Like any P.S. this will be relatively short. First know that vs. (versus) is not intended to be adversarial, it simply means as compared to or with. If you are a devotee of any particular religion and that resonates with you and helps you to be the best person that you can be, then it is right. Your truth is your truth, live it… and allow others to live their truth.
          Now that you know the basics of religion and spiritualism (from the previous 2 blogs) we can do a comparison. Jesus of Nazareth was a wise man with great power, he walked the world in his day bringing teaching and healing to those he met. The Christian religion says, “Jesus was amazing … worship him.”  These religious rituals of worship, will keep you connected to Jesus and through Jesus you will become closer to God. Christian spiritualism says, “Jesus was amazing… now you do it”. Jesus showed us how to be divine; how to live our flesh ruled by our spirit consciousness. He showed us that it is possible to direct the god energy that flows through us to become one with the universe and each other. 
           Religion teaches us that we are weak, while spiritualism teaches
us that we are more powerful than we have ever imagined. Religion separates us from the Divine power/love that is God. Spiritualism is about unifying us with God because that divine energy is already in us. Religion also separates us from each other (that is a carryover from the church politic). Spiritualism unites us with each other; we are one with all of creation because all of creation exists through and from that same divine energy.
          In religious doctrine Jesus is the son of god, apart from and different than any man before or since. In spiritualism Jesus was a teacher / healer who was so highly evolved that he is considered an Ascended Master. There have been many ascended masters whose teachings are worthy of our aspiring to adopt them. 
           I am a Christian- Spiritualist; the ascended master I aspire to most closely follow is Jesus. I walk though each day, living what I call the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) principle. This does not mean I ignore the wisdom of Lao Tzu or Buddha or Mohammed or Gandhi or Dr King or the Dali Lama or any of hundreds of other  teacher / healers who were sent to guide us on the road to our own enlightenment. Many are among us even now… learn what you can and teach what you know; this is how we will move forward with the ascension of  humankind.

Have a Joyous Day

          Last blog I explained that religions are political in as much as they involve the exercise of power and control over the way others behave. I also stated spiritualist communities can become religious. It is a shared philosophy that brings spiritual communities (Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Wiccans, Druids etc...) together and it is the enforcement of behaviours (in and out of church) that turn it into a religion. Let me be clear I am NOT saying religion is bad or good, it is what it is. And it has brought great joy, peace and benefit into billions of lives since the  beginning of time (it has also brought pain, suffering and death). Religion is very preoccupied with the 3rd dimensional world, while to some  extent connecting man with a 4th dimensional understanding. Simply put, the awareness that we have a spirit that goes on post-mortem and what we do here affects our spirit for eternity.
          So, “What is spiritualism?” one would ask. Spiritualism is an acknowledgement of the metaphysical truths at the root of all religions. Wise masters through all time have tried to teach us about these meta-physical truths but (just as Homo Erectus’ brain was not evolved
enough to understand the concept of gravity) our brains were not sufficiently evolved to understand these teachings. Remember how the 3 sided shape of the triangle has always existed as conceptual reality; so too the metaphysical existence of energetic power has always been “out there” waiting for us to be ready to understand it and adopt it into our daily lives.  
          This is a transitioning period for spiritualism (moving into 5th
dimensional awareness & beyond) … growing numbers of people are coming to understand these principles in varying degrees. Spiritualism is becoming integrated with traditional belief systems and over time we will lose the hybrid (I am Christian-Spiritualist) and simply be ONE with a unified consciousness and perhaps exist wholly as spirit beings.  Until then the most important thing we can do is exercise tolerance in letting our
Brothers and Sisters evolve at their own rate. We must always share what we know with others and learn what we can from others.  
          I guess spiritualist believe in energy…All the energies we experience in our 3 dimensional world can be traced back to the transformation of some other energy (think hydro). Eventually we cannot trace it any more we just know that we did not create and cannot destroy energy. Every-thing in spiritualism actually just comes down to that ENERGY… unquantifiable, unqualifiable POWER.  
          We believe there is ONE SOURCE of all existence on, in or through any dimension.  Call it whatever you want God/ Source / Love/ The One, the name does not matter. Perceive that source anyway you wish, now whatever you have come up with expand it; whatever that source energy is, it is beyond our ability to define or imagine. Your perception is no more or less right than mine.  I say God IS love… only because love is the most perfect/ pure expression of energetic power that I can conceive. If I visualize that ENERGY, it is a torrent of explosive light in perpetual flow.
         ENERGY is in everything which exists in every possible dimension.  Every molecule consists of atoms which are held in place by unseen  energy. That is why spiritualists believe that all of creation (everything) is connected…not just intelligence and sentience but everything with a molecule is connected through this ONE energy.    
          We control our environment; physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, by the way we emit our energy into the world. Energy is always moving through us… the way in which we emit energy through our field, effects the nature of the energy coming into our field. You would know this principle as karma or what my granny would call "up-n-cuminz".  You get what you give… and until you change the energy you are emitting the energy coming into your field will not change. This makes us the ultimate and final power in the creation of our own reality. 
           Spiritualists believe that there are consciousness beings (angels & ghosts) existing in non 3 dimensional bodies, which can be contacted and communicated with. Our 3-D bodies exist in a 3-D world but our spirit consciousness lives in all dimensions. Think of it as physical (head)  consciousness and spirit (heart) consciousness…we all experience 
communication between these two at some level; we call it instinct or intuition. Some people who we call psychics, shamans, mediums and the like, enjoy a much more open and direct communication between heart and head consciousness. The good news is if you want, you can open that communication not only within yourself, but extending into the universal consciousness (where all knowledge and truth exists).
          So read the books and listen to the teachers… keep what resonates (feels  right) with you. Trust your spirit to guide you. What is right for your spirit will feel good, what is wrong for you will feel uncomfortable. This is your SPIRITUAL journey; your truth is your truth… and as long as you are DOING NO HARM… you do not owe anyone an apology or explanation. 

