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SPIRIT
LODGE
LIBRARY
Spiritual
Development
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Some of the links for the 97 pages in this Spiritual Development
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Do You Need A Spiritual LOcksmith?
By CinnamonMoon
THE NOVICE AND THE SPIRITUAL LOCKSMITH
So many people approach spirituality with apprehension and fears
that they will be misguided,
taken advantage of, are getting into dangerous territory, or
that these are wicked ways and some
other uncomfortable caution takes form.
Spirituality is not something we should fear but the unknown
factors appear intimidating at first
and it's often confusing to people to know where to begin looking
for answers.
Many seekers visit Spirit Lodge asking what to do, where to
begin, what are the guidelines to
follow…what door do I open first and what's behind it?
Because of this I wanted to discuss the
basic aspects of the unfoldment process for spiritual development.
My hope is that it will put
those concerns to bed so those new to a spiritual path can feel
a bit safer, relax their minds, and
get a sense of what the exploration maps look like.
Walk with me through this if you need a feel for where you're
going. Please understand there is
no 'one way' to explore your spirituality. There are certain
things that most people go through
however, so I can touch on those to help get you started. It
is only an overview of what you will
encounter, why, and what it will bring you to explore next.
Where you take it from there is up to
you.
SPIRIT LODGE
We here at Spirit Lodge strive to assist those who join us by
sharing experiences we've had,
lessons we've learned, and the discoveries we've made along
the way. It all takes time, a lifetime,
to unfold. Because it takes time patience is called for alongside
the willingness to pursue
explorations along a wide variety of topics. As you discover
the wonders of establishing your
own spiritual path you will find what's right for you as you
go.
As a novice, individuals often encounter rusty locks on doors
they need to open inside
themselves. Spirit Lodge is like a Spiritual Locksmith …
with keys in the hands of the
community members who willingly share whatever they can throughout
the forums, the libraries
of articles, and our resource links you'll find some of the
tools to unlock those doors there as
well.
Spiritual development comes in a variety of stages, stages that
call for many steps to be taken
and for the novice those are often baby steps…testing the
balance of truth and misconceptions, of
fears and uncertainties with otherworldly realities, of illusions
and reality that are constantly
shifting, morphing, and emerging.
These stages or steps are taken in different directions at first,
and quite often seem to be multidirectional.
It is for this reason we have several different libraries and
forums for discussion.
They all connect again in a cohesive body as things start to
make sense and fall into place.
As novices people tend to sample their way to what makes sense,
to what feels right or
potentially right and in this way we follow our noses and curiosity.
What will stir that sentient
interest in us? What gets us exploring? Well, it's usually an
experience, something someone says,
something we read, or an inspirational concept that stimulates
our interest enough to make us
look deeper into things. We all have our own reasons to explain
the unexplained in our lives.
Spirit Lodge is a safe place to do that.
THE LESSONS
Initial lessons are passed through on multi-levels and the knowledge
gained is assimilated,
honed, and put into practice. In this way a step is taken each
time we find something that fits our
experiences or realities, each time we find something we can
wrap our mind around, see the logic
in, understand and experience for ourselves.
Soon we being to see we are able to broaden our perspectives;
however, we can’t do that with
tunnel vision, we have to expand our minds to see further and
wider. As we begin to explore the
things we encounter along the way we find ourselves seeking
the written word…after all, that’s
safe, no one can see what we’re reading, we can poke around
a bit. Then we find ourselves
wanting to look beyond that to get the confusing issues clarified
and we may start looking into
websites or talking to people who are ‘in the know’
to get a sense of direction. This usually
means you will be directed to more reading material on a lot
of different topics. (Spirit Lodge has
a Recommended Reading forum for that suggested reference purpose,
and several libraries with
topical articles.)
All that reading leads to so many opinions, so many theories,
so many teachings…and so many
unanswered questions--what’s the truth? Which tradition
is right for you? Are you better off with
a traditional path or an eclectic one? Is there a common thread?
How are they different? Is it all
semantics? Which presentation makes the most sense? These traditions…there
are so many of
them, how do we know which direction to take?
There are so many questions initially aren’t there? And
my stars…we start to think we need
someone to lean on…to look to for those answers and help
us sort things out. We need a teacher!
Where do you find a teacher?
How we come to the traditions that speak to us and the answers
to our questions begins to take
form in the sampling process. It’s like a banquet table
is spread before us and we get to nibble for
a while. We get a sense of direction and begin to follow it.
The path (at least for now) is a little
clearer. As we begin to seek like-minded individuals and boards
such as this one to hopefully
find that teacher, that sage that’s hidden just at the
fringes of our society, we find there are many
teachers and again we sample those we meet. (Please read the
article on the Student Teacher
Relationship in the main library.)
The truth is these teachers are everywhere and they are community
members who walk through
life just as anyone else does. You’ll meet those you are
meant to meet along the way and it is not
something to panic over if you have to wait awhile. There’s
a saying you’ll hear again and again:
“When the student is ready the teacher will appear.”
It’s true. In this way we begin to explore a
little deeper and will probably come to hear we should read
some more. I do hope you like to
read as the initial lessons tend to be found in books…the
foundations and fundamental
expression of them will give you an idea of what the different
traditions offer.
Each lesson we encounter is a key…a key that opens a door
to experiences and further lessons
along the way…a door that opens to a room that may or may
not have other doors to unlock or
secret passageways to follow. We step through the doors cautiously
unlocking them one by one,
initiating our passage into our spiritual unfoldments. Sometimes
those locks are rusty, the key
doesn’t work anymore and we need a ‘locksmith’
to assist us. At other times our keys do work
and we walk right on through.
