“Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.”~Eleanor Roosevelt
Greetings!
So, which of the categories above do you fall into? This is going to be a blog of a different nature, if you will. It is my intention to stir the psychological pot and challenge people to think about things near and dear to them. It’s part of the growth process to periodically review beliefs and perspectives. After all, stagnation equals death.
Now having said that, let’s jump right into the mix. I’m going to take this opportunity to discuss spiritual reality vs. spiritual fantasy. How does that coincide with the full moon, you may ask? The sign Virgo is associated with being critical, and in particular with the idea of making things manifest. Thus, Virgo can be correlated to bringing the spiritual down into physical manifestation, and after all, “success is thy proof!” Virgo is all about manifestation on the physical plane. Conversely, Pisces, well, for the most part, not so much. Pisces is the dreamer. It is the sign associated with inspiration, mysticism, a visionary, and all things related to creativity. Whereas Virgo is bringing the spiritual down into physical form, it is Pisces that can produce the vision; hence the relationship of the two is made clear.
There are really two kinds of spiritual in the world. One is the realm of spiritual fantasy, and the other is that of spiritual reality. It’s wise to think of these as two ends of the spectrum, and most people fall somewhere in between. Thus they are not absolutes, but rather polar opposites. I share this so that one does not feel compelled to choose between the two if they feel like a blending of the two would be more appropriate. Spiritual fantasy is the type of spirituality that most people engage in, knowingly or unknowingly. To clarify, this is the type of spirituality that can be seen in the following stereotype. Think of the person that reads positive, uplifting spiritual growth books, yet still be fairly negative on a day to day basis. Yep, you know the type. “I’m going to see the Dalai Lama this weekend before I have to return to my sucky ass job.” That statement right there should be enough to make it clear. Another variant on this mindset are the people that will tell you story after story about how they are the third or fourth or fifth generation [insert lofty sounding title here], and thus they can claim authority in some way. Or the one that lives in their parents’ basement, and can ponder the inner workings of the universe at their leisure, but have absolutely positively no stability of their own in their life. They, for the most part, can’t hold down a job, or pay rent on a place of their own, or have other responsibilities that are normal, adjusted, functioning adult would have. All of these ideas are meant to give you an idea of what, exactly, spiritual fantasy is in the context of this blog. If it’s not obvious yet, while this is great for theory, it’s almost worthless when it comes to living a physical existence, and since all of us chose a physical existence, then this is actually detrimental to the overall growth of the soul.
However, the other end of the spectrum is spiritual reality. These are the people that actually create changes in their life by applying what they are working on, spiritually speaking. They are the ones that will skimp on buying books in order to eat. These are the people that walk their talk. These are the doers. People that are operating from a stance of spiritual reality are the people that are spiritually changing the world. Spiritual reality is what the world needs now, in my humble opinion. Part of this is encompassed in the metaphysical truth “the more we give, the more we are given,” and “a tube holds more than a cup.” Of course there are other things to keep in mind here, such as never cast your pearls before swine, but those things are things that come with experience to the practicing spiritually reality oriented person. Now that brief descriptions are present, I’ll ask you: “Where do you fall in this spectrum?”
The reason this is important to consider, besides the obvious, is that one of the best tools of the spiritual path is that of discernment, and in particular, spiritual discernment. We’re in the 21st century. The spirituality that all of us are engaged in now is, in a lot of ways, not our parents’ spirituality. It’s a whole new world out there. Anyone can post a sub-quality video on Youtube and pass their message off as quality. The skill of discernment is more important now than ever before. Anyone can send a message out via the World Wide Web, but is every message worth hearing? Um, no. This is where the art of spiritual discernment comes in. Engage in what interests you, but ask critical questions all the time. Don’t stop. For example, let’s say that you see a Youtube clip of some stereotypical spiritual fantasy living individual that says they have a message for humanity from the Judeo-Christian God. Analyze that situation deeply and intensely. Why would God talk to them, when he could be saying something to key leaders in the world that could help humanity evolve? What would the archangels want to say to the average person, when they could be saying key things to world leaders? Discernment is our best friend in this information age of spiritual growth. After all, this is the Kali Yuga, or spiritual winter, as it is known in the esoteric traditions. Be ever vigilant with your mind, and if something offends you, kick it to the curb. Just make sure that you can logically and practically justify it. In other words, it is unwise to kick it to the curb because you had an emotional reaction to it. That’s just juvenile, in my humble opinion.
The World Teacher Aleister Crowley channeled it best when he said “Success is thy proof!” If someone can’t bring down spirituality into physical reality, then just how internally harmonized are they, and what would you expect to learn from them? I’m not saying there’s nothing to learn from them, I’m simply saying to define it in your mind so they have less of a chance to intentionally or unintentionally dull your senses. As I tell people all the time: “What good is all the spirituality in the world if you can’t pay your bills? It’s worthless.”
There are a couple of caveats to keep in mind with these ideas. The first caveat is that sometimes when we are first unfolding, our guides and teachers may use names of beings (like the God form from above) to communicate with us. When the spirit is tested and found to be beneficial, then consider that it could either a) be a shard of that being, or b) a guide with an average name that is conveying a certain message to you by the choice of its name, or c) some other reason that can be revealed to you that I simply haven’t thought of. A long time ago I grew tired of hearing two people bicker over whose “Horus” guide was the real one, or the better one, or some other egoic situation. Ask yourself this: Why would a deity like that choose to work through you? Of course this does NOT imply that the deity wouldn’t, but rather it serves as a perspective keeper and barometer. The karmic law of attraction is to be remembered here, in that we’ll attract to us what we are, so by pondering this question, our attention is drawn to our own gifts that we may not realize. The second caveat to keep in mind has to do with spiritual fantasy oriented people. This caveat is a reminder that there are many different forms of energy exchange. Sometimes, responsibility is doled out through non-financial ways, taking on bartering qualities instead.
I encourage everyone that reads this to critically think when it comes to their spiritual path, and what they encounter on a daily basis. This is truly a new aeon, and is foreign even to our elders, so if it is the wild wild west in a lot of ways as it appears, then make sure those six shooters are loaded and the senses are sharp, because the veil between the worlds is thinning, and everyone’s sensitivity is more acute, whether they are consciously aware of it or not. And of course, TFYQE.
Blessings,