Ode to Abraham Maslow Part I

Merry Meet Gentle Reader!

Once upon a time I was an intern and then counselor at The Salvation Army Beacon Program in Minneaplis.  Every second Tuesday of the month for many years I would give a lecture on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a part of our recovery classes.  Little was I to know that the hierarchy of needs would become as much a part of my daily spirituality and view of the universe as the Serenity Prayer.  

The will be divided into two parts. The first will be a brief introduction to Maslow and the concept of self actualization.  The second part will be published next week and go over the hierarchy of needs in depth and how it relates to a spiritual practice like wicca.  

Abraham Maslow was born in Brooklyn, NY on April 1, 1908 and was the eldest of seven children.  He started his higher education in New York City but later transferred to the University of Wisconsin and completed his psychology degrees there. Graduating with his B.A. in 1930, M.A. in 1931, and Ph.D. in 1934.  He moved back to New York and wrote his great work The Organism in 1934.  

Maslow is considered the father of motivational psychology and promoted humanistic psychology.  He was the first to promote this idea of self actualization.

Self  Actualization is the achievement of one’s full potential through creativity, independence, spontaneity, and grasp of the real world.  

So how does this fit into Wicca if Wicca is a nature religion? I’m glad you asked that.

Wicca is an offshoot of ceremonial magick. Ceremonial magick has this idea called the Great Work.  I like Aliester Crowley’s definition in Magick Without Tears that it is the,”spiritual practices leading to the mystical union of the self and the All (God)”

The hierarchy of needs is really an outline of what becomes necessary for that Great Work to happen.  Next week we will go into detail about the hierarchy itself.