Many Paths, Many Perspectives

Everyone else says A. Why do you say Z?

The Diversity of Spiritual Knowledge

It’s that day again. The day when I receive an email that claims not to want to offend, but then tries to explain that “You’re wrong” and you should update your information. Oh how I “love” these.

Of course this isn’t the first time I’ve received a letter like this. So I learned how not to take them personally and see them for what they are. People generally mean well, and think they are sharing knowledge that someone else is lacking. But sometimes that can fall in the category of “Unsolicited Advice is Always Self-Serving“.

Other times, like this case, I believe the person meant well and there’s no other end game behind the note. But, what the sender failed to do before making an assumption about my information is….to conduct some research to discover why my information might be different. But let’s start at the beginning, here’s the note I’d like to discuss.

“Hi, every other website listed for elements and their corresponding compass points say:
Air=east, Water=west, Fire=south, Earth=North
which contradicts your website. You may want to revise your site. I hope you don’t get offended by this message, my intention is simply to promote accuracy.“

Now here’s the thing. Nothing in this world is absolute. Even in the field of science, experts will have different views and opinions about things that seem to be set in stone. Then 10 or 20 years later you find out what everyone thought was going on, isn’t what’s really going on and some medical or scientific journal is writing about the “new” perspective.

If human kind does that with topics like science, imagine what we do with something as esoteric as spirituality and religion! There isn’t one view or one perspective. Let me say that again – THERE IS NO SINGLE SET IN STONE CORRESPONDENCE LISTS! NONE, ZERO, ZIP, NADA!

If you limit your research to the internet, you’re going to find that someone found an author’s book they like and they typed up part of that book. From that same book, someone else did the same thing. And then people who are interested in the topic, are going to read those sites and duplicate what it says on their own site. Suddenly 10 websites say the same thing and people get the idea this is the way it is, period and everyone else is wrong.

Nope. You can say the same thing 100 times and that doesn’t make it anymore accurate than it was the 1st time you said it. Usually this is a problem in politics and not spirituality.

In the world of beliefs, faith, religion and spiritual concepts, you can’t limit your research to the internet and a few websites. You really do need to expand your library and read a few dictionaries, look at the etymology of things, find some reference books, review history and academic papers. Broaden your resources to reliable and well researched material.

If you’ve read on 20 websites that this thing means that, and you find one site that something totally different, don’t dismiss it and assume they’re wrong. Could be that site took the time to open their minds and expanded their research and found information the others did not. And the one that is more accurate is the one that’s different.

It’s easy to copy someone elses website and claim it as your work. People have done that to my sites for over a decade. But what those people fail to understand is that the more I read, experience and learn, the more often I go back and update articles and perspectives. I evolve, where as they stay the same because they didn’t do the work to attain the knowledge they copied in the first place. And I’m not alone in this approach. Most every spiritual teacher I know who is worth their salt, does this. We all move forward, evolve and broaden or understanding of the Divine world around us. That’s the path toward enlightenment. Staying stagnate and stuck in the same misconceptions only makes your view remain irrelevant over time.

Raising Energy

For this particular subject, it’s important for pagans everywhere to remember one of the main principles of belief. To connect with, work in concert with and be in tune with the natural world around us. To be one with the energy of nature and the Divine spirit within all things. If we agree on that principle, than we also must realize that what’s right for me, may not be what’s right for you.

My knowledge, my understandings, my experiences have all formed my perspectives and that is unique to me. Someone who studies and merges their knowledge with their experiences will form their own understandings and create their perspectives. While our views maybe similar, they won’t be exactly the same. And that’s even more true when we add our cultural influences into the mix. I’m a Celt, a Cherokee, a Southern-Bell. I’m going to have different understandings than someone from Aukland, New Zealand. It doesn’t matter how close our beliefs are; they are going to have differences.

In a world of such diversity, you will never find a single source or an official list of symbolic perspectives. And that’s ok. Instead of looking for the “official” or “authoritative” source, try opening your horizons and learning about others and how they view the world around them. You may learn something new. And who knows, you might even discover that you agree with their approach and find something special to add to your own beliefs.

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