I was chatting with a friend the other day and I used the phrase ‘spiritual candy’ when talking about an Instagrammer we both love. This woman posts beautiful, silly, inspirational things—often on the energetic & astrological ‘weather.’ She is so fun. We love her.
Divination tools, astrology and tarot tend to be my favorites in the ‘spiritual’ category. I’m a big fan. I follow several spiritual people on Instagram. Tarot card readers on YouTube. I’ve got four oracle decks and Dolores Cannon books and Reiki runes and votive candles and archangel cards and spirit animals and tarot symbols tattooed on my arm(!). I get monthly energetic weather updates and I burn sage/ palo santo and I clear my energy regularly.
I am a FAN.
But I want people to know there is much more at the ‘spiritual’ table.
I looked up a few definitions of spirituality. Most of them include a ‘belief of something larger than one’s self.' The spiritual books I found were wide ranging—from Buddhist and Taoist classics to ‘The Secret’ and Gabrielle Bernstein. They included books on topics from my list above, as well as energy healing and ancient/indigenous nature religions, past lives, crystals, yoga, tantra, modern Christianity, astrology, re-wilding and magic.
Spiritual stuff is, in my experience, a bit like a treat. Or at least, not the whole meal. Spiritual experiences are the amuse bouches, snacks, dessert plates and palate cleansers of a meal. They greatly add to the experience, but they are not the main dish.
I’ve certainly attempted to be fulfilled by tarot readings, ancient philosophies, near death stories and ‘psychic stuff.’ I learned about ancient earth history. New earth ceremonies. Aliens. Symbology. Every kind of energy healing. I’ve done a peyote ceremony, a temascal ceremony, cacao ceremony, sweat lodges and chakra clearings. And I notice I am supported by spiritual practices, but not quite fulfilled by them. Nourished, but not satiated. I also notice this in friends and others who move from one spiritual practice to the next, leaning on them a bit too much, I’d say.
Consuming too much of the ‘spiritual’ (more than a small appetizer or dessert), seems to make me (and others) a bit high and excited. Or a bit checked-out and numb.
Consuming too much, and getting the equivalent of a spiritual bellyache or hangover, comes from searching for something outside of the moment. From searching at all. It is about believing in a ‘higher’ realm, a place outside ourselves—the future, another dimension, etc.
This search comes from a belief (and resultant sense) of something lacking in this moment. That this (fill in current experience or sensation here) should be different. But, as several folks who are able to clearly see other realms and dimensions have indicated, these voices and energies and entities are not necessarily any clearer than earthly voices. As Kiran Trace has said, there is an ‘Autobahn’ of extra-dimensional ‘stuff.’
However, when you simply know your true nature as spirit, and welcome all that is here right now, the search falls away. And beliefs are not necessary. I notice regular spiritual practices and rituals often fall away too, just as the scaffolding falls away once a building is stabilized. Or, to stay with the meal analogy, I might take or leave dessert if the meal is really fulfilling.
So, the engagement with spiritual stuff is all about what in us picks up those tarot cards or goes to the next plant medicine ceremony.
Are we reaching for a fun treat or for a meal? If we are reaching for a meal, it seems to be what happens with ‘junk’ food (don’t get me wrong, I can get with junk food!). But junk food can be addictive because we are tricked into believing there is actual nutrition there (by the strong hit of sugar, salt and/or fat). But, no matter how much we eat, it doesn’t satisfy, because there are only trace nutrients available.
My friend (who loves the Instragrammer) and I are both involved in Kiran’s classes—in deep healing work and direct awareness of what we often call our True Nature—Oneness, Source, Silence, etc. This awareness isn’t special or fancy or profound. It hasn’t come by hard work, regular rituals, diligent study, or repeated spiritual practice. Nor has it come from belief or faith. And, really, it is not at all ‘spiritual.’
I’ve found that knowing our true nature is about as nourishing & stabilizing as it gets. It’s the full meal, available now—a profound sense of peace and rest. There is deep connectedness and safety available (despite the parade of mental storylines that would tell us different), but without a ‘middle man’ (i.e. spiritual practice). Meditation, inquiry, embodiment…these tools provide the doorway to nourishment & peace.
And this level of nourishment is simply not available in a tarot card pull or an astrological chart reading. All those can ever do is reflect back an inner knowing that is already available to you. They are the sweet treats surrounding this immense truth, enhancing it but not creating it.
In this time of instability, of major structures being upended and terribly unclear messaging from our institutions and so-called leaders, it is completely understandable that we would reach for the spiritual (this might include ‘spirits,’ like alcohol, too) We are looking for answers outside the messy, earthly world, where confusion seems to reign.
I so get it.
But there is something much bigger to lean on, to lean into. You can’t believe how much more nourishing and freeing it is. But you have to leave behind the structures and practices your separate self thinks you need. You have to leave behind being a good or spiritual person. You have to call off the search for something ‘beyond’ or ‘better’ or ‘higher’—to leave behind your spiritual beliefs and practices and rituals, just for a moment.
In that, you can land in the biggest pool of nutrient-dense stuff imaginable.
I will always have my spiritual treats. They add a ton of flavor to my world. But they are kinda on my shelf and sprinkled in my Insta feed. They are the pint of ice cream in the freezer and the six pack of beer in the fridge that I sometimes forget I have, but I love to re-discover. I am incredibly grateful to these wise and wonderful practitioners and their products—they just aren’t front and center, and I’ve found that makes them all the more delectable.
I invite you to check out some of my favorite spiritual pals below. I also invite you to go to the main meal by meditating with me and by getting started with Kiran’s free 9 day challenge, also below.
xo
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Spiritual Favorites:
Rumi oracle deck
Lee Harris energy on YouTube, Instagram etc
Herbology oracle deck
Teal Swan on YouTube, Insta etc
House of Oshun on YouTube
Trashbag Astrology on Instagram
The Mind card game
Sister Shanti on Instagram, etc
Michele Knight on Insta, YouTube, etc
Distilled Tarot on YouTube
Embodied Astrology (Renee Sills) on Instagram, etc