Have a joyous day.


 
  

           In Part 1 of this series on religion and spiritualism I spoke of my personal experience with churches and about my new “church”… the Victoria Truth Centre. When I use the term church, I am speaking of any community of people getting together out of a shared philosophy. Today I’m talking about religion, were it comes from; what worked/works and what doesn’t work about it and why.
          I intend to reach back to the very beginning of religion. Before
the big 3 prophets, before Abraham (allegedly the forefather of all of them), I want to go back to prehistoric man (read human-beings for man and spare me all this gender inclusive language crap).  There is no condemnation of historical period or person intended here. We are a work in progress; ever evolving and since crawling out of primordial ooze, we have done the best we can individually and collectively for any given moment (then or now).
          Prehistoric hunter / gatherer clans observed things they could
not explain… fire, flood, famine, eclipses. To explain these things gods were created… invisible super-beings manipulating man’s world. Among things man could not explain was his own nature and behaviour. So many gods were created in the image of man’s various aspects; nurturing, loving, passionate, wrathful, cunning etc… each represented by a different god who controlled or bestowed these traits on man. Ever needing to feel in control, man created rituals by which he hoped to influence the gods. The structuring and ordering of these rituals led to religions.
          By the time ancient (Roman, Greek, Mayan etc etc) civilizations evolved, religious leaders (the people in charge of structuring god appeasement rituals) were now governments. As
trade and wealth evolved and villages begat cities, which begat kingdoms… people (powerful people) wanted control over city government, so theocracies were created. Priests were no longer chosen by the gods, they were appointed by  power brokers. This in large part continues today.
          As city states began warring with each other and empires were being built, it became inconvenient to have many small groups with allegiances to the many different gods; it divided loyalties and divided the coffers. So monotheism was born; one god who carried all the aspects of the old pantheon… this is the god of the old testament, a wrathful, selfish, mean S.O.B. We (as a species) had evolved a long way from the ignorance of our prehistoric cave  dwelling forefathers, but ever a work in progress we had (still have) a long way to go.  At that time religion was political and this continues to various degrees for many centuries to come. 
           Ultimately politics and religion began to separate, becoming more like kissing cousins then the Siamese-Twins they once were. Both continue to be about power and a strange co-dependent sense of service and control. To belong to a religion you must believe exactly what they tell you to believe and practice exactly as they tell you to practice. The older the church (religious order / philosophy) in question the more pronounced is the power and control issue. But humans are a species in progress, as our brains become more highly developed, as our science expands our awareness of the physical universe, so too  our understanding of the metaphysical changes. This is why over the past 100 years or so attendance in established churches has fallen away. What satisfied the imagination of  medieval man does not speak the consciousness of modern man. Any church (even a spiritualist community) can become a religion when it is overtaken by human ego and the need for power and control.
          Some people enjoy the security and structure of established  religious ritual and dogma. Some people enjoy the gothic majesty of old world cathedrals. Some of us enjoy a simple coming together for fellowship and shared learning. The minute you, I or anyone else starts trying to dictate another’s spiritual choices we become what is and always has been wrong with religion. Every person needs to find their own spiritual path and equally allow others to do the same. 

Have a joyous day.


