posted January 03, 2014 11:47 PM            

Just a daily contemplation regimen can go far.

If that is what you were inquiring as to?

Being Thankful is another indispensable tool.

Random Acts of Kindness go far.

posted January 04, 2014 01:18 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
So, do mean being fully present in the moment, in nature?

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You can see what I shared here (more than one post) that I hope explains it good enough:
http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/004721.html

posted January 04, 2014 02:04 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Ellynlvx:
If that is what you were inquiring as to?

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As an afterthought, I suppose that, implicit in my question, there is a limitation to the value of the spiritual practices I'm inquiring about, if they're only "helping" and not transforming. A problem can't be solved on the same level it was encountered on...

Hmm...

Anyway, yes, the things you listed match the kinds of practices I was thinking of when I asked this.

I'm still giving the question thought, wondering how I'd answer it, and "consulting the I Ching" might be in my list, representing my favorite form of divination if only because it requires the least amount of work (I just use a free online program.)

quote:

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Originally posted by Ellynlvx:
Listening to and acting on the Voice of the Higher Self reinforce one's Devotion and Strengthen the Union.

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posted January 04, 2014 02:22 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
You can see what I shared here (more than one post) that I hope explains it good enough:
http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/004721.html

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That's a fascinating thread! I loved reading about your experiences and I'm going to bump it in a few minutes.

Stream-of-consciousness reactions here...I'm thinking of how much I also love speed on the water, when the boat starts going over five knots and heeling, how exhilarating it can be. As if the wind is blowing right through me and carrying away all worries I had.

Also thinking of my German friend's husband, who told her before they got married, something like, "I love you as much as I love windsurfing, and that says everything."

As for spirituality, I think body awareness can be part of total awareness...Joseph Campbell was asked, in the Power of Myth, about his greatest spiritual "high" and his surprising answer (to me) was about making a great, almost supernatural comeback in a relay race.

With regards to letting all the beauty of nature permeate oneself, wandering in the forest is one of my favorite things to do, but seldom am I fully present. I wish marijuana were legal because I could always be totally present in the woods when I was high.

posted January 04, 2014 06:41 PM            

There are so many practices I have gone through in the years, I didn't know if you meant a certain Sect or Belief system.

Wicca
Kabbalah
Tarot
Sound & Colour
Astrology
Hermetic
Alchemy
Western Mystery Tradition

have been most formative.

However, all of these things are just the Paths that resonate with me, certainly there are as many Ways to reach "The Hermit's Light" as there are people.

posted January 04, 2014 07:53 PM            

Even many Christian sects use sacramental wine for religious reasons. And the Russian Orthodox...I got so plastered once during the Pascha feast, and there was a religious element to it. I think the priest was drunk, too, as he shouted (in Russian) repeatedly, "Christ is Risen!" And we responded each time, in Russian, "Indeed He is risen!" I was so drunk, the last time I shouted that I was holding up a glass of hard liquor (probably vodka, I can't even recall) in the air with one foot on a chair and another on the table, and no one seemed to think anything of it. Oh, and I was 17 (I saw them giving hard liquor to kids as young as 10). Such a contrast to the Bible Belt dry county I was raised in!

posted January 04, 2014 08:58 PM            

Normally, I don't take anything. Once I BECAME the trodden grape, so to speak; I never felt the need for anything artificial.

posted January 04, 2014 11:49 PM            

@PJ I was laughing out loud imagining this odd church scene that kind of makes no sense...like, what were you doing there???...and were they speaking Russian? Sounds like happy times though.

I've never seen drunks in a real church but back when I attended a home church ("cult" is an apt abbreviation for this "home church") drinking was also an integral part of the fellowship. The men in charge were experienced connoisseurs of all kinds of hard liquor, and there was usually a warm, easygoing buzz after the communal lunch which always included like a full bar, before the afternoon reading of Calvin sermons. I could actually understand them better when slightly inebriated.

