Balancing Acts

[wolf560]

Hello All,

Another question of everyone, a little less controversial hopefully....

What do you call "the Balance"?
How much of a connection do you strive for and how long do you try to maintain it?

I attempt to establish and maintain a Balance with everything around me and keep it going permanently. I do this through the use of permanently established sites that I maintain a symbiotic connection in addition to what is immediately around me.

Does anyone else attempt to do this?

[FoxPhantom]

Hello All,

Another question of everyone, a little less controversial hopefully....

What do you call "the Balance"?
How much of a connection do you strive for and how long do you try to maintain it?

I attempt to establish and maintain a Balance with everything around me and keep it going permanently. I do this through the use of permanently established sites that I maintain a symbiotic connection in addition to what is immediately around me.

Does anyone else attempt to do this?

Trying to keep a balance, Yes I have been trying to maintain it, but I try not to think about the balance of what I am doing, that I am keeping my eyes on what I am holding.

[treegod]

I think more about being centred than balanced. Something within me that is the source of my balance in a world that looks like it's upside-down and "unbalanced".

I have an inner "North Star" that gives me orientation in a disorientated world.

[Frog]

Balance is an interesting word with both positive and negative connotations here. As an example - if you were to help someone, would you then (to keep the balance) then do something equally nasty to someone else?

I'm not sure that balance is the right word; I think I prefer "Perspective".

Blessings
Frog

[wolf560]

Balance is an interesting word with both positive and negative connotations here. As an example - if you were to help someone, would you then (to keep the balance) then do something equally nasty to someone else?

Great point..!!

I do believe in "The Balance" and it's positive and negative aspects in just about everything I do. I probably would not help someone if I knew that there would be a negative aspect looming.

I'll even risk an example in meta-physical terms and in the physical as well.

Situation: an unrelated person who is known to but not part of my Pagan group. This person has a physical ailment that some believe was metaphysically induced (insert your beliefs here). The group is discussing assisting and has asked me for my opinion. I know the person has been attempting to cause something negative to another unrelated person because I have caught them in the act on the outside of one of our circles previously and asked them to stop.

I would tell the group that I could not be a participant in nor lend my support to anything with respect to this individual. I would explain to those who did not know me, that this ailment was Natures way of "Balancing things out". I would add that I did not want to step in the way of the "Natural backlash" that I believe is already going on with this person. I would tell everyone that I would reconsider if someone knew more, but that for now to please count me out. I believe that "Nature will Balance things out over time" and that people should handle their own things. I do not typically "lend my energies" unless I am fairly sure it is almost expected of me by "Nature" and/or the "Balance". I do participate in and have written my own rituals over the years, but they are not a commonplace thing. Each one was very heavily considered for both their need to be done and possible impact/ backlash afterwards.

Long story short; I have "lent or sent energies" only rarely in the past 15 years.

Let us put this into a different perspective where I have decided to help someone. If it is the lending of money, then the negative aspect is somewhat already considered. They have gained and I have lost. But let's tear into this a bit.... I have lent others a great deal of money in the past decade or so and always with the aspect that they would pay me back what was lent and no more. They have all paid me back thus restoring the balance between us physically and emotionally as well. I have also "lent energies" in this way (e.g. helping change a tire in the rain, joining in a ritual sending, or just lighting a candle) in support at times. Each of the above examples carry with it an act of "Balance" as well in my mind.

The changing of the tires carries with it the fact that others have helped me in the past and I wish to "pay it forward" if nothing else. The joining in ritual sending carries with it the fact that I have consciously decided that the intended result of this ritual will "restore an existing situation back into Balance". The lighting of the candle for me is a show of support and I do not actually send anything.... they see my candle and know that I am thinking of them and am concerned for them, but know that I send no energy.

I hope this explains a bit of my thought process.....

I am uncomfortable with the notion that someone can "throw magic" without considering the ramifications. I am especially uncomfortable with the notion that a Deity can be called down upon another without that persons consent or knowledge. I believe that everyone's Deity is equally powerful, none more than any other, and that "calling down a Deity" upon another is merely asking one Deity to affect another Deities follower.

In simpler words, it is like asking Thor to cause harm to a follower of Athena... neither Deity is likely to get into a fight just because one mere mortal asked for it to happen in a ritual...

[DJ Droood]

I could see "seeking balance" as an excuse for inaction..taking the easy way out and doing nothing instead of trying to influence a situation one way or another. I suppose inaction could be the correct course in some cases, but I don't think I could do the karmic arithmetic to ensure everything was always kept in some sort of "balance", especially when I am unsure of what the scale is or what is being measured....I think simply "doing the right tihing" usually works out for the better. (is there an Occam's Razor for ethical/moral issues? Maybe "the least you can do to cause the most good" or something?)

I like druidry because I can look to nature and know definite balance and imbalance through the equinioxes and solstices.

[Merlyn]

Balance...
It is what we do, not a thing.
So... best I can suggest is doing so is life.

And life is of course what you make it. If the balance is good, beneficial, then rock on.

It is important to consider the price for what we ask, so balance should be 'bringing things to a positive point of balance' for all involved.
And as I see it this is the most powerful magic. Any other use or casting of balance in a sense causes imbalance or 'the price to pay" so to speak.

[wolf560]

I could see "seeking balance" as an excuse for inaction..taking the easy way out and doing nothing instead of trying to influence a situation ...

Yes, it is a fine line..... there is another thing that has to be considered...
...sometimes taking 'no action' is an action in and of itself...

For me, the trick is trying to see the "whole thing" and see how things are already going.
I try to examine what is being asked of me and what the intended person needs and or desires. If the intent is to "help Nature" by say clearing a creek bank or repairing fences around a stretch of woods then I am usually "in" right from the start. I do believe there are things that have to be done (an ethical "Right") and have strongly advised people to take action in the past because of it.

[wolf560]

Balance...
It is what we do, not a thing.

I both agree and disagree
What I call "The Balance" some might call "The Balance of Nature". Since I feel it is more than just "Nature" but rather everything I do (or don't do), I refer to it as "The Balance".

It is so much more than simply what I do.... and it is not merely a "thing".

It is "Life, the Universe, and Everything".... the sum total of all that I have done (or not done) and all that surrounds me. It is my connection with and obligation to that which is around me. The Balance to me is where and how I fit in with the Three Realms, with the Three Kindreds, and with people and places around me.