Runes, or Old Norse, are letters of a runic alphabet that were used to write Germanic languages before the use of Latin. The earliest runic inscriptions date all the way back to 150 AD. The first inscriptions found on actual artifacts still remain a mystery. These early runes were not only a writing system, but magical symbols for spells and charms. The name rune itself means “secret or something hidden”. Each alphabet has it’s own set of symbols and meanings.
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You can do a reading yourself! Get some runes, they can come craved into crystal or stone, or on ceramic tiles. Make a sacred space, lay down a cloth and concentrate on asking a question. You can either toss a few of the runes in the air or pull some out of a bag. Lay the runes out and look into their meanings in relation to your question. Runes can be a powerful tool of understanding and deep insight.
Much like Tarot, these are a pictographic representation of reality that provide insight through contemplation and thought, supporting your mind in bridging the gap between ideas that you didn’t before consider.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a faith that emerged within China only in the last 20 years, and is a faith that has experienced more persecution than any other faith in the world.
Now, where do I get that statistic?
I get it from the number that at one point, there were HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of people practicing Falun Dafa in China on a regular basis, in public, together. Today, nobody practices in public, because the Chinese government began persecuting it so hardcore that they actually began locking them up, and killing them on demand for Organ Harvesting.
Woah woah woah… Slow down, back up.
What even is it?
Falun Gong translates to “Dharma Wheel Practice”, and is essentially one of the most peaceful and tranquil forms of Meditation on the Planet. Falun Gong literally, in practice, looks like a bunch of people sitting and standing together, slowly moving to a QiGong practice, cultivating energy within and without their body.
Through this practice, they strive to release their Karma, and to evolve their consciousness so that in death, (and much like Buddhism and Taoism), they transcend the cycle of reincarnation and leave this earth to return to the higher frequencies of the cosmos.
Here’s the “nutshell” version:
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The Persecution of Falun Gong:
This is the part that REALLY gets my blood boiling… The hate that is poured into this faith, in an attempt to suppress and destroy something as peaceful and pure and holy as this practice must only come from extreme ignorance and fear of a changing world for the better.
Just… Have a look, and take a deep breath, because it will likely make you angry too:
I suppose the one positive that has come from all of this, besides the faith itself, is that it has had some success in spreading the idea around the world outside of China, particularly in the United States!
You can do Falun Gong and its as easy as learning a few basic poses and getting started. There’s plenty of material, but Meditation itself only requires that you want to Meditate, and borrowing techniques from ALL faiths can be incredibly useful.
Have you ever been walking around in public, only to see a large group of men and women clad in bright, flowing yellow dancing in the street and singing words that you didn’t quite comprehend?
They’re called Hare Krishna’s, and theres a lot more to them than meets the eye!
In fact, we put together a short video explaining it!
The Hare Krishna movement is another name for the organization called “The International Society for Krishna Consciousness”, or ISKCON for short. They believe that the Hindu deity Krishna represents the supreme manifestation of God, and that he has been incarnated at various times in history, including the Rama and the Buddha. Most recently, he came as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who taught salvation through devotion.
One of the largest, and most diverse group of Christians, Baptists take their name from the practice of adult baptism. Unlike most Christians, who baptize infants or young children into the fellowship of the community of Christians (known as “infant baptism, or pedobaptism”), baptists insist that individual believers freely and publicly commit themselves to their christian faith in a ceremony of adult baptism, often known as “believers baptism or credobaptism”.
[shareaholic app=”share_buttons” id=”5111567″] Often these baptisms are full immersions, in which the believer is lowered completely beneath the surface of the water, emerging in the eyes of the Church as “born again” in Christ. This is both an outwardly, and inwardly sign of repentance of sin and confession of faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
Baptist churches emerged in the early 17th century within various protestant denominations, and, while today there are still no central Baptist authority, two prominent confederations are the Baptist World Alliance, and the Southern Baptist Convention. The former being a more liberal branch, and the latter being a more conservative branch.
Generally evangelical, Baptists require that the new testament be the explicit authority for their beliefs and practices. While not always taking the Bible literally, Baptists insist that the Christian beliefs and practices are commanded or commended by example within the Bible.
Baptists believe that religious faith is a matter of personal relation between God and the individual. This support for “religious freedom” entails that individuals may practice any religion, or none. Historically, they have been ardent supporters of the principle of the separation of Church and State, particularly in the United States. Of course, Baptists have the evangelical hope that individuals will confess a Christian faith, but insist that this must be a free decision.
Because of the lack of a central authority, a wide range of beliefs can be seen between one baptist church and another. However, there are many main central beliefs, such as: There is one God who is eternal, infinite in power, wisdom, holiness and love. God is an essential being and revealed to mankind as the father, son and holy spirit.
Jesus is the second person of the Godhead and is eternally one with God the Father. To become human he was conceived of the holy spirit and born as a human.
The scriptures, consisting of the old and new testaments, are infallible word of God. And People were made in the image of God and for fellowship with God, however we fell from fellowship with God and as a concequence, all of mankind are spiritually dead under satans dominion and control. In order to atone, one must accept Jesus as their lord and savior, and become baptised in his name and thus, born again.
Animism predates any form of organized religion and is said to contain the oldest spiritual and supernatural perspective in the world. It dates back to the Paleolithic Age, to a time when barbarian humans roamed the plains hunting and gathering, and communing with the Spirit of Nature. Have a look.
Animism comes from the Latin word Anima, which means Breath, or Soul. It is essentially a belief system about the continual formation of life through the spiritual nature of reality, and a communion with the Spirits that inhabit all things, from Rocks, to Trees, and all of Life.
To those who practice Animism, especially indigenous traditions, Animism is SO fundamental to their way of life, it is so “experienced fully” that they don’t even have a WORD for “Animism”. This is a word that the modern white man ascribed to try and understand the ancient belief systems….
It is an ancient belief system, and one that today is still present in a number of faiths, from the Native American Church to Shinto and even Voodoo. How wild is that?
Have you heard of the Baha’i Faith? They are a remarkable new world Faith that emerged out of Shi’a Islam but ultimately holds no resemblance to it whatsoever. They believe in the unification of all of the worlds religions and faiths, and through a practice of education and compassion, unification of the human spirit!
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Baha’is are distinctive in remaining committed to its global mission, especially in the developing world, while affirming radically inclusive values, including the oneness of humanity, universal education, the harmony of religion and science, monogamy, and equality of the sexes.
The movement also exists without a strict hierarchy or priesthood, although it has a rationalized administrative structure and views Baha U llah and his writings as manifestations of divinity.
Today, while not as many people know about or follow this faith, they are most prominently known for their temples, and most people will of course recognize the infamous lotus temple, which resides in New Delhi – India.
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