S t a r h a w k

Inner Compass
Course Outline & Syllabus

6 week course

Nov 12 - Dec 22, 2007

Dion Fortune called magic ‘the art of changing consciousness at will’.  For over thirty years, I’ve been developing and teaching tools that help us choose our state of awareness.  In this course, I bring together some older but valuable material on power, its different forms, and on the ways internalized systems of power-over limit our awareness and constrain our life paths.  Then we draw on the compiled collective teachings of our extended Reclaimng network of teachers and ritualmakers, to transform the stories.

Over the six weeks, we’ll go through a process that begins with reflection on our life’s journey, develops the tools and connects with our allies and true sources of guidance, then lets us face some of the inner blocks and old stories that keep us from fulfilling our purpose.  We’ll become a supportive, online community and develop sources of support in our daily lives.  By the end, we’ll be ready to take our vision out into the world.

This course is designed for people who aren’t sure what their next direction is, who are at a crossroads or about to change life paths.   But it is also designed for those who have a big vision, a life mission, a project, or a creative expression that they want to bring to birth. 

            Each week I will post an introduction to the week’s work, responses to reflections from the previous week, and discussion questions.  Throughout the course, I will suggest readings, meditations, exercises and writing.  You are free to do as much or as little as you want.  This is your course, and your journey.  You can send me your material—or keep it to yourself, whichever feels more comfortable. 

            By the end of the course, students will have explored a spectrum of daily spiritual practices and found at least one that is a good fit.  They will have learned to use tools for consciousness change, to discern true guidance from false, and have made connections with their spiritual allies and guides.  As well, they will have explored some of the inner forces that block us.  While transforming them can be a lifelong project, this course will provide a good beginning or next step in the work.  By the end, students should be ready to step onto a larger stage, and move forward with clarity toward their life goals.

Week One - Introduction and Reflection:

            This first week will introduce us to some of Starhawk’s core ideas about power, magic and purpose.  We will look back at our life journey so far. reflecting on the ways in which  different kinds of power have shaped us.  We’ll practice basic magical tools for grounding and cleansing.

Week Two - Tools of Discernment:

            This week students will develop and/or deepen a personal, spiritual practice, the ongoing, daily work that can build for each of us a solid base of clarity from which to make choices.  We’ll begin to develop an awareness of our own states of consciousness, and learn some of the tools that can help us navigate between them.

Week Three - Allies and Guidance:

            Allies and sources of support, both spiritual and practical, surround us, but to help us, they need to be asked.  Guidance is always available to us, but we need to know how to find it, and how to tell true guidance from self-delusion.  This week we work with a spectrum of sacred allies—ancestors, plants, Goddesses and Gods.  We’ll develop inner tools that can help us discern real guidance from wishful thinking.

Week Four - Courage and Heart:

            Following our true purpose is not always easy.  But often the worst enemies are the ones we carry within.  This week we explore the voices that stop us, the faces of the self-hater in its many aspects, and use our magical tools to transform its energies into creativity and strength.

Week Five - Transforming the Story

            Now we’re ready to look back at our life stories, examining the patterns that serve us and those that constrain us.  Are there ‘wicked vows’ that we have made that we need to break?  Our tools and allies help us rewrite the script.

Week Six- Voice and Vision:

            We’re ready to follow our inner compass, our true guidance, and step into our power.  This week we bring it all together, developing an ongoing personal practice, strong contacts with allies, and a new story that will let us carry our vision out into the world.

 

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