When New Age Spirituality Isn't Enough

Spirituality and spiritual practice really should improve the quality of your life. If you feel it isn’t then you may have to reevaluate your practice. Everything I’ve read and seen about “shamanism” (that word is problematic and I don’t like using it, but in context it is used often in academia) it always leads to better health mentally, emotionally, spiritually and sometimes physically.

New Age spirituality is growing. It is even big business, especially on the west coast of the US. It can be very helpful for many people, but sometimes it just isn't enough. If you consider yourself New Age, or an Eclectic practitioner, or Pagan, what have you, and your life is not improving in general, you may need something else or something more.

For me, I feel I needed a more authentic connection to spiritual traditions from my ancestral lands. At least on one side of my family I know I am descended from the Cymry (Welsh) and one of my ancestors was a Welsh king. I also have some Scottish, British, and a little Irish. I researched for years and decided to practice from an Irish approach for a variety of reasons I may leave for another time. So I sought out an authentic connection to Irish lore, Irish culture both past and present, Irish pagans that are practicing currently, and especially Irish Indigenous practitioners (i.e. pagans that are born and raised in Ireland).

This has and is really working for me! My life has improved in so many many ways. Some of it, I am sure, is because of my daily devotional practice and I’ll be honest, my obsession with spirituality. I spend a lot of time in spiritual practice whether it be devotional, or working with the Ogham, reading, writing poetry and these blogs, and especially mindfulness and meditation through Irish Otherworld Journey work and more.

I feel the benefits spiritually especially as I enter into relationships with deities, and other spirit allies. I personally focus on plant and tree spirits along with my primary deities from the Irish pantheon. I seek to be in a sacred reciprocal relationship and to be in “Right Relationship” with all spirits. To me that means listening to Native Irish or indigenous practitioners, respecting their culture, appreciating their culture, not appropriating it. I feel to be in right relationship with Irish deities also means being in right relationship with the land of Ireland (if possible), the people of Ireland, and the culture of Ireland. The “Spirit” or essence of Ireland and Irish Culture.

This can have nothing to do with your genetics. If you feel a pull towards a culture that is not yours, you can appreciate it and practice the traditions if it is open to you, but I urge you to listen to native and indigenous voices. This is not meant to be a political or “woke” thing necessarily, but a thing of Authentic Connection and respect. I truly believe that Authentic Connection to the spirit or essence of a culture and it’s traditions (even if those are newer traditions, such as the neo-pagan movement) can be truly transformative. I have experienced it, I know this to be true. Whether you feel pulled to European traditions, Native American, Asian, African, you name it, Authentic Connection and Sacred Reciprocity can and will change and improve your life in a multitude of ways.

This is why I play Irish Hurling and coach children in Gaelic sports. This is why I practice Bataireacht, the ancient form of Irish stick or shillelagh fighting as a martial art. This is why I practice the ancient Irish form of poetry called Rosc. This is why I practice Irish Otherworld Journey work. This is why I give 10% of my income from reading the Ogham to re-forest Ireland. This is why I listen to Native Irish voices like the folks at the Irish Pagan School, Geraldine Moorkins Byrne an Irish Poet, Tara Tine writer and teacher of all things Irish pagan, Amy O'Riordan YouTuber, writer and teacher, and many more. (If you have interest in the Cymry (Welsh) tradition some great native sources are out there, such as Mhara Starling YouTuber, author, native Welsh practitioner, and Kristoffer Hughs of the Anglesey druid order to name just a few).

I have found that listening to and learning from those Native Irish practitioners as well as putting into practice what I have learned has improved my spiritual life, my mental state and even my mundane life and career in so many many ways.

If you feel your spirituality just isn’t cutting it, I urge you to find Authentic Connection and enter into Sacred Reciprocity with the deities and culture of your choice. Give back, listen, learn, and practice. Connect with the spirit of the land and the people. Find your tribe. Enter into Right Relationship with all. If you do you may just find your life improves exponentially as mine has.