Planning for the Year Ahead

Photo Credit: D. Sharon Pruitt (c) Creative Commons Attribution

Photo Credit: D. Sharon Pruitt (c) Creative Commons Attribution

As I work to introduce my version of Sustainable Spirituality to the world, I’m trying to also better incorporate it into my own life. A big part is looking at what I’m working on and ensuring that there’s not too much in anyone area. Balance and rotation are really important.

Last year, I focused way too heavily on earth and manifestation, being a big ole Virgo — not too surprising. This was reactionary to a long period of time that I felt I hadn’t “DONE” anything. Lots of thinking and learning, but not enough doing. So I swung way in the other direction. When I started thinking about 2010 and what I wanted to do, I tried to apply a little of my own theory.

I was feeling like I had a jumble of things I wanted to work on in 2010, but with a little thought I realized they fit into the four elements of sustainable spiritual practice quite well.  By paying attention to different aspects of spiritual practice, I can help to ensure balance and create cohesion in otherwise disparate work.

The Four Elements of Sustainable Spiritual Practice:

Fire = Personal Spiritual Connection to Divine

  • Work: refining incense offering practice

Air =  Community

  • Work: re-envisioned Rosh Hashanah ritual mythic foundation; Becoming death & dying rites

Water: Creativity

Earth: Resources

  • Work:  Continuing my food practices

Each of these aligns to parts of the year, for example Spring is the time of  Earth (עָפָר) within Air (רוּחַ), which means that the spiritual focus aligns to Resources within Community.  For more about the elemental system this is based on see RK’Jill Hammer’s book the The Jewish Book of Days.  My concept of Sustainable Spirituality is built on her foundational elemental system, which is built on the Sefer Yetzirah and other traditional Jewish sources.

I promise a much deeper dive on this concept soon!

Checks and Balances

Now I have a balance spiritual “plan” for the year.  The next step is to look at the optimal times of year to work on certain spiritual practices, or have them be the primary focus, and see how to align them.  It doesn’t mean that I have to align with this, just that mostly likely, that’s what my body will want at that time.  It also gives me a way to check in with myself if I find that I’m straining to do something.  It may be that I should move it to the background until the season for its focus.

What do you think? Try it out and let me know how it works for you!

 

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