Myths and Spiritualism and Altered States

I've enjoyed some kind of "off the beaten path" spiritual sharing lately.  So I'll pass them along to you. These thoughts are not meant to say I disapprove of anyone else's spiritual beliefs.  I'm interested in many belief systems, as long as they are tolerant of each other.

I'm sorry I missed a concert by The Sahara Peace Choir in honor of Divine Feminine and The Swannanoa River...a blessing of the waters.

Scatterings is a great sounding book, and I love listening to Dr. Martin Shaw talk about being part of the place we live.  Maybe this is the time I can purchase it, with a new gift card from one of my sons!

Some Black Mountain summertime plantings

My great great great grandfather was a member of the Spiritualist religion.
I only know that they believed spirits of the deceased could talk to them.  Sounds interesting, especially if you avoid the "Hollywood" bent on that subject. However, on FB (Facebook) this week, someone is asking if you want to contact someone who has passed, so it's still happening apparently.

The-Way-of-the-Shaman-Documentary Michael & Sandra Harner - a documentary about their work.  Really excellent contact with Shamans who listen to their spirits in South America, and how the Harners developed a shaman training program in the US.

Our ancestors are part of our lives...in that we carry their DNA, as well as some of their foibles along in our blood veins...and maybe some eye or hair color, or a big or small nose, or chin or something.  Each person adds a bit to this chain as the genetics flow along through the centuries.

And that's on the material/physical side of things.  The spirits of these ancestors might well be hanging around as well.  And perhaps like the Shamans of tribal cultures, our spirits might be waiting to talk with us if we obtain an altered state of mind from our normal "working on a keyboard with a screen buzzing" lives.

More Black Mountain plantings, I swear I saw this the other day!

Do you remember the first altered state of mind you obtained?  Try spinning around getting dizzy! Or swinging up high with reduced gravity as you fall back down.  I think parents give this gift to children who are thown up in the air, to have that moment of weightlessness before falling into someone's arms.

Then there's this TED talk about brains and reality...and altered states!

I've also recently taken to reading Wendell Berry's work (for info on him see: Here.)
I was interested that he also wrote letters with Gary Snyder, and I'm reading him also, but haven't been able to find the book of their letters yet.  More info HERE.  One a Christian, one a Buddhist, but with high interest in our earth and environmental concerns.

Literature and environmental consciousness.  Good stuff.

So I encourage you to get in touch with whatever spirits might speak to you.  After all, just listening won't hurt anything!

And being in an altered state of mind is not a bad thing either...but be sure to have a grounding technique to bring yourself back to ordinary existence.  Sometimes just sleeping will do that, but sometimes just focusing on a normal thing and eating and drinking simple foods will help.