Spirit Quest

Spirit Quest Review

I just finished the final module in the Spirit Quest Course and I feel enlightened, free and a bit more prepared to face the world in to which I have been reborn.  The mission I have been assigned to complete has been elusive, but at this time clarity has been bestowed upon me. After my first near death experience there was an abundance of confusion, my thought processes were almost abstract. I had a sense of what happened but could not find relevance for my life. You see I had never been a religious person; until the age of maybe thirteen, I was raised as a catholic. I attended church services infrequently but I did complete the childhood sacraments christening, first Holy Communion and confirmation. Christmas was always special and even at a young age there was a distinct feeling within that was far more than just the enjoyment of being gifted with all of the worldly delights of a child. There was one more special time of the year when I would actually attend mass and other ceremonies namely The Stations of the Cross, which were celebrated during the Lenten season before Easter. During the Stations of the Cross I would again sense something very enjoyable and comforting and it was deep. I realize today that it was a very Spiritual sensation.

I think my confusion stemmed from the discourse I had felt while attending mass on Sundays and the classes I needed to attend to complete the sacrament of confirmation. By this time I had developed the cognitive abilities to Question. The things that I questioned the most were the way the Church (Catholic) would change the rules in mid stream to suit their needs. The time was the 1960's there were a lot of changes going on in the world and here in the United States. Technology was at its birth stage, television was more readily affordable for more of the population. The drug culture was in proliferation and people were getting busy with things other than going to Sunday Mass, at least that was the way it was for Catholics. This may sound petty maybe even a bit insincere but believe me this was the onset of my discourse with the Catholic Church and organized religion as a whole. Scenario, census in the Catholic Church had been dropping off for month's maybe even years; during this time the Church decided they could re-write Gospel and church law to suit their needs. While I was growing up we were prohibited from eating meat on Friday now this may sound trivial but it was profound to me. All of a sudden, it's fine now we can eat meat on Friday. They changed God's law. What Spirit Quest did for me, was to bring my focus back to my own spirituality and made me realize that God lives in me and even though I am more tolerant now of organized religion (I just opened Port St. Lucie Church of Spiritual Enlightenment) fully operational and all the legalities covered and Incorporated. So thanks to this course I obtained the strength to forge ahead. So from the very first lesson it was stated "Overcome the roadblocks that keep you from reaching your goals".  I found things in every lesson that helped me overcome my roadblocks.

Thank You,

Rev Glendon Ricker

Pastor, Port St. Lucie Church of Spiritual Enlightenment

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Universal Life Church

Blessed Day to you Sister Amy, I am thrilled that I have finally been able to enroll in ULC's Doctor of Religious Humanities course. I ordered it last night and eagerly await the material so I may get started. It's been over a year and a half since becoming Ordained and I feel Blessed at finally being able to financially afford this (and two more courses later!!) as one of my father's last wishes. I was elated that he had made a small fund available to me for the sole purpose of enrolling in ULC courses. Even though he was a devout, ordained Evangelical Pastor, I was honored to get his verbal blessing for this only days before he passed. It was an awesome gift that we were able to share our individual beliefs with each other without any condemnation or "right way" speeches he was so famous for in the past. Our communing in this manner is the best, and most honored, gift I have ever received from him or my parents. I even look past it being so late in his Life and will cherish this for the remainder of mine. Anyway, I suppose I digress due to my light heart and fulfilling experience! I recently found the ULC message boards and have spent hours reading the posts and that way getting to know some of our Membership. I knew this segment of communication was there, I simply neglected getting to involved until I could contribute more and was able to enroll in some sort of course within the ULC educational channels. I have benefited greatly from the course samples you have faithfully sent me and truly appreciate that opportunity to participate. I believe I informed you awhile back that it was Dr. Hensley's little church on 3rd Street in Modesto that turned my life around some 30 years ago. I plan on writing a short introduction/bio including this little tid-bit for the Membership soon. I do truly enjoy the message boards and find it a wonderful means for members to fully explore any given topic. The MSN group my wife and I formed was great when everyone got together on PalTalk, but the message boards always seemed to be where we got into the meat and potatoes of any issue as we were able to respond at will. Attached is a little piece of artwork I was inspired to draw up last night and I would like to offer it to the ULC Membership as a customary thing I do. Naturally it is offered copyright permissions granted and free for all ULC members to use, download or copy. While Wanda and I lived on Maui I spent a great deal of time with local artists, shaman and healers. There is a simplistic beauty in Polynesian art and I genuinely put my mind and heart into learning the make up of this medium. The picture for ULC is representative of the bounty of the Earth (aina) the blessings of the sky and sun (ka) and the many wonders of the sea (kai) and how important our belief in Spirit (mana/manau ke nui) is towards living a fulfilled and joyous Life. The wind bars send us towards a blessed future and the enclosure line represents our community of good folks which "Do only that which is right".  I didn't want to just post it without running it by someone on staff first and to be honest I'm a bit "new fangled thang challenged" when it comes to more than copy and paste! So if you wouldn't mind please offer this up to the Membership on my behalf (My Thanks in advance) .....ORRRRR......you could get Murph or someone that knows what's going on to help me do it the first time (I am a quick study and I usually only need one or two lessons on such things. And of course, if you feel its best I don't poet it at all, I completely understand and respect ULC's regulations (if there are some) on these type requests. Blessings of Peace and may your Path be filled with Light, Dave "Rev. Al" Kjono ******************************* The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive and affordable online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, a beginning course on  Wicca, as well as a beginning course on  Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is a free and lifetime ordination, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. We also make available many free wedding ceremonies for your use, as well as funeral ceremonies and other types of ceremonies.   The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program where you can earn the coveted title of Chaplain. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church materials to help you with your professionalism and confidence.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and an amazed by the frequent upgrades and new functions of the seminary.   Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Religious Philosophy

