CricketSong January, 2011

Spirituality Or Religion?

What is the difference between spirituality and religion? Is there a difference or are the terms interchangeable? Why do some people claim to be religious while others call themselves spiritual? Am I spiritual or religious? What defines these terms and really how can you tell which is which? Are all pagans spiritual and all Judeo/Christians religious? These are the questions that I pondered and wanted to find some answers to. I asked friends, co-works, online buddies, family as well as my husband. After many discussions I found that people had a different opinion depending on where he/she was on their own life path and what spiritual beliefs they held. I meditated. I researched. And finally I had an answer that felt right and true to me.

The main difference between spirituality and religion is the freedom to choose a path towards enlightenment and ultimately, recognize of our sacred selves. Neither is better as it really is a personal choice. In fact an individual can be both spiritual and religious. As spirituality is the spark or the core of religion though it can be a form of religion on its own. Spirituality embraces oneness and seeks to find a balance between our physical manifestation and our sacred self. Spirituality is a private and personal path while religion tends to be more organized utilizing public rituals and formal doctrines. Spirituality is not. It is something that is lived each and every day.

Religion can be spiritual and should be spiritual although it isn’t for every individual. Religion without spirituality is empty. These are the individuals who attend Church on Sunday but live a hypocritical life every other day of the week. A spiritual person can also be religious though this person would be more sensitive to matters of spirit especially when religious dogma contradicts his or her own understanding of deity and the eternal now. Religion generally takes its inspiration from the past focusing on sacred texts as a way to reach salvation or enlightenment. It is concerned with the fear of displeasing deity as well as worshipping the deity who is believed to be transcendent (residing on another plane of existence). Religion believes that their path is the true path to reach this salvation while spirituality teaches that we can connect to deity through love of ourselves as others. Spirituality understands that all paths to deity are valid and embraces all world religions however it is not restricted by any of their doctrines or practices.

I am comfortable recognizing that I am a spiritual person. I have always been regardless of what religion I practiced. I was always aware of my relationship to deity and understood that it was important to seek oneness with other sacred beings regardless of what religion they practiced. At the present time I am Wiccan. That is my religion but I am also a spiritual being.

Tags: religion, spirituality

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Hally Rhiannon Nammu February, 2010

YOUR SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP

We have many relationships in a life time. Some mirror many before and others are fresh and exciting providing a new perspective and an opportunity of growth.

There is a useful tool called the Wheel of Life that defines all the different areas of ourselves that requires attention and when an even amount is distributed we technically are in balance. The reality is that life likes its ebbs and flows, which means more often than not the balance requires a sense of flexibility. This however, can create a habit where an important aspect of you becomes absent, or even considered a luxury, and omitted from our day to day.

Accepting that there are many aspects of ourselves that evolve along our journey and sometimes, be it because of mechanistic obligation beating at the door, our spiritual journey is considered as something that just is; something that sits nearby and will come along with us no matter what we find ourselves doing.

Even with the access to such an expanse of information, knowledge and opportunity to increase our awareness, there are some that purely develop their spiritual self from a mental aspect. They may speak about attending numerous meditation classes without really participating, or using the latest jargon to help them feel connected without living what they say and even to the point that they dress in accordance with how they would like to be but never experiencing the true sense of bliss that can come.

Often this comes from not treating themselves the way they know they should and consequently believe that a vague effort is better than nothing.

What I mean by this is rather simple.

We often tend to treat others much better than we treat ourselves. We often put others before ourselves; our dreams and goals considering that if we didn’t then we would be deemed as selfish. This then impacts on all that we do for ourselves. (Note: there is a big difference between being selfish and self absorbed).

The bigger picture to this treatment is that we tend to lose a lot of energy, ending up feeling tired, frustrated and never fully rested. It has a sense that we are chasing an invisible goal that can never be obtained, so we have given up before we even start.

What is really going on is that we our out of balance. Our spiritual self is being neglected, as are more often than not other areas of our wheel of life, and so our connection to our higher self, our spirit guides and aligning to the universe seem more like words than anything else; thus, living in the mental state of being.

An analogy that always tended to resonate was to treat ourselves as our own best friend. Speak to ourselves as though we were someone external and treat ourselves in the same manner; with the result being that we actually listen to ourselves and start to treat ourselves with the respect we deserve.

Once we establish this rapport with ourselves imagine the extent of our meditation, the language we use with ourselves and even the way we choose to dress will evolve into that which is true within. It also opens a door creating a pathway toward our higher self that may not have been accessible before because we were existing too much in our minds and not enough in our ethereal self.

What kind of relationship do you have with your spiritual self? Does it receive the same, or more, respect than that of an external person, or less?

Treat your spiritual self as a valuable relationship, taking time to nurture and listen to what comes through. This then allows an avenue of connection to your spirit guides and angels; allowing you as a person to become complete. It is purely a matter of being kind to yourself.

When you look at the different areas of your life, remember to include the very important and special relationship that can create a sense of peace and harmony within – your spiritual relationship.

Tags: spirituality

• Self Help

Michele Burke May, 2009

Celtic Spirituality

Celtic Spirituality is and has always been based on the fundamental knowledge that all existence is born of cyclical nature and therefore, all existence whether human or from nature has a direct link connecting the otherworld to the realm of the material world. From the Druidic teachings handed down through the Welsh tradition we are shown that there is an unseen world that intermingles and affects our perceptible world.

Things are not always as they may seem. Everything that “is” exists on numerous synchronized levels. The human being, the cognitive creature that he is comprehends the world around him as having three dominions or levels as it were: the spiritual, the corporeal (physical), and the emblematic. Consequently, the Celtic culture became one with nature, thusly, expressing their beliefs through the varying possibilities of being. Moreover, Celtic religion has taught the appearance and manifestation of divine beings on Earth and reincarnation of the human soul.

The Celts saw every existing thing or being because being composed from the three realms of reality. These three realms overlie and interrelate with each other in magnificent ways. The astrophysical chart of the primordial Irish people consisted of three realms or spheres (Ord Draiochta na Uisnech, 2003).

known as the “Magh Mor (MOY-mor), Mide (Meath), and Tir Andomain (Cheer ANDO-vain.) In other words, the ancient Irish people “believed in the “Great Plain” of the upper realm of Sky, “Middleland” for the Earth (Land), and “Land-under-wave” for the lower realm of the Sea” (Ord Draiochta na Uisnech, 2003).

The Makeup of the Irish people’s entire reality existed of these three realms, which in combination made up their entire reality. There were and are no boundaries extricating these realms of being, the realms overlap and intermingle into on another; forever shifting and changing within time and realities.

The Three Realms

The Realm of Sky (Magh MOR)

The Realm of land (Mide)

The Realm of the Sea (Tir Andomain)

(Ord Draiochta na Uisnech, 2003)

Just as the Druids of the past we continue our search to seek out the boundaries, holding the thresholds of time and place as powerful and above all sacrosanct. The lands of Tir Andomain (Sea) and Magh Mor (sky) each have influence and authority in our mortal domain the realm of Mide (Land), just as the succession of the seasons is the caused by the oscillation of the Moon and Sun the cycles of death and life are affected by the sphere of the Sea which manifests itself into the realm of Mide (Land) (Ord Draiochta na Uisnech, 2003). Moreover, both Goddesses and Gods hold authority in Magh Mor, Mide, and Tir Andomain. Furthermore, even the mortal realm Mide influences the two other realms, for the depths of the lochs, the burial mounds, and even the caves are entrances to the underworld to the underworld.

Bibliography and Works Cited:

http://www.irishdruidry.org/publish/the-three-realms

Bountiful Blessings!!!

Tags: celtic, spirituality

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