Regarding springtime, I await the equinox rather than celebrate the first day of March. I won’t argue the rights and wrongs of this; it just feels right to me.
Yet as I write this on 18th March, sitting in my car, looking out over rolling fields as the evening draws in, it really does feel as if spring has already arrived. Sunna is shining brightly, the grass is blanketed in daisies, daffodils are in full bloom and tens of thousands of starlings are murmurating across the sky.
We have seen out the dark winter and now it is time to move away from the comfort of the fire, cast off the blankets and the extra layers of clothing and get to work.
But what work must be done?
Before we consider this, it is important to look in the mirror and appraise ourselves. Ask the question, “What work do I need to do?”
The purpose of my book, Towards Awakening: An Odinic Perspective, was not simply to awaken, but to build something of great value — our individual brain, body and spirit. Before we can do this, however, we have to be honest.
Are you addicted to your smartphone? Remember, time is of supreme importance in that we can spend it wisely or we can waste it. Smartphones can be very useful, but they can also become excessively time-consuming.
The stoics had an exercise where you would imagine your nearest and dearest has been killed; thus, when they were next seen, the stoic practitioner would be overjoyed to see them. Try imagining yourself on your deathbed and look back at how you spent your life. Is scrolling through social media posts a good way to spend your time?
My purpose in writing is simply this: to encourage readers to see things how they really are. Unfortunately, honestly looking in this metaphorical mirror is the hardest ‘red pill’ to swallow.
Once you have woken up to the Lokian nature of the smartphone, then you can get to work. Understand that a book will kindle your imagination; a smartphone will kill it.
The first part of my book was indeed designed to awaken — to see through the smoke and mirrors; the second part lists a series of exercises designed to bring out one’s inner spirit and ends in a holy pilgrimage.
These exercises are not to simply be read and cast aside. It is important that they are undertaken with religious zeal, meditational focus and steadfast determination.
Wake the f**k up!
- Your children are staring at screens while you stare at a screen.
- The excessive sugar you are throwing down your neck to stave off depressive thoughts is oxidising your otherwise perfectly fine LDL cholesterol and calcifying in your artery walls.
- The woman you are imagining isn’t real but your wife is real and she longs for a man who has a lust for life.
My sincere apologies for being harsh. I’m not a grifter trying to make money by ranting like a drill instructor.
The trouble is, and I notice this in myself as well as in others, that we tend to already know what we should be doing. This ‘kenning’ is in our DNA, and this is why we feel depressed at times. It is as if the powers-that-be have created a kind of invisible quicksand that we do not seem to be able to fight our way out of.
Listen to that ‘kenning’, and realise that true power comes from within. It isn’t ‘out there’, it is ‘in here’ and can be utilised to great effect.
Know that there is no point in attempting to promote something that is whole / holy if it doesn’t come from a genuinely whole being.
A meta-political attitude is required to see us through these dark times; consider how things would be if there was no political agenda, yet the people were all healthy and engaged in wholesome, natural pursuits. How then would society look?
Ostara, goddess of springtime, rebirth and awakening shines the way to this honest and noble attitude to life. Yes, there is the harshness of winter where the cold death sweeps across the land and where man must retreat within himself. But the cyclic way of our ancient belief system gives us the ‘kenning’ that all will be okay and we must look to the Ragna-rise which comes after the Ragna-rok.
Get outdoors. Leave the damn smartphone at home and simply walk. Get out of the city and into the fields. Sit for a while, on a bench with a view. Walk near a stream. Go fishing. Do not tell me you have not got the time. This is your life!
In this modern age, all the above things are holy acts. Anything which takes up one’s time which is not spiritually fulfilling is unholy. Holy acts will leave you refreshed and able to focus on what needs to be done. Mindset and spiritual focus is key to acts being holy. Chopping firewood can be a holy act or it can be a stressful chore, depending upon attitude.
Once you have undertaken such holy acts, you will set aside a dedicated time to read, meditate, lift weights and so forth. As you yourself change, so too will others. Set an example, for this is the best kind of activism. No one wants to be told what to think, but folk will follow the lead of a man who radiates health and the charisma which comes from wellbeing.
Soon a transformation will occur in you akin to the transformation of the land as Ostara awakes.
Waes Thu Hael — Be Though Whole.
