A couple of months ago, author Christopher Penczak led me to a wonderful insight–that regardless of our spirituality, we are all seeking the deeper mysteries. This explains why many Christians are seeking more occult knowledge and many pagans are committing to new paths, some attaining clergy status in multiple traditions or experimenting with some of the more alternative “alternative” religions.
So far, I’ve found two ways of exploring my own inner depths. The first was through Initiation into a spiritual path and a commitment to graduating from the program. The second was through hiring a life coach to help me make a difficult transition after my divorce.
I’ve had two coaches now–I jokingly call them Yoda (my career coach, whom I no longer see because I made the transition I needed) and Obiwan (my spiritual coach, whom I talk with about once a month). The coaching experience was quite different from the spiritual training experience, however, mainly because the spiritual training dictated what I was to learn and how I was to learn it. This is not to say that one was superior to the other–just different.
Rite of Reckoning — a Southern witch returns home to secrets that won’t stay buried. Available direct from the author →
There were pre-set opinions and Mysteries to be shared in my three years of seminary training, but the coaching experience was more focused on uncovering my own Mysteries. Both coaches I’ve worked with have given me guidance in discovering my own strengths and tools for dealing with the not-so-pleasant, and I’ve had so many epiphanies through this process.
I think that’s the biggest value of a coach–the continued self-inquiry and self-correcting pathwork to get to a place of achieving your dreams and forging new ones.
I myself have now been a coach for about a year–part-time, fitting it into my existing schedule–and it’s been very fulfilling to help other people discover their facets and transform themselves into a higher version of themselves. Most coaches set aside a 40-60 minute appointment once every 3-4 weeks, but I’ve been experimenting with email coaching for several clients this month, and it’s been better than I could ever have expected!
Here’s why:
There’s good reason for devotions, rituals, and church services to be hold on a regular basis, whether it’s every Sunday or every Full Moon or four times a day. If I have an appointment with a client to discuss how they’ve applied certain spiritual techniques for the past month, what I find is a mad dash in the 48-hours before the appointment to focus on their inner Mysteries and think up a few gems to talk about.
With email coaching, we’re checking in every day or so, doing small things to stay on-track, keeping the focus on their transformation. It’s become a way of living the sacred way, this very regular and frequent but gentle guidance, rather than putting it on a shelf for weeks at a time.
I guess that’s the secret to regularity in ritual: it keeps the mind focused on the path.
A Southern witch returns home. Secrets won’t stay buried. A chance to confront and heal—or face the consequences.
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