“What we do in life, echoes through eternity” Maximus - Gladiator, the Movie
In such challenging times it is important to resist and oppose while maintaining a connection to our Divine Presence. The questions is how do we maintain our connection to humanity while navigating difficult times …
In A Perfect Prime Year, a once-in-a-lifetime occasion (45 squared = 2025) and a year where we are preparing for the end of a cycle (a 9 Year numerological), we can expect a volatile time as social change and reform become a part of our experience.
The last time there was a Prime Year it was 1936 (44×44), at that time President Franklin D. Roosevelt was in office and America was slogging through the Great Depression … will this happen again or is a square year, putting structures into place, clearing the ground so that you can lay the foundations for the next age … how this happens will be up to us.
The cycle that is ending began in 206-2017 … the lessons and events we began in this year will come to an end or completion in preparation for the New Age.
In 2017 I began my Spiritual journey stepping fully onto my path of teaching spirituality and reading for people to help them find purpose in their lives.
2017 is also when Trump first came to power and began his journey into our lives. It is the birth of the idea of Fake News, the Big Lie and the idea of Alternative Truths, something I spoke about in 2022 when I shared the idea of Chaos Theory and the Truth Wars - something that is happening again.
The Hermit
The Tarot card for this year is 9 The Hermit. He comes out of his Cave to share light into the world. He shares his truth as we move into a time of the Divine Feminine, a time when our perceptions have matured and with Mars moving direct, allowing us to gently move forwards once again with purpose (aligned and inspired action).
The Hermit is, in my mind, also a Spiritual Warrior.
As an archetype, Spiritual Warriors inspire hope simply because they hold the space for the Divine to step in.
First, the Spiritual Warrior is a mystic, someone who embraces the Absolute and self-surrenders to the unknown. The Mystic is also the Lover because of the close relationship with the Divine, love becomes the currency that we aspire to but the Warrior is needed to ensure we can reach these giddy heights.
In Tarot the archetype of Spiritual Warrior can be seen in the Hermit. As Matthew Fox explains …
“because the mystic in us is the lover, and love brings both joy and hope. The mystic goes to the edge and does not faint, the mystic faces the terror of Joy (the Via Positiva) and of Darkness (the Via Negativa) and does not flinch. He/she/they “launches out into the deep,” as John of the Cross puts it.”
The strength of the Warrior archetype holds them steady, not to battle with fists and weapons but instead with our inner strength.
“Spirituality builds the strength and courage to combat evil successfully, evil forces that prey on fear and hatred” - Buck Ghosthorse
Creation Spirituality is a philosophy with roots in Christian Mysticism and asserts a central tenet that we are part of the creation process and our central human mission is to co-create a world of compassion and justice, beauty and peace, love and gratitude. I see a strong connection between the ideas built into Creation Spirituality and the idea of standing strong for a better world.
The Four Paths of Creation Spirituality
As we search for our connection to All that Is one approach is to follow the Four Paths outline within Creation Spirituality.
In a healthy environment, our first spiritual moments are moments of awe and wonder, and delight. The mystics call this the Via Positiva or the Path of Awe. When we allow these gifts to penetrate our souls the organic response includes: gratitude, reverence, and joy. These moments are best left to our Mystical Experiences but they teach us the wonder of creation.
Via Negativa or The Path of Release - has us daring the Darkness to allow pain and learning from it. This is improvement by subtraction, the willingness to be empty and remove anything that would distract, distort or clutter our minds. In this pillar of the mind we meet God by focusing on what he/she/they isn’t.
By combining the Positive and the Negative, a Third path is formed, the Via Creativa or The Path of Creation - All that Remains is Creation. Through our creativity we connect to the Divine in us and bring the Divine back to the community.
While the first two paths describe our experience of who we are being, the third and fourth path explain what to do. When we co-create with the Universe we demonstrate that we are Spirit in Action. We are the act of creation by what we do.
These forms of Spiritual Growth naturally lead to the final Path - Via Transformativa The Path of Transformation… which is where God is experienced in our struggle for justice, healing, compassion, and celebration. It is the embodiment of all our expression and knowing. We are transformed and express the Divine through our actions - something that is much needed right now.
These paths are non-linear, meaning they have no order or hierarchy but they are deeply interdependent.
I am new to this philosophy but it feels very familiar. But I find myself asking how to we live these paths? How do they fit with the Spiritual Warrior archetype?
Matthew Fox shared that we embrace the characteristics of the Archetype - the 10 C’s
The 10 C’s of Creation Spirituality
- Critical Thinking
- Cosmology/ Ecology - recognising our place in the universe
- Courage - to live the Spiritual Principles
- Chaos - recognising that the Goddess of Chaos is a natural process and an intrinsic part of development and growth
- Character/ Moral Development - inner work is important to our character and learning from our mistakes
- Contemplation - a pillar to Spiritual Growth, in Silence the voice of the Soul can be heard. When you are able to quiet the mind and its habitual thinking, you will hear the heart, which carries the wisdom from your higher self and the Universe
- Creativity - in Survival our creativity is activated because we join with Creation to co-create
- Compassion/Justice - beyond sentimentalism, compassion is the recognition that we are all interconnected, when we look upon our brother/sister we see ourselves
- Community - Spiritual Growth needs a mirror and when practicing compassion and justice a community naturally builds around us
- Ceremony/Ritual - the process of remembering
It is a time of transformation, a time for seeking meaningful change.
How this comes about and unfolds is up to us.
Matthew Fox wrote that “as we enter a new millennium society needs to realise that spirituality's purpose is to guide us on a path that leads to a genuine love of all our relations and a love for our shared interdependence.”
Dalai Lama also said "We can do away with all religion but we can't do away with compassion. Compassion is my religion."
Be heroic today and embrace the Spiritual Warrior within. Stand for Inner Truth forged out of your Divine experience. As Maximus the Gladiator stated let what you do echo loudly throughout eternity.