As we learn to jiggle these locks we learn to become our own
Spiritual Locksmith. Sometimes
someone else has the key and we need to get a copy made, we
borrow theirs (pick their minds)
and we unlock another door or two.
I see Spirit Lodge and our community this way…we have lots
of rooms, many locksmiths, many
new seekers finding their way to their path—whatever that
path may be. No one is force-feeding
you anything; we’re simply sharing what we can and asking
questions to find our answers too.
It’s a mutual need and we all learn from one another. I
see the Lodge as a resource, as a place to
be exploring all the facets of spirituality whether people stay
or leave or come and go Spirit
Lodge remains so we can give back by helping wherever possible.
INITIATING INTO SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
Initiation into the various stages and levels of development
interweaves itself through our lives
time and time again. Threads come in and out from all sorts
of directions and in the least likely
of places to create a tapestry of learning. Spirit Lodge is
a thread only, but it is a strong and bold
thread for many people. Many novices who come here will tell
you they have learned that each
initiation takes us to a new level of understanding wherein
we gain the knowledge and
experience to share with others. But what is the initiating
factor? What makes us step away from
the masses and perhaps religious teachings to seek out a personal
relationship with
Spirit/Creator/God? How do you achieve such a relationship?
Sometimes it’s an ability that begins to manifest itself
at an early age, or a nagging interest in
aspects of spirituality that must be pursued. Sometimes it’s
formal training or a religious
background that leads us into the individual aspects of our
spirituality and the quest to uncover
that within ourselves. Whatever it is, you can bet that there
are many here who have had similar
starts, similar concerns, and understand how confusing things
can be at first.
We’re all in different places with our growth and development
and there is no need to compare
yourself to others…that’s a trap that many early seekers
fall into… and it’s quite natural to do so.
We all wonder where we are or if we’re ‘normal’
with the unusual experiences, traits or abilities
we are discovering about ourselves. We feel uncomfortable with
the unexplained events in our
lives and even more uncomfortable talking about them. Where
are you going to find these likeminded
people that are safe to talk to…people with answers to
all those questions floating
around in your mind? The hunger for the answers starts to grow.
You start to investigate
different groups and sources perhaps. Spirit Lodge is just such
a source.
I want to assure you that no one’s better or wiser than
anyone else. We all have our areas of
interest and gain some expertise there. We all have our areas
of non-interest where we are
weaker. It varies widely so please don’t come here thinking
you will be judged for wherever you
are on your path. First step or step number ten thousand, it
doesn’t matter, we’re just as eager to
learn from you as you are from us.
More often than not it’s a combination of many things that
in hindsight have been pointing us in
the right directions we just don’t realize it at first.
If you’re curious about what paths people have
taken to get here please read the thread “Finding the Door
to Spirit Lodge” in the Welcome
forum. You’ll find a sampling of what I’m talking
about here. Stepping through our door you
will step into many lessons and meet many teachers among us,
so do get to know us. Lurk for a
while if you want to get to know us before you speak up and
introduce yourself. But know too,
you are most welcome to join—come on in whenever you’re
ready!
It’s in hindsight that we discover what validates the initiation
into spiritual awareness…taking a
conscious look into things. We can look back and see how we
got where we are today, what
assistance we had, where the unseen hands guided our way, where
Spirit crossed our path with
the right person to help us take that next step at just the
right time.
Everything happens in its own time, so you will find we often
learn by trial and error as well as
by intent to find our way out of the darkness into the light
of spiritual truth and understanding.
We have to start somewhere…we have to initiate the journey
by making that choice and fear can
hold us back or lock a door and rust the hinges tight.
Spirit Lodge is a locksmith, we’re here to help you open
those doors. You will often find that to
give you a basic understanding we will initially recommend reading
articles or books as part of
your early lessons. Each article in our library is a lesson
of some sort.
MEDITATION
One of the first key lessons we learn to search for is our ability
to meditate. As the novice comes
to this task they learn how to still their mind, and how to
tap their visionary skills that lead them
to spiritual guidance. It is through meditation that we come
to explorations of the spiritual realms
of dimension. Aspects of meditation often include seclusion,
CD’s to assist our focus, tapes that
walk us through each step, or written directions that we follow
so don’t let that overwhelm you.
These are all tools to help you get ‘there’ from ‘here’.
We all know what it is to focus on something important, however
the concentration for spiritual
development takes what many call a ‘soft focus’ rather
than a ‘sharp’ one…instead of the 3-
dimensional perspective we are accustomed to we begin to see
beyond that into the 4th
dimension. Suddenly the doors to the spirit worlds swing open,
dimensional realms overlay the
physical environment and we begin to tap the visionary skills
of the 3rd Eye…clairvoyance. We
learn to ‘See’ things differently and a new perspective
becomes the key to so much more.
Clairvoyance often leads to clairaudience; clairaudience leading
to clairsentience or vs/vs with
the ‘clair’ meaning ‘clear’…clear sight,
hearing, senses…more lessons.
Whatever the case may be, each individual is initially going
to be required to develop their skills
of concentration along these new lines. It’s one of the
logical first steps on any path…learning to
focus in on things properly. So along with the reading and talking
to others one of the first
exercises you’ll come across is that of meditation.
We use concentration skills all the time, when we work, when
we play, when drive down the
street, as we go about tasks in our daily lives. These skills
are no less important when we begin
to develop our spiritual understanding and lay our foundations
for that growth. Be prepared for
your homework and be responsible for it. You can’t progress
without it. The difference between
the physical concentration and that of the spiritual is (at
first) a direct opposite.
