In my meditation space, I have a number of tools that I keep available to use during my meditation and connection time. A beeswax candle, palo santo, other incense, some stones. In addition to those more practical tools, I have a few items that are meaningful to me.
- Handcrafted silver rosary that my great-aunt took back to Hong Kong from a visit to Rome in the mid-20th century.
- Small statuette of Ganesh that a friend surprised me with when she returned from a family visit to India early this year.
- Rune tile to which I was drawn when I happened across a small art shop in the Scottish highlands. I later found out the Elder Futhark symbol means “peace” – same as my name!
- English Lavender plant that I grew from a clipping.
Why do I have objects from different religions/beliefs? What do I do with them? And what are my religious beliefs anyway? I am frequently asked about my beliefs, so today’s post is all about:
- What I believed (or was told to believe) growing up
- Beliefs I’m grateful I learned growing up
- Beliefs I have changed
- Where I’m as-yet undecided
- What I do with these objects and how you can apply these ideas to your own journey
1. Early beliefs
First things first
Before I go further, let’s be really clear about something. Previously I’ve mentioned I grew up in an abusive household. But let’s be utterly clear that I am not saying that the household was abusive because of the religion. Abuse and religion are not necessarily intertwined, and it’s too easy a scapegoat to point to religion as the problem.
Assuming that religion is the problem based on the choices of some religious people would be called a sampling error in statistics. So let’s not go there, okay? There are amazing people represented across all beliefs, just as there are troubled people represented across all beliefs.
Back to early religious beliefs
I grew up in a household that was Christian-conservative, with flavours of Evangelicalism, prosperity gospel (which is more commonly and less religiously known today as manifesting, but a bit more rigid), spiritual warfare, and patriarchy.
While I won’t do a deep dive into all of the beliefs I was taught, there were some beliefs that I’m now grateful I had early exposure to. There are others that I chose to unlearn, and that I haven’t yet fully decided.
In writing this, as usual, I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind. Each of us is responsible for our own beliefs and decisions, and I’m simply sharing my experience. Maybe some of you will relate.
2. Early beliefs for which I’m grateful
Belief in an all-knowing and loving spiritual being
Hands-down, I’m very grateful that I grew up believing in God (think of God as Spirit/Source/Love if the name “God” is difficult for you). I never personally questioned why God would let bad things happen to me. Because to me, God wasn’t a thought exercise.
I felt God personally. I had an ongoing relationship with God. It never felt like God was distant from me or my life. However, my views of who God is have shifted.
Or rather, my early experiences of who God was, before any doctrine was impressed upon me, are now again the views I have. More on that momentarily.
Belief in a spiritual world taking place around us
It required a great deal of courage to unlearn the fear associated with the idea of an non-physical world. I am grateful now that I grew up with beliefs that there is a spiritual realm in which there are positive and negative influences and personalities.
My beliefs on what the spiritual world looks like have shifted significantly now to encompass a broader perspective. But I’m grateful to have grown up with the idea that life isn’t just this physical world.
3. Beliefs I decided to unlearn
From the time I was five, I began assertively questioning many of the more right-wing Christian beliefs with which I had been raised. I wasn’t questioning based on “lack of faith” or because I was a “doubting Thomas” (don’t get me started on how unhelpful those labels can be).
Rather, I was trying to see how the God of unconditional love and perfect wisdom with whom I’d always felt so close could fit with doctrine across various denominations. For example, I remember a conversation I had with one of my parents:
- Me at age five: “How do we know that our God and the Bible and our church are the only way to get to God?”
- The parent: “Because the Bible says so.”
- Me: “But don’t other religions also think they know the one way to God?”
- The parent: “They’re all wrong. We’re right.”
- Me: “But isn’t that what all the other religions think?”
- The parent: Didn’t know how to respond and got really angry (she got angry at most things, so it doesn’t actually mean anything that she got angry at this point, per se).
Conversations with the other parent were potentially more nuanced but no more settling:
- Me, sometime at elementary school age: “How do we know that being Christian is the only way to go to heaven?”
- Other parent: “Because Jesus says he is the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the father except through him.”
- Me: “But don’t other religions have similar beliefs?”
- Other parent: “They’ve all been deceived by Satan. That’s why all those religions are Satanic. Because they don’t believe in God, all their gods are false gods, so those gods are all Satanic.”
For context, this other parent believed at the time that many things were “Satanic”. This included (but unfortunately was not limited to): any political ideology from the centrist to left areas of the political spectrum; particular Backstreet Boys songs (no, I’m not joking, and neither was that parent); and any and all spirits that would try to converse with someone, as a couple examples…
So here are some beliefs I decided to unlearn in recent years. Remember, I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind in sharing these, I’m simply sharing my thoughts as I’m frequently asked about my beliefs.
God’s gender
Previous belief
God is male. The rationale was that all biblical references to God are male (God the Father, Son (and Holy Spirit).
Current belief
My current beliefs have reverted back to my very early beliefs, that God is both perfectly male and perfectly female and perfectly neither.
Why? Because God has always felt perfectly male and female and just pure spirit free of gendered context to me. Plus, if we are in fact all made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27 for those who identify as Christian/want to look it up themselves), and half of us is female, then God can’t just be male.
I also believe that God is also not confined by our limited constructs of male and female and is also pure Spirit.
Something I have kept in mind is that Christianity and the books that made it into the Bible came about in an era when it was simply a fact that males were the empowered gender. So I get why Jesus took the form of a male and why God was referenced as male.
World religions
Previous belief
I never fully bought into the idea that there could be any single religion that got everything right. Because then wouldn’t everyone just want to follow it without being persuaded? If anything is a “silver bullet”, then isn’t that thing something that everyone does because it’s the perfect and only workable solution?