Master of Religious Philosophy Final Essay

By Rev. Patricia Buben

The Master of Religious Philosophy is a great class.  It describes what religion is, how it developed historically, and even discusses a study in which religiosity can be viewed as genetic in nature.  I loved the definition of religious legitimacy.  Basically it says 'although a religion may seem obnoxious or illogical to some, it need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to be considered legitimate'.  In other words, you can open up any kind of a church you want and it is legitimate. 

The course goes on to describe how to identify cult.  Essentially, most anthropologists adhere to a 'five point system' in determining whether or not a specific group — religious or otherwise — should be classified as a cult. These five points can be presented in the form of questions about the group. These are:

·         Does the group have a charismatic, powerful leader (or leaders)?

·         Does it display a group mentality that denies individuality and personal, independent thought?

·         Is there a denial of intimacy by excluding or alienating friends and relatives?

·         Do they apply financial pressure and abuse for the welfare of the group, even at the personal expense of the adherent?

·         Is there a separation and isolation from the surrounding community?

The more affirmative answers you get, the more likely the group is to be a cult.  Unfortunately, many conservative religions will call others "cults" simply because they don't like the other religion. 

There are approximately 5,000 different religions in the world today.   So, how do they differ?  Some ways in which they can differ are by:

·         Myth;

·         Doctrine (dogma);

·         Scripture; and,

·         Sacred Space.

Although there are many religions out there and a lot of variation, it inevitably means that humans are looking to connect with God in some way and develop a sense of communion with something greater than themselves.  I like the course because it presents so much data.  You can research it, believe what you want and take what makes sense.  In summary, there is a lot of information presented and the author does a great job in making it as objective as possible.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button. 

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church  materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. 

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Buddhism

Master of Buddhism by Rev. Nitza L. Melgar

When I think of life and it's meaning, I picture myself on the top of a very tall mountain. I stand there alone, overlooking the clouds that float slowly beneath me. I see the birds flying freely to their next destination down below. I am at the very point where the world ends and eternity begins.

There, there way down below the clouds, live the humans. Those beings, I am suppose to love and care for without constraint.

I stand dressed in a white hooded robe. No markings at all, as to indicate my station. My body is entirely covered, so my gender is not known, the color of my skin is hidden. My face, deep inside the white hood, is invisible. Here, I ponder, the question, regarding what I must do, to reach enlightenment?

I must empty myself. Disappear, if you will. I must love every living creature, as it is and not as I would like it to be. I must erase all anger, resentment, or feeling of hatred towards anyone.

I must walk away from all I have, and think more of others than myself.

I must dissolve myself and become part of the oneness that is humanity.

I am not black, white or any color. I am not male or female. I am not rich or poor. I am not tall or short. I am open to all things. Accepting all things as part of the greater picture, the tapestry that is life.

This, to me, is what Buddha, Christ and all those like them were trying to teach us. There is something greater than ourselves that rules all things. We must become less, in order to become more. It is only in dying to oneself, that one can live. It is only in reaching out to others, that we can receive.

We must accept ourselves, just as we are and strive continuously to do good. It is only in emptying yourself that you can become a vessel. A vessel to be filled with love, and selflessness.

