A Course In Miracles

Dr. of Metaphysics Program Essay

By Caroline Nixon

To summarize what I learned, what touched me; from this course in metaphysics is no easy task. I learned or should I say “remembered” so much. Being trained in Hypnosis, I was already quite familiar with the three minds and how they operate. I especially enjoyed reading about the Ego vs. the Higher Mind. I was reminded of just how much I operate from my self-conscious ego self. I think we could all do well to have a chat with our ego each morning, and choose to think and act from our higher “God self”. I think of my ego self as a toddler, which isn’t that hard for me to do since I have two children at home under the age of 5. So, I can have compassion for my ego self (and patience), but I can have rules for my ego as well.

When I operate from my higher “true” self, I am open to fully give and receive love which is all that is true anyway. I laugh at myself at how often I forget that. There are so many opportunities everyday to give and receive love, yet it seems so easy to forget this (at least for me). It is the illusion of separation that I am reminded of here. We are all one, yet we forget this sometimes (a lot). My mind is always racing, and I have trouble being in the moment. However, when I am fully engrossed in what I am doing, it is magic! As I meditate (and write) I have more of these magical moments.

I loved in one of the lessons where Loretta spoke of our holy purpose of work. She said our holy purpose of work is to give of ourselves. I feel that can be applied to everything we do. I loved when she said that our job is to spread love. That is the truth! I have spent many hours trying to “find myself” and my purpose on this planet. And while I believe we all have unique gifts and talents and lessons to learn, I also believe we ALL are here to give and receive love. It seems so easy, yet it is so hard. We get busy. Busy making plans. Busy worrying. Busy doing and thinking. Busy, busy, busy. This is where meditation, visualizing, praying and surrendering can help us slow down and just BE. Maybe we should get busy being and loving more. We would be a whole lot happier. So I end this essay by asking God for help. I ask God to remove all of the barriers that are preventing me from experiencing God’s presence within me. And so it is. Thank you to Loretta for all of the great and thought provoking lessons.

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Buddhism

Buddhism
The course taught me a lot about my chosen path, especially about the history.  In the 20 lessons it covers, most aspects are covered well.

"Buddhism is not a religion about doctrines or rituals,it is a religion about practice and enlightenment. Enlightenment is not about some type of trance or out of body experience(or salvation,my note), it is about being able to preform your daily tasks with understanding, loving kindness, compassion, and non violence."

Hermano Luis

Morivivi

Hermatage

Buddhism is also a philosophy.It is a way of life without a set dogma and with a set of guidelines to help us in life(this one and the next).One of the ways i have learned this is the 5 contemplations:

1.Old age will come;i have not outstripped old age.

2.Disease will come; I have not outstripped disease.

3.Death will come; I have not outstripped death.

4.All things near and dear to me are subject to alteration;subject to separation.

5.I am the result of my own deeds;whatever deed I do,skilled or unskilled, good or bad, I shall become heir to.

When this is taken in light with the 4 noble truths:1.  All life is suffering.

2.The cause of suffering is desire.

3.Suffering can be ended.

4.The way to end suffering is the 8 fold path. and the teachings of the 8 fold path,one begins to understand the teachings of the Buddha.

Buddhism as a philosophy also teaches us that if we become attached to the concept of"self",we cause suffering;not only for ourselves,but those around us.  Many (buddhist and non buddhist alike)misunderstand this.It is not a teaching of nothingness or non existence,but a teaching o whatever we do affects all.

The chant(prayer if you prefer):

"I go to the buddha for refuge"

"I go to the Dharma for refuge"

"I go to the Sangha for refuge"

sums this up.

We recognize that the historical Buddha(Siddhartha Gautama)was the first(that we know of)teacher who attained enlightenment and we strive to do the same.

When we take refuge in the Dharma,we are saying we choose to follow the teachings of the Buddha,and all who come after him,on our path to enlightenment.

To take refuge in the Sangha means to accept and understand that we are all part of a community at large(the world),therefore all actions affect the whole,now and later.

There is much more to this than i can or have covered here.To learn it

all would take more than one lifetime.

I leave with this quote:"Do not use what you learn about Buddhism to be

a better Buddhist.Use it to become a better what you already are"

the 14th Dali Lama

well amy,here it is.not a true masters discertation,but thankfully not

requried(i would probably never have gotten it done).if it meets with

your approval,i will post same to the board(without the personal

comments).if you feel it needs any changes,please feel free to note them and i

will do so.

my address is:

Mark A Lightfoot

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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. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.

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Spirit Quest

SPIRIT-QUEST FINAL ESSAY 

Rev. Linda Blankenheim

When I began this course of Spirit-Quest, I never dreamed it would be so comprehensive. I am in awe of all the tools and information that are now at my disposal, that I never even considered before. I never thought of setting any spiritual goals. I was in this just to learn. I not only set spiritual goals, but I actually realized them. I can honestly say, that because I took this course, I have become a better person. I learned more about forgiveness, and how important it is. I had not considered that by not giving forgiveness and holding on to a problem area, I was making myself sick. I now give forgiveness freely. My meditation is now deeper and more open than ever. I love the ideas of a “Control Center”, and “viewing screen.”

I had an astrology reading several years ago, and it was suggested that I try “soul paintings.” At the time, I had no clue what they were. A “soul painting” is a message for a person from their angels and/or spirit guides. I was taught how to tune in, and with the guidance of spirit guides and angels, put onto paper the picture I saw in my head. The guides and angels then channeled through me writing to describe the pictures.

Since taking this course, my pictures have changed. They are much deeper, both in the paintings and in the writings. Other people have noticed it also. I don’t have to “work at them” any more. I also have a feel for numbers, and numerology. Many times the colors and numbers that come through in my paintings have significance for the person being read.

When you are engaged in this type of work, it is especially important to be grounded. Through this course, I learned more ways to stay deeply grounded. I love the concept of blowing up your grounding cord and roses and creating new ones, and thereby staying in the present. And who can live without that wonderful Golden Sun? I thank you for all the many gifts and blessings that I received while taking this course, and plan to take more courses through ULC in the future.

Rev. Linda Blankenheim

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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. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Buddhism

Buddhism stresses mindfulness, minding mind, and meditation as a way to calm and train our restless minds. Rather than worrying about sin and guilt, it teaches us how to eliminate suffering in this life and hopefully come to full awareness so that we can help others eliminate their suffering in this world.

Buddhism is about learning objectivity in all things. Clearing our lives of attachment and desire, we can go about our lives in peace and tranquility. Clearing the mind of clutter, we can see clearly what we were meant to do and the path to doing it.

With Buddhism there is no condemnation of others beliefs, no charge from the Sangha to go forth and try and change all of humanity into becoming Buddhists. There is a quiet sanity in Buddhism that seems to be lacking in other major religions.

Yes, Buddhism has undergone some of the schisms that other major religions have but the differing schools still teach minding the mind, compassion for all sentient beings, non-violence and meditation as a tool to focus on enlightenment.

I am of the Mahayana tradition, but I study some of the Theravada school teachings, read the Pali Canon and the Abhidhamma studies and it in no way interferes with my practice. My only desire in this lifetime is that I reach as high a state of awareness as possible and that I might be able to eliminate suffering for a few sentient beings.

By practicing mindfulness, we allow ourselves to accept others’ beliefs, frailties, and attachments knowing that we all suffer when we become mired in the muck of what we call reality. I tell people who ask me what Buddhism is about that it is mostly about compassion for all beings and holding everything with an open hand. (By this I mean not clinging to or desiring anything of this reality.)

I perform marriages for all different religious beliefs but I have very few people who have me perform Buddhist ceremonies for them. I think they prefer to promise that they will be together forever rather than answer “yes” to the following question:

When it comes time to part, do you pledge to look back at your time together with joy--joy that you met and shared what you have--and acceptance that we cannot hold on to anything forever?

Impermanence is the main belief in Buddhism, the teaching that everything comes into existence through cause and effect and ceases to exist the same way. So clinging to anything is futile and will in the end cause suffering in this lifetime and the next.

Karma is an effect of the causes of our ignorance and craving, so as we learn to relinquish our hold on the things that we think are important, we will we reap the rewards of our actions. Right action, right effort, and right speech, these are the ways we can accomplish mindfulness and create a better life now and in the next lifetime.

The quote from Einstein pretty much says it all: "Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural & spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity."

Rev. Vicki A Bennett D.D.

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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.We also offer many free wedding ceremonies for your use.

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Comparative Religion

Final essay Comparative Religion

Rev. Vicki Bennett

I spent many years studying the beliefs of different religions but I found that they wanted my unquestioning belief of their particular Catechism and complete devotion to their particular way of interpreting the bible. It took me nearly 20 years of searching for a place that resonated with my soul before I finally came to Buddhism.

During my studies, I found many similarities in major religions’ basic themes: their prophet or founder was born or conceived in a “special” way and was prophesied by seers. This prophet was endowed with a greater wisdom by having a direct connection to God. They were seen as someone who could intercede on mankind’s behalf and through them, mankind could finally attain “heaven.”

Another major concept I found is the belief that mankind is sinful and needs to be punished. The flood stories from all major religions center around a vengeful, wrathful God who has to constantly reign in His sad little believers. And following that theme is the “judgment” at the time of death and the “final judgment” when Christ will step in and judge them or Muhammad or some other prophet will intercede on their behalf.

Christians all refer to themselves as “God-fearing.” Christ never taught fear, he taught love. So where did the concept of fear come in? Why don’t they consider themselves “God-loving?” Who decided that it would be better if their followers feared God?

This concept of a fearful God, I believe, stems directly from man’s consciousness of living a life of suffering but without the further concept that it is man’s desire for what he does not have and his attachment to his things and beliefs that are the cause of his suffering. So when he cannot attain the material things that he decides that he is entitled to, he blames God for “punishing” him and seeks to eliminate “sin” from his life so that he can have what he wants, never realizing that the things that he wants are the source of his pain.

This leads to hatred and envy of others who he perceives are not being “punished” instead of awakening to the realization that he is causing his own suffering by his desires. Once desire is conquered, then man is free to simply be. And this is the true source of peace and happiness.

Of what we studied, I was most taken with the esoteric off-shoots of Christianity. They are the closest to what I was searching for (“prajna” is the term in Buddhism meaning “wisdom”). This wisdom is the wisdom within us, the Buddha-knowledge that we are born with. [1][1]This is the profound discovery that there is no one and no thing separate from us that can fulfill us. Everything we are looking for, everything we need to live free and peaceful lives is already here within us, at the heart of all beings. And the search for God is not a quest for an external truth, but simply an awakening to the eternal knowledge within us.

All major theistic religions strive to teach compassion, but many fall short I believe because underlying their compassion for one another includes the labeling of others as “different” and “wrong” because they don’t share “our” beliefs. And this labeling leads to fear of others’ beliefs and condemnation of their religion.

While all religions are based on mankind’s need to fulfill a perceived emptiness, a yearning for knowledge and truth, many strive to fill this need with dogma. The need to force members into believing a certain way with the proclamation that you will be “saved” is counterproductive. It is a not-so-subtle way of denying the God within and inducing fear instead of love into their believers.

I believe that fear of death is the main driving force behind man’s craving for some sense of God. Buddhists teach compassion based on the concept that all things fear death and therefore we should not kill even the smallest creature. I think that if man can learn acceptance of death as a natural occurrence and leave his fear behind he can reach enlightenment.

In everything that we do as ministers, I believe that our greatest goal is to teach compassion for others. Patience and tolerance for other’s beliefs is the keystone to bringing mankind together and alleviating fear and the chaos that results from it.

Are there answers to the dilemma of man’s quest for God? Is there a way to bring mankind together and create a peaceful collaboration for all earth’s religions?

Personally I look forward to the day when we embrace all world religions as one…when we finally realize that we all need to find a way to express our own spirituality and no one religion is ever going to serve all mankind. I pray everyday that we can concentrate on our similarities instead of our differences and that I may see the day when we all become ONE.

[2][1] Week 8 Buddhist Morality (Masters in Buddhist Studies, ULC)

Yours in peace and understanding,

Rev. Vicki A Bennett D.D.

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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. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Comparative Religion

Final Essay Comparative Religion An Excellent Class! Rev. Lucinda Parker

Comparative Religion is a 20- week journey into the belief systems of the world, including everything from their deities to architecture to clothing and symbolism. This course is presented in full color, HTML format, and is nicely illustrated with web resources and further reading at the end of each discourse.

I enjoyed this class immensely!  It is well- written and covered topics we all need to at least be aware of. Author Rev. Kythera Ann did a superb job of presenting information without slanting it. She covered a lot of ground and not once did a discourse bore this reader. In fact, I have purchased a couple of books to further my knowledge as a result of taking this class. At times, I wished the discourses would arrive faster than once a week!

There is little I would change. Now that I have about 225 double-sided pages printed out and filed in my notebook, I do wish that either in the first lesson or the last, there was a Table of Contents for the course. (Each discourse has an excellent TOC at the beginning.) I have already referred to this class for information for other projects and will create a table of contents so I can find things a little faster.

Before taking this class, I had little knowledge of Eastern religions, particularly Jainism. As a result of this class, I better understand the bitterness and wars going on right now in parts of the world that have at least a partial basis in religious intolerance, such as jihad. Comparative Religions, Part 1 definitely covers all of the major religions in a factual, colorful and accurate manner. Many years ago I took a college class in comparative religion and all I remember of it was how boring it was. I wish Rev. Kythera Ann had been my professor then with the wealth of information she has gathered for this class.

If you only take one seminary class to further your studies, THIS IS THE ONE. I am anxiously awaiting the release of Part II to this course.

Rev. Lucinda Parker

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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. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Shamanism Course

I would like to start by saying that this class, Dr. of Shamanism, was everything and more than I thought it would be! Other material I have read on Shamanism covered rituals and entheogens to journey, but stopped there. I knew there had to be more. Many thanks to all who took part in getting this course together!

Since I'm a Reiki Master and practicing Holistic Healer, I can relate to the course from a personal experience level. The only lessons I don't plan on using are the ones on entheogens. I feel it was very interesting and I'm glad it's in the course, but being a school bus driver who is often drug and alcohol tested I would lose my job. I astral travel and bring back messages from spirit with every healing I do. Soul retrieval is a different travel experience. I need to travel to a `level` with my power animal and retrieve a part of my clients past that they have blocked out and left there. I have to rely on my own ability to trust and believe.

One of the things I noticed as I studied the lessons is how they relate to the way I have been teaching healing and energy work. It was a nice feeling of conformation that healers, on a spiritual path, are connected with similar belief systems.

Your "Goals of the Shaman" are the same goals of master healers world wide.

In lesson 10-other methods of being a Shaman I found I already use kinesiology, aromatherapy, biofeedback (with my hands), reflexology, crystal healing, meditation, drumming and music. I also heal with stones, feathers and tuning forks.

Lesson 15-Self Hypnosis was a lesson that was totally new to me. I can see now that when we go into a deep meditation it is a form of self-hypnosis.

Your guide to gemstones was a fun addition. even though I use almost all you mentioned, I didn't know about puca shells and pearls.

A couple of weeks ago, during a class I was teaching on Sacred Sounds, a student asked what the difference was between a spirit guide and spirit teacher. After having her `hold that thought` till after class, we went to lesson #3 and got her answer. That's when I knew I was going to be using the course for reference and needed to make a `table of contents` for my lesson book.

I would recommend this course to anyone from master healers to those just interested in natural ways of healing with true respect for nature and her energies.

Namaste;

Rev. Millie Zelkowski

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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. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Four Gospels

I was disappointed in this course. It was nice to have a different perspective of the gospels, however, I was hoping for a little more. It took me back to the days of Sunday school class and seemed to have just grazed the surface of the whole Christian faith.

I think this course would be great for someone that doesn’t know that much about Christianity, and would give them a great place to start learning about Jesus and his teachings.

I was hoping this course would have gotten deeper into

the background of the Christian Religion than it did.

I was hoping to get a better understanding of the

history & culture of back then. I believe this is

necessary, to understand what Jesus was really all

about. Why was it important for Jesus to be a son, than a daughter? Why was it that women were seen as property, instead of people? And why did/do women need to depend on a man to take care of them as some denominations still believe today? There is a lot more “why’s” for me not answered.

I’ll give an example of why I would like to have known more of the background than what was provided. Back in the 60’s and 70’s people would sometime say, “Wow he’s a real lady killer”. A hundred years from now some people are going to wonder what that means. Without knowing anymore about the sentence than just that sentence, someone might take the words literally which changes the whole meaning of the sentence. Now that man is believed to be a person that kills women. When you look deeper at the sentence, and get a better understanding of the different sayings that were said during that time period, you can now apply the true meaning of the phrase “lady killer” to understand its meant to mean he was just a really good looking guy.

Unfortunately many Christians take parts of the bible literally. Some denominations go as far as telling

their congregations how to dress or how to wear their hair just because the bible says so. If they would

take the time to understand the reasons those rules were important back in biblical times, they might be

able to see how those reasons / rules do not apply to today. Personally, I really don’t think God cares to

such minuet details as long as our hearts are in the right place. As Jesus said in the bible, it is not what goes into your mouth that defiles you, it is what comes out of our mouths. I think this same principle apples. Jesus is not talking about vomiting, or what you eat. He’s talking about the condition of our spirit and where our heart is at. If your heart, mind, body and soul is in the right place, then you will speak loving and kind words out of your mouth. You’re tongue is like a two bladed sword, beware what you say. Words are a huge influence on people. So many Christians today seem to focus more on their own agenda, as the Pharisees did in Jesus’ time, than the one Jesus had. Jesus wanted to turn people towards God, not away. People get set in their ways and have trouble hearing the truth. Jesus says that people like the darkness better than the light. Better the evil that you know than the possible evil that you don’t.  Change is scary and people avoid change.

Then there is the whole debate actually about Jesus. I personally believe Jesus is the son of God. However,

in what perspective? Are we not all considered sons and daughters of God? Was Jesus the only man that has

ever came close enough to truly living how God intended us to live? Jesus is an excellent example of

how all Christians should live. After all he is the reason or the founding father of Christianity.

However, all of us fall short. Even the holiest of holiest here on earth have some fault and have failed

at one point in time. Should we just give up? No, because Jesus provides us all with hope. In one sense

would that not make Jesus the true son of God, merely the finest example of how we should live our lives?

Everything we do everyday, should be to glorify God, not Jesus, but God. As Jesus did.

And if this is true, then Jesus was Jewish, should we not all be Jewish? After all is that not why he came

to earth to save the Jewish people? Now don’t get mad at me, it’s just a thought.

Or is it more the second sense, Jesus was actually God on earth merely in the form of man. Keeping to the

trinity, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Separate, but the same.

If Jesus came to save us from our sins, and to be the door between God and a person, then why is it the Catholic faith still believes you must go through their priests to seek forgiveness? Just another question. Not intended to be offensive.  These are just a few questions that have come up since reading the book provided for this course.

Then there is the whole debate of religious symbols.  The cross being one of those examples. I could be wrong, but the whole reason for the Cross being so important is because Jesus was crucified on a cross. The Cross back then was a form of Capitol Punishment.

However, taken in today's scenario, Capitol Punishment is either lethal injections, or the electric chair. If Jesus were here with us today instead of being with the disciples and was set to be crucified using today’s Capitol Punishment, would the electric chair or the syringes used become a religious symbol, thus people wearing a miniature syringes or a miniature electric chair around their neck? This is not intended to be disrespectful of the cross and how many Christian’s feel about the Cross. Just a question if they would apply that same feeling towards the objects used for Capitol Punishment today if Jesus was crucified by one of those means.

Thank you for the opportunity to take this course. It has been an enjoyable experience.

Rev. Dawn Egler

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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. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Shamanism

Doctor of Shamanism Course Essay

By: Reverend Cynthia Ewing

When I signed up for this course I was very excited. I had taken shamanism classes in the past and thought it would help build up my knowledge and experience on the subject. My memory was refreshed when I read the history of Shamanism. I know that it is the oldest form of religion in the world and has various forms which I will always resonate with.

A major part of this course was talking about the different substances that Shamans use to reach their heightened state of awareness. I did learn a lot about the different substances and how they work as well as how long the effects last. I do think the author went into this aspect way too much. It is my personal belief that a person does not need to take substances to obtain an altered state. There is trance dancing, drumming, hypnosis etc. just to name a few different ways to achieve this state. He talked very little about these other states. I did however like reading about the government’s role in the control of religious substances. It is almost impossible to get these substances for religious purposes.

