I was reading the essay Dancing With Bulls in the Horns of Power anthology yesterday and amongst the author’s comments regarding his experiences was struck by the remark that his reading of The Winged Bull by Dion Fortune shaped his path to such a degree. It struck a chord with me as I was moved and shaped by my first reading of the Tao Teh King of Lao Tzu (or Dao Deh Jing if you prefer), which has always for me been the closest verbal expression of the unknowable nature of mysticism and personal realisation I have ever found. This got me to wondering whether that was true for many people following a spiritual path, whether there was a defining moment where something they read, or saw (in the case of a piece of art or sculpture, etc), or heard (with music) caused them to have an epiphany which guided their path onwards.
I recently commented on how the recording of Song to the Siren by the band This Mortal Coil had a big impact on me, and this is unsurprising. Looking back and thinking of many conversations about bands I have had over the years, it seems to me that there are songs which we tag and define times of our lives with, both the happy and the sad times. When we meet somebody who shares the same zeitgeist of the song we feel an immediate rapport. he same can of course be true with literature and art, and I have noticed this with my favourite novel, Shibumi, which several people I have met over the years have also loved, and they have all been people who I got on with really well. We were all touched in a similar way by the book, and that gave us a point of contact that was more of a plane than a point, perhaps.
Turning points, crossroads, liminalities, what signposted yours?