In the physical sense we see things with a ‘sharp’
eye, so when we begin to focus on our spiritual
understanding that habit is something that we tend to want to
use, but we need to soften our
perceptions, internalize them and then expand outward from there.
That soft inner voice you will hear so many speak of is comprised
of the sensory perceptions our
Inner Spirit uses as its tools…tools needed to communicate
with us. Meditation opens the door to
that communication. Our Guides will come and stir our senses
too. Spirit speaks to us through
our senses and we see, hear, smell, taste, touch or feel something
that’s as soft as a whisper…or
as loud as a thunderclap depending on how attentive we are or
how urgent the message being
delivered. We have to develop our awareness of our senses and
there are exercises to practice
that help you hone that ability. Meditation is one of those
exercises and we highly recommend
daily application of 15-20 minutes.
Over time this ‘inner voice’ becomes louder, grows
stronger…but it takes time and it takes effort
to build those muscles and learn to trust ourselves. We must
be willing to open our mind enough
to entertain the possibility…the probability of success
depends on that. Once we learn to do this
we learn to hone the skill and our abilities merge on a conscious
level…we balance out. We
begin to work with our sensory perceptions and suddenly sights,
sounds, textures, even flavors
and scents begin to come to us from ‘nowhere’…nowhere
we can name. Where are we? How did
we get here? Is this an overactive imagination we’re experiencing?
To achieve the state of balance and clarity necessary to understand
more we learn to relax, to
relax our vision, our focus, our hearing, all our sensory abilities.
Like I’ve said, the first thing
most people do is try to sharpen them, they take a hard approach,
it’s what they’re used to doing
but it’s not like that…it’s different. The hard
approach is only going to frustrate you.
We have to relax and open ourselves to receiving the natural
input we’re all capable of tapping
into. It’s nothing to fear, it’s normal, we all have
senses, all you’re going to do is learn to use
them in a new way. Meditation is one of the first steps to master.
Intuitive imprinting then begins
to take place but the trouble is that most people who begin
their questing tend to fear that it’s
their overactive imagination playing tricks on them. They doubt
themselves and they have to
work at it very hard to get to the point of passing beyond the
imagination (in essence passing
through the gateway to the higher consciousness) into the visionary
state of being.
The visionary state that will show them things is exciting and
leads to testing what is seen,
sharing the experience so they will find it validated and/or
clarified. We share to make sense of
what we’re shown and soon discover that we’re studying
symbology on universal levels and then
looking at what those same symbols mean to us. We begin to assemble
the bits and pieces. In this
way individuals begin to trust what’s coming through. It’s
a bit intimidating for some while
others find it fascinatingly exhilarating. Imagination is key
though…it unlocks that doorway. If
you take the word ‘imagination’ and break it down
to the root word you have ‘image’…it is the
‘image’ that is the key here. Take it and use it.
Remember when you were little? The realm of fantasy played a
vital part in your play world, but
that realm resides just at the borderline of the spirit worlds
and it is the doorway you must pass
through. It’s there that our Guides keep tabs on us and
interact…those imaginary friends that
adults dismiss so easily…who were your imaginary friends?
What were they like? Were they
totemic animals? Were they mythical beings? Were they people
that told you things and showed
you wonders? Why did you stop playing with them? Was it because
the adults in your
environment told you that it was your imagination and that it
wasn’t a real experience but ‘makebelieve’
instead? These are rhetorical questions I’m asking; most
of us encountered this type of
thing in one way or another.
Think back to the role playing you did as a child…often
leading you down a path that would
bring you to a career in that field and if not then it likely
became something that held a
passionate interest on the side. Perhaps that role playing became
a love of myth or fantastic
legends or some sort of unusual topical material for mainstream
interests. What inspired you,
what fueled your passionate interests?
As a child we meditated on the roles we wanted to play and we
stepped into our daydreams and
realms of fantasy…realms that were likely just as real
as any other only we were too young to
define them. And those roles we played…we be-came those
characters didn’t we? Some were
make believe, but the others…what about the others? Meditation
can take us back to them.
SPIRIT HELPERS
Our Spirit Helpers are there to guide us down a path that will
bring us to our spirituality and its
development. They strive to inspire our interests too…it’s
a way to steer us to discoveries. They
are our teachers and Guides of the highest order.
How long ago was it that someone tried to shut that door on
you, lock it, and toss away the key?
It doesn’t matter, you have your own set of keys; we all
do. And the stages of spiritual
development are there behind locked doors…it takes using
your keys…your senses…your
internal radar…to find those doors and unlock them for
yourself. Your Spirit Helpers are waiting
to assist you with that.
Sometimes we have to become our own spiritual locksmith. Learning
how to read our senses, to
understand our own personal symbology, and to understand our
place amid the elemental forces
will be part of our course of study too. Those are each doorways
to other dimensions.
You will explore many dimensions and learn to recognize them
and your Spirit Helpers will
guide you through this. To get to these Guides takes time and
practice and so there will often be
exercises. They build those spiritual muscles and bring your
abilities to the surface. Learn to love
those exercises and explore them a bit to find which ones *you*
like best. What works for some
doesn’t always work for another so don’t get discouraged,
keep trying, if it doesn’t work after a
fair go at one exercise look around for another.
You can ask questions of others, ask how they do it, what their
little ‘tricks’ are to jiggle things
for yourself and get that lock to open. Learning what works
for you is part of the process
too…again you will need patience, it can’t be forced
or rushed, it comes when it comes. You’ll
find yourself far less frustrated that way. And please understand
that we are all a little different
and jiggling is part of this.
