Tag Archive | Monk

The Challenges We Face In Life

Facing Challenges
Photo by Anne Marie Kalus

Why Does “God” Test Us?

Recently in a forum of Metaphysical Ministers this question was posted.

“Does anyone in our group believe that God tests us, or tests the strength of our faith?”
Rev.R.M.

The question isn’t an uncommon one. Nor is it one that is accepted on blind faith by Ministers. There are many answers and perspectives of course, because we all have a different way of looking at spiritual belief and practice. A Christian may say “Yes, God may test your faith and devotion of service to his teachings by placing challenges upon your path”. Unitarians might say “No, God doesn’t set up challenges to test our faith. But we set up problems in our lives to learn lessons”.

The wonderful Metaphysical Ministers within this group have similar perspectives to my first response. But when asked this question I have two perspectives to reply to this. Continue reading →

The Cycle of Life And Death

May17

From Spirit to Incarnation

Preordained vs Free Will and Choice

Today I read a lovely article by a colleague which talks about life and death and the importance of living life.

“Responsive Reading – Living and Dying:
Every person has an appointed time to live and a time to die. Our time upon the earth is but a moment in the span of eternity. Death is not to be regarded with fear but as something good when it comes in due season.”
by Robert Dorris President/Minister at Unitarian Community, Inc.

I like this perspective. And while I agree that everything happens in it’s time and space, I’ve always had a hard time with the “preordained” concept. And it can be hard to reconcile those two ideas. I believe in reincarnation. And that concept doesn’t fit with the preordained perspective. But I also believe everything in it’s right time and space. So how do you fit those two things together? Continue reading →

Why Pagan’s Don’t Celebrate St. Paddy’s Day

Mar17

The Tribal Wolf

The Genocide of St. Patrick

To begin this story let me start with a little Public Service Announcement (PSA). This year, 2014, I learned that the Irish do not care much for we Americans and Canadians calling their national holiday St. Patty’s Day. But probably isn’t what you think. Which is what I thought; it’s Patrick, not Patty. Nope that’s not it. Well not entirely.

I discovered a PSA had been posted in the Dublin Airport correcting a misconception for those of us in the Americas. It’s not Patty, it’s Paddy. Seems Patty is short for Patricia and of course, Patrick was a male priest. The proper shortening of the male variation is Paddy. And St. Paddy’s Day is perfectly acceptable. So now we know.

Now on to our tale of Pagans and Paddy. First, we must start with some of the early inhabitants of Ireland. What little is known of these people come from Irish songs and poetry, oral legends and Roman writings. The Celtic lands of Ireland, Scotland and Wales were populated primarily by individual or regional Clans. Small communities that were close knit and survived on nature through farming and hunting. Continue reading →

The Blue Bottle Trees

Mar2

Warding Off Evil Spirits

Oral traditions are very important, especially in society today. We are over run and inundated with TV, computers, smart phones and tablets that provide us with an inconceivable number of videos, movies and other types of entertainment. Because of this modern technology, our old stories are being lost and forgotten.

Author/Storyteller Kathryn Tucker Windham and storytellers like her, have became concerned over the loss of our old stories. Thankfully they are setting these stories down on paper in a series of books that are worth reading. (You can find the Jeffery series by Kathryn Tucker Windham on Amazon).

One of my favorite stories comes from old Appalachian folklore tale called, The Blue Bottle Tree and The Witch’s Heart.

The legend goes like this:
If you place blue bottles in a crape myrtle tree they will help you ward off evil. Evil spirits are very curious. The blue bottles are so attractive that the evil spirits are drawn into them. Once inside they become confused and get trapped. Some variations of this wives tale, continue by adding the destruction of the evil within the bottle. Much like a Native American dream catcher; when the sun rises in the morning it’s warmth and bright light destroys the evil that was trapped inside (or within the web of the catcher) so that it can never do harm to anyone again. Continue reading →

The Story Of The Blue Bottle Tree & The Witch’s Heart

Mar2

Blue Bottles In A
Crape Myrtle Tree

An Oral Tradition From The South

Here in the southern United States, we have a great many stories and legends relating to ghosts and spirits. I’ve read many account from story tellers suggesting the south has more ghost stories than any other place in the U.S. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it certainly makes one take a second thought about the claim. After all, some of the first big conflicts in this country began in the south. From the invasion of the first white Europeans with Native Americans, to the Civil War and on into modern times with the fight for Civil Rights.

Southern Appalachia is widely known for its oral traditions and story telling. In fact the International Storytelling Center is located in the small historical town of Jonesborough Tennessee (my home town). If you have an opportunity for a visit to the oldest town in Tennessee, I suggest going during the first full weekend in October when the Center holds the National Storytelling Festival. It’s a big and wonderful event that draws storytellers and people from around the globe. One of my favorite stories comes from this festival. The Blue Bottle Tree.