I have this little book:

posted January 05, 2014 02:17 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
@PJ I was laughing out loud imagining this odd church scene that kind of makes no sense...like, what were you doing there???...and were they speaking Russian? Sounds like happy times though

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It was part of an unschooling project to better understand Christianity, Russians, and also a doomed attempt for me to learn to speak Russian. (That said, I did manage to improve while there despite that I "butchered" the Russian language and had an "atrocious accent" as apparently it sounds terrible from someone with a strong Texas twang...and yet that Pascha where I got plastered I think I did pretty well though maybe it was that we were all too drunk to understand each other as well as we thought we did anyway. I was told later that I lost my terrible accent while drunk and I refrained from telling them that probably wasn't a coincidence, that is their accent is partly a drunken slur. )

I did learn a lot, like why the Fourth Crusade still rankles many Eastern Orthodox. I wouldn't want to bore you, however, and the "short and sweet" explanation I was trying to give was turning into an essay in explaining the elements that span centuries in addition to the capture, sacking, and sacrilege of Constantinople by Crusaders itself, plus how people raised in lands thousands of years old take history a lot more personal than many Americans can understand, so I've decided not to share that, only assert that it was educational as I hoped it would be and I wouldn't have been able to understand it as well as I did had I not spent all the time going through the fasts, rituals, and church attendances.

And I went through I think the entire schedule (over a month, IIRC, including a week after I got plastered), and I impressed the members as I was able to get through all the fasts which they said they never saw an American do on the first try before. That fasting mixed with standing (no chairs or pews!), chanting, and ritual all night (I even exchanged several kisses with others in the church) made it very surreal (the icons actually seemed to come alive), shamanistic even, so I was especially susceptible to the effects of alcohol after once we went to the feast & drinking representing Christ returning from the dead. And I do recall the Russian of the Pascha as I took part in that exchange countless times, especially that night for several hours before the priest came down drunk to get us to shout it some more ("Christos Voskrese!" "Voistinu Voskrese!"). It got much wilder than that and it was the one time I ever had drunken sex with a boy in a bathroom right there in the church (or in the same building anyway), I've always wondered if he ever confessed that to his priest.

I met one of the most inspirational people I ever knew, too, and also became roomies and then lovers over a year later with one of her great granddaughters (just to be clear the great granddaughter is a few years older than me, the one I've shared before believed if God/dess existed then S/He would be found in higher mathematics, not religion, she's such an Aquarius). And through her I retained a strong connection with some of the Russian Orthodox for years to come...nothing too common but they figured I was one of them, at least treated me as I were (and her, though she'd become an atheist as well as joined me in a Discordian cabal for awhile, not that she told them that).

posted January 06, 2014 08:17 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
I was told later that I lost my terrible accent while drunk and I refrained from telling them that probably wasn't a coincidence, that is their accent is partly a drunken slur.

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quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
...plus how people raised in lands thousands of years old take history a lot more personal than many Americans can understand..

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Right... I've seen that in non-Americans, it's a curiosity to me...something I can never have for myself.

quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
That fasting mixed with standing (no chairs or pews!), chanting, and ritual all night (I even exchanged several kisses with others in the church) made it very surreal (the icons actually seemed to come alive), shamanistic even, so I was especially susceptible to the effects of alcohol after once we went to the feast & drinking representing Christ returning from the dead. And I do recall the Russian of the Pascha as I took part in that exchange countless times, especially that night for several hours before the priest came down drunk to get us to shout it some more ("Christos Voskrese!" "Voistinu Voskrese!"). It got much wilder than that and it was the one time I ever had drunken sex with a boy in a bathroom right there in the church (or in the same building anyway), I've always wondered if he ever confessed that to his priest.

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Such a great story! Thank you

quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
the one I've shared before believed if God/dess existed then S/He would be found in higher mathematics, not religion, she's such an Aquarius

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I just watched a documentary the other night that was making my wheels turn in that direction again...me being an Aquarius Mercury. I keep getting this book out from the library called "Is God a Mathematician" but take a lot of notes and have never finished it (yet.)

quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
She thought that was hilarious...but I can understand why most (if not all) reading this would be puzzled that such a statement could be humorous (though my tone of voice had a lot to do with it).

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It does sound hilarious though, if only because it's rare when someone surprises you by being a lot better informed than you would have guessed.

quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
It's just another way the experience was educational and helped shaped my life though I've never been a Christian. And yes, I am glad for the memories that were fun, happy, and stimulating, though every rose has its thorns of course.

