~*~A Path to Inner Peace~*~

By

~Mystic Priestess Lady LiL~ 

I've been through some of my own

Healing & Awakenings through out the years.

I have written and worked with others,

through what I found to work for me

through my own experiences and this

writing is called

"A Path to Inner Peace".

*

I began writing this in 2003 and still continue learning

as I am ever Expanding & Exploring Love, Life & Self.

*

I have hesitated to post it on 'the web'...

for I certainly do not claim that "My way is THE way'...

As I've stated...it is what worked FOR ME...

and it has worked for Others as well....

So with that, I have decided to post it here

and maybe something within it will also help You.

Please use Your Own discernment and Belief system,

and as Always....

"To Thine OWN Self Be True."

~With Peace & Love in My Heart~

"A Path to Inner Peace" Introduction

*****

"Looking in the Mirror" Part 1

"Looking into Yourself" Part 2

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"The Mask Self"

*****

"The Surface Self"

"Self Responsibility"

"Self Sabotage/Self Love"

**********

"The True Self"

*****

"The Inner Child"

"Who is the Inner Child?"

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"The Core Self"

*****

"Dark Times"

"In the Face of Dark Times"

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In Closing

 A Path to Inner Peace

Intro

       I have found my own Inner Peace and I want to share that with whom I can. I feel everybody deserves to be healthy inside and out.  I went through my own Soul Searching to find and heal myself from the inside out and will share with you some of what I went through and what I learned in my own journey and transformation. It doesn’t matter what your Higher Power is, what your Faith is...all that matters is that you have Faith in *something*. I don't care if it is a rock, a leaf, God or Goddess, as long as one has Faith and holds to it.

     In my life, My Spirituality comes first and foremost, then it is me, myself and I and then it is everybody else in my life thereafter. Sound selfish? Well, it may or may not be. First, without our Spirituality...where do we find security, where is our foundation on which to stand? And then, if I am not healthy, Mind, Body and Soul...then how am I going to be able to help anybody or be good for anybody? My family, My friends or Myself? And it is through my Spirituality that I maintain a healthy environment with which to live.

     I am going to define Spirituality vs Religion. Many people mistake the 2 for the same thing and for me, they certainly do not mean the same things.

First lets take a look at the definition of Spirituality:

 Main Entry: spir·i·tu·al·i·ty

Pronunciation: "spir-i-ch&-'wa-l&-tE

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s):  plural -ties

Date: 15th century

1 : something that in ecclesiastical law belongs to the church or to a cleric as such

2 : CLERGY

3 : sensitivity or attachment to religious values

4 : the quality or state of being spiritual

And next the definition of Spirit:

Main Entry: [1]spir·it

Pronunciation: 'spir-&t

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Old French or Latin; Old French, from Latin spiritus, literally, breath, from spirare to blow, breathe

Date: 13th century

1 : an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms

2 : a supernatural being or essence: as a : capitalized : HOLY SPIRIT b : SOUL 2a c : an often malevolent being that is bodiless but can become visible; specifically : GHOST 2 d : a malevolent being that enters and possesses a human being

3 : temper or disposition of mind or outlook especially when vigorous or animated <in high spirits>

4 : the immaterial intelligent or sentient part of a person

5 a : the activating or essential principle influencing a person <acted in a spirit of helpfulness> b : an inclination, impulse, or tendency of a specified kind : MOOD

6 a : a special attitude or frame of mind <the money-making spirit was for a time driven back -J. A. Froude> b : the feeling, quality, or disposition characterizing something <undertaken in a spirit of fun>

7 : a lively or brisk quality in a person or a person's actions

8 : a person having a character or disposition of a specified nature

9 : a mental disposition characterized by firmness or assertiveness <denied the charge with spirit>

10 a : DISTILLATE 1: as (1) : the liquid containing ethyl alcohol and water that is distilled from an alcoholic liquid or mash - often used in plural (2) : any of various volatile liquids obtained by distillation or cracking (as of petroleum, shale, or wood) - often used in plural b : a usually volatile organic solvent (as an alcohol, ester, or hydrocarbon)

11 a : prevailing tone or tendency <spirit of the age> b : general intent or real meaning <spirit of the law>

12 : an alcoholic solution of a volatile substance <spirit of camphor>

13 : enthusiastic loyalty <school spirit>

14 : capitalized Christian Science : GOD 1b

synonym see COURAGE

And now for Religion:

Main Entry: re·li·gion

Pronunciation: ri-'li-j&n

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English religioun, from Latin religion-, religio supernatural constraint, sanction, religious practice, perhaps from religare to restrain, tie back -more at RELY

Date: 13th century

1 a : the state of a religious <a nun in her 20th year of religion> b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance

2 : a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices

3 : archaic : scrupulous conformity : CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

- re·li·gion·less adjective

        I wanted to define these so that you would see why I choose the term Spirituality vs Religion. To me, Spirituality allows us more freedom. It is being in touch with your inner self and everything that surrounds you. Often when people describe me, they describe me as a very "Spiritual" person. (At least those that know me well) To me it is more of a state of mind or a way of living ones life. And I like the "enthusiastic loyalty" definition of Spirituality, because I have finally found an "enthusiastic loyalty" to life itself. One is not held in constraint and only allowed to explore within certain boundaries, but allowed the freedom to explore all and everything around them and offered to them.

     I am not going to speak on religion much at all, it is too touchy and personal of a subject to get into, but I wanted to explain where I was coming from on the subject of Spirituality.  The Spirit side of you, the state of mind and peace that one can achieve after working through themselves, from the inside out, and healing from the inside out. This can be a very painful process to work through, the good, the bad and the ugly. But it is only after working through these parts of oneself and coming to accept and embrace them, that you can achieve your own Inner Peace. One has to go through each layer of yourself, look at it… not run from it...get to know it, find out what you like and dislike or why it is there. Work through the parts you don't like and would like to improve, until you reach the inner core of yourself, the part that everyone fears and tries to deny that is there...so that you can emerge from that to find your own Light and Inner Peace. There is no Light without Dark...no Shadows without the Light and Dark.... we all have it, they are in every one of us, like it or not. And to know your whole self in a healthy and complete manner, they all have to be recognized.

