Place and Love in our lives, we then learn to Identify.

We learn, by process of momentum, that we may have a far more complete Identity when we plateau in this process than when we started. As well, by learning to observe others through these filters, we also learn to Identify several other personality types and how they effect us and our environment more readily so that they can either be brought more deeply into our lives or left behind as something that no longer serves our needs, whichever decision is appropriate once the full Identification process has taken place within us.

We can Identify where we fit best, where friends, family, work responsibilities, relationship responsibilities and etc. all fall into place, because the previous steps we�ve taken have allowed us to fully shape our world in more detail!

The process we�ve gone through has allowed us to once again come to a conclusion of a path at the end. In this case, you�ve been shown how to end up at the conclusion of� FINDING YOUR SELF!

When we feel lost, when we feel stuck, when we feel like the world is spinning way too fast and out of control�. All those are appropriate times to SIMPLIFY!

So, though when you write out all the steps you take to follow a one-word axiom, it takes a lot longer than the actual process may in our heads, you�ve been reminded (or perhaps taught for the first time) how to come to the conclusion of having a better handle on the end of this particular one-word path-working. You�ve learned to find yourself.

Being the growing (we hope) human beings we are, always forward moving and like the Universe, full of both constants and ever-changing aspects that shape who we are and how and why we effect the world around us know that this will consistently bring us along on this spiral path to better understanding. That ever-turning pattern tells us that this is a cycle we will likely see again, but if we grow�that turn will take us to a new, higher level of living and understanding.

Like all humans, sometimes simple isn�t good enough or exciting enough and we go seeking things off the path to excite life again or just try something new. That�s when we get lost, generally speaking.

So, when life gets too complicated, has too many variables or is just stuck in a rut�that is the time to remember this process we�ve just discussed�and SIMPLIFY!

Copyright held by Erica L. (Kestryl) Angell, 2007.

ABOUT...

Kestryl Angell

Location: Columbia, Missouri

Author's Profile: To learn more about Kestryl Angell - Click HERE

Other Articles: Kestryl Angell has posted 16 additional articles- View them?

Other Listings: To view ALL of my listings: Click HERE

Email Kestryl Angell... (No, I have NOT opted to receive Pagan Invites! Please do NOT send me anonymous invites to groups, sales and events.)

Home - TWV Logos - Email US - Privacy

News and Information

Chapters: Pagan/Heathen Basics - Pagan BOOKS - Traditions, Paths & Religions - Popular Pagan Holidays - TV & Movies - Cats of the Craft - Festival Reviews - Festival Tips - White Pages (Resources) - Issues/Concerns - West Memphis 3 - Witch Hunts - Pagan Protection Tips - Healing Planet Earth

Your Voices: Adult Essays - Young Pagan Essays - Pagan Perspectives (On Hold) - WitchWars: Fire in the Craft - Gay Pagan - Pagan Parenting - Military - Pagan Passages

Pagan Music: Pagan Musicians - Bardic Circle at WitchVox - Free Music from TWV

Vox Central: About TWV - Wren: Words, Wrants and Wramblings - Guest Rants - Past Surveys - A Quest for Unity

Weekly Updates: Click HERE for an index of our weekly updates for the past 6 years

W.O.T.W. - World-Wide Networking

Your Town: A Link to YOUR Area Page (The largest listing of Witches, Pagans, Heathens and Wiccans on the Planet)

VoxLinks: The Pagan Web: 8,000 Listings

Your Witchvox Account: Log in Now - Create New Account - Request New Password - Log in Problems

Personal Listings: Pagan Clergy in Your Town - Adult Pagans - Young Pagans - Military Pagans

Events: Circles, Gatherings, Workshops & Festivals

Covens/Groups/Orgs: Local Groups Main Page

Other LOCAL Resources: Local Shops - Regional Sites - Local Notices - Global/National Notices - Local Skills & Services - Local Egroups - Political Freedom Fighters

Pagan Shopping: Online Shops Index - Original Crafters Sites - Auction Sites - Pagan Wholesalers - Pagan Local Shops

Web Site Content (including: text - graphics - html - look & feel)
Copyright 1997-2013 The Witches' Voice Inc. All rights reserved
Note: Authors & Artists retain the copyright for their work(s) on this website.
Unauthorized reproduction without prior permission is a violation of copyright laws.

Website structure, evolution and php coding by Fritz Jung on a Macintosh G5.

Any and all personal political opinions expressed in the public listing sections (including, but not restricted to, personals, events, groups, shops, Wren’s Nest, etc.) are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinion of The Witches’ Voice, Inc. TWV is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization.

Sponsorship: Visit the Witches' Voice Sponsor Page for info on how you
can help support this Community Resource. Donations ARE Tax Deductible.
The Witches' Voice carries a 501(c)(3) certificate and a Federal Tax ID.

Mail Us: The Witches' Voice Inc., P.O. Box 341018, Tampa, Florida 33694-1018 U.S.A.

Witches, Pagans
of The World

Current Topic
Editorial Guide

NOTE: The essay on this page contains the writings and opinions of the listed author(s) and is not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Witches' Voice inc.

The Witches' Voice does not verify or attest to the historical accuracy contained in the content of this essay.

All WitchVox essays contain a valid email address, feel free to send your comments, thoughts or concerns directly to the listed author(s).