    


    


 

             This blog is going to be a little autobiographical but it is the segway into two more blogs about religion and spiritualism. As more and more people awaken to the awareness that we are spiritual beings having a physical experience; we are seeing an increase in church attendance. We are looking for a place (or way) to nurture this new part of ourselves.  I have always been spiritually aware, and well grounded in my connection with god. Now I am seeking to raise my energetic frequency to the point of Christ Consciousness (become a better person on all dimensional levels).          
           Over my lifetime I have attended many different Christian  denominations, for various reasons. When I was a child my mother sent us to the Methodist Sunday School because it was close enough that she didn’t have to take us and it gave her one morning a week off. Even at the tender age of six or seven, I could not accept the idea of some punishing, vengeful old man being god. As a preteen I went with my friend and her family to the Baptist church…only for about a year then I discovered the United Church.  
          They made the most sense to me, about our relationship to god and the nature of the universe. Even 45 years ago, they were supporting evolution and the idea that science is compatible with religion. They promoted tolerance and acceptance of diversity, in both society and within the church. So they were my church of choice when I was taking my children to church. I may have felt differently if I had known about residential schools back then.           
           But, my beliefs diverge from even this church, in the acceptance of Jesus of Nazareth as the “Son of God” …. This just smacks way too much of pantheistic mythology for my taste.  The United Church was one of the few churches / congregations who didn’t give me a hard time because I never take  communion. This sets them apart, as a very spiritualist friendly church and made them a good match for me at that time. Over the past couple of years my own awakening has taught me that we are spirit and the power of god is in every single one of us. Jesus was a living example of the powerful spirit/body beings we can all become. So now I need churches that will at least allow me to evolve and express my own Christ Consciousness.          
           In Hamilton I went to the East Hamilton Spiritual Church… a small congregation of people who are practicing energy / light work at various levels.  Two elements are unique to spiritualist churches; one is a time during the service for meditation and energy healing work; the second is the mediumship portion of the service, when messages are brought to members of the congregation from the other side.          
           When I arrived in Victoria I was looking for a spiritualist church to
join, so I did a goole search, “Spiritualist Church Victoria”. Three churches
appeared on the list so I set out in Goldilocks fashion to find my new church. I went to the first church on the list. They energy felt wrong the minute I walked in. Then a lady took the microphone and gave us a half a dozen rules on sanctuary behaviour.  The place was crowded, a sea of middle-class white faces. The opening invocation was accompanied by drum & flute (recorded) music… the sound was very Native but I  could not imagine any place my Native brothers and sisters would feel less
welcome than in this church. The service did have circles of healers holding
hands and praying over groups of individuals. Later the two ministers gave readings to about three people in the congregation. After service many people went downstairs for fellowship… here I could meet and chat with others, so in fairness I attended. Coffee and pastries were being sold from behind a counter; the only person to welcome me was the designated greeter. When I asked about their community involvement I found the answer sorely lacking. I will not go back Ever!
           The second week I went to a lovely little service at the second  church on the list. It did not have the healing or mediumship elements of a
spiritualist service, but everyone was friendly and the talk from the pulpit
  echoed spiritualist philosophy. The kind of things you read in these blogs.
So I returned on week three, again a lovely little service. Good energy … the only thing missing was the healing and mediumship. After service I asked the Reverend, why a spiritualist church would skip those two things. She seemed quite surprised that the Truth Centre had come up as a spiritualist church…. “We are a NEW THOUGHT church”. Later I mentioned the mix up to our guest lecturer and he actually seemed offended. So I have looked into the New Thought movement. They are spiritualists, as are many other emerging churches of the last 150 years. The metaphysical truths are uncovered by somebody, they write a book, the book gets a following, followers get together and  VOILE a church is born.  
          At first I thought my being at the Truth Centre was an accident of google but I have come to accept that it was an act of god. This is my new
church community, nice people with a shared philosophy of LOVE, JOY, PEACE and ONENESS.  I guess Spirit of the 8th Fire will have to find a community of practitioners to provide me with eneregtic healing and mediumship... while my own intuitive gift are developing LOL. 

Have a joyous day.

