Category: Reverence Tips

Tips for the benefit of our Spirit during the Holiday Season

REVERENCE TIPS Day6

Just let it roll!

This youtube concert of the great Karen Drucker (below) is a great example of ‘let it be’. This not-so-perfect and easy-going concert reminded me of how to allow ‘things’ to take place as they want to without me trying to control them or manage them.

I think we live in an over-controlled environment where were try to hind our fears of the unknown (mostly scary phantasies) and the unmanageable (mostly scary phantasies) by taking fewer risks and organizing things to the last detail.

I think it is time to accept the Life happens the way it wants to. Like new rivers they flow and carve out their bed as they please.

We live at a time in human history when life takes twists and turns like a roller coaster without us being able to control much of it. We try but we hardly succeed.

Maybe, just maybe, it is time to let it roll, let it all go and relax into the ‘all is OK’ even if I am afraid of the unknow. We only need to have a little faith in the good that is to come.

REVERENCE TIPS Day5

Smiles and Hope

All the days of the oppressed are wretched,
but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.

Proverbs 15:15

It has been raining for days, it is gloomy and wet. I have been feeling very tired and rather under the weather. Literally.

For a while I was in limbo. Shall I spend the day in gloom and doom? Or shall I put on a brave face and dare let out a smile even if there is not apparent reason for it.

My immediate environment is convinced that I’ve lost the plot. But who cares, I feel happy! 🙂

What is the tip?

JUST SMILE! HAPPINESS IS HOME-MADE!

Joy is wonderful way to express our divinity.

REVERENCE TIPS Day4

What is Faith?

Faith it is NOT blind confidence in a God figure from whom we can expect great things to come! Faith is inner knowing!

I grew up with ‘seeing is believing’ and betrayal upon betrayal. If the communistic regime taught us anything it was how to distrust each other. We were literally expected to spy on each other. It was not a particularly positive way to inspire faith and trust in goodness.

My observations as a child taught me that God cannot not be human – a father figure – because most humans do not possess (have it but not act on it) the qualities of God according to spiritual scriptures such as Loving, Accepting, Forgiving, Embracing unconditionally, Joy and more.

Through my journey of self-discovery and spiritual-awakening, I understood that God is not a white-bearded man who magically delivers upon my wishes. But God resides within me. I am part of the Divine that is often called God.

Having Faith for me is knowing that there is goodness in everyone (everything), including myself, regardless of my actual experiences. I know that we, humans, are not capable of acting according to our God-given qualities because we are lost in the world of Fear (the Serpent/Kal/the Devill/Evil). Just because we are often not aware of it, it does not mean it is not there.

Having Faith in myself means that I know that I am inherently good, even when I cannot act accordingly. I am a Divine Spark and of Spirit having a human experience.

Needless to say that Faith requires persevere until we make connection with the higher realms of consciousness. It is only there where we can experience the blessings of the Divine presence and our own goodness.

“Nothing shall be impossible unto you” if your faith is in Spirit and if your work is in harmony with Divine Presence.

(Adopted from Charles Fillmore – Christian Healing)

REVERENCE TIPS Day3

FAITH VS HOPE

“Faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen” … “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death .. By Faith Noah .. prepared and ark to the saving of this house … By faith Abraham, being tried, offered up Isaac .. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents .. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down …” “The idea that faith is something that has to do only with one’s religious experience is incorrect. ”

extracts from Christian Healing by Charles Fillmore

Faith, derived from Latin fides and Old French feid, is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept.

You may wonder what has God/Divine/Spirit have to do with Creativity Education and Therapeutic Art. Well, quite a lot, actually.

You are the Creator of your own Life and as that you are fully responsible for your Creation. Spirit/Divine within is the Loving guide helping you make your Creation a healthy and happy one. (As long as you are touch with him/her!)

I find that creating Art comes from the same place where I find myself when I meditate. It is hard to explain it because it is rather a feeling state than a mental concept. In some ways creating Art helps me connect with that part of me who shows up when I meditate. I hope it makes sense.

For me, walking a Spiritual Journey is like walking a journey of Creating.

This is what Julia Cameron has to say about creativity&spirituality HERE

So, today, I feel like creating something as part of my spiritual devotional practice of this Holy Season. Some say that the first week of the Advent is about Faith. So, my artistic endeavour will be about meeting Faith in the face! 🙂

HERE IT IS!

