Dianne Sylvan's ears must be ringing because I've been singing her praise all around the blogosphere. After recently discovering Dianne's work - her books and her blog, Dancing Down The Moon - I feel like I've met a terrific new friend who turns out to be a long-lost spiritual sister. I hope she wouldn't mind that I've said that. Her writing is so resonant of her personality that it's easy to feel as if one knows her just from reading her work. As a writer, I'm in awe of someone who can evoke such a strong sense of voice. As a friend, I'd invite her out for libations and a chat if she lived anywhere near me (my door is always open, Dianne, if ever you find yourself in Boston!).

And as is generally the case when things find their way into my life, I discovered her book The Circle Within just when I needed it. She could have been writing about me when she said:

The problem is that you look in the mirror and you still don't remember who you are. Life feels heavy, and the rituals you attend have started to bore you. There is something fundamental that's missing from your religion, and you hate to admit it. After all, when you found Wicca, it felt so much like coming home. Does your dissatisfaction mean you're in the wrong house after all this time?

In making my way through her book, I'm finding Dianne's philosophy about "living" one's faith extremely appealing. I've spent a fair amount of time in formal training in the last couple of years but the thing that has eluded me is a meaningful daily spiritual practice. Dianne's book addresses how to do that in a simple yet deeply impactful way. As I did to Sojourner, who wrote of a similar personal challenge in her post Spiritual Time Out, I would highly recommend The Circle Within to anyone who is struggling with how to create a personal spiritual practice. While the book is most specifically focused on pursuing a Wiccan path, what Dianne writes is based in good common sense and there is much that would be of value regardless of your particular spiritual leanings.

Every once in a while we experience a work of art - be it a book, a painting, a piece of music - that has the power to affect us in some profound way, to change the way we see things, to transform us. The Circle Within has provided just such an experience for me. I'm finding it to be wonderfully inspiring as a guide to help me "live" my path as a witch.

Of course this is only one of the ways that I'm finding her book to be a source of inspiration. In her chapter Living The Path Dianne discusses what she considers to be Wiccan Graces: Love, Compassion, Forgiveness, Humor, Gratitude, Integrity, Wisdom, Joy and Growth. As I mull over what she has to say about each, I think I'd like to write a series of articles exploring these graces for myself.

To quote another book: "... the greatest of these is love." And this is what Dianne has to say about Love as a Wiccan Grace:

Love should be the cornerstone of any spiritual practice - indeed, it should be the cornerstone of everything. . . . When you learn to love with a whole heart, without question or limit, you will walk in the footsteps of Deity.

When we are learning to walk, we have people who hold our hands. When we are learning to walk in divine love, it's nice to have people who lend their support as well. Thanks, Dianne.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 6:04 PM