ENERGY WORK
Energy work is something that many people perceive initially
as hyper-fluff…nonsense,
impossibility, or at the least an improbability. Perhaps they
see it as something someone else can
do or experience but not themselves. Fear, doubt, denial…those
create some rusty locks. The
truth is it is very powerful work and it does produce validating
results. We don’t have to fear
what’s natural to the physical aspects of life. They exist,
and they have a spiritual nature as well
as a physical nature.
There are waves of energy in the air that we can’t see
with the physical eye, waves we can see
(or hear) with highly sensitive technical equipment developed
by science. But think about
it…science develops tools through the mimicry of life…and
we are living beings…we have our
own equipment…our senses. Attuning those senses to the
energy around us we soon come to
discover that it has a signature…one that can tell us what
kind of energy we’re dealing with. In
studying energy signatures we learn to read environments, events,
and other people.
All energy carries information…much like a telephone wire
carries the energy of our voices from
one person to another across the miles. Information coming in
and going out is conveyed through
this invisible energy…well invisible to the ‘sharp
eye’…it’s ‘visible’ to the ‘soft
eye’…you can
learn to see it.
We are physical creatures so we tend to take a lot of that for
granted until the hairs at the back of
our necks stand up and we get the goosebumps that make us feel
so uncomfortable. Then we start
looking around for what’s going on…again with the
sharp eye. But it’s the internal radar we’re
heeding and it’s the soft eye we need to look through.
We use this energy to weave with, and learning to tap into it
is some of the early work for
everyone no matter what tradition they are coming from or beginning
to explore. The forces of
nature move things. We can learn to work with them. As we learn
how to do that we learn how to
run that energy through ourselves and weave it. We learn to
direct it with our intent and why we
work it, how it is used to serve the needs of the path we are
walking and co-creating our vision
upon…how we weave it is how we ‘walk our talk’…and
in this way we come to serve others as
well.
Energy is the way we communicate spiritually on all levels so
we come to understand how its
spiritual laws operate. Exploration is necessary to experience
these alternate realities and come to
understand them. Through experience we gain wisdom in using
this energy, wisdom we can later
share with others. Seeking knowledge is only the first step,
experiencing it is the test and the skill
we develop as we go.
Relaxation aids us in tapping that receptivity of energy clearly.
We relax so much we begin to go
inward and project our focus outward from there. It’s the
inner work that is our foundation
though and that’s where it all begins…with us. Those
steps into meditation will be foundational
in our achieving accuracy with the energy we call upon. First
things first and we start with
ourselves.
In learning to meditate we’re learning to focus our concentration
so later on it becomes a
valuable tool as we engage in different stages/levels of conscious
awareness. It’s a tool that
allows us to work on spiritual levels to weave that energy for
healing, protection, manifestations,
and limitless other intentions to assist ourselves and others
in countless ways. To get ‘there’ from
‘here’ takes time and practice and meditation is key
to working with energy, learning to
understand guidance, to understand symbology, to gain enlightenment,
develop our skills,
practice them, hone them, and learn to use them.
PRACTICE EXERCISES
How you practice the exercises that will strengthen your skills
will relate to how fast you
develop them. Daily meditation is recommended in just about
every tradition I’ve explored. If
you try to meditate once or twice a month you’re not going
to get very far, it takes practice and it
takes consistency or you’ll be continually starting over.
To meditate we have to develop a habit, a routine, a daily ritual
that allows us to learn to quiet
our busy minds and that’s not always an easy task. The
mind thinks it’s in control and you have
to exercise your willpower over it. It may mean addressing yourself
aloud and firmly, it may
mean continually bringing your point of focus back on track
when it wanders.
Eventually the mind starts to cooperate and you’ll find
you make progress. Meditation is about
becoming quiet, so we can listen to the whispers from our Inner
Spirit and the spirit world. There
are many different meditation exercises to choose from and you
may find that you’re exploring
them for a while too. Find what works for you and then you can
begin going to the next level of
guided visualization.
Explore different exercises. Do not see them as ‘work’
you don’t want to do. They are the tools
of the trade the spiritual locksmith is going to employ and
you need to learn to use them.
Exercises are vehicles, each one a taxi that will take you where
you need to go. Hail that cab!
Where will it take you though? Gosh! It’s taking you on
a tour of the elemental realms of Air,
Fire, Water and Earth…more lessons in each, so many lessons.
The elemental forces are iatrical
aspects of understanding how the universe and natural world
function…they are the sensory
aspects of spirituality and it’s in understanding them
we come to understand our own nature as
well. Do your homework here, they are the cornerstones of all
knowledge that will follow.
Some of the early exercises you will encounter have to deal
with centering and grounding…our
next topic.
CENTERING AND GROUNDING
We hear these terms often used interchangeably, however they
are two different processes. Do
not get them confused. Centering initiates the meditative state
that takes us into our higher
awareness, alters our state of consciousness, and we slip into
various levels of trance this way.
We use this to go ‘out there’ dimensionally and spiritually
and it alters the state of our physical
presence to do this. We get more ethereal and our Inner Spirit
surfaces to assist us.
Grounding brings us back into the physical environment and helps
us anchor ourselves by
‘coming back to earth’ so to speak. It brings us back
to our physical body. It allows us to restore
our balance in the mundane sense and to feel our equilibrium
become intact once again.
In the process of Centering we go within as I’ve implied
with the meditative state of energy
work, and from there we Center ourselves amid the dimensional
realms of the elemental forces.
Initially those realms are explored individually. So again there
is work to be done
there…learning to understand what these forces are, what
their realms are like, how they are
inhabited, finding our Guides in each of these realms, and learning
to connect to them on a level
of conscious awareness…more foundational insight that takes
us deeper into the spirit worlds.
