I. The Divine Youth

At Yule the Elder welcomes death and the promise it brings of reunification with the universe. However, our god does not abandon us with a veiled promise of return some far off day. He is reborn at Imbolc as the Divine Youth, replenished by his contact with the source, and eager to experience another life cycle and enjoy the pleasures of the world. Hence he will soon become the Explorer…, but for now he is a youth, and like all youths requires nurturing, care, attention and encouragement. His divinity can be attributed to his inner wisdom that comes from being so near the place of creation, his innocence, his openness to all possibilities, unquestioned self confidence, not wondering “can I or can’t I?” but being eager to try, his trust in success and belief in the ultimate good, views untwisted by prejudice and pragmatism. The divine youth is willing and excited to embark on his journey, even though the details of which are unknown and filled with innumerable possible variations. These unknown opportunities excite him. He is not worried by failure for he knows he is destined to be a king, a god, and yet that the road to reach these goals will hold many surprises.

II. The Archetype in Myth

Traditionally, the Divine Youth is the first incarnation of a magician or king, and this magic boy can be found as a common element in the life of many famous heroes, magicians, and gods; Heracles, Pan, Dar “the Beastmaster,” even Julius Cesar all have similar tales of divine birth and childhood connecting them to god and nature. There are also many tales concerning the other worldly aspects of the conception and childhood of Merlin. In some traditions he was conceived by a princess impregnated by a demon, in others his divinity was recognized by the fairy queen, Mab, who stole him away to teach him the art of magic.

Horus, the son of the Egyptian gods Isis and Osirus, was a divine child conceived magically by Isis after her husband’s death. Horus matured to become a major god, avenging his father and being worshiped in different incarnations as both the solar deity and his father’s successor as a lord of the underworld. Illustrating a common occurrence where the Divine Child becomes king or supplants their mother/father figure.

Christ is a familiar image of the Divine Youth. In Latin American cultures as well as eastern European countries like Czechoslovakia and Poland, and some corresponding neighborhoods here in Chicago, Christ is a commonly shown as a young boy in royal garb and heavenly attributes. Think of the Infant of Prague, El Santa Niño de Atocha, and El Divino Niño. We can see other attributes of the Divine Youth as well. Christ is associated with stories of a miraculous birth. In addition the non-canonized oral traditions tell many stories of his magical youth such as enabling a dead child to speak, creating sparrows from clay and giving them life, or in the more traditional story, killing a bird while playing, and when reprimanded by his mother, bringing it back to life.

For better insight, let us try to explore this youthful face as a child would. Most children would be able to recognize aspects of the Divine Youth in fairy tales. What are some examples you can think of? Jack and the beanstalk? Jack is very much a magic boy full of trust, and belief in magic, self confidence, and a taste for adventure. The adults around him are dismayed by his foolishness, and yet he is the one who ascends to the land of the giants and returns with riches! In fact there is a whole cycle of Jack stories which were common European folk tales. The Brave Little Tailor, The Miller’s Son, The Steadfast Soldier… these examples all share some characteristics that can help us learn more about the archetype. Often the Divine Youth is considered special, strange, or different from the norm. Sometimes this is shown just as being the youngest in a family. He simultaneously exhibits cleverness and inventiveness as well as foolish trust and optimism. Also the Divine Youth accepts the challenge or task laid before him.

Peter Pan is perhaps the fullest the personification of the spirit of Divine Youth. We will discuss him further a bit later.

How about Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass? What happens to Alice at the end of her adventures through the looking glass? She is crowned Queen Alice. Her whole journey can be viewed as her necessary path towards achieving this royal state, even through the non-linear and seemingly nonsensical encounters on the way. But how did she embark on this journey, what enticed her to get up from under the tree with her sister where it was safe and familiar? Curiosity, inquisitiveness, eagerness. Without trusting her instincts and inner fancies she never would have followed the rabbit. Her carefree nature lead her to the rabbit hole down which she fell… like a fool stepping over cliff and on to an amazing journey. In fact, these qualities; creativity, idealism, innocence, trust, free-will that characterize the Divine Youth, are really the spirit of youth itself. We all possessed them at one time. If it is these qualities that make the Divine Youth “divine” we can infer it is not A divine youth we are discussing, but the divinity of youth itself, i.e. divine youth. This is the magic possessed by the magic boy.