The more I read the teachings of Buddha, the more I realize, how similar they are to Jesus teachings in the New Testament. It has been said, "that there is nothing new under the Sun." I began to think about this, and try to see why this happened. It seems to me, that whenever the world becomes full of anger, war and violence,teachers such as Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohamed and others would come and remind us what the True Path should be for us to follow.

In our lifetime, people like Martin Luther King, tried to do the same thing. If we stray from the Path, we will be damned to relive our mistakes. I do believe in reincarnation and I do believe a soul returns over and over till he gets it right. To me enlightenment is the only Path to Ascension and eternal reunion with the essence from which we came.

I thoroughly enjoyed this course and highly recommend it to other ministers. Thank for this opportunity to learn and share ideas.

God Bless,

Rev. Nitza L. Melgar ULC Minister,SBT

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Ordination with the Free Online Ordination button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Paganism

The first thing to understand about my religion is that it focuses on the worship of and belief in the Gods and their place in the cosmos in relation to us. Every one of us is a potential God. Consider yourself God Larva; your body a temple or battlefield. The Gods are our Teachers and the narratives about them, a lesson to be learned. As with the Gods, what you do in this life echoes in eternity, if you do nothing the memory of you will fade; if you do great noteworthy deeds the memory of you will live for all time.

My belief centers on my ancestors' Gods, the Gods of the Cruithne the indigenous peoples of Western Europe before the Romans invaded the land. I being by nature a skeptical person have researched and pondered the controversy of the old ways for quite some time. I found the answer to the controversy, for myself at least.

The methods and mechanisms of the Gods are done. What is left is for us. What I mean by the previous statement is that the future of our creed is left up to us. The Gods may lend help to us but it is best for us to develop our own strengths and find a cure for our own weaknesses. The Gods and your Family may lend aid, but it is you who ultimately need to evolve.

In respect and reverence for the Gods, we honor the holidays and festivals apportioned to them so they will not forget our existence. Every God has his or her own holidays, the ceremonies and rites of which have been written down for centuries in the mythological cycles. The holidays are based on some action of the God the holiday honors. These actions are presented in the narratives detailing the Gods' time on this world. Every clan and culture of the Cruithne had its own Oral Tradition, but the generalizations in all those traditions are so similar as to be from one larger Celtic culture. For instance, the tales of the deeds of the Gods I tell my children are slightly different from the written versions popularized, but the outcome is the same. I have come to realize the importance of written language and urge anyone if they have an oral tradition to write it down, even publish it, to save your culture.

The pattern of ceremony and festivals honoring the Gods follow the wheel of the year, every holiday in its season and every God honored in his or her holiday. Blessings are given by the Gods on special occasions and life changing events via the Priesthood. Geases and Divinations are also relayed through the Gods via the priesthood. A Gease is a Taboo that is given to an individual, and should be given at about age thirteen. This builds character, during youngsters' truly formative years.

The religion also gives respect and proper attention to what is known as "The Seventh Son of The Seventh Son" That is to say that any child or person who bares special physical and paranormal gifts in this world, although they may be a lay person, shall be mentored by the priesthood, to channel and hone those special qualities and to lend the schooling of the priesthood to the subject. Therefore a person with these special qualities would always be versed in the ways of the priesthood and carries the office of a priest but may choose a non priestly life. Many Cruithne Demi-Gods have grown in this way, CuChullian for example was reared for his special qualities by Scartchach the warrior priestess.

The Priesthood was known to the Celts in history as Druids, as it is in our priesthood. The priest must be versed in the Oral tradition, Law keeping and judgments, Medicinal studies (herbal and First aid (tribal) Horticulture, Zoology, Metaphysics, Astrology and preside over marriages, blessings, birthings, holiday ceremony, sacred ritual and sacrifice, as well as maintain the sites held to be holy and sacred. Weather or not a given Priest is a magic (magick) practitioner is a personal choice and His or her school of Magic (magick) should not affect the function as a priest, although belief in "Magic" in the Religion is very common.

Although my religion may contain Wiccans in its midst, the religion itself is not Wiccanism. This is Paleo-Paganism.

"The Carnyx sounded upon the felling of Nuada, and it stirred Lugh from his Domain in the underworld and mounting his steed; out he strode to aid of the Tuatha De Dannan. To the East the Fomorians' felt the Sun sear the flesh on there backs and it was as the first rising of the sun for those who dwelt in the darkness and the first blessed dawn for those who defended against them"

Rev. Russell L Lamerson.

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Ordination with the Free Online Ordination button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Christian Studies

Unvarnished Gospels

End Of Course Essay

Rev. Nick Federspiel

God's Country Fellowship Church

The course is a good chapter review of the four Gospels and valuable to people not well acquainted with them; to others it provides an interesting point of view.

