The Key To Enlightenment - Workshop

For those seriously interested in spiritual enlightenment the search can be daunting and it can just as easily be very fruitful. It is something we have to work for, we do have to put time and effort into understanding the ways of attaining that enlightenment but it's worth the effort I assure you. For those who are curious about what it means it is often an enigma. It takes a spiritual experience to become enlightened. Such experiences can be constructed through intent and utilizing our sensory abilities or they can seemingly just happen. Sometimes they are brought about by traumatic experiences in the physical reality that send our spirits Out Of Body and forever change our perceptions of what life really holds. But what does it really mean to be 'enlightened'? It's a question people ask all the time.

There are different types of enlightenment and there are many definitions as well. From where I sit they're all part of the same process once we tap into them. Enlightenment, to me, means understanding spiritual truths, universal truths, and our relationship to all of life in its multi-dimensional, multi-level, multi-faceted magnificence. It's going beyond the dogma of scripture to tap into a personal relationship with our Inner Spirit and through that with guidance and the Great Ones that will take us into the Great Mystery. Within the Great Mystery we open our eyes to the immortal wonders and truths that exist. It opens us to understand our purpose in life, our destiny to fulfill, what we incarnated to learn and accomplish. Enlightenment allows us to find meaning in our BE-ing in the world but not of it. To see that we are so much more than a body living a limited number of years and then ceasing to exist. It allows us to see we are immortal in spirit, a fraction of the whole that is the Oneness, that is Great Mystery.

It doesn't matter how one sees the spiritual side of themselves, whether we have 'a' spirit, or 2-3 different 'spirit bodies' within the spirit itself, for the purpose of this discussion that perception is immaterial as it varies throughout different cultural and traditional belief systems. What matters is that we have a spirit, a life force within us, and it is a major part of our enlightenment process. This isn't just a mental concept, it is a reality that is alive within us and we need to learn to tap into ourselves to connect with it. But how? We do that first by recognizing we are not simply a body with a spirit, we are a spirit within a body. That spirit is trapped in darkness trying to find its way to the surface light of our conscious awareness. Are you aware that your spirit exists consciously within you? Are you allowing it to rise to the surface of awareness to connect with the conscious mind so it can fully function within your body?

It is through the Inner Spirit that the connections to the universe are tapped, that guidance is connected to, that enlightenment is found and you need to learn to make that initial connection for yourself. No one can do it for you. Others can guide you in the steps you need to take but only you can take them. Over and over people hear me say they need to connect with their Inner Spirit as a starting point. Why? Because it has the ability to guide us into enlightenment through our conscious awareness-it is our link to All That Is.

We, as human beings, live in a physical reality conceptualizing rather than experiencing the spiritual reality. Life is physical, let's face it, everything around us is presented in a tangible form of some sort. Everything we see has substance to it, it's a dense reality of form. The spiritual reality is an intangible reality, it is filmy, veiled in transparency, comprised of energy frequencies and vibratory rates and dimensions that are endless in scope. Spiritual dimensions and spirituality often seem distant and unrelated to the physical world. The intangibles that others touch 'maybe' and for so many individuals it's only something they've heard about, something they perhaps believe in, but something yet to be experienced personally.

The spirit within us seems highly intangible too, that is until you learn to connect to it and develop a means of communication that brings it up into your awareness. Then it suddenly becomes quite tangible in the sense of it being part of your physical awareness and a merging of the two (the external and internal dimensions) begins to take place. Our senses give form to the spiritual as we begin experiencing a new level of reality along with that. Suddenly we become enlightened and we see that the physical body, in its miracle of birth, gives form to the abode that the formless spirit dwells in. Suddenly we see in that awareness as the spirit rises up and teaches us how to make the most of that body and utilize it as a tool of evolution gaining greater enlightenment along the way. Suddenly we become aware of our destiny, our purpose, our mission and we strive then and there to fulfill it. It's an exciting adventure that will span a lifetime to fulfill and it doesn't stop there. Other lifetimes will follow for we are ever a work in progress, now and in the future.

