Under Construction:
Light Work and the "Fluffy Bunny" Side of Spirituality.
I What is light work?
Light work is essentially energy healing and positive manifestation work, where people seek to make helpful changes in the lives of others and their own lives by accessing the pure, white light of the Source. Source may be the Creator, the Universe, Goddess or God, or known by other names and understandings, but the secret ingredient in common to all of these is that the vibration of this light is in harmony with all that exists for the highest Good, such as perfect love, compassion and truth.
Lightworkers are people who use the divine Source energy and white light as healers and for the manifestation of positive change. Here are some examples of what light work is about in spiritual terms.
Mind Over Matter
Let's discuss: Have you ever felt that you had influence over something just by thinking about it turning out a certain way, whether you worried something into a self fulfilling prophecy, or you saw no other possibility than things working out for you? These three examples are healing methods that use the power of mind over matter.
Faith Healing
This happens when people have such strong belief in a higher power, such as the power of prayer, or the healing abilities of their teacher, that the condition improves because the person's heart and soul have opened themselves in a pure surrender to the Divine.
Shamanic Healing Techniques
Some healers have abilities like psychic surgery, where both symbolically and through guided visions, the person's condition is worked on energetically and with physical components until there is improvement. It is a healing of the mind and spirit, not just the ailment. I have been blessed by some allies and guides through workshops online, including but not limited to those in the Shift Network.
Homeopathy
This method of healing involves using the tiniest amount of essence of something that causes a similar reaction as the condition, in the person, to heal them by a 'hair of the dog' type of method, but on a micro-level. The idea is that if the person is presented with just the energetic vibration of something else that causes their symptoms, that they will be able to heal from their ailment by the power of sympathetic magic.
Energy Exchange
Laying on of Hands
There are people who really just need to be touched by a healer in order to improve. Something about the energy exchange of physical contact soothes the person's symptoms and the healer's ability is amplified because of that physical connection.
Therapeutic Touch
Though slightly misleading in name, because it is only the energy field of the healer that touches the person, a therapeutic touch session is where the healer moves energy around or simply channels their higher power's energy through themselves and into the person with the condition. For example, the person with pain may only feel the sensation of heat from the healer's hands, but their pain is gone while the hands are over that part of their body.
Reiki
A more complex system of hand positions and prayers, with levels of mastery to be attained, Reiki is the movement of energy by a practitioner with the guidance of higher power and using love, light and compassion. It can be used to heal others at a distance or in person. I give thanks to my reiki master(s) known to me and unknown.
Energy Systems
Auras
This is the name for personal energy fields around people and other living beings. They can be seen by some people, in different colours, sometimes with a certain glow or dullness, sometimes with swirling vortexes or areas that show where healing is needed. Auras can be a halo around the head, or an egg shape around the whole body, or just a faint outline less than an inch off the person's skin, depending on what their energy is like and how they are shielding, sharing their energy, or not.
Chakras
Meaning "wheel" in Sanskrit, a chakra is a bit of an energy portal, that spins and can open wide or shut tight depending on blockages to the person's energy flow and their ability to shield. Within the aura, the chakras are a system of usually seven main channels, from the root at the base of the spine, up to the crown just above the head. Each chakra has a colour and other associations and is used in eastern medicine for achieving and maintaining balance and health.
Circuits
Patterns of energy flow are useful to know about and to change, if they are not working in their original state to create a stable balance for the individual. Circuits of energy can flow up the chakras, down the chakras, from organs or areas of the body through other areas, and back, or can be connected to the breath. Circuits that are greater than the individual can rely on the absorption and grounding of energy from sky and earth, for example.
Qi
This is a name for spiritual energy in Chinese philosophy and medicine, it is the circulating force that animates living beings. It is used in martial arts and meditation practice.
Energy Work
Many techniques of sharing and changing energy fall into this category. Some people can "eat" energy by absorbing it through their gut and grounding it, to sample it without attachment. Some people can feel each other nearby with their eyes closed, and sense what they are doing. Some people can detect the difference between the attraction and repulsion energies that we send out when thinking about our feelings for other people or situations. Energy work is about using these experiences to hone the abilities to 'manipulate' energy for purposes like healing and manifestation.
Breath of Life
Prana
Considered the universal life energy and breath of the cosmos, Prana work moves energy using breathing techniques.