        My hope with this is that I can give you some ideas and guidance in how to work through these parts of yourself in a safe and healthy manner. Achieving and maintaining a more balanced you. Starting with your Inner self and ending with Inner Peace. A quote I really like:

"Many people keep saying, "I want Peace, I want Peace",

How many words are there in the sentence?

"I want Peace"...3 words, I, Want and Peace.

"I" is the ego; "want" is desire...

If you remove ego & desire~

Then you will be left with Peace."

© 2003

© Moonlit Mysticsm

Looking in the mirror

Part 1

    What is the first thing you see when you look in the mirror? What do you say about yourself? Is it only the physical self that you think of when looking in the mirror? That is where a lot of us make our mistakes. We only look at our physical bodies and not our Spirit bodies or our inner self. And many of us are just not satisfied with our physical bodies are we?  I finally was able to get to the point of saying "If it is good enough for my Goddess, then it is good enough for me!" and also...who am I to tell the Higher Power they were wrong when they created me? Who gave me the power to want to change perfection? After all, am I not perfectly created just how my Higher Power wanted me? She must've had something in mind when She gave me this body...now it is up to me find what that is. I found after dieting and exercising and starving myself and torturing myself to loose weight....that was a waste of time and energy for me. Sure, Id loose weight, fit into those certain jeans...just to grow out of them again and feel like a failure! I’m sure we've all been there at some time or another in our life. What the real problem was...I was continually trying to fill the void within me. I was trying to fit into what society said I had to be...a form I would never fit into! Who can live up to those standards and be happy at the same time? And which is more important to me, my happiness in myself or society’s acceptance of who I am and what I look like? I didn’t care what anyone else looked like, if they were nice, friendly and had good intent. What I found was I needed to be happy for *me*...and not for anybody else. Once I came to that acceptance, my life with myself became a bit easier. But how does one fully accept and love themselves after years of hiding from oneself? It takes baby-steps. Ask anyone who has worked with me what my number one advice is...take baby-steps. Don't rush into anything. True and correct and long lasting healing, takes time. There is no quick fix. There is no pill. But there is Time.

    When looking in the mirror, look into your own eyes to the inside you, the true you, the core you. Do you know yourself? Do you know who you truly are? Or are you somebody that everybody else wants you to be? We cannot be truly free until we are truly living for Us. Again...sound selfish? Heck yes it is!! And we have a right to be! We cannot depend on outside forces or others to make and keep us happy and satisfied. First, we need to learn and know how to be happy and service Our Own needs, before we can be healthy for anybody else in our lives. Be it our spouse or children or parents or friends.  Often times we fall into the trap of over eating, over shopping, over drinking....indulging in some unhealthy habit to try and fill the hunger or void inside. We don't try to get to the core of the void or hunger or what it actually is, it is easier to fill it with something else than it is to truly look deep into oneself to see what is missing or hungry. That takes hard work, that takes time, and that take looking in the mirror...scary stuff!!

     So how do we begin to take a look inside and work through this to find this comfort level in OurSelf? Where do We even start? It seems like such a huge undertaking doesn’t it? This is where the baby-steps come in. And not looking at the whole big project, but discovering yourSelf step by step and layer by layer, until we get to the core Self, the dark Self, the ugliest part of ourSelf, (or so we think or have been taught).  And learning to embrace that, turn it into a positive in Us and emerging a new WHOLE You that you fully love and accept and have found Peace in. It is then, Your Inner Peace & Beauty that shines through to your Outer/Physical Self. You can look in the mirror in a whole new light and love for yourSelf. And when You look into Your Own Eyes...You will know who You are looking at.

     I say that we cannot be truly free until we are living for Us, because we first need to know how to live on our own. We need to know our own strengths and weakness'. Our own likes and dislikes.

     Another fact that we need to take a look at and into consideration is if we have been abused. By our parents, spouse, siblings...whoever and in whatever form. Mentally, physically, emotionally and Spiritually. All of these play a huge factor in who we are today and how we view ourselves, inside and outside.  If you are working with someone on your self discovery, this is a very important fact to inform your partner on that as well. If you are working with someone...My belief is that there should be nothing less than Perfect Love & Perfect Trust with this person. It is needed to go through some of the parts of yourself that you are going to be going through. It gets intense, scary, and intimate. We are dealing with getting to the rawest form of you.  You are dealing with parts of yourself that you yourself didn't even know existed.

We are dealing with parts of Self that we are ashamed of or embarrassed of, or that we have not been able to share with anyone before.

     If you are working through this on your own, keep a journal, try and find a friend you can trust and talk to about it also. An outer support is very helpful through this. But if you are working through this with someone as a guide, make sure this is something they have done before, make sure it is someone that you really Trust, and make sure it is someone that isn’t going to try and force you down their own Path and into their own Belief system. That is not a true Guru/Guide. A true Guru, Mentor or Guide, will allow you the freedom to explore and find what is right for you. They may point a way, but they wont do the work for you, they will hold your hand, but they will not carry you. When you fall, they will help you up, wipe you off and make you continue. They will not make the work easy for you, nor will they let you quit when the going gets tough. They will give you the space when you need it, but they will never leave you fully.

The bottom line......

Take Pride in who You are, take Pride in YOUR Perfect Creation....You were Perfectly Created to be You.

