Pathworking 2: Words are Important

Words. A sorrow-filled heart can be uplifted by the single perfect word it needs to hear. At the same time, a single word can launch devastating wars. Words are undoubtedly important and need to be used with equal measures of purpose and caution.

Most people are going to use words based on what they think the meanings of them are. That doesn’t mean they are using the words correctly though. Precision in words is a dying art in today’s world of easily accessible audio and video platforms. That’s why I decided to write a blog rather than use YouTube, TikTok, or Podcasting. I know how I speak and can end up rambling and going on multiple tangents which would mean more editing and less enjoyment towards making this content. But I have often been told I have a rare gift as a Wordsmith. I can string together random vocabulary to create dynamic and compelling writing. 

As I began to write the blog I can admit my earlier posts may seem a bit more confined and overly worded because of nervousness. The more I write though the more I can feel that loosening up. I do not intend to edit the older posts because I like that people can see the progression as they read my body of work. 

Another realization I had was that because of the flood of video and audio platforms, people are not learning like they think they are. With reading you have to take the time to engage with the content and let your inner voice repeat the words in your mind. With audio and video, your attention becomes divided as you do other things with the video or audio running more in the background. You catch snippets from those platforms and think you learned something but in reality, you missed more than you learned. 

This led to the devolution of words. We throw similar meaning words in a blender and pull out the ones that make us appear “more intelligent” to our audiences. That works to a degree until you run across someone who utilizes the best word for a situation rather than just using the most pretentious-sounding word. Utilizing the best word for a situation is a skill learned from diving into the actual meanings AND origins of words. Words and language as a whole evolve year after year. But going back to the roots of words can help you to see the trajectory of its evolution. This is called Etymology.

Some like to argue that it's more pretentious to use words for their closer to original meanings than in the colloquial forms. In a way, I can agree with that logical reasoning. There is a time and place for both instances. If you are trying to make a point and sound reasoning, colloquial usage will not be the best option. That is when you end up sounding pompous and arrogant versus understanding the topic you are discussing.

I once debated with a coworker a few years ago about the importance of word differences. I doodle and am ok at drawing. My coworker commented on a doodle and said, “You are so talented.” I said, “Thanks, I practiced a lot and still do when I can to acquire that talent.” That confused him profusely. “What do you mean you practiced to acquire the talent? You can’t acquire talent. It’s something you are born with.”

This is a prime example of two people using precise words dissecting each other’s statements. What I said in the way of thanks was innocent AND precise. The coworker was also very careful with words and the precision of their use. What he did not know at that moment was the precision I associated with the word talent.

I explained that Talent is something you can gain from learning, working, and practicing. What he was referring to for natural-born ability was Genius. I expounded on this and said that someone who has a genius for a skill is born able to employ that skill without needing more practice or training. A person with talent could have been born with a measure of genius but having that genius wasn’t necessary. Anyone could acquire any talent they wanted if they put forth enough energy to acquire the talent. I gave him the example of Deaf people being musicians. 

He argued that genius was limited to intelligence. To which I laughed and walked away because we were still at work and I didn’t feel like dragging out the debate. I knew he worked in the back and had the time to look up supporting arguments for his side so I let him. The next he saw me that day he said he went into the etymology of the words Talent and Genius. He said he now understood what I had meant about the words and he relented to my argument. What did he find?

He found that genius has its roots in Latin and has dual meanings. The first meaning was a guardian deity or spirit watching over a person from birth and the second meaning was innate ability. Talent came from the Greek word Talanton and was adopted later in Latin as the word Talent. In both root meanings, it was a weight and sum of money.

Genius=something innate and from birth

Talent=a weight or sum of something that can be accumulated

Two very different words etymologically but colloquially their meanings have become extremely similar and now people think they have to be born with a talent to be talented. You don’t. You just need to work hard and do what it takes to accumulate the talents you want. But in light of that, colloquially, I would say that Talent is greater than Genius. It is amazing to find people with true innate genius of any skill. But, if a genius relies only on their genius then a person who has worked hard to develop a talent can easily surpass a genius. 

In the merging of the two, a genius who works hard to increase the talent of the skill is a person who goes on to change the field of that skill. Monet and Van Gogh are prime examples of geniuses who never gave up and continued to practice their particular skills in painting despite the authorities of their times ridiculing their works. Van Gogh died never knowing that he created some of the most famous works of art the world has ever seen. 