Breathwork Practices
There are practices such as "square breathing" where you inhale for the count of 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4 and pause for the count of 4, then repeat. Some practices may involve restricting the airway by for example placing a finger on your nostril as you inhale. Some practices involve making a sound as you inhale and exhale. Some practices have you breathe in from the nose, out from the mouth, or breathe in and out through both simultaneously. Breathwork can involve noticing the body and it's changes as the lungs expand and diaphragm contracts. It is different for each teacher, but the common thread is that breath work is centering and brings you back. It is a good daily practice to use because breath is always with us and being mindful of it has so many benefits. I thank my recovery journey for helpers and workers in this regard.
Meditation
This might mean sitting quietly to focus on something like loving kindness, or a mandala. It can also be about being openly aware of one's surroundings without focus. It could mean walking mindfully, with each step carefully and intentionally placed. It could mean visualizing your thoughts like bubbles that pop when you notice them. It could mean contemplating a koan or riddle in order to push past the absurdity of the illusions that prevent us from self-actualization. It could mean a journey to an imaginary or astral realm. It could mean gazing into a candle flame or fire and just seeing, without processing. Meditation is many different things, and used in different ways, but the essence of meditation is to free one's mind from clutter and unhelpful thinking, and open the meditating person to mind expansion and greater spiritual ability.
Sonic Vibrations
Music
Singing with the choir, chanting around a fire, hearing a moving violin solo, or attending an improvisational jam, all can affect your mood and change the frequency you are on. Some music is uplifting, some brings you down to validate your heavier emotions. Music can be used to achieve altered states of consciousness and to bring people onto the same wavelength.
Drumming
Very healing, drumming is a wonderful tool for community building, teaching traditional songs and stories, shifting energies and enhancing creativity. Drumming can be used to induce trance, enhance visions and voices, and communicate on a universal level. I am grateful for many a drum circle in parks and temporary sacred spaces.
Tuning forks
Used for therapy, tuning forks emit sounds at a healing frequency that can relax and energize.
Gong Bathing
Some people find it beneficial to stand in the center of a circle of gongs as they are struck and absorb the vibrational energy of the sounds.
Solfeggio scale
These classical frequencies measured in hz, each have a different significance in new age circles. For example, one might attract love and self love. One might promote forgiveness and acceptance. When you listen to music with the solfeggio frequencies, you are being healed on an energetic level.
Spirit into Matter
Mudras
These hand signs or finger positions each has a different meaning and significance. They are used in meditation and dance to identify or signify a being or principle. It is a way to physically represent something spiritual.
Yoga
There are various types of yoga, but each instills a sense of spirituality into the practitioner. Yoga is a transformative experience. Many people know yoga as the asanas or postures done on a mat for exercise. These postures work to clear blockages in energy channels and circuits as well as move organs and circulation, digestion and other physical benefits while leaving the practitioner feeling that they have stretched their potential not just their body. I've had many teachers, some more immersive than others.
T'ai Chi
A slow moving dance-like martial art, T'ai Chi is a way for people to bring balance and energy flow to their lives. It is a way to push past resistance and let obstacles and outside forces blow past. It is the physical practice of what we might call "going with the flow".
Dance
It can be an ecstatic release, it can be a way to connect to others and the music that is being played. It can be a radical expression of self. It can be a free-flowing and spontaneous movement journey. Dance can be liberating and help you to transcend the mundane.
Sacred Sexuality
Authentic intimacy, and not just "doing it" is key to sacred sexuality. There are forms of tantra and kundalini awakening and even bhakti yoga that focus on aspects of this. The main thing is that when our bodies connect to other people, we are invited into the sharing of a bond of vulnerability, surrender and union that can be divine and sacred.
Symbolic Movements
Some folks raise or lower their hands to address certain beings like the earth goddess and sky god. Others touch their hearts, clasp their hands in prayer or make the sign of the cross. Some salute, draw images in the air with a hand or tool, or push and pull energies with a certain stance. Some program a magical trigger that helps them instantly access a trance state of consciousness. Some use Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to program triggers for other events and circumstances to benefit their lives. Each person can find their own gestures and signs for what they are doing ritually and spiritually.
