Sacred Art of Listening

I have been quiet recently, as I lost a four-legged companion last Thursday. I was lucky enough to have 15 1\2 years with her, and her absence is very heavily felt. Despite this I feel moved to talk about something that has been heavy on my mind lately: Listening.

If, like me, you have been paying attention to everything in the news and on social media, you will notice that there are a lot of people talking. Everywhere you turn you end up with a piece of someone’s mind whether it is over race relations, the coronavirus, the economic climate of our country and every other hot topic. They speak incessantly, sometimes at loud volumes, sometimes with obscenity and it can be very overwhelming. Right now our country is facing its shadow and doing the shadow work necessary in order to evolve. voices that at one time were silenced are speaking out and that is amazing; but what can a witch do to help this process?

The Witch’s Pyramid ( a concept that guides some of our spiritual practices) Is made up of four points: ” To know, To dare, To Will and To Keep Silent”. I personally see this in a more cyclic nature, something I will explain in a moment. In the past many people have taught that “To Keep Silent” was a tenant taught to witches during the burning times in order to protect those that practiced magic, as well as a method to safeguard the power of a spell (not sharing the magical work you are doing helps to keep the energy focused and uninfluenced by outside forces) and while that is very valid, I would like to posit that this point of the Pyramid is speaking about cultivating another skill. The skill of Listening. I have recently been working on Listening as a Spiritual Practice, and I believe that this falls under the topic of “To Keep Silent”. Which is where the cycle I see renews. If we Keep Silent (and Listen) then we Know, which will again allow us to move onto Daring and Willing. For me, as I grow in understanding, I find that most constructs that are taught in a linear fashion ultimately end up becoming a cyclic or spiral pattern that we travel repeatedly, each time uncovering a new facet or lesson and deepening our understanding of the world around us.

When I am quiet and attentive to what is around me, I can hear , process and truly understand what I am experiencing. I spend at least 5 minutes a day sitting silently and listening. I minimize the amount of extraneous noise I have around me and I sit quietly and comfortably and simply turn my attention to my sense of sound. This has allowed me to be more in tune with the guidance of my Goddess, Ancestors and Spiritual Guides, and the other beings I share the world with, because I have made time and taken the effort to hear their quiet voices. The largest and most resounding piece of advice I have been given lately is to get to know “the other”, for me the “other” is any being outside of myself and I have realized that the best way to accomplish this is through, (I’m pretty sure you can see where this is going and you are right… )through listening!

In this time of strife one of the best things we can do for another being is to see them, acknowledge their divinity and listen to them. Hear the words that they have to say, how they tell their story and be witness to it. We can take deep breaths and hold space for others to express whatever it is that they need to get out. As allies of whatever cause we feel drawn to support, we can stop assuming we need to add our voice to the expression and instead let the voices that have been silent for too long have space to be heard. Open our ears and Listen.

When we are confused and unsure of what to do: Open our ears and Listen. Through the act of Listening you validate another’s experience, you can hear your guides and know what actions to take. Through Listening you can attune to the world around you and maybe notice soemthing you hadn’t before. Through Listening you can learn how to support someone else, as opposed to assuming we know what they need, we can listen to what they say that they need and be better prepared and capable of truly assisting another being. This is the lesson I learned through the passing of my four legged companion; when I was quiet and listened to her, she told me in her own way that she was ready to cross the Rainbow Bridge and leave the physical world behind. She told me she wasn’t sure about going, because she was worried that I wouldn’t be okay, and what she needed was for me to be calm and at peace with her passing, to Listen and know that her spirit didn’t intend to leave me abandoned and that her love was a part of me that would never leave. I learned so much from simply Listening.

So I challenge my readers today: take a breath, open your ears and Listen. Today, embody the goal that is “To Keep Silent” learn the power in being receptive to the experience of another, you never know what you might learn!