First, I must say that the Andy Gaus' The Unvarnished Gospels translation is a bit "unique" to be polite, but there are so many translations these days. I reference the KVJ and the NKJV and when I want to speed read I use the Today's English Version of the Good News Bible. At first I did not think I would use the Gaus version in the future, but on reflecting perhaps it is good Sermon food. I especially will never forget the paraphrase "canon-lawyers" which in the GNV is "teachers of the law." It is indeed these canon-lawyers that failed to understand the long term consequences of their own actions – as many lawyers also fail at today.

Secondly, the course identifies some of the inconsistencies and reporting details and styles between the four Gospels such as in lesson 6: "Also, in this book, Jesus carries his own cross, where in the book of Luke, someone else carries it for him." Indeed in the other three books Simon at some point carries the cross (i.e. Matthew 27:32, Mark 15:21 and Luke 23:26). These apparent inconsistencies together with several others in the Holy Bible some inflate as errorsHis message yet in a way suggests that the stories are true indeed. What if all four gospels, all books of the Bible, read alike? Would you believe them as independently authored from witnesses to wars, miracles, and one crisis after another? I would not. I would conclude all four gospels were all the same as suggested by the "Q" book theory – another "missing book" assumed to be the four gospels reference text. There is nothing like a shelf of missing books to argue over the Bible, if one is prone to such; as in my view that is a waste of intellectual time otherwise better spent. The point is the message. And the message to the irate and foolish fanatical Pharisees of the future is: "What goes around indeed comes around – just wait it out." that today's canon lawyers use to discredit the Bible. In my view such trivia is irrelevant to

One gospel message few pause to reflect upon is, I think, that the fanatic Pharisees were fools of the highest order. They did about the only thing they could that would create the genesis of Christianity. Assumed to be well acquainted with the old writings, which Josephus states were indeed in the temple, one would think common sense would have restrained them from compliance with the prophets. They did not believe, as the Apostles even doubted, that such a thing as a resurrection could be or indeed was (Matthew 28:17, Mark 16:14 GNV). Such doubt does not give much support to the concept that the brave disciples (sic), who coward at being associated with Christ (Matthew 26:74), later challenged the Roman guards for a dead body to steal away in the night or concocted an exceptional act of flawless deception as suggested in the Bloodline of the Holy Grail. 

The lessons of history suggest that a whipping, banishment or exile and just about anything else the canon-lawyers could have impressed upon Pilate, now suddenly a friend with Herod (Luke23:12), would have ended for all of history any thought of the man Jesus, the "Christ," being the Messiah of the Torah. Instead the canon-lawyers helped Pilate initiate his and Herod's demise along with three centuries of political turmoil for Rome resulting in Rome decreeing Christianity. 

The Unvarnished Gospel page 66 says: " … can we remember how the fraud said while alive, "I will RISE up after three days." So order (Pilate) the grave to be guarded until the third day so the students (of Jesus the fraud) don't come and steal him …..Pilate said to them "YOU have custody… so they went their way and stationed a guard around the grave and marked the stone with a sign IN CUSTODY." What is missing from most analysis of the four gospels is: what were they thinking! BUT thank God for those canon-lawyers! Amen.

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Ordination with the Free Online Ordination button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Spiritual Awareness

Essay for completion of Dr. Of Spiritual Awareness

Rev. Anne Marie Brooks

The course was very well written. It was organized and flowed well. The lessons all went together each supporting the one before and after. The course seemed to easily fit in spiritual development and psychic development. It supported very well the information I have learned in my parapsychic science. They validate each one very well. There some things already knew from previous work but there were also some aspects that went deeper than I had previously.

I thoroughly enjoyed the ideas about Karma as a teacher, and souls having lifetimes.


Reincarnation allows us the luxury of learning the lessons we missed the last time around, and paying off past karmic debts. The use of active versus passive mediation helps people know there really is no way to do it incorrectly. The different types of mediation such as visualizations, soul trip with your guardian angel and regression mediation, which as he describes it sounds much, like self-hypnosis. I agreed with his perception of good and evil and how important it is to know yourself.

Clairvoyance, telepathy, guardian angels and Reiki spirit guides ring true to me in that I find these perceptions in all the studying I've done. As a Reiki Master Teacher, I loved his description of the Chakras and colors as these are incorporated in to energy healing sessions I do. Once he notes that we are "child of Divine Creator", which reminded me some much of the part in the Desiderata that states, "You are a child of the Universe…"

Finding your own answers is frequently done by learning and trying other religions and he suggests the use of a mentor. From my lifetime and just plain common sense there are good people in any religion and bad people in any religion, which is why it is so important to know yourself and listen to your intuition. You have all the answers in you if you will just listen and be aware of signs around you.

