Metaphysical Healing

Master of Metaphysical Healing

Rev. Barry Deel

  The master of metaphysical healing was quite informative and yet refreshing.  I very much like the course in its layout and the way it was presented.  The diversity that is allowed throughout the course makes it ideal for any faith or belief.  I also liked the terms and vocabulary that were given.  I found them to be very useful in explaining information and the way things happen in a healing to my new clients.  They seemed to understand and relate better to me and the healing they were receiving.   

            I especially liked the lessons on the healer's morals and ethics and code of conduct.  I have been a healing practitioner now for over twenty years and have taken quite a few courses and classes and none have touched on this subject as well as this course.  I am also very impressed, being a health care professional, that there were lessons on taking a medical history.  I was glad to see that the course presented you with actual forms for taking a medical history that you could use in your healing practice as well as a disclaimer that the healer can present to the client for a signature. 

            How to properly handle clients that have mental or substance abuse issues was also something that I was not expecting to see.  The lessons and the way that the healer should handle these types of clients were very good.  As a healer, I also like the fact that the course gave you examples and ways to handle presenting information to a client in order to get them to see a medical doctor without the healer diagnosing their client.

            I would like to see the master of metaphysical healing course extended by maybe three additional lessons.  Those lessons being on subjects like "What to do when healing does not work in the eyes of the client."  "What to do or say when a healing relationship should come to a close."  "How a healer goes about getting insured and registered."  These are just a few that I think will enhance the course.

     

            Over all the master of metaphysical healing is a course that I would respectfully suggest to other healers in order to bring about some form of unified way of service and professional conduct here in the United States.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Metaphysics

Spirit-Quest

It was most important to me to accept the assignment and write something about Spirit-Quest and my experiences within the course.  The course is a wonderful addition to my life. From Lesson 1, Goal Setting all the way through Reverend Amy Long had my attention.

If anyone would have told me just a couple of years ago that I would be setting spiritual goals I would have laughed at them. Now I have pages regarding personal, spiritual growth. That is a miracle in itself. For all people Spirit Quest holds great tools and philosophy for moving toward the light.  What is and has been very important for me is that these 30 lessons of Spirit Quest put me in touch with volumes upon volumes of information and non-information within me. With the lessons came the tools for me to start working through those volumes of whatever to see if it's worth bringing along in life.

 "Spiritual growth comes when you remember that your word is your bond."

That phrase from Lesson One is on my wall.  Being raised in the great State of Wyoming for the most part, people's word is their bond. Most people of the Cowboy State take great pride in matching their actions with their words. After moving East and becoming part of corporate America the phrase can still be found but the practice is limited. 

"With your word, comes your intention.  Your intention drives the force of your being. Your word is everything. . ."

These words of Reverend Amy are a huge part of the foundation of what I grew up thinking and it is my intention to pass these things along teaching and placing it out there in my actions for the world to see. There is a special sense of beingness when one "knows" his or her word becomes intention and intention is the driving force of one's life.  Ah yes, "In the beginning was the Word. . ."

The tools in Spirit Quest are of inestimable value. Hypnotherapy (or what in my practice I called 'Alpha- Technique') has been an ardent study of mine since securing my degree and certification in 1984.  Without question, Spirit Quest offers all people and therapists of any persuasion fine, new tools.

In pursuing hypnotherapy I had learned about a "sacred place." Along with that my studies took me through many different kinds of induction and self-induction. To date none of them have been on the level of the tools Rev. Long teaches in Spirit Quest. 

Her 'Grounding Cord' is terrific if not essential.  Nearly every person seeking religion and/or therapy is insecure and seeking some kind of a new hold on life. Well, nothing could be better than to teach them about the cord and the visualizations of using their grounding cord. And, the internal visual exercises regarding their cord are a great foundation for engaging right brain activity and using the power in alpha brainwave technique.

Personally, I now work with the Grounding Cord everyday – many times.  Within given days there can be a good deal of anxiety and conflict in my life and with this new tool (after months of practice) I simply send negative energy to Earth's center to be recycled. It's wonderful. I must admit it does not remove 100% of my anxiety or frustrations on every day I need it, but life is far better with a Grounding Cord than without one.

Coming from the philosophy that the Universe = Energy = Us, the Protection Rose is another far reaching tool both for me and my client/parishioners. The above concept, Universe = Energy = Us can really fill in a lot of holes in people's lives especially when it is offered with the tools. The "Protection Rose" is an ability for people to participate in protecting themselves. For people to begin to visualize their Protection Rose and participate in their own security is a profound move toward personal growth.