© 2003 MoonitMysticsm

Looking into Yourself

part 2

     When I refer to looking into yourself, I’m talking about layer-by-layer, taking a good look and learning about ALL of yourself. From the mask self to the inner child.  From the fluffy light self, to the taboo dark self. We are all made up of layers of our self. We have many different sides to ourselves and are much more complex of beings than we give ourselves credit for. Exploration of these selves can be fun, if handled in the proper form. One has to remember to not be overly critical of yourself, we are great at bashing ourselves and very poor at giving ourselves a compliment for doing something good. After all, we don't want to appear to be conceded or in love with our self do we? Well, loving yourself and being conceded are 2 different things. As well as giving yourself a compliment for a job well done on something. Or for how hot you might look tonight. There is nothing wrong with Loving or Liking yourself. It is healthy! It is when the ego starts to take over that you need to worry...ego's can be an ugly thing and turn the most beautiful person...into the ugliest. Remember, as we all know the saying goes...."Beauty is only skin deep". But, when the beauty comes from within...it shines for all to see and it shines at all times.

      I have come up with My own names or terms for these layers that I feel we work through.  We have the Mask Self: This is the self that everyone see's. Who we think is acceptable to everybody else. We paint on our face or put on our mask and go out and be who everyone wants us to and who everyone will accept us as. Next we have the Surface Self: This is who we are in general on a day-to-day basis. Who we may be at work, or when we go out to dinner, or who we have learned to become with our spouse. Then there is our True self: Who we are when we are alone or with someone we are totally trusting of and comfortable with. Us in our truest form, naturally. We also have an Inner Child: I think this is self explanatory, but this may be a side we never got to express, maybe you had to grow up too early or were abused at an early age and pushed some of that aside. Then we have our Core Self: Or the Beast Self, Animal Self, Shadow Self, Dark Self....the self that has been thought of as "taboo" and we have repressed it most of our lives. Where we keep our deepest dreams and fantasies and desires hidden under lock and key. And we also have the Higher Self: The one that emerges and shines the light of our Inner Peace & Beauty. Our Spiritual Self.

     Along our Journey of Self Exploration, we may find some of our friends can no longer accept us, or that we no longer fit into their category of what is acceptable. We may lose friends along the way, but we may also find new ones. If someone decides they just cannot accept you anymore, because of what you are discovering or finding out about yourself, then are they really a True Friend? A True friend can and will Accept and Love the ALL of You. In ALL of Your most Natural Forms.

     This is why such a journey can be painful. You may lose someone you thought was a good friend, or you might hear some things that hurt. But in the end, by the time it is all said and done, you know who your true friends are and you are much better off for it. Rather than leading a false life or having to forever put that damn mask on...you are finally free to be you and love yourself....inside and out.  And you have also found out who your true friends are. Hopefully everybody is still there at the end. But sometimes, everybody doesn’t make it.

© 2003 MoonlitMysticsm

The Mask Self

    This is where we begin the process of self-exploration. As I spoke of earlier, we take a look at each layer. It's time to take a look at your mask self and find out what aspects of that are the true you? What aspect of that are the you that is there to only please everybody else? What aspects are there only because it is what you think society will accept in you? You need to take a look at that, write down the answers to these questions and find out what part of that mask is you and what part is fake. Keep what is you and get rid of the rest. Slowly work towards being comfortable without the aspects of what you feel society will accept. This takes time to reach this comfort level of going without the full mask. That is why we get rid of bits and pieces at a time, and not all of it at once. It takes time to figure out what is real and what is fake, if it is a mask you have worn for a long time. It begins to just kind of meld into you and becomes hard to separate or find that line where it ends and the true you begins’.  Start out being without the mask at home, with your spouse and friends that you are most comfortable with. Then start to slowly emerge outside of your comfort level without parts of it and see how others react. This is where the baby-steps come in. This is where things start to get scary. What if someone doesn’t like you with out it? What will people think if I start to change? What if they laugh or criticize me? Well then I guess they may not be worth hanging around then, huh? Again, this is where it can start to get painful too, finding out just who your true friends are. But also, once you get used to not having to put that mask on or act a certain way, just to please "so & so"...the feeling of freedom you experience is well worth it and very liberating! You have lifted a layer off of your shoulders that you no longer have to carry around and life starts to get a little lighter suddenly. You start to gain a little bounce in your step again. People start noticing a positive change in you as you begin to learn to accept yourself and love yourself without that mask.

© 2003 MoonlitMysticsm

 The Surface Self

Surface Self/ Self Responsibility

     In working through this type of work, we learn a lot about self responsibility, in the aspect that we are responsible for our own words, feelings, thoughts and actions. Like I talked about earlier in this discussion, we so often look to the outside for help or aid in feeling better. We look to others to say or do something for us, to make us feel better. Have you tried looking inside of yourself for the real problem area? One of the things you have to learn is that you are responsible for everything you do, say, think or feel. you are, not the devil and not the other guy! You may allow someone to irritate you or make you mad, but don't try to blame someone else.

     Don't try to deny that you have those feelings either, you have them. You get angry, you get hurt...you are human! There are times when you have every right to feel the way that you do, but even when your feelings are unreasonable, don't deny you have them.

     Don't lie to yourself; that is the worst kind of lie. Lying, especially to yourself, makes your mind, your being, impure. Blaming others for what you feel is also an impurity. You must take responsibility for all that you are, all that you do, all that you think and all that you feel. If you don't like what you are, change it!!

     There are 2 little *affirmations* that I really like that I am going to add here as well on feelings and on truthfulness: "I have a right to feel angry, but anger does not give me the right to be cruel", and, "Truthfulness should include the positive things that are felt, Truthfulness need not be tactless and inconsiderate" I added these, simply because so often, when we think of being honest with ourselves or with someone we are in a relationship with...we think of "the cold hard truth". Why does the truth always have to be cold and hard? Why can we not truthfully compliment ourselves or someone else? Why is it not seen as a "the warm, loving Truth"? If we love someone or ourselves...then too we can honestly tell them how lovely, beautiful, what a great friend or lover or support they are. We can look at ourselves in the mirror and see our Beautiful self.