Through meditation and visualizations we learn to map our way.
Through Centering and
Grounding we move outward and return.
Along with this, I learned to Center myself between the three
worlds…the axis of the Below
World/past, Middle World/present, Above World/future. Along
with the four elemental forces of
Air, Fire, Water, and Earth we create a center point within
us that taps the Seven Sacred
Directions and we become one with them. (See articles in the
Medicine Wheel Library for more
information on the elemental forces.)
It’s in that ‘center’ that we tap into the energy
of Spirit/Creator and walk safely in good
company. We breathe them in and take them to the core of our
being, we merge and unite with
them…we breathe to Center and it is from there that everything
else unfolds for if we breathe in
we must also exhale, and with that exhale we release our intent
and project it…our spirit moves
forward. Breathing is a spiritual form of walking into dimensional
realms if you will.
What happens if you don’t center and ground? Oh stars!
Try disorientation, physical symptoms
of illness, scattered energy and a whole slew of complications
that can begin to set in for you. Do
learn to center, and learn to ground yourself again. It’s
not simply some form of rigmarole or
nonsense, it’s important to your well-being and development.
Learn to center, and learn to
ground. There are articles in our main library on these topics.
BREATH CONTROL, GUIDANCE AND GUIDED VISUALIZATION EXERCISES
Along with meditation come the breathing exercises. Many people
feel this is a waste of time but
proper breathing helps us relax both consciously and unconsciously
and we learn methods of
control, discipline, and if we are determined to succeed we
will continue to practice until we do.
It allows us to enter into various levels or states of trance
to accomplish the work we strive to
achieve. Lessons along this line help us discover that our muscles
relax taking us to an ideal state
of semi-trance to meditate in.
From meditation we begin our journey into guided visualizations
and that’s when we encounter
our Guides and Spirit Helpers on a face to face basis as we
learn to establish working
relationships with them. None of which is going to happen overnight
obviously, and all of which
you have probably been doing your whole life on an unconscious
level.
Anyone can tap their spiritual awareness, no one is going to
be left out; it’s just harder for some
than others depending on when they began becoming aware of their
abilities and working with
them. (A little secret: If you can daydream you can achieve
guided visualization, it’s the same
thing only it’s taken a step further….see how natural
this is?)
You’ll hear some say they’ve ‘always done this’
(describing some ability) and for them it’s quite
natural while someone else trying to do the same thing may have
worked at it for months or
years. We’re all different in the strength of our abilities,
they’re like muscles and the more you
use them the stronger they become, but we are all equal in the
capability to utilize our sensory
perceptions. Those senses you take so for granted are key elements
to spiritual growth and
development….tools of the trade for the Spiritual Locksmith.
Doubt, fear, limited acceptance of what is being presented all
lock the doors for us. Learn to set
those aside and to be willing to open your mind to other perspectives…all
you need is a little
more room to do that. All you have to do is accept that there
is potential for more. The rest will
take care of itself.
GUIDED VISUALIZATION
Having honed your meditation skills the next step is to use
your ability to daydream, to soften
your gaze and let the visions overlay the physical environment.
Most of us can do this easily by
remembering an experience or place we’ve visited in the
past that impressed itself on our mind.
We can project our focus ‘back’ to that time and bring
it back with us into the present. We can
focus on the ‘Now’ of the moment, as we wish we were
elsewhere and suddenly we’re seeing
ourselves doing something else, interacting with a different
group or another individual, doing
something that would be more appealing to us. We daydream. We
can project our focus into the
future as we set goals and see ourselves achieving them.
Focus, projection, time-travel, dimensional work all begins
to merge here and it is at this juncture
that we take that next step. We step beyond our imaginations
into the imagery of the spiritual
realities and we find ourselves ‘somewhere’ we’ve
never been. Where are we?
Well this is when the study of the elemental forces, their realms
and inhabitants come into play
to assist us in orienting ourselves. By understanding the attributes
and natures of the elemental
forces we begin to place ourselves accordingly and we begin
to create a mental map of where we
are being taken.
Guides begin to appear and interact with us. We question the
validity, walk on tender feet as we
come to trust them, face our fears as they challenge our intentions
and wake us up. This is when
we begin to explore the Three Worlds and see how past, present,
and future do merge as one.
The Spiritworld is not on a clock, it’s not on a calendar,
it’s a combination of all this and it’s all
One. Learning to merge with spiritual dimensions we learn about
the Oneness of Spirit…we
learn how to walk between the worlds.
In learning to creatively visualize our goals and desires we
learn to co-create them and manifest
them in the physical sense. That creation is seeded in the spiritual
realm, in the realm of
conceptualization, it’s stimulated and initiated through
our visualization skills. We need to hold
the image in mind, feed it with our concentration, with our
focus, with our intent. We need to act
on it too; we need to love it and nurture it and be patient
as it comes into being…something that
can often happen instantly, and just as often take quite some
time to unfold.
Exercises are the practice arena to honing our skills in developing
this ability, we learn as we go;
our sensory muscles grow stronger, we can do more with them.
The more we use them the more
we evolve and the more we can accomplish but we have to start
somewhere…somewhere small
until we get a feel for it.
We have to start with the intent to be conscientious about what
we focus on, non-intrusive to
others, we work on ourselves first…and always for the good
of the whole. If we’re going to
make a mistake it’s better to make it there and correct
it than try to chase it in someone else’s life
and hope we find it. Once we learn to do that we can serve others,
but we learn first to serve
ourselves and fill our own needs. We have no right to practice
on someone else.
