We humans are beautiful and terrible, at once transcendent and terribly ignorant. We're sentient, that is to say, we know that we are. That knowing sometimes inspires us to be our best, sometimes frightens us back into the cave*. We're clannish, tribal creatures, much given to an us vs. them view of the world. We're thinking, tool using apes, to put it in practical terms. Yet the shell of our bodies does not fully describe what we are. We are divinity in fleshly form, shapers of energy and destiny. We are spiritual beings having a physical experience, as the saying goes.
When I think about the nature of humanity, I can't help but think of Plato's allegory of the cave. To sum it up briefly, imagine human beings chained in a cave, forced to look at the back wall. Behind them is a fire, which is used to project shadows on the wall. The prisoners come to believe that the shadows are real. They never look backward to see that they are mere puppets, and that the way outside is open. Outside is the sun, which represents all that is good and true, all that is truly real.
This concept is quite similar to the view in Eastern philosophy. Vedic texts discuss the concept of maya, or illusion. This world we live in, the Earthly plane, is mere imagery, or illusion. We can transcend illusion through study and practice.Quantum physics also is catching on to this view of reality. Quantum physicists describe physical reality as a hologram, as if it's a giant projection on some theoretical screen. Each tiny sliver of the image contains all the information of the whole. Scientists refer to the observer effect - the fact that simply observing a subject will cause it to change. Imagine then, the effect that a conscious act of will could have in comparison to an impartial scientific experiment.
So reality is a hologram, an illusion. We humans have the capacity to mold and shape it. All we have to do is wake up. Become aware of the true nature of reality. Accept and honor our gifts. Then, we can do and be, anything. We are fields of infinite possibility, as Deepak Chopra puts it.
My contribution is to spread this message: our universe is co-creative and participatory. We are movers and shapers of reality. We have immense power and potential. We are members of an interconnected web of life with a responsibility to use our power wisely and for the highest good of all. We should be good stewards of our Earth and all the beings on it - animal, vegetable and mineral. My mission is to empower and inspire others to develop their potential as balanced and awakened beings.
My spiritual path fully supports this definition of humanity. At the beginning of this post, I discussed western and eastern philosophy, and the new science of quantum physics. Pagan philosophy espouses the same beliefs, of course. "As above, so below" is just another way to talk about the macrocosm/microcosm of this holographic universe. It also neatly covers the immanent deity concept. You are Goddess, a Wiccan might say. Magic is just another word for co-creation and focusing the will to create change. Various realms or levels of reality neatly coincides with concepts of maya and the cave allegory.
As a witch and a shaman, my spiritual path supports my contributions to humanity. It's my job, my calling, to heal and teach others. Stewardship of the Earth? Definitely part of the job description. Shaping energy with my will? Check. What I believe, what I practice and what I do for income, they're all connected. All of a piece. They are all part of the hologram, the macrocosm that is my personal world.
I am that I am. I am Goddess. I am a human being - flawed, strong, whole, imperfectly perfect.
And so are you.
Namaste.
As always, the light within me recognizes and honors the light within you.
So mote it be!
************************************************************************************************
*Plato's Myth of the Cave, from The Republic, Book VII, 514a-518c
No comments:
Post a Comment