Reading for Witcans

Here, in the spirit of master Plato’s metaphoric dungeon in Allegory of the Cave, which all Seekers should take the time to read, I offer an alternative allegory to help describe the many paths to Enlightenment and reunion with Divinity.

One can imagine the spiritual Realms -- that is, the un-place all men inhabit outside of this material plane -- as a pitch dark labyrinth where eyes are of no use.  Navigating this world is accomplished by touch, by feel alone and there are walls, cliffs, doorways, stairs leading up and down, throughout. Every sentient being is somewhere in the darkness, some living, others immaterial. Anyone and anything with the capacity to sense its own existence is there.

The labyrinth is huge, reaching beyond your knowable universe to touch the face of Infinity, and all beings within its vastness seek meaning and purpose, guided by their individual spirits and freedoms. Among the uncountable souls, imagine that every living adult human on earth is present, somewhere in the labyrinth, each on his or her own private journey. But remember: To find one’s way, each must grope in the darkness. It is a fearful place, as you can well envision, with very little certainty and potential danger looming all around.

There are monsters afoot, some of them human, that lash out in fear if you happen upon them, and there are places where the floor can suddenly give way beneath your feet. Thus, many of you choose to sit down and shut down, exactly where you find yourselves, soon after the need to find meaning and purpose overtakes you in early adulthood. Refusing to grow spiritually, spending all energy and time on the lighted world of mundane pursuits in “reality", these shallow men live as animated clay.

Still others of you make a rudimentary attempt, and travel carefully for a time until fear overtakes you. Then reaching a certain point, and upon locating some safe enough distraction from searching further -- as one finds in the pursuit of religion or pure science to explain the 'why?' of it all -- feel reasonably excused from groping in the darkness any further. And, on discovering such limits as religion and science provide, the comforting corner of two walls that leads nowhere, they walk endlessly in one spot, colliding into their staked-out claims of superstitious certainty within the confusing, darkened maze they have grown to despise. They can be found there, without cessation, banging their heads over and over against the corner’s unyielding, reassuring surfaces for the remainder of their days, never progressing, and putting out of their minds ALL that they have turned their backs to in the endless, rich, velvety darkness that stretches out behind them.

And still there are others, a small band of Seekers who make the difficult and heroic choice to stumble blindly, touching every surface with seeking, trembling hands. But these are the ones who will find the personal answers all men seek, who will crawl to the edges of sheer precipices, run with gleeful abandon when the way is unblocked, battle monsters and meet angels. These, too, are the ones whose hands will close on other, less self-assured hands in the darkness -- the hands of lost strangers will these intrepid travelers take firmly into their own. And the fearful will hear heroes whispering into their souls, “Come with me. I know a way out.”

It is wise to follow where brave men lead you, and in your turn, become guides of the lost souls you will surely come across in your own successful blind search, as you learn your way through the dark labyrinth that leads to GOD.

-- Ly. Leananshae