As we advance with our ability to journey through visualization
we learn to project on astral
levels …to move into the dimensions and walk through them.
This can be a projection of the
mind or the spirit and it leads to study along the lines of
astral travel or shamanic flight, it leads
to remote viewing, it leads to shapeshifting, merging and all
the aspects of those arenas that one
needs to study.
You don’t need ointments, you don’t need drugs, you
don’t need substances…all you need is
yourself. The substances can make it easier at first but they
can also cripple you; they can cost
you your life—or your freedom since most of them are illegal.
It’s just not worth the risk and is
far better to learn to do it on your own. You are far better
off learning to walk on your own two
legs than with a set of crutches. If you’re having trouble
simply post a question, take someone’s
hand and steady yourself, but avoid the substance use, it has
many pitfalls to it.
THE DREAM LODGE
Perhaps you naturally are active in your DreamWalking, aware
and attuned to it. Others may not
be so attuned and our Dreams often become intensified once we
develop our meditative and
visionary skills. Along with that intensification will come
another door…a door where we step
into what many call sacred dreams or ‘lucid dreaming’.
We move beyond the average dream
seeing ourselves in various situations and experiences to the
active role of experience itself. It’s
the difference between watching yourself on a video or simply
being filmed for that video.
This shift leads us to a door of study that unfolds lessons
along the lines of dream recall,
interpretation of symbols, and into the messages that are encapsulated
there. We find we are just
as active in the Dream Lodge as we are in our daily lives and
there is just as much schooling and
information there as there is in the physical reality…sometimes
more.
Our Guides are very at home in this arena and will come to us
there to teach us many things. In
fact some Guides prefer to introduce themselves in the Dream
Lodge first. They stand out in
unusual ways, have a glow or look about them that is subtle
to radiant and we need to learn to
detect them.
In the Dream Lodge we not only receive lessons and experiences
but messages to guide us as
well. With these messages we face more uncertainty. What if
we got it wrong? How can we take
that message and embrace it? Well that brings us to issues of
trust again, we have to learn to hold
that message and watch to see it unfolding and validating itself
at first. Therein we find our
validations over time and we delve deeper into that trust as
they present themselves.
Pretty soon we find we’re acting on that guidance and relying
on the accuracy because we’ve
learned to trust what we’re shown. This too takes practice
and patience as it develops.
One thing leads to another and there are multi-leveled layers
that interweave as we develop our
spiritual natures and learn what an enhancement they are to
our lives in the process. Again we
are learning to walk between the worlds as One.
INTUITION
Intuition comes from our senses going off like radar, we ‘feel’
this or that is right or wrong or
coming into being. It’s our way of discerning that what
we feel is about to manifest in some
aspect of life and then it really happens. How we respond to
that will depend on the level of trust
in ourselves that we’ve achieved.
If we second-guess ourselves we often find in hindsight that
we’re saying “I knew that was going
to happen!” We just as often regret not trusting that impression.
That’s intuitive impression,
that’s insight, that’s our sensory impressions telling
us what’s going on around us. It’s a primal
aspect of being human, and one we all too often ignore or take
for granted. It’s a powerful tool,
one that we can hone very effectively and use, one that Spirit
uses to communicate with us, one
our Inner Spirit uses to communicate with us, one our Guides
use to communicate with us. Our
senses trigger our nervous system and we physically react to
them. This means we need to learn
what they are really saying…and how they function.
Think about it and you will see that you get a ‘gut feeling’
when something is going to go wrong.
When there’s a threat you’ll feel the hairs at the
back of your neck standing up. When you
shouldn’t speak or are afraid to speak there’s a fist
in your throat. When you’re about to do
something wrong or enter a challenging situation you’ll
feel a knot in your stomach. Perhaps
you’ll feel cold when there is danger present and warm
when there is protection around you or
love enfolding you. You’ll smell something foul when something’s
not right or it won’t ‘ring
true’. You’ll have a hunch you should or shouldn’t
do something…hunches, we all know about those.
Clairsentience begins to surface…the clarity of the senses
and with that a heightening awareness
of what our senses are telling us. It takes time to focus that
awareness and learn to decipher the
sensory input but when all senses are operative we combine them
as a single tool and we step
from 5 to 6…the Sixth Sense of the psychic is going to
present itself as that combination put to use.
We’re all capable of being active in a psychic sense, no
one is more capable than another, but
some have developed their muscles more through practice and
use. If you practice you can be
just as skilled as the next person. It just means you need to
practice and learn to trust what you
are picking up.
We all make errors in judgment as we learn to do this and as
the validations come we learn to
jiggle things into place. “Oh, it wasn’t that way
it was this way! I see. Okay, next time that
happens I’ll know better.” Learn to anticipate something
will unfold and do not fall into the trap
of expecting it to unfold in a specific manner. When we receive
an impression or message it is
often symbolic and will manifest in a similar scenario that
is close to what we were shown. So
it’s through trial and error, through testing ourselves,
through experience we learn to hone our
skills in deciphering.
In this process we find ourselves entering into the realms and
lessons sensory perceptions bring
us to: perceptions rise, awareness becomes conscious, auric
fields come into view, telepathic
abilities begin to manifest, clarity of the individual senses
becomes pronounced and we find
where we are strong and where we are weak and we use our strengths
to overcome or support our
weaknesses. We begin to take those sensory impressions further
and further, and they grow with
us as we use them.
MERGING THE PHYSICAL REALITY WITH THE UNIVERSAL
The laws of the spiritual realms are different than the laws
of the physical reality. They are no
different than any other cultural differentiations we need to
consider however. Spiritual or
universal law is the law of nature, not humanity but of the
elemental forces, the dimensional
realms, of universal truths and the collective consciousness
that is contained within the body of
Spirit/Creator.
