Spiritual Practices?

[raynelae]

What are some spiritual practices I could do? I enjoy prayer, meditation, and ritual but are there some other practices I could take part in?
Thanks

[Zili]

just about anything you do can be turned into a spiritual practice with a form of medication I believe my mentor called it walking meditation where you meditate as you do your every day life things.

try adding some sort of craft you do with your hands as you meditate like drawing with your eyes closed or sculpting let your hands move freely and see the result when you come out of the meditative state analyzing what you felt or saw during meditation compared to the result of your craft work an be another type of spiritual practice.

prayer, meditation, and ritual are the basics but there are things you can do with each to take your spiritual practice to a new level.

[Firebird]

I enjoy bringing offerings to a place in nature. Since I work in a flower shop, I usually bring the flower heads that had broke off during the course of a days work. These are perfect for decorating the base of a tree or my favorite rock outcropping. As I lay down the flowers, I thank the Goddess for life, for the mystery, for all my relations, for the beauty she brings into our lives daily.
You can use other stuff...ale, milk, honey, juice, food, herbs, water, crystals. Nature friendly things.
I have found that leaving offerings as part of ritual or as part of a regular reverential discipline to be one of the most rewarding parts of my spiritual practices. It gives me a moment (usually on the ground) in nature, where I can connect to the all. "The Lady and her Lord" give so much, that to give thanks seems really the least we can do.
Bright Blessings, Firebird

[raynelae]

Thank you both very much....it helps very much

[SnowCat]

Hubby and I keep food available for the feral cats and other critters. We had a feral cat and a cat sized squirrel go nose to nose on the back deck this morning. I guess the availability of chow won out over instinct. Or maybe it was peace winning out over war.

[Violet]

I would like to have seen that squirrel! Must be eating well.

I keep a garden (it's not much at the moment). There is _nothing_ that makes me feels more connected to Nature than digging in the earth. It is hard to make myself sometimes, I have to admit, but there's no words. And when I see my herbs actually live and thrive, it's incredible. My rue and rosemary plants are already years old, and they are my friends.

[SnowCat]

Four of my cats, Bast, Gypsy, Shasta and Cerridwen are on the small side. About five pounds each. The squirrel is the biggest I've ever seen. He's a chubby guy, but big in general too.

[raynelae]

Thank you both

[SpiritTalker]

I like to do little greeting prayers - I greet the garden & spirit of the place where I am... Extend the subtle senses to the surroundings & say "hi" & like others have said leave an offering for the birds & squirrels. When the peanut butter jar is empty I leave it for a squirrel to lick out. Those end slices of bread go to the birds & they get ecstatic over Doritos pieces.

Connecting with nature's elements in household chores - I hand-wash dishes & when my hands are swishing around I think -this isn't just a sink of water but is also the primal ocean of life. Or when I light a match to candle - this isn't just a candle flame but is also the Sun & a billion stars, etc. Shower time is aura cleansing time.

I lite a daily candle to The Lady. Ive used prayer beads & meditated for years so it's as much of a routine as morning coffee & toast. When I was working I'd take a walk on the lunch hour to pray & chat up local birds.

Draw sigils on the bottom of your shoes with chalk or gel pens. Wear a ring talisman - rub it as you say a prayer whenever you think about it. Give thanks often for what you have. Tie small bells or ribbons of jingles bells in trees so they jingle in a wind to send happy thoughts outward. Hum through your nose to activate the pineal gland. Recycle, repurpose, reuse before buying new.

[barker]

Different practices are for different purposes. Meditation for perfection, prayer for "the alternative." Everything is somewhere in there. "The alternative" is your ego.

[RoccoR]

RE: Spiritual Practices
⁜→ "raynelae" • et al,

I read this question in an entirely different light.

The Practice (the when and discipline), the Purpose (the application to the situation), and the Procedure (the ritual and focus), are all different aspects on the same topic. But learning these principles that revolve around any given belief structure on your topic is not what is important. What is important is important rests in the analysis in the questions:

• ◈ Are you a believer in the Power?
  ◈ Are you dedicated to the Power you beseech?
  ◈ Are you honest in your prayers to the Powers?
  ◈ Are you acting on a positive path?

