When I decided to share my experiences and how I developed my spiritual beliefs it took a couple of days to figure out where to begin. I have studied a wide variety of religious and spiritual teachings in a lifelong quest to discover the common threads of truth within them.
My family of origin on both sides was born in theUK
My Welsh and Irish grandfather on mom’s side was the 7th son of a 7th son. He was involved with the Rosicrucian Order and was able to predict coming events. He passed on when my mother was 16 but she raised me with an acceptance that “the other side” is not “out there.” In her view it was another realm where we pass through and beyond when we leave our bodies behind. She also showed me how to perceive ‘whispers and touches” from spiritual allies and to not fear them. Mother read tea leaves and channeled. So from a very early age I developed a high comfort level with what was often felt…and sometimes seen as spirit communication. She consistently encouraged me to attune to “that Still Small Voice Within” because it was how Source speaks when we quiet the noisy mind chatter of everyday life. Consequently I began to feel really OK with things I picked up that others often missed.
As my family attended church I began to question…incessantly! I questioned when things were not as they appeared…especially within churches. I found the lack of congruity between preachers saying words of love and acceptance on the pulpit…then judging others of different races, cultures and religions as being misguided sinners. When I questioned I was told that in “faith based religions” congregates are not supposed to question…but believe and act according to what leaders “said.” That retort really troubled me when love, honor, respect for differences was supposed to be the larger message. I have always had a questioning mind and as I began to question “why” or “who made so and so the authority” I felt the sting of rejection from some within the church. It was at that point and I began to look for spiritual direction in other places.
When I decided not to go to University I asked my parents for the freedom to “learn from life and educate myself.” They reluctantly agreed and gifted me with a collection of Great Books by Encyclopedia Britannica. These books opened my eyes to a level of eclectic knowledge that I draw from to this day. The wealth of information within the pages of those books covered everything from history, philosophy, metaphysics, human development and all of the great religions.
Around the same time I was introduced to what many still call “New Thought Religions.” They included the teaching of Unity and Science of Mind. These schools of thought broadened my perspective on metaphysics, the law of attraction, cause and effect, mind/body/spirit connectedness, creative visualization, energy-based/Source centered consciousness. Their teachings promote the idea that God is ubiquitous, spirit is the totality of real things, true and human Self hood is divine, divine thought is a force for good and that many sicknesses through imbalances within the body, mind, emotion and energy fields. Although “New Thought” is neither monolithic nor doctrinaire, in general many who adopt these teachings often view God/Goddess as “universal and everlasting” and that divinity dwells within each person.
The aspect of these ideologies that really clicked for me lay within the neutrality and loving acceptance of differences. Compared to the polarity within right/wrong/good/evil that I saw in many organized religions I found new thought teachings very refreshing. As I began to embrace new thought spiritual teachings I had many light bulb moments along the way. The one that I recall giving me a true awakening was the idea that we are ALL spiritual beings and the highest spiritual principle is to be able to reach a point where we love each other unconditionally with an abiding respect for differences. Yes, it was one of my biggest “ah hah” moments. Once I got it that concept of unity and oneness. It became the foundation of everything else that I have, and probably ever will incorporate into whatever else I do to “grow my soul.”
The other aspect of new thought teaching that continues to be part of my moral compass is the concept that teaching and healing one another is part of our purpose on this plane. I know with my “Know” that as more positive states of thinking and being are carried forward by action as they manifest and become our experience of daily life.
When David and I met we began to study Eastern Religions. We discovered Fung Shui, Chinese Medicine and Buddhism and found many valuable lessons that expanded our philosophies about life. Once again we discovered parallels in Eastern and New Thought teachings that confirmed the Universality within many religious and spiritual paths. That is when we developed our ideas on the One-Song within the inter-connectedness of life...or the Consciousness of One.
My family of origin on both sides was born in the
My Welsh and Irish grandfather on mom’s side was the 7th son of a 7th son. He was involved with the Rosicrucian Order and was able to predict coming events. He passed on when my mother was 16 but she raised me with an acceptance that “the other side” is not “out there.” In her view it was another realm where we pass through and beyond when we leave our bodies behind. She also showed me how to perceive ‘whispers and touches” from spiritual allies and to not fear them. Mother read tea leaves and channeled. So from a very early age I developed a high comfort level with what was often felt…and sometimes seen as spirit communication. She consistently encouraged me to attune to “that Still Small Voice Within” because it was how Source speaks when we quiet the noisy mind chatter of everyday life. Consequently I began to feel really OK with things I picked up that others often missed.
As my family attended church I began to question…incessantly! I questioned when things were not as they appeared…especially within churches. I found the lack of congruity between preachers saying words of love and acceptance on the pulpit…then judging others of different races, cultures and religions as being misguided sinners. When I questioned I was told that in “faith based religions” congregates are not supposed to question…but believe and act according to what leaders “said.” That retort really troubled me when love, honor, respect for differences was supposed to be the larger message. I have always had a questioning mind and as I began to question “why” or “who made so and so the authority” I felt the sting of rejection from some within the church. It was at that point and I began to look for spiritual direction in other places.