Words With Power
Mantras
These are sometimes single words like "Om" the divine sound of creation, or "Awen" the call for inspiration. Mantras can be chanted in meditation, repeatedly, sometimes spoken a specific number of times. They help the practitioner focus and connect.
Affirmations
These use the Law of Attraction to manifest positive things, when used to affirm that a blessing is already on it's way. "Every day, I am improving", or "I am vegetarian now," could bring about the change you want and need in your life. Affirmations also validate what is already real and good. Affirmations usually are made in first person such as "I am worthy.", "I radiate beauty.", "I deserve love." or "I am healing." They can also be directed externally: "She is so smart." or "That place is always peaceful." Unlike gratitude, affirmations name the essence of truth of the matter, here in the moment, without judgment. In a gentle and assertive way, they state the standards that you demand from the universe, and proclaim that you are not willing to settle for anything else.
Gratitudes
These, simply put, are statements of thanks. What are you thankful for? Who are you thankful to? Why are you grateful? Perhaps you took something for granted and want to make sure the Powers that Be are aware that you noticed the blessing. Maybe you want more of this good thing in your life, and so you are sharing to yourself that you accept it fully.
Intentions
An intention is more than just a "should" or "want". It is something you are willing to do, something you insist on having, or some quality you are absolutely sure about becoming. When you intend, you don't simply ask or make vague plans. You are setting it in motion. It is an eagerly and actively pursued goal or objective. When you put an intention into a spell, you don't just make a wish or prayer, you commit to bringing that intention into reality, whatever it takes. Intentions can be 'soft intentions' where you try something, and if it doesn't work out, that's okay because you are just seeing where it goes, and you trust in the ability of synchronicity to bring you your highest good from where you begin. But the intent part means that you do try with worldly actions. They can also be 'solid intentions' where you put the force of your will behind it and overcome any obstacle as best you can, or figure out how to navigate around it until your will is made manifest, because as Yoda said, "Do or do not, there is no try".
Prayers
There are many forms of prayer. Most people are familiar with supplications the most. These are the ones where you pray to ask for something. But there are other types of communicating with the Divine through prayer. Prayers of Gratitude like Grace Before Meals, prayers of worship, awe or reverence, prayers to just talk about what's going on in your heart... this is not an exhaustive list, there are as many ways to pray as there are to have a conversation with another person. The prayer, though, is always a sacred conversation. It is a dialogue between yourself and your higher power.
Non-Attachment and Staying Present
Mandalas
Beautiful and ornate, kaleidoscopic, colourful, having many shapes intersecting, or simply a symbol or letter on a blank page, mandalas are images made for meditation. Mandala making itself can be a meditation, as with the large, colouful sand-paintings made by monks, which are appreciated for mere seconds after completion and then swept away. Mandalas can also be used as a focus for meditation, the image engraving itself in the viewer's mind and possibly coming alive somehow in front of their eyes. Mandalas are also made as colouring pages these days, which makes it accessible for you if you'd like to colour as a relaxation technique to allow yourself time to ponder the mysteries.
Mindfulness practice
Mindfulness is a way of experiencing the moment you are in. Instead of thinking to the past and your prior knowledge and expectations of what is happening. Instead of thinking of the future and what your goals are or what you want to say next. Mindfulness gently pulls you back to the present, allowing you to fully participate in your own life. An example of a mindfulness practice with a raspberry might be to "Feel the raspberry in your hand. Hold it to your lip and let the fibers tickle you. Smell the raspberry. Place the raspberry on your tongue and let it sit there for a moment. Notice what you taste before you chew it." I have also seen a Buddhist nun walking around with a bean-bag stuffed animal on her head. I am certain that it was a way to remember to be mindful, as it would fall off repeatedly if she did not remain aware of it.
Loving kindness (metta)
One way to ensure that your meditations, healing work, and intentions are sent out, are each for the highest possible outcome, is to practice metta. Metta or loving kindness is a way of having compassion for self and others first, before any other action or expression. Loving kindness requires that we act in a way that is both loving, unconditionally, toward every being, as well as actively kind, which is shown through our helpful and considerate actions toward others. Used as a foundation for all other practices, Metta sets us on the right foot for asking help from the divine and honouring ourselves as agents of goodness.
