Know Thyself
The Waking - Theodore Roethke
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
I've been reading Francesca De Grandis' books recently ("Be a Goddess!" and "Goddess Initiation") they appear to be as fluffy as f**k, but there's something really important buried deep in between all of the Chicken Soup for the Pagan soul-esque platitudes. To me it speaks of stripping yourself down to the bone, and really taking a good look at who you are and the way that you look at the world. It made me think about action and will. We are the prism for any action that we carry out in the world, whether magical or mundane, and if there's a flaw or a cloud to that prism then things can never be as we hope. Another book that has been a great influence on me recently is Circlework by Shan, she stresses the need for purification just as much as Francesca. Both books are about ritual, this isn't a sitting there and solely meditating, approach to personal transformation, they are practical solutions to implement in your life. You can't put your life on hold whilst you sort your head out, life is integrated, uncontrollable, containing infinitely various experiences. You can only learn by living. There will be no retreat in the mountains for me, no time out. I have to learn to live my life by going where I have to go.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
I've been reading Francesca De Grandis' books recently ("Be a Goddess!" and "Goddess Initiation") they appear to be as fluffy as f**k, but there's something really important buried deep in between all of the Chicken Soup for the Pagan soul-esque platitudes. To me it speaks of stripping yourself down to the bone, and really taking a good look at who you are and the way that you look at the world. It made me think about action and will. We are the prism for any action that we carry out in the world, whether magical or mundane, and if there's a flaw or a cloud to that prism then things can never be as we hope. Another book that has been a great influence on me recently is Circlework by Shan, she stresses the need for purification just as much as Francesca. Both books are about ritual, this isn't a sitting there and solely meditating, approach to personal transformation, they are practical solutions to implement in your life. You can't put your life on hold whilst you sort your head out, life is integrated, uncontrollable, containing infinitely various experiences. You can only learn by living. There will be no retreat in the mountains for me, no time out. I have to learn to live my life by going where I have to go.