We’re like the cells within that body so we are able to
be affected by the neurological messaging
system and tapping into that information so that we can function
better. The laws of the universe
are going to be defined by the very nature of the elemental
forces and the entities that inhabit
them can teach us their ways when we go to them with respect
and sincerity.
Exploration of the elemental realms is a journey through another
door, several doors, leading to
lessons that are invaluable in understanding how the universe
functions and what our role in it is.
We will find there are Guides in each dimensional realm that
will teach us far more than any
person can. As we come to know these Guides we develop a relationship
with them, develop
levels of trust and we find ourselves in the presence of the
greatest teachers there are.
These beings, comprised of pure energy, have the ability to
shapeshift, to manifest themselves in
many guises, and we learn to recognize how that’s done,
and to our benefit, how we can do that
too. We begin to find we are capable of many things, and through
their teachings we can interact
and merge and become One so that we can function appropriately.
Here we begin to learn about shamanic journeys and shamanic
flight. We learn about
shapeshifting, merging, and projection of our spirit.
Our spirit is pure energy too, it can change form just as any
other energy can change form, and
with focus we can learn to do just that…change our form
of being, shift it, project it, and work
with it to accomplish things that are beyond the physical limitations
of the human body. We need
to shift to our spiritual body to do that and with practice
we learn to apply the universal laws that
govern how that works.
Understanding universal laws gradually as we explore these realms
means that we soon come to
respect and honor them. We see where they can be abused and
that through abuse there will be
consequences to pay. We see where they can be helpful and through
helping there will be
blessings we receive or bestow. We see where they can be applied
to co-create with the spiritual
aspects of life, and through that application manifestation
of the spiritual into the physical takes
place. Wow! Now we’re delving into what the shaman calls
“Medicine” or others call
“Magick”…fascinating stuff!
The relationship between the physical and spiritual reality
begins to merge, the lines of division
fade, our perception embraces both, and once again we walk deeper
between the worlds.
In this process we come to know our shadow nature facing our
strengths and weaknesses to learn
about our integrity and hone that too. Our ethics begin to surface
into our conscious awareness in
a broader sense and the universal aspects of life take on deeper
meaning. We learn about our
intentions, our integrity, our impeccability…the 3 I’s
you will hear me talking about time and
time again. We learn through seeing ourselves in this way how
to grow and improve and we
learn to see into others on this level. Our discernments become
more enhanced in this way and
our awareness increases yet again.
In this awareness we begin to see the weaving of others who
come in and out of our lives, the
significance of why this happens, the shadow and the light weaving
themselves to create texture
and vibrancy, to lead us into and out of experiences that help
us grow or lead us into situations
where we are called upon to help someone. We begin to recognize
that everything happens for a
reason and our awareness increases again. We walk deeper between
the worlds as One…seeing
both the shadow and the light, the spiritual and the physical
laws that apply and we learn to
balance with them.
PATHWALKING AND PATHWORK
It is at this point we come to start to see the direction our
path is taking us…whether we’re
guided to be a Healer, Teacher, LoreKeeper, a Minister, or some
other aspect of spiritual
assistance, perhaps combinations of these or other gifts to
share…the path begins to define itself
according to our nature and we see where we are called to serve.
We begin to recognize the path we are taking and the purpose
of walking it. For some individuals
past life recall is an important factor in the path they are
walking and that may be another door to
be unlocked. For others there will be an existing awareness
of these past lives and the
continuation of the journey ahead is understood. For some it
won’t be an issue, but it is one of
the arenas that will often come into play here.
Certainly the arena of evolution is a factor upon the path we
take through life. That evolution is a
combination of mind, body, emotion, and spirit in union as we
raise our consciousness and
expand our self-awareness into universal proportions. We begin
to see the ‘big picture’ and our
role in it. Purpose becomes defined not only for ourselves but
for the services we can provide to
others as we strive to assist those who follow behind us to
get their footing by sharing what
we’ve learned…where to step so to speak.
The lessons here are often involving past life recall, lead
into astrology, different means of
divination, palmistry, numerology, and a whole host of other
areas of study. We find ourselves
drawn into them out of curiosity, intrigue, out of need, or
some nudge that gets us to explore
things deeper, wider and more intensely.
If they grab us, if they ignite our passion for more we follow
those teachings to see where they
lead us…one often leading to another. What we need does
unfold in that process and we may
retain some things that we can pass onto others, but what we
hold close to heart will be the
lessons we need for our own development. Once the lessons are
honed we will be able to share
them with others…as our own teachings and methods of stepping
through life as we walk our
path. In this process we discover our abilities growing, our
gifts and talents that we can use to
serve others with as we become our own tool.
TOOLS
If you are interested in tools and their construction and purpose
please see the articles in the
Main Reference Library on this subject. All I am going to address
here is the first lesson I
learned about tools in general. One of my Medicine Teachers
long ago taught me that while we
can fashion tools and imbue them with life in a co-creative
process, when it comes down to the
bottom line we are our own tool…all we need is us. The
rest is merely enhancement.
I’ve found this to be very true. Some of the most pressing
circumstances I’ve faced and the
greatest challenges encountered came at times where my ‘tools’
were inaccessible. All I had was
myself so with the knowledge of my ‘self’ I knew how
to respond and call upon my ability to
perform.
However, tools come into play along the way too and the path
brings us to them, we will find we
are shown what we need, why, and how to acquire it or it just
comes to us in the physical sense
as a gift or ‘found’ object.
