The Spiritual Pilgrimage and our Psychic Gifts

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Entering the world

from a different gate,

 

A late arrival

no one waits before or behind,

though the labyrinth has been traversed before,

 

Where did I put my traveling boots?

It’s time to go.

 

Today something will be offered up to you and to me, – – a challenge to our view of the world and of ourselves. What will that be? Will we let the roots of our way of seeing the world and others be shook loose, letting go of some familiar and favored way, opening up to something yet unnamable?  Are you willing to let go of some old belief, releasing the storylines and pictures that come along with it? What if you no longer knew what you believed? What if you did not know what you do not know? What if today you really were beginning again, setting out on a pilgrimage never traveled before? At least never traveled by you?

This could be a good day to set out on a pilgrimage to a sacred place. Of course, every day is a good day to take the next step on this spiritual pilgrimage of one’s life. Can you let those you encounter every day be a new face speaking a foreign language? How much can you witness with new eyes?

To take this pilgrimage you would have to trust in yourself, the boots you picked to wear for the journey and the great unknown that stretches before you. You will need to rely on your intuitive nature, the part of you that comes fully ready. If today appears like just another day, and you have filled up your calendar or planned ahead, not making room for the mystery, then you may likely miss an opportunity.  Because if what we see we have always seen, or every thought is there to support what you already think you know, then you will miss the chance this day offers in the way of spiritual awakening.

“In the Tantric tradition, the ideal of pilgrimage is not simply to visit sacred sites, but to facilitate an inner transformation at places that challenge conventional ways of seeing.”   Ian Baker, The Heart of the World: A Journey to Tibet’s Paradise. page 160.

Spiritual Pilgrimage is about journeying both outward and inward and retrieving something sacred, initiating a part of our lost or imprisoned self.  There will be rough terrain to move through. There will be discomfort. One of my first pilgrimages back in 1989 took me to Bear Butte Mountain in Dakota. There I did my first vision quest one stormy night on the side of the mountain. And even though the outer journey was powerful it was the inner terrain that I walked that truly woke me up to more of my self and the world.

Many of us go in search of a powerful spiritual experience or a healing, when what we need for lasting health and transformation is right here, right now. Every time I take teachings from the Dalai Lama he reminds us that he doesn’t have the power to heal, to place his hands on you and cure what ails you. (And if he did, he chides, he would heal the pain he is experiencing.) He reminds us that it is through thought transformation that we really heal ourselves, and have the ability to benefit others.

Spiritual programs and healing modalities that do not have a strong base of psychological work are not worth the personal investment. Receiving a healing without any awareness to what psychological transformation is required is like being moved by a description of the sunrise but not witnessing one for yourself. An authentic transformation or healing is dependent upon thought transformation – one must be given the tools to challenge conventional ways of seeing and being in the world. Then with that comes a willingness to do life differently. My psychic development class (and upcoming book: The Gift You Were Born With) is a journey of thought transformation and opening up to our own energetic wisdom through various psychological and transpersonal practices. The class (see schedule below) and book is based on the teachings I received in Minneapolis 20 years ago, as well as thirty years of psychological and transpersonal training over the years. I realize that when I am working with people on an energetic or spiritual level that the gateway to their inherent gift is through their mind, through their conceptualizations.  We must be willing to break these up on an ongoing basis to continue our personal transformation. Our pilgrimage is dependent upon taking a vow every day to pay attention and open our hearts and minds.

Each day we can ask, “What is going to be offered up to challenge my view and conceptualizations?”

So, What shook the roots or rattled the leaves of your view of the world lately?

Simple Talk by William Stafford

Spilling themselves in the sun bluebirds

wing-mentioned their names all day. If everything

told so clear a life, maybe the sky would

come, maybe heaven; maybe appearance and

truth would be the same. Maybe whatever seems

to be so, we should speak so from our souls,

never afraid, “Light” when it comes,

“Dark” when it goes away.

Julie’s upcoming calendar:

Friday,  March 6th A Day of the Inner Meal: Freedom from Food Habits through Meditation, Breathwork and Spiritual Journaling  8am to 5pm at Healing Services Overlooking the River in Prairie du Sac.  Includes lunch. $75.00

Friday April 17th, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.    Listening to The Bones:  A day of Meditation and Creative Writing.  Develop a stronger link to your creative voice through the muse of meditation, Breathwork and spiritual journaling. Lunch included. $75.00 Two partial scholarships available. 

Friday May 8th OPEN HOUSE for Writers at Thundering Clouds Center for Creative Expression, LLC  ( Eight miles north west of Spring Green) A day to write, explore the forty acres,  walk the spiral, read your poetry or prose, visit with me about your work. Music by local musicians will be offered in the Thundering Clouds Gazebo. 9 am till 4 pm.

There will be meditation, writing and transpersonal retreats, purification (sweat) lodges and Sacred Arts Day Camp for Youth at Thundering Clouds Center for Creative Expression, LLC available throughout the summer, check my website for more information.

The Gift You Were Born With: Developing Your Psychic Self. Class. Nine months of transpersonal work to bring forth your inherent psychic gifts. Trust yourself in the world more, feel the natural movement of a more awakened intuition. Class begins this spring, 2009 (evenings).

Fall 2009, Release of my book, “The Spiritual Pilgrimage: Releasing Your Inner Light through the Wheel of Initiation.”  Inner Traditions and Bear & Company

Ongoing: One to one transpersonal work on Mondays and Thursdays in Prairie du Sac at Healing Services Overlooking the River.

 

 

 

 

 

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