Emotions are strange; they can be so subtle or completely overwhelming… but one thing that holds true is that emotions are constantly changing – just like the weather. No two days are ever the same. So keeping a healthy distance from our emotions is an exercise in mindfulness and wisdom.

Emotions are in one way messages from our deepest soul and we do need to pay attention to them. But, then again, they are so changeable that we may indeed ask ourselves – is it wise to base decisions on emotion? Given that emotion is in the constant flux of change. There is some wisdom to be found in our emotions, but it is our Mind that leads the way. Our thoughts inspire emotion; but thoughts are constantly changing every moment too. There is a word in Pali, an old Buddhist language: ‘anicca’. It means impermanence. According to Buddhist philosophy all mental, emotional and physical phenomena are transitory – they arise and they fall, or dissolve. Witches use the energy that emotion raises in spell work to charge spells with power, to give them momentum which is then directed into the desired outcome of the spell. Ideally, “and it harm none”, but that is a discussion for another time.

Negative emotions are like dark clouds that temporarily obscure the light of the sun… they will disperse eventually, and the sun is still there! It may be obscured from view, or be on the other side of the planet during nighttime – but it is still there. There is always a dawn after the darkest night. Depression, our biggest mental health issue in the developed world, may be cause by over-identification with negative emotion. Depression may also been seen as a call from the deep soul’s realm to make some changes. You always have a choice. You can choose to make a change. The idea that you are somehow inert or ‘stuck’ is the biggest lie depression tells; it is the illusion indicated by the Devil card of the tarot, where the two chained figures are only in fact loosely chained and could easily lift off their shackles and walk away from what is enslaving them (through their attachment to whatever it may be). To say “I have no choice” is a lie, there is ALWAYS a choice. We are creatures of free Will and we can always choose to alter our circumstances. “Where there’s a Will, there’s a way”.

Think of anger, and how it can feel so overwhelming – yet, a few hours later, it has dissolved. We are calm again. So to act in anger is far from wise; walk away, and wait for your peace of mind to return before you make any decisions or act.

You are not your emotions. The more you identify with any one emotion, the more you will suffer. Suffering is caused by ‘grasping’ or being ‘attached’ to an emotion – joy passes, just as anger does. Thic Nhat Hanh states “It is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent, when they are not.” Our goal is to have equanimity; a calm and peaceful acceptance. Wikipedia states that “in Buddhism, equanimity… is one of the four sublime attitudes and is considered neither a thought nor an emotion, it is rather the steady conscious realisation of reality’s transience. It is the ground for wisdom and freedom and the protector of compassion and love”.

Wikipedia goes on to assert that equanimity is “… a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by experience of or exposure to emotions, pain or other phenomena that may cause others to lose the balance of their mind. The virtue and value of equanimity is extolled and advocated by a number of major religions and ancient philosophies”.

This is true power, and as Nietzsche states, it resides within oneself and not in the control of others. Weather is one thing; but equanimity is the calm and tranquility we aim for to allow the voice of our intuition to be heard. Intuition is more aligned with the four directions of a compass – a compass within. No matter if it’s sunny or rainy or snowing or a hurricane is blowing; North is North. In this way, intuition is a far more steady compass than the emotions will ever be. The voice of our intuition is like an inner compass and it is not the same as the knowings that emotions may bring. Intuition is the ‘small voice inside’ that we can always trust; it is a constant whereas emotions change like the weather. I am more Witch than Buddhist these days, but it could be said that our intuition is our Buddha nature within. Witches believe we have the gift of clairsentience, or ‘clear knowing’ where we know things intuitively with no logical or rational way of knowing them. This is very close to intuition.

You learn to trust yourself, once you learn to ‘get quiet’ (or to access equanimity) and listen to the voice of your own intuition. This again is where true power (personal empowerment) lies. The deep goal of all magic is to empower, to act in integrity with equanimity and to create a peaceful, happy life. Deepak Chopra states that spiritual attainment can be measured by the expansion of happiness. Our deepest selves, guided by intuition and made clear through equanimity, will lead us forward always. We need to create space for stillness in our hearts and minds, to allow the guidance of our intuition to come through. Intuition is a most reliable compass; you must learn to trust it and so to trust yourself.

Spend time in quiet contemplation every morning. Get up very early and sit quietly in meditation, journal, and pray gratitude. These are the paths to wisdom. Sit at 5am, and listen to the sounds of the dawn as the birds begin to sing – so happy to greet the new day. Cultivate equanimity.

Blessed Be.