Some of the most profound teachings and aspects of the Old Ways are the simplest. The modern occult world, so used to complexity in "ritual" and rigid forms of rote ceremony and worship, has colored modern forms of religious Paganism with a strange expectations. In much the same manner that people who come from "high" Christian backgrounds (like Catholicism) often cannot adjust to the more minimalist forms of prayer and worship common in low Protestant churches, modern Pagans seem to have a subconscious need for their theologies and rituals to have more structure than perhaps is necessary. The result of this is a feeling of dis-satisfaction with very simple rituals or devotions, and a suspicion of modern Pagan theologies and worldviews that are not "complex" enough. The influence of the old Hermetic and Cabalistic societies on modern mainstream Paganism is profound- the "LBRP" or the "Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram" and the "Opening by Watchtower" which was the cornerstone of nearly every ritual expression in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn has found it's way, heavily altered, into modern Wicca, and from Wicca to many strands of Paganism.
Today, your chances of finding a "Pagan" group that doesn't start its rites without praying or chanting or tracing odd symbols to the "four quarters" or the four directions, are not good. "Calling the Quarters" is almost cliche now, and practically omnipresent in modern Pagan liturgies. And it's always something that I found a difficulty with.
The founding mothers and fathers of the modern "reconstructionist" Celtic movements were some of the first people to dispense with the "quarter calling" logic of mainstream Paganism. Their reasons were good; they found much evidence to support a Triune system of seeing the "realms" of the world; as opposed to a "four element" system, visualized through a Greek-Hermetic lens, they looked to the traditional Celtic "Oath of the Elements" whereby men and women swore by the Sky, the Seas, and the Earth.
The "Three Realms" appear in other places as well- a trinity of realms: Land, Sea, and Sky. It not only captures the great "triskele" of Nature, but it aligns the thinking of people to the inexhaustible power of Three. Three is a most powerful number and spiritual concept; without Three, no manifestation is possible. Without at least three legs, no stool or table will stand; without at least three legs, no cauldron will stand; three are the child, mother, and father; and where Land, Sea, and Sky meet, there life is formed.
Look at the world to see this simple fact shown: The fertile Lands of Europe, green and forested, are perfect mixtures of the earth, the waters, and the sky above. Lands where one of the realms is lacking are barren- such as the scarcity of water in the desert. In deserts, where Land and Sky are dominant, and the watery realm, or the "Sea" realm is far weaker, life has a harder time, though it is not absent.
If you were to go above our atmosphere, where air is lacking, you may find watery and earthy materials floating in the void, but without the Sky, the life-giving airs, what shreds of life can survive out there?
The Three Realms idea is very organic and easy to align yourself to, wherever you go. As I said, some things that are most profound are also the most simple. A simple walk on the Green Land itself can re-invigorate a person, in a way that simple rest cannot. I feel it all the time, when I go for a walk in the forest, or when I get to gaze out over a green expanse of Land: there's a goodness in it, something regenerative about it.
And it never gets old. The visions that flash forth from all Three Realms, they never get old. You will, one day, become a little tired of even your favorite movie, if you watch it enough times. Even the most enjoyable books finally get put down for the final time, flashy clothes fade and get worn out. But when you stare at the sunrise or the sunset, or see a brilliant full moon in the sky, you might as well be seeing it for the first time. It is easy to stare at it, to get lost in it. The forest scenery is the same way; the deep green of the treeful canopy just draws your eyes away. And it never gets old.
Emerson was the first to point this out, and he gave a good reason for why you could watch the moonrise a million times and never get tired of it: because Nature was an expression of an Eternal Spirit, and it was timeless, ageless, forever old and forever new, simultaneously. The evidence for this is in the simple fact that you *never* get tired of gazing upon the manifestations of Nature's beauty.
Few teachings from the Old Ways could be more profound than that. The constant modern need for "evidence" for "God" or "Eternity" or "Spirit" is discovered in something as simple as taking a walk on the green and good Land, and just being unafraid to open oneself to the immensity and power of it all. The vital power of life in the Three Realms pulses and rushes forth like a waterfall. The only reason most people don't feel it is because they have gotten so used to feeling it, that they become numb to it. They categorize the constant feeling of life, within and without, as just the "mundane" or "normal" feelings of their day to day existence; many are surprised to "re-cognize" the fact that what they call "mundane feelings" are in fact subtle and mystical powers of life and regeneration forever presenting themselves to us.
Most people do things like take walks or go camping or spend time outdoors because, whether or not they realize it, they are gaining a form of physical, mental, and spiritual regeneration from these activities. It is a religious communion of a very ancient, primal, and simple kind. And it is no less profound for this.
Modern Pagan rituals need not stray from the simplicity of the direct experience of the flow of life around us, in the Land, and surrounded by the Sea, and under the Sky. And the constant invigoration we get on all levels from opening ourselves to those Three Realms must not be forgotten as one of the central "goals" of both ritual and our everyday lives.
