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The Way of the Eight Winds is a spiritual path that recognizes and celebrates the plurality of the Cosmos and the creativity of Nature, of which we are part. The inner essence of all religions and spiritual ways is in the relationship of humans to the Cosmos. Usually, this takes the form of the adoration of some specific aspect of multivalent reality; this can be perceived in an infinite variety of different ways, described by different explanatory mythologies.
The Way of the Eight Winds recognizes the essentially false nature of all dogma and doctrine and the destructive results of literalism. The sad limits of fundamentalism¡ªthe insistence on there being one and only one way, a literal interpretation of some time-bound and culture-bound writing¡ªstand exposed when we contemplate the grand diversity and plurality of existence.
Nature, on both her physical and spiritual levels, is infinitely diverse, ever-changing, flowing, never fixed. There is not just one sort of bird, one size of fruit, one cloud-form, one color of sunset, one type of soil, one crystalline shape, one form of wave, one size of star or galaxy.
In the psychic realm of humanity, there is not just one language, one alphabet, one idea, one type of art, one form of music, one type of gameplay, one science, one spirituality. We live in a polytheistic, polyvalent, polycultural Cosmos, in eternal change and flow.
The Way of the Eight Winds brings a mindful approach to our environment, both seen and unseen. It practices the essence of the indigenous European spiritual philosophy in contemporary form, taking it beyond the borders and limitations of dogmatism. Although it is expressed in the terminology and style of traditional spirituality from a northern-hemisphere perspective, it also recognizes that these universal principles underlie comparable ancient practices from other lands and cultures, which are mentioned where applicable.
The essence of traditional ways, expressed mindfully in contemporary forms, brings wonderful possibilities of spectacle-free experience of human life.
Alternative Viewpoints
There are two fundamental philosophical viewpoints of human existence, contradictory to one another. The viewpoint with the greatest currency at present in developed countries is that human life is a finite phenomenon hemmed in by time, essentially random and meaningless.
As long ago as the seventeenth century, the English utilitarian philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588¨C1679) saw human society as potentially the war of all against all. In this viewpoint, human life is no more than a constant struggle, ¡°nasty, brutish, and short.¡±
Hobbes was writing at a time when traditional spirituality was questioned by the result of brutal, ruthless wars and new technical inventions, and the order of the world seemed to be disintegrating. It is clear that this grim and bleak view of existence underlies current materialist doctrines that promote the accumulation of power and wealth as the sole aim of human life. |