We also get guidance from spirit guides, guardian angels, ascended masters and animal spirit guides. I enjoyed and appreciated his discussion on high spirits versus low spirits. That is a point not made often enough.

In the chapters, that deal with the Laws, I will only comment on the one's I either hadn't heard of it before or disagree with or did quite "get". Most of the laws have been part of my training with either Reiki or parapsychic science. The law of cycles made sense but maybe too much. It just seemed like good old plain common sense. I didn't quite under his description of the Law Of Gender. In his explanation of the Law of God Will, I found myself thinking it was much like Albert Ellis' work on Rational Emotive Therapy. Beliefs cause filling, feeling cause behavior therefore if your belief is faulty than it is likely that your actions/behaviors will be wrong and not in anyone's best interest. The Law of Lotus didn't remind me of anything I'd read elsewhere and seemed to be vaguely described for to agree or disagree. I would have to say that all in all the laws he discusses I agree with and for the part have become familiar with in other areas of study. This made me feel good in that it validated previous learning.

The discussion on Ley lines was nice to see. He explains it well and how to protect yourself as well letting you know you can always call for help from guides, Archangel Michael and the use of a mirror. This was good information and area where I believe I can never have too many ways to help people know how to protect themselves if necessary. He explains Kundalini , prana, the I AM presence in terms that are easily understandable and again fit nicely with other teachings I've had. In the chapter, in which he discusses the 7 rays, their colors etc. was much like the chakras. His description of how each ascended master is associated to each color and virtue was the perfect way to wrap up the course. Although I knew a lot of this before the course I learned so much more and I must add I love the way he writes. It is down to earth and often quite humorous.

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Ordination with the Free Online Ordination button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Spirit Quest

