Hello beautiful humans!
Excited to be back here so quickly, with another essay I just turned in, as part of my #WizardSchoolWork! The essay I did the other day on the 3 Rules of Wizardry actually got 100%!
Feels great to have words flowing out onto paper! Writing is such a wonderful way to utilize the brain, and I'm so grateful for opportunities like HIVE & The Grey School, to flex my grey matter!.
The 3 Stages of the Wizard's Journey
Wizardry 100: Becoming an Apprentice
Assignment #3: The Path Ahead
The three stages of a Wizard’s Journey. Interesting to be writing this paper, as Apprentice Kenny Palurintano. Apprentice is not a word I would have used for myself, until recently I guess, when I literally signed up for an apprenticeship program, as an Apprentice Wizard. To most who know me, the apprenticeship part is probably more surprising than the Wizard part of that title.
I spent many weeks away from the GSW website, and my school work, though I was carrying the Grimoire & Companion both in my day pack during those weeks of journeying across Mexico. It would be nice to be able to say that I only stayed away from my GSW work because of the flow of everything around me… but in truth, it took me some time to come around to the first manifestations of being an apprentice, a student.
I am, of course, currently enrolled in the first 5 pre-requisite classes for GSW, all of which are intentionally quite introductory level classes. The first two classes I was able to quickly & easily test out of... but then I got this class and Core Energy Practices 101. With the first couple of assignments I faced being rather "basic" concepts (synchronicity & centering), and both including days of journaling and doing some practice... I sort of hit a wall. I pushed myself to get both of those first assignments done, and then got turned off to my school work for some time.
The thoughts coming up were something like:
I'm not a 100 level wizard! I already know multiple methods for centering and grounding, I teach workshops on this stuff! I just want to get to the classes I get to pick! How do I skip the tutorial?
And on, and on.
As I sat with this experience, and explored the desires, beliefs, and expectations in myself that were leading to this Student’s Block.
The reason I signed up for this school, knowing that I have the texts, videos, and gatherings at my fingertips to find all of this information in various different ways, is because I wanted the structure, guidance, and reflection that comes along with the Apprentice role. Having those around you who are masters in their fields, and have created a curriculum to help others learn it, and are there to give guidance & reflection while one is working through that curriculum. This is something that autodidactic methods, as I’ve spent most of my life, are sorely lacking.
Of course there’s going to be a lot of re-visiting topics I’ve already explored; the professors each have to make sure that we are all on the same page, that we have the same foundations to build on together. And, I signed up to become a level 1 on a 7 level path, so I should have known there would be some “basics” coming my way.
The more I sat with this experience, and asked myself questions, the more the story changed:
Come on, Kenny! School work was never hard, and what are these assignments besides practices in sovereign living. Literal mindfulness practices. The exact kind of things you travel around the world to learn & practice. Stop worrying about if the concepts sound "basic" and just do the practices. Remember that you don't know, and the only way to receive downloads is to be open!
I’m bringing my own story back around to a new starting point. A new adventure of curiosity & exploration, a new re-defining & clarifying of intentions, of Magick & Synchronicity. To come back to a version of myself who is less rigid, defined, “sure” of what my path is, and thus more clearly seeing the reality in front of me. I’m most looking forward to diving into all 16 departments that the GSW offers, as I’ve sort of just fallen into the realms of energy healing, plant medicine (food & herbs), and generally bridge building, community supporting, and helping bring the light of sovereignty to those I meet. Helping them remember and step into their roles as Heroes on a Hero’s Journey.
While these realms of magick that I have explored & worked with have been quite rewarding & joyous, I’ve always had a huge curiosity, a drive for knowledge, to Grok more. To come back, with an apprentice’s eyes, and explore the basics of all 16 departments, to play with new ways of framing reality, this is an exciting prospect to me!
To be clear, I started this journey with the intention of receiving my certificate as a Wizard of the Greater Rainbow, regardless of what Major I decide on. If there’s anything that I’ve learned from the years of adventure under my belt so far, it’s that a big part of what makes a Wizard so useful & powerful is their understanding of so very many topics. Wizards have a broad, deep pool of knowledge from which to glean guidance & inspiration. I feel like the Grey School is the perfect place for me to effectively & wholistically get a more well-rounded innerstanding of the various types of magick.
Before my time at GSW I was something akin to a hedge witch, a wild sorcerer, one who only ever learned through trial and error. I’ve found many along my path, offering to “teach” or trade one piece of magick or another, but this piecemeal education has never felt very… neatly stacked, would probably be the best fit for what I’m visualizing.
Coming out of this program, I will be a Journeyman Wizard, and I imagine the next stage of my journey will look similar in many ways to the last few years: offering wisdom, holding space for conflict, loss, and confusion, healing with herbs & food, helping shape a new vision of life on Earth. One of the biggest differences that I’ve seen coming, and which this shift into Wizard-hood perfectly aligns, is the shift from my being a wandering nomad. For almost 6 years, I’ve been riding the waves of synchronicity, from place to place, building a loose, lightly bound web of community. Now, I feel the shift towards a more rooted life, surrounding myself with a much closer community, collectively investing our energy, our time, and our imaginations into something solid, something new pocket of a slightly different reality. I feel that this new re-envisioned and initiated version of myself will be perfectly situated to hold that place of counsel, support, and protection for our budding village.
Mastery is a state that I feel we all achieve, in one realm or another. Perhaps in quite a few. The “greats” are usually a mix of those who have achieved mastery in many realms, or an outrageous level of mastery in one particular realm.
The place where I have achieved mastery; in large part due to some inherent gifts, as well as an early start, is in cooking. I dance through the kitchen, with ingredients calling to me from their shelves & cupboards. I never taste the food until it’s done, I don’t take measurements, and I have an uncanny ability to match flavors, textures, and experiences from people’s early lives - with completely different ingredients. The mastery of vegan food, combined with gluten free, soy free, and free of most all “heavily processed” foods, across dozens of styles of food. The thousands of hours cooking over a mudbrick stove, with a fire stoked by a friendly Fire Troll (of course carrying their handy troll-pole), and the thousands of hours in kitchens of every shape and size.
Even in this realm of mastery, there are ever opportunities to see through the eyes of the Apprentice, to attempt a new realm of mastery - maybe it’s time to cook oil-free for a week long retreat, or maybe this weekend’s folks include nut allergies, legume allergies, and someone who can’t eat any raw root vegetables? As I seek mastery in the various realms of magick, of life, I know I will always face new challenges, new opportunities, new inspiration and beauty, and my ability to fully innerstand what is happening around me.
To me, the moment I’ll know myself a Master Wizard is when I’m sitting around a campfire, in a ring filled with people spanning at least 2 generations from the same families, who I’ve helped guide & support, along their journeys.
Works Cited:
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Pantheon, 1949.
Grossman, Lev. The Magicians. Viking Press, 2009.
Kingsley, Nicholas. "Wizardry 100: Becoming an Apprentice."
Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon. Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard. New Page Books, 2009.
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