When I decided not to go to University I asked my parents for the freedom to “learn from life and educate myself.” They reluctantly agreed and gifted me with a collection of Great Books by Encyclopedia Britannica. These books opened my eyes to a level of eclectic knowledge that I draw from to this day. The wealth of information within the pages of those books covered everything from history, philosophy, metaphysics, human development and all of the great religions.
Around the same time I was introduced to what many still call “New Thought Religions.” They included the teaching of Unity and Science of Mind. These schools of thought broadened my perspective on metaphysics, the law of attraction, cause and effect, mind/body/spirit connectedness, creative visualization, energy-based/Source centered consciousness. Their teachings promote the idea that God is ubiquitous, spirit is the totality of real things, true and human Self hood is divine, divine thought is a force for good and that many sicknesses through imbalances within the body, mind, emotion and energy fields. Although “New Thought” is neither monolithic nor doctrinaire, in general many who adopt these teachings often view God/Goddess as “universal and everlasting” and that divinity dwells within each person.
The aspect of these ideologies that really clicked for me lay within the neutrality and loving acceptance of differences. Compared to the polarity within right/wrong/good/evil that I saw in many organized religions I found new thought teachings very refreshing. As I began to embrace new thought spiritual teachings I had many light bulb moments along the way. The one that I recall giving me a true awakening was the idea that we are ALL spiritual beings and the highest spiritual principle is to be able to reach a point where we love each other unconditionally with an abiding respect for differences. Yes, it was one of my biggest “ah hah” moments. Once I got it that concept of unity and oneness. It became the foundation of everything else that I have, and probably ever will incorporate into whatever else I do to “grow my soul.”
The other aspect of new thought teaching that continues to be part of my moral compass is the concept that teaching and healing one another is part of our purpose on this plane. I know with my “Know” that as more positive states of thinking and being are carried forward by action as they manifest and become our experience of daily life.
When David and I met we began to study Eastern Religions. We discovered Fung Shui, Chinese Medicine and Buddhism and found many valuable lessons that expanded our philosophies about life. Once again we discovered parallels in Eastern and New Thought teachings that confirmed the Universality within many religious and spiritual paths. That is when we developed our ideas on the One-Song within the inter-connectedness of life...or the Consciousness of One.
As we continued to integrate the “whole person” aspects of these principles into our journey they assisted both of us in healing the daunting traumas that developed from dysfunctions within our earlier development. We knew by now that as we made our lives an “experiment in application” that their truly is no ceiling to how good life can be. That awareness has inspired us to keep on keeping on and questing after more knowledge. I am so thankful to have a partner who so openly accepts much of what I believe...and respects my views in the areas we may see things a little differently.
Within the mix of this growing spiritual development I found that whenever we attended ANY organized religious institution I continually found myself at odds with the patriarchal mindsets within many of the church leaders. This made the feminist in me uncomfortable and began to question where the Goddess aspects were? They certainly were a prevailing part of the ancient teachings and wanted to know why they had all but disappeared from “modern” religions. I knew from my theological studies that Mary Magdalene had been misrepresented in the bible and was not a prostitute, but was one of Jesus’ prime initiates. These events and the women’s movement led me to studies about feminine goddesses and Deities…and added feminist theology to my growing list of spiritual studies.
While attending University I took some Native Studies and I discovered the “
I knew that the word paganism’s word root came from the Latin interpretation of “paganus”…meaning “country dweller, rustic.” That fit being that my hubby David and I moved out of the city and became country dwellers in 1994. However, a more expansive interpretation is that the term Paganism often refers to various religions and religious beliefs from across the world. It has various meanings. From a Western perspective the modern connotations refer to faiths that include spiritualistic, shamanic, folk religion, historical polytheistic, mythology, animistic, as well as Eastern and Native American religions and practices. Many of us who pursue Pagan beliefs have accepted that the term is now broadly defined to encompass most of the religions outside of the Abrahamic, monotheistic group of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
When I mentioned to David that I was planning to share our beliefs with others and asked him how we could summarize our spiritual beliefs. He put it this way: ”We are spiritual travelers who are willing to open our hearts and minds to all teachings that promote the Universal beliefs of love and respect for differences. We may have studied and integrated many different schools of thought…but each one has confirmed what we know to be true for us. We know there are many ways to more enlightened living and rather than labeling ourselves with one specific path we have chosen to put the best of each and do our best to live and "BE" them."
I paused for a moment and smiled…because he had nailed it. Perhaps I could have saved you this entire lengthy dissertation…but at least you know where I came from and how I arrived at this level of consciousness. Here is a quotation by Dale Carnegie that describes it more concisely than I did:
The ideas I stand for are not mine.
I borrowed them from Socrates.
I swiped them from
I stole them from Jesus.
And I wrote them into my “book of life.”
And if you don’t like those rules…
Whose would you use?
And so it is.
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