Aspects of the divine

One of the five basic creeds of my tradition is the Ethic of Attunement to the Divine. That means for me that throughout my life, I should constantly try to grow closer to the Divine. "Attunement" means growing closer, coming to know better, becoming more similar to the Divine.
This idea uses a very general word: "Divine". What is this Divine? I cannot answer this question for sure, and probably nobody can - only your experience will tell you. However, throughout the history of the different religions, there have been a number of different answers to this question. In Wicca, basically an eclectic and undogmatic religion, you can find different answers represented. While many religions find their ideas or concepts rather exclusive, in Wicca it is not uncommon to find different ideas represented in one circle or coven. You might even find Wiccans believing in more than one answer to the above question about the nature of the Divine.

Kaatryn MacMorgan[1] has written about the concept of three different levels or aspects of the Divine. It can be summarised as:

The Gods are Divine
The universe is Divine
The self is Divine

(in whatever permutation you prefer). All of this can be true together, and all of it has certain implications.


The Gods are Divine

This might be the most obvious statement about a religion that is considered polytheistic. The Gods, the ones we invoke, we talk to, we pray to, we feast with are Divine. Nevertheless it is interesting to know that at least some Wiccans believe that the Gods are not Divine beings but for example archetypes of the subconsciousness. However, if you do believe in the Gods as divine beings, as divine Others, , divine counterparts, that means you can in one way or the other get into contact with these beings, open a dialogue with them. Between to beings, communication is possible. This communication might take different forms. In its simples form, it is pure prayer. In its more complex forms, a number of rituals have as their sole purpose to enable a communication with Gods; one of them being the well known rite of Drawing Down the Moon.
Of course, believing in the existence of Divine Beings raises a lot of difficult theological questions. Where do they come from? How can they interact with us, with our world? What is their world? What, exactly, are they? How many are there, how similar or different are they? The list of questions is endless, and trying to give answers to them is much beyond the scope of this text. The best way to answer all those questions is probably to meet the Gods, to ask them the questions themselves, to learn the answers through experiences. This is what we want to do in this course: Find ways to interact with Divine beings.

The universe is Divine

The Kybalion, a magical text from the beginning of the 20th century[2], claims that the All is Mind. In other books I stumbles upon the concept of Immanence[3]: the divine is not separated from creation, but is immanent in creation, is present within everything. All parts of the Universe are divine, and the Universe as a whole itself is divine. The implications of this concept are immense. First of all, if everything is divine - the tree, the animal - then everything should be treated with respect. Secondly, it means that even things we see as trivial - like a TV, a stone - are divine, are part of the divine universe. Additionally, if everything is part of one divine universe, then everything is interconnected, separation is an illusion. The experience of this basic unity for me has always been one of the most profound mysteries, one that is difficult to put into words. It can be experienced through allowing yourself to experience existence directly: through meditation.
On the other hand you can learn something about the divine universe by learning about its parts and the divine nature of its parts. Grow closer to the divine by growing closer to its parts. Understanding something fully, understanding its divine nature and its connectedness to the rest of the universe can be very enlightening.
In this course we are going to use meditation to experience the divine universe, and we are going to focus upon some parts of the universe to investigate them.


The self is Divine

This is a direct consequence of the fact that the universe is divine. You are a part of that universe - therefore you are divine. You have that divine spark, and the blessings of life. And not only you, but your kid, your spouse, your neighbour, your enemy, everyone.
What is this self I am talking about? Is it the mind? Or the soul? It is everything. It starts with the body, the physical part of our selves. It includes our emotions, our mind, our logic and intuition, our subconsciousness and our higher self, our spirit or soul. Our selves are made up from all these components.
The self is Divine. How do we attune to this divine self? The most important step is to really realize this truth. From then on, there are a number of possibilities. Come to know your body, it is sacred. Learn more about your emotions, your reactions, your mind. Take good care of yourself, you are divine.
During this course, we will mostly work with introspection. You will look at yourself and learn more about yourself, your goal, your hopes, your fears, your dreams.
The title of this course is "Daily practice - getting into contact with the Divine daily". I have summarized what I consider to be the Divine: the Gods, the universe and the self. The course will cover all of these aspects. So far, I have introduced three practices, one for each aspect: basic meditation to further your awareness of the divine universe, prayer to get into contact with the Gods, and Daily Pages to get into contact with your divine self. All of these are basic techniques that will be helpful for more advanced techniques.


[1] Kaatryn MacMorgan-Douglas, All One Wicca, Covenstead Press, 2007
[2] Three Initiates, The Kybalion. A study of the hermetic philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greek. Free full text at Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14209)
[3] Starhawk, The spiral dance. A rebirth of the ancient religion of the great goddess. Harper Collins, 1999