Friday, April 28, 2006


PREAMBLE: To Jew or not to Jew? That is the question.

Am I a Jew?

Our oral history says the Druids/Celts are descendants of the Levites (who were the priests to the Temple of Solomon) after they came to the Western Wilderness and amalgamated their rituals and rites with the beliefs of the Pagans of the region. Levites are Jews...........or are they?

Having the word Heritage preceding the word spiritualist means that my Spiritualist roots pre date Christianity.

Why does that matter?
Well in practice it really doesn’t matter as far as the Spiritualist belief is set. Many Heritage Spiritualists hold temple with Spiritualists with Christian ideals. For the mainstay of our faith is the same:

Spiritualists have deep faith that the Spirit of God is within the believer.
They believe in a true Omnipotent God, even if God enters the human vessel in multiple spiritual forms. For instance like the female and the male sides of the spirit of God. The “Ying and the Yang” of one Supreme Being.

Omnipotent is important because it refers to the Spirit of God being all things to all people and ever present. So even the old multiple Gods of ancient times are still thought of as Spirits of One God. More symbolic than terrible. Spiritualists believe that if a person attains a certain level of spirituality in their carnal life they will have the ability to become Spirit Guides or Guardians and pass messages after death. The only vessel used for this communication is the Spirit of God within us. That ever presence acts as a conduit for those who passed over to connect with that still on the carnal plain of existence.

The idea of the Spirit of God is also very paramount in the Spiritualist’s belief in faith healing, or the laying on of hands. Spiritualists believe that if you work in prayer to heal someone you are healing the spiritual soul. And in turn making the recipient and yourself more balanced so you both can feel better spiritually and emotionally. Keeping both of you open balanced vessels to accept outside help from conventional or holistic Medicine.

As you can see Spiritualism ideals can merge well with any faith. As long as the faith dogma does not see Spiritual messages as prophecy thus negative, and faith healing as too augmented for the believer.

In Canada we are in a time when those faithful living here can enjoy moving to the most Orthodoxy within their religions with pride. The Orthodox of all religions are free to evangelise their faith by openly claiming their faith and being living monuments to their God by thought word and deed. Without fear of ridicule believers feel free to show outward signs of their faith in public.

At the time my family members came from Europe, people did not feel so free.
Most would claim no denomination or accept a very diluted form of their faith. To keep the outsiders blind to their religion, and stifle any claims of heresy.

This was because two World Wars bread fear into believers so they immigrated to Canada.
Victims of vicious attacks upon Mankind for culture, faith, and locality; our ancestors usually fled here for freedom, jobs, or fear of fascism.
Every Parent, Grandparent and Great Grandparent came here vowing their children would never have to go through the horrible experience of war, refugee, penniless, and homelessness that they endured.

Some came because they saw too much turmoil. Some came because their homeland was wiped from the face of the Earth. Others because their sense of loss spurred a need for rebirth in a new land. Many fled in fear of not being able to be passive and peaceful, and of being forced to be conscripted.
In most cases the farthest we are is 3rd or 4th generation Canadians, in the new fresh land.
The collective memories of “the old country” are still quite fresh as far as our history is concerned.
Because of the shame of ridicule or fear I was one of those told never to tell anyone what my faith was, because people won’t understand.
Even now, as my Mother reads this she will feel fear that I will lose out on something by being so free with my faith. The knowledge of “the something” will be vague, and more of a feeling of fear than a tangible incident.

So with my preamble finally finished I can come to my point. To Jew or not to Jew?
A strange notation, none the less. It is not ridicule at all, but a real question many of us with the word Heritage as a prefix to our Spiritualism must ask.

For us Heritage who came from Druids/Celts can follow our roots back to the tribe of Levites.
Druids/Celts are matriarchal just as the Jews.
Many of our Spiritual practices are still that which are held within the Dogma of the Semites.
Salt/earth, flame and water cleanse our utensils and vessels to purify them.
We are bound to eat unleavened grain products during certain times of the year. And our rules of eating and food preparation are restrictive at times, and fanciful at others.
Our rituals and rights are practised by the calendar of the moon, and we celebrate harvest, growth, and cleansing as well as rebirth/or renewal.
It is important for our stories to be told generation to generation so all will be equal.
Are we chosen?
I don’t know.
Do we believe God has blessed us? Absolutely.
Could that make us chosen? Possibly.

These questions are at the forefront of another part of our faith that mirrors Judaism.
For it is questions like these that fill the bulk of our faith.
Beliefs that for one to grow spiritually within their faith, one must question it, debate it, and learn from scholars and peers about believing it. Then the faithful must go deep within themselves and pluck from the Spirit within, their answer. Finding the answer may take a lifetime. And if one finds it they will return to the “place where whence we came”. Eden……..to be one with God.

I will share with you some of the Oral History that has been passed to me.
Some stories, presumed myths.
And I hope that in the end you will have stimulated your Spirit just a little, to rise up an original thought.


So Mote It Be.

MORE TO FOLLOW IN THE NEXT ENTRY

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So Mote it be...Has a very familiar ring to it

Lynn said...

Thanks for the note Dan.
I know what you are getting at.

You will find so many connections between the future story I tell and the Masonic Order.
It will spark some interesting thoughts to ponder.

Here is one: The lodge is laid out in a specific pattern. That Pattern is a replica of the layout of the Temple of Solomon.
The Spritiualists hiarchy of man that is a grid of spirituality also mimics the shape of the Temple of Solomon.

Lynn