Walk with me for a moment and let me show you around this concept of tapping the connection to your Inner Spirit. If, for instance, you were to perceive the Inner Spirit as a flame of passion, imagine for the moment that the flame is the size of a spark. A spark of life. It's meant to be a flame but it's a spark until we become consciously aware that we have the power to turn up the pilot light and become a beacon in the darkness that will let us see our way.

Now the spirit is comprised of energy, an energy body within the human body, and it gets pushed down or held back as the physical reality dominates and the mind does not acknowledge its presence-unless we focus on that because something has triggered our attention. Yet, as children we are in union with it, open-minded, aware of our invisible friends (Guides and Spirit Helpers) and we communicate quite freely with them. Unfortunately, many of the adults around us are claiming that we're playing in a pretend environment, it's just our imagination, a 'pretend friend' to keep us company. They've grown to forget and they do what they can to help us slip into the forgetting too. However, that's not necessarily truth and if we do fall into forgetting and set aside our open minds, closing the door to the otherworldly realities we must find our way back to unlocking them, a challenging journey for most of us.

The adults pull us, as children, out of the spirit realms and deeper into the physical realm until we reach a point where we've stopped believing too and the mind closes the door to the Inner Spirit. Our senses that keep the door open begin to shut down and the mind closes to those 'pretend or invisible friends' who are actually the spirits who accompany us as Helpers through our lives. What a sad loss that is, but it is a loss that can be reclaimed.

Some children remember their past lives and even talk about them as if it were something others should understand if not remember: "Mommy, I remember when I was your Mommy, do you?" "I used to live in Europe but I was a boy then, I was a soldier too, you were in the war with me, remember?" "I used to write music and was a fine musician." "I invented things that made people happy." "I discovered the cure for a bad disease." The list goes on and on about what that spirit experienced in a recent past life. Finer details may be forgotten but there is recall of another life, who was in it, where it existed, and what was experienced on a basic level. A life that was just as valid as this one. Likely it was one in which gender may have changed, but there is a wisdom in the things these children share with the adults in their lives, a wisdom that is beyond their physical age and sometimes it frightens the adults who react by urging the child to close the mind's door, to close the 3rd eye that allows us to see through our Inner Spirit's eyes.

Ask yourself, how would a child, having never seen or visited or perhaps even heard of distant lands, be able to describe names, dates and places, or know they even existed? How would a child, having not visited such locations be able to describe a bygone era with details far beyond what their educational level and present experiences carry or what could be considered common knowledge relative at that time? Yet their stories can often be verified to a degree. The answer is that their spirits remember, their spirits being the sum total of all past lives have that recall and can share it with the physical mind's awareness.

Children are so naturally attuned to their spirits, wide open to them, and all too often the adults sever that connection with well-meaning attempts to bring the child out of their fantasy and back into reality. Back to the tangible world. It's not a fantasy they're leaving behind though, it's truth. The door begins to close and as that child grows to an adult the door to their innermost truths becomes locked tight, the key is misplaced, and it is necessary for them to work to relocate the door itself, let alone find where the key lays hidden. This can be achieved, and it is happening more and more on a daily basis as people are embracing the spiritual side of life and striving to reconnect. If you are such an individual then this workshop will validate the sensations you're experiencing that have you exploring this possibility in the first place.

In the past 40 years or more I've witnessed a resurgence of spiritual acceptance and multitudes of people seeking to become spiritually enlightened. What had been long hidden in shadows was coming to the surface. First in whispers of closed circles, the circles of the Elders who kept the secrets safe from those who had forbidden the teachings or those who would bury them. Knowledge is power, and those who walk with ego in power become corrupt and want that power as a means of control over others. Forbidding truths to be shared allows that power to retain control over the masses.

