Mysticism, as I understand it, has always eluded me.   Most mystics’ messages have always seemed rather inaccessible to me; every so often, I think I sort of “get” an idea that has been expressed by a mystic, but the feeling is rather fleeting, and I am quickly back in my quite ordinary realm of existence. Moreover, the great mystics I’ve studied (most of them ascetics) have always seemed so far away from where I often feel I am most in touch with the Divine–in the bounty of my garden, in my kitchen, or even at a table resplendent with lovingly prepared food and drink.   A significant amount of the reading and research I have been doing on Paganism explores or at least touches on experiences I interpret as being mystical, and with my basic approach to life being quite analytical, I sometimes wonder whether I am on the right path.

This tendency toward analysis is, I am sure, part of what makes teaching science so comfortable for me–  to ask a question, do an investigation or research, gather data, and analyze it to see if an answer can be found just feels right to me in so many aspects of life.  Mysticism and scientific inquiry seem so mutually exclusive to me.  And yet, when I am delving deep into an exploration of this or that natural phenomenon, I often sense an aspect that cannot be easily quantified or even described qualitatively.  Because I link mysticism, for better or worse, with asceticism, I don’t typically think of these moments as mystical. but on further reflection I think they are mystical in terms of transcending all the little categories and boxes we make to put things in and instead seeing the Oneness of creation.  This, to me, is mystery in the sense that mystery is that which draws us closer, wanting to know more. 

I must clarify that NOTHING I’ve written here should be interpreted as an argument for teaching creationism in science classrooms!  I am an ardent believer in teaching science as a discipline that depends on that which is observable and measurable.  But on a personal level I find that science and Paganism are complementary “languages” that enrich my understanding of the natural world.  

As a Catholic I often had trouble praying spontaneously, and since stepping onto the Pagan path, that has not changed much.  In addition, I generally feel I don’t have a poetic bone in my body.  But as I was writing this post I found a few thoughts begin to coalesce, and here’s what I ended up with:

Seeker Prayer

           I am a student–a seeker wanting to know more about so many things:

          the complexity of the Universe and Earth’s little place in it

          the complexity of the Earth and humanity’s little place on it

          the complexity of humankind and my little place in it.

          To see Divine Light and reflect it in my eyes,

          To be caught up in the ocean of Creation and swim in it,

          To breathe the music of Nature and add my own heart-voice to it,

This is what I seek.

Blessings!