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It sounds like a great time!

Yeah...I got a lot out of my crazy days with orthodox Presbyterian Christians, too. I actually believed the stuff for a while and although I don't believe it anymore...it was very gratifying in some ways, having that particular faith. Like praying for the rain to stop, watching the rain stop, and thinking, "See? God loves me."

posted January 06, 2014 09:52 PM            

She thought it was Greek! I said no way, the second word was definitely "mother" (Russian), and I could read the first word as well it's just I didn't know what it meant. Given that she could speak Russian a lot better than me she pretty much dismissed me (to be fair she wasn't sober at the time and her eyesight sucks).

Convinced it was Russian I asked others and sure enough it was. And it was confirmed for me, it means "To my dear sweet mother."

posted January 07, 2014 05:03 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
Btw, my Russian sucks but I'm more literate than my Russian American ex. I got confused by the Cyrillic/Russian here

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? Didn't see any Russian in that video. Wow, I'm so bad at Russian I can't even recognize when it's there! LOL

quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
For example, when I said the tea or coffee was hot I used the wrong word which was for the "day being hot" which made me sound like an idiot (just one of the many ways I "butchered" the Russian language). The Russian American I was more literate than (at least in Cyrillic, I believe her English vocabulary exceeded my own) never made mistakes like that.

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posted January 07, 2014 05:31 PM            

1) Honoring my own truth

Back in 2003, I was going through a real crisis period, in which I was probably clinically depressed. I went to bed in this black mood (the same I had been in for weeks), had a very deep experience in my sleep...astral projection maybe?...and woke up restored. Not happy and joyful, but out of the land of shadows.

Without going into the details of it, before that dream, I wasn't the kind of person who would say, "I had a healing dream." It sounds weird and maybe like a lie. But now I let myself honor my own truth.

I'm wobbly on my feet as I try and convey some of my more "ethereal" experiences, but at least I'm trying. At the present time, it seems like where I'm supposed to be.

2) Listening

I think sometimes when people speak, you can actually hear divinity coming through. I'm in the habit of listening for that, and then contemplating it...those whispers of spirit seem to make my own spirit expand when I take them in.

posted January 07, 2014 06:48 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
? Didn't see any Russian in that video. Wow, I'm so bad at Russian I can't even recognize when it's there!

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Here's the Russian alphabet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_alphabet

However, the "small-l" in the vid doesn't perfectly match the "small-l" listed there but native speakers were able to recognize it for what it was (it's possible that's why my then partner mistook it for Greek which is similar in form and she'd have seen most Russian AND Greek writing at church, and ETA: she was right, too, about some of the letters anyway). This would be it properly spelled out:

Милой мамочке (literally: "darling mommy")

You can see the letters especially well at 3:11 (on the YT vid I linked to above) done in red and just under the medals. It transliterates into "Miloi Mamoushka" ("Mamoushka" is a sentimental way of saying "Mom," or otherwise both Мама/мамочка = "Mom/mommy"). Russian pronunciation is very difficult for me (the infamous accent of mine) but I believe "miloi" is actually pronounced more like "melwy" with the "lw" almost silent.

posted January 08, 2014 09:06 AM            

I think people are shaped by their languages...I'm no linguist but tend to break everything down to fundamentals (9H Jupiter in Aries.) I once read that the German language with its forceful syllables has evolved a German brain keyed to force, and is linked to the German personality of perfectionism, hyper-regulated government, and so on. It made sense to me.

posted January 08, 2014 09:14 AM            

3) Mindlessness

posted January 08, 2014 09:28 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Ellynlvx:

Alchemy

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posted January 10, 2014 02:28 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Faith:
Would you please explain a bit more about this, Ellyn?

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I suppose it could be likened to the grape story, Mercury turning Lead to Gold, and all...

Not unlike your Transforming Dream, eh?

posted January 11, 2014 02:14 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Pearlty:
Not in any particular order or limited to; I practice kindness, I take cues from nature (it helps with the poetry as well), and when ego gets too big for my breeches , I'll dwelve into Eastern religious study until I'm feeling emulsively sated. I love the function of practice btw- mastery seems wrought with such chimeras of finality.

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