All Things Anne Wondra

Reiki, Bishops, and Superstition

The US Catholic Bishops find the practice of reiki to be superstition...dangerous, and not healthy to their catholic spirit....  Isn't that interesting.

I grew up Catholic.  I have a degree in religious studies, and I’ve experienced reiki…and I’ve worked in the church. 

The first thing I did when I heard this was laugh.  This, from an organization that teaches A LOT of stuff many consider superstition.   Faith, God, transubstantiation, immaculate conception, and purgatory, to name a few. 

Have they never read the gifts of the spirit, or heard of laying on of hands?   Reiki is pure channeled divine energy.  Do they not understand that their very breath and life is divine energy coursing through them, allowing them to walk, talk, think, create and be who they are?   (or they would be dead)  Once again, the church of my childhood is showing its lack of understanding and openness to the Spirit at work outside the confines of their rules.  Galileo comes to mind on that one.  How arrogant to think the Spirit of Life is limited to what some men on a Bishops’ Committee can understand….or that spirit is limited to act only in accord with the rules they’ve created.

So, it comes back to your well being.  And YOU have the most vested interest in that.

You have a brain, intelligence, access to a world of information, and a personal internal guidance system, a direct connection with your source.  You make good decisions every day.  You are very capable. 

Who's permission do you need?  Permission to do what you think and believe is healthy to your spirit, body, and well being?

My answer:  Your own.  It's your body, your soul, your life, and your well being.  You have the most vested interest in it.

If you want to learn more about reiki, visit the Kindred Spirit Center and talk to Sue or Susan.  Gather information.  Watch for informational classes.  Experience it for yourself.  Make your own choices. 

In my experience, reiki is a very spiritual practice...and it's a lot bigger, more inclusive, and open, and powerful, than the limits some bishops in a church organization want to put on it. 

Now what do they have a vested interest in, do you think?

 

 

Who do you think you are?

Questions...and finding answers.

Who do you think you are?  What do you know about spiritual matters?  What makes you think you know more than the pastor?  There's only one way to eternal life, and you're certainly not on it!  You'll be sorry; you'll be back when you have kids.

I grew up on a farm, close to nature--animals in particular.  Life itself was most awe-inspiring to me.  Then there was the realization that much of our livelihood was dependent on the weather, a mighty force of nature that a Great Other controlled.  I learned most deeply that no matter how great the human person is, we cannot create life or prevent death, and the way of nature is one of cycles and seasons.

While the Catholic church I was raised in told us we were children of God, I don't think they really wanted us to grow up and take them at their word.  We were given questions and fed the answers.  I memorized them all.  For the longest time, I went to church faithfully without thinking too much outside the lines of patriarchical tradition.

I'm not sure when the awakening started, the realization that I heard the beat of a different drummer.  Maybe it was the gorgeous priest who walked down the isle with sandals and simple robes, a storyteller who brought the characters to life in ways I'd never heard before.  Maybe it was friends of other religions who challenged my thinking.  Maybe it was just growing up to be an adult woman, single and in her late 20s.  In time the Spirit's call led me back to school to learn more and to teach.  And learn I did.

I learned how to read between and behind the lines and ask different kinds of questions.  I listened with new ears, amazed to realize I'd been praying to a goddess all my life, "Hail Mary, Mother of God..."  A mother of a God is definitely...a Goddess.

As for those accusing questions I started with, the irony for me is that the church of my childhood taught me the answers.  As an adult woman, I reclaimed them in my own words to make them wisdom-empowering answers:  Who do you think you are?  I am a woman, created in the image and likeness of God the Goddess, Mother of All Living, the Spirit and Breath of Life.  I am an adult daughter, loved, entrusted, and empowered by the Spirited Breath of Life Within to make choices and make a difference.

******

Anne Wondra is a writer, workshop leader, wellness coach, and creative muse in the life enjoyment and personal path finding business.  Follow the muse to wonderspirit.com for more.  

Originally written in 2003 and published in the Summer 2003 edition of SageWoman Magazine.

Positively Respectful - Happy Holidays Everyone

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings

I called a former colleague this week and wished him Happy Holidays.  He corrected me and said Merry Christmas--and that he appreciated that I was trying to be 'Politically Correct.'  It's not about political correctness.  It's more than that.

Women and Churches

Imagine ... pulpits without prophetic female voices.  Imagine ... board rooms without a woman in sight, except one taking notes and making coffee.  Imagine singing hymns each Sunday that lacked inclusive language.  Imagine congretations actively ignoring woman's spirituality.  Imagine your religious community silencing women or being indifferent to barriers to holy and whole involvement. 

Inspirations in the shower

Hello blog world,

Water is cleansing, not only of the physical body; apparently also of our 'aura' body--which is why great inspirations and ideas often come in the shower. ...  Yesterday's inspiration:

Messed up by religion?

Confused?  Frustrated?  Lost?

I can help.

Why me?

Because I have the education and experience, and I'm not working in a church.