My dancing Spirit in the Candle reaching up into the Light. On the side of the page you can read my Fait Haiku

REVERENCE TIPS Day2

Hanukkah – The Festival of Lights or The Feast of Dedication

Hanukkah, which means “dedication” in Hebrew, is often called the Festival of Lights. The holiday is celebrated with the lighting of the menorah, traditional foods, games and gifts.

Hanukkah overlaps with the first Advent Week of Hope this year. Both Hanukkah and Advent are about inviting Light into the Darkness. Hanukkah’s special message for me is about re-dedication and spreading the message of Hope. The story of the Second Temple – pls find story below – talks to me about cleansing and reaffirming one’s commitment to spiritual life.

The first week of Advent brings the message of HOPE.

The word advent itself comes from the Latin word “adventus” meaning “arrival.” We prepare for the arrival of Christ. The wreath itself represents eternity and everlasting life, a circle that never ends. During the Week of Hope, we anticipate the arrival of our Saviour.

The Saviour in my interpretation is my own Soul or Spirit. During the Advent Season, I am invited to strengthen the Light of my Spirit by rededicating myself to a spiritual life of prayer and meditation.

Darkness is none other than Fear. During the Dark months of the year we tend to slide deeper and deeper into our fear-habits. (pls check this video out for more info on fear-habits HERE) As a result of that our Spirit sinks into the background. We run our whole life as a respond to our ‘main’ source of fear, whatever it maybe.

This is why it is so important to re-dedicate ourselves to the Saviour who lifts us out of our own darkness, from our fears. The saviour is you. It is you who when devoted to Spirit can hope to expect the arrival of the Saviour. It is you who makes the effort and elevates yourself out of the Darkness into the Light.

Regardless of one’s faith or religious affiliation, it is obvious that the messages are the same: Guard and build the light within so the Darkness can be cast out. The more we pray, meditate, or spend time with Spirit, the stronger the Light within us will grow. The stronger the Light within, the more it shines and inspires other Lights to shine, too.

The Light of Loving within by Kelsie Mc Sherry

GENERAL INFORMATION ON HANUKKAH

Hanukkah 2021 began in the evening of
Sunday, November 28
and ends in the evening of
Monday, December 6

The story: The eight-day Jewish celebration known as Hanukkah or Chanukah commemorates the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, where according to legend Jews had risen up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt. Judah called on his followers to cleanse the Second Temple, rebuild its altar and light its menorah—the gold candelabrum whose seven branches represented knowledge and creation and were meant to be kept burning every night.

 The Miracle: Even though there was only enough untainted olive oil to keep the menorah’s candles burning for a single day, the flames continued flickering for eight nights, leaving them time to find a fresh supply.

The Hanukkah celebration revolves around the kindling of a nine-branched menorah, known in Hebrew as the hanukiah. On each of the holiday’s eight nights, another candle is added to the menorah after sundown; the ninth candle, called the shamash (“helper”), is used to light the others. Jews typically recite blessings during this ritual and display the menorah prominently in a window as a reminder to others of the miracle that inspired the holiday.

Source

REVERENCE TIPS Day1

40 days Nativity Fast, Advent, Hanukkah

What do they have in common?

Opportunities! 🙂

This time of year is full of opportunities to de-garbage and re-focus on Spirit, the Essence within. I am aware that when I make an effort to slow down and centre myself in the Silence, my life blossoms in many unexpected ways.

HOWEVER, it is soooo easy to slip into busy-mode and make ‘life’ and my to-do-list more important than my spiritual being. So …

Today on the 28th November 2021, we started the 40 days until Orthodox Christmas Day on the 6th January.

We celebrate Christmas on the 25th December which is about half way to the Orthodox Christmas Day in January. Also, form today we are observing Hannuka for a week.

I like the idea of Nativity Fast. There are many ways to understated ‘fasting’. I look at it thorough the lens of cleansing. I think , I will use the next 40 days to cleanse my consciousness from ‘garbage’.

Interestingly, this time of year, I am also crazy busy. It seems that I am somehow wishing to be more Spirit-centered but I am also afraid of it. Sowing down and sitting in the silence also means that I need to face what’s bothering me or I am afraid of. Though it is uncomfortable it is also a great opportunity to release all that and re-centre myself in the peace and calm of the world of Spirit.

