To Know
To Dare
To Will
As always, we'll start by looking at the etymology and definition of this word:
silent (adj.)
c.1500, "without speech, silent, not speaking," from Latin silentem (nominative silens) "still, calm, quiet," present participle of silere "be quiet or still" (see silence (n.)). Meaning "free from noise or sound" is from 1580s. ~Etymology Online
In my opinion, this is the most difficult instruction to master, mostly because there are so many facets to "keeping silent" and also, because our society is quite verbal- particularly with the advent of the internet, blogging, social media, et al. We're taught to 'share all' and it fosters a sense of "my voice is important".. that in itself can be a two-edged sword, bringing both empowerment and entitlement. The former we want, the latter? not so much.
Another facet of keeping silent is the concept of power-containment. As Ly De Angeles says in her book, Witchcraft: Theory and Practice,"Experience has taught that unless your cup is full and overflowing, you will deplete what you want to store by tossing it around (and, after all, what is your motive?)"
What works for you in spell-crafting might not work for me. There is no reason for you to share your working unless someone else is helping you with it. Your Book of Shadows or Personal Grimoire is the place for writing down your successes.
A witch should never boast nor threaten.
Still a third aspect of this instruction is found in its etymology. Being still. In order for you to listen, you cannot be speaking at the same time. Too many of us have immersed ourselves in Logos, or the word. As a writer and lover of words, I am often guilty of this myself. We tend to speak much more than we listen. In the "still, calm, quiet", we find answers. We ground ourselves and remember who we are... our purpose and our focus. Wisdom is attained here. It is the element of earth. Our ancestors, the spirits of the earth, and our own innate sagacity can speak to us from this place of stillness. It is a critical component in our spiritual growth, and one that many of us do not want to acknowledge because it requires so much more work to silence ourselves than it does to take action and speak.
A biblical proverb says, "A fool utters all his mind, but the wise man keeps it in until afterward." (Proverbs 29:11).
This is interesting, because in Hebrew, the word for mind also can mean wrath, and the word for "keeps it in" also means "to be still".
Eckard Tolle says, "To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment."
Exercise:
The most obvious way we can achieve this is through meditation.. Meditation is difficult for many of us who can't seem to turn off our thoughts. We tend to try it out and when we're not immediately successful, we drop it and just say, "Eh, that's not my thing." I get it, believe me. I know you've heard the adage that anything worth doing is going to be difficult. It takes practice. I'm not going to tell you that you have to master meditation. I'm going to just ask you to try "quiet time" instead.
Quiet time is simply some "me time" alone, preferably with your bare feet touching the earth. I don't even mind if you want to bring some soothing music on your mp3 player (if you use your cell for music, put it into airplane mode to ensure that texts and phone calls can't come through). But, try to go for music with no words. The point is to get AWAY from the word. And, fellow avid readers, this means no books during quiet time, either. If you can get away with no music and simply listen to the music of the birds, the crickets, the frogs, etc... all the better. It's listening time, and practicing being still. That's your only task- listen and be still. Do this every day for 30 minutes. In 3 weeks' time, you'll see a huge difference in so many aspects of your life.
In spellwork, you'll find how much more powerful your spells are when you keep their workings to yourself. Bragging is not a part of the Craft... no one needs to know your capabilities.. you are the only person you need to impress... and you'll definitely impress yourself when you see how well that "keeping silent" thing works for you. Try it out... do one spell in which you tell no one anything you are doing. Do one in which you tell others what you're doing.. see which one works better for you. Record your results in your BoS or Grimoire.
I hope you've enjoyed this series in The Spiritual Warrior's Guide. I'm working on a book and corresponding classes like this for the future- feedback encouraged and welcome!
Sláinte,
Kallan