We learned of "Creating and Destroying" in Spirit Quest. I am still a little hesitant to blow up beautiful roses with people in them.  I do not know why – I'm just slow I guess. Except that I can place my own frustrations or anger into roses and blow the hell out if them.  The Past – Present – Future exercises and "bringing something to the present" and then blowing up the rose is going better for me. I think that it is because this exercise is about time.  However, as the old saying goes, "I'm not sure I understand all I know about this. This is a great exercise to teach but, I won't be showing anyone anything about creating-destroying for awhile until I become more familiar with it and feel far more comfortable with what is going on.

The Golden Sun and Running Energy are just plain exhilarating.  Everyday I get involved and I get other people involved in clearing out old energy and filling up with golden suns. Though these things are but metaphor the idea that the individual can be involved in doing something with their own energy is fantastic for them. Their energy does move and they can feel it. People readily understand that the Grounding Cord or the Rose etc., are human machinations but they also understand that the energy is really there and they are using and directing it! I love it.

Everyday at least 4 or 5 times a day I find myself running my energy and bringing in golden suns. (It seems to be happening almost subconsciously.) And, each time I do there is a wonderful, euphoric feeling and sense of well being. In these sad economic times everyone needs to be able to "run their energy" and clean out the old and bring in the new. It is possible we may have a duty to teach people this exercise. People need to know the tools to help themselves can be found within their own Spirit Quest.  I've told a lot of people about the course but I'm not certain that any of them e-mailed in and signed up for it.

Most of them were family members and you know how that goes – at least for me. "A prophet is never known in his own home town."  My family believes that I live a little too far out there on the fringe. I always have.  In 1984 I tried to open up a nutrition based hypnotherapy center in Wyoming and South Dakota. Wow! Talk about lonely!

                                       Competition = Loneliness

Loneliness = Spiritual Death

Reverend Amy's discourse on competition was especially poignant and her dealing with our efforts at competing with amusement and comedy is genius. Personally I use this daily - particularly while driving.

I think that I'm maybe a type 'A' personality sometimes. Before, I couldn't stand anyone driving in front of me on the road. And, if anyone would pass me I'd go a little bit nuts.  Many times I've scared my passengers nearly to death getting around all those imbecile drivers.

Well, the lesson on competition is hitting home and I am quite a bit more calm when I drive now, and I instantly know when I'm going out of it and the humor gets me back under control (and more respectful of my fellow human beings.)

On occasion, though, I have been guilty of placing those "imbeciles" in a rose and blowing them all to hell. I get a real satisfaction out of that. All my frustration goes away but I'm fairly certain it's an improper use of the tool and I'll quit sooner or later.  I like sprinkling scenes with my can of Acme Amusement Powder.

Lessons 15 and 16, Affirmations and Speaking Positively have special meaning for me. I was one of those kids who, like Bill Cosby, thought his real name was "Dummy" until I was 12. The things I thought were achievement and ran home to tell were greeted with all the enthusiasm of a slug. Or, one parent or the other or some teacher would say, "Now, don't get a big head."  What they were really saying to me was, "It's really nothing!" Or, "You are really nothing."

Until moving out of my father's house and enrolling in college I didn't think I was worth spit. Those old voices have an insidious way of creeping back in – especially in hard times. I found Reverend Amy's Lessons not only informative but comforting too, with new sayings and new tools to bring on better, brighter methods of dealing with negativity.

In Lesson # 24 we learned about "Kinesiology." We were taught that it is a way of communicating using the body as a gauge to determine truth.  It was all about learning to ask the right questions. The concept was really interesting but so far I haven't been able to play with it much but I can see where it will come in handy. Right now I have no experience from which to make any intelligent comments about Kinesiology. 

I am sure that I now know more about Universal 'Cosmic' Energy, Auras, and Chakras, and reincarnation than I understand. To this day, still with ardent, daily effort I have not been able to see the slightest bit of an aura around any living thing. I have practiced on every tree, the bushes, lizards, the dog – everything around here and I'm not seeing anything - yet.  It is my intent to get this and get it right because I want to be one who views auras and uses them to heal.

I do not believe in Reincarnation, Baby Beings or Spirit Guides.  However, I do not disbelieve in them either. I choose and want to believe in angels so I do fervently. Now, to me, Lesson #30 seems a little bit like a dumpster.  Therein Reverend Amy dropped so many different concepts that it became a bit jumbled for me. In this one "lesson" there are baby beings, spirit guides, angels, the reading screen, truth vs lie, charkas, roses, male & female grounding, karma and agreements, and healing energy.  I am certain that Reverend Amy could (and probably will) someday write a full discourse on each of these topics. Until then it is my considered opinion that Spirit Quest should end before lesson #30.