Spirit Quest Master of Metaphysics Final Essay Nannette As you read on, you might get a sick feeling in the bottom of your stomach, if might even make you feel sorry for me, I just ask you not to feel sorry for me. I, nor anyone else can change what happened to me. I just hope that maybe it can help some else who has gone through it to know that they are not alone. Setting spiritual, emotional and physical goals at first seemed really easy. I looked at it and said, "No problem, I can do it." Well, I was wrong, it was not that easy for me. There was one thing that seems to stop me right in my tracks, "FORGIVENESS". I am a very semi person, but with certain things I am very private. What you are about to read is not easy for me to tell people. In the end people needs to hear my story and maybe it can help others. Forgiveness was a very hard thing for me to do. There has been certain things in my life that have happened to me that were very bad have affected my life in many different ways. Because of it, I have found it very hard to forgive certain people. Here is my story: (just the basic of it); As a young child we went to church at least 2 to 3 times a week for church activities during the week and than Sunday School on Sunday mornings followed by worship service in the after noon and than praise meeting in the evening. For the praise meetings my mother would drop my sister and I off at church and than go and pick up a few of the men from the men social (which is part of our church). After some period of time my mother started inviting one of the men over to our house for dinner and what ever else, soon after that they started dating. That is where it all started, he would tell me that he loved me and that I was like a daughter to him. When I was in bed he would come in to say good night to me, and ask me if I wanted to play a game, I said sure (especially if it got me to stay up a little longer), he said that it was a special game between him and me, and not to tell anyone. He started to touch me over my under pants, as days, weeks and even months went by he would come in my room at night and said that we were going to play our special game but a little different, during the game he took my under wear off and did more than just touching. As time went by and things started to change my mother married him and then our little game changed as well. The so called game was also done while I was taking a bath, and in his bed, as time went on the rules of the game changed to where I had to touch him also. When I started to develop his game changed again, this time he told me that if I told anyone then he would hurt me really bad and that I had to play his game just how he wanted it because when you love some one that is what you do. He started to force himself on me everyday, sometimes more than once a day, as I got a little older and told him that I didn't want to play the game anymore he would beat me with his belt and force me to play the game anyways. I can't tell you how many times I cried myself to sleep, and how bad I wanted to tell some one, but I was to afraid that he would hurt me worse then what he was already doing, or was hoping that some one would figure out that something was wrong, but no one did. I found out later in my adult life and after my grand father death that my grand parents figured it out but said nothing because they thought that my mother allowed it. During 90% of it my mother was at home while he was doing all of this to me, and it went on for several years. The day that I turned 19 I was walking home from my mothers house I was attacked and the guy forced me to sleep with him, I was still in school due to graduate that June, I told one of my foster mothers what happened and she told my other foster mother and foster father (no I wasn't in a foster home, these people helped me with my school work when I had a problem, they were there when I had no one to turn to), they said that it was wrong and it was called rape, so some how I got the courage and told them about what my than ex-step father had been doing to me. I had to break the silence. My foster father told my mother, she said that it never happened and took his side of it. Things got to the point that I even tried to take my own life twice. It affected my life so bad and in so many different ways; I became afraid of men I didn't trust anyone I couldn't stand to be touched, not even a hug or a hand shake He took my youth away from me I couldn't have a real relationship with a man I had bad dreams and night terrors and relived it all in my dreams to the point that I reverted to sucking my thumb in my sleep and didn't even know that I was doing it I was afraid that he was going to hurt me worse because I told and he was already at that time looking for us and trying to get back with my mother. When I was around 20 years old I ran into an old friend, he was looking for my brother. I knew at that moment that I was going to marry him, but there was a little problem, I was afraid of men, I didn't trust anymore and I couldn't stand to be touched, so how was I going to be able to have a relationship with him let alone marry him. As it turned out he knew at that moment that he was going to marry me also. Just from talking with him he new something was wrong. One day everything started to change, I was jumped at my brothers house by a group of people, and had to go to the hospital. When I got back to my brothers house I hid in a corner and didn't want to come out, I was afraid that the people were going to come back, I had no idea as to who they were. My brother went and got Jon and told him what happened, he came to my brothers house to get me and to make sure that I was ok, he said that he would protect me. I started to trust him and I told him what my ex-step father did to me. He was mad, he knew my ex-step father and he understood why I was afraid even of him. Jon and I did get married, and we have 3 children that lived, we lost 5 children (some were twins), because of the several tears of being rape and sexually abuse, my children had to be born by c-section. I was not able to have a baby the natural way. My mother asked the doctor if it was because of being sexually abuse and they told her yes, that because of it my insides are messed up. At that point my mother knew that I didn't make it up, but at the same time she didn't even say that she was sorry for not believing me. Thru the years my husband has been there for me and has helped me through the bad dreams and the night terrors. There were times that I would wake up screaming yelling for him to leave me alone thinking that it was my ex-step father touching me, when it was just Jon putting his arm around me. It was a long process that I had to go through to get to where I am today. I could not forgive my mother for a while but as time went on I was able to forgive her, as for my ex-step father I could not completely forgive him, he also took away my feelings, my freedom. The most reminder that I had was that I couldn't be completely intimate with my husband. To me there is a difference between having sex and making love. Thru the years I always said we don't have sex, we make love to each other, but in fact it was just sex. I couldn't even make love to the man that I love with all of my heart, and that made me mad to the point that I could not forgive my ex-step father for what he did to me. My hubby and I just had our 23rd. Wedding annv., we have been together for almost 24 years, and we have known each other for almost 43 years. Through a friend, a man that my husband works with told him about a friend of his that is a minister (plays the same on-line game that we all play), whose group was having a Thanksgiving Outreach. My husband told me about it, our one daughter met me there, I really enjoyed it to the point that I have continued to go on Fridays. The minister is a very awesome man, I have at many times went to him and talked about different things that was happening in my family, like the surgery that my husband had, and some of the others that he has to have later on. I also talk with him in the game that we all play. I asked him a simple question: how can someone really truly forgive someone who could rape and continue to rape a child almost everyday for several years. His answer was simple: if you are a true Christian, you than can forgive him. I had to think about what he said to me for several days, yes it took me several days to go over in my mind back to the day when my hubby and I started to date until now. I had to take a long hard look at how my life was affected by what happened to me and how it has affected the sexual part of our relationship. I didn't really have any feelings or emotions while we were intimate with each other. Sometimes when I don't know things do change, I am happy to say that I am able to make love to and with my hubby and to have him make love to me. I am not afraid to let a male shake my hand, or even to give me a hug. The most important thing is that because I am able to feel again, that I am not afraid anymore of males or even my ex-step father (I don't trust him, and I don't ever want him around my children or grand children) and I can truly know what it is like to love again and to be loved no matter if it just a love between friends, a love between wife and husband, or even a love that we share while being intimate with each other. I also have my freedom, to say no when I don't want to be intimate and don't have to worry about getting beat and than being forced to do it anyways. From this somehow I was able to forgive and didn't even know that I had. I would not have known it, if wasn't for my minister, my friend to open my eyes, my heart and to make me take a good hard look at it to make me realized that I did forgive my ex-step father. I know that one day he will have to answer to God for what he did to me. What makes a person do sick things like that to anyone but especially to a child is beyond me. I know now that it was not my fault, and that I didn't do anything wrong to deserve what he did to me. I thank God for bringing Jim, the guy from my husband work into our lives, because through him God brought Tony, at first I knew him as Rahammer (his toon in the on-line game that we all play) into our lives, into my life, other wise I would not have known that I did forgive him. Seeing that I forgave him, I can forgive myself for not breaking the silence when I was a child. Now I know that I can forgive anyone that did or might in the future do wrong to me. As you could just tell forgiveness was a really huge problem for me and I just ask that you understand how hard it was for me. I believe that God knew it was a problem, and for some reason only he knows why it took me this long to realize that I did and can forgive. I don't know if what has happened to me was in Gods plans, but I believe that God did have in his plans for me to meet Jim, Tony and his wife Joy and others in his group. To say the least somewhere in mine and my hubby life our paths had already crossed, don't know where, and don't know when but they have. It was and is hard at times for me to tell my story, therefore I thank you for reading my story, I know it is long, and I am not sorry for it being long. My story has to be told, it might just help someone else who has gone through something like it themselves. I know that I am still healing from it, and I know that it does not run my life. The most important thing is that I can trust others and I can trust God. I can feel and have emotions again and I can FORGIVE. ******************************************** To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link. Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church.  Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Metaphysical Healing

