An excerpt from Chapter 4, "Spiritual Gardening Tools in the East and the West," of Judy Kennedy's book:

Reclaiming the Garden

Dr. Greer, Jelaila Starr, and many others feel the time for the priest and the rabbi and the mullah and the guru is over; that institutionalized religion is completely off the timeline.  We are at least one hundred years into the time where each individual should be their own priest, rabbi, mullah, guru or whatever.[i]  This is surely and ideally the goal.  Sadly, I don’t feel that everyone is there quite yet.  But each day someone picks up a book like this one they are getting closer and might be closer than they think.  In the meantime, present day guides and spiritual teachers can be just that – guides or counselors who advise and help us out along the way.  There’s always a place for that – no matter who you are or how far down the road you think you’ve come.  The problem comes about from elevating these teachers and preachers to God-like status or creating a personality cult around them.  The problem arises when they are set apart from us as somehow above, hopelessly beyond and better than us.  The problem comes from giving away our personal power to them -- sacrificing our autonomy, spiritual integrity and creative self-worth.  The problem comes from allowing them to make our decisions for us – telling us what to read, what to do, how to act, what to say, how to think, how to feel, how to live and how to be – without critically thinking about it first.  The problem arises when we allow them to grow their enormous centralized power structures that corrupt the true teachings of the spiritual masters.  The problem arises when religion takes precedence over spirituality, and when preserving the church, the sangha, the circle or the synagogue is more important than the sanctity of the individual. The problem comes when we accept their authority without question thinking they know what’s best for us and consider ourselves spiritually incompetent.  The problem arises when we believe the lie that the divine only speaks through certain prophets or emissaries separate from us.  Make no mistake – you are the Buddha.  You are Jesus.  You are the Goddess.  You are God.  You are all these things and everything deep down and more than you can possibly imagine at this time.  We only need awaken to it.  If others can help us wake up, that’s fine.  But the waking up is all your own.  No one can do it for you.

And that’s what occultism is all about.  That’s what the esoteric mystery traditions are trying to teach us – that we already have what we need to wake up.  We only have to recognize it and take advantage of the clues and the keys they’ve left behind.  This is the major reason why the conspiracy theorists try to lump all these occult “secret societies” together into one great big boogey man.  They know, on some level, that these teachings are self-empowering and lead to freedom.  And they don’t want that.  They want you to continue to believe in the lie, which is the real devil.  Well, as my B.O.T.A. mentors are fond of saying, “Laugh at the devil and he shall flee.”  For the devil is only the testing side to the light.  See through the darkness – see through the shadows – the light is still there.   It is yours to gather in Truth.

Dorothy ends her journey as empty-handed as she began it.  Toto is still with her though.  I like to think that Toto represents her intuition – the still small voice inside – the divinity within that’s sometimes difficult to recognize at first.  That’s the ultimate gardening tool really, if you think about it.  Dogs are the best diggers around.  And if you recall, the problem arose when Toto ran through Ms.Gulch’s garden to begin with.  Dorothy allowed that part of herself to run out of control and mess up other people’s gardens instead of being mindful and tending to her own.  As a result, Ms. Gulch comes to take Toto away.  Ms. Gulch, the Wicked Witch, is our shadow side – the internal psychic predator we always have to be watching out for.  It’s as if that unlikely ally is saying, if you don’t learn to value your gifts, they will be taken away until you learn not to take them for granted. 

Dorothy fully acknowledges her mistake and admits she let Toto run through the garden and that she should be punished instead.  But it’s too late.  A lesson must be learned.  The authorities – her inauthentic custodians – succumb to the predator and they take Toto away anyway, or try to.  But it can’t be done.  Intuition cannot be denied – it cannot be confined -- and always returns to us.  With this newfound value, we vow to never let go of it again.  But that is not enough.  We enter the hero’s journey where we find out who we really are and learn the real meaning and purpose behind our deepest loves and spiritual values. 

Perhaps if you take up some of the gardening tools mentioned in this chapter, you’ll never have to lose Toto and suffer to the extent that Dorothy did.  But if it’s too late -- if you’re already up in the cyclone or being carted away to the witch’s castle, congratulate yourself.  The ruby red slippers are already on your feet and you’re halfway home!

© Judy Kennedy