Helpful Beings
Angels
A type or fierce and powerful heavenly being, angels are often depicted as wearing flowing white robes, having wings and blowing trumpets. They appear gender neutral. But some wield flaming swords, for example, if you read their stories. Not all angels are cute little cherubs. There are several choirs of angels, each different in purpose and appearance. Angels can be called upon to intercede between yourself and God, somewhat like Saints can. Different angels specialize in different areas of blessing.
Spirit guides
Sometimes an animal spirit or plant spirit, or an ancestor, but sometimes a being from another spirit realm, these guides are there to protect and lead us in our lives and spiritual seeking. You may notice signs or synchronicities that give you insight into what to do or not do, where to go or to avoid, who to interact with or keep your distance from. You can build a relationship with your guide or guides by asking them to be with you whenever you are doing something spiritual or feel the need for a bit of presence with you in mundane life. Pay attention to your intuition, because most guides will speak to you through that center. Others may cause animals to act strangely around you, or call out to you. Others may cause strange events that lead you to a particular significant realization or experience. You can meet your guides through visualization journeys and ask them questions, about what offerings they like, for example.
Higher self
It's you, only without the stumbling blocks of ego problems and traumatic experiences, without baggage and without internal conflicts, without your Shadow and the issues it brings. It's you at your best, most pure self, and it is available to you at any time, if you make the effort to access it. Higher self is there to help you be true to yourself as you move through your life. I am lucky to have aligned with three Matron deities for a divine purpose and wisdom, integrating their energies.
Ascended masters
In Spiritualist circles, these are our honoured teachers who have gone before us on the path to higher consciousness or enlightenment. Well known figures such as the Buddha and Jesus are among their ranks, but also included are historical figures and perhaps notable members of Spiritualist traditions who have moved on from this life into the next.
Heightened States of Consciousness
Mysticism
Mystics in the sterotype are usually meditating at the top of a mountain or in the throes of ecstasy in the rapture of the infinite. I think mysticism is more along the lines of seeking to commune with something greater than oneself, in a kind of experiential bond. Not just awakening to the truth, but becoming Truth itself. Not just feeling love, but being one with Love. That sort of experience.
Peak experiences
These can happen many different ways, but the common thread is that it's the most intense you've ever felt. Maybe it's the deepest love, or it's the most passionate creativity, or the most brilliant understanding. Peak experiences are spiritual because they bring us to the heights of our potential and push the boundaries of where we thought our limitations were.
Transcendental unitive experiences
These are peak experiences that can be experienced by mystics or others, with a specifically connection-based theme. These experiences bring us higher that ever, out of the mundane, away from worldly life, and into an intangible, numinous, spiritual realm outside of space and time, outside of logic and reason, and away from preconceptions about the divine and any ideas we may have about self. There are no words to describe these experiences, they are outside of the realm of language and physical reality. Transcending into oneness with the All may leave you with: a sense of interconnection with everything, that everything made of matter or energy is alive and has consciousness on every level, and the sense that all that is sacred permeates all things, like a Holy Spirit dwelling in us and moving through us.
Enlightenment
This is sometimes described as a realization of what is true and real, sometimes described as the awareness that everything is illusion, and sometimes an awakening to the wisdom of the ages. The Buddha is said to have been enlightened under the Bodhi tree during meditation, as he was practicing his well-balanced middle path. However, others seek to attain enlightenment in various ways, from asceticism, where harsh postures and fasting are the norm, to hedonism and living the luxurious 'good life' in order to transcend suffering, and those who live lives of rigorous study and devoted spiritual practice.
Sacred Locations
Pilgrimages
Travelling to sacred locations around the world, from cathedrals, to the Hajj at Mecca, to sacred wells, and so on, is the pilgrim's journey. Many are done on foot from a designated starting point onward. These can happen any time, but some certain festivals bring more pilgrims to the destinations.
Retreats
These intensive sessions involve a weekend or week of diving deep into spiritual study and practice. They can be longer, if you are seeking the hermit's path, or involve a physical journey like flying to India to find an ashram to stay at. Vipassana is a good example of a silent meditation retreat. Some teachers will host retreats to teach workshops, focus on something like yoga practice or creative writing, and healthy food to cleanse and purify the body. I consider going to festivals my retreat time.
