Sometimes, when we have made the decision to finally, fully
step onto the path with intent, but we have hesitated because we did not know
where to begin, the Gods will give us a “push”.
They will answer our unformed intention, our unspoken desire, with what
feels like a slap in the face or a kick in the teeth, or the rug being pulled
out from under us.
Mine came eleven years ago as a very bad week at work and ultimately
the loss of a job that was becoming a detriment to my life, my health, my
sanity and my well-being. It wasn’t a
bad job. It wasn’t unethical, nor was I
treated poorly but, I was stuck in a cycle of stress, pressure, cocaine and
crisis that I could not choose to walk away from. I was deeply unhappy and I could not see a
way out. So Brighid found one for me.
I remember feeling incredibly relieved and smiling when I
was told. The cocaine use ended almost
immediately and shortly thereafter I started massage school. I began to learn
how to live in the moment, how to be present in my body, how to heal with my
hands, how to move energy, and how to live mindfully. For the next six years I had time to practice
my faith both in my work and in my life, In those years I found my coven and my
community and began walking my path with direction and purpose.
Five years ago, after my first degree initiation, I became
a bonded member of my coven, began working as a banker, I left a marriage, began
my second degree initiation process, and moved house three times in one year
until I found my current home. In the four years since I landed in the home
They intended for me, I have been promoted twice, completed my second degree
initiation, quit my job, and returned to it, began my third degree initiation
process, and began therapy.
I have learned to follow the path that is never clear, to
listen to my intuition and correct my course, to see where it is that The Gods
want me to go and to take each step toward that place one at a time, finding
the next only after taking the one in front of me. They have pushed me and kept me in my job
even when I wanted to be doing something else.
They have allowed me to be alone and lonely, in love and
disappointed. They have pushed me to
learn who I am and to dig into profoundly painful truths.
But as long as I keep taking the next step, as long as I
continue forward into that journey they intend for me, they have not needed to
kick me in the teeth.
My Gods are not cruel, they are not capricious but, they do
not care all that much about my comfort, or my “happiness”. What they do seem to care about is my
readiness to do the work and the evolution of my spirit. I can only do the work if I am sane, healthy,
strong and whole. If my mind, heart,
soul or body is encumbered by dysfunction or deformity, I am not as useful to
them, or to my purpose, my family, my coven, my community or my world.
If I am listening and willing to follow their guidance,
they have no need to rain stones upon my head, they can simply whisper in my ear. They will dance as lightly in my life as
possible, or as brutally as necessary…the choice is mine.
They have never abandoned me, or asked me to do anything unethical
or anything that I was not capable of doing (although I may not have believed
it at the time). They have always lead
me to do that which was better for me…even when they needed to kick me in the
teeth to get me there. I am Blessed by
my Gods and I Give Thanks.
