Remember to Feed Your Soul

Last weekend a few friends came over for dinner and ritual.

We used to do that regularly. Gather at someone’s house, have a potluck dinner, then go outside and do ritual.

Sometimes it was a simple devotional ritual centered around offerings to a particular deity and asking for their blessings. Sometimes it was an oracular ritual, where a deity or other person would speak to us. Other times it was a magical working.

The rituals followed our usual liturgy, but the scripts were sparse. Or, like this time, non-existent. That ritual order is burned into my brain, and getting the words exactly as-written isn’t critical. Most times there was one simple altar, but sometimes there wasn’t even that. There were never the kind of “make this place look like a Pagan temple” decorations we often use in public ritual.

When you’re working with dedicated, experienced practitioners, these things aren’t necessary. Oh, they’re nice and I love them, and sometimes I’ll set an elaborate altar for solitary work. Different occasions need different surroundings. But for this, all we needed was a central fire, whiskey for offerings, and each other.

There was a time when we were doing these gatherings once a month. Then it was three or four times a year. And then we just stopped doing them. Covid was part of that, but far from the main reason. Some people moved away, some got busy with other things, and all of us were dealing with a lot in the ordinary world.

At Imbolc some of us realized just how long it had been, and just much we missed it. And so we found a date when all of us could get together.

The exact workings of this ritual are private, if not strictly oath-bound. They’re also not the point of this post. What’s important is that we did something that was deeply meaningful to us, and we came away with a better understanding of where we fit into “all this” that’s going on in the wider world.

We fed our souls.

Journeying into the Otherworld

Journeying is something else I used to do a lot more frequently. For me, it’s easier to do this in a small group, with someone else journeying with me, and someone else to keep watch in both worlds. And to take notes. Remembering everything you heard and said while in what amounts to a light (or not-so-light) trance is difficult.

Many times my journeying and other ecstatic experiences took place in the same small group rituals I described above. Occasionally I would do them solo, or with one or two other people supporting me.

Sometimes they happen out of the blue, but that’s another topic for another time.

Regardless of the context and format, I haven’t been doing much of this for the past several years.

Paying attention to divination

I have been doing a fair amount of divination. A recent Tarot reading for myself yielded this:

“What you’re doing isn’t going to get you where you want to be. You’re so close, but you’re afraid of going in too deep. You’ve got to get more than one toe in the Otherworld.”

I’ve always said that I am required to keep one foot in the ordinary world. I’m not allowed to go in so deep that I lose my ability to navigate the ordinary world and to “speak reasonably of unreasonable things.” But there’s a big difference between “don’t go in too deep” and “stop going in at all.”

So a few days after the group ritual, I scheduled some time to go “over there.” I like to do these things outside with a fire, but the weather was less than favorable, plus I wanted quiet. So I set up the chair, table, and candle you see in the picture.

As with the ritual, the specifics of this journey are private but also not the point. The point is that the journey was successful. I saw and heard things that helped clarify where I am and what I need to be working on. And also, the phrase “it’s the journey not the destination” is at least partially true here – just sitting down and doing this was meaningful and helpful.

I fed my soul.

Regular spiritual practice is necessary but not sufficient

One thing I haven’t reduced is my regular spiritual practice. Daily prayers, weekly offerings and meditations, monthly magical workings, and seasonal celebrations are what keep me grounded and keep me connected to my Gods and other spiritual allies, and to this path I call ancestral, devotional, ecstatic, oracular, magical, public, Pagan polytheism (because I don’t have a simpler name for it, yet).

I could not have made it through the pandemic without my spiritual practice, especially my four daily prayers. I would have lost my way in 2024 without my spiritual practice, especially the monthly magic and seasonal group celebrations. These practices keep me going.

But they’re not enough to take me as deep as I want to go.

I want to be very clear. I’ve said everyone should do regular spiritual practice and I’ll re-emphasize that here. I’m not saying that everyone needs to do ecstatic work. Honestly, most people don’t. But I do.

You need to do what’s necessary to feed your soul. This is what feeds my soul.

Maintain the sovereignty of your mind

Before the 2017 Presidential Inauguration, I wrote Maintain the Sovereignty of Your Mind where I advocated for “clear thinking, honest speaking, and courageous action” so that we could live according to our values instead of reacting to what someone who does not share our values was trying to get us to do. Overall we did a pretty good job of that.

Just after this year’s inauguration, I wrote Keep Your Eyes On What You Want. I outlined a process that, while it can’t stop bad people from doing bad things, “can stop a trainwreck from dominating your life … it will help you build a better life, not just for the future but also here and now.”

We’re dealing with one outrageous thing after another after another on a daily basis. While we have an obligation to be engaged citizens, we cannot allow the course of our lives to be dictated by someone who’s actively trying to harm us and our friends. Or worse, to be so agitated or depressed by the “shock and awe” that we regress into inaction.

I don’t have enough years left to lose any of them to Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the people working to implement Project 2025.

You may be significantly younger than me, but you don’t either.

Live your life your way.

Remember to feed your soul

This would be much easier in a world – in a country – that was fair and just and was trying to become more fair and just. Sadly, we don’t live in that world, in that country, right now. Nor are we likely to any time soon.

That this is not easy makes it that much more necessary.

Take care of yourself. Eat good food. Drink plenty of water. Get enough sleep. No, seriously – get enough sleep. If you try to “power through” because you feel like there’s no other option, you’ll run yourself down and end up accomplishing less than if you had just made whatever adjustments are necessary to get enough rest and especially enough sleep.

Regular spiritual practice keeps you connected to your Gods, ancestors, and other spiritual allies. It keeps you connected to your highest virtues and values, and reminds you of why fighting this fight is necessary.

Remember to feed your soul.

This is what it looks like for me. It may look different for you – that’s fine.

It may require other people (hint: it will probably require other people, at least part of the time). That’s OK. You can get through this alone (probably… barely…) but it’s so much easier and so much nicer with other people joining you for the journey. If that means you have to do the work of finding people and organizing events, do it.

I wish things were different, easier, more accepting and less combative. More cooperative and less me-first. But they aren’t, and they aren’t going to be any time soon.

Keep moving.

Keep living your life your way.

And remember to feed your soul.