Mountains and Caves
Ley Lines
Healing the Wounded Healer
Inner Child Discovery
Reconnecting to Intuition
Sacred Contracts
Letting Go
Self-compassion
Acceptance
Surrendering
Light work is essentially energy healing and positive manifestation work, where people seek to make helpful changes in the lives of others and their own lives by accessing the pure, white light of the Source. Source may be the Creator, the Universe, Goddess or God, or known by other names and understandings, but the secret ingredient in common to all of these is that the vibration of this light is in harmony with all that exists for the highest Good, such as perfect love, compassion and truth.
Lightworkers are people who use the divine Source energy and white light as healers and for the manifestation of positive change. Here are some examples of what light work is about in spiritual terms.
Mind Over Matter
Let's discuss: Have you ever felt that you had influence over something just by thinking about it turning out a certain way, whether you worried something into a self fulfilling prophecy, or you saw no other possibility than things working out for you? These three examples are healing methods that use the power of mind over matter.
Faith Healing
This happens when people have such strong belief in a higher power, such as the power of prayer, or the healing abilities of their teacher, that the condition improves because the person's heart and soul have opened themselves in a pure surrender to the Divine.
Shamanic Healing Techniques
Some healers have abilities like psychic surgery, where both symbolically and through guided visions, the person's condition is worked on energetically and with physical components until there is improvement. It is a healing of the mind and spirit, not just the ailment. I have been blessed by some allies and guides through workshops online, including but not limited to those in the Shift Network.
Homeopathy
This method of healing involves using the tiniest amount of essence of something that causes a similar reaction as the condition, in the person, to heal them by a 'hair of the dog' type of method, but on a micro-level. The idea is that if the person is presented with just the energetic vibration of something else that causes their symptoms, that they will be able to heal from their ailment by the power of sympathetic magic.
Energy Exchange
Laying on of Hands
There are people who really just need to be touched by a healer in order to improve. Something about the energy exchange of physical contact soothes the person's symptoms and the healer's ability is amplified because of that physical connection.
Therapeutic Touch
Though slightly misleading in name, because it is only the energy field of the healer that touches the person, a therapeutic touch session is where the healer moves energy around or simply channels their higher power's energy through themselves and into the person with the condition. For example, the person with pain may only feel the sensation of heat from the healer's hands, but their pain is gone while the hands are over that part of their body.
Reiki
A more complex system of hand positions and prayers, with levels of mastery to be attained, Reiki is the movement of energy by a practitioner with the guidance of higher power and using love, light and compassion. It can be used to heal others at a distance or in person. I give thanks to my reiki master(s) known to me and unknown.
Energy Systems
Auras
This is the name for personal energy fields around people and other living beings. They can be seen by some people, in different colours, sometimes with a certain glow or dullness, sometimes with swirling vortexes or areas that show where healing is needed. Auras can be a halo around the head, or an egg shape around the whole body, or just a faint outline less than an inch off the person's skin, depending on what their energy is like and how they are shielding, sharing their energy, or not.
Chakras
Meaning "wheel" in Sanskrit, a chakra is a bit of an energy portal, that spins and can open wide or shut tight depending on blockages to the person's energy flow and their ability to shield. Within the aura, the chakras are a system of usually seven main channels, from the root at the base of the spine, up to the crown just above the head. Each chakra has a colour and other associations and is used in eastern medicine for achieving and maintaining balance and health.
Circuits
Patterns of energy flow are useful to know about and to change, if they are not working in their original state to create a stable balance for the individual. Circuits of energy can flow up the chakras, down the chakras, from organs or areas of the body through other areas, and back, or can be connected to the breath. Circuits that are greater than the individual can rely on the absorption and grounding of energy from sky and earth, for example.
Qi
This is a name for spiritual energy in Chinese philosophy and medicine, it is the circulating force that animates living beings. It is used in martial arts and meditation practice.
Energy Work
Many techniques of sharing and changing energy fall into this category. Some people can "eat" energy by absorbing it through their gut and grounding it, to sample it without attachment. Some people can feel each other nearby with their eyes closed, and sense what they are doing. Some people can detect the difference between the attraction and repulsion energies that we send out when thinking about our feelings for other people or situations. Energy work is about using these experiences to hone the abilities to 'manipulate' energy for purposes like healing and manifestation.
Breath of Life
Prana
Considered the universal life energy and breath of the cosmos, Prana work moves energy using breathing techniques.
Breathwork Practices
There are practices such as "square breathing" where you inhale for the count of 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4 and pause for the count of 4, then repeat. Some practices may involve restricting the airway by for example placing a finger on your nostril as you inhale. Some practices involve making a sound as you inhale and exhale. Some practices have you breathe in from the nose, out from the mouth, or breathe in and out through both simultaneously. Breathwork can involve noticing the body and it's changes as the lungs expand and diaphragm contracts. It is different for each teacher, but the common thread is that breath work is centering and brings you back. It is a good daily practice to use because breath is always with us and being mindful of it has so many benefits. I thank my recovery journey for helpers and workers in this regard.
Meditation
This might mean sitting quietly to focus on something like loving kindness, or a mandala. It can also be about being openly aware of one's surroundings without focus. It could mean walking mindfully, with each step carefully and intentionally placed. It could mean visualizing your thoughts like bubbles that pop when you notice them. It could mean contemplating a koan or riddle in order to push past the absurdity of the illusions that prevent us from self-actualization. It could mean a journey to an imaginary or astral realm. It could mean gazing into a candle flame or fire and just seeing, without processing. Meditation is many different things, and used in different ways, but the essence of meditation is to free one's mind from clutter and unhelpful thinking, and open the meditating person to mind expansion and greater spiritual ability.
Sonic Vibrations
Music
Singing with the choir, chanting around a fire, hearing a moving violin solo, or attending an improvisational jam, all can affect your mood and change the frequency you are on. Some music is uplifting, some brings you down to validate your heavier emotions. Music can be used to achieve altered states of consciousness and to bring people onto the same wavelength.
Drumming
Very healing, drumming is a wonderful tool for community building, teaching traditional songs and stories, shifting energies and enhancing creativity. Drumming can be used to induce trance, enhance visions and voices, and communicate on a universal level. I am grateful for many a drum circle in parks and temporary sacred spaces.
Tuning forks
Used for therapy, tuning forks emit sounds at a healing frequency that can relax and energize.
Gong Bathing
Some people find it beneficial to stand in the center of a circle of gongs as they are struck and absorb the vibrational energy of the sounds.
Solfeggio scale
These classical frequencies measured in hz, each have a different significance in new age circles. For example, one might attract love and self love. One might promote forgiveness and acceptance. When you listen to music with the solfeggio frequencies, you are being healed on an energetic level.
Spirit into Matter
Mudras
These hand signs or finger positions each has a different meaning and significance. They are used in meditation and dance to identify or signify a being or principle. It is a way to physically represent something spiritual.
Yoga
There are various types of yoga, but each instills a sense of spirituality into the practitioner. Yoga is a transformative experience. Many people know yoga as the asanas or postures done on a mat for exercise. These postures work to clear blockages in energy channels and circuits as well as move organs and circulation, digestion and other physical benefits while leaving the practitioner feeling that they have stretched their potential not just their body. I've had many teachers, some more immersive than others.
T'ai Chi
A slow moving dance-like martial art, T'ai Chi is a way for people to bring balance and energy flow to their lives. It is a way to push past resistance and let obstacles and outside forces blow past. It is the physical practice of what we might call "going with the flow".
Dance
It can be an ecstatic release, it can be a way to connect to others and the music that is being played. It can be a radical expression of self. It can be a free-flowing and spontaneous movement journey. Dance can be liberating and help you to transcend the mundane.
Sacred Sexuality
Authentic intimacy, and not just "doing it" is key to sacred sexuality. There are forms of tantra and kundalini awakening and even bhakti yoga that focus on aspects of this. The main thing is that when our bodies connect to other people, we are invited into the sharing of a bond of vulnerability, surrender and union that can be divine and sacred.
Symbolic Movements
Some folks raise or lower their hands to address certain beings like the earth goddess and sky god. Others touch their hearts, clasp their hands in prayer or make the sign of the cross. Some salute, draw images in the air with a hand or tool, or push and pull energies with a certain stance. Some program a magical trigger that helps them instantly access a trance state of consciousness. Some use Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to program triggers for other events and circumstances to benefit their lives. Each person can find their own gestures and signs for what they are doing ritually and spiritually.
Words With Power
Mantras
These are sometimes single words like "Om" the divine sound of creation, or "Awen" the call for inspiration. Mantras can be chanted in meditation, repeatedly, sometimes spoken a specific number of times. They help the practitioner focus and connect.
Affirmations
These use the Law of Attraction to manifest positive things, when used to affirm that a blessing is already on it's way. "Every day, I am improving", or "I am vegetarian now," could bring about the change you want and need in your life. Affirmations also validate what is already real and good. Affirmations usually are made in first person such as "I am worthy.", "I radiate beauty.", "I deserve love." or "I am healing." They can also be directed externally: "She is so smart." or "That place is always peaceful." Unlike gratitude, affirmations name the essence of truth of the matter, here in the moment, without judgment. In a gentle and assertive way, they state the standards that you demand from the universe, and proclaim that you are not willing to settle for anything else.
Gratitudes
These, simply put, are statements of thanks. What are you thankful for? Who are you thankful to? Why are you grateful? Perhaps you took something for granted and want to make sure the Powers that Be are aware that you noticed the blessing. Maybe you want more of this good thing in your life, and so you are sharing to yourself that you accept it fully.
Intentions
An intention is more than just a "should" or "want". It is something you are willing to do, something you insist on having, or some quality you are absolutely sure about becoming. When you intend, you don't simply ask or make vague plans. You are setting it in motion. It is an eagerly and actively pursued goal or objective. When you put an intention into a spell, you don't just make a wish or prayer, you commit to bringing that intention into reality, whatever it takes. Intentions can be 'soft intentions' where you try something, and if it doesn't work out, that's okay because you are just seeing where it goes, and you trust in the ability of synchronicity to bring you your highest good from where you begin. But the intent part means that you do try with worldly actions. They can also be 'solid intentions' where you put the force of your will behind it and overcome any obstacle as best you can, or figure out how to navigate around it until your will is made manifest, because as Yoda said, "Do or do not, there is no try".
Prayers
There are many forms of prayer. Most people are familiar with supplications the most. These are the ones where you pray to ask for something. But there are other types of communicating with the Divine through prayer. Prayers of Gratitude like Grace Before Meals, prayers of worship, awe or reverence, prayers to just talk about what's going on in your heart... this is not an exhaustive list, there are as many ways to pray as there are to have a conversation with another person. The prayer, though, is always a sacred conversation. It is a dialogue between yourself and your higher power.
Non-Attachment and Staying Present
Mandalas
Beautiful and ornate, kaleidoscopic, colourful, having many shapes intersecting, or simply a symbol or letter on a blank page, mandalas are images made for meditation. Mandala making itself can be a meditation, as with the large, colouful sand-paintings made by monks, which are appreciated for mere seconds after completion and then swept away. Mandalas can also be used as a focus for meditation, the image engraving itself in the viewer's mind and possibly coming alive somehow in front of their eyes. Mandalas are also made as colouring pages these days, which makes it accessible for you if you'd like to colour as a relaxation technique to allow yourself time to ponder the mysteries.
Mindfulness practice
Mindfulness is a way of experiencing the moment you are in. Instead of thinking to the past and your prior knowledge and expectations of what is happening. Instead of thinking of the future and what your goals are or what you want to say next. Mindfulness gently pulls you back to the present, allowing you to fully participate in your own life. An example of a mindfulness practice with a raspberry might be to "Feel the raspberry in your hand. Hold it to your lip and let the fibers tickle you. Smell the raspberry. Place the raspberry on your tongue and let it sit there for a moment. Notice what you taste before you chew it." I have also seen a Buddhist nun walking around with a bean-bag stuffed animal on her head. I am certain that it was a way to remember to be mindful, as it would fall off repeatedly if she did not remain aware of it.
Loving kindness (metta)
One way to ensure that your meditations, healing work, and intentions are sent out, are each for the highest possible outcome, is to practice metta. Metta or loving kindness is a way of having compassion for self and others first, before any other action or expression. Loving kindness requires that we act in a way that is both loving, unconditionally, toward every being, as well as actively kind, which is shown through our helpful and considerate actions toward others. Used as a foundation for all other practices, Metta sets us on the right foot for asking help from the divine and honouring ourselves as agents of goodness.