"When you first start this exercise, you will probably find that you spend a lot more time OUT of love than you are IN love." 

The above is the #1 concept from Spirit Quest that pulled me in deeply.  I'm still working on this one and I believe it is a lifetime assignment for anyone 'to know when you're operating out of love.'  To laugh at ourselves when we find we are outside of love, I guess, is as good a response as any. Getting into Love and staying there is a most respectful goal. Teaching myself and other people to operate from out of the right questions while in love is a script for life.

Thank you Amy,

Rev. Thomas Voss

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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The Four Gospels

Dr. of Christian Studies – The Four Gospels from the ULC Seminary

By Rev. Judith Lictenberger

  "Whoever prefers father or mother over me is not worthy of me and whoever prefers son or daughter over me is not worthy of me..." from  THE GOOD WORD ACCORDING TO MATTHEW/ THE UNVARNISHED GOSPELS , Matthew 10.   In comparison, and it is just the translation not the concept that changes: "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me..." from the King James Version, Matthew 10: 37.    You can almost feel the atmosphere change..It doesn't matter which one of the many denominations of Christianity- in my search for a spiritual home, I've been to them all!

These words from Matthew 10 elicit the same reaction: confusion, dismay and "I wish they would have picked something different..."   "He that loveth his father and his mother more than me is not worthy of me."  Well maybe. There are all kind of parents in this world. It is my opinion that each must be worthy of respect before honor even enters the picture. Thank God that the world has changed in that respect and people, little ones and big ones, have become a little more discerning. 

Jesus, raised on the 10 Commandments with Mary as His Mom and God as His Dad. ? Think about it, Jesus, there's no way out about this one!  "He that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Now, Jesus is talking about your KIDS and we are thinking about how to interpret a disturbing utterance.  Let's look at Jesus' time. From a disciple's point of view- some were fathers, I am sure. Some were husbands. Jesus asked difficult sacrifices from these men. They had to leave their families and journey into many unwelcome places. Sure, He performed miracles which were a little scarey and asked them to accept Him as the Saviour prophesized to come from the lineage of David.

He asked them to believe that He was the son of God. These men had not known Him for an overly long period of time even when it was time for Him to make the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus also sounded a little crazy and He never told you anything in a straight forward manner. These "parables" were difficult to grasp. A few of the disciples would probably rather be fishing with their kids- for FISH! 

Life in those times was hard enough but at least, in a normal family, your children looked up to you.  I've never been a Dad but I could not imagine that good fathers just leave their families unless it's to find work. Traveling with Jesus must have seemed irresponsible. If you were able to make a visit home, you arrived there empty-handed. Your wife may have been angry and your children may have been sad. Was it worth it? No one knows for sure.   Let's leave that ancient world for now.

We find ourselves sitting in church. We hear this scripture being read and remember that there are three like-minded  ideas presented in the book of Matthew. Loving God more than your own off-spring?  Let's be more specific who "we" are sitting in that crowded church pew. You are a Mom and you are a brand new Christian, trying very hard to live your life as God instructed. You want to be a good example for your daughter.. You're  all that she has... Now you're thinking: "Well, that's just great! My daughter was so sick when she was born that it's a miracle that she started school this year. She was so tiny and so strong. I thank God every day that she can walk and talk and that she forgot her show and tell on Friday. I love her more than my own life! Now I can't even get to Heaven . Didn't Mary love Jesus that much? I just don't understand."   

The lady sitting next to you is shifting around uncomfortably (yeh, it bothered her too), looking for something in her pocketbook. (Probably a weapon...C'mon Lady, we're gonna take that Pastor out! Only kidding.)  Wait! It's a hard question but I refuse to believe that God who saved my little girl and gave me a new outlook , who loved ALL His children meant that to follow Him, I have to leave everything behind, especially my beautiful little miracle child. I haven't learned enough about the Bible yet to say it with authority but maybe Jesus wanted us to trust Him in everything, to let Him make a plan for our lives, to let God be the GOOD parent and comfort us in this evil, confusing world.  

Uh oh! The Sunday School teacher is bringing my little girl down the aisle to me. She's crying uncontrollably.  "What's wrong, honey?"  The teacher smiles. "It's O.K. First day in Bible class. Another kid hid the crayons. She just misses her Mom."  I hug her and the lady next to me pulls a tissue from the "suspicious" handbag.    Something to think about.    

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Universal Life Church

Some very important info that was sent to me by an Attorney Friend anddddddddddd  it is free!

ATTORNEY'S ADVICE - NO CHARGE 

 Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday.  Maybe we should all take some of his advice!  A corporate Attorney sent the following to the employees in his company.

     1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED."

