Devotion, the Spiritual Quest & John Moriarty

‘By integrating all that is within us we to come to terms with all that is around us.’

‘There is a miracling point. People who meditate and pray, come unexpectedly into it. In the end they live from it, and then they don’t even need to perform miracles, miracles simply happen in their presence.’

John Moriarty

When you pray and meditate there is a point where you no longer try to do things, they just happen. This is the miracling point that John Moriarty refers to in his works.

This point cannot be reached unless we unplug from a modern world and enter silence, solitude and stillness within. This is a wondrous thing as we no longer need to look for contentment in the outer world. This means we are more in harmony with nature as we no longer need to chase the feeling in doing and no longer need fight to remove that which we do not like.

This is the point where if action is needed we may take it as we are know longer are coming from fear or anger.

The late John Moriarty in the last few years has been a reliable guide for my work. He is extremely humble and yet the confidence of his believe in his work is undeniable.

I thoroughly recommend this film on him called dreamtime revisited, an absolute gem. I have read his books Nostus, Dreamtime and Invoking Ireland countless times, trying to take in and contemplate each passage. For me he is one of our rare Western Spiritual teachers who gives the experience of what his talking about through his talks and writings enabling the seeker to receive a state of meditation or grace from his works. I have been in floods of tears when listening to his CDs which both elucidate and give you the experience of his work, you can still purchase them here. To learn more about his work and listen to his talks visit the John Moriarty Institute for ecology and spirituality.- it will be a very good use of time.

You could do no better than to study his works over a lifetime and use his quotes as psalms, as conversations with your inner worlds. He is the only person for me who takes the bite out of Christianity and places it in context to a deep learning in harmony with all the other mythologies from around the world.

I have just turned fifty years old and have been gifted a statue of what I refer to as the ‘Great Mother’, to me she is Brighid or Mary and is black like the charcoal in the fire for she consumes all of life to be reborn again. It is in the womb, in the darkness where we all come from and all return.

She is a guardian of a sacred place and once positioned there remains, gifting protection and miracles to those in align with her. Everyday I pray and make offerings to her for she is the keeper of the hearth and guardian now of our home.

To inaugurate her I spent the day praying, meditating, washing and feeding her to recognise her as an outward form of the spirit of the Great Mother in my home.

Here is my poem to the Great Mother which I wrote in 2021 after reading Sophia, Goddess of Wisdom by Caitlín Matthews which I devoured several times as it plumbs the depths of the Goddess in such inspirational detail:

Great Mother,
Heart of the Forest, Queen of the soil.
Have I not been in your womb many times before, in the warm life-giving essence of the loamy earth?
Did you not initiate me and push me out and up into the blinding light of life?
But how I forget, how I cry out that I never do enough!
How is it that I have allowed the pulsing warmth of love in your muliebrous touch to deteriorate in torturous ways; unimaginable?
Am I as man allowed to taste your mysteries?
Am I as man who has abused every cell of your wise and wonderful form allowed to rest in you?
And yet the agony of searching in sorrow for that bed woven by the Ancient Mother feels too much to bear.
Your mocking, terrible form humiliates my male arrogance as I realise my sorrow is but dust compared to my neglect of you.
And yet when I enter your chamber, glimpse the untainted bliss of union, my whole being is on fire with a love that frees my soul.
I am pulled down into the black abyss to be remade.

Great Mother, Heart of the Forest, Queen of the Soil. Black, veiled, exiled, Great Mother, forgive me.

Ancient Mother Passion by J.Huet 2021

In the recording below I recite the passion and tell the story of the coming of Macha, if you enjoy it please check out my channel, like and subscribe.

Now that I am in my fifth decade I wish to honour the Forest stage of life, a time when my focus is not on the outer world of achievement but the inner life of acceptance, this is a very natural path for myself as I have always had an affinity with spirituality.

Today’s Western society does not always support this stage as it used to and often we are pushed into a whirlwind of trying to keep up with the latest technology and fads. As an older man it is important I step into being a role model and mentor for the younger person who needs to be shown boundaries, maturity and a different perspective from their peers.

When I was a teenager I suffered from acute anxiety and my focus especially between the ages of fourteen to sixteen was simply getting through each day. Now I look back I can see my past traumas and the realisation of being gay overwhelmed my psyche and due to living in a time when people where less aware of such things I was confused and hid my trauma.

This is why we need good strong mental health support in our society where people are safe to express their concerns in a neutral space.

This applies to all young people regardless of culture, creed, race and sexuality. Anyone from any background can be pushed to their limits as the things that hold them seem to fall away which is why the label ‘privileged’ has no place when approaching mental health issues.

My own anxiety pushed me to explore a spiritual quest which led to the desire in me to enter a tradition, if I had been fully aware of monastic life as a young man I most certainly would have been tempted by it, though my first love and engagement with the world has always been with nature. In my twenties I did live in an ashram for six months and performed devotional worship which I continued for many years after I left. A morning ritual of prayer and chant has remained with me ever since.

My morning practice is more precious to me than anything else in my life as my nerves system calms and I connect to a state beyond my human suffering. I often choose to do a similar practice in the evenings especially if I am home alone.

To learn and experience meditation you may wish to join me for Nature-Led meditations and my day retreat Unwind in the Woods.

My practice is an ever-changing evolving process that allows a freedom of questing and questioning such as what is encouraged in the traditions of a spiritual pilgrim.

My daily practice I have shared in previous articles, please click here to view the daily ritual. You are welcome to follow a similar practice and/or to adapt it as it is important that the practice is personal to you.

May you experience the deep peace within you.

For an in-depth sequential study and practice of a spirituality based on connecting to the natural world you may wish to join the Woodland Bard below: