A Day as a Temple Priestess
Jul. 29th, 2008 12:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosMy mind is not on my job today. I keep feeling a deep, aching desire to be living an entirely different life.....
Morning. . . . I wake before dawn, savoring the quiet and peace of my chamber. Before I get out of bed, I reach out to my spiritual anchors: my goddess, my otherworldly husband-priest-king, the sacred elements, the stars above, and the still center point within.
Aligned, anchored, I rise, refresh myself, and then perform my morning stretches which are drawn from both yoga and martial arts, waking my body and consciously circulating energy through my physical self.
I eat breakfast alone, wash, dress, and go to the sanctuary, where I perform the morning rites, offering praise to the deities I serve, preparing the public spaces for those who will come later to pray and worship, either alone or as part of a congregation.
The morning is spent in counseling, divination, and teaching, offering my skills and wisdom to members of the public and to the novice members of my order.
At the mid-day break I lead the prayer of thanks in the temple dining hall and join my brethren for a relaxed, social time.
After lunch I focus on the business aspects of my role, tending to the administrative details of the temple and to my own continuing education. I consult with the various officers of the temple and with any city officials who come about non-religious transactions. I make calls on the clergy of other temples or visit colleges to share knowledge.
In the early evening I lead the close-of-day services in the main sanctuary and oversee the closing of the gates.
Dinner is either taken in the dining hall with my brethren, in private with my close friends, visiting non-temple friends in their homes, or by myself.
After dinner I relax with light reading, craft work, or the enjoyment of the talents of others.
As night approaches, I descend to the second temple, the private one where I commune directly with Ereshkigal. Sometimes I am accompanied by novices who aspire to this priesthood. Sometimes I receive those who seek from me the blessing of an ordeal, harrowing, or initiation through the gates of pain and ecstasy.
When those duties are done, I return to my own chambers and do the physical and energetic purification that integrates the energy I wish to retain and washes away the unwanted residue of the day.
Finally I retire to my bed – sometimes alone, sometimes with a mortal lover, always with the embrace of my spirit husband. I offer a prayer of thanks for the gifts of the day and commend my soul to the gods before sleep takes me and I wander in the land of dreams.
Morning. . . . I wake before dawn, savoring the quiet and peace of my chamber. Before I get out of bed, I reach out to my spiritual anchors: my goddess, my otherworldly husband-priest-king, the sacred elements, the stars above, and the still center point within.
Aligned, anchored, I rise, refresh myself, and then perform my morning stretches which are drawn from both yoga and martial arts, waking my body and consciously circulating energy through my physical self.
I eat breakfast alone, wash, dress, and go to the sanctuary, where I perform the morning rites, offering praise to the deities I serve, preparing the public spaces for those who will come later to pray and worship, either alone or as part of a congregation.
The morning is spent in counseling, divination, and teaching, offering my skills and wisdom to members of the public and to the novice members of my order.
At the mid-day break I lead the prayer of thanks in the temple dining hall and join my brethren for a relaxed, social time.
After lunch I focus on the business aspects of my role, tending to the administrative details of the temple and to my own continuing education. I consult with the various officers of the temple and with any city officials who come about non-religious transactions. I make calls on the clergy of other temples or visit colleges to share knowledge.
In the early evening I lead the close-of-day services in the main sanctuary and oversee the closing of the gates.
Dinner is either taken in the dining hall with my brethren, in private with my close friends, visiting non-temple friends in their homes, or by myself.
After dinner I relax with light reading, craft work, or the enjoyment of the talents of others.
As night approaches, I descend to the second temple, the private one where I commune directly with Ereshkigal. Sometimes I am accompanied by novices who aspire to this priesthood. Sometimes I receive those who seek from me the blessing of an ordeal, harrowing, or initiation through the gates of pain and ecstasy.
When those duties are done, I return to my own chambers and do the physical and energetic purification that integrates the energy I wish to retain and washes away the unwanted residue of the day.
Finally I retire to my bed – sometimes alone, sometimes with a mortal lover, always with the embrace of my spirit husband. I offer a prayer of thanks for the gifts of the day and commend my soul to the gods before sleep takes me and I wander in the land of dreams.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-29 08:12 pm (UTC)Now, if only I could manifest it in real life...
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-29 08:23 pm (UTC)There's a lot of this I can make real right now, if I just make the effort.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-29 08:39 pm (UTC)That is very true. I used to stumble through my morning with gritted teeth, always thinking about my "to do" list on my desk at the office.
I finally had one of those forehead smacking moments where I realized I was letting the 40-50 hours a week of my job control my life. That's just not right.
My mornings and evenings are much more relaxed and pleasant now. Initially it took some real effort - I am very Type A. . .but I turned the work focus into the me focus, and it became much easier, day by day.
You can do it. And you will be blessed by making that effort.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-30 06:29 am (UTC)This was, of course, a fantasy, so I was focusing on the areas where I've been feeling the need to integrate my gifts and longings.
I spend every weekday going to a mundane job. I wasn't at all interested in focusing on the mundane details of temple administration.