| LUGHNASA GREETINGS FRIENDS! The fires of Lughnasa, or “1st Harvest” as it is known in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, are about to be lit! Summer, for our ancient kin, was a time of WORK, of toiling under the hot sun, of praying to the weather gods or capital-G god (depending on what century-) to ensure rain would come. But by the first of August, they were ready to celebrate their hard work and start harvesting the ripening fruit! What a wonderful feeling it must have been for them: “Yah, we get to feed our families!” There’s all kinds of work in the world, isn’t there? Some might think writing is ‘work’ too…and I suppose you’d be right. But as the old adage says: “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” In other words, writing is not work for me. Nor is shamanic healing. Nor is teaching college students how to write more efficiently. Nor is holding the monthly circle we host here at Avalon, Wise Women Talking. Nor is watering all those plants…nor is harvesting! (now weeding: THAT’S WORK!) But seriously: how many of us get to say we really, truly, LOVE our work? I spent YEARS not loving my work as a medical assistant at a big medical practice. Wow, was that stressful, mentally and emotionally draining, and a LOT OF OUTPUT. However, the doctor I worked for was one of the very best in his field, had patented endoscopic equipment, taught incoming fellows and made A LOT of people feel better. I’ll bet he didn’t see what he did in the world as work but rather why he was put on the Earth. Is it that ‘work’ has a bad reputation? Might the meaning of work need to be re-cast? Work does not, should not make us miserable. But sometimes our “paycheck work” is not our passion; some of us must do our passion “on the side.” In fact, no matter what kind of work you do, sometimes you have to take one for the team and give up a cushy job for one with health insurance (or to be closer to an ailing parent, or find one where the kids can enjoy a better school system or, or, or-). Maybe you or your partner get ill and you have to stop working. This feels disempowering, even if you “hated” your job. Better to be WELL and go to a crappy job than get sick…and be forced to stay home. We Americans spend a lot of time working. Working is highly valued in our country. God forbid you be “out of work” and get the glance of pity or, worse, judgment. Why do people automatically assume that if someone is “out of work,” they really must have done something bad. Only lazy people are out of work, right? No! Really highly motivated, dedicated employees get dismissed or “canned” every day. There are a lot of endings happening right now, both in our personal lives as well as on a much broader scale. And most folks who “lose” a job could share a litany of explanations as to why this befell them. Even though the phenomenon of losing a job happens to nearly everyone, at some point, why do we feel so compelled to defend ourselves, to assert our value, skill, aptitude? Because the workplace is where most of us gain our value, understand our purpose in the world. But there’s other kinds of work we are also contracted to do. Recently, I was instructed by one of my spirit guides about the nature of the “work you were sent here to do.” As someone who, at the ripe age of seventeen, vividly recalls crying on the bathroom floor at our home in Hope Mills, North Carolina, pray-screaming at God to please, please, please show me how I can serve you, I’ve always wondered what “my work” in the world was. However, Spirit does not paint you a crystal clear picture of how to serve your best self to the world–not at seventeen, nor at fifty-three. The message I received about the work I was sent here to do went something like this: “All you need is inside of you, in your safe, soul place and in your heart. You can get trampled, pulled in and trapped in any number of narratives out there. But what is YOUR narrative? What is the treasure map of you leading you towards?” What a wonderful invitation! We DO get to write our own stories! It is so easy to get pulled into someone else’s narrative, hoping to gain approval, acceptance, or even love. How many times did I get pulled into the narrative of a boyfriend, family member or even friend? I’m sure my intention was pure, likely “wanting to help.” But my spirit guide was saying: Let’s look at the map you HOLD, the one that your soul designed. What’s the storyline all about? What plot twists are coming up that might prove extraordinary? We forget that being gifted a message such as this is ‘work’ too. I feel an obligation to “work the energy” of this revelation and to honor what my spirit teacher has shared with me. But: it feels like a lot of work to turn away from “dependable narratives!” For now, I’m trying to surrender to the wisdom I sense it holds. And to imagine that treasure map with me wherever I go! If you feel like you’re struggling through your own narrative, make sure it’s YOUR narrative. Sometimes we need to change the story we’re telling ourselves–for it may be outdated, delinquent in its relevance, and even harmful for who the soul is trying to usher out into the world. WARNING: when you start to tell yourself a new story about WHO YOU ARE, things on the outside will change. Some relationships may drop away; some habits will crisp up in the hot wind and blow off. You may even find yourself ready to quit a (reliable, financially solvent) job that just does not suit who you are anymore. As Pam Gregory likes to say: Life is an inside job. Consider the work of the evolving soul. There’s no better work than that!! Surrender to the fact that all you NEED is INSIDE OF YOU. Happy Lughnassa! May abundance and harvest blessings find you… Shine On, Mary Katherine |
Embodying the Divine Feminine 