[NYNY] Wheel of Morality…

I’d like to begin this summation with my all-time favorite fortune cookie message:

Now is the time to make circles with mints, do not haste any longer.

Aside from the fact that something was clearly lost in translation, the message is strangely applicable to this whole grand experiment. Don’t rush, keep things cool, but still move forward.

I had two goals originally for this project. First, to develop a magical and energetic toolkit for mundane manifestations, and b) sell/rent the old house. The second clearly didn’t happen, but the first. Yeah, that one came through with flying colors.

Between my neighborhood working group (I am so damned blessed to be living in a place where I can even say that!), the Strategic Sorcery course, the Ovate work, and my guides’ sometimes circuitous teachings, this aspect of my practice is absolutely flying along. Proof of this is the completion of the Vanabag (aka Druid Bugout Bag), which my guides told me to make to hold the various gifts/tools I had received from the 19 Tribes last year as I journeyed through their lands. I had started it in June of 2011, but had gotten stuck when it came to quilting the fabric. Suddenly, as I started putting attention to getting my magical life back in order, the contacts and physical space I needed to complete the project became available: it turns out one of my neighbors is a quilter, and FlyLady helped me get the house organized enough to leave space for creative projects.

The bag has literally become the physical manifestation of my work to take back and consolidate my power. Even my husband has said on multiple occasions the past few weeks how awesome it is to finally see me getting my “grrrr” back in so many areas of my life at once: my work, the house, my spirituality. Even though I only sought to affect one part of my life, the ripples of those changes have undeniably changed other parts as well.

So, what else was accomplished? My daily practice is flourishing again. This in itself is such a relief and a joy, if I had gotten nothing else out of this experiment I would be satisfied with this as an outcome. I also learned that sometimes I just really need to let a project just sit for a while, until I can work out the answers—and that this is ok. But it’s also ok to jettison something that hasn’t been working for years, and that likewise, I don’t need to feel guilt that I failed the project for not having completed it (potential pitfall of being an animist, I guess).

As to where I’m headed, I have some very clear answers, and some not-so-much-so. Working both the Ovate and Strategic Sorcery courses continues to be important, and playing one off the other seems to help me continue to make progress in both. The house…that unfinished goal…well, spring is coming, and we’ll see what a fresh realtor, shiny sink and new trim will accomplish.

It all comes down to the three P’s that Sifu has written on the walls of the kung-fu school: patience, practice, perseverance. Get the proportions right for you, and just about anything can happen.

—A.V.