     Look and see that you are a good friend, or selfless in your actions, or look great in that outfit, or whatever it is you are dealing with at the time. As many of you may be working through this alone, I think the hardest part is having the ability to look at yourself objectively, as if you were someone else. You have to be able to view yourself honestly, to step aside and see yourself as others see you.

    Some little suggestions that might help with this would be:  Spend some trying to see things as others see them. If a someone snaps at you without any reason that you can see of, try to understand why. Are they tired? Are they ill? What may be going on in the rest of their life? Did you get snippy first? Were you being irritating? Use your imagination and intelligence and take sometime to really and truly look at the situation before you react. Then you can apply that to yourself, being as objective as you can and hopefully learn a new way of handling these situations in a positive manner rather than it all turning ugly.

    Give yourself the same love, understanding and forgiveness that you would give anyone else in your life, but don't let yourself get away with cruel, foolish or destructive behavior. Remember...if you never reveal your true, imperfect self to anyone else in the world, you must not hide it from yourself. You must learn to be honest with yourself. If you do not admit your faults, you will never work through to change it and you will not grow, except in your ability to lie to yourself.

 © 2003 MoonlitMysticsm

Fear/Love, Self Sabotaging/Self Love

     The opposite of an act of or out of Love is an act of or out of Fear. These can be either aimed at someone else or at yourself. We behave in a certain way or do some self-sabotaging behavior of sorts, cause drama, either intentionally or unintentionally, when we feel fear. This can either be a fear of failure or this fear may arise when you are feeling “too good” or Fear of losing something or some part of our self. Often we wait for that other shoe to drop if we are feeling too good. Feeling good isn’t “comfortable”, it is a new thing for us. If we get to feeling too good “about” ourselves, we may create something to feel bad about, we don’t feel worthy of feeling good. We must live in a cage, in misery, we don’t deserve to feel good or be happy. We get scared that this isn’t real, or that only we feel this way about ourselves and everybody is lying “just to make us feel good”. We begin to doubt ourselves and here lies the beginning of the spiral back down to the black hole with which we came. Out of fear.

     Can you relate to this? What are some of your sabotaging behaviors? How could this be turned around to an act of Love or reassurance when this fear begins to come on? Or what act of Self Love could you do to replace this Self Sabotaging behavior with? This can also be a way of testing the new ground you are standing on, to see how firm it is. Testing your new found strength and self esteem. Then, if it falls or we fall, we view this and as though we are instantly a failure! That we cannot do this, we are too weak. That is what we get for being selfish and thinking we actually deserved to be happy, to actually feel good about our life and our self. It is a natural human attraction to drama that will draw us into fear and negativity more quickly than it will draw us to Love.

     This is where we need to learn to Identify the behavior and Embrace the solution. It is easy to want to put that Mask Self back on when you feel yourself slipping, to go back to being your old self, to fall back into the self sabotaging behaviors. When we feel ourselves doing this, when we learn to Identify these behaviors or what the red flags are on the way there, we can then figure out our solution, what we are going to replace these behaviors with and Embrace those solutions. One suggestion that I have is to take a look at your journal and the progress you have made. Look in the mirror and see the good parts you have written about in your journals. Re-read some of what is written here so that you can identify what you are doing. Reach out and call a friend, someone that you know will give you support and catch you when you feel like you are falling. Your spouse, your Mentor/Guide, your best friend. Write what you are feeling and as you are writing about it feel it pouring onto the paper and there is shall stay. Burn the paper, throw it away, get rid of it…and as you are doing it, let it be significant of that behavior and those negative feelings going away with it. Take a bath, wash the negativity off. As you let the bath water out, let it signify the negative behavior and thoughts going down the drain with it. Get rid of it and do something good and healthy for yourself.

     Remember what these red flags are so that next time you see them, you can stop the behavior before it starts. Eventually, they will be gone for good and replaced with a healthy behavior and self and this will become your new way of looking at your life and handling your struggles.

    Always remember: Negativity feeds negativity, Fear feeds fear. At the same time: Positivity feeds positivity, Love feeds love.

     So however it is you want your life to be, act and project that outwardly as well.

©2004 MoonlitMysticsm

 The True Self

     Now that we have worked through the surface of who we are, we can get down to the True Self. Again we go through the same process of taking a good harsh look at ourselves. What are we left with now? Do we like what we see? What parts are left that we are still unhappy with in ourselves. Not so much physically, but Inwardly, Spiritually, our personalities. What needs fine-tuning? Maybe there isn’t much left for you to do here. Maybe you like what you see and are pretty darn happy with yourself. Good for you if you are! Congratulations! If not, then find out what *will* make you happy, what parts can you change to make it so you are happy and satisfied with who this true self is. Same process as before, just a new layer to take a look at.

     By now you should also be getting a pretty good idea of who your true friends are. Who still accepts and loves you? Who is happy and thrilled for the new bounce in your step? People should be noticing quite a little change in you, you should be feeling freer and happier and finding a new light within yourself. Along with working through these layers of yourself. Try to find ways of spending time with yourself. Find a good meditation that works for you. Maybe learn Yoga, or Tai Kwon Doe. Starting taking walks, or a dance class. Start trying to do something physical if you are not a physical person normally.