Metaphysical Healing Thomas Voss "Healing can be defined as the ability to heal all levels of a person's being, through animating the vital force within." From the time I was a boy in catechism class at our little Episcopal Church the idea of healing with a touch fascinated me. The "laying on of hands" has come up time and time again throughout my life. The way Jesus did things had class. When I saw that ULC Seminary offered a course in Metaphysical Healing I was on board in a heart beat. And, I was very pleased that it was offered by Dr./Rev. Katharine Kruger. Her name and work in South Africa had come up before as a healer and educator. I was sure she would have a great course and I wasn't disappointed. We have all heard about auras, charkas, and other mysterious things from the Eastern religions. For most of my life it just baffled me how anyone could go around talking about that sort of thing keeping a straight face. Dr. Kruger offers all these topics plus the seven subtle bodies together with the human endocrine system in her course. And, all the while, she intricately weaves them together in a believable approach to healing. For me, finally, it was easy to associate high energy levels in and around powerful endocrine glands with healing energy of the chakras. From there it wasn't hard to go with a system of Auric fibers connecting the subtle bodies with the charkas together with the Peripheral Nervous System. "It is important to remember that the Human Energy Field is not something that is separate from the body. It is an extension of the physical, because the peripheral nervous system continues beyond the skin surface, in a very subtle form." The Etheric Body, Emotional Body, Mental Body, Astral Body, Etheric Template, Celestial Body, the Ketheric Template, and the Auric Sheath are all part of the human aura. Again, all of these except the Auric Sheath correspond directly to one of the seven charkas. In turn, the charkas relate directly to one of the endocrine glands. For instance, the Celestial body, the 6th subtle system corresponds with the 6th charka and the pineal gland. The Celestial Body is regarded as the most beautiful of the subtle bodies (pearl in color) and is the body within which spiritual ecstasy is manifested with in deep states of meditation. It is likely that early Christian artist were representing the celestial body in the "halos" they placed around the head of the Christ and of the saints. Those are the sorts of things about which we learned from Dr. Kruger's course. In other lessons Rev. Kruger provides a sound introduction to, taking medical histories and clinic operations. One thing I grasped right away was that it is very naive to think one could take a course then put up a shingle and begin to heal the masses. Dr. Kruger mentioned in one of her lessons that in Africa after one is initiated there is a course (an apprenticeship) of study that may take 6 or 7 years. That seems a bit more reasonable. However, among different interventions I've done and still do using hypno-therapy, NLP, and acupressure it seems like adding some metaphysical healing techniques will definitely help my clients (OK in small doses while I'm learning). My wife, my sister, and my brother all have troubles with there lower backs. All three are bed ridden from time to time painfully unable to move. Now, I don't know what I did to all three of these people (It could be that I'm just a pain in the . . .) but, the least I could do was to offer up some healing. So, I took the course intending to add it to acupressure and hypnosis. We'll see. The places wherein she talks about the medicine man – shamans out in the bush and their beliefs and approaches to healing are especially entertaining. The African medicine men have an idea that healing is magic mixed with the spiritual. "In African Culture the ancestors could be the spirits of deceased family members who now wish to continue their healing work through the mediumship of the initiate." The idea that there could be a number of spirits hanging around is really spooky to me – pun intended. I find Dr. King's approach using Universal Energy to heal much more appealing. Tribal healers believe that people who do wrong will cause there own illness and illness for the whole tribe as well. Another belief of the tribal healers encompasses "soul loss" and they conduct soul retrieval to heal. Wow! Anyway, it was all very enlightening and there wasn't any part that I didn't like. One comment as a caution about 'past life regression', as a practicing hypno-therapist I've been in classes and other situations not in my control wherein neophyte-therapists unwittingly created for their class mates/clients many 'past lives' and even spaceships. Any therapist must be ever so very careful how this type of induction is approached not to mention how it is conducted. On a popular TV show that is all about UFOs, the staff was investigating where and how the aliens abduct people. During the show they contacted a popular hypno-therapist who was doing "research." This therapist is an avid UFO fan and has "studied" aliens for many years. During an induction they were airing that night the audience should have readily seen that what really happened was an overzealous therapist placed his client(s) right in the middle of an alien spaceship! Neither the client nor any aliens had anything to do with this reality. To begin with, the very reason that that particular client sought out that particular hypno-therapist was to find other-world aliens somewhere in his (the client's) 'Sub-conscious' mind(s). Both gentlemen were ripe to find some aliens. The entire interlude was completely contaminated. Presupposition is the bane of all any therapy and all religion. Too much of what therapists believe comes up in the heads of their clients. If somebody wants a past life they can probably find a "therapist" who'll give them any number they want. I do not presume to question someone as important as is Dr. Kruger in the world of metaphysical healing. I do think it is important that all her students clearly understand that induction into any level of hypnosis is a truly powerful process and that an outright novice shouldn't be messing around with it without real guidance. Enough said. Respectfully submitted, Thomas A. Voss ********************** Ordination with the Free Online Ordination button. The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Druidism

