A few weeks ago, one night around the time I was sharing with some friends at the Cartomancy Forum about some of my anxieties about mixing religious beliefs and spiritual practices, I had three crystal-clear dream sequences:
1. I was waiting for my car to have some work done at a full-service gas station, feeling a low-grade anxiety. Later, I felt this scene represented my spiritual expansion and changes with the accompanying concern about identity and roles—represented by the vehicle. 2. I was riding in the passenger seat of a car being driven by a friend with a car business who is a part-time pastor. The car was bouncing crazily down the road to his house. This scene repeated three or four times, in order, I believe to show its importance, and probably to show me as not being in control (the driver’s seat) and as not coming home, but rather going to someone else’s spiritual place. 3. I was watching from the outside of my car as it hit the pole edge of a chain-link fence and split exactly in half down the middle from front to back. I believe this scene represents my fear of division. Groups and identities are defined by their borders, often with fences maintained by both conflicting sides. In my daily draws journal at the Cartomancy Forum, I drew three cards from Mystical Shamman Oracle to give me some insight: The Circle: this card reminded me that we are all connected, even when we belong to different political parties or religions. We need unity in diversity. We need healthy, loving differences. The Coyote: this card reminded me of the trickster character who delights to bring puzzles, riddles, and deceptions. The dream is like these tricky situations, which are also an interesting part of life. The Hunter: this card reminded me of the spirit of the master tracker who finds divine footprints in the sand and who follows the signs of the Spirit to learn mysteries. At present, I see three possibilities in spiritual growth or transformation: conversion, combination, or synthesis. Conversion seems to be the most common, going from one belief structure to another. The advantages of converting to something new holds promise for a secure, like-minded community and stable identity; however, the adherent must divorce from a previous life. For example, a Muslim who becomes an atheist may renounce and scorn the previous beliefs. It also may be easier to go to extremes rather than hold nuanced tension. Often when people quit drinking or smoking, the old habit becomes demonized and people who still practice them condemned--when it might be healthier to focus on the self and make allowances for others who may not have the same issues. As I have been expanding spiritually, I find that I have to resist the urge to renounce my previous state and to react against those who are not also expanding--turn from the temptation to simply change rather than do the work needed to expand. Combination means using discrete elements from several systems or being involved in several systems in their original forms. It might allow for practices or relationships from more than on belief but might also cause cognitive dissonance or bring criticism from cohesive groups who maintain barriers. For example, I recently watched a witch on YouTube discussing her coven’s discomfort when Christians came to attend a circle. Synthesis (or syncretism) of several beliefs of practices might also be frowned upon by groups who see themselves as pure or exclusive, but where possible, this approach might bring peace to an individual or even to groups that co-exist within a culture. Synthesis may support co-existing beliefs in the world as well as in the self. Just as the left and right brain are always working together, so are conservatives and liberals, people of science and people of faith. Dissent is probably always helpful, multiple perspectives always useful. We are all interconnected, and learning always involves questions to be answered, a dialectic to struggle through, a process to experience, and puzzles to be solved.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Alan>Performing magician, >English teacher, Archives
March 2021
Categories |