Helpful Beings
Angels
A type or fierce and powerful heavenly being, angels are often depicted as wearing flowing white robes, having wings and blowing trumpets. They appear gender neutral. But some wield flaming swords, for example, if you read their stories. Not all angels are cute little cherubs. There are several choirs of angels, each different in purpose and appearance. Angels can be called upon to intercede between yourself and God, somewhat like Saints can. Different angels specialize in different areas of blessing.
Spirit guides
Sometimes an animal spirit or plant spirit, or an ancestor, but sometimes a being from another spirit realm, these guides are there to protect and lead us in our lives and spiritual seeking. You may notice signs or synchronicities that give you insight into what to do or not do, where to go or to avoid, who to interact with or keep your distance from. You can build a relationship with your guide or guides by asking them to be with you whenever you are doing something spiritual or feel the need for a bit of presence with you in mundane life. Pay attention to your intuition, because most guides will speak to you through that center. Others may cause animals to act strangely around you, or call out to you. Others may cause strange events that lead you to a particular significant realization or experience. You can meet your guides through visualization journeys and ask them questions, about what offerings they like, for example.
Higher self
It's you, only without the stumbling blocks of ego problems and traumatic experiences, without baggage and without internal conflicts, without your Shadow and the issues it brings. It's you at your best, most pure self, and it is available to you at any time, if you make the effort to access it. Higher self is there to help you be true to yourself as you move through your life. I am lucky to have aligned with three Matron deities for a divine purpose and wisdom, integrating their energies.
Ascended masters
In Spiritualist circles, these are our honoured teachers who have gone before us on the path to higher consciousness or enlightenment. Well known figures such as the Buddha and Jesus are among their ranks, but also included are historical figures and perhaps notable members of Spiritualist traditions who have moved on from this life into the next.
Heightened States of Consciousness
Mysticism
Mystics in the sterotype are usually meditating at the top of a mountain or in the throes of ecstasy in the rapture of the infinite. I think mysticism is more along the lines of seeking to commune with something greater than oneself, in a kind of experiential bond. Not just awakening to the truth, but becoming Truth itself. Not just feeling love, but being one with Love. That sort of experience.
Peak experiences
These can happen many different ways, but the common thread is that it's the most intense you've ever felt. Maybe it's the deepest love, or it's the most passionate creativity, or the most brilliant understanding. Peak experiences are spiritual because they bring us to the heights of our potential and push the boundaries of where we thought our limitations were.
Transcendental unitive experiences
These are peak experiences that can be experienced by mystics or others, with a specifically connection-based theme. These experiences bring us higher that ever, out of the mundane, away from worldly life, and into an intangible, numinous, spiritual realm outside of space and time, outside of logic and reason, and away from preconceptions about the divine and any ideas we may have about self. There are no words to describe these experiences, they are outside of the realm of language and physical reality. Transcending into oneness with the All may leave you with: a sense of interconnection with everything, that everything made of matter or energy is alive and has consciousness on every level, and the sense that all that is sacred permeates all things, like a Holy Spirit dwelling in us and moving through us.
Enlightenment
This is sometimes described as a realization of what is true and real, sometimes described as the awareness that everything is illusion, and sometimes an awakening to the wisdom of the ages. The Buddha is said to have been enlightened under the Bodhi tree during meditation, as he was practicing his well-balanced middle path. However, others seek to attain enlightenment in various ways, from asceticism, where harsh postures and fasting are the norm, to hedonism and living the luxurious 'good life' in order to transcend suffering, and those who live lives of rigorous study and devoted spiritual practice.
Sacred Locations
Pilgrimages
Travelling to sacred locations around the world, from cathedrals, to the Hajj at Mecca, to sacred wells, and so on, is the pilgrim's journey. Many are done on foot from a designated starting point onward. These can happen any time, but some certain festivals bring more pilgrims to the destinations.
Retreats
These intensive sessions involve a weekend or week of diving deep into spiritual study and practice. They can be longer, if you are seeking the hermit's path, or involve a physical journey like flying to India to find an ashram to stay at. Vipassana is a good example of a silent meditation retreat. Some teachers will host retreats to teach workshops, focus on something like yoga practice or creative writing, and healthy food to cleanse and purify the body. I consider going to festivals my retreat time.
Mountains and Caves
Ley Lines
Healing the Wounded Healer
Inner Child Discovery
Reconnecting to Intuition
Sacred Contracts
Letting Go
Self-compassion
Acceptance
Surrendering