It is Saturday, March 2nd, as I write this. I usually try to write my Blog Posts between Friday, and Monday when they are due. I should be doing my taxes, but procrastination compels me to do anything other than that. So I’m writing. I recognize and understand that I’m procrastinating, but as long as I get them done this week, I’m fine.
I have spent the last hour or so, wracking my brain for a topic for this week’s post. Part of the reason for that, is that I just built a 3D printer, and my brother wants me to design and print him some parts. My mind is full of ideas for V2 of the part he wants, and I’m anxious to start working on it, but before I do that, I need to get this post written.
The world works on priorities. Everyone has priorities, and we use them unconsciously every day. Do I go to the park, or do I clean the house? Do I pay the bills, or do I play a video game? Do I write a Blog Post, or do I bring up the 3D CAD software to design a new part?
Because the 3D printer is new, I, of course want to play with it, even if I’m not doing so directly. The allure of getting better at the CAD software, by designing a specific object, is strong. I have been pacing around my house for the past hour, trying to come up with a topic for this post, but all I could think about, was the new design, based on my brother’s feedback of the original part.
Seeing the Spiritual in the Mundane
Here I am, trying to force myself to come up with a subject for this post, and failing miserably. In frustration, I think to myself, if only I could switch my mind from the practical mundane subjects, to a more spiritual one. The lightbulb went on above my head as realization dawned on me.
As I have said over and over again, the spiritual world, and the daily mundane world are not two separate and distinct things. They are the same. Once you realize this, and treat everything around you as part of that spiritual world, everything changes for you, and thus, the topic of this post.
The Gods don’t give you answers. They point you in the right direction. You still have to do the work, and success is only guaranteed by your persistence. After my frustrated thought, the Gods nudged me in the right direction by playing my own words back at me. The Spiritual World, and the mundane world are the same world.
To come up with a topic, I don’t need to shift my thinking to spiritual topics. I just have to shift my thinking to the spiritual side of the mundane. There are Native American tribes who believe that every object has a spirit. They call it a Manitou. That’s a very broad definition of a Manitou, but it will serve my purpose.
An hour or so south of Denver, is a small town called Manitou Springs. It’s next to an area called Garden of The Gods. I’ve never been there (maybe I should plan a road trip this Spring) but I’ve heard many stories about it. It’s an area of incredible, and improbable rock formations. Any Geologist can tell you exactly how the area was formed by erosion, over millions of years, but to the untrained eye, a garden where the Gods created things, is as good an explanation as any.
Of Gods and mortals
This area was sacred to the Anasazi, and the tribes that followed them. Everyone who goes there, talks about the power of the place. Even those who are rooted in the mundane, come away with a sense of power and wonder. While I do believe that there are places on the planet where energy focuses and flows, I also think people attribute power to places that instill wonder within them. Garden of The Gods is such a place. The formations cause you to look at the world differently. They allow anyone who is open to it, to shift their perception from the mundane, to the Spiritual, even without realizing it.
It is this aspect of seeing the mundane rocks, through the Spiritual lens, perhaps for the first time, that causes this attribution of power to the place. There may be power there, I won’t know for sure, until I visit, but even so, it’s seeing the Spiritual in the Mundane, that causes a reaction to the place.
The rock formations force us to slide our perception into the Spiritual, and it can stay there for some time after you leave. I have heard people say that visiting Garden of The Gods changed their lives, that they saw the world differently after their visit. Sounds to me like they began seeing the mundane world from a Spiritual perspective.
This is why places like Garden of The Gods, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone make such an impression on us. Places like these, force you to look at the world on a spiritual plane, even if you don’t realize it. Even if you are looking at these places on a strictly scientific basis, you can’t help but see the Spiritual in them as well.
Seeing the Spiritual in the Everyday
These places force us to see the world differently. We can’t help it. The utter awe we feel in such places, requires a mental shift. The thing is, they aren’t creating a new ability in us. They are simply making use of an ability we already have. Force is probably the wrong word for what happens, since we have the ability already. Maybe push, is the right word. These places push our minds into a Spiritual perception.
Since this ability is inherent in all of us, we also have the ability to move our mental perception into the Spiritual, any time we wish. Sometimes this is done through ritual. When you are in a Duly Cast Circle, your mind moves to the Spiritual perception. It also happens at Mass, or any other ritualistic event, when you are open to it.
The more your mind moves to the Spiritual perception, the easier it becomes. The more you switch between Spiritual and mundane perception, the more automatic it becomes. This is one of the benefits of ritual. Ritual allows you to change your perception without having to physically travel to places that trigger that change.
Eventually, with enough practice, you can change your perception of the world to the Spiritual, at will. I can’t describe to you how the world will look to you through Spiritual perception, it’s different for everyone. I can tell you that you will know when it happens. You may not have words for the effects, but you will recognize the change when it happens.
Most likely, this will happen for the first time, in ritual. You will cast a circle, and suddenly, the world outside your circle will look different. As I said, you can get to the point where you can cause the change at will. That means you don’t need ritual, or incredible rock formations to switch your perception. You can do it any time, any where. Seeing the most mundane events and objects through Spiritual eyes, will change how you think and feel about the world around you.
What do you think? Have you seen the Spiritual in the mundane? Have you gotten to the point where you can do so at will? Let me know in the comments below.