However, growing up I still played the role of a “good Christian girl”. Who secretly and internally made space intellectually for the viability of other beliefs.
At least, I was mostly a good Christian girl. Except for the fact I had this pesky habit of being friends with people who didn’t share my beliefs. Because I could never wrap my head around the logic of only associating with those who share one’s beliefs.
Current belief
A friend and I were having coffee last year, and she shared with me a diagram a professor of hers had outlined back in her early college days. She explained that the prof drew various world religions—Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, etc—and drew a circle around each one. Then the prof drew a large circle that encompassed all of the individual circles. That large circle, the prof labelled “God”.
I recognize that many religious people will not agree with me on the statement I’m about to make, and I respect that you have your own beliefs.
My belief is that religions are a rich component of the human experience; that religions are our attempt as humans to fit God into a box. That’s of no disrespect toward anyone’s beliefs. As humans, we like fitting things into neat, defined boxes. The thing is, I don’t think God fits into a box.
Again, to be clear, I’m not saying that religion hasn’t been misused by some. Religion, like any human tool or creation, can be used constructively or destructively.
But let’s keep it in perspective and remember that religious beliefs can be part of a rich cultural heritage, and is a key component of everyday life to many.
The God I knew has never fully felt to me like the God who is reflected across Christian (whether protestant or Catholic) doctrines. Sure, some of that God did jive with me. But the God I knew was so much more.
4. Where I’m as-yet undecided
Reincarnation/past lives/multiple lives
The idea of past lives and reincarnation is a fundamental tenet of Hinduism, so the concept has been around for awhile. A lot of people firmly believe in reincarnation, and I respect that. I’m often asked if I believe in reincarnation, particularly given my mediumship abilities.
On one side of the coin
I logically appreciate the idea of reincarnation, and I could definitely see past lives as being a reality. After all, in the spiritual world, time does not exist as we need time to exist as a concept in this physical world.
So who’s to say that the same soul can’t live multiple lives and accumulate wisdom and continue to contribute over time?
And given some of the possibilities that continue to come to light through the study of quantum physics, I can totally see how it’s possible to have multiple lives.
On the other side of the coin
My other spiritual beliefs are firmly rooted in my personal, direct experiences with:
- God
- The spiritual world
- My experiences in the physical world.
I didn’t just wake up one morning and have all of the beliefs I hold.
So far, I have not yet had a direct, personal experience that I can specifically identify as related to reincarnation or past lives.
Even in my mediumship practice, I have specific boundaries in engaging with post-physical people. Those are for the express purposes of helping the emotionally stuck ones during my “office hours”, or when I’ve given mediumship readings.
Current thoughts
Having said this, I’ve had some experiences that potentially point in the direction of multiple lives. So I think at this point I’m leaning toward believing in the idea, however I simply haven’t landed this yet.
And I’m not in a rush to figure out what I believe about it. After all, the raison d’etre of my work?
Empowerment in this current life.
I do believe we’re all spiritual beings, but guess what? We’re here having a physical life. In this current life.
And we’re each responsible for our decisions made in this life, regardless of the circumstances we face.
What to do with the objects in your meditation space?
Religious and spiritual beliefs aside, here’s what I value about having these special objects in my meditation space.
Sometimes I use these times to support a concentrative-contemplative meditation combo. To do this, I may hold or gently gaze at one of the objects while I meditate, and focus on an idea they represent. For example:
Ganesh statuette
This colourful elephant-shaped figurine may encourage me to take on new adventures and release blockages in my life. In Hinduism, Ganesh is all about new beginnings and removing obstacles. I also think of my friend’s beautiful heart and generosity in thinking of me while she was away, and bringing this gift back with her.
Rosary
The associations of the rosary with Catholicism may remind me of the archetypes of maternal, feminine energy (Mary). They also remind me of the value and importance of ritual and reflection in my life. I also appreciate Catholic references to the “mysteries of God” which doesn’t always get much mention in more protestant circles. Perhaps there’s value in acknowledging we don’t have as much figured out as we think we do.
Elder Futhark Rune
The rune reminds me of past cultures that were attuned to our connection with the natural world and its cycles. It may also remind me of serendipity or signs from Spirit. After all, I had no idea what the rune meant when I selected it in that tiny, small town shop. I only discovered its meaning is the same as my name weeks later, quite by chance. The rune also reminds me of being in Scotland this past summer, spending precious time with beloved family members.
My point in all this is that objects may be special to you for a variety of reasons. Even if they seem incongruous on the surface. If an object has meaning to you and you can use as a reminder for yourself in your development work, all the better.
Some concluding thoughts
When you’re doing self development work, it can be really useful to question your beliefs and perspectives.
Maybe you won’t question your religious beliefs, but perhaps you may question what you believe about happiness in life, relationships, and so on.
As you continue to develop as a whole person, over time, your perspective will shift. That’s a reality of earnest change. If your overall mindset doesn’t change and yet you’ve been undertaking personal development for some time—whether with professional assistance or on your own—perhaps it’s time to question how much you’re actually interested in growth.
You may not genuinely be interested in growing for now, or ever. And that’s okay. That is a completely valid choice. Just be honest with yourself.
One way or another, I do encourage you to keep an open mind, and suggest you check out my other post on just how to do that.
References
These books may be interesting reads if you are interested in considering ways of thinking about God/Spirit (The Future of God). Or if you have a sense that you are indeed interested in pushing the envelope with your personal growth, whether or not you’re religious/spiritual (The Places that Scare You).
- The Future of God by Deepak Chopra
- The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chodron