     2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card Accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the "For" line.  Instead, just put the last four numbers.  The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.

     3. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home Phone.  If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address.  If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address.  Never have your SS# printed on your checks.  (DUH!)  You can add it if it is necessary.  But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

     4. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine.  Copy both sides of each license, credit card, etc.  Y ou will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call to cancel.  Keep the photocopy in a safe place.  I also carry a photocopy of my passport when I travel either here or abroad.  We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards.

    Unfortunately, I, an attorney, have firsthand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month. 
    Within a week, the thieve(s) ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online, and more.  But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know:

     5. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately.  But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call.  Keep those where you can find them.

     6. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen.  This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

But here's what is perhaps most important of all: (I never even thought to do this.) 

     7. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and also call the Social Security fraud line number.  I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the internet in my name.  The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit. 

    By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done.
    There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert.  Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in).  It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks.

    Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet, etc., that has been stolen:

      1.) Equifax: 800-525-6285

      2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 888-397-3742

      3.) TransUnion : 800-680-7289

      4.) Social Security Administration               (fraud line):       800-269-0271

We pass along jokes on the Internet; we pass along just about everything.

If you are willing to pass this information along, it could really help someone.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Spiritual Awareness

Michael S Barth

Master of Spiritual Awareness Final Essay

       Humans today are experiencing a spiritual awakening.  With the technological advances made over the few centuries, the world is becoming more connected through advances such as the internet, airplanes, medicine, cell phones, faxes, etc.  These advances have allowed for speedy transmission of information allowing people to access information that would have otherwise taken a longer time to obtain.  Also, with the airplane, humans can travel to almost any place on Earth in a considerably short time which might have taken months on a ship.  People are thus able to learn more about other cultures and to actually experience the culture first hand.

            Many teachings from different cultures have made their way to places on Earth where they may not have occurred.  These teachings include such things as Transcendental Meditation which was introduced to the West in the late 1950's by His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Buddhism which is becoming ever more popular in the West especially since His Holiness Dalai Lama was exiled from Tibet in the late 1970's.

            As far as the First Insight of Awareness is concerned, coincidences that occur just do not randomly happen.  People are trying to awaken themselves to the unseen power of this universe.  In the past, I have experiences where I had gone somewhere and remembered being there before.  One example is when I was in the Boy Scouts and attending the National Jamboree at Fort A. P. Hill in Virginia, just outside Washington, D. C.  Our troop was touring the area and we stopped off to tour a Navy ship.  When we started walking up to the ship, I was flabbergasted when I had memories of being there before as a child.  I asked my mom when we had been there but she told me that I had not been to the Washington, D. C. before attending this Boy Scout Jamboree.

            Also, in the West, our lives have become more complicated and more fast-paced that sometimes we do not have the time to think about what we are experiencing or what exactly we are doing.  I have lived this way for a long time as well as many people I know.  Things would happen where I did not think about it much.  Things that I experienced while living this fast-paced lifestyle is thinking about calling someone and they called me first or thinking about writing a letter or e-mail to someone I haven't talked to in a long time but I get something from them first.  For along time, I just wrote these events off as coincidences and never gave them much thought.  Now I give these events some thought onto why it occurred.  Now-a-days, my thought is that these coincidences were supposed to happen and might have been planned by unseen divine forces that humans are not consciously aware of.

            I have been incorporating this First Insight of Awareness of the last three years without realizing it.  I learned Transcendental Meditation and I have started going back to church.  Also, some attitude changes have occurred but have only realized it recently.  For many years, I partied hard and I did not care about anything or anyone, including myself.  About three years ago, I decided to quit partying because I realized that I was bored of that lifestyle since it was the same people doing the same thing over and over again.  After I quit partying, I started thinking about life and what I was supposed to be doing with my life.  Then a series of meeting the right people and some events, I got to thinking more.  This is how synchronicity has worked in my life.  I did not know this at the time but these events were the action of divine forces.

            I did not know at the time that I was starting on a new journey that I would not have considered at an earlier age.  When I was younger, I was almost obsessed with material possessions and trying to accumulate as many items as I could.  This started changing the farther down the road I got.  The items I was hording sometimes I did not even need at the time I got the item.  Now, I have either given these items away to people I know that needed these items or I donated the items to charity.  Also, I started making new friends and these friends are on their own journey.

            One of the other lessons in this course that I learned and was not aware of it until I read it was the Fourth Insight which is the tendency of humans to take or steal other people's energy.  I did not realize that I was trying to do this in my own life.  My energy level always seemed higher when I tried to force or manipulate other people to do things my way.  This was done a lot at work and at home.  I was not aware why I had more energy when I did this but I now know why.  Now, my energy level is higher when I connect to God.  I connect using the Transcendental Meditation that I learned and through prayer.  Prayer was hard at first because I learned I was not praying the right way, but now that I have learned the right way I am trying to keep do the right form of prayer.

