Spirituality has to do with the depths of the individual. It is only when we listen inwardly and attentively to the claims of the spirit that renewal comes. It would seem, therefore, that the nature of spirituality is built into the human psyche and that such holistic awareness is found potentially in every human being, whatever their religious beliefs or none. This would imply there is such a thing as secular spirituality. Time and again I am reminded of the words of the Oracle at Delphos:
O Man, look deep within yourself and thou shalt find therein a well of Truth for ever springing up!
A reference for the quote might be helpful, James, as the Oracle Google does not recognise it!
My researches into bees has led me to wonder if the original source of the oracle at Delphos was an underground hive of wild bees. They were thought to be messengers of the gods and bees make a variety of buzzing sounds that depend on the health of the colony but also make piping sounds as new queens emerge. This variety of “buzzed messages” would have required an expert interpreter and so The Oracle became established. Talking to the bees is an ancient folk tradition that is still with us.
DEAR LAURENCE YES, HAVING KEPT BEES AT THE OLD RECTORY AT BLEDDFA I KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS TALKING TO THEM. RE THE ORACLE AT DELPHI, I KNOW THIS IS SO, BUT CANNOT RECALL THE SOURCE=IT IS SOMETHING I HAVE KNOWN FOR YEARS, DECADES EVEN! I AM COMING TO BLEDDF AON JUNE 10TH FOR A TALK IN WITH AN AUDIENC,E AND THEN ISGNING OF TWO MY MOST RECENT BOOKS PUBISHED THIS YEAR- MY PUBLISHE RHAS NOW COMMISSIONED TWO MORE, AND ALL THIS INJY 90THYEAR! I SEND WARM GREETINGS WITH HAPPY MEMORIES, ESPECIALLY HOW YOU TRANSFORMED THE LAWN ATTHE OLD RECTORY IN BLEDDFA! JAMES
DEAR LAURENCE YES, HAVING KEPT BEES AT THE OLD RECTORY AT BLEDDFA I KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS TALKING TO THEM. RE THE ORACLE AT DELPHI, I KNOW THIS IS SO, BUT CANNOT RECALL THE SOURCE=IT IS SOMETHING I HAVE KNOWN FOR YEARS, DECADES EVEN! I AM COMING TO BLEDDF AON JUNE 10TH FOR A TALK IN WITH AN AUDIENC,E AND THEN ISGNING OF TWO MY MOST RECENT BOOKS PUBISHED THIS YEAR- MY PUBLISHE RHAS NOW COMMISSIONED TWO MORE, AND ALL THIS INJY 90THYEAR! I SEND WARM GREETINGS WITH HAPPY MEMORIES, ESPECIALLY HOW YOU TRANSFORMED THE LAWN ATTHE OLD RECTORY IN BLEDDFA! JAMES
It’s interesting that depth psychology speaks of the conscious and unconscious where the unconscious has its own consciousness. The unconscious is not to be without consciousness, but is its own consciousness. In the deeper self there is a meeting of the two consciousnesses. Can we say meditation leads us there? Can it be that the work of art is to suggest this place beneath, point to it through gesture … In a frame, held in a moment, the art, the turn of a hand, a look, the space between words, a line, colour, that work of the artist, to approach the consciousness of the unconscious, of the other, suggested by the art, telling us of what is more, more than we know, deeper than we can imagine. And there is our humanity, to know who we are by not knowing, the conscious of the unconscious.