Seeking a Teacher: The Divine in You

Seeking a teacher is a no easy job for a novice. But are you aware that the ultimate teacher has always been with us all? Join Catalyst’s quest for a guru and find out what she had discovered. By Catalyst Fox.

Oftentimes trusting yourself is the hardest thing to do when seeking your way along a new path. Being a novice in this world of spirituality, you feel that you have no knowledge or experience upon which to form your own foundation. You feel that you have to find someone who’s been doing this for a long time and who knows the ins and outs of the Craft. Because of this, the search for a teacher is born. Most of the time this wizened person is conceived as an old man or lady with wrinkles and long white hair, but such a person is often hard to find. After myself taking part in this search, I have learned that the best thing for a Witch and/or Wiccan to do in order to find his or her personal way to the Goddess is in fact, to listen to the inner self.

Ours is a secretive belief system, only now becoming available for public knowledge. I have long been in search of a teacher, only to become disappointed and frustrated. There are many people who preach a lot, pretending to know much more than they actually do. These are the people who study what they find to be new age or occult in order to gain the public’s attention. Remember, religion and spirituality are very personal beliefs, not a tool to be used to gain attention, to increase your visibility or for shock value.

There are many would-be teachers who are very willing to share their craft, but I have yet to find one whom I feel is indeed truly wise and deserving of respect. Again, we are of a young spirituality as far as open information is concerned. Many of us ground our beliefs and practices in the principles and rituals found in the same generalized sources that everyone else in our community learns from nowadays: books and the Internet.

The teacher I seek is one who is honest and true about his/her beliefs, and what’s more, can explain to me why she believes what she does. I search for someone true to herself and to the words of the Goddess as heard in her own life. A mentor may be young or old in physical age, for wisdom is not an aspect of the physical. It is her essence that is of importance, for she must be someone I can completely trust, respect and look up to. Without the availability of someone of this caliber, many of us are limited to the knowledge found in books.

I love books. One wall of my room is filled with them, but I also know the information they contain is limited. Aside from this, it is also generalized information that everyone knows. It lacks that personal touch that not only tells us about Wicca, but how to live every minute of every day as a Wiccan. I made it a point to keep in mind that mentor and student find each other when they are both ready for the experience and bond to begin. Until that time came, I would take what I could from my books.

I have now realized that although I learn something new from every person that I meet, the best teacher I can ultimately have is myself and my personal link to the Divine. This struck me when I once remembered that “What you cannot find within you, you will never find without.” As Wiccans, we are all directly linked to the Divine. We need only to be honest with and to trust ourselves, and the Goddess will show us the way. We know deep in our hearts the steps on the Path of the Wise.


About the Author: A psychology graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, CATALYST FOX works as a foundation trainer in the contact center industry. She has been a practicing Eclectic witch for years but is only a newly initiate of the Wiccan faith. She loves to talk and share her thoughts, as well as listening to and learning from the experiences of others.

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