            With connecting with God on a daily basis, I am less likely to anger problems, my attitude is better, and my mental/emotional illness is getting better.  Also, I have a lot fewer days where I am symptomatic of my mental illness.  Also, connecting with this universal energy, I feel more secure about myself and have had a lot less conflict in my life.  Before, I was always feeling insecure about myself and I was in these conflicts with people that do not happen as much now as they did before.  Today, I do not worry about how I look or if I make a mistake.  I do not worry about being corrected in front of people nor do I worry about making the right impression just to feel better.  With conflict today, I do not correct people like I did in the past.  In the past, I would correct people in front of other people in a demeaning way just to make myself look good.  I would purposefully start arguments just for the heck of it.  Now, I correct people by pulling the person to the side or if I have to do it in front of people, I do it in the most respectful way.  I do not go around starting arguments just for the heck of it.

            These results are not by accident.  When I started this course, I did not know exactly what I was going to be learning.  Going through this course was thrilling because I learned about why I was doing things like starting an argument.  It was like being in the Child state saying "I didn't do it" or "Everybody hates."  These actions (e.g. TM, prayer, etc.) have helped me realize this and I have incorporated these actions into my daily life.

            I enjoy sharing my experience and journey with other people.  I tell them the path that I took to get to where I am today.  When telling other people about my experience/journey, I do not shove anything down their throats like I use to.  If people have questions, I give them an honest answer or point them in the direction of someone who can give them a better answer.  I also have allowed people to disagree with me and not starting an argument at the same time.  My relationships are better with people.

            In the past, I would have told people that there is only one way to get to where I am or how to do things and that was my way doing things.  Now, I let people walk their own path and I let them decide now how to walk whatever path they would like.  I just try to provide with the tools for that journey or try to help them to locate those tools.  Also, I let people know that I love them no matter what even if they make mistakes no matter how big or small or even if we disagree with each other.

            Before taking this course and others offered at the ULC Seminary, I would have thought that only losers get into this area.  But now I know that people explore courses like this to live better lives and that these people are winners.  This course was very helpful to me in many ways.  I was able to look at my behavior with a new light.  My behavior before I started this journey was less than ideal.  Now, my behavior is more ideal.  This course was time well spent.  It was laid out very well and can tell that the instructor really knows this subject well.  There are things that I am still incorporating into my life from this course.  This course has a lot of useful information in it.  Now I can share my journey better and can add new things too.  I would definitely recommend this course to anyone.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Shamanism

Shamanic Studies
ULC Seminary

Rev. Tai Dozier

My experience reading the work about Shamanism was interesting. I felt that it covered the history of shamanism well and allowed the students to peer inside the different cultural aspects of Shamanism around the world. I was particularly intrigued by the in expansive information on the many different cultures that have been represented in reading 18.

I am very moved by the inclusiveness of all of the ancient civilizations that are a major part of our current civilizations pondering about the beginning of time, beings from other worlds, Mayans, Egyptians, Babylonians, Mesopotamia's contributions and so much more. There is one thing that I have noticed in many readings and studies is that many ethic cultures are discussed in dissociative terms with very little compassion, empathy or respect.  These bodies of work by Bishop Pat, I felt to some degree sought to dispel that.

More so, I would have liked to read more about the Asian cultures contribution and mainly African contributions, although Egypt was covered it was limited at best. More effort in my opinion should be placed on the very cradle of civilizations contribution to these predicted world events and in just our very rights to existence. Once we are truly balanced in our perception, our finding, researching and sharing of information on a truly collective level then and only then will be able to truly see how we are all cosmically connected and significant.

I enjoyed the course!

Tai` Dozier

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Spirituality

Michael S Barth

Doctor of Spirituality Final Essay

         Working on this course was really fascinating to me.  I really enjoyed the time working on it and learned quite a bit.  Before taking this class, I had never heard of the course or book called A Course in Miracles.  While taking this class, I ended up buying the book/course at a bookstore to read and even signed up for the newsletter from Foundation for Inner Peace.

            This course is about prayer which is a tool that I realize now that I need to utilize more often to communicate with my Heavenly Father.  I realize now that through prayer, I can be one with my Father.  When I was a kid, I would attend church and I was told to pray.  I did not pray much as a kid because I felt that God was not listen or not answering my prayers.  I would also gripe at God about all the problems that my family or I were having and would tell God what should be done or what I wanted.  This course really got rid of that view which had been diminishing over the years.