Master of Druidism Essay By Rev. Kevin John Gilhooly The Druids were an ancient people, although there was a more modern version. The modern ones tended to converge on Stonehenge from time to time. That was about all I knew about Druidism when I began this course. I have always been interested in a multitude of belief systems – I was raised Roman Catholic and went to Catholic schools, I attended Buddhist services after college, and I've looked at other religions, as well. It has not been a quest to find the "right" or "only" solution, but rather to find ideas that will help me along my spiritual journey. I began my study of the Druids with very little preconceptions. I chose the course since my family is originally from Ireland and because it was a belief system born of simpler times, which I think would be one possible solution to some of the issues of today. (This was mentioned in the course, in fact, so I was not alone in this thought.) Other than that, I was a blank slate. I appreciated learning that the Druids were a society more than a religion. There are some societies (AA comes to mind) which often bind their members much more closely than proper religions do. It is unfortunate that it was an oral tradition, since much of the specifics are then recorded for posterity by those outside the society. Nonetheless, there are records which are quoted throughout the course. Since it was an oral tradition, there was a specific portion of society (the Bards) dedicated to continuing the tradition and handing it down. There were also Ovates, who were the healers and the Druids, who were performed the rituals and were teachers. It sounds like the caste system was not what we would consider a caste today with different levels in a hierarchy but rather a progression of learning. Druidism taught its members to honor life – in all its forms. This core belief could help people to realize that all their actions ripple throughout the Earth – affecting not just themselves, but people and other beings around them. If you can accept this core belief, then you can start to realize your place within the Earth and how what you choose has effected beyond just those entities directly around you. The interesting aspect of this to me was that it is a belief that will help one to do right without the requirement of a Supreme Being who is watching and "grading" what you do. There is no real need for someone watching over you to see if you behave – you can determine your correct path by how it affects the Earth around you. Like their ethical code, the Druidic holidays are also tied to the Earth. Their calendar is based on the seasons, which would be much more important to acknowledge in an agrarian culture, and also again grounds the people into the rhythms of the Earth. It is interesting to note that theirs was a solar calendar, rather than a lunar one. I was glad to learn that there are actually practicing Druids today. While it may not be accepted widely, I do believe it has concepts that should be acknowledged and studied, since other beliefs can gloss over them. It is unfortunate that some of the aspects of the Druidic system (magic, divination) are held to ridicule by those in the mainstream, which then causes them to dismiss the tradition wholesale. While part of the tradition, I don't believe focusing on those aspects give a true picture of the system and how it can help modern people survive in a modern world. I also believe that the explanations of magic in the course would lead many to believe that magic is around us. As the world becomes more automated and mechanized, perhaps all of us should take a moment and reflect on the traditions of the Druids, who were connected to the earth and to each other. ********************** Ordination with the Free Online Ordination button. The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar