Shamans tend to be men {Women have more of these abilities in their natural state and require less altered consciousness.}, though women also can become shamans; some women shamans are extraordinarily powerful. In some cultures, shamans are involuntarily chosen by the spirits; they realize their calling in a transformational experience, often a serious illness that brings them close to death {For example Damion Brinkley of today.} and is self-cured. In other cultures, persons with natural shamanic gifts are selected at a young age, trained and initiated.

Rabbi Kushner could not comprehend how a loving, supposedly merciful and compassionate and just God, could allow such a tragedy to befall him and his loved ones. After all, he considered himself a God-fearing, obedient man who was living a more religiously committed life than most people. So how could a God of justice permit so great an injustice?

In the book, “First Things First”, Steven Covey helps us understand how and why the Japanese people think how they do and accomplish so much more than American’s in a same twenty-four hour period.

Gods are energy. To be more precise the various Gods in the various religions represent the various aspects of the common energy that we all share.

Did you know that you have inherited a gene that predisposes you to want to find faith in God?

Even as I started dating a Chinese girl, I knew I was embarking on a remarkable adventure. I just had no idea where and how far the adventure would take me. The more events unfolded, the more I realized that my view of the world and how I lived in it were being profoundly and permanently altered... If the problem with marrying a gentile was that my religion prohibited intermarriage, why should that bother me? Perhaps not everything in Judaism made sense, and as an intelligent and thinking individual I could take from my heritage what I felt was meaningful and disregard the rest...

Proverbs 19:21 it says Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. What a man desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar. The fear of the Lord leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

And then we ask ourselves upon what principles are we allotted our looks. What is it that makes us ugly or attractive or “plain?” What is it that gives us a musical ear or an artistic eye; an affectionate disposition or an uncontrollable temper, a talent for mathematics or skills of language?

It is important and necessary that we regularly spend time in purposeful self-examination. We need to take the time to examine our rationales, our pretenses, our masquerades, our motives, our justifications, and our reasoning.

A brief exploration of the difference between the western view of our imperfection and a movement towards 'Wholeness' vs the eastern view of our always already perfection and movement away from 'Wholeness'.

I once read a story about a Catholic priest who was a godly person. He was so godly that when he died people believed that his bones had healing powers. Yeah, right...

Tibetan Singing Bowls have stirred the interest of many spiritually-inclined healers. But is every singing bowl out there really Tibetan? And do they all have healing properties? Don't buy one until you read this article.

With the end of what seemed to be a never ending winter, we are now ready to start cleaning up around the house. We are anxious to lighten the load and get rid of unwanted junk. Some of it we get tired of or have outgrown. We either do one of three things, throw the stuff out, give it away or sell it because it still has some value. How much easier it is for us to clean up our property than it is to clean up our inner souls? When we get rid of this junk, we are that much richer for it. Sometimes we can't put a price on things that really matter. What is your freedom worth to you?

We humans are a funny, funny breed. We spend our entire lives working and working and working to acquire ‘stuff’. We buy and surround ourselves with the biggest, fanciest this or that when all the while what we really need and want is something you can’t buy anywhere. The thing we all spend our time doing is looking to experience a feeling of significance

Sometimes, in traveling a path, we discover a short-cut, and we reach our destination in less time—and with less effort than we thought, when we began the journey, would be required of us. On the path to self-awareness, however, there are no short-cuts. Personal growth awareness of the person we are in every present moment-is an ongoing lifetime process. The end of one learning cycle is always the beginning of the next...

How do we maintain spiritual sanity in our lives when all around the world there is a mentality of violence, a lack of emotional maturity and historically, a world defined by wars, all in the name of religion? Where do we find peace in a world of such chaos? Stop looking outside yourself and seek spiritual sanity within that holy place found at the very core of our Being. Are you a martyr or a peace-maker? Do you truly want spiritual sanity to guide your life based in peace? Let's explore the solutions...

Spirit Dancer The spirit dancer is the card of creative expression. Of exploring our inner truths and desires. Now is the time to open your heart and mind. Listen to your inner self and determine to bring forth and express all that is you.

It doesn't matter who you are, or what job you are doing, that irksome little demon named stress will always be peeking around the corner, waiting for its next chance to get under your skin.

There is a lot of advice around regarding stress but everyone reacts differently to stress, with some people revelling in it as a challenge. There are two universal ways outlined here to tackle undue levels of stress.

Do you get the Sunday blues, thinking about the weekend being over?