            Over the years, I always had thought that God was a completely separate entity but learned in this course that God is in each and every one of us and that God is waiting for us to come back to him.  The section on free will also really changed how I viewed free will.  I had always thought that I would be happy in whatever choices I made but that turned out to be wrong.  I stopped going to church and did things my own way.  I ended up in a lot of pain.  This is when I realized that things would be a lot better if I did them God's way.

            This course really changed my view on God too.  A little piece of me always believed in God and I always feared God, but realize now that God is all encompassing and is all love.  Growing up, I was taught that if I did something wrong or bad God was going to condemn me and judge me to an eternity in Hell but realize that this is not what God is since God is all love.

            I also was taught about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ with less emphasis put on the resurrection.  After taking this course, I realize that the lesson was the resurrection of Jesus Christ because he was one with his Heavenly Father.  I have felt a lot better since taking this course which clarified a lot of misperceptions that I had held about Jesus Christ.

            The material mentioned above is just a little of what I learned from this course.  This course has also been very helpful to me.  I have suffered from mental/emotional disorders for the last 10 years.  This course has given me hope by teaching me about miracles and prayer.  Since the start of this course, I have had fewer symptoms because I have been able to take things from this course and apply them to real life.  The biggest change that this course got me to do is to listen to God and let God into my life.  I am currently reading the course/book that this course is based on.  By taking this course first, I am understanding the course/book a lot better and getting a lot out of it.

            This course is easy to follow and presented very well.  The instructor does a wonderful job in this course.  I loved all of the lessons and the prayer visualizations that came with it.  I would definitely recommend that people take this course.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Shamanism

Michael S Barth

Master of Shamanism Final Essay

       This course was great.  When I started this course, I was fearful of taking it.  I was fearful because of my lack of knowledge about Shamanism.  Over the years, people I know had used Shaman and Shamanism in a derogatory way.  Also, I am not aware of knowing anyone who has practiced Shamanism so I had no prior knowledge or experience with Shamanism.  The only knowledge that I had was Shamanism was practiced by Native Americans and other native peoples in other countries.

            This course was presented the information well and was easy to follow for me.  Each of the lessons was full of information about Shamanism.  After taking this course, I was relieved because I no longer have that fear about Shamanism and realize that there is nothing wrong or evil about practicing Shamanism.  Going through this course helped me realize how Shamanism got started and why it is still practiced today.  I also liked how the instructor did not solely just stick to discussing Native Americans but also included native peoples from around the globe.

            All of the information in this course was new to me.  There is a lot of information that I could discuss in this final essay.  The history of Shamanism was really fascinating to me.  I did not realized that Shamans used to be primarily females up until about 600 years ago here in the United States.  I found the explanation about the difference between a medicine man/woman and a Shaman very beneficial.  If it were not for this explanation, I probably would have ended up thinking that a medicine man/woman and a Shaman as the same thing.

            I also loved learning about how Shamanism could be practiced and how it could be practiced in a lot of different ways.  I also learned that Shamanism is a primitive form of religion.  I have never before had considered Shamanism to be a religion.  This course also explained the altered states of consciousness that the Shamans obtain. 

            I could go on and on about what I learned in this course.  There was a lot of new terminology about Shamanism that I learned and so much more.  This course really opened my eyes to what Shamanism is all about.  This course was great and I now feel that I am a more well-rounded person and minister for taking this class.  I feel that this class was very worthwhile and recommend it to other ULC ministers to take.  There is a lot of information in this course and a lot practices of Shamanism that could be used.  The information in this course gave me a general background in Shamanism and I now feel comfortable talking about Shamanism with other people.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Metaphysical Healing

Michael S Barth

Masters of Metaphysical Healing

      Metaphysical healing is a term and subject that I had heard people mentioned as they past by, but I did not know what metaphysical healing was.  There were some topics in this course that I had never considered in the past to be metaphysical healing such as past life regressions and soul retrieval.  I did enjoy reading about the instructors past in how she ended up being a metaphysical healer in South Africa.  I found it very interesting how metaphysical healers are used there.

            I learned that there is an association in South Africa for metaphysical healers.  I did not know beforehand that such associations existed anywhere.  I also did not know that metaphysical healing dealt with the human energy field.  I did know that humans gave off some type of energy because I could tell sometimes if someone was mad/angry or happy or sad.

            Chakras and auric fibers was something totally new to me.  I did not know that chakras and auric fibers existed or even how many someone had.  While taking this course, I had purchased some Buddhist peace flags and hung them in my bedroom.  During this course, I realized that each flag was a color of a chakra which was an amazing moment since I was just learning about chakra.

