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Most people go through life constantly evolving themselves spiritually, whether they end up exploring other religions and paths or not. We can learn a lot about ourselves and how we view others, and life in general by how we are feeling spiritually. If you are ready to consciously explore your spiritual self, it’s a great idea to start a journal dedicated to this task. Get a journol, or use your PC for writing and storage. You may want to use a 3 ring binder so you can shuffle things around as you grow and change. (You're going to grow and change whether you do these exercises or not;) Write the date, time and moonphase for each entry. If you are a woman, you may want to include where you are in your menstral cycle (as many woman feel that during certain times of the month, they're more or less emotional, psychic, closer or farther from Spirit, etc) Don’t worry about neatness or spelling, just write. I recommend the following exercises. Write each one on the top of a page in your journal and take as much time and space as you need to answer. Some may be answered in a few minutes or a day, and some may take longer as you start delving into your inner spirit. Some of these topics may apply to you spiritually and religiously, and you may feel that some do not. I recommend that you still go through each exercise. You may learn somethings about yourself and how you view Spirit that you didn't realize before. You may also learn to be more tolerant and understanding of others who have different beliefs than you do. You may want to engage a friend or two, a chat group, etc and do these exercises together so you can discuss and share your beliefs, differences and similarities. It's important to remember to remain non-judgemental and openminded. Each person's opinion and belief is important to him, and you must take care to treat him with respect. Before you begin, what are you hoping to gain from this exercise? List at least three goals you hope to acheive through learning and reflection upon self, diety, Spirit, etc. 1) What is religion? Write how you would define religion and what it means to you. 2) What is spirituality? Write how you would define spirituality and what it means to you. Is it the same as religion? Is it different? How? 3) Religion vs Science How do you think your religious beliefs and science coincide? How do they differ? 4) My religious/spiritual history. (It’s great to start as far back as you can remember. This may be a larger section of your beginning. As you write, you will begin to recall feelings or moments. Record everything. You will need to reflect on it later. 5) How I feel about my religion right now. You may want to make columns on your page like: Agree, Disagree and Don’t Understand.What is attractive to you about your religion, and what is not. What gives you comfort in your relgion? What causes you unease or discomfort? 6) What I have achieved Spiritually. 7) What I’m searching for Spiritually. 8) Write your REAL NAME at the top of the next page. Write about this person as if you are a third party looking in. What kind of person is he/she? What are his/her strengths? What are his/her weaknesses? What does he/she need to work on spiritually, psychically, emotionally, physically, etc. Write 20 or more GOOD things about him/her. Write at least 10 goals that you would think he/she need to accomplish to better herself/himself (at least two goals for each of these categories: Physcial, Emotional, Spiritual, Psychic. Next to each of the 10 goals, write how one would go about acheiving this goal. Include a step by step process for each and put spaces in between so you can add steps if you feel that you need to at a later time. BE REALISTIC. Record this info and put it in the very front of your book so that you have to see it every day. (if you are recording this exercise on your computer, hand write these 20 positive things and 10 goals with steps and keep them where you will see them everyday). Choose one goal, and today, start working toward it. When you've acheived the goal (YAY!) start moving on to the next one. 9) If you use a Spiritual name (Baptismal name, magickal name, Christening Name, etc..) then repeat the process for this person (surprisingly, you may find this person to be different from the #8 person) Write about this person as if you are a third party looking in. What kind of person is she? What are her strengths? What are her weaknesses? What does she need to work on spiritually, psychically, emotionally, physically, etc. Write 20 or more GOOD things about her. Write at least 5-10 goals that you would think she needs to accomplish to better herself (at least two goals for each of these categories: Physcial, Emotional, Spiritual, Psychic. Next to each of the goals, write how one would go about acheiving this goal. Include a step by step process for each and skip spaces so you can add steps if you feel that you need to at a later time. BE REALISTIC. Record this info and put it in the very front of your book so you have to see it every day. (if you are recording this exercise on your computer, hand write these 20 positive things and the goals with steps for completion and keep them where you will see them everyday. Choose one goal today, and start working toward it. When you've completed it, move on to the next one. 9a) Review your writings on your mundane self (real name) and your Spiritual name, if you have one. What are the similarities? What are the differences? Are you noticing any negative inward behavior or thoughts. If so, be sure to list them so you can work on turning them into positivity and love for yourself. 10) Think a moment about other religions, beliefs, etc that have peaked your interest. Write the name or explaination of each belief, religion, etc. Why are you interested (or why were you interested?) 10a) Do some research on these religions/beliefs and write a little report about them just as if you were giving a presentation in highschool or college. The report should be at least 5 pages. The goal to keep in mind is to OBJECTIVELY teach someone else about this(these) path(s). 