Avocation is also known as ones “Calling.” We all deal with the realities of vocation in one way or another, but that is not the same thing. Your vocation is just gainful work you do because someone employs you to do it, and it can be completely arbitrary. Avocation is what you will do from your core. It just rises from your being, and you do it no matter what practical thing you would do. You do it even if you don’t mean to. Your avocation is something you do even without “thinking.”

It sounds like we’re not so lost on our purpose as people seem to be? No, the error is not being lost. The error is what in Hindu mysticism they call misidentification.

Can your avocation and your vocation go hand in hand? They can, and it’s optimal if they do. It can be a very satisfying life and ease a lot of tension. Regrettably, society doesn’t yet recognize avocation as something to account for in a practical way.  Avocation is easier to discover than it might seem. You were really already doing it anyway, and find yourself doing it often, even if you “don’t want to.”

Like Second Life? Oh, your avocation might be linked to Second Life. Mine is, but as I said before avocation is linked to everything you do.  Often if you don’t find you want to, or even can do a particular expected thing, that can be due to avocation also.

Yes, even in Second Life I find myself engaging in avocation unwittingly. Role playing sometimes just goes in a direction I didn’t intend, but I accept and carry on. Ah yes, role play can reveal avocation. In fact, ritual magick is basically a small, purpose driven, role play session.

So is avocation more like personality than profession? Yes, but more like personality in action than passive character traits. If each of the facets of your personality came together, they would reveal a unifying purpose.

One example of avocation is “philosopher.” Interested in principles. Driven by them, and all actions stem from them. Not everyone is as connected to principles nor do they need to be. It’s just as important to be in touch with instincts say, or even shifting ideas. But for the philosopher, it is principles that are the core of their avocation.

For some, the core of their avocation is creativity. For me, the core of mine is destructivity which is just the complimentary process to creativity. What’s important to realize in avocation is that all of our callings stem from the same world.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~