            Some of the other things that I learned during this course were how to center yourself before doing the actually healing and asking the person permission to enter into their energy field.  I like how the instructor mentioned that in the West, healers usually get centered by meditating or praying while in the East, healers usually use the beat of a drum.  I did not know that metaphysical healers worked with medical doctors.  I thought metaphysical healers would be competing against medical doctors for business instead of working alongside the doctors.  I did not know before that healing was balancing the energy field between body, mind, and spirit.

            This course also showed taught things I would never have guessed that a healer would have to do to heal.  Things that healers do that surprised me at first is asking a lot of background questions and medical history questions.  Other things like signing waivers was something I did not think about before taking this class.  This class also introduced me to a new way of thinking about how people can use metaphysical healing along with medicine to be healed from ailments that people suffer from.  I think this course was also one of the harder courses I have taken.  I took this course to learn more about metaphysical healing which I did, but after taking this class I learned something about myself and that is I do not think becoming a metaphysical healer is in the near future for me.  This class still was worth taking because I learned new things about metaphysical healing and know a little bit about it now.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Religious Philosophy

Michael S Barth

Master of Religious Philosophy Final Essay

       This was a terrific course about religious philosophy.  Prior to this course, I had never to a philosophy course at all.  This course was very interesting to me.  Some of the terminology I had knowledge of but had never considered that these terms would be in a religious philosophy class.  There was some information that I had no prior knowledge of before taking this course.

      The format of this course is excellent.  The way the lessons came and the way the information was presented made it real easy for me to read and learn at the same time.  Some of the new information in this course got me to think about things or put a new light on information that I already knew.  I would have never imagined that I would really enjoy this philosophy course.  In the past, I would have passed over this class and probably would have taken something else instead, but something caught my eye about this course.  I am glad that I took this course and this course got me to think about religion in general.

            The first thing I learned in this class was the difference between what a World Religion course or a Comparative Religion course and what this class was going to cover.  I thought this was going to be another Comparative Religions/World Religions type class but it was not like that.  This course looked at the very essence of religion itself.  After the first lesson, I realized I was in for a great time with this course.  I also did not know that religious philosophy is a newer field of study.  I would have thought this field of study would have been around a lot longer than it actually has been.  I did not know that religious philosophy had started in the first half of the 1800's in Germany by a philosopher by the name of Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach.

       I am glad that the instructor of this course gave definitions to terminology and the way the terms were going to be used in this class.  There were quite a few new terms for me in this course which is always helpful.  I also learned where some of the terms came from (e.g. Latin, Greek, etc.)  This I found very helpful since I had no prior knowledge of this.

            This course taught me the difference between what organized religions is versus what a cult is.  Before this course, I had always wondered how cults were defined by people and philosophers.  I found the 5 points/questions to be very helpful in helping me in how to determine a cult.  I also liked how religion was defined in this course, too.  Even with both definitions of cult and religion, I still found it very interesting that there is no fine line between cult and religion as pointed out in the case studies in Lesson #3.

       Other topics in this course that I enjoyed learning about include religious forms (e.g. individualistic, communal, shamanistic, ecclesiastical), religious classifications, and ecclesiasticism.  This course taught how religion is viewed from the philosophy point of view which is very helpful to me.  This is one of the best courses that I have had throughout my life.  I would take another course like this again.  I benefited from this course greatly.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Buddhism

Michael S Barth

Master of Buddhism Final Essay

            This course about Buddhism was fascinating.  I have heard people talk about it but I never knew too much about Buddhism.  I felt that this course was presented well with great explanations of Buddhism terms and ideas/concepts were.  I started learning things about Buddhism from the very first lesson that I received to the very last lesson.

            I really loved the first lesson and how Buddhism got started.  I did not know that Buddha meant the enlightened one.  I always had thought that Buddha was the actually name of the person who started and founded Buddhism.  I did not know that the Buddha's actually name was Siddhartha Gautama.  I found his early life, before founding Buddhism, very fascinating.  I was very surprised that he had never left his home until he was 29 years old.  I also learned that the Bodhi Tree- the Tree of Enlightenment- was the tree that Siddhartha Gautama was sitting/meditating under when he experienced enlightenment.  I also enjoyed how he set out to explain to people how he had found enlightenment.

            I also liked learning about the Four Noble Truths.  I had heard of the term the Four Noble Truths before taking this class but did not know what the Four Noble Truths consisted of.  I am glad that this class went into each of the Four Noble Truths and how the Buddha explained them to his first disciples.  I had also had heard the term the Eightfold Path but did not know what the eight different points were in the Eightfold Path.  I enjoyed how this course described the Eightfold Path.

