Spirituality is not only the wave of a wand or the spoken incantation. Before one reaches this point, I hope the motivation for anyone seeking their spirituality is change. But change is not just a transformation of a situation or circumstance although surely that is a benefit. Change requires a life that patterns itself after a different way of thinking and a different way of “being.” The type of inner change that eventually transforms can only come about by a willingness to embark on a spiritual journey whose destination and timeframe can be very different than we could possibly imagine.
How does one describe a spiritual journey? How does one get to the beginning of it all? Everyone is different and so each spiritual beginning is equally unique. I call it a spiritual journey rather than a quest because the word quest implies a conscious desire to attain a level of spirituality. I can only speak for myself and of myself I can honestly say I was not on a quest. I am “gifted.” There was a time I denied these gifts, was terrified of them, of what I saw and of how I seemed to know things. On and off over the years, I actively walked away from my gifts only to always go back either because of problems for which there was no material solution or because I was pushed back by those guides around me. Being pushed by spirits is no fun matter. They can be a determined lot and I have come to realize that I have been pushed because I am supposed to achieve a certain spiritual aptitude in this lifetime. Many call it Karma. I say it is a calling. As with all callings, there is great unrest if you go against the very thing that you are supposed to do. And yet now, I wonder how I ever survived before accepting my calling.
How many times have we taken one job over another because of more money when down deep inside we knew that other position would have been more rewarding? How long did we last? Probably not long because, for some of us, the priorities of that job conflicted with what was right for us. Others may stay on their jobs year after year and as a result appear much older or suffer from stress related medical conditions such as depression, chronic fatigue or nervousness. They are on a treadmill going nowhere in the area of personal growth or contentment. The same is true of a calling. Until we know what it is and follow it nothing feels right, stays right or is right.
I strongly believe that we all must BELIEVE IN SOMETHING. It personally does not matter to me what it is or to what belief system it belongs. But for me, I believe in those things the modern world calls superstition, wives tales and children’s stories. I call it “majick.” I use this spelling to differentiate my belief from the hocus-pocus flash of stage tricks. I do not consider “magic” real. It is entertainment. To me, Majick is real because it transformed my life and as a result, I found joy in realizing all those things I was taught to not believe in were very real. I don’t believe there is only one way. There are many ways. It is in these many ways I traveled toward my own spiritual fulfillment.
I wanted a normal life. I grew up in a bicultural family. My mother is from Boriken, better known as Puerto Rico and my father was of Irish/English ancestry. Although work and living opportunities were difficult because of my mother’s Caribbean ethnicity, color and time (the 1950s), I knew little of racism for I grew up in the impoverished multi-ethnic ghetto of Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York. It was here, in this community that we were accepted.
Growing up with so little financially, I wanted financial security and to obtain the education that would be my tool. Instead, I encountered unbelievable hardship that had driven me to near madness on more than one occasion. This was the reason I spent most of my life doubting the existence of a god. I had no concept whatsoever of the supernatural because my mother had never exposed me to the spiritual aspects of her culture at all which is called Espiritismo and Santeria. So, I had no other ‘springboard’ from which I could explore mysticism. I only knew Church doctrine and only learned to speak Spanish at my father’s insistence by taking it in school. Since my father did not speak Spanish, I was brought up in an English speaking environment. (I am now grateful for his persistence.)
Oddly enough, it was this disenchantment with faith that ultimately resulted in my becoming a person of unique faith and the firm belief that there are greater things than myself at work. They work in ways I may not understand all the time or even like, but they are there, here and all around us. I discovered the spirit realm as a result of daring to disclaim “God.” I opened myself up to exploring other phenomenon such ESP, voodoo, the Kaballah and Spiritualism. I learned very quickly that I could read tarot cards without even reading the instructions. I soon knew I knew things—but it scared me. I did not want to go any further. I was not on a quest. Over time, I knew people who had begun conscious quests. They often regretted starting because they were unprepared for the sudden uncontrolled impulses and information that assailed them. They were unprepared for the sudden onslaught of spirits needing or wanting to grow, help or play. I observed that an uneducated quest is a dangerous thing for there are many disciplines, realms and rules of which the novice seeker may be unaware. Unfortunately, the novice plays at Wicca/ witchcraft, the Kaballah or worse, Satanism. In due time, the consequences of these dabblings make themselves known and often only a trained shaman or spiritualist can cleanse them of all that they have drawn to themselves in their ‘quest’.
For this reason, I have included a section on basic ‘rules’, attitudes and ethics for in any work done; the practitioner is responsible for any CONSEQUENCES that may befall another.
This is not a ‘how to book’. This is a thinking/rethinking book for the principles of mysticism can help train any mind in improving itself by creating better realities just by thought and word. I submit New Age and pop psychology are nothing more than Old Age Truisms.
There is more practical and applied psychology and behavior modification in the Ancient Beliefs than many can even comprehend. Modern pharmacology owes its parentage to the Shamans (or medicine people), Druids and Chinese. Environmentalism has been pivotal to every earth and Pagan religion for as far back as we know. Modern medicine’s enlightenment on the effects of stress reminds me of the Chi of Buddhism and the Charkas of Middle Eastern religion. So all that is considered new is really very, very old.
What many call superstition, I will dare to call Science. I call it science because over the eons, there are more or less standard results that can be expected if a practice is done properly. A friend and I often put a trademark on our work. Something almost impossible that would identify the outcome as a result of our work. My daughter needed a car desperately so she could go away to college. Mind you, she decided two weeks before the beginning of classes to apply and register (she is a last minute person). My husband and I had just bought property and had no extra resources to help out so, my friend and I decided we would cast a spell in which she would participate. This was on a Thursday. My daughter needed the car no later than Saturday so she could register it, insure it and be at the dorm by Tuesday. We put our trademark on the spell. She would have the means to get the car within TWO DAYS! Within two days, she received an unexpected gift of money and resources that enabled her to get the car, register it and insure it by Monday. By Tuesday, she drove off. Even I was amazed at what had happened.
Yet, this was merely cause and effect. For every action there is an equal reaction. Science. The cause was the motivation of urgency which enabled us to focus, picture, project, energize and accurately verbalize that which was desired into the energy field around us causing the reaction of the desired reality. There were no consequences because we knew how to cast protecting everyone from being affected by this spell, there was a genuine need with no malice of intent and the ability to accept the outcome even if it had not worked. (That is always the hard part.) It’s great to have trust when you get want you want but will you trust all is for the best if you don’t?
This is where the spirituality part comes in. It not enough to know what can be accomplished. We must also resign ourselves to the greater purpose when we do not get what we ask for. For now, we need to see how things can work for change.
I call this crafting.