Hybrid Spirituality--And I'm Not Talkin' About the Car!

        Like many of us in the US, I was raised as a member of organized religion. But, by the time I was 17, I knew the faith I grew up in wasn’t for me. For the next 27 years, I did a lot of spiritual searching, and felt intensely uncomfortable in any kind of church. I did eventually find my way—into a brand of spirituality that really works for me. I’ve come to call it hybrid spirituality: one that incorporates beliefs from more than one faith tradition, and is open to including even more.

         My purpose here isn’t to slam anyone who’s found a comfortable place in conventional religion; everyone has to follow their own path. What I am saying is that, for some of us, a spirituality that incorporates more than one tradition is a beautifully fulfilling thing. And if that kind of spirituality turns out to be the path that nourishes our spirit and opens us up into a relationship with the Divine, I have a feeling God wouldn’t mind. In fact, I think God would be rejoicing with us.

         So many of us in so many faiths have been taught that there’s only one “right way” to believe, only one chosen people or right way to worship. I contend that the only “right way” is the one that works for each individual as a path to a more fulfilled life and a deeper walk with the Divine. There’s nothing wrong with picking and choosing what does work—even if it involves making a different choice than the one you grew up with. Even if it combines elements of more than one spiritual tradition.

         For me, my combination of traditions fulfills just about everything I need from a spiritual system. My traditions are beautifully inclusive: people of every age, race, creed, and sexual preference are truly welcome. My traditions also acknowledge both the male and female aspect of God; they reverence the earth and nature; and they conceive of God as being within us, without, and in all things. They have a moral compass about how to treat other people. They also recognize the tremendous power of thought, and encourage self-responsibility for the thoughts and actions we produce. And, very importantly for me, my traditions recognize the vast potential in us humans, and acknowledge the deeper mysteries underlying our familiar reality.

         Where did I find all this? Primarily in the Science of Mind tradition (also known as Religious Science), in combination with Wicca and a few elements of the conventional church I grew up in. As I continue to learn and explore, I realize I also have some beliefs in common with Spiritualism and Theosophy. And I’m open to incorporating even more.

         So—are you a person with hybrid spirituality? What’s the combination that works for you? I’d love to hear from you.

Traveling Without the Body

         Human consciousness, I’ve come to realize, is such a fluid thing. I never would have believed it was possible for the consciousness of a living person to separate from the body, sometimes traveling to places in other realities and our own—astral projection. But it is possible. I know this because I’ve tried it myself—and because I had an amazing friend who could travel astrally and bring back proof of what she had seen.
         Some occultists believe that we all project naturally during sleep. I’ve also heard of cases where people separated from their bodies during surgery, and were actually able to see and hear the surgery being performed on them. (I’m so glad that never happened to me!) It’s also possible to project from a waking state, but for me, that wasn’t so easy to do. Practicing the same method my friend used, I had many failures and “partial lift-offs”—times when I would feel a part of me rocking up and out of my body. A very distinctive sensation. Then I would get so excited that I’d drop right back in!
         There was one night, however, when I finally stayed relaxed enough to rise up out of my body. Next thing I knew, I was looking up at the ceiling from a vantage point just a few inches below it. And then I saw a powerful, luminous-white energy that seemed to be drawing me upward. I rose up and merged into it, and that’s the last thing I can recall. I ended up feeling like the best part of my experience was probably the part I couldn’t remember—and I still wonder exactly where I went after I merged into that beneficent glow. But I did feel really pleased that I’d finally made it out of my body.
        This incident was enough to prove to me that separating the consciousness from the body really is possible. But it was my friend’s experiences that convinced me of the traveling part. Amazingly, she was able to consciously project to other locations in our reality—sometimes far away—and bring back information about what she saw. Which would turn out to be correct. On one occasion, she made a sketch of a building she had seen during one of her projections, in a place she had never visited during her waking life. We were later able to verify that there really was a building of that description there. Another time, she projected to a gathering at a nightclub, and later gave me a detailed list of who had been there—which again proved correct. The person who corroborated my friend’s account didn’t even know her, so the two of them couldn’t have conspired to pull off a hoax. Fascinating.
         The other thing that amazed me was that my friend seemed to be able to travel to other levels of reality as well, sometimes bringing back conscious memories of it. She described sights and sounds that were totally outside familiar reality; she talked about hearing unearthly cosmic sounds as she "traveled". And one of the “places” she visited was a vast, luminous expanse of white energy. While she was there, she was able to interact with, even merge with, other people, getting a glimmer of the deep connections that existed between herself and them from other lives they had shared. There’s really no objective way to validate these experiences. But in my mind, since my friend was able to successfully project to places we could verify, maybe these other experiences had validity, too—suggesting some interesting possibilities about the nature of reality and the interconnectedness of us all.
         Maybe ordinary reality isn’t the only one—and maybe all of us truly are connected in deep and mysterious ways: through interactions we’ve shared in other places and times, maybe even beyond time. So many unusual experiences in my own life have seemed to point to this. And my friend’s glimpse into a deeper reality seems to be just one more indication.
          Have you ever stepped out into another reality, and brought back an insight you wouldn’t have had otherwise? I’d love to hear your story, and I invite you to share it with me. Leave a comment for me here on Blogger, or contact me at info@annyoungfiction.com.