The "Why" Isn't What Matters

This Winter has become a somewhat burdensome and overbearing one, even here in the South. It's sapped a lot of my energy and motivation and many projects and practices have been sitting idly by, collecting dust.

I know that I'm not alone when I say that during this time of isolation and indoor living, that my spiritual practices have become smaller and simpler. Not that I've been one for fancier ceremonial rituals, but even my pared down rituals have become simple silent gestures and the following of nudges and whims from spirit. Normally at Imbolc, I set my seeds for the garden on the Altar to be blessed with the fires of renewed light and warmth but this year, with it being gray and cold, seed purchasing and starting was very far from my mind and Imbolc was celebrated with a simple lighting of candles on the altar space.

The spiritual is very much still a part of my life, even during this time of sapped energies, but in more integrated and simple ways. I've spoken before about some of my simple everyday rituals and I've found comfort in those now. As well as in simple acts such as pulling oracle cards, lighting candles, burning incense, sipping herbal tea slowly and savoringly out of my favorite mug or getting a start on my Spring cleaning. Some of these things I do knowing full well what it brings to me and to spirit, but others are nudges and urges that I don't understand the "why" of, but follow through on anyway.

One good example of this; for no discernible reason, I had this very strong need to put a tumbled amethyst at the feet of my Ganesha statue. He's never asked for anything other than sweets and incense before, but that stone (which I had found on a walk several months ago and had been keeping in my purse) needed to be there. And there it sits now, shiny at the elephant headed one's feet and it feels right. I know a few practitioners who would poo-poo on the sentiment of "right feeling" or "following your gut" and dismiss it as fluffy, but I really couldn't give a shiny rat's ass about their opinions.

:)

For me, following these nudges is an act of faith in Spirit and a way to strengthen our bonds. It is also a way to further my sight and to strengthen my intuition. I used to worry over the why of the acts, but no longer do. Not everything we are asked to do has an understandable reason behind it, not everything we feel compelled to do requires a logical picking at and explanation. That goes against the very nature of faith and asks that the spiritual and magical reveal themselves to us in purely human concepts. In my case, this has only served to stifle connections, rather than grow them and as such I'm learning to let go of the constant need for explanation that is so much a part of human nature.



Hat tip to Aine at The Deepest Well for posting about her own experiences with this and causing me to stew on it for several days, inspiring this post.