That is why Etymology is important in Pathworking. There are a lot of words that are thrown around without any real understanding being given to them. Etymology will come up a lot throughout this series which is why I felt the need to go over it from the very start. A recent example of a word being used colloquially in spirituality I have seen popping up lately is “Gnosis.” Specifically, people use the word gnosis with modifiers like Verifiable vs. Personal. This creates a dynamic of right and wrong or correct and incorrect. The word gnosis is Greek meaning knowledge or awareness. In Spirituality, let the record show, there is no such thing as verifiable gnosis. Everything in spirituality is based on personal gnosis. Including the ancient teachings of Buddha or the Dead Sea Scrolls etc. 

All of those were ideas or esoteric knowledge a singular person obtained and passed down orally or had scribed. And as the years have gone by translations, mistranslations, personal interpretations, and so many other changes have happened. Honestly, if the original people who first shared their knowledge were to step up and read the current versions of their gnosis they would not recognize the words. And that’s not just from language barriers. It is because we as humans have an insatiable need to be right rather than being connected. Authorities have changed doctrines and creeds so many times as a way of enforcing the illusion of control. We will talk a lot about this in the history portions. 

My pathworking series is specifically engineered to break those chains so you can go and form a personal gnosis. That is one of the greatest gifts to mankind. To take the wisdom of those who came before us, re-evaluate it, and re-tool it to work for our current iteration of time. As we do this we remove the strictures of what no longer works to make room for the new paradigms. 

A prime example of this happened to me after I found a mentor for my path. After many long years of personal practice, I was beginning to learn things to help others. But I had no basis at that time to apply these skills to others. I sought out a mentor who could help me fill that gap. I did my first training session and things began to progress again after hitting that plateau of, “Where do I go from here?” Not long after that session, I was getting ready to make a simple poultice for a friend in pain. I was shown for the plant medicine to have its best chance of working, I had to perform this other task first. I was given exact steps and ceremonial procedures for how to do this. I had no time to run this by my mentor first because the instructions were given the night before I was to meet with this friend and make the poultice for them.

I ended up being shown how to do an Extraction ceremony. To pull out stale or blocked energy from a person’s body or energy field. I was shown to transmute that energy into healing energy and place it back in the space that it had been pulled from. After doing this I reached out to my mentor and gave a full recap of everything that happened and what was shown in as much detail as I could. Her reply to it kind of cut me for a bit. She didn’t say not to do it again but cautioned against the method because it wasn’t the “traditional” way of doing this. Specifically the transmuting of the energy and putting it back as healed energy was singled out as kind of taboo and as though I should not do that part at all. I felt a little downtrodden about this because I felt I had done something wrong. 

Almost a year later, going through another series of training, our group was given a reading assignment of two books. As I read the second book I came to a part where the author stated they were trying to give stale energy to the Earth and the Earth said, “NO! I CAN'T KEEP TAKING THIS FROM YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE! LEARN TO CHANGE THE ENERGY YOURSELF INTO SOMETHING MORE USEFUL!” I was floored reading that because here I was being shown how to do EXACTLY that, my mentor saying not to do that, then my mentor assigning this book for me to read from another “expert” in the field which said to do exactly what I had done. Personal gnosis will ALWAYS be met with suspicion and derision before it is accepted. But if we just give in to what is “traditional” then we just keep walking in circles and never grow to be anything more. You have to find personal gnosis and stand by it despite what others say. Because I promise you, others are gaining the same knowledge and awareness you are. One of you has to be bold enough to step up and say it though or things will never be better than what we have now. 

Etymology helps with this because we can begin to see the way things are shifted and which of those shifts are meant to help us or further control us. Again, the right word at the right time is all it takes to evoke strong emotional responses. When you utilize etymology in your pathworking you become more aware of manipulative or damaging language. And remember, people using manipulative or damaging language aren’t always trying to do so intentionally. They just know how they do things or were taught to do things. Anything outside of their gnosis is foreign to them. Be patient and use your words wisely and intentionally to help them understand and not fear new information or techniques. 

Thank you for reading along as always. I am honestly so excited to finally be writing and sharing this Pathworking series. There is a lot I have to say, as you will see. You are amazing and you have tremendous power within waiting to be shared in the world. Don’t let the words of others make you feel less than or unworthy. Go forth and be mighty.