Like the sages and hermits of the bygone generations who isolated themselves in the hills and valleys to keep their wisdom safe, the Elders were seeing the need for what they held rising to the surface and coming into the light of day. It was for them to bring wisdom to the people and they were seeing the beginning of that process seed itself. No longer would it be restricted to the few, it was to be shared with the many. Soon. A time many prophecies spoke of was emerging, where the truth hidden in shadow would be brought into the light. It's been an honor for me to be a part of that movement and for over 4 decades I've walked a path of sharing with others what I've been blessed to come to know. It's been an amazing journey, going from whispers to soft conversations to general talk and then the open presentations where the shock of a taboo subject has become warmly embraced.

Oh sure, there are still some who hesitate and many who still sleep spiritually speaking, but the numbers who have awakened are many and they grow daily on a global scale. It is part of the evolution of humanity and the old ways are being brought forward so they can be adapted to the current times. There is some resistance from the Elders in many traditions where fear keeps them guarding still, these teachings have been labeled as criminal in the past and they haven't forgotten those days being they are too recent in memory. So they resist in spite of the legalization being reinstated, they fear that could change again. But it is legal, we can share, and shouldn't we do so when a need exists? The world has need of this knowledge, it is meant to be shared now as a means of changing the world we live in for the better, for the greater good of us all. Personally, I see that as a beautiful thing. It has certainly led me down a path of beauty.

THE INNER SPIRIT

I have been blessed to have open awareness of my Inner Spirit and guidance all my life. I was born into a family where I was given the space to foster my growth rather than diminish it. That's not to say there weren't times I did this in secret, it was hard as a child to find words to describe the things I experienced, and I didn't want to seem like there was something wrong with me to those who wouldn't understand or would frown on what I shared. It was a double edged sword for a long time. Inside the family I was safe but I still held the enlightenments I was being given to myself for a long time when it came to the outside world.

My family members held a vicarious interest in the metaphysical side of life but no one really practiced a spiritual path or developed their abilities in earnest. I was born in a time where being a witch or practicing magic was a criminal act. In a time where written material on the subject of psychic arts, the occult or metaphysical teaching was shipped privately in plain brown paper wrappers masking the contents. Packages that came from rare bookstores where shopkeepers kept their customer lists confidential and hidden as deeply as the materials they sold. Finding the stores was hard to do, it was something that came by word of mouth and recommendations that were whispered softly in hushed corners and private conversations with those who could trust their secrets to each other. Something they had to use their senses to know was safe. Risks of persecution and jail were real.

Over the years that changed, the whispers grew louder as I've mentioned. By the 70's a new spiritual movement was taking place and well underway. Talk of the New Age of Aquarius was rife in the 60's and the next generation would be responsible for ushering it in. That next generation was one of which I was a part, and it had embraced this New Age Movement. Carlos Castaneda was publishing, Native American Medicine Men had been quietly talking for a long time and there were a few books on the store shelves about Native teachings, now there were books on Witchcraft and spell-weaving that were emerging. Tarot and other divination practices were becoming parlor games again revived from the Victorian era, and they could be found in the stores too. Then came the spiritualist church experiencing a resurgence. Things were opening up and I was very hungry, I tasted it all trying to find my way and always remembering what my Guides had told me as a little girl of 5years: "You are a witch, be a good witch."

That's all I knew starting out, well that and that I had a message to take on a mission and needed to share it with others, a message that there was a spirit alive within each of us and people needed to connect with it to find enlightenment. That's all I knew at first, but I was later to discover that the 'witch' in me was the only way my Guides could help me comprehend my path. At that age I didn't know what a Medicine Woman was, I didn't know much other than what I'd learned in the fairytales and children's stories I loved so much. I knew of Glenda, the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz, I knew of Wendy the Good Witch on cartoons, and being like them was something I wouldn't mind striving for so I did for a time. I can remember playing with my cousins and I always took the role of the witch, I was fascinated with magical things and I loved the games we played-so did they, they were filled with excitement and active imaginations. Then, many years later, I came to the Native teachings and found my path unfolding so beautifully. That was then, this is now, and today I have the words to express what I've been taught.

