The Magic of Spiritual Experiences

Strange and wonderful in their own right, spiritual experiences can also offer unique opportunities for self-discovery and personal growth.

Spiritual experiences come ion many different guises - what ties such occurrences together is their potential to help you explore your inner self, leading to personal insight, growth and fulfilment.
A well-known type of spiritual experience is a 'vision', where you see, hear and feel a being or scene. Visions are all encompassing and can make you lose awareness of your actual surroundings. A 'visitation' is similar, but involves the appearance of a spiritual being such as an angel within the context of the real world.

Cultural influences
Visions and visitations are influenced by cultural background, For example, many Roman Catholics have had visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A spiritual experience can also take the form of sensations or emotions induced by a person or a place. Priests and other people noted for their wisdon and compassion often have the power to spark spiritual sensations in others. Such people are sometimes acclaimed as gurus but anyone from a teacher to a grandparent can invoke these experiences.

Spirit of the place
A place that triggers a spiritual experience may be inhabited by its own spirit - known in Latin as the locus genii. These may be found in an old family home, a tranquil forest clearing or a temple or shrine. When you encounter a locus genii, you may experience feelings of calmness acceptance and understanding.

Searchine for a spiritual experience

Throughout history, people have sought for ways to get in touch with their spirituality and understand the lessons it has to offer.

Spiritual experiences can come upon you unbidden, at a time or place where you least expect them. However, there are certain ways you can induce or enhance a spiritual experience. A traditional method - as used by shamans, witch doctors and medicine men - is to subject the mind and/or body to an extreme state. These can include chanting, fasting, taking drugs, exposing the body to heat and cold, and so on. The aim is to induce an altered state of conciousness, for example and ecstatic trance. The near-death experience is an extreme example of altered consciousness brought on by trauma or illness. It is not advisable to follow any of these methods however, since they are extremely dangerous and may not work. There are other, far gentler paths towards spirituality including the following:

MEDITATION
Any tyoe of meditation has the ability to bring on a spiritual experience. Techniques such as visualisation can help, as can meditating in a specific location of with a particular person.

DREAMS
Visions and vistations are more likely to come to you in your dreams than at any other time. Get into the habit of keeping a dream diary (which you must write as soon as you wake up) and practise visualisation techniques to enhance your dream recall.

TRANCE
Many people argue that a hypnotic trance can induce spiritual experience, particularly through the use of the controversial hypnotic regression technique, which claims to uncover memories of past lives. Trances can also be self-induced - a technique often used by shamans to meet spirit guides such as animal spirits or ancestors.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
The true challenge of a spiritual experience is to discover its meaning and significance. Often such implications may be hidden, only to become apparent later, but you have to work them out for yourself. Almost everyone who has a spiritual experience reports that they feel profoundly changed, so if you are lucky enough to have one, you should view it as an opportunity and a blessing.


Taken from 'Mind, Body, Spirit' Magazine

good stuff Sadie

Hi Sadie and any others wishing to comment,
A vision came to me when I felt awake but was not quite awake. A girl came to me and told me she wanted to be born. Three months later I separated from my partner, a week and a half after the separation I discovered I was pregnant with my fifth child. I questioned what to do about it, however my belief in the unborn child's soul prevented me from aborting the pregnancy. Soon after I remembered the visitation. I am only ten weeks pregnant however strongly believe I am carrying the little girl I saw. What concerns me is a week or so after I saw the little girl I saw a man standing over me, when I started awake and asked what he was doing he flashed away and I next saw him standing in the bedroom door, I asked what he was doing and he disappeared.

I have nobody around me who understands these visions, I have yet to bring it up with the pastor at the spiritualist mission I attend. The vision of the little girl has confirmed to me that everything happens for a reason. She must have known I would be a single mum when I discovered I was pregnant?!!?

thats amazing ewbaby4, she obviously has a purpose to come to you beforehand, so as you knew who she was, therefore keeping her. How did you feel about the man? was it a different feeling to the child?

Hi - definitely a different feeling with the man - I felt intruded upon by the man but not by the child.

is that because it was a male and in your room? or because he gave off the feeling of threat/fear?

Been thinking that question over - it may have brought back memories of a home invasion four years ago. Woke up to a man reaching out to grab me - chased him out of the house...

okay, so lets take that into account and think about his visit again, do you now think the same way? do you think maybe he was just visiting, you or maybe your baby, and your waking scared him (aren't they supposed to leave if you ask or get frightened?) maybe he was just "passing by" and saw the light on, so to speak. though i do think there is a reason why you woke to see him

Hi Suziesheree
I still haven't determined the reason for the visitation of the male figure beside my bed, however I have discovered the child I am carrying, due in eight weeks, is a girl. I have been speaking with my mother recently about the child visiting and she said my younger sister often came to her before she was conceived. Prior to my mother mentioning the visitations I had very strong feelings that the baby I am carrying is very strongly connected to my younger sister. I thought that maybe I am carrying the girl my sister had miscarried and was seen standing beside me at the spiritualist mission two years ago.

I think the scary part was the way the male spirit was leaning over me, and the difference was the young girl was standing back from the bed. I often think about it, and have reasoned the visitiation is not of a previous owner as the room I used as my bedroom was formally the lounge room, so it must have been a visit with a purpose. I have been told a grandparent is watching over me and is proud of me, however the one described was a paternal grandfather and not a very nice man when alive.

I may never figure it out - but I am having a girl!

congrats on your girl!!!