What are some spiritual practices I could do? I enjoy prayer, meditation, and ritual but are there some other practices I could take part in?
Thanks

(COMMENT)

Do not get hung up on ritual. This dogmatic performance of a choreographed act will mean nothing to your Power if it does not come from the heart. I recommend that you DO NOT copy some ritual devised by someone else unless that someone else is a mentor and is explaining everything you are doing. A Supernatural Power will recognize your sincerity even if it lacks the pomp and ceremony of some fancy ritual.

Similarly, you must understand clearly in your mind your conception of the Power to which you are dedicated. Prayer and orations to a Power that you know nothing about will not attract the attention of any Supernatural Power. You may not even know the Power by name, as long as you have a conceptual image of the Power.

Establish a dialog with the Supernatural Power to which you have faith. Sound out your wish and expression of thanks to your object of worship.

And don't jump off the deep end and attempt to engage the unfavorable requests of the selfish.

Things like candles and alter are for you, → not the Power. They are helpful in keeping your attention and focus. There are many things that you can bring together that will help you. But it neither needs to be fancy or expensive. The Power appreciates the work you went through.

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Most Respectfully,
R

[barker]

RE: Spiritual Practices
⁜→ "raynelae" • et al,

I read this question in an entirely different light.

The Practice (the when and discipline), the Purpose (the application to the situation), and the Procedure (the ritual and focus), are all different aspects on the same topic. But learning these principles that revolve around any given belief structure on your topic is not what is important. What is important is important rests in the analysis in the questions:

• ◈ Are you a believer in the Power?
  ◈ Are you dedicated to the Power you beseech?
  ◈ Are you honest in your prayers to the Powers?
  ◈ Are you acting on a positive path?

Love this. The key for me is the action of insight upon eternity. What is not found in eternity needs light, but what is, needs no more than a sincere honest solution.

[SapphireRoad]

Postal delivery - drawing down the Mercury
Police, army - drawing down the Mars
Dancer, animal work - drawing down Venus
Medium - drawing down Neptune
State intel, exorcist - drawing down Pluto
Healer - drawing down Jupiter, maybe Chiron
State accountant, farmer - drawing down Saturn
Scientist, IT - drawing down Uranus

This way everything you do is sacred magic.

Sun enlivens all with masculine
Luna with feminine...

[barker]

Going for a bike ride - imbibing the Goddess

[RoccoR]

RE: Spiritual Practices
⁜→ "barker" • et al,

BLUF: Yes! the followers of light (you being among them) into the eternity of the benevolent Powers are examples of those acolytes need to emulate. But like any other discipline, it comes in increments.

The concept of "light" and the pathways brought by "light" is complicated all by itself.

When you say: "What is not found in eternity needs light" → is dependent on an extremely difficult relationship between what is in the light (and understood) and what is in the darkness (the inverse implication of light).

If you believe in the concept of the everlasting or the never-ending (that of eternity), then by the very nature of "magic" and the "supernatural" you must include both concepts as one: light (symbolizes incorruptibility) and darkness. And this understanding then leads you to the path → the potential for temptation or attraction to the demonic.

• ◈ Are you a believer in the Power?
  ◈ Are you dedicated to the Power you beseech?
  ◈ Are you honest in your prayers to the Powers?
  ◈ Are you acting on a positive path?

Love this. The key for me is the action of insight upon eternity. What is not found in eternity needs light, but what is, needs no more than a sincere honest solution.

(COMMENT)

There has always been an argument concerning → when to introduce the concepts of corruption and darkness in magic to the acolyte; the crossing of the terminator that distinguishes novice from the higher orders of magic.

Having said that, "eternity" is all-encompassing; including the demonic Dweller of the Abyss and the corruption of magic. Spiritual Practices in the "light" (out in the open) do not include such teaching and concepts.

Remember, the Abrahamic Religions follow the line of thought that all magic is "evil."

• Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire,
  who practices
  
  • ◈ divination or sorcery,
    ◈ interprets omens,
    ◈ engages in witchcraft,
    ◈ or casts spells,
    ◈ or who is a medium or spiritist
    ◈ or who consults the dead.
  Deuteronomy 18:9-14

For more than two Millenium followers of non-Abrahamic Religious teachings have been trying to rid themselves of such notions. And we who might practice belief systems, that differ from the mainstream, are destined for confrontation.

Most Respectfully,
R