I was taught that Deity (Gods,
Goddesses, The Powers That Be, whatever you believe in) will give you
only what you can handle or what you need. It almost sounds as if
offering prayers or asking for anything is a waste of time, yet –
as we state in our rituals – we offer our prayers.
But what if you pray to your Deity and
whatever it is that you're requesting goes incredibly wrong? You do
your ritual, make your offerings, implore your God or Goddess to help
maybe move the energies about a bit to facilitate whatever it is
you're needing, then go about your business – everything we're
taught from day one about spellwork. Then things start moving just
as you had requested. Looks like your spell is in motion! Hooray!
And then.....it all goes insanely crazy
wrong. You get the money you need to cover your bills, but as soon
as you pay them, a huge emergency pops up and you have no way to take
care of it. You receive the job offer you were hoping for, but the
terms have changed and you'll be making a lot less than you were
before. You finally meet a seemingly wonderful person, but as time
goes by, you realize this person is absolute the worst possible human
being on the face of the planet – and they are never going to leave
you alone.
What the hell????
Well, it occurred to me – what if
we're offering our prayers to the wrong Deity? I'm not saying we
should all drop Paganism and start practicing Christianity, because
I've seen plenty of Christians that have identical problems. But
here's the thing.....just about everyone I know chooses who they
offer prayers to. Every once in a while, I do hear about someone
chosen by their Deity, but that doesn't seem to happen too often.
So....what if we've been choosing the wrong God? And when we pray to
the wrong God, what if we just piss them off and they think it's
funny to mess with us? You know, let us think everything is gonna be
groovy, then yank the rug out from under us right when everything is
good.
Just a thought.....
Interesting question... In the past, I've often had the feeling of being called/pulled in different directions simply because my mood had changed and I felt a connection to multiple paths. The only thing they had in common was that they're generally Pagan! Until the past year or so, I rarely practiced anything except within my mind. I've always been more of a meditative visualizer than a spellworker. So much so that I managed to create a duality in my life where my physical self and spiritual self were practically in two seperate realms; not really healthy. I think part of that was not being able to label what I was or thinking of my ecclectic beliefs as being invalid.
ReplyDeleteThese days, my path has widened even further yet I'm finding a bit more clarity. I've decided that for me, it's ok to be a crazy mix of a Celtic Neo-Shaman with a smidgin' of Hindu and Buddha. I call on anyone who wants to help out. Ancestors, Gods and Goddesses, Ascended Shaman and Yogis, Angels... literally any positive spirit. My personal view is that The Great Sprit/God/Goddess appeared to me in whatever form I needed or could accept at the time to be connected. So to me, they're all personifications of one. I like to meditate upon and acknowledge those facets that possess the attributes I'm interested in emulating. I know that other practioners don't have such a broad view as I but I think it helps me stay connected in a positive way. It was disheartening to say the least to feel that I wasn't authentic in any one path just because I was drawn to so many.
That said I also struggle when prayers and such go haywire. I feel that manifesting desires is much like making wishes to a Genie. Tricky business indeed! So you take all the precautions and consider all the angles.. You keep your eyes open and *boom* there it appears.... but like you said, something goes awry. Why would Spirit tease like that? What's the lesson to be gained?
A friend suggested to me that perhaps we desire so fervently that we attract and manifest the result ourselves and that Spirit might not be giving it after all. Therefore if it doesn't work out, it may not have been right in the first place and Spirit sat that one out. Kind of like when our kids want something and we know it's not gonna work out but they want it so badly so we take a step back. They work for it, attain it, and it all goes to heck anyway? I get the analogy and I understand the theory but what still don't get what the positive message is because then you've mistaken your success for an answered prayer, you feel dumb, and you're still out whatever resources it took. You could've chosen a different route with those same resources but since you got exactly what you wanted, it felt ordained, you know?
Still working on this one too :)