          Last night I watched (online I have no television these days) the first episode of a CBC / DocZone series titled 8TH FIRE: this episode (there are 4) was Indigenous in the City. In spite of the obvious link by theme to this website, I was torn about  whether or not to recommend the program…pan it or just leave it unmentioned to die the quite death of most documentaries. I am recommending it with some  cautionary notes attached. 
         The film opens with an introduction by the host, Wab Kinew… he
explains how the 8th Fire is a time for the coming together of all peoples.  He also tells us No guilt, Just truth. These documentaries are intended to educate the non-Native population about the effects of colonization on the people and their culture. I personally found the content disturbing, very blame ridden and guilt laden. If this approach was unsettling for me and I have a very close relationship with my Native Brothers and Sisters; I can only imagine how alienating it will be for someone who has little exposure to, or understanding of Native culture. In other words, I am afraid this approach will scare away the very people who most need to see these documentaries.   Our Aboriginal / Native/ Indigenous/ NDN/ First Nations people are pissed off and justifiably so. They are literally being held hostage (enslaved) by an antiqated piece of patriarchal legislation, that should have been scraped 100 years ago.
          But if the people interviewed in the 8TH FIRE series are to be taken at their word they are as prejudice toward Whites as they believe Whites are toward them. This anger is misdirected.  During the 1960s when feminism hit its  stride MEN /MALES were being blamed for the ills wroght by patriarchy, in the 1990s we began to recognize patriarchy as a political entity which was unkind to anyone who was not a wealthy landowner. I don’t like seeing First Nations making the same mistake. Colonization and government policies spawned under colonialism are the GUILTY PARTY.  Every colonized people from the beginning of time (regardless of colour) has suffer similarly or been completely wiped out; how many Druids do you know. On a more contemporary note you can look at Palestine for example, shared injustice does not make it any less wrong. Just as the German people were kept in the dark about the holocaust; so the vast majority of Canadians were in the dark about the true nature of and purpose for residential schools. 
           Recently one woman said to me, “I hate Indians”, I looked at her a little bit shocked, and she continued, “it’s o.k. cause they hate us”.   Let me be the first to say, "Hate is NEVER o.k." When stereotypes are challenged, you will hear, what I heard, “Well, sure, but those are the good ones”… what does that even mean? Rest assured I have heard this from Natives as well as Whites. In my Angels of the Road blog, “Deaf No More”,  I talk about the importance of dialogue… of truly coming to know each other after all these centuries.      
          Personally I have supported self-determination for First Nations, for many years; but I had the good fortune to have Native Brothers and Sisters who were kind enough to teach me (no guilt, no blame).  Now when faced with ignorance I take that opportunity to share what I have learned. If non-Natives were just educated about the situation; many more would join the cause of Idle No More. And perhaps if Natives really got to know their White Brothers and Sisters, they would welcome them as partners for change. The spirit has NO colour; Equality, Justice and Freedom belong every Canadian.
          So I recommend you all watch the 8TH FIRE series from CBC… learn what you can and don’t be alienated or frightened by the anti-white  racist rhetoric. Remember, the best way to end racism is to get to know your neighbour; be present, be yourself and be colour-blind.
Have a joyous day. 
 


 
 


 

          We have up until now discussed the first 3 of the Grandfathers’ 7
  Teachings; Wisdom then Love and most recently Respect. Today we will be discussing the fourth teaching which is Bravery or courage.       
Bravery is to face the foe, whether internal or external, with integrity.
In the Anishinaabe language, the word literally means “state of having a
fearless heart.” To do what is right even when the consequences are unpleasant. Other tribes may say strong heart or strong casing… but the meaning is more important than the words chosen to express it. In my words bravery is to, “ALWAYS do what is right, because it is right and for no other reason.” 
          Bravery is often thought of as being a single act; an action solicited by a particular sequence of events. Running into a burning building to save the occupants or giving your coat to a street person (or any one of 1,000 similar scenarios). I refer to these, event driven situations, as heroism or altruism. Given the right circumstances every person has the capacity to be heroic or altruistic. I would without thought dive into a swimming pool to save a child (I would not do the same for a grown man unless he was unconscious); it has to do with the level of strength I perceive would be required for either action. One acts heroically or altruistically because one sees a need and perceives they have the ability to fulfill that need.  Altruism and heroism are both good things in the world of human interaction; but Bravery is something more. Bravery is way of life, a character trait, which is visible in every decision you make and every action you take.           
           Bravery in our physical life, involves going through each day accepting our responsibilities, even when it would be easier not to. Bravery is keeping our word, even when it wasn’t given as a promise. Bravery is to openly love someone, even in those moments when they are being unlikeable.  Bravery is doing the right thing, even when it is unpopular. Bravery is speaking out  against ignorance or injustice, even if you are only speaking to one  person.  Bravery is opening our hearts to others, even knowing there is always a possibility of being hurt.   
          Bravery in our spiritual life, involves following our intuition over our intellect… trusting in our Divinity. Bravery is allowing yourself to see the divinity in others, ALL others…Jesus of Nazareth said, “As you do unto these the least of my brothers, so do you unto me.” Again in that Jamesian English he loved so well. Bravery is moving from moment to moment replacing our fear with compassion. In a society built on greed it takes bravery to live every day from a place of love.  Bravery is trusting in the unity of all energy and knowing that the universe will unfold only in ways that nurture our highest and best good. 
          It is takes a fearless heart to continue walking in faith while the 8th Fire exists only as a spark on the horizon of possibility. If we follow the Grandfathers’ Teachings we cannot lose our way and the Red Road will lead us into the time of the 8th Fire , "an eternal fire of peace, love, brotherhood and sisterhood".  

Have a joyous day.