I don’t know how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. And honestly, I don’t care.  (I have a strong  suspicion that the answer is all, none, and every possible option in between). And yet, there are theologian’s in every religion who are happy to endlessly debate things that do not impact us. This is not confined to Abrahamic religions. Pagans do it, too. I want, a lot of the time to say that I don’t understand why people waste their time in such empty pursuits, but the thing is, I do understand. Part of human nature is that we want answers – concrete, irrefutable, RIGHT answers. Just as a thirst for knowledge (and on better days, wisdom and understanding) is part of human nature, it is the nature of the Mysteries to be not concrete, illusive, hard to hold onto. And so we argue about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, because damn it, I saw 100 and I have to be right!

The thing is, we Pagans have chosen a path where, yes, irrefutable truth exists, but she wears many faces to help us. So the way in which I see truth, my experience of it, won’t always match yours. I had a conversation once with someone who said “Why 3 worlds? In other systems there are 9. How did you know 3 was the right number?”  The answer is easy. I saw 3. And also, there may be 9. And it is ok that both are true. Both are in fact descriptions of truth. The expression of the Stellar realms, Surface world, and Underworld (which of course can be split into many realms) works. It doesn’t need to be the only description that works. It need only provide us with an entrance into the Mysteries of all 3 worlds – and much more importantly, into their relationship with one another. Exclusivity is, in no way, required. In fact, it buys us nothing.  To that end, I insist that my students read and study beyond the work we do together, it provides context for our work and disallows the notion of exclusive ownership on truth, divinity, or mystery.

In the end, each person who seeks an entrance into the mysteries will find it. If we are looking, we will find many entrances over our lifetimes – at different times, different paths to mystery will speak to us.  When we get good at it, we see that the Mystery, and Divinity are in everything. Our bodies, our food, our surroundings, our dreams and insights, our visions, and even our daily tasks become our teachers.  And most of all our lives in relationship to the universe around  us, to the beings seen and unseen, to our place in the ecosystem that is all creation. Until then, we need doorways and signposts to help us clear our vision.