So, I decided to do a 40-day spiritual cleansing. I have also promised myself to make it manageable so I will actually do it.

Starting today, I will spend at least half an hour every day with nourishing myself Spiritually. I will experiment with different creative and artistic ways and will report on them.

Today I meditated for an hour so to start the process off. 🙂 TICK. Honestly, it was hard. I spent most of it either doozing or swimming in endless thoughts.

Listen to this meditation. Lovely!

It will get better! <3

REVERENCE

Reverence (/ˈrɛvərəns/) is

“a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration”.

The word “reverence” in the modern day is often used in relationship with religion. This is because religion often stimulates the emotion through recognition of a god, the supernatural, and the ineffable.

Reverence involves a humbling of the self in respectful recognition of something perceived to be greater than the self.

However, similar to awe, reverence is an emotion in its own right, and can be felt outside of the realm of religion. Whereas awe may be characterized as an overwhelming “sensitivity to greatness,” reverence is seen more as “acknowledging a subjective response to something excellent in a personal (moral or spiritual) way, but qualitatively above oneself” Solomon describes awe as passive, but reverence as active, noting that the feeling of awe (i.e., becoming awestruck) implies paralysis,

whereas feelings of reverence are associated more with active engagement and responsibility toward that which one reveres.

Nature, science, literature, philosophy, great philosophers, leaders, artists, art, music, wisdom, and beauty may each act as the stimulus and focus of reverence.

SOURCE

DEPRESSION

Audio Version

There has always been a dark hole since I was born.
At the beginning when I was surrounded with loving care there was still a tangible darkness present.
The regime made our lives a misery.
The mental illness that lingered in every room made me feel insecure.
There hasn’t been a moment in my life when I felt at peace.
I know no peace. I do not know how to relax.
My life is a roller-coaster of anxiety, depression and a sense of helplessness.

Now when I am down – it happens more often these days, now that we are in COVID-wave2, because suddenly I started to feel trapped again – I sit with it. Though there are a lot of ‘uplifting’ ways to ensure that I do not feel depressed, I still prefer staying with it.

Depression is part of my tapestry. I grew up with mental illness, depression and suicide around me. I recognize these beasts that tear life out of the living through the weak nerves. These beast operate like spiders, they web your thoughts first, then they paralyze you and finally they take over your whole life.

In my observation, most people with depression try to treat themselves with a form of addiction – drugs, alcohol, games, sex, etc . Unfortunately, none of these cure the ailment of the mind. Instead these hold the victim even more bound in depression and anxiety; in a dark hole where they are now digging themselves in even deeper.

I now think that both anxiety and depression are distillation of earlier events into a pitcher of darkness filled with paralyzing fear.

The spiritual and meditative path that was shown to me 20 years ago has been a blessing. It has not turned my life into a constantly blossoming flower garden though. It has, however, contributed to me becoming more accepting of it. Therapeutic-art became my tool and companion in discovery and release. Whatever shows up, I look at it and put it down on paper. And so we meet, face to face. As a next step, I usually allow my inner light, my personal healing power to shine through the darkness by creating ‘Illumination’ Mandalas.

Though I still do depression and occasionally I allow it to run me for a while, I have also become an observer to it. And this is the key. I now sit with my beasts: my anxieties and my depression. They are dark forces that make my heart ache and they exhaust me to the bone. I know both of them well. I call them relatives. I have understood over the years that they are my companions this lifetime. I can sedate myself to the point where I do not recognize them any more but it is not necessary. They do not have control over me any longer because now I recognize them. I look into them, into the darkness, I see them, they see me, and I am not afraid. I am not scared of falling into that pit any more because I have awareness of it.

It is like walking on an unknown land. Until you know the territory, you are afraid of falling into a trap. I know this territory well now. When they show, I just sit with them and let them speak to me. I let them show me the lesson. They are my personal TV-Show-Hosts. They appear on the screen to introduce the next program on my main channel called Life.

By not trying to squash or numb my depression and anxiety but allowing them to be, they let me be. We co-exist. They are part of me. They want to be recognized, accepted, and embraced in the totality of who I am.

Most of the pics are my own. Top pic artist is unknown.