Well, they say hindsight is a wonderful thing. I’ve never much enjoyed receiving ’round robin’ Christmas newsletters from people I only hear from in December, but it may be that setting down the main events of the year in a reflective way may enable a degree of learning – or maybe just provide a few laughs for the reader. I don’t know…..
What a lot has happened. We have moved house, not once, but twice, firstly from Wales back to Somerset, and latterly, and completely unexpectedly, to a slightly (OK considerably) larger property, also in Somerset and about 15-20 miles from property one.
As I’ve said elsewhere, you just never know what Fate (or the Fates) is/are going to bring you.
Our second house move involved not only transporting our reduced worldly goods from the Tiny Cottage to our latest dwelling, but also a weekend retrieving the furniture we had originally been obliged to leave in Wales, but are now able to accommodate. It’s a sad and vaguely terrifying thing to admit that you’ve actually got ‘Moving home’ as one of your core skills, and I very much hope for a year (and the rest) of stability, thoroughly devoid of house moves, and that enough time will now elapse for those skills to become ill-used and redundant.
We have now moved home twice in a year, thrice in just a few weeks over two years and seven times in ten years. Enough.
Practice-wise, it’s been a frustrating year of Nothing Much Happening, but events right at the end of the year show that the aspiration is still there – to take the best of monastic spirituality and apply it to Pagan – or I should now say Polytheistic – life.
Elsewhere, if you care to go through the archived comments, you’ll find that I have decided to commit myself to the worship of the Greek Gods in 2014 (and well beyond, I very much hope). My other Resolution is not to court controversy, so I won’t be commenting further in public about this decision, except to point out that the lovely Mrs Pagan-Monastic has been a devotee for a number of years, I have lived in the presence of Hellenic Polytheism for a fair time, and there has been ample opportunity for me to do the stubborn thing and cut my own path. From now on we hope and aim to be co-religionists on the path of Hellenic Polytheism, and I am very happy about it. We’ll be adopting the two-fold Office devised and proposed by Drew Campbell in the first instance, and although there are some additions I could easily imagine making, it seems like a good starting point.
Wherever you are, whatever your interest in the idea of Pagan monasticism, from experienced practitioner to interested onlooker, may the Gods bless you richly in 2014 and beyond.
With every good wish for the year ahead
David
Frankincense and wine 
I love this. Nice to know what you’ve been up to. Can you provide a link or more information about the “Office that Drew Campbell proposes?” I’d like to explore that. Thanks!
Hi Duffi
You can find Drew Campbell’s original daily devotions at office at
http://www.hellenion.org/campbella/daily_orpheus_drewcampbell.html
Best wishes
PM
Hello and Happy New Year:
First of all, I wanted to acknowledge your kind and empathetic words regarding my horrendous year of 2013. Thanks to ALL of the Gods of no matter what hue and persuasion that 2013 is over. I hope it took all the negative energy with it when it left.
It was interesting to read of your shift in direction. You wrote that it was year of “Nothing Much Happening” with respect to your spiritual development but I have to disagree. I think it’s a big leap forward. If you believe, as I do, that all the Gods represent essentially the same array of “forces” (if you will), then I think it’s fundamentally important to find the most “comfortable” or “meaningful” manner in which to communicate with them and to achieve spiritual growth. The specific names and rituals you use are irrelevant. For myself, I am attracted to the British/Celtic aspects of the Gods because my British ethnicity is important to me. This is why I practice (an admittedly eclectic) form of Druidism & Wicca – mixed with a Gnosticism of a Manichean bent. As I said, it’s an eclectic combination but it feels right for me and it allows me to synthesize my sense of British-ness, my pagan beliefs and my fundamental suspicions about the true nature of this world. Now if I could just work in the monastic angle … LOL! But I believe, as many do, that for magic to “work” or for religious devotions to be meaningful, you have to approach the Gods in a way that speaks to you so that you can effectively speak to them. When you find that mix – voila! That’s a major impediment out of the way.
Given what you wrote last May, I hope you didn’t feel like you were forced off your previous path because of the people you were trying to work with. While I have had much the same experiences with – let’s call them what they are – assholes in the Pagan community, I really try not to let it get to me. It’s quite right to sometimes just walk away and follow your own path. Yes, it’s lonely because being a solitary means that you don’t have anyone to bounce ideas off of or another head to play devil’s advocate with your epiphanies. For me, discussion and informed debate is necessary for me to really progress. But it’s better to be alone than sorry and having to deal with knee-jerk responses and an insufferable orthodoxy that would embarrass the Orthodox. I think you’re quite lucky that have your wife to exchange ideas with and I’m sure it helps the bind you closer.
Good luck in your journey this year. I’d like to hear of your experiences and thoughts about just what a pagan monastic community would/could/should encompass. And just bouncing ideas around.
All the best, Liam