     Once you begin to get healthy on the inside it is easier to find the energy to do more physical things as well. Through meditation, learning your Chakras, learning how to find a balance within yourself, you begin to heal as a whole. You begin to feel that inner void getting filled. Little by little, bit by bit, baby step by baby step. You are getting closer to Inner Peace and your Spirit. And if that inner void is starting to get filled...then we should be getting rid of those indulging bad habits we have acquired as well. We don’t need to go shopping to feel fulfilled, we don't need to eat to try to get full, we don't need to go and gamble to get that satisfaction. Or whatever it may be. We may still partake in some of these activities, but they shouldn't be used in such an unhealthy form anymore, more on a social basis, or for the fun of it...not to fill a need.

     You should be noticing you are more physically healthy. Maybe you got sick often. Your immune system was down or certain troubles or issues had manifested in a physical form or illness. Gaining a healthy mental and emotional self, leads to being healthy physically as well.

© 2003 MoonlitMysticsm

The Inner Child 

     The Inner Child, we all have one whether we realize it or not. Some are so buried deep within that the person forgot how to smile, some are right on the surface and are seen in a person all the time, some are so injured that they walk around with this feeling of fear in the gut all the time. Everybody handles their Inner Child differently. Exploring the inner child within yourself can be a very difficult and painful time. I know that mine was and still can be from time to time, and I also know that there are a lot of people out there that had it a lot worse than me. My main problem was always feeling misunderstood, like I never fit in anywhere, like I was always different than everyone else. Well, come to find out I am different…everyone is. We are all individuals and on our own Path.

       A good slow way to start out and just begin getting to know your child self is to just sit down and color a picture. Simple. Or sit and doodle, draw a picture of your child self, but use your non-dominant hand to do so, this helps you get in touch with that part of yourself. Sit and play a game, like Jacks, or buy a bottle of bubbles to play with. Allow yourself to feel the child like joy that these simple little pleasures in life can bring you. Think simple again, take yourself back and see life for a moment in your Childs’ eye. Go back to the innocent wonders of the world, sit outside and observe the butterflies, watch a spider build her web and see the beauty in her movement and design again. Think simplicity and innocence and let yourself giggle and feel that joy inside again that is only yours.

      If you have an injured child self, allow it to feel this joy for awhile. Comfort it, nurture it, play with it, and protect it until you feel comfortable touching on some of the injuries. When you start to uncover some of those, do it slowly…do not rush this through. The child self needs time to work through this properly, it needs to know that it is now safe to let this go and that it cannot hurt them anymore. To me, this is one of main things, that it cannot hurt you any longer. Only if you allow it to, can it. This is also one of the hardest concepts for the child self to grasp, the “yah buts” seem to always pop up.

     When we get in touch with this injured child, it is easy to get sucked back down into that unhealthy way of thinking. This is why a lot of people just keep the child buried. It is safe that way, we can’t get hurt. True…but we also cannot heal. And if we do not heal this, we cannot find our Inner Peace because we are always carrying around these injuries. These injuries can then manifest into attacks against those we love, or manifest in an unhealthy manner into our adult relationships and hold us back from having a whole and healthy relationship with ourselves and with others. These injuries can turn into our adult inhibitions, fears, damage our self esteem and follow us around our entire life if not let go and worked through in a healthy manner.

     When you start to uncover these injured parts of your child self, make sure that you are in a safe environment to do so. Try to have some support around you, friends and loved ones that accept you for all that you are. Make your world a safe place for this child and let it know that it is protected and unconditionally loved and accepted and that harm will no longer come to it. By now you have already worked through some of your others layers that you should have a pretty good strong foundation and idea of how to keep a hold of yourself and work through some of your more painful issues. You should have a pretty good idea of who is still with you and helping you and accepting you for who you are, build some support through this. Look back and see how far you have come already and use that strength now to show your child self that you are strong, able to walk tall and be proud. Know you are OK, or at least going to be ok and that you are Truly on your way to finding your Inner Peace, by now knowing that your self is getting lighter from what you have already healed and let go of.

     Use yourself as an example to your child…that it will be ok…You are ok. When the Inner Child is locked away for safe keeping, we are denying ourselves some of the best aspects of life. We become serious all the time, forget how to play and have fun in life, often becoming workaholics. We feel guilty all the time, or never good enough which often leads to isolation and fear of getting involved with other people.

      Some ways that we can begin to help our Inner Child heal would be to spend some time alone talking to it. Set some time up by yourself to have a healthy conversation with your child. Take some time to do some things for your child self that you want to do. Associate only with the people that you want to associate with and tell yourself that this is ok. Try not to be so serious all the time, allow yourself fun time and play time and allow yourself to laugh. When you make a mistake, allow yourself to laugh at it and not punish yourself or beat yourself up forever about it. Let your imagination ad creativity out and accept it for whatever it is…it is yours. When you feel hurt, allow yourself to cry. Curl up with a pillow or stuffed animal and allow the child self to feel and work through the pain. Hold it and tell it that it will be ok, it is safe now.

    Learn to be your own best friend. Show yourself that you can take care of yourself now and that your child self is safe within you. Allow yourself to love and also to “be” loved. Let your child self know that they are worthy of love. Be your child self, allow your child to hurt, heal, feel, play and also to grow up, share feelings and enjoy the pleasure and freedoms of life.

   Allow yourSelf to see the beauty in the simple pleasures and in viewing life through your childs eye. Let your inner child become a part of your Whole Self and also find Inner Peace.

© 2003 MoonlitMysticsm

Who is the “Inner Child” ?

 More on The Inner Child

     So just who is this Inner Child we have inside of us? Have you sat down and really given this some thought? Our inner child can represent many things. It can be the little child who desires to be nurtured, loved, cared for, and approved of. It can be creative, imaginative, a free spirit, emotional or sensitive.

