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Many rivers flow towards the universal seas carrying our personal soul ships ever closer towards union with the Divine. The first step towards appreciating different Beliefs Faiths and World Religions is to understand their traditions, ritualistic practices, sacred terminology, spiritual landscapes and symbology. Aboriginal Dreamtime, Alchemy Alchemist, Cosmos Astronomy, Buddhism Buddhist, Christianity Biblical, Daoist Confucian, Druidry Treelore, Heathenry Ásatrú, Hinduism Vedas, Islam Sunnah, Judaism Talmud, Native American, Paganism Wiccan, Shamanism Shaman, Shintoism Kami are all spotlighted and synthesized for you here. Our search for Goodness, for Goddess and God, for Unity amidst Diversity, for As Above So Below, for Heaven on Earth, for Reason for Being, for meaning, and for fundamental truths is the root or nexus point for all our Ways of Living, our faiths, our beliefs, our religions, our philosophies, and our traditions. Rituals, festivals, ceremonies, principles, and practices fulfill personal and community needs for worship, for edification, for spiritual seeking, for ethical patterns, for sanctification, and for law and order. Whether a person or a group of people are non-believers, or followers of one Belief Faith Religion Tradition, or walk an eclectic tapestry of many Beliefs Faiths Religions Traditions, they are all fellow travellers on a journey through life. After an in depth exploration of each of the Beliefs Faiths Religions Traditions, a pattern of commonalities in the ethics, teachings, focuses, festivals, rituals, rites of passage, and attitudinal perspectives emerges. Understanding what different cultures have in common in their daily material and spiritual pursuits just might make the passage of days a little smoother and serene. Beliefs Faiths Religions Traditions practices vary depending on the frame of reference of the followers and participants. One might assume that when someone who professes to be a Christian uses the word God in a speech that they are talking solely about reverence for God "Our Father in Heaven" when this might not be the case at all. In the quest for truth in belief labeling, a reliable dictionary was consulted to determine the prevailing cultural paradigm circa 1986 A.C.E. for the word "God", especially when use in the context of blessings and invocations. For instance what does the word God in the statement "God Bless...Whoever or Whatever" really mean to the person making it. Is it gender specific? Does it always refer to one specific Being alone? Does it refer specifically just to the God recognized by the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) alone? Or does it correlate to the concept of a Great Spirit that is powerfully controlling but also wisely good? Is God a oneness made up of many collective Goddess and God Beings? Can Divinity be defined in human terms? Well Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary dated 1986 A.C.E. defines the word god in this way - "¹god \'gäd also gôd\ n [ME, fr. OE; akin to OHG got god] (bef. 12c) - 1 cap : the supreme or ultimate reality: as a : the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness whom men worship as creator and ruler of the universe b Christian Science : the incorporeal divine Principle ruling over all as eternal Spirit : infinite Mind 2 : a being or object believed to have more than natural attributes and powers and to require man's worship; specif: one controlling a particular aspect or part of reality 3: a person or thing of supreme value 4: a powerful ruler".
Please note that although the word
god is not capitalized, the words Being, Spirit, and Mind are capitalized within
the context of the definition. So it appears that name and form in regard to the
word God "god" varies based on both individual and collective cultural,
religious, and spiritual frames of reference.
A cohesive pattern of Beliefs Faiths Religions Traditions, Matrixing Sacred Pathway is followed for examining each Beliefs Faiths Religions Traditions in depth with Beliefs, Background, Overview, and Traditions; as well as, Sacred Symbols for that pathway. Generally the Beliefs Background Traditions and Overview Pages discuss the origins of a Belief Faith Religion Tradition, how long it was walked by others, its planetary distributions, a synthesis of overall beliefs, definitions of sacred words and glossary terminology, and special things about that Belief Faith Religion Tradition such as Ceremonies, Festivals, and Yoga Paths. For each Belief Faith Religion Tradition, pictures, images, and graphic art were gathered that symbolized the beliefs and wisdom of that Hallowed Spirituality or Sacred Pathway. They represent various sacred aspects of that Belief Faith Religion Tradition. The synthesized synopses include deities, goddesses, gods, archangels that were revered by followers of that Belief Faith Religion Tradition and articles. The first step toward appreciating Beliefs Faiths Religions Traditions that are different from ours is to understand a Belief Faith Religion Traditions' principle structures, ritualistic practices, and sacred terminology. Each Belief Faith Religion Tradition has its own spiritual landscape of traditions and customs; each one gives its own distinctive answers to many of the questions which perplex human existence. Each Belief Faith Religion Tradition is treated with the dignity, honor, and respect that it deserves. Many colors make up a rainbow, each color is special and different from the others; yet, it's core essence is still that of a color, and it is still one of the many colors that make up a rainbow.
As a planet, we need to move beyond
merely tolerating Beliefs Faiths Religions Traditions that are different from our own, towards building a global rainbow bridge of
communication, commitment, communion, commonality, and community that connects
all our consciousnesses together.
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