Thoughts on the Virtues - Wisdom

Wisdom: good judgment, the ability to perceive people and situations correctly, deliberate about and decide on the correct response.

There are many in our lives we consider wise - teachers, religious leaders, family members, or even people in the public eye.  Saying that, there are many types of wisdom. My grandparents are wise in that they understand the land.  They know when change is coming, they understand what the growth of certain plants and trees in a place means.  They know where to find water.  They understand the relationships of insects and plants as well as companion planting.  They are wise in ways of the world - not the world of technology and advanced sciences, but the actual world Herself.

I once had a professor in college I considered very wise.  He is an anthropologist and had seen and done amazing things all over the world.  He learned from the people most ignored.  He studied with the village elders in remote Brunei about traditional ways and the histories of their people that were still passed down only in memories. He spent almost 10 years on an island in the south Pacific that no longer exists due to first a hurricane in the 70s and then flooding due to the rise of the oceans.  He learned all parts of these people's lives and has recorded a way of life that is now gone from our world. From him I learned that no one is insignificant. Everyone has a gift and they all have an important place in the world.  

From the Merriam-Webster dictionary --

• : knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life
• : the natural ability to understand things that most other people cannot understand
• : knowledge of what is proper or reasonable : good sense or judgment

These definitions overall I can agree with, except for the first.  I have known young people who have great wisdom, and elders who don't seem to have any at all.  The rest I can basically agree with. My wording may be different, but the intent I can see. 

I also find wisdom in our stories and the stories of those who came before us. I focus on Celtic hearth, so I looked first at the story of Fionn and the Salmon of Knowledge. When young, he was sent to study with the poet Fineagas. They encountered the Salmon of Knowledge and cooked it knowing that whoever tasted it first would become wise and a great hero. Fionn was watching it cook while his teacher slept. Three drops of oil splattered on his thumb and he sucked it to stop the burn. This tiny taste  was enough and gave him the knowledge that his teacher had intended for himself.  I have heard different meanings for this story, but I see it as a reminder that wisdom can be found in any age, and also that knowledge can come from many sources and many experiences.  We never know what could become a moment that grants us a great deal.  That means we should embrace all experiences, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.

We can also look at Odin hanging from Yggdrasil for nine days nad nights while pierced by a spear in order to gain the knowledge of the runes. In this case, we are shown that we must sacrifice in order to learn. Wisdom is not just given to us. We must fight for it and be willing to give up some part of our self in order to gain it.  The two stories together show us a great deal.  We must always be open to opportunities to gain wisdom, but at the same time, when that chance comes, we must understand that a sacrifice is expected. 

I am doing my best to live my life with wisdom and use this virtue to make good choices.  Of course, like everyone else I have made bad choices in my life.  I'm only human after all.  For me, the key has been to acknowledge I did so, then spend some serious time reflecting on what would have ACTUALLY happened if I had done things different (after all, situations tend to explode in our mind even if in truth it was fairly insignificant), and finally to see what I can learn from this bad choice. After all of that, I can finally look back at the whole thing and find the good that came from it.  No matter how awful something is, there is always good. Missing a job opportunity could lead to deepening a friendship that is worth more than anything. Getting very sick could lead to finally making yourself enjoy life in ways you had always put off.  My fibromyalgia and lupus have certainly taught me this last lesson. There are endless situations and good things that can and will happen. We cannot dwell. We must look into them and learn, finding the wisdom in the moment.

It is true that we all have a special time when wisdom strikes. For me, a major moment happened during initiation into a magical tradition. I prefer to keep the details to myself, but I can say that I suddenly could see clearly into my whole life as to who were friends and who were using me. I knew without a doubt I needed to divorce my husband.  I also knew that I was on the wrong spiritual path and would have to get back to my old way of Druidry. This supposedly "strongly-Druidic" version of Wicca wasn't at all Druidic and was actually taking me away from it. I realized that weekend that I had been misled by many in my life. This one unwise decision led to many that not only taught me wisdom, but changed my life for the better.  Thank goodness I went with my intuition!

Wisdom is perhaps the most important of the nine virtues, in my view.  No matter what else we do, wisdom is tied up in it.  As I reviewed the virtues, I first looked at them in the triads. Then I took a deeper look at wisdom and realized that each of the others require wisdom in order to properly fulfill them. This is the foundation of the virtues, on which all other must stand. After all, how can we live with Piety, see with Vision, act with Courage, live with Integrity, move with Perseverance, understand both sides of Hospitality, live with Moderation or understand the balance needed in Fertility without Wisdom?  As for the triad, living a life with Wisdom allows us to better observe proper Piety and see with true Vision. These three are for the internal aspects of life, and Wisdom binds them together.

Our Own Druidry: An Introduction to Ar nDraiocht Fein and the Druid Path (p. 62). Tucson, Arizona: ADF Publishing (2009).

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wisdom

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandsstories/finnmaccoolandthesalmonofknowledge/salmonofknowledge/index.asp