    Your inner child can be hurt, frustrated, angry, abused and ignored. A part of you that you have masked, kept hidden, but this child is always there inside of you. This child can be someone who knows how to have fun and who can help you manage the stress and chaos of your life. The child self is also the link that we have to our Spiritual Being, because it is in the Spirit Realm, rather than in the realm of conscious behavior. The Lord Krishna is known for His child-like qualities, His love for playing and His sweet tooth. The inner child can also be here because of many different factors of our childhood that need dealt with or healed. The child self can be here because of a denial of who we really are, or because of insecurity when you feel the world is caving in, or because we never really had the chance to play as children for one reason or another. They can also exist in us because we were never given good role models, or because we don’t recognize that we can make choices in our life, that we can make our life what we want it to be. Or the inner child can be here because of the feeling it is not safe to grow up or accept love or to share our feelings or because we need to yet learn to spend time each day playing and experiencing fun and pleasurable feelings. Some of the signs of your inner child would be the ability to let yourself go and have fun and play and get lost in it, if you over indulge in your own children or if you enjoy playing with children’s’ toys still as an adult.

     Another sign of the child self is if you are still looking for a parental figure in your adult life or still feel as deeply about a certain situation or time in your life as you did when you were a kid. A lot of the times we are seeking to hear approval from those figures in our life, needing unconditional love and concern and acceptance from those figures. We need to be told I love you, I’m sorry, or I’m proud of you…compliments and acceptance on all levels. If we suppress this part of us, we take the risk of never learning how to relax, have fun, play, how to feel normally or we grow up to be the serious bitter old person that is angry at the world. Some become workaholics or drug abusers, or become isolated and face social anxiety for fear of being disapproved of or not normal. Now what?

     Now that we have a better idea of who the child inside of us is or can be, we can begin to figure out ways of playing with them or dealing with them. One of the first things that you need to do is to tell your inner child that they are OK. Embrace your inner child; love them for who they are. You need to be there for your inner child and tell them to be the light of your Spirit self and link with your Higher Power and remind yourself that you are never alone or forgotten as long as they are present within you. Your child self can be a source of strength and hope for you when it feels the world is crumbling around you. You also need to tell your inner child their good qualities and skills, this will teach your child self that they can land on top and succeed when facing hard times. Use positive reinforcements with your child self. As you work with your child self, keep reminding yourself that it is ok to play, it is ok to laugh like a child, it is ok to play a game or blow bubbles. Tell your inner child that it is ok to accept love and compliments and approval, that it is ok to make mistakes, take risks or be imaginative, accept some people and not accept others. It is ok to be selfish at times and yes…you also have the freedom to make choices for yourself! Allow yourself to cry, play, laugh, let your hair down, (or put it in pony tails!!), feel happiness, angry, hurt or have a temper tantrum if need be. It is Ok to be yourself…. and you love yourself unconditionally! (which I will discuss a little later)

     Practice viewing life through the eyes of your child self. Become aware of how things smell, taste and feel. Go to the park and swing, go down the slide or play in the sand. Always allowing yourself to let go and experience the feeling the inner child is having. Allow yourself to cry, to be held, to feel the scary feelings and know that you are never alone as long as your child self is connected to your Higher Power. If our inner child has been repressed, some ways that we can help the child self learn to feel and share again would be keeping a journal to keep track of daily feelings and experiences. Write a story using a variety of “feeling words”. (preferably positive ones!). Try to do one child like thing everyday and write of the experience in your journal and how it felt to you. Make a list of child like activities that you can do and refer to the list when you need a get-a-way or when you can’t think of anything child like to do, keep adding to this as you discover more of them. Have a tea party with some of your friends, allow yourself to be imaginative and fantasize through the eyes of your inner child and write a story about it.

     Learn to be your own best friend, trust in yourself and your Higher Power and learn to love and accept yourself unconditionally. Loving & accepting yourself unconditionally: What does it mean? To love and accept yourself means to place no expectation, no conditions, no “ifs” and no “when’s” on yourself. It means to love and accept yourself, no matter what you may unveil about yourself in your Path. It means for you to set aside time to spend with yourself everyday, for you are the most important person in your life and you need to spend time with that person. It means to respect yourself and treat yourself with respect. It means that you allow yourself to feel, to heal, to get angry and be hurt, as well as allowing yourself to feel love, acceptance, compassion and forgiveness. It means that you will accept yourself for who you are even if nobody else does and you allow yourself the freedom in life to “act” like yourself and be. It means that you recognize your self-worth and your gifts and your good qualities. It means that you pay yourself compliments and see the beauty in you…the all of you.

     When you love and accept yourself unconditionally, you no longer wear the mask, you no longer live in fear of not “fitting in” or being “normal”. You know and recognize your self-worth and your strengths. You no longer set boundaries on your relationships with yourself, you are free to just be yourself, you know that you are OK and taking the risk of letting love in is no longer so scary.

     If we don’t learn to love and accept ourselves unconditionally, we run the risks of living a life in restraint, unable to be ourselves or even know ourselves. You are not free to experience life to the fullest, you may live with a low self esteem or end up in a codependent or abusive relationship or marriage. You run the risk of living an isolated life, suffer from social anxiety or detachment from situations or feelings. You may set goals for yourself that are knowingly too high, just to fail, knowing (thinking) you’ll never be an achiever anyway. You may become over critical of yourself, develop an unhealthy habit or behavior. (i.e.: alcoholic, anorexic, overeater, shopaholic) And you run the risk of never allowing yourself to experience what real and true love feels like. You become your own worst enemy, rather than your own best friend.

