Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Grape #37: The Time Has Come

So...I have a story to tell the world, a story I have only ever shared in pieces before now.

It's a tale of growth and change, true transformation really, and yet it's also overflowing with sadness, pain, depression, and despair.

The real fire of the story started back in 1993, though some of what transpired that year was forged much earlier, and while the story ended in 1997, many new stories have since been born from the ashes.

This here? These words you read now? They are not the story.

They are only the preface, the starting off point for a new journey still taking flight. Once we get going, I'll have so much more to share with you. Until then, I am mindful of your time and attention, and hopeful for your willingness to learn more about a pivotal time in my life.

For four years from 1993 to 1997, I was a monk in a Roman Catholic monastery. I was Brother Sean. While there, I kept several long journals chronicling my frustrations, my dreams, my fears, and even my needs. They were meant to console me during some of the most difficult days of my life.

In a new blog starting in January, I will share actual entries from those diaries, explaining how I found myself there in the monastery to begin with, how I grew through failure, clinical depression, and adolescence, and how one day, without any warning, it all came crashing down.

I'm going to tell you everything this time, so be prepared. We have a lot of dirty laundry to go through, and there's not enough bleach in the world to make this all right.

https://monasticlaundry.blogspot.com

Monday, July 22, 2019

Grape #36: Introduction to Shamanism

Welcome to a brand new series on Shamanic Journeying! If this is your first time visiting my blog, you'll find all kinds of spiritual discussions over the past few years. Poke around a bit, and see if any of the other conversations appeal to you.

I'm really excited to launch this brand new, interactive experience with you, because for the past six years of my life, Shamanism has become a true passion, something that helps me get in touch with the spirit world in a truly up-close-and-personal manner.

Now despite all the funny memes lately referring to spirit animals, I'm willing to bet most people I know don't really understand what shamanism entails, and some may even think it a bit suspect. Well, I promise you it is not just real, but REALLY COOL too.

I thought I'd use this space to tell you what shamanism is exactly, and then in future blogs, I'll write in more detail about some of the amazing journeys I've enjoyed over the past six years since I began attending monthly circles. Because I write down what I see, hear, feel, and experience each time I do this, I have notebooks filled with my shamanic journeys, and I think you're going to really enjoy hearing about them.

While you'll need to take a class somewhere to really learn how to journey, here's a very short, very free overview.

First, we smudge. We burn sage, and along with a feather, take turns guiding the sage smoke onto each other as a way of healing one another from negative energy and relaxing into the spirit-centered atmosphere we choose to create for ourselves.

Led by our shaman, we next set circle by calling in the directions and inviting in our spirit guides and teachers, asking them to join us in creating sacred space. A small altar at the middle serves as a center for the circle's energy.

Once we've smudged and set the circle, we sit and wait for our shaman to tell us what his or her plans are for the evening. They will have journeyed on the intentions they'll share with us at this time, and give us instructions for our first journey.

With the lights dimmed and all participants sitting or lying down with their eyes closed, usually with something covering our eyes as well, the shaman will begin to beat the drum at 200 beats per minute, activating the theta waves in our brain. Nothing weird here, I promise. The steady drumbeat simply helps you go to a place between sleep and awake where you can most easily commune with spirit.

And the spirits themselves are nothing scary either. In fact, you can feel free to call them angels, saints, spirit guides, teachers, loved ones, spirit animals, and so on.

Shamanism is not in any way a contradiction to religion. It is simply a spiritual practice, a beautiful direct pathway to communion with the spirit world.

As the shaman beats the drum, you'll go to what we call the lower, middle, or upper worlds. The lower world is where we generally meet with and commune with spirit animals in nature, the middle world is our own world for the most part, but as seen spiritually, and the upper world is where we usually find and meet with our spirit guides and teachers.

Visualization is the key, but it cannot come through resistance. You must be open to the absolute truth that spirit guides, spirit animals, teachers, and truths can and will arrive. As long as you are fully open to this, the drumbeat from the shaman will help you connect. Though it takes practice, you'll be amazed at how quickly you get used to it.

That's all for now. I don't want to overwhelm you too much at the beginning. Next time I'll take you through an evening of journeys. Please ask me anything you'd like any time, and I'll be very happy to explain things to the best of my ability. Thank you for your interest.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Grape #35: The Secrets That We Keep

July 18, 2019

I'm willing to bet you've got secrets you're keeping from others, some of which you'd never want your family or friends to know about.

Maybe they're fairly innocent ones, like a late-night snack, a game on your phone while you're supposed to be working, or even just a harmless crush on a friend.

But what if you've got the bigger kinds, the dangerous kinds: sneaking around, lying about where you were and who you were with, and most importantly, what you did while you were with them.

While it isn't immoral to tell a white lie because of workplace politics or to avoid unnecessary drama from those who make mountains from molehills, when lies become so ingrained in your personality and lifestyle that you don't even second guess yourself, there is quite a big problem.

When we say someone has a "casual relationship with the truth", we're pointing to the total collapse of their moral walls, and identifying a problem the person themselves may not even realize they have.

So how do you get past this if you've got the kind of secrets you shouldn't be keeping? How do you break free from your safe cocoon of secrecy and lies? Start by simply choosing at least two or three close friends, people you know for certain you can trust, and open up to them about your secrets. Form a truth squad.

Form a Truth Squad to keep yourself and others in check
Now if you don't have any big secrets to share, great! Tell your selected truth squad whatever small secrets you might have, and they'll probably laugh, and tell you not to worry.

But if you're living your life in whispers, or jogging along in the shadows of lies and secrecy, you absolutely need to talk openly with some close friends about what this is doing to you, and how it might be affecting your family and friends as well.

You can't allow honesty and openness to be choked out by your hush-hush lifestyle, especially if you've surrounded yourself with people who don't set you straight. And they may desperately need your help too. Left unchecked, it's human nature to find some defense for our own worst words and actions. 

You're allowed to have secrets, and many, it's true, are harmless. But if you're keeping any big ones, do yourself a huge favor and form a truth squad as soon as possible. There are people in your life right now who can help you think things out with a fresh new perspective.

Unburden yourself once and for all, and you'll learn at last the truth about truth: it's so much lighter when it's off your chest.