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SPIRIT
LODGE
LIBRARY
Spiritual
Development
Page
45
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MIRRORING
By CinnamonMoon
Mirroring has many advantages, and
it is a technique that can be used in a variety of ways.
Mirroring a person is a subtle way to make them feel comfortable
with you when first meeting
them. This is done with body posturing and gesturing. If you
were sitting across the table from
one and other and the person were to lean in on an elbow resting
their chin on their hand, you
would do the same. Mimicking their actions they see a similarity
in you and begin to relax. This
is done in mundane situations, but it is also done in spiritual
situations and can be quite effective
in establishing neutral ground. This technique has been used
by salespeople, therapists, doctors,
and many other professionals to great advantage.
Now while the term here is clearly something that is in reference
to a well-worn practice, the
mirroring I want to discuss is that of the spiritual aspects
in examining the lessons we are being
given or, accordingly, the situations we find ourselves facing.
If you are looking at a mirror you
are looking at a reflection of yourself. You see what the world
sees...the physical reality of the
Self. However, by going "into the mirror" the perspective
changes. Things are reversed. Imagine
yourself doing this, turning around and looking back out much
as Alice in the Looking Glass.
The mirror then becomes a window to the world and from this
perspective the spiritual nature
stands out to us through the law of opposites.
When we can mirror in this way we begin bringing the two worlds
together, merging them if you
will, and working from between them for the mirror itself then
becomes the Key. That mirror can
be physical or it can be an image in your mind. It takes little
space either way, and is a tool
readily available to all of us. We just need to jiggle the perspective
on its use. When things are
seen from a spiritual perspective the reality of the situation
and the understanding that comes
through are much clearer than if we stay in the physical situation.
Imbedded in the physical reality (which is illusion because
it holds us to our perceptions) we are
limited by the situation. Stepping back or into the mirror (the
intangible spiritual perspective
through which we attain our clarity) we are able to see things
differently. It is through us that the
spiritual aspects of anything are brought into manifestation
by acting on them. When confusion
or disorientation occur we need to step out of the situation,
turn around, and look at it differently
to diffuse our frustrations, emotions, or thoughts and neutralize
them. Through the physical and
spiritual balance in our perspectives things fall into place.
We find patience, peace of mind, and
answers....balance, merging, enlightenment.
Mirrors have long been used in many ways and this is just one
of them. They can be used as
scrying tools, as meditation tools, as a means of getting to
know our Guides who will manifest
themselves superimposed on our reflections and come forth in
this way. Mirrors can be used as
the "Great Smoking Mirror" of inner reflection and
getting to know the true Self within us.
(Please see the article on Mirror Introspection for details
on this.)
Whatever your need, the mirror itself can become a very valuable
tool and serve you in many
ways. Be it physical or symbolic, it is a powerful key to hold.
You may be asking yourself how
to go "into" a mirror. It's not difficult. It is done
through visualization and the same techniques
that would be applied to a guided imagery session or shamanic
journey work...or simply gazing
into it a shift takes place that puts you on the Otherside.
Intent will bring it about. I've stepped
into mirrors many times for this purpose, just as I step into
the Tarot cards when doing readings
for someone. It's stepping into the environment of the situation
or image presented and letting
your senses feel what it's like so that you can describe it
to others or to yourself. Through the
sensory input we see, taste, touch, hear, or smell that environment
and we bring those
impressions together as a whole to impress ourselves with the
reality we are experiencing.
The mundane world is known for its gravitational pull on objects,
on the physical body, on all
that exists to hold it in place. But rarely do we perceive that
pull as being on our minds too. It is.
It holds the illusion that the physical reality is all there
is...until you start experiencing the
spiritual reality itself and begin to embrace that, the physical
is the only tangible thing you know.
Beyond that it is only theory until you have your first experience
and begin to delve deeper.
Mirroring helps you do that. Experience is what allows us to
know things, and we must
experience the spiritual reality in life to know it for ourselves.
That’s when we stop believing in
possibility and accept its intangible reality. In essence it's
the difference between the physical
body and its shadow...that shadow contains as much essence as
we do, we just place less value
on it. Through experience the spiritual becomes important to
us, we embrace it, we own it, and in
that we know we are a part of that too. In the process you learn
to bring the two realms together,
the physical and the spiritual are able to be seen for yourself.
They are two sides of the same
mirror/coin. They reflect the way we receive or project in life.
The day/physical reality of
projection through life, and the night/spiritual reality of
receiving enlightenment through the
process of opening ourselves to it. Suddenly the things we start
to see broaden our horizons, open
our narrow minds, and we begin to see that the world we thought
we knew is much larger, it's
cosmic, and it's merely a reflection of all that is...a small
shard of mirror.
There's an old story that I was told long ago, lengthy, and
for the sake of brevity I'll simply share
the gist of it. I carry a little mirror in my wallet to this
day to remind me of it. Mirrors reflect
light, and there are many shadows in the world, many levels
of shadow that need light cast into
them. By catching the sun in a mirror we can reflect that light--into
an issue, onto an object, or to
help someone see things. Casting light into darkness with a
tiny shard of mirror can enlighten
you to many things, allow you to touch lives in amazing ways,
and let others see too. Hopefully
this article is going to serve that purpose. We can all be a
light for others or a source of light for ourselves.
To step into the mirror one needs to focus on the perspective
that is desired, the mind
automatically follows the train of thought you hold. If your
mind drifts away in the process
simply refocus that thought and you'll enter the mirror just
as you enter a daydream. Images and
visions will show themselves to you, Guides will come forth
to either impress you with insights
of enlightenment or reveal themselves through visions to help
you understand better what's
taking place. It's not a complicated process at all, but we
tend to complicate it with the thoughts
we hold. It's a foreign concept to most of us, after all, mirrors
are for putting on makeup,
combing our hair, checking our reflections to see that our grooming
is appropriate or needs
adjustment. Taking it a step beyond that seems to cause us to
immediately think it a complex
process. If you can daydream you can do this, it's really taking
that technique a step further and
turning it into a tool of reflection...reflecting life, the
spiritual reality, and understanding in the process.
This article is not long. In fact it's so short that I trashed
it yesterday thinking it an insignificant
issue that most people would overlook as trivial or find to
be nothing more than dribble. But it's
powerful and I want to thank Earthwalker for making me see that
it is very important. One of her
recent posts served to inspire me to dig through the trash and
retrieve it (I still draft in longhand).
I hope it will inspire some of you to explore this technique,
or at the very least some discussion
of the concept that will lead to that later. Simple is powerful,
and this is definitely a powerful tool.
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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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