     How does an adult play and what will it do for me? There are various ways and reasons for incorporating more “Childs play” into your life. You can “go little” (we’ll call it) to get back the Spirit of your child self, to be free again and experience fun and excitement. It can become a form of relaxation for you at the end of a long hard day. It can become a time for you to look forward to just letting go and not have to think hard about anything. If dealing with an injured child self, we can now go back safely with our adult self and our Higher Power and realize that we had no choice or control of the situation then, but that we do now and are safe now and can forgive and love ourselves and give that child self the room and acceptance to safely have fun and experience Childs play. It can be an emotional release or work of self-healing and it can be a time that you can fully let go. Allow your child self the room to be imaginative and not have boundaries or worries or fears of being judged. Find some activities that will allow your child self to heal if this is your work. Allow your sense of humor to come out. Allow your child self to let their enthusiasm and freshness in life come out. Buy some suckers, candy necklaces or rings for your Childs playtime. Make up a toy box to keep your playtime activities in. Keep your special blankets or pillows in there, your toys and special candy in there, your crayons, finger paints, play-doe, coloring books. Then when it is your playtime, pull it out and sit down in the middle of the floor and play with your toys. Another good way of keeping track of your playtime, is to make up a report card for this, to fill out at the end of your time or the next day. It could have on there the day, what you played with, what you felt while you played with it. You could rate your playtime using numbers like 1-5 or by using grades like in school. It could have questions on there about what you learned or discovered about yourself during playtime, or if you’re using it for relaxation…rate the level of relaxation and how that play worked for you.

      There is no right or wrong here, make one up for what your personal situation is and reason for playtime. Schedule playtime into your lifestyle just as you would anything else. Make the time for your child self to come out and play. After all, you are their best friend and they would do the same for you. Make the time to look at him/her in the mirror and talk to them. Tell them that you love them unconditionally and they are OK. Tell them that they too, can have Inner Peace and deserve it.

 ©2004 MoonlitMysticsm

The Core Self

     Finally this takes us to our Core Self, the place that everyone is afraid to go. There are also a lot of people, that once they actually reach this part of themselves, they run from it, they try to turn and go back to their old life, old ways...try to close their eyes to what they have seen or discovered in themselves. This is a time one almost faces an identity crisis. You have broken yourself down, peeled away all the layer of yourself and there is nothing to hide behind anymore, you truly feel exposed. Vulnerable. This is the true you, the taboo you, the dark you...all of the hidden desires now begin to come out. To write the desires and characteristic of this part of yourself down, is very helpful in facing them. And after writing them down, finding someone you can trust to share this with and explore this with is most healing. This is where the Trust and Bond is really built, for we cannot explore this with someone we do not Trust.

     By now I’m sure everyone has seen bits and pieces and glimpses of your Core Self, Shadow Self, Beast Self, whatever you choose to call it. The Shadow Self is often thought of as bad or evil or the part of us that we are supposed to suppress and not let out because it is the “bad” part of us. I beg to differ with this. I choose to believe that no part of us is bad, all of us deserves’ to be accepted and loved and worked with and expressed or we never know who we are wholly. Often times when we first view this aspect of ourselves’ it comes through in a rage, or we view it as angry or evil and we try to keep this tucked away and safe. If we never learn to work with this aspect of ourselves’, then how will we ever learn to control it or have fun exploring it? This is the deepest, darkest aspect of you. Part of you. And it deserves some time. It often takes allowing that rage to work its’ way out and then taking a look at what we have, the feelings, the views on life that we have when we allow this out and then working through those issues and figuring out how we can work them into who we are now and our current life. What it is going to take to merge this part of us into our Whole Self in a healthy manner. Learning how to play in the dark and let this beast self out without causing harm to ourselves’ or anyone else around us. Find some ways that you are comfortable with to explore and express this part of yourself.

     Try drawing a picture of how you see this part of yourself, write down some good qualities of this self, how it can help you and benefit you in your daily life if learned to handle in a healthy manner. Sit and ponder on how your Dark aspects can be healthy for you. Often times people mistake dark for evil, these are 2 totally different things here and nothing could be further from the truth. True, this part of ourselves’ may hold some dark thoughts and ideas of a good time, or this part of us when first accessed might be full of anger and hatred, this is where everything has been tucked away, this is the hard core, fearful self that has been keeping us guarded and this is the last part of us that we have to face. So here, in the midst of the dark, we run into the big bad guardian of Self. This part can be defensive, angry, loud and aggressive. Sometimes we can fall completely to what seems like the beginning of this Path and it can swallow us up. Do not delve into this unless you are sure you are ready and if at all possible do not delve into it alone and without forewarning those around you what you are experiencing.

     The Core Self can be a pretty dark and scary place if explored alone and one can easily get lost in the dark, not a good place to get lost. But exploring and working through this aspect of self is necessary. How can we identify our True Light, if we have never wondered through the Dark to emerge into it? We learn to play in the dark safely, we learn to embrace the dark self and turn those aggressive qualities into healthy forms of expression and we can learn to use them, turn them around into a positive aspect that gives us strength.

     If you feel yourself slipping and getting engulfed in the darkness, go back and read over the Dark Times part of this course and use some of those red flags and solutions to help get up and out of the downward spiral. If you have made it this far, then you should have a pretty good idea of what works for you in your hard times. You should have a good bases of tools to work with and a firm foundation of Self to stand on to make it through without falling or getting sucked in too far. You have a good idea of who is there as your support system to love and accept all of aspect of you, including your Shadow Self.

       Remember that there is no part of you that is Taboo, there is no part of you that does not deserve Love & Acceptance. Every aspect of you is the Perfect Creation of your Higher Power. Look in the Mirror, see your Whole Self, all aspect of you merged into you. See your True Self, Inner Child, Dark Self…and embrace and find Peace in knowing who you are.

© 2004 MoonlitMysticsm

     Dark times… Everybody describes them differently. What one person may see as a difficult or dark time in their life, someone else may see as no big deal. What may take one person a lifetime to resolve inside of themselves, may take someone else only a year. Everybody is different and nobody can tell anyone exactly what to do or what is right for them. This is why we need our own signal or system set up for ourselves when we see the dark times coming or find ourselves in amuck of them all of a sudden. We can take advice from others, we can take the right medications, we can call out for others to help us when we are falling, but it is up to us to take the first step and the ones that follow as well.

