Forty Days of Purpose
Oct. 13th, 2004 10:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
saffronhareThere's a sign in front of one of the churches I drive by on the way to work, declaring "40 Days of Purpose" for the congregation. It's been a nice reminder to me, seeing it most mornings and evenings, of the things I'd like to change.
The tradition of Lent is one I've kept faith with even as I moved away from the Catholicism of my youth. In my family, we were asked to "offer something up" and also adopt/change some aspect of our behavior in a positive way. In a sense, Lent is simply 42 days of purpose.
I feel a pull toward the same thing at this time of year -- particularly right now, as I acclimate to my work with the Pillar of Severity and seek to improve my health. And I've also been thinking about the parallels to the Kybele ritual we did back in August (Riding the Lion).
In that ritual, we explored the concept of sacrifice in a different way. When Attis castrated himself, it wasn't that he was performing the act in Kybele's honor or thinking that his genitals were something she wanted (which are motivations more commonly associated with sacrificial acts). Instead, he sacrificed something that prevented him from having a deeper relationship with his goddess.
So, for the next 40 days (give or take), I'm going to let that story inspire me. I want to identify those things in my life -- habits, items, etc. -- that get in the way of how I want my life to grow and proceed. But nature abhors a vacuum, right? It's not enough to empty myself...I have to mindfully determine how I want to fill those voids.
That's where the spiritual aspect comes in. A few months ago,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
featherynscale said, "Mercy emanates; Severity restricts." So I think I can use my dedication to the Pillar of Severity to pull in what I need -- restricting the flow to that which is useful and nothing else.
While Lent is for the gods, this one is for me.
The tradition of Lent is one I've kept faith with even as I moved away from the Catholicism of my youth. In my family, we were asked to "offer something up" and also adopt/change some aspect of our behavior in a positive way. In a sense, Lent is simply 42 days of purpose.
I feel a pull toward the same thing at this time of year -- particularly right now, as I acclimate to my work with the Pillar of Severity and seek to improve my health. And I've also been thinking about the parallels to the Kybele ritual we did back in August (Riding the Lion).
In that ritual, we explored the concept of sacrifice in a different way. When Attis castrated himself, it wasn't that he was performing the act in Kybele's honor or thinking that his genitals were something she wanted (which are motivations more commonly associated with sacrificial acts). Instead, he sacrificed something that prevented him from having a deeper relationship with his goddess.
So, for the next 40 days (give or take), I'm going to let that story inspire me. I want to identify those things in my life -- habits, items, etc. -- that get in the way of how I want my life to grow and proceed. But nature abhors a vacuum, right? It's not enough to empty myself...I have to mindfully determine how I want to fill those voids.
That's where the spiritual aspect comes in. A few months ago,
featherynscale said, "Mercy emanates; Severity restricts." So I think I can use my dedication to the Pillar of Severity to pull in what I need -- restricting the flow to that which is useful and nothing else. While Lent is for the gods, this one is for me.
