Four Cornerstones May 27, 2009

In the time since I started this series of posts about ethics and values, I’ve shifted my focus, at least in terms of this blog, away from strictly Northern Tradition-based monasticism to a pan-Pagan viewpoint. This is in part because I suspect that when Hela requested that I write about my journey, She had a somewhat broader audience in mind than I did. Therefore I’ve narrowed my list of monastic values down to four: faith, contemplation, service and mindfulness. As for those mentioned in previous posts and which I have omitted (i.e. hospitality, sacrifice and contemplation) here are my reasons for that.

I have an obligation to show hospitality to guests who come into my household, both because of my personal feelings on the subject and on behalf of the other people who live here. It’s something I’d be doing even if I wasn’t a nun. However, if I were cloistered or an anchorite, hospitality would not necessarily be an issue. And some Pagans might not feel as strongly about it as I do. While I don’t expect anybody to follow my recommendations, I also feel obligated to leave this virtue out of the list for the sake of being inclusive of all expressions of Pagan monastic life.

On the other hand, sacrifice, I feel, is an intrinsic part of service. In the course of serving the gods, other people, our communities or all of the above, we are often asked to make sacrifices, or else we choose to make them in order to realize a goal or achieve harmony in our communities. Sacrifice in terms of the giving of a special and extraordinary gift as an offering to the Holy Ones is also a part of serving Them. Making the decision to enter into a contemplative religious life on a full-time basis entails a great deal of sacrifice. Because of all this, stating it as a separate value seems redundant to me.

Celebration can also be seen as service. When we partake in ritual and devotional activities, we serve the gods and spirits by giving Them love, friendship, honor and respect. When we partake in these activities alongside other people, we serve each other as well by strengthening our collective faith and creating unity. Service can be extended to cover a wide variety of subjects, possibly to the point f ridiculousness, but here I want to stress that service in a monastic context is all about being a part of something larger than yourself, even if you’re a solitary, and working to make that larger something better than what it already is.

I feel that for Pagan monastics, no matter what your tradition or religious leanings, the four remaining values are key to a more fruitful relationship with the Holy Ones and a deeper understanding of one’s place relative to Them, to other people, and to the rest of the world(s). Were I to set up a more or less eclectic Pagan monastic order, I would want these, at least, to be a foundational set of values for the establishment of a Rule and the day to day functioning of the community. If I were to set up a specifically Northern Tradition order I would still want to retain these, but I would augment them with other values, such as hospitality and honesty, which are particularly emphasized in Norse/Germanic literature as well as those cherished by modern-day practitioners.

Having said all this, here is a vow of profession based on the four “cornerstones” of monastic practice I have chosen to retain. Feel free to use this if you are so moved, and while credit is greatly appreciated, it is not necessary.

I, _______________, [beloved of (patron/matron deity)], come before the Holy Ones of earth, sea and sky, of spirit and flesh, of death and life [and before my peers, brothers and sisters, friends and allies, etc.] to make these vows.

I vow to strive for faith so that it may become a staff which supports weakness of flesh or spirit and a shield which protects from fear and loneliness.

I vow to strive for mindfulness and to use my powers of observation and attention as a lens by which to clearly see the world around me and a mirror by which to clearly see myself.

I vow to spend time in contemplation of the Holy Ones and Their ways, as numberless as leaves in a forest, and the Mysteries that go as deep as the roots of the oldest tree.

I vow to serve my gods [ancestors, allies, brothers and sisters, community, etc.] with my whole heart and to the best of my ability, that I might become staff and shield, lens and mirror, shade and root for those to whom I am obligated and those who look to me for protection, clarity or relief.

Therefore I, ____________, make my profession as a [monk/nun/whatever] from now until I am released from my oath by word, deed or death. So may it be heard and remembered by the spirits of this place, [by all who stand here and] by the gods in whose names this vow is spoken.

I had set out to write a very different sort of statement, but as these things have a way of happening, what came out was the above vow. I realize now that after several years, I’ve gotten past the novice stage and am ready to dedicate myself formally to being a Pagan nun — as in taking an oath before the gods and possibly some of my friends as witnesses. Before I do that, however, I need to establish a better daily routine and spend some time thinking about more practical aspects of monastic life, as opposed to intangible things such as I’ve been discussing here. And then the real work will begin, no doubt.