Hawk’s Cry

True Dedication to a Path

Many people say that they are on a path, or a life journey. This is especially true in Paganism and Witchcraft, since most people do not belong to a tradition, so they say they are simply on their path. But what does it mean to be on a path? Does the path determine your actions in life, or do your actions in life determine your path?

I see the term “path” as having a couple meanings. It can refer to our personal journey through life. It can also refer to a specific path of advancement, guided by someone (or something) else. Unfortunately, many people confuse the two, thinking they are the same thing.

When we are younger, we experiment with lots of things. We don’t know ourselves, so our path (first definition) winds its way around, frequently double-backing and intersecting itself. As we grow older, we find certain things attracting us, so our path starts to meander in that general direction. We are not following our path, but instead we are creating it.

There comes a time when we arrive at what appears to be a dead-end. We have wandered so much that we feel we have seen everything and as a result, there is no place else to go. This is what is commonly called a “mid-life crisis,” although it can happen at any time.

It is a sign. A sign that tells us we need to seek help. We become seekers, seeking guidance from other people, other spirits, other Gods, or anything else we see that might help us. We are still wandering, this time from group to group, teacher to teacher, tradition to tradition or religion to religion. This is where Eclectics are at in their journey. They borrowing what they like from this tradition or that pantheon or even this other religion without feeling the need to dedicate to any of them, or allowing themselves to be challenged by them.

Blythe Autumn wrote in an old blog article that, “Eclectic should and often does mean that you are simply not lucky enough to have a prefabricated path which fits your beliefs or lifestyle.” Unfortunately, many people will agree with this, thinking that it is the job of their path (or tradition) to fit their beliefs and lifestyle. It means that they do not want to risk having to change or expand their beliefs or change their lifestyle. They want their path to be unchallenging and comfortable.

Someone said that “To suffer is to learn,” and I have seen this many times in my life. Learning is a process where we are pushed beyond our limits in a certain way and from that process, we become stronger and either learn new skills and abilities, or learn more about our potential. If we go through life expecting our path to conform to who we are, instead of allowing ourselves to be changed by the path, we are limiting our ability to grow. We are blocking out the true Mysteries of that path, tradition or religion.

A common saying is that, “All paths lead to the same destination,” meaning that it does not matter which path we take, we will all arrive at Divinity. This is true. But it does not mean that we need to take a segment of road from one path, and another segment from another. If I am driving from Los Angeles to New York, there are innumerable roads I can take (or flights for that matter). But if I took I-40 for a few hundred miles, then decided I wanted to change roads to I-76 for a couple hundred more, and then desired to change to yet another road, I might possibly never get to New York even though all of those roads do go in that direction. It is better to decide on a road and stay with it, only changing when my destination changes (which should be a rare event in one’s life).

Once we have finished looking at the map of possibilities for ourselves as a seeker, we need to truly dedicate to a path, allowing it to change us and shape us. This total commitment is rewarded by allowing access to the deeper mysteries the path offers, greater understanding of our abilities and the important human need of finding a place where we belong (or a path in this case). To quote the movie, The Prestige, we need to “go far enough to get our hands dirty.”

The difficulty with this is that there are so many interesting religions and traditions available that it can feel like being a five year old in a candy store being asked to choose one thing. Except that you do not need to avoid or shun all other choices in this case.

Between the extremes of Eclecticism and narrow-mindedness is a balance point that will allow you to use all that you need while remaining true to your chosen tradition. It uses the high level of overlap between traditions and religions. For example, if you practice a Mediterranean tradition and are interested in the magic offered by Judaism, you can use the connection between the Western Esoteric Magical Traditions and Judaism through the QBLH. This type of magic was known and used by the magicians all around the Mediterranean (and all of Western Europe too). The Greeks even developed their own variation, based on the same Chaldean source used by the Hebrews.

You also can borrow deities from other pantheons by matching up the desired deity with one in your pantheon. For example, if you practice the Finnish tradition and wish to use Zeus energy in your ritual, you can use the Finnish God, Ukko. It is a matter of finding the connections between your tradition and the tool you wish to use.

Eclecticism is a stage we all go through while we are seeking the path to which we wish to commit. I am not saying it must be avoided or that it is bad, but once one has tasted the flavors available it is best if one decides which one they are going to eat. The path chosen needs to be followed through thick and thin, allowing it to challenge us and help us to grow.

This challenge and pushing beyond our limits allows us to grow, which is ultimately the purpose of following a path.