Spirituality begins with belief, a spiritual individual choses to remain unconstrained by devotion to a particular religion. A religious person, on the other hand, chooses to be guided by established beliefs and established canon scripture, this gives the believer a sense of belonging to a group and unifies them with a group identity. The spiritual person choses to be open minded and does not judge the belief system of others, or, for that matter, their own!
Some in the spiritual camp may avoid any particular way of looking at the deity all together. But, learning about these common belief systems may help us all to better understand one another.
First, there are mono-theists: Belief in one deity, it could be either one God (God the Father), one Goddess, or a being without gender, like the native American “Great Spirit”. Many in the western world have been taught that the “One God” concept came from the Abrahamic traditions (Jewish/Islamic/Christian traditions), but it may predate them instead. Mono-theism was part of ancient hinduism going back over 10,000 years. Hinduism teaches that there is one God with many faces (or aspects).
There are duo-theists, they believe in yin and yang, light and dark, male and female prime movers of the universe. Cerrunos and Ceridwen are an example. Isis and Osirus, Like the principal of potential and ground in electricity the two energies move against and through each other. In the wake of the interplay of the God and the Goddess creation happens and creative destruction occurs.
Poly-theists believe in many Gods and Goddesses, here there are usually a pantheon of divine beings who each have a specific job to do in order to maintain the balance of the world.
Lastly, there are animists who believe that there are no individual gods, but that the divine is present in everything. The rocks and trees, animals, rivers, mountains, oceans, air, fire, earth and all parts of nature have divinity contained within them. Many animists also believe in a unifying force behind everything…which seems like the rudimentary belief in one God!
Lastly, are those who do not believe in any God at all, they may believe in natural law, may believe that the divine is present in everything (like animists) but that there is no overarching being or energy that connects everyone and everything. A-theists or A-gnostics think that the Universe of governed by laws of physics and that man is governed by ethics and social contracts without the need for any Being overseeing the checks and balances.
Armed with a basic understanding of the terminology of spirituality we can develop a common vocabulary, which is necessary for creating and improving dialogue. When we learn to communicate with one another we have the opportunity to then work together towards bringing our collective unified dreams into manifestation.
Armed with a basic understanding of the terminology of spirituality we can develop a common vocabulary, which is necessary for creating and improving dialogue. When we learn to communicate with one another we have the opportunity to then work together towards bringing our collective unified dreams into manifestation.
Virtually all of these different belief systems (with the likely exception of A-theists and A-gnostics) also believe in an invisible world that lies beyond our own. Some think our world is only a reflection of that other world. We may find a way to enter into that other world, “where the light is clearer and the true form of everything lives”. We may enter that place in our dreaming, or we could retain the services of a shaman, one who moves freely between the seen and the unseen.
A shaman can teach us how to journey to that other place for ourselves. Transported on the sound of drum or rattle we can enter into that other world, we can see that clearer light with our own inner eye. Entering into that other world we may begin to see this one in a different light. The shaman’s teaching then becomes one of empowerment and grants us a new level of independence (even for A-theists, the power of the mind exists!).
But beware those who would keep you in the dark and keep your answers close to their vest! You should only work with those who are not only willing to show you their cards, but who are also willing to teach you how to shuffle and deal your own hand and from your own deck!
But beware those who would keep you in the dark and keep your answers close to their vest! You should only work with those who are not only willing to show you their cards, but who are also willing to teach you how to shuffle and deal your own hand and from your own deck!
Oh! and one more thing….buy a drum!
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