            The topic of the Three Jewels was totally new to me.  I had never heard of the Three Jewels before.  I was really grateful that the Three Jewels (The Buddha, The Dharma, and The Sangha) were explained beautifully in this class.  This class went into some detail about the Three Jewels and learned quite a lot about the Three Jewels.  Also, I enjoyed the lesson about the Buddhist Councils that were held and what was discussed at these council meetings.  I liked how this course explains how the world ended up with different branches of Buddhism that came out of the Second Buddhist Council.

            I liked the section on how Buddhism spread into the different countries in Asia and then into the West.  I feel that it is too bad that some of these countries that people practice Buddhism have tried to control Buddhism or eliminate Buddhism (e.g. China, etc.).  I was surprised that the Dalai Lama had been exiled from Tibet since 1979.  I know who the Dalai Lama is but did not know he had been exiled for so long.

            Karma was covered in this class and I was glad that I learned how and what Karma is and is not.  The Wheel of Life was something totally new to me.  I did not know that there is a pig, rooster, and a snake at the very center or that the two paths around the center are the dark path and the white path.  I also did not know before about the six realms around the Wheel of Life.

            Some other topics I enjoyed learning about include enlightenment, meditation, and the different branches of Buddhism.  I did not know that the Dalai Lama was the leader of Tibetan Buddhism.  I had previously had thought that he was the leader of all Buddhists in the world.

            This was a great course for me.  I learned a lot and each lesson contained a lot of information that I had never known before and could go on much longer about all the other things that I learned in this course.  I am glad that I took this course because I think it is important for me to know about other religions/philosophies when I do my work with people.  I think this class is worth taking and I think that this course would broaden the horizons of a lot of people who do not know very much about Buddhism.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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St. Paul

Michael S. Barth

The Life of Saint Paul Final Essay

       After going through this course about the Life of Saint Paul, I am truly amazed at what he had to put up with when he was spreading the news about the Life of Jesus Christ.  I had no idea about the amount of geography that Paul had to cover in that day and it is amazing that Paul covered it with the transportation that was available in that day.  I was also amazed that Paul had been a Pharisees before spreading the news of Jesus.  I would have never guessed that he persecuted the early Church before helping go out and help it spread.

            I also did not know before taking this class that Paul, his Roman name, was used after his conversion and that he was called by his Jewish name of Saul.  This had caused me confusion in the past but now understand the Bible better with the clarification of his name.  I also did not know that he was a member of the Benjamin Tribe and that he had a sister and son.  I found Paul's early life very intriguing with Paul being raised in Tarsus and being a student of Gamaliel.

            I found his conversion very intriguing too.  I had not known before that he converted after seeing and talking to Jesus Christ while Paul was on the way to Damascus to persecute the early Church there.  I also learned that he was left blind and was astonished.  It surprised me to learn that he was greeted in Damascus with the salutation of Brother.  I learned that it was here in Damascus that Paul developed his approach to teaching the Gospel by entering the first Jewish synagogue.

            I am glad that Paul started teaching the Gospel to the Gentiles because if Paul had not, I do not think I would be a Christian now-a-days.  Also, I am glad that Paul put his effort into spreading the Gospel because Christianity might not be the religion it is today and may have never spread.  Paul's missionary journey's were just amazing to me like doing all that walking and sailing that Paul did to reach his destinations.  I am glad that Paul did not give up either especially after being beaten, jailed, or left for dead.  It goes to show how courageous Paul was and how Paul was dedicated to spreading the Gospel.  I do not think I would have that strength to continue even if Jesus Christ was by my side.

            I am glad that Paul's Letters are still in existence, even if they are copies now-a-days.  I think his epistles go to show what early believers went through.  The temptation the early believers put up with was amazing even if they did fall to temptation.  I am glad to see that Paul kept encouraging the early believers to stick to the path of Jesus Christ and not to give into the devil.

            Paul's trip was incredible to me because of the hardship on the ship and on the island.  I am glad that the centurion, Julius, treated Paul kindly.  I also find that Paul's poisonous viper bite is not fatal and this shows to me that God does exist and that God did not let the poison kill Paul.  It was hard for me to learn about how Paul died in Rome.  I think that Paul showed his faith in God by going to Rome and not running away from his trial and punishment.

     I think that taking this course was a great experience for me.  I liked the study questions that were at the end of the lessons.  The study questions were really helpful to me in figuring out what was important to learn.  The questions also helped me concentrate on the lesson(s) involved.  This course was very worthwhile because I learned a lot about Paul that I never knew before and this course straightened some confusion out that I had about Paul.  I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to know about the Life of Saint Paul.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar