Four Archetypes of Spiritual Vocation
I delivered this sermon as part of DC's LGBT Capital Pride Interfaith Service on June 6, 2006. This is a core teaching within my tradition and school. I was asked to share this teaching after I delivered an abbreviated version during DC Pagan Pride last year.
I offer the sermon here because of the many requests I recieved after the service. It is an honor and a blessings to be able to share my life's work with so many spiritual seekers on the path.
bless you all,
Katrina
What is vocation? And why is it important?
Vocation at its core is a divine summons. The divine calls to each of us in our own unique way; it calls us to manifest the very purpose of our life. It is the proverbial wake up call to get on with it already. It is a call to participate fully in life. It is a call to purpose. Yes, purpose; we each have a reason we are here. And vocation is the call to get on with the purpose of very lives.
We each bring with us into this weary world, a unique jewel to be discovered, polished and shared. We each are like beautifully wrapped parcels that are just waiting to be opened. This gift, this jewel, is our vocation. You see we each have a special role to play in the tending and blossoming of human life.
But all too often, we are discouraged from pursuing our gifts. We are born into a world that seems to spend most of its time putting barriers in front of us, or blinders on us, that it is often a struggle just to survive. And even if we can get past all the obstacles placed in front of us like race, class, gender, religion, orientation, caste, physical ability, and national origin, we still need to face our own inner barriers. We still have to face our own beliefs about vocation.
Mistaken beliefs about vocation
| Click book to purchase | |
|---|---|
| | The Holy Longing: The Hidden Power of Spiritual Yearning author: Connie Zweig ASIN or ISBN-10: 1591810175 |
- Mistaken Beliefs about Vocation
- How Does One Find Their Vocation
- Four Archetypes
- Seeking Vocation in Our Lives
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This reminded me of something I wrote a few months ago: eoma-p.livejournal.com/36134.html
Could be the start of a fun adventure - whatever words you find that fit you best, may you be blessed for it!
Wish I could be there. Very well spoken.
Katrina,
I wish you all the blessings and power you need on your journey. Thank you for these words. It is good to remember that returning to work (and thus returning to grace) bring a chance for us all to rest and have joy.
Wishing you joy in the Work.
David
Dear Katrina- Thorn reposted your blog and happy am I. Your passion, always so immense, comes blowing out in these words. So akin to my own heart and soul that it makes me have a bittersweet smile.
The Storm is only now coming to the edges of our universe and yet it will sweep and consume all that is. In the end, our beautiful universe will be so much...more? Different? Complete? Who knows?
All I do know is my soul came here to witness and be part in this period. I cannot shrink from the work. I am here with you, fae sister!
Thought-provoking piece, Katrina. Thanks.
I don't know what to call myself either. In Pagandom, I've taken to referring to myself as a Witch at Large. In the interfaith world where I'm active, I call myself a Pagan. Sometimes I call myself an uppity woman or a Second Wave Feminist. I've never really thought to publicly identify myself by my sexuality, het woman, which is very "white bread" and old-fashioned. Not only het, but serially monogamous for the most part. It seems almost a liability these days to say you're het, but I am proudly and happily so. I tend towards intellectualism but only have a BA, which doesn't carry much weight, at least in public and professional worlds, no matter how much you've studied, trained, and can articulate, even teach.
My biological heritage is Irish, Dutch, French Huguenot, Euro-mongrel. My social heritage is Roman Catholic on one side and conservative Methodist, temperance-crusading, women's rights and education on the other, with distinct East Coast sensibilities, now mellowed by more than half a century living on the Left Coast. My maternal political heritage is conservative Republican (altho what my relatives might think of current trends in the GOP I cannot imagine, since they did have brains and they did think and they did have a social conscience), yet I am much farther left in my outlook than any elected official I know. My paternal political heritage is blue collar Democratic, except that my dad broke with his family on politics and allied with my mother's family's conservatism.
I'm a former hippie, a home-birth advocate, a home death and green burial advocate, an opponent of capital punishment and resorting to warfare to resolve humankind's differences. I support the right to conscious self-deliverance. I rejoice in any and all consensual expressions of love and eros. I'm a lover and a mom.
I have never missed voting in an election and I disrespect those who don't avail themselves of this hard-won right. (I have ancestors who fought the Brits in the American Revolution.) I support workers' rights. I recognize our interdependence on this planet, so could be called a greenie. I'm a committed environmentalist in my day-to-day life (in terms of eating locally grown food, expanding public transit, recycling, preserving open space and wildlife, opposing exploitation of natural resources [strip mining, oil-drilling, nuclear facilities, agribusiness, monocultures, clear-cutting timber, overuse of pesticides, genetic modification, etc.]) I want to make the city streets "safe for dancing," as my old friend Tony Serra said when he ran for mayor of SF on the Platypus Party ticket.
Well, you got me going there, my friend. Thought-provoking read, as I said. ;-)
xo,
Macha