Tools are props to help us focus, but they are also powerful
instruments, like the tools of the
surgeon who applies knowledge to their work. Spiritual tools
are often imbued with the power of
a Spirit Helper and take on a life of their own through construction,
ceremony of consecration,
and use. The more we use them the more potent they become. A
relationship develops and with
that a level of communication. Tools will call to us to use
them at times and we need to heed
that.
For instance, if someone utilizes a Drum in a sacred manner
the Drum will call to the individual
to play it. When the individual responds the relationship and
harmony that is present opens a
door to dimensional travel and with that a journey may take
place, a message be delivered, a
healing of some sort may be called for either for the person
or someone else. In this manner we
become a Hollow Bone and we answer that summons in service to
Spirit. We allow ourselves to
be used in this way because we’ve learned to trust our
guidance and the Guardian Spirits that
walk with us. In this way we walk our path, serve it, and gather
what we need as we go. But the
most important tool you will ever have is yourself.
THE DREAMWEAVE
Over time walking our path leads us to see the DreamWeave…the
purpose for which we came
into the physical body to experience life and grow in that process.
The DreamWeave is the
Dream we are given in visions and through the connection to
our Inner Spirit…its journey if you
will. It takes us beyond the physical self to the spiritual
self that is evolving. The DreamWeave is
the vision of what we are to learn and accomplish during this
lifetime and beyond. It is the path
we are walking and why we are walking it.
As the DreamWeave becomes more evident the clarity of the path
ahead does too, we begin to
find our conviction in walking our talk and doing what must
be done. We often feel a call to
serve that path in some manner, certainly we will be called
to pursue it and explore all that it
holds. We begin to see the interactions with those who will
cross our path dimensionally as well
as physically…how they contribute to the manifesting of
that Dream or the lessons we need to
assist us in moving ahead…and in this embracing interaction
we become the Dreamer instead of
the Dreamed. Then things really start to happen.
Once we learn what it is to be the Dreamer we begin weaving
a co-creative tapestry with Spirit
and our Inner Spirit and we have the awareness of the inner
Knowing to guide us along. We
know what is right for us, what isn’t, and why. This is
often something that comes at a crucial
point in time, alters our lives forever, and determines the
future.
In the DreamWeave we see where we are heading and we begin to
discern who we are walking
with. We can only maintain the relationships that support that
journey. We cannot walk with
those who are going in another direction so we find that we
walk with those who lead the way,
with those who share a similar path, and with those who are
discovering things about the places
we’ve been…those who reach out for a hand to steady
themselves. We evolve, rise up and learn
to walk a higher road.
As our conscious awareness becomes heightened we see who to
keep company with and who is
heading into lessons we have either experienced or don’t
need to experience. We begin to
understand why people come and go from our lives, how they touch
us and how we touch them.
We see the ‘big picture’ there too, and in that understanding
we come to trust and accept the
meetings, partings, and those who test our discernments…we
become tolerant.
Serving the DreamWeave, manifesting the Dream we hold, and walking
a path of conviction in
doing so, we apply our gifts, talents, knowledge, and abilities
to do so…we come to see how we
can fulfill our purpose and accomplish all we came to do in
the most appropriate manner. This
awareness does not come ‘too late’ or ‘too soon’
but at the appropriate time. There is no need to
feel panic if you do not hold that purpose in mind just yet.
It will come when it is meant to. For
some that awareness is there from birth, for others it comes
later and for some there is a seeking
of the vision…the Vision Quest comes into play.
However that vision is presented, it is part of our DreamWeave
and it can only manifest itself
when we feel it in the core of our spirit, when we fully embrace
it and live our life with that
purpose…when we learn to walk our talk and our path with
that conviction. The Dream becomes
our reality, and in that it alters the course of our life. As
we embrace it we find all the pieces start
to assemble themselves, the picture expands over time, we see
the guidance that is there to assist
us in accomplishing our goals and direct the course we follow.
We are never alone, but it is up to
us alone to accept this universal truth.
IN CONCLUSION
Learning about spirituality and all the multiple facets it holds
is a process, and processes take
time. The excitement of discovery is wonderful, it fuels our
passions, drives us to explore, and it
can lead to impatience. Patience is something we are always
cultivating, even those of us who
are well-seasoned on our paths need patience. *Soft smile* So
relax, find your pace and keep it
steady as you go. There will be times when growth comes fast
and hard and times when it is
painstakingly slow…learn to move with the pace rather than
fight it.
Developing your spiritual awareness is something that is constantly
growing and there is no end
to what can be accomplished, no end to the lessons, we are always
evolving. It all has to start
somewhere though and if you’ve found your way to Spirit
Lodge you’ve found a good starting
point. The resource libraries are filled with articles. The
community is filled with experience and
knowledge to share. Your questions are welcome, and no question
is foolish. We may direct you
to articles to read or books that cover topics that would be
more comprehensive for your initial
understanding but we will not turn away from your questions.
Please feel free to ask questions,
don’t be shy, it’s why we gather here…to share
and grow
together.
Get to know the Spiritual Locksmith inside you, there are so
many doors waiting to be opened
and you have a fine set of keys. Learn to use them, and learn
to use the tools of the trade…your
senses. Make sense? *Soft smile.*
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Libraries
are on this row
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INDEX
Page 3
(Main Section, Medicine Wheel, Native Languages &
Nations, Symbology)
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INDEX
Page 5
(Sacred Feminine & Masculine, Stones & Minerals)
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Text:
© Copyright: Cinnamon Moon & River WildFire Moon
(Founders.) 2000-date
All rights reserved.
Site
constructed by Dragonfly
Dezignz 1998-date
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