Sex, Pride, Self, Power, Passion…

 

I take a wide stance with my bare feet firmly on the ground and my arms outstretched emulating this five point star.   I am in a warm upper room with several other witches of all genders for a weekend intensive.  We are deepening our spiritual practice of running the energy of The Iron Pentacle, a powerful tool used by my Reclaiming Witch tradition, a tool we learned and use with gratitude from the Feri Tradition. 

 

Sex, Pride, Self, Power, Passion…

 

The five points of my body: head, hands, and feet, mark the path of the Iron energy as it flows from point to point through me.  I smile as the teaching witch calls the points, because I learned long ago that I run left to right not right to left (so Pride is my left foot not right, Self my right hand not left, opposite the points they call).  Knowing I run different than most, is simply part of the process of claiming my own understanding and experience of developing a healthy relationship with sex, pride, self, power, and passion.

 

Sex, Pride, Self, Power, Passion…

 

As I work the point and energy of Sex I notice that in the past few years I have put most of my sexual energy into my art and creativity, my music and writing.  I delight in the foreplay, orgasm, and afterglow of creation as I weave words and compose melodies.  I remember the other ways I manifest the energy of Sex so gloriously embodied when I taste ripe blackberries picked off their thorny vines, or press my nose deep into the open blossoms of my yellow roses and inhale their fragrance, or stand transfixed by the sound of the crows who have taken up residence in my neighborhood, or sing at the sight of The Moon waxing and waning across the sky each month, or glory in the caress of the The Earth on my bare feet as I walk and dance.  As I work the point and energy of Sex I remember how blessed I have been to have had lovers of all genders with whom I shared the amazing creative divine energy of Sex, and how blessed I have been to share the amazing creative energy of Sex alone, lying simply in the embrace of The Divine.

 

Sex, Pride, Self, Power, Passion…

 

Working the point and energy of Pride has shifted for me since standing in that upper room with members of my witch family.  The day we left the weekend intensive was the day I became aware of the shooting in Orlando Florida in the gay dance club, Pulse, on Latin night.  The massacre cuts deeply through my Queer community in the midst of Gay Pride month in the United States.  I hear and read how the massacre cuts deeply through the Latinx community as they continue to claim cultural Pride through a political season awash in racist rhetoric and a long history of violence against brown and black bodies.  I generally do well in balancing my personal work around claiming Pride, but right now must seat that in the larger work of our society as those individuals and whole communities who have been devalued and shamed, claim our/their Pride. 

 

Sex, Pride, Self, Power, Passion…

 

I reflect on the moment in our weekend intensive when running the point of Self I realized just how much my relationship with Self has changed in my life.  In my teens, 20s and 30s I imagined my “self” was what I did, especially my school, work, relationships, and the image(s) I projected to others.  Each major shift in those things threw me into a temporary depression as I lost my “self” before constructing a new “self.”  In my 40s all those things radically shifted at once as my health crashed.  My loss of what I had thought was “self” compounded my health crisis as I sank into a lengthy and deep depression.  Now at almost 57 I am very clear that my Self is not what I do, or who I am with in relationship, or the image(s) I project into the world in various settings.  Now I am clear that my Self is most simply what I am, and what I am has intrinsic value - my essential Self can not be lost.

 

Sex, Pride, Self, Power, Passion…

 

When we began running the point of Power I laughed to myself.  I am an Eight on the Enneagram and a Scorpio, and seem to embody the trait of easily claiming Power.  My personal work is to stay in the place of “Power with” as opposed to “power over” or in a righteous rage “power for,” both of which I can slip into far too easily.  We had been asked to bring a symbol of Power to place on the altar.  The symbol I brought was an issue of “Yes!” magazine.  “Yes!” takes a clear look at many of the intersecting places where power is abused in our world, and offers stories of real people who are changing that by working in collaboration.   For me Power must always be in collaboration.  Even in my work as an activist for justice, one of my personal challenges is to be careful not to abuse my societal privilege and personal power to take charge.  Rather, my challenge is to be a listening and collaborative ally as I leverage my personal Power and privilege for a wider justice in concert with others.

 

Sex, Pride, Self, Power, Passion…

 

Near the end of our work with the point of Passion I came to a startling realization:  rarely in my life do my abundant passions stay in healthy balance.  In the work of the Iron Pentacle we are taught that each point can be deflated (Rusted) or inflated (Gilded) instead of being right sized or balanced.  A Rusted Passion is apathy, a Gilded Passion is obsession.  My startling realization was that my passions almost always inflated into a Gilded Obsession.  My Passion for work in my 20s became a frenzied obsession in my 30s and the energy and pace with which I lived literally fried my adrenals and put me in bed a good deal of my 40s.  My current book project, based on my great-grandma Josie’s life, has “freight trained” in the same direction as I lose whole nights of sleep following exciting bits of research, and hardly notice the glazed looks of friends as I talk of nothing but my beloved dead.   My passion for politics becomes an obsession with news and polls and reading Facebook posts.  A simple crush spins into a Glittering Gilded world bearing little resemblance to the kind of easy friendship that might lead to a healthy relationship.  Of all the points on the Iron Pentacle, Passion is the one where I have done the least personal reflection and work and need the most help to balance.  Realizations like these are why in my Reclaiming Tradition it’s important we do Iron Pentacle work throughout our lifetime.

 

Sex, Pride, Self, Power, Passion…

 

Blessings to you as you reflect and work on your own healthy balance of these points of The Iron Pentacle.

 

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To learn more go to www.reclaiming.org to find list of regional Reclaiming groups that offer a schedule of core classes near you (the core class “Elements of Magic” is a prerequisite to taking an “Iron Pentacle” class)

 

I also recommend the work “Magic of the Iron Pentacle” by Jane Meredith and Gede Parma, and books or online podcasts or video by T. Thorn Coyle on the subject.