The Great Work and the myth of guilt recap

I love this picture of the climbers. While it illustrates that our tools have changed over the years, the fact remains that it is all to climb a mountain. At the end of the day nothing moves without work.

Recently a group of brave intrepid explorers agreed to write a group blog post on the myth of guilt. Each post was a mini glimpse into the soul and more specifically into each persons climb. Some have already climbed that mountain and knew the route to the top. Some were amazed at the size of the mountain. And for some the mountain appeared out of a shadowy fog.

I am forever amazed at the length and depth and breadth of the Work. It is a term that gets bantered about like a shuttlecock, but there is substance to it. Much like our climbers before we really don't know what we are doing until we get out there and do it. Then once you are in the middle of it, you find out that it is not for the faint of heart and it is far to late to turn back. Once you step off, there is no where to go but up or more specifically in.

Maybe the Great Work should be more aptly titled the Great Cleaning. At least for me that is what is seems to always be. You shine the light of knowledge down on your universe and suddenly you find a few cobwebs, that leads to more dust, that really leads to a junk drawer that you didn't know you had in a room you long ago forgot.

It is was when I got into the middle of this Great Spring Cleaning of the soul that a few things occured to me. First, at the end of the day, this is our personal mess and we have the ultimate responsibility to clean it up by our own blood, sweat and tears. Second, is that we are not alone in the process. While no one can clean up for us, they can keep us company while we work and occasionally hand us tools. This is where I think that the real community of magickians come into play.

Community is a weird word around here locally. The need for it is usually thrown around by folks who feel like they don't belong anywhere and hence have to attempt to force a group of diverse ideas into their personal box. It generally ends in a glorious explosion of egos. Yet I find that as working magickians we have our own language, regardless of our particular path, that makes us who we are. Hence with the internet, distance is not really an issue. And the family we chose is often as important as the one we inherit by accident of birth.

So I consider myself lucky to count amoungst my magickal community, folks from many different paths. We see things so differently that it really helps to keep me honest. We all have a different tool set but we are all climbing that mountain. So to my fellow climbers I say "Balay on" lets go :)

Peace to all!