written 3/10/21
This post is a departure from usual – not a journal entry – because I have exciting and time-sensitive news to share!
Tomorrow evening, Saturday, 3/13/21, I will be taking my vows as a postulant in the Oriental Orthodox Order in the West, referenced in the Resources tab - and here. This basically means that I am becoming a member of the Order, and will be spending the next year (or more) discerning/confirming my intuition that the Mother is calling me to become a monk in this community. I have been preparing for this step – more like a flying leap – on my spiritual path since last summer, and been associated with the Order for almost 2 years.
This particular Order is unlike any other you might be aware of. I will not be making any of the traditional vows (no chastity, poverty, or obedience), nor am I declaring Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior. In this group and my small local spiritual community (which is an affiliate of the Order), we talk about ourselves as “wisdom practitioners” and study contemporary and historical texts from a variety of world spiritual traditions. The Divine Feminine is explicitly recognized, particularly in the form of Divine Wisdom.
This inclusivity of multiple traditions and multiple forms of the Divine means that my eclectic belief and practice (from decades of spiritual journey incorporating Christianity, Goddess worship, and New Thought/Science of Mind, with a smattering of Buddhism, among others) fit well, and I feel right at home. I am also drawn to the emphasis on traveling the inner path of wisdom without institutionalized dogma or expectation. In short, in both groups, we join in community to support each other in expanding our capacity to bring transformational Divine wisdom into our own lives and to apply it practically in the world, both individually and collectively.
The Order considers the world to be its monastery, so there is no house where monks live; I will continue my day-to-day life pretty much as I’m guided by the Mother. I expect to continue this blog, and will likely be making additional references to the Order and my local community, which I refer to as the “Small House” community (for the space it meets in, before COVID).
I am holding this postulancy process as preparing to marry the Divine, making a public commitment to be Her voice and physical presence on the planet in all my affairs. My mantra for this year is, “I walk unarmed into the arena of the unknown, praying only for greater intimacy with God/dess, myself and others.”
I’m very excited – and a little daunted – to have started this new adventure! And more shall be revealed.
Yorumlar