     There are abuse stories, stories of disease, stories of ill family, stories of deaths in the family, stories of severe depression, stories of complete chaos hitting the fan, war going on all around us, basic chaos and disorder in the world. Looking at it all makes for quite a dizzying picture. So why would we want to focus on it all? No, we cannot ignore that it exists or that those times are present in our life. But we also cannot let that negative focus consume us either. We must find a healthy balance until we can find a solution or the time has passed. One thing that is very helpful is to find others with the same story as yours and share. Talk about it with them and find out some things that helped them to get through it. Write down some of your solutions on paper and see what you’ve got and write yourself out a “survival guide” of sorts. This way when you feel yourself slipping or things getting out of control, you can go to this list and see what calls to you for comfort. Then you don’t have to try and think on top of things already slipping for you.

     Don’t ignore your body. If you feel your body or mind telling you that you need something, listen to it. The human body has everything in it to survive and to fix itself, all we have to do is learn how to listen to it and use it. If you feel yourself craving water a lot, drink more water daily. You’ve probably been lacking or ignoring that. If you feel yourself craving fresh foods, feed your body healthy fresh foods. It will tell you what you need to take care of yourself if you listen to it. This is why we need to make sure we make time for our Sacred or Quiet time everyday. So we can listen to our inner self.

     Keep in touch with ourselves. Write in your journal as often as you can. This is another form of listening to yourself. You can look back then and read your thoughts and see what you should pay attention to. If there is a part of you that is needing tended to or extra attention. Are there any red flags? If so, then you need to take a look and see what needs done to take care of that situation and get your flow back before things get out of hand. Take care of you so you can continue forward in your life in as Peaceful & healthy of a manner as you can in your current situation. If you know this is a situation that is going to be around for awhile, set up a support system. Surround yourself with friends and stay in touch with them. You need healthy relationships that you can escape to. Do not shut yourself off from the activities that you love, these keep you healthy and feed your soul. You cannot lose yourself in the dark times and you have to always feed your soul.

     Get your required amount of sleep. Again, listen to your body, it will tell you what it needs. I know I go back and forth between times when I need more sleep than others. This is why I say listen to your body. Sometimes I only need 6 hours of sleep and other heavier times I need 8 hours or more. There is a day thrown in here and there where I need all day! I allow those for myself as well. Actually, I allow myself 2 days of this, I feel the body needs time for purging when this hits. It isn’t very often that these days hit me, but when they do I allow 2 days of it and if on the 3rd I still feel like this, I force myself to get up, get a bath and put on my eyes and lips. This way when I look in the mirror, at least I look like me, I look decent, rather than a pile of mush. This usually works to get me up and get me going, if I took my bath right. When I take my bath I wash off all the crud that has me down. I scrub from head to toe and get myself all cleaned up inside and out and it all goes down the drain. Sometimes I will leave myself in that natural state and not put any gel in my hair or make-up on and I will meditate then on where I know my focus is supposed to be. I lead myself back to where I need to be in my mind to be healthy. Usually back to my Higher Power that I am serving. And reminding myself to practice what I preach and that I have way too many that I cannot help in this current state of mind. I give myself a kick in the butt basically. Then…I get up and get things rolling. I usually am feeling much better after this. Take the rest of the day to get organized and figure out where I’m going to go from here.

     Once I get this figured out and get a good idea of what is going on, I feel more grounded and like everything isn’t so out of control and I can find a bit of Peace in my life again. So here are a few suggestions to help you get started on figuring out how to get through the darker times in your life. So you can get through those also in the most Peaceful & Healthy manner that you can in your current situation. 

© 2004 MoonlitMysticsm

    Dark times, we’ve all had them. And we are going to continue to have them through out our life. So how do we deal with these dark times and get through them, without feeling like we’re going down for the count every time they hit us? How do we get through them without feeling like the whole world is out to get us? How do we get out of them, once we are in them and on this spiral down? Is there something we can do to stop it before the spiral gets the best of us? These are all questions we need to ask ourselves’. What can I do to deal with my dark times in a healthier manner? Is there a way the dark times can be looked at in a positive light? What can I do to help get myself through these without looking at it as though everyone is out to get me and against me? Once I am in this dark time, and I am on my way down, is there something I can do to signal to myself that it is time get up and get out before it destroys me? Hopefully we can discuss some different ways of looking at the difficult and darker times in our life and what we can do to turn them into a positive light of some sort to help us get through them. What we can take from them and use next time they hit, because they always do, to help us get out sooner.

     This subject came to me this month, because it just seems although there are a lot of difficult times going on right now. It is everywhere and in every aspect of our lives. I have so many people calling me and asking me what is going on...? What has happened…? Wanting to know what they can do to get through this. The dark times are in many forms, from depression, to illnesses, to arguments, to miscommunications and misunderstanding. Everything seems to be off in people’s life in one form or another right now. But no matter what kind of hard or dark time you are facing, there are still a few key things you can hang onto and do, to help you get through them in a healthier manner.

     This may sound very simple, but the first thing to remember is that “This too shall pass”. If it is depression you are dealing with, and you can remind yourself that this is a cycle, and recognize the cycle, then you can remind yourself that this happens and that it will pass and you can do your part to help your mind fight it off and think healthy. Before it gets’ the best of you. If you can find what works for you to fight this off, and when you first recognize this behavior in yourself, do it and keep this up, then you can win that battle and shorten your stay in the land of depression. I have worked hard to recognize when it is hitting me and what my cycle is. And those close to me know my cycle as well so that they can better understand me. I wax and wane with the Moon, when the Moon is Full, so am I. When the Moon is Dark, so am I. Those