NATIVE SPIRITUALITY

Native spirituality is an open door to the spirit world, there is no line of division, the two are part of the same whole. One is as valid as the other when it comes to the physical and spiritual realities. One cannot exist without the other and therefore they interweave themselves in daily life where there is no delineation. To the western mind that's not been the case. In truth the spiritual and physical realms are One.

The Medicine Chiefs and Holy People are commonly sought for their gifts and abilities as Seers, Healers, Dreamwalkers, finders of lost people or things, those who touch the lives within their communities in a sacred way. Medicine Men and Women are honored among them, sought by all when there is need, and without the dogmatic restrictions of those outside this cultural lifestyle to hinder them and the perceptions of enlightenment are a part of daily life within these cultural bounds.

It was in the Native teachings I have been blessed to receive that I found the words that explained the things I had been experiencing all my life, that I found teachings that could take me deeper into the understanding I already held. It is where I found like-minded individuals who were willing to embrace me and foster my growth. I'd found my path to true enlightenment and that hasn't changed, I'm still evolving with it.

Those teachers and friends who crossed my path nodded when I told my stories and expressed my abilities. They understood and embraced them sharing their own with me. They nodded when I told them about my Guides, about my Helpers from the elemental worlds, about the Wind that Danced and played with me and told me things and they shared their stores with me. They nodded when I talked about shifts in time and how time stopped or slowed down so that I could take in the Now of the moment fully or be taken on journeys to distant dimensions where more teachers presented themselves. They shared similar stories. The Medicine Stories as they called them. Today I can share my Medicine Stories with others and my workshops and seminars are comprised of some of that sharing.

They understood the things I didn't and they explained them to me, and they understood the things I was being shown and helped me assimilate them. They blessed me in so many ways and they knew that I was to carry these teachings to others. They understood when I shared that I'd been told to be a Bridge. A bridge to enlightenment for others and they helped me prepare for that. Blessed? You bet I was!

CONNECTING TO SELF

One of my greatest blessings was the fact that I'd never lost contact with my Inner Spirit, I knew that part of myself and never divided from it. I walked with my spirit in awareness day in and day out. I knew things because it told me truths and I felt the truth flow through me in undeniable sensations that I embraced. I did not doubt, I embraced, loved, and befriended my Spirit Helpers who came to assist my Inner Spirit in rising further into my conscious awareness. I knew this was the true Self within me and that I needed to honor it. I knew that I had to help others see this in their lives understanding we are not simply bodies with spirits, we are spirits with bodies meant to allow us time to experience the physical reality. I knew I was to help them understand that when our time is spent here in the physical world that the spirit within departs back to the spirit world leaving the Robe that is the physical body behind. It is no longer held in restriction by the physical constraints and it is free to BE itself. The spirit then journeys back to the spirit group it originated from to share and assimilate the experiences it had in the physical life.

A spirit group is a group of spirits that assist each other in learning and growth throughout many lifetimes. In those experiences of different lifetimes the gender of the body may change but the spirit within that body remains the same. It is the sum total of all lessons learned, all mistakes made, all deeds done, all joy and boundless mysteries solved through the course of those lifetimes. It can communicate that knowledge to us if we raise our awareness to a level where we simply accept its presence as sentient within us and learn to listen, opening our eyes to See beyond the physical boundaries of time and space.

The path of the Inner Spirit is not simply this lifetime, it is the total of all past lives and will explore many others in the future, it may even be exploring alternate realities at the same time, the potentials are unlimited. The spirit within us lives and its path is our path whether we are aware of it or not. It's path is a path of destiny in each lifetime and it's up to us to open to that fact and fulfill our destiny. The seed to search is planted within us, it's up to us to water it and nourish it so it can grow.