11) Think a moment about other religions, beliefs, etc that seem to repel you or that you have negative thoughts about. Write the name or explaination of each belief system, religion, etc. Why do you feel negative about this system? 11a) Do some research on these religions/beliefs and write a little report about them just as if you were giving a presentation in highschool or college. The report should be at least 5 pages. The goal to keep in mind is to OBJECTIVELY teach someone else about this(these) path(s) HOW ARE YOU DOING ON YOUR GOALS? 12) On the next page write the word "Goddess." What is a Goddess? Write all that you feel about The Goddess, the concept of a Goddess and Goddess worship. How does it make you feel emotionally? Spiritually? What are the limitations of Goddess spirituality, what are the freedoms? 13) On the next page, write "Woman." Write all that you feel about women and girls, emotionally, spiritually, physically, psychically etc. Reflect upon the positive and negative experiences that may have molded the way you feel. 14) Next write "God." What is a God? Write all that you feel about The God and the concept of God worship. How does it make you feel emotionally? Spiritually? What are the limitations of God Spirituality? What are the freedoms? 15) On the next page, write "Man." Write all that you feel about men and boys, emotionally, spiritually, physically, psychically, etc. Reflect upon the positive and negative experiences that may have molded the way you feel. 16) Reflect upon all that you've written so far. Are you noticing any reoccuring themes or thoughts? Are you having any thoughts or issues that can be self distructive or limitating? Does your preference, if any, to Goddess worship or God worship reflect upon your feelings of Woman or Man? Write down your analysis. In my opinion, even if you have an affinity for one particular "sex" in Diety (ie a male God or female Goddess) it's still important to understand and acknowledge the need for balance within yourself. REMEMBER THOSE GOALS? 17) Turn to the next page and write, "The One" (or the Universal One, THE Universal Energy, The Holy Ghost, or what ever the title is for such an entity within your belief system.) What is it? What does it mean to you? What are the freedoms of revolving a religion around The One instead of dieties that are personified? What are the limitations? How does it make you feel emotionally? Spiritually? 18) How do your views of yourself (mundane), Spiritual Self, God, Goddess, Universal One link up? How do they differ? 19) My, but you have been through a lot of discovery! How's that writer's cramp? After you rub out your hands and tend to those callouses, grab your favorite cup of herbal tea, coffee, (or lately for me Coca-Cola...bad habit, I know!) etc and get raring to go! Most religions have some kind of cycle, rebirth, etc whether it be physical, spiritual, psychological etc. And so, we will apply that here as well. Scroll AAAAAAALLLLLL the way back up to questions number 1 & 2. Answer it. Record a comparison between the answer now and your answer when you first started. 20) Repeat item number 5. Compare your answer now to the writings you recorded previously. 21) Repeat items number 6 & 7. Compare your answers to your initial recordings. HOW ARE THOSE GOALS COMING ALONG? 22) Read your writings on items 8 & 9. Note (in writing) any thing that may have changed for you. Also note what stayed the same. 23) Read your writings on items 10 & 11. How have your opinions changed? What opinions stayed the same? 24) Repeat items 12, 14 and 17. How have your opinions changed? What stayed the same? 25) Repeat 13 and 15. What has changed? What stayed the same? Do any of these writings compare with your feelings or beliefs expressed in #24? How? 26) Repeat number 18. What has changed? What has stayed the same? 27) Take some time to really reflect upon what you've learned on this journey. What has changed or evolved within you peronally, spiritually, emotionally, etc? What new questions or feelings do you have? List them and take the time to seek the answers you deserve to better evolve your spiritual self. HOW ABOUT THOSE GOALS??? :) NOTEWORTHY NOTES ABOUT THIS EXERCISE: You may be reading through this and thinking, "Wow, that's a bunch of work!" Well, what's more deserving of your time than you? Than working on understanding and bettering yourself?!? I think that going through this exercise will be very rewarding (it was for me, as I've completed it as I've been developing it) and I hope you take the time to do it too. You need not answer these questions in one day. In fact, if you can answer all these questions in one day, you may want to sit this project aside and come back when you're ready to dig deeper and be honest with yourself. Either that, or you are likened to Mother Teresa, Buddha, Christ, etc, and you are so confident and at peace with yourself, your views of others, your spirit and your spirituality that you whiz right though it with no need to be introspective. If that's the case, why would you be attracted to this type of exercise in the first place? :) I would suggest AT LEAST a day for each item. Some will take longer. Soul-Searching can be tough and at times confusing, but it’s important. When you come back and read what you have written, you will be surprised to see how you have grown or changed and will feel rewarded by your progress. Or, if you've not improved issues that you thought needed work, you'll see that too. You are welcome to email me your thoughts, questions at medeamoonfire@yahoo.com or if you'd like to discuss any of these items with me, feel free to contact me via Yahoo Messenger (screen name medeamoonfire) or AOL IM (screen name mmoonfire). If you don't see me online via one of these two means of chat, email me and we can coordinate a time. I look forward to hearing about your experiences! I will keep them confidential, or if you'd like to share them, we can add them to the site. |
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