I liked the third lesson when the author gave us a vocabulary list. The one that stood out for me was the spirit wife/husband/spouse/lover. I actually have one of my own who I would never give up for anything. He has helped me through a very difficult period of loneliness and longing. He is so full of love. I would recommend this to anyone! I never knew it was part of shamanism. Also on this vocabulary list was talking about psychopomp, soul loss and shapeshifting. These are all major roles of a shaman. I was performing psychopomp before I even knew what it was. I would have liked to have gone more in depth into what each of the definitions truly meant.

My interest was definitely taken in when I read about how controlled substances were used in the Bible. It called out for certain incense and anointing oil to be made by Moses. It called out for Cannabis to be used in this mixture as well as myrrh and cinnamon. He then explains that cannabis has had many uses including healing properties and its ability to be used as clothing and paper. The government in his opinion seems to have caused this herb to be banned because of its universal uses that would cause other companies to go out of business since its uses are so varied.

Another subject the author talks about is ethics. He raises the question of a shaman’s true ability. A shaman uses magic and tricks at times to prove what he can truly do to help heal a person. Sometimes a shaman has to not only talk to spirits, but may have to be sly and trick them or even steal from them to get pieces of the person’s soul returned to them. The person needing the healing has to be able to trust the shaman can perform all of these tasks. If not how can that shaman help that person.

Rites of passage was another lesson that was covered. I would have liked to have gone more in-depth here as well. The author spoke of the way a person is called to the shamanic path by illness or birth into the shamanic line. I was called into shamanic service, but not in the ways described in the lesson. Also some of the rituals were not talked about like the dismemberment journey. Here is where the totems initiate the shaman by removing body parts and replacing them with new better ones. He did mention a shaman being reduced down to one bone and having to rebuild himself. This could be a dismemberment ceremony as well, but he could have shown that it does not have to be so gruesome and arduous. These are extreme cases today.

I agreed with his ethics of who is a shaman and what you may call yourself. A shaman never calls himself/herself and shaman. That is left to the people that this person helps. The shaman today calls him or herself a shamanistic practitioner. This is to show humbleness during the process of the great spiritual work the shaman is performing and not to upset the spirits who are helping him or her.

Overall I did like the course. The history of shamanism was helpful as well. I learned a lot about the different substances used during ceremonies and the governments control over them. The vocabulary was wonderful although I would have liked it to have been expanded upon. This was a great learning experience.

Rev. Cynthia Ewing

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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. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Shamanism

Re: Completion of Doctor of Shamanism

Rev. Laury Burris

Required Essay

First I would like to thank the ULC for offering this course, I would also like to thank the author of the lessons. I have read a lot of books about Shamanism, but these lessons kept me thinking and working even harder at understanding the psychology, philosophy and ethics of Shamanism.

Being a woman and becoming a Shamanic Practitioner is not an easy task and should never be taken lightly, or done on a whim. For you are asking the spirits, whether it be animal, plant or ancestor to help guide and teach you on your walk down a path that can be very lonely at times and yet be so full of life’s experiences. It is a path that walks the fence between two worlds, a path with the spirits and a path in this world where the land you walk will supply you with what you need to help yourself and others.

With this knowledge I have learned that the answers one seeks are within oneself, if one is willing to look deep enough to find them. To be able to understand the messages from the Spirits and work with them to first heal myself and find those answers to grow into someone who can help others to learn to appreciate all things in this world from the biggest tree to the smallest grain to sand. To learn to see things from this world and the Spirit World, to keep balance between the two worlds and to keep balance in the world around us. The power for this comes from within all of us.

For me to grow further now will be to one put the knowledge I have learned through this course to practical use, not only in my personal life, as I already do, but in the community in which I live. To also further my knowledge, experiences, and journeys with my Spirit Guides. To learn the way to find answers to help me further on this path I walk to higher enlightenment, and to learn that one can accomplish whatever one wants to, no matter what kind of blocks are put in one’s way. To share this knowledge with others who seek to find the answers. To learn that life’s ups and downs are meant to help one learn and become stronger when things are hard. To help heal others not only physically with herbs and prayers to the spirits, but also heal them spiritually by helping them find balance and inner peace for themselves in both worlds.

To have the help and guidance of the Spirits to teach the children how to live in harmony with nature, not to take Mother Earth for granted and have reverence for all things in both the physical world and the Spiritual World. To hopefully one day bring us all together in peace and balance for the good of all mankind.

With Respect and In Service-

Blessed Be-

Ms. Laury Burris

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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. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar