Individuation, the Art of Being an Individual

Dion Fortune defined Magic as the art of changing consciousness at will. We agree with that definition and, to it, we add: the only consciousness that any of us can truly change is our own. What do we change from? What do we change into? We change from who we were told we were and who we were told we should be into the self we choose to be. The work that we offer at Diana’s Grove is based on our belief in the spiraling process of self-discovery and self-creation. That process can be called individuation.

Individuation, becoming an individual – there are natural steps in the process of becoming. There are natural steps that lead us into being more fully who we are. Self-awareness, self-honesty, clear communication, self-responsibility, realizing that we have an impact on each other and being willing to be aware of that impact, accepting the challenge to become who we choose to be: these are the aspects of personal growth that are essential to the magical work at Diana’s Grove.

As we become more fully who we are, we move beyond ourselves into a relationship with a greater whole. That whole might be a community. It might be a political movement. It might be an experience of transcendence, of opening to the mysteries of wonder. As each of us becomes more fully who we are, the world around us and within us is richer.

As we grow, we notice that we live in a world with others. We are interactive and interdependent. We learn and grow through exchange, through give and take, through speaking and listening. That's community – the recognition that relationships have value, that we are richer because of our relationships with each other. “I” joins with others and becomes “We”. “We” gives way to Thou. Thou means self in intimate relationship with life. When we become more fully ourselves, we are more fully free to enter an intimate relationship with life.

That is the work we do at Diana’s Grove. The philosophy is that, by becoming who we are, who we choose to be, we will change the world…one person at time.

For us, the personal is political.

Buckminster Fuller believed that many of the jobs that we do today were created just to manage other jobs that we have created. A spiral of jobs to handle the by-products of jobs. He believed that if we could stop that spiral, if 10,000 people could be "set free" to do what they want to do, the world would be greatly richer. Writers would have time to write. Artists would be free to do their art. Inventors would invent; dreamers would dream; thinkers would think. Out of 10,000, he thought that one would bring forth a discovery of such value that it would pay for the time of the other 9,999. Is it true? I don't know.

We, the staff of Diana’s Grove don't know whether our philosophy is true either, but we have decided to give our lives to it.

We believe that...

• if we are willing to learn about ourselves and devote ourselves to becoming more self-aware and more whole... to becoming healed, powerful and empowering;
• if we are willing to learn how to interact with each other in a way that is healthier, more compassionate and authentic;
• if we are willing to do the work to be more fully who we choose to be,

...we will create a healthier world.

If each of us can be more of who we want to be, some of us will be called into political activism. Those who are will be more effective at their calling. Some of us will be called into education. Those who are will be better educators. The healing arts, the creative arts, raising a family, responding to the world around you with uncompromising integrity…. As we become who we are, we will impact the world through our personal choices, our actions and our interactions.

For us, the personal is political. If each of us is willing to be more aware of the impact that we make, if we are willing to live more responsibly, we will live in a more conscious and responsible world.

How do we bring this philosophy to life? At Diana’s Grove, we come together as these individuating individuals in a periodic intentional community. Not a residential intentional community but a periodic one – community forms for a weekend or a week and then the individuals who formed it return to their lives…changed. They return as more of who they want to be.

Our work at Diana’s Grove is built on community through layers of intention. Each layer asks us to develop skills. Those layers, and the skills that they require, are supported by mystical practices.