Celtic Cycles

Are you confused by the myriad of spiritual paths beckoning to you? Do you feel let down and disillusioned when they don’t deliver what you’re looking for? Are you at a crossroads in your spiritual journey and wondering which way to turn? If so, then you are not alone: many seekers today feel dissatisfied with their spiritual path, but don’t want to give up searching.
The good news is that you don’t have to give up searching. Perhaps you only need to approach your search in a different way so that you can find the path that is right for you. Finding the right spiritual path doesn’t mean you have to abandon the one you are on. Instead, it may be a matter of changing direction to allow your soul to guide you on the spiritual journey.
I once opened a fortune cookie that read, “Before you can see the light, you have to deal with the darkness.” No matter how hard we may try to avoid or get rid of the dark, it is there nonetheless, and we have to deal with it. It may be that the dark or unconscious realms of the soul are putting up roadblocks that obscure the light. One way to balance the light and dark aspects of the soul is to bring the natural world into the search. If we fail to include nature on the spiritual journey, the soul is likely to feel impoverished rather than empowered, and we may as well turn around. Having its own interplay of light and dark, the rhythms of nature can guide us along the way.
Creativity is another way to balance the light and the dark within the soul. Although I encourage creative writing in this book, feel free to experiment with other forms of creative expression. For instance, you could gather together a kit containing sketch pads, water colors, and other art supplies to work nonverbally with the rhythms of nature. Creativity in whatever form is key for loosening the grip on beliefs that might keep you from finding your true path. Above all, be sure to bring along your creative sense of humor. This book is meant to be taken sincerely, but not so seriously that you don’t enjoy it!
One way I have made the book more enjoyable is through the use of personal examples and anecdotes. Some writers avoid the word “I” for fear of sounding self-centered, but I believe that the personal leads us to a more authentic spiritual path. We are each created as one-of-a-kind human beings, and if we minimize our personal stories as irrelevant, we are in danger of choosing a path that belongs to someone else.
When you delve into your own story, you will likely find that your ancestral heritage contains powerful clues to your spiritual path. As an example, a strong Celtic thread weaves through my father’s side of the family. Celtic spirituality holds that the ancient Celts possessed the gift of “second sight,” enabling them to perceive nature spirits and the invisible world. Although most of us of Celtic origin have lost second sight, we can learn how to use it on a higher level. With second sight, we are seeing through the lens of the feminine principle, which is connected to nature, the instincts, the body, and the shadow aspects of the soul.
My own understanding of the feminine principle has been greatly influenced by the work of Carl Gustav Jung, the renowned Swiss psychiatrist (1875-1961). The son of a Protestant minister, Jung observed that the dominance of the masculine principle had led to an imbalance, not only in the realm of religion but in many other parts of Western culture as well. This imbalance prompted Jung to dedicate much of his work to exploring the dynamics of the feminine so that balance might be restored.
Drawing on the Celtic seasonal cycles and the writings of Carl Jung, this book invites you to explore the role of the soul on the spiritual journey. Chapter One develops the concept of the soul more fully and outlines how to use this book. Most of the other chapters are in workbook format, offering you the opportunity to interact with your own ideas and experiences. In doing so, your journey is more likely to sustain you throughout the twists and turns along the way!