Tag: Spirituality

Strength of the Myth

My people on one side, paternal side, were drawn to books and writing letters and such. It seemed to be good therapy for abandonment and shame in that day. Their myths, their inner gods that kept them together, could only be found high in the trees. The low hanging myths were not potent enough for the burdens they brought with them from Missouri, a potent variety of abandonment and shame.

The things written for treatment were of the most mundane and everyday, and that seemed to be right on target for getting better–“Sy went to town with the cotton”, “Felix cut wood all morning long”…..and such as this. It was good though, this work of writing the ordinary and looking to the “letter” for strength. The work, dancing, worshipping, church going, birthing and burying this seemed to center this bunch. A new axis mundi was found for my folk, Watterson, Texas.

Those things-myths, archetypes, leprechauns, prophets, demons, and angels-lived high in the pines that grew on the marginal soils along Sandy Creek, Texas. They were strong myths, all of them, that lived high in the trees, strong enough to start a journey out of shame. The journey wasn’t started by magic, but by looking high up where ever my people were at their time of looking.

My people from the”book side”-paternal, they have a tendency to be buried along a line from Missouri to California by way of Texas-most would say they had looked high up in their time, just because they felt the need to do so, as if it was a calling.

Thanks to my folk for looking higher than the low branches. It seems you were right, the deepest glory is behind the darkest shame. It is hard to look that high much of the time.

Going to the Source

IMG_0935The Source:

There is nothing worse than while filling your water bottles from a bubbling brook, you notice a moose, deer, horse or other recognizeable excrement in your source-in you living stream of water.  It happens to most everyone who fequents the backcountry-what to do?

One has several options when faced with “turd-water”: collect your water above the contaminate (where water is coming out of the ground, the “first water”), treat the water you have(such as filter, chemicals, etc.), or take your chances that pure water is farther down the trail and pour out the foul stuff. All this may seem silly, but if your tongue is stuck to the roof of your mouth, it’s hot, and you are not prepaired for treating your water-odds are you will drink it, contamination and all, and take your chances.

The worst animal for source contamination in the woods is the human because he/she can be so deceptive and hide their “contaminate” better than most animals (usually doing their business to close to the source, thinking e coli don’t travel far).

Treat your spiritual tradition the same way as you do your water sources. Go check your original source before you start practicing for the health of your inner life-go as far back as you can to the original “spark” that feeds you.

Usually we won’t make the effort to ferrit out original works, it takes to much effort and there are plenty persons ready to help fill our water bottles with their “brand of water”. Don’t just buy into it because it’s easy, listen deeply-can you hear the water running? If you hear it running, go check it out because you can bet after all these years there have been people dumping their waste near the stream.

Listen, then drink.