Two Powers

Two Powers

An essay focusing on the Dedicants understanding of the meaning of the "Two Powers" meditation or other form of 'grounding and centering', as used in meditation and ritual. This account should include impressions and insights that the Dedicant gained from practical experience. (300 word min)

            The two powers was an idea that I was unfamiliar with when I initially began the journey through the Dedicant path.  When I first encountered the idea of the two powers, it appeared to be a simple form of grounding and centering.  Today I can say that while this may be true there is definitely more to it than that.  It is a balance between both sides of any polar opposites, as well as a continuous connection to all points between them.  The properties are easily changed and adapted to your needs, but at the same time they seem to flow and guide you unexpectedly like the currents of a river.  It can represent above and below, light and dark, hot and cold, feminine and masculine, chaos and order, life and death, but the same time there are points in between each of those two points.  Between light and dark there are shadows.  Between hot and cold there are warm and cool.  They should be seen as points along a spectrum instead of the ends of a line.  That flexibility is a huge part of why the two powers meditation is incredibly useful. 

            It can easily be adapted to your own wants, needs, and beliefs as necessary.  For example, as a follower of the Hellenic pantheon I can adapt the “traditional” two powers into something that fits into that pantheon, such as traveling through a cave into the depths of Hades where you find the cool dark waters running and meeting a path that winds upward out of the darkness and into the bright, warming light at the top of Mount Olympus.  This simple sentence (which is a much abbreviated version of the two powers) changed the visualization completely but only modifies the two powers into a new culture instead of changing the purpose of it.  The possibilities are endless.  The basic idea easily fits into the trinity cosmology that ADF uses with the fire, well, and tree but can easily be adapted based on the needs of the individual.  It can easily be used in ritual to ground and center, or as a meditation on it’s own.  I have used it in ritual as a way to prepare, but I have also used it sitting in my car over lunch as a way to de-stress and relax.  It’s allowed me to become more focused and adapt a sense of self-control at times.  This flexibility is why I will continue to use it.    (415 words)