We have incarnated in our present bodies, wearing the physical Robe if you will, so that we can accomplish what we came to learn as well as the destiny we are meant to fulfill. Every single human being has this potential within them and each of us must Awaken to that truth. Once we do there's no turning back other than to deny it as a fantasy or surrender to someone else's taboo that tells us we are a sinner or evil person for embracing our true Self. To me that's a real waste of a darned good life.

The Inner Spirit communicates so much to us if we only listen to it. It reaches out and touches our sensory perceptions and triggers the internal knowing that many call instinct or intuition, it's much more than a passing moment of intangible insight. Through our sensory perceptions our receptors decode the messages the spirit wants to convey and life, physical life, validates those truths. How many times have you wished you'd listened to your intuitive impressions that you so lightly brushed off? How many times have you recriminated yourself for not listening to your Self? That's your spirit talking to you. It's your conscious awareness shouting 'Wake up! See it for what it is and next time try listening to it, then see what happens.

Your spirit won't lead you astray, it will guide you though, it will tell you things, forewarn of danger or threat of injury in some manner, announce changing circumstances and things that are about to come to pass and important opportunities that need to be seized. Your Inner Spirit lives within you and for you. Why deny it? Why not embrace it and find that connection to your other Spirit Helpers as well as so much more?

The Inner Spirit is our connective thread, our point of entry into dimensional realms, into tapping universal consciousness and connecting with the Great Ones, Spirit and Mother Earth among others to reach enlightenment. What have you got to lose? Nothing but the blinders of the physical reality and false illusions it holds. What would it serve to hold onto them other than to stunt your growth and make you the Dreamed instead of the Dreamer. A pawn of life when you can be so much more than that. Not in an arrogant self-centered way, but in a humble centered-self way.

Turn it around, see the spirit within as the real you, not the physical you, the physical you is merely the garment the spirit has chosen to wear for awhile. When it wears out the spirit will drop the Robe and walk on to wear another fresh one after a time. See who you really truly are and BE all you can BE. Tap into spiritual enlightenment and learn about these things. Turn your key in the locked door and open it, treasures await.

HIGHER AWARENESS

Higher awareness. What do people mean by that? It's simple, it's merely raising your conscious awareness to a point where you are able to be with your Inner Spirit consciously. It means accepting that the spirit within you is alive, is vibrant, can see and communicate beyond the physical reality and convey understanding through that communication. Such messages are enlightening and bring forth truths that will make your path of destiny much easier to fulfill. It can give you the map you need to follow. It holds the map, but you must ask to see it. Why not do so instead of wandering blindly about wondering if such a thing is possible? Why not tap into it and find out for yourself? You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Higher awareness means opening the mind consciously to embrace spiritual truths, shamanic journeys, visions brought by guidance, the gifts and abilities you were born with consciously being recognized and honored. All that and more is there at your disposal but you have to choose to utilize it. Become aware of the fact these things are a part of life too, aware of the fact that you can put them into use. Aware of the fact that there are Guides, Spirit Helpers, Master Teachers, Guardians, all members of your spirit group gathered to journey through this life assisting you to accomplish what you came to do, to learn what you came to learn, and evolve in the process. They simply dwell on the other side of the veil, that's all, but they are there with you all the same.

With an open mind nothing is impossible, but the mind must be willing to search and study and develop its understanding about universal laws, spiritual laws, and the connectedness within the whole of life. Once you enter that Oneness with Spirit and Mother your higher awareness becomes conscious awareness and enlightenment is achieved through raising your conscious focus within your mind. By bringing these teachings forward with you on a conscious level and exploring them physically you begin to develop your abilities. Always there is guidance in one form or another that comes into play and you have many Helpers there to assist you as you journey down your path of destiny-as you make your earthwalk.

GUIDANCE

Guidance comes in many forms, Totems, Spirit Helpers, dimensional entities, Spirit Keepers, Master Teachers, Ascended Masters, the list is a long one and all these sources of connectivity are there waiting for you to tap into them. Imagine what it is like when you choose to open your mind to embracing them and that you can do so.