III. Manifestation in Daily Life

Even today, the face of the Divine Youth can be scene everywhere around us; in the faces of the seekers that come out of curiosity, interested to learn about paganism. Television commercials love to exploit the feelings that his image stirs in us. Laughing babies sell us everything from sun block to power resources. Advertising firms have well harnessed the power of the Divine Youth. Let’s try to tap into some of this power and reclaim it for ourselves.

The first obstacle in the way for many of us is accepting our own divinity. This has been the goal of enlightenment seeking Gnostics and mystics for centuries. It is easier to say we accept we are divine than to actually integrate it into the fabric of our being, but as we previously discussed the attributes of youth are divine. So perhaps we must re-discover this spirit of youth within ourselves to reclaim our divinity.

I want you to think about your childhood. Hold an image of yourself as a child in your mind. What characterized this time for you? Did you ever feel like you just didn’t fit in, didn’t identify with the family? Perhaps you fantasized that like Harry Potter or the Little Princess you had another family somewhere waiting for you. Perhaps you longed to escape to some other place; either real or an imaginary realm. Perhaps you felt very comfortable with your family, and home was where you felt truly secure. What were your favorite activities? Did you like to hide, or be the center of attention? Did you like to be silly and make people laugh? Did you ever tease someone? Where you a bully? Did you ever bully yourself about something? Where you ever teased? Ever hurt? From here we can feel our youth. The magic of the divine youth allows him to grow and move on and at the same time remain eternal. He stays with us, an inseparable part of us, and we rename him the “Inner Child.” It is this inner child that, according to Freud, is still fixated and amazed at the sensations from oral and anal and penile stimulation he discovered as a baby. The first time you visited the back room at a bar and once again discovered the pleasures of oral and anal stimulation, it was the inner child that was once again filled with awe and excitement, scared and coy. When you are playful, when you play games of love and life it is the inner child you are manifesting. When you joke it is this same child, and when you feel very proud or on the verge of something great it is this same child. He is both Trickster and Messiah. The trickster likes to play hide and seek from our conscious sight, so you may not always even recognize when you are acting under his influence. But you can catch a glimpse of him, such as when you have a sudden idea or revelation. Like a spark of light flashing into your consciousness, it is the inner child revealing himself. He was leading you by the hand the first time you came to a brotherhood ritual, and he who in his search for his own spirituality embarked on a less trodden path full of unexpected delights and obstacles too. As Bilbo Baggins explained “It’s a dangerous business going out of your door.” Our Divine Youth is with us any time we give in to the impulse to do some thing we have been “dying to do” or try anything new and unfamiliar instead of sticking with the tried and tested. Many geniuses and free thinkers seem to be dominated by the Divine Youth. Think of Mozart, and John Lennon. Think “what else does he mean to you?” What are his attributes? Effeminate? Heroic? Only you will know….

IV. Shadow

Some characteristics of the Divine Youth do not always manifest in a positive manner. For example let’s looks at another fairy tale:

Peter Pan was born on an island where all birds who become children are born. After he was delivered to his human parents he overheard them discussing what he was to be when he grew up. Not wanting to become an adult, or completely human for that matter (and loose the ability to fly), he escapes from his carriage and flies back to the island of birds. However he can’t completely re-matriculate on the island for he is now physically a human and they are birds. He attempts to return to his human parents but finds the windows bared and another child asleep in his room. With no where else to go he spends his time in Kensington Gardens, and finds companions with the frogs and mice and fairies, and eventually the fairies lead him to Neverland, to eternally have adventures and make-believe, but never develop memories or understanding emotion, like so many gay men unable to hold a mature relationship or learn from past ones.

You can see how this spirit of eternal youth while enriching our lives can also have some psycho-emotional deficiencies. Being dominated by the magic boy can leave us unable to cope with the demands of the world and the responsibilities of life. We can see this amongst are own, and almost as a common stereotype of homosexuals – like the phrase “too gay to function.” Someone dominated by this shadow may also discover difficulty bringing their dreams and ideas to fruition, or prefer to day dream and live in fantasy then deal with the issues at hand. The Divine Youth can sometimes exhibit a delusion of exaggerated self-importance, or greatness, or act inconsiderate and put his own desires above the feelings of others. He may feel without control and that others are always to blame for hurting him, or he may be quick to lash out and retort angrily when he feels threatened or belittled. Our inner child may have acquired some less than honorable habits, but we shouldn’t judge them. These habits were all acquired as a means for us to survive, with out these traits we may not have made it this far. Furthermore there is a vital energy here that we can tap into for constructive purposes! For example, when dealing with bigotry or discrimination or just plain heckling on the street, we can decide to use the divine youth if an immature and sarcastic phrase should be thrown back at the assailant, or perhaps to simply laugh it off and ignore, to play up and exaggerate stereotypes, or to lash out and prove our competence. This is just one example, and you can discover many more that are relevant to you. Just being conscious of the traits that you discover your child has formed, and recognizing them when they show themselves will help you understand and learn to use these energies.

