I do, and I love it,
but it took a while to get going…
Two things made a difference in my spiritual practice:
First – was the understanding that
a relationship with the Divine needs to be cultivated!
In the same way that your relationship with an old friend,
whom you have not seen for over 20 years,
doesn’t have nearly as much depth, trust, loving, and connection
as your relationship with a dear friend you see regularly, or share your life with –
so does a relationship with the Divine can’t be fed only once in a while, and still be strong…
We need to feed our relationship with the Divine on a Daily Basis (no matter who the Divine is for each of us).
Once a day is a good beginning. More often is even better!
As often as you remember during the day,
when you get up and before you go to sleep,
when you look at your watch or your phone –
this is how much stronger and bonded with the Source you could feel…
Set yourself Reminders, or internal alarm clocks, to wake you up for an appointment with the Divine. You can use anything: whenever you press the brake pedal while you drive, at every stop light on the road, before you take the first bite of any food or the first sip of any drink, before you check your email, the possibilities are endless.
The Second thing that made a difference for me was making a Commitment.
In the Celtic Tradition, into which I was initiated many years back,
the Feast day of Brigid (February 1st, or in some places the 2nd: 2/2)
is a day in which one commits to their Spiritual Path for one more year.
Like Celtic Marriages (known as Handfasting) are also commitments made for only a year at a time. There is respect for Natural Rhythms in this custom, as well as an understanding that life is dynamic, and things that are fixated tend to stop breathing.
Once a year we are invited to meet the commitments we made: to ourselves, to each other, to the Divine.
Brigid calls us once a year to reaffirm our commitment to our Spiritual Path, regardless of it’s nature. This has been one of the most stabilizing anchors in my spiritual practice for over 25 years now. I invite you to incorporate it into your life and practices.
On Brigid’s Day (February 1st or 2nd) take time to ponder your commitment to the Divine. Who is the Divine for you? In what ways do you relate to the Divine? How often? Do you Meditate? Pray? Create a ceremony? Dance? What are all the ways that help you open your heart, and bring you closer to the Divine? Find your inner answers, and make time to consciously and intentionally commit to these practices, or to new ones, for one year, until Next February 1st!
I’d love to hear of what you created
to reaffirm your Commitment to the Divine.
Click HERE to get Inspired!
13 Responses
Just what I needed reminding of today. Thank you
Thank-you so much for sharing the information about Brigid’s day! I knew I opened your email for a reason!
Thanks dear DeAnna for the reminder. I recommit to my Beloved every day!
thanks
BLESSED BE…xxxx
thank you – I am curious to hear more about The Celtic Tradition you are initiated in – and also the tradition of celtic marriage
Thanks for asking. I’ll try to write more about in in future :-)
I found in my journal, from a vision quest in the desert several years ago, where I wrote all the things I wanted in a relationship with my Higher Power, and used the space beneath it to answer the questions you offered. Thank you so much. I love Celtic spirituality and learning more about it. And I am so grateful for the opportunity to take a moment and look back, check in with Now, and set intentions for the future.
I’m also grateful for your analogy of our spiritual relationship like any other relationship. It’s something I’ve known logically, but hearing it again in the way you shared it really helped it sink into my bones. I desire intimacy with God/Goddess, and that definitely takes time, presence, communication!
Here are just a few things I wrote several years ago about what I want in my relationship with Great Spirit:
*knowing that one exists
*unconditional love – both ways
*open communication in a language I can understand
*security/certainty that I am really speaking as well as being heard and listened to
*faith
*ongoing dialogues
*etc… :)
Yes, it is certainly a Relationship.
Ahey!
I have a daily morning ritual (after breakfast) : I give around 10 minutes to…
… connect to the Earth and to the Moon, receive their energies (the specific ones I call : gentleness-tenderness-love, vision-clarity-intuition, inspiration-creativity-fecundity) ;
… thank my inner Goddesses (Athena-Artemis-Hera-Hestia-Aphrodite-Demeter-Persephone), the 13 Original Clan Mothers and The Goddess ;
… give myself the permission to shine my Power and my Beauty today ;
… make a prayer to ask for Beauty / create Beauty in every direction (inside me – above me – under me – in front of me – behind me – on the left of me – on the right of me – all around me) and thank all my relations ;
… pray to the Clan Mother of the month and ask for her guidance for different things.
Then, when time is around a Womb Blessing (Miranda Gray), I take 10 more minutes either to prepare my womb to receive the blessing, either to continue it.
This is so beautiful and so true. It’s lovely to read particularly this year, as I finally realised just how much Brighid has been there and guiding me for decades. Doh! So lovely.
Thank you all for sharing such precious comments. Today,Feb the 1st. I also had a reason,coming from my heart,to open my email. Sweet and beautiful sincronicity! I felt blessed and bless you all with peace!
Good Morning Goddesses
I appreciate this post and all those that have read it.
I sit every morning before my altar, which is a low table inside an unused fireplace. I have some images there and objects that inspire me or remind me of when I connected to spirit on my travels, I light a candle, and, before I sit down on my cushion, I grab my little kitty and put her in a basket next to me. Then, I close my eyes and recite prayers and texts that I have memorized. Many times my mind wanders, sometimes incessantly so, but I show up, every day, and anchor myself this way to begin my day.
Thank you, DeAnna, for reminding me about Brigit, and Candlemas. xxx