Where the votary organizes rule-related thoughts for personal clarity.
(Image description: A photo of flat stepping stones going across a stream and leading to a couple of fallen logs laying on the bank.) Credit: Photo by Matt Walsh on Unsplash
Many monastic orders have a rule to live by; the Rule of St. Benedict is probably one of the more well-known ones. I’m a member of Clann Bhride, but there is currently no clergy or monastic order. I felt the need to do things on my own somewhat, but I don’t plan on creating a Rule out of thin air.
Spiritual Influences
There are a couple sources I’m using as inspiration for a spiritual rule. Clann Bhríde has the Touchstones, which are broad enough to have some leeway for personal interpretation. The other one is Oisín Doyle’s book A New Monastic Way: Polytheistic Celtic Monasticism. The author, whom I know from the Pagan and Polytheist Monastic community, adapted the Rule of St. Columba in a way that is suitable for Polytheists. I think both of them will be useful as I make my own Rule.
As a note, the Rule in the book has references to white martyrdom and blue/green martyrdom. The author contextualized them respectively as following a path the deities and/or spirits lead you on and choosing a path of monastic devotion. I would be more inclined to refer to them as white paths and blue-green paths, but that consideration is more of a shift in viewpoint rather than a disagreement.
Since the Touchstones and Doyle’s adapted Rule overlap in various ways, grouping them in categories will aid me in laying out parts of it. The Touchstones’ qualities can be used to classify the types of rules and, and each rule would connect to each ideal. Some rules may overlap in their ties to the qualities, the fact that they are linked to one another just shows how spiritually interdependent they are.
Thoughts on Spiritual Rules
I’m not aware of how different monastic orders view their Rules in regard to updating them as time passes and society (hopefully) progresses, but I feel that the Rule I develop should be a living document. It needs to evolve as I learn more about justice and equality, which is a never-ending process. A Rule encompasses my relationships with deities, spirits, and ancestors as much as it does with the treatment of others in a community, in whichever way the term can be understood as.
Once I finishing creating my Rule, I will keep it to myself. It will reflect the ideals that I feel are important to my path. This method for developing a Rule may not be for everyone, but it works for me. Whatever my Rule will look like, I imagine it would change based on reasons mentioned above. It’s a necessary and fulfilling stepping stone on my journey.
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