V. Contacting the Divine Youth: A guided visualization

Close your eyes. Relax your body. Now bring you awareness to what worries you, to the stresses of everyday life. These worries and doubts form a dark wasteland around you, a hostile and deserted environment that you walk through. It is Night. You feel alone, travel worn, lost…. You come to a tall brick wall blocking your way. If you stand on your toes you can just peer over the wall. The wall surrounds an elaborate garden filled with flowers and plush greenery… the perfect place to rest and take a welcome refuge from your troubles. You follow the wall along to your right. You eventually come to an opening, an archway. Pass through the Archway and enter into this garden. It is still night and the garden is empty. The flower beds are blanketed in dark blue and the trees cast dark shadows over many areas. You linger here, enjoying the quiet, serene beauty, slowly wandering through the garden and eying the statues. You perceive the sculptures depict fanciful creatures, fairies, young fauns, and storybook children. You hear the sound of soft footsteps and look up to see the sun is just beginning to dawn. A young boy oblivious to your presence is leading a small pony. As they approach close the pony neighs and rears back a little alerting the boy of your presence. The boy meets your gaze and laughs happily. He runs over and grabs your hand and pulling you, leads you around the vast garden enthusiastically pointing out all sorts of sights. The insects working in the soil, the bees collecting pollen, he looks at you inquisitively and asks you “why” and you explain to him what they are doing. He leads you off to inspect the budding plants and blossoming flowers, colorful birds, and pond scum and mud — delighting in it all. You can’t remember the last time you felt such pure and simple joy, so light and so free, so in awe at the world around you. After spending the morning playing in the garden the two of you have arrived back where the small pony is grazing leisurely on the grass. The child lets go of your hand and climbs on the pony, you are about to ask where he is going, and in fact you wonder who this child even is. The climbing sun is shining directly behind his face as you turn to ask him, and the glare obscures your vision. The light begins to grow in brightness and intensity until all you can see before you is the radiant light of the sun and you feel the warmth of its rays on your skin. The warmth penetrates you, and as you feel it grow within you, the sun diminishes and returns to normal. You see the area in front of you is empty. But you can still feel the warm presence inside of you, and you know you will always carry the child with you. You can come back to this place, this garden anytime you wish.

Further exercises

Find a picture of yourself as a child. Focus on it. Meditate on it. Turn you attention within to your memories. What did you feel as a child? What were your likes and your dislikes? How would you describe that time of your life? Try to revert back to an even earlier stage, before ideas of material possessions, physical features, or “doing as you’re told” mattered. Remember, as a small child you didn’t feel you needed to do anything to be loved, you just expected to be loved and taken care of. Provide this love and nurturing to your inner child, and expect the same for your self. Accept your worth to receive love and care. Now focus again on the picture, what is the child in the photo saying… is he happy, scared, shy, extroverted? Connect with these feelings, explore them. You may find some you were not expecting.

Place your photo on your alter or somewhere you will see it often. Acknowledge it, give offerings to your inner child; both the photo and to yourself. Pan pipes, candy, toys, all could make good offerings, but only you know which ones he will enjoy. Ask him.

When you begin working with your inner child, pay close attention to your dreams, to serendipitous images and occurrences. The child, like most gods, archetypes, and energies talk to us in nonlinear images, in emotions, and other media sometimes not always discerned by our conscious mind. So pay close attention to your emotions, and to times you respond to someone or something suddenly without thinking. Note these occurrences and then try to explore where they are coming from. What triggered them?

• Try something new. Do one of those things you have been “dying to try.”
• Go back and reexamine the fairytales and stories of your youth.
• What are they saying to you?
• Always share what you have when someone asks?
• Acknowledge advice but know when you should head or ignore it?
• If you are set a challenge or offered the chance at adventure, accept it!

• What else? Your inner child will know.