For Urd

An underlying tenet of all magick is the willingness to make choices. Choices as they relate to magick are twofold. One, we choose the type of magick that we will work, including an analysis of the ethical ramifications of that work. Two, in doing so, we are also required to make choices about the modifications we will make in our mundane lives. Without mundane action, the spell goes unsupported. Our magickal efforts will fall flat. In order to be successful, choices cannot be avoided. Therefore, just as valuable as the writing of the ritual and gathering of the tools is the consideration of our mundane plans. The contemplation of the other necessary actions that we must take to support the goal of the magickal working must be a focus of our preparation. When this is done, many questions may arise: how do we lay out the daily steps to facilitate the needed change? Do we have time for it? Are we ready for the change? Are we committed? Are we truly ready to make this choice? What other choices will we make to get there?  

When all of these questions are considered, it can get overwhelming! That spell just got really complicated! Can’t someone just answer all of this for us?

As I was recently reminded, No, they cannot. Only we can answer these questions for ourselves. Only we can make the choices of our lives. Our Gods cannot do that for us. They cannot show us our Fate, for the choices that we make create it. 

As witches, we all know this. Yet, if you are like me, without reminders we get stuck. Why?  

So, it seems that certain parts of our lives are fixed—unchangeable. Our parents, for example, we did not choose them. The body we were born into, we did not choose it. These fixed parts of our lives have a significant impact on the ways that we move through and experience the world. Some create barriers, while others opportunities. These fixed things shape our reality, and at times, reality is crippling (times like now!). Reality is distracting. Although this is true, we should take caution in focusing too much on the fixed aspects of our lives. Too often we get confused by the unchangeable aspects and wrongly draw this conclusion: Our Fate is out of our hands. We are powerless! There is nothing we can do! We confuse the fixed aspects of our lives as our Fate. In doing so, we forget about the power of choice, the power of everyday action. 

As if succumbing to this confusion isn’t enough, we can also fall into another trap: the illusion of the perfect choice. We get stuck in an on-going analysis of what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong. It is maddening and it can paralyze us. We then get stuck in the pain of evading the decisions needed in life due to the fear of making the wrong choice. And indecisive pain can last for a very long time. Sometimes decades. As a result, we feel powerless. We feel out of control of our Fate. We feel out of control of our lives. We have deluded ourselves into believing that it is so. 

In my recent visitations with those Older and Wiser than me, I was reminded that there are no right choices. There are no wrong choices. There are just choices. There is only what is. So be brave, feel empowered, and make your choices. Spin your work. Claim your Fate. And remember, the Gods will help you and remind you when needed. And more will be revealed. 

- Written by Aurora, HPS 2nd Degree