These sources of guidance bring us to our enlightenment. They shine a light in the darkness of the unknown and help us find our way to the where the truths reside. They help us through the transitions, transformations, and evolutionary phases of our earthwalk as we grow from a child to an adult to an elder. They assist us through our experiences and lessons, teach us how to work with our abilities and co-create, manifest, or bring about changes that serve the path we walk and those who walk it with us. Enlightenment is found through them.

UNIVERSAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Universal consciousness is the source of stored knowledge for all that has ever been or will be. It is the source of the all-knowing godhead that stores All That Is and we can tap it to find our answers, to reach a state of enlightened understanding. Just as we receive our enlightenment and share it with those we are close to when we can, the spirit within becomes enlightened by its physical experience of life and shares that with the spirit group. It deposits the information into Universal Consciousness at the same time. This repository of knowledge and understanding is there for all of us, it's part of the Oneness. You can learn to tap into it from any tradition you so choose to follow. It exists for the greater good of us all.

WALKING BETWEEN THE WORLDS

What does it mean to walk between the worlds? It means that we become aware of our Inner Spirit, our guidance, our sensory impressions, tapping Universal Consciousness when needed, and putting that knowledge in our conscious awareness on a daily basis. Knowing we can do this, we remain open for the tap on the shoulder from a Spirit Helper or a sign that is sent to us as a marker along the course of the day. It's walking in awareness that spiritual realms are as much a part of the physical reality as the physical reality is a part of them. It's walking in the awareness that in the duality is the Oneness, that the veil between the worlds is an illusion of forgetfulness the mind has created and one that can be parted with the simple desire to embrace the truth and it's learning to do so.

Walking between the worlds is keeping an eye, ear and foot firmly open to both the physical and spiritual sides of life. Oh, does that sound like a lot of work? It's no different than the mother doing her housework while her children are playing in another room. She knows when she needs to set down the dishtowel and go check on them or tend to an upset. It's no different than a man driving down the road hearing a new sound in the engine and knowing he needs to pull over immediately to tend a problem. Perhaps tighten a belt and then get on with things. It's no different than a student engrossed in a book waiting for a friend to join them in the lunchroom. When the friend arrives the student's focus shifts. It's no different than chewing gum and walking at the same time. You've done that haven't you? It's no different than driving down the road thinking about what you're going to do now that the weekend is here. You've done that too haven't you?

We are so capable of multi-level multi-tasking and we don't even notice we're doing it. Raising conscious awareness to see that we do it all the time in one form or another is going to help you see that you can walk between the worlds just as easily. It's like breathing once you see this and takes no more effort than that. Walking between the worlds keeps our awareness tuned into the taps from guidance, the bits of enlightenment we encounter here and there, the signs along the way to help us steer our courses. Raising our awareness to see that both worlds are active at all times allows us to shift focus between them as needed and to remain connected to both in the Oneness by choice. It's that simple. It's a choice.

Why not choose to open your mind to receive enlightenment, learn to journey shamanically, to do research and explore dimensionally and to work with the many Spirit Helpers that have come to journey with you? Why not? There is so much more to life than the eye can see. Until it's trained to see in a new way that is. Learning to see between the worlds, to hear between them, to walk between them, to sense their presence all around you is a beautiful and vibrant way of living life to its fullest. It's also an asset as a way of achieving all that you potentially can. Why not turn the key in your locked mind and open the door to enlightenment? The choice is up to you.

Here at Spirit Lodge .info you are welcome to partake of all resources offered. There is a wide variety of options to satisfy your interests and needs. You are welcome to work at your own pace, in your own style or follow the recommended courses of study. There are options to fit the needs of everyone be that curiosity, a desire to apply effort into personal development and self-empowerment, or a path of spiritual service. Certification to teach the enlightenments offered requires application and acceptance for private coaching sessions along with the successful completion of various courses of study. The options are yours, the investment is yours, and the resources are here to help you. If you are interested in further study please look over the index page to find the links for workshops, seminars and other optional resources.