In this series, we will be discussing various tools you can use to deepen your spiritual awareness and spiritual practice.
We have a "Tools" section above, and what's listed are practices you can use in your daily life, but this series is about actual tangible items you can hold in your hand.
Why, you ask? Because sometimes we need something to hold in our hands in order to feel connected. Have you ever had a special trinket you've kept that has reminded you of someone? When I was a little kid, my grandpa had a basketweave, brown sweater that he's wear in the winter and fall. So one day, I saw one that was for women in similar fashion on sale at Walmart. I had to buy it, it was in my size and when I put it on, it brought me back to being a little girl, sitting my grandpa's lap (he had a big belly, so I'd poke it and ask him when he was going to have his baby....he always said "Soon, soon..." and we'd laugh).
Sometimes the tools are not so personal and a more universal symbol, such as crosses. Christians sometimes hold them to pray, or proudly display them on their walls. They wear them around their necks or display them on their clothes. While it isn't technically a tool and more of a symbol, the cross helps Christians feel closer to their creator. And in RUU, a tool helps you feel closer to yourself (and everything around you) and understand yourself (and everything around you) better.
Dictionary.com describes a tool as "an implement of manual operation".
And that's just what we'll be talking about here. Items you can hold, wear, or touch that deepen your connection with the divine.
In the last post, we talked about the fact we are spiritual beings (rather than just plain old humans). And spirituality is just state of being spiritual. And being spiritual, is anything you do that is related to sacred matters. What is sacred to you? My grandfather was sacred to me. So wearing my sweater that reminds me of him, is me being spiritual. See how that works? The sweater is my tool to honoring the sacredness of my relationship with my (now passed) grandfather.
Find out what's sacred to you, and then honor that sacredness. From candles, to dream catchers, to tarot cards, to rosaries, the use of spiritual tools can aid you in your quest to honor and connect with those parts of yourself (and the world, the universe, with others, etc.) you wish to. Sometimes these will be items you can buy (in stores, online, etc.) or they will be items we will make together.
So check back every Friday for a new tool to explore!
Note: With these tools, it helps if you keep an open mind. Some of them you've heard of before, and some of those may have negative connotations. Let me remind you, that nothing, not even an upside-down pentagram, is evil. Humans put these connotations on these items, but the symbols on them or the items themselves have absolutely no negativity embedded in them. It's only superstition applied by the ignorance of human beings that causes them to be so. Now, while we won't be discussing the upside-down pentagram here, you get the gist. Items are only bits and pieces of matter, who are made of atoms, which you are also made of. Items don't have a personality, like you or I, and therefore cannot carry anything negativity within them.
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