I want to give a disclaimer here, the Universe voluntold me (yes, that is a thing) that my next article would be on integrity. Why? Precisely because I didn’t want to write it and said so.
A coven I belong to have these 3 virtues or energies of kindness, passion, and integrity that we abide by. They are the foundation, the guides and they are strong. They are the forces or currents that are extended to all Coven members, but each one has a deeper meaning for each of us as individuals. Which is exactly why this was not to be my article and I originally refused it. An article on integrity makes me uncomfortable because it has a unique meaning to each individual and the current state of affairs on earth, with its global pandemic, has created a lot of dissonance. I’m unsure how to capture ‘Integrity’ appropriately in the current context while allowing it continuity for individual reception or perception. That makes me uncomfortable. I do not like putting things in a box, but there are many times that we get a box and it’s a gift.
How did I end up writing an article on something that makes me uncomfortable?
It started as a suggestion from one of my beloved coven peers. I admire this peer that suggested it and I have learned so much in connecting with this witch. I thought the article was a great idea, but not for me. Then “Integrity” comes up in a book I’m reading on motivational interviewing. This book was recommended to me by a mentor in the coven. I sat down for my daily divination session and what oracle card do I get? Integrity. Of course. Rest assured, as I type this out, I’m giving the side-eye to the Universe and she’s sipping her tea, while side-eyeing me right back.
The basis of Integrity from a psychological standpoint is our inner voice and dialogue. Our inner self-talk, based on the multiple facets derived of our own individual upbringing, sets the groundwork of our personal integrity in our thoughts, feelings, and our actions. That is a high-level overview. It barely skims the surface honestly, but it gives enough framework for correlation to this article as it relates to the current state of society and my own personal dissonance requiring reconciliation. That is where we find personal growth. A crossroads where we find our own keys to open the doors of our truth.
What I wanted to talk about: A Revolution
When I think about Revolution, I think ‘change’. When I think about change, I cannot help but think about the catalysts for change. As far as I can remember, all change has a catalyst. Especially personal change. Major theories or practices, like Motivational Interviewing (MI), tend to draw out the catalysts for change. Some of the biggest catalysts for owning our own change is the dissonance that comes from what we believe to be true and right about ourselves and the things we do, think, or feel that are in direct opposition to what we believe. The only way to bring ourselves into alignment is change: Revolution of Integrity, of our inner dialogue, of our character, to create the space and balance to live in truth. Our truth.
A friend of mine posted this meme on character, and the word ‘Integrity’ immediately came to mind. Yes, our global society is having a crisis. Our leaders are being revealed in their truths, their character, their integrity and they are facing unimaginable scrutiny for their own dissonance. They say one thing but act differently. They are ‘out of character’. It is the catalyst for the change that is happening around us fueled by a pandemic that has revealed the truth to us. We are collectively learning about ourselves and about society, and what must change in order to bring everything into alignment. We are witnessing it. It is actively happening around us in the way we are rising to help each other in our communities, we are beginning to give without thinking “what do I have to gain from helping?”. We are shifting away from dependencies to autonomy, contemplating and thinking how we should act and if we are in alignment through our actions today. We are working through our own dissonance between beliefs and our truths. This is integrity. This is our Revolution, and through it ~ our Evolution. The crossroads and the key.
What does this have to do with witchery, exactly?
Witchery, like integrity, is personal. There is no one size fits all in witchery. I define it, I give power to it, and it becomes my truth in my practice. It is a reminder to stop doing things that are not in alignment with my personal integrity, truth, or power. How does it change during a crisis or conflict? Not unlike Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, I shift downward, to the basics, for reflection. The Nyssa, the beginning, the root of all, because sometimes I lose sight of what I’m doing and why! That’s where my truth starts: in the beginning, at the end of a way of being caused by internal conflict. The catalyst for growth, the revolution of a personal doctrine, the recognition of what truth I’m bringing to the surface of my own life that will define my own integrity. My way of being.
May you be ever growing and evolving on your journey!
A candle and a key (stop doing shit that makes you unhappy!),
Stormie
Thank you so much. I needed to see it to remind me that what I have experienced locally is not necessarily the standard. I sincerely had given up hope in recent years to find witches with this kind of self-awareness. It is a struggle here to maintain relationships when the common beliefs are that it is ok to deny rights to those we think are better or we may be jealous of by using magic. I am trying to figure out how best to keep my own ethics and integrity in the atmosphere in the location I live in. The volume is too high of people who seem to ignore all this. So I have left much community to avoid behaviors counter to what is in the article. I believe this myself.