There are many stories about blue bottle trees. Perhaps because this is the first one I ever heard makes this one my favorite. Or possibly because the main character in the story share’s my last name. This isn’t an exact version of the story I heard. But it’s the one I tell today. I hope you like it. Continue reading →

What Matters Most…

Feb20

Do You Reflect What You Believe?

Those who slap you on the back and laugh with you may be fair weather friends.

Those who hold your hand and cry with you are where true friendship lies.

And if you’re lucky, you’ll find the people who will share your life with you, through the laughs and through the tears no matter when and where you are.

What matters most, is that you’re one of those friends to those in your life.

I spoke with a friend today who was down and almost in tears. Turns out a friend of his, a young boy with cancer, lost his battle with the disease and my friend was notified today.

My friend…we’ll call him Anthony to protect everyone’s privacy..had meet the young boy; we’ll call him Steven, at a racing event. Anthony as it happens is a race car driver. Steven was a big fan of dirt racing and for some time he wanted to meet his home town hero; Anthony. Continue reading →

The Importance Of Mind/Body/Spirit Thinking

Jan30

How To Develop Your Spiritual Consciousness Connection

Every animal on this planet has an inner instinct or insight. We’ve heard stories about Elephants grabbing people and running for high ground as a tsunami approaches all in danger. For centuries, scientists have said to watch animals for predictions of bad weather.

According to the USGS in an article entitled “Animals & Earthquake Prediction“:
The earliest reference we have to unusual animal behavior prior to a significant earthquake is from Greece in 373 BC. Rats, weasels, snakes, and centipedes reportedly left their homes and headed for safety several days before a destructive earthquake. Anecdotal evidence abounds of animals, fish, birds, reptiles, and insects exhibiting strange behavior anywhere from weeks to seconds before an earthquake. However, consistent and reliable behavior prior to seismic events, and a mechanism explaining how it could work, still eludes us.

As human beings we are part of that animal kingdom with an inner ability to sense the unseen subtle changes in energy around us. But many have lost or turned away from these natural instincts. They have degraded those who do believe in these inner instincts, ridiculed those who are in-tune with these abilities and vilify those who try to explain and teach others to connect to and talk to their natural intuition on a daily basis. Continue reading →

Today’s Number: 444

Jan23

444th Post On Springwolf Reflections

Reflections Hits 444 Posts

The number 4 has always been significant in my life and over time it has come to be my lucky number, as well as, my favorite number. So today when I posted the Daily Tarot Meditation message and noticed the next post would be the 444th here on Springwolf Reflections, I took notice.

This post..this one right here..is the 444th Post I’ve made on my new blog since it began February 1st, 2012. Yeah!! That deserved some type of celebration! And it’s a good time to show how we can use numerology in our every day lives.

Numbers like this don’t have to represent something to the world. Such as the date 12/12/12; December 12, 2012. They can be any number, or series of numbers that gain your attention or hold special meaning to you. In my case, that special number is 4. Which has corresponded to things like the time I was born, 4:48am. The birth of my son on the 4th at 6:45pm. Continue reading →

Thank Yourself Too!

Jan20

You can read all the graphics with wise statements, fine sayings, great proverbs. But they don’t mean anything unless you put their words to meaning in your life. When you do, don’t thank the author. Rather thank yourself. You made the choice to make a difference in your own life. That takes courage, effort, work and perseverance. Shouldn’t you thank yourself for that kind of self-love?

Soul Mates, Twin Souls & Karmic Relationships – Updated

Jan9

Spiritual Relationships Revisited

On Monday night (May 14, 2012), Paul Cagle, Sushi and I sat at our round table for The Ænigma Project and held a discussion about Soul Mates. The next day I wrote a follow up article that covered the topics we discussed and the Pagan Metaphysical approach to what these relationships are and what they mean to us.

Some time between then and now, that article became corrupted on the server, with bits and pieces missing. I’m not sure when that occurred, but thankfully I had the original article on a back up where I could recover it. Thanks to my friend Myranda for bringing the corrupted issue to my attention!

The article has been recovered and posted, as well as tweaked with a few cosmetic updates -> Soul Mates, Twin Souls & Karmic Relationships – Updated.

If you missed the original airing of the show you can still listen to this episode on The Ænigma Project’s Blo g. Or on the show’s broadcast Archives on Tenacity Radio – 2012-05-14- Soul-Mates

"Believe In Yourself, Even When No One Else Does."
~ Harvey McKay ~
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“Take a chance on faith. Not religion, but faith.
Not hope, but faith.
I don’t believe in hope. Hope is a beggar.
Hope walks through the fire and Faith leaps over it.”
~ Jim Carrey ☆ 2014
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“I describe myself as a simple Buddhist monk. No more, no less. And I am one of the seven billion human being. Basically we are the same… your emotion, my emotion, your mind, my mind.., same physical. So I always look [at it] that way. We are the same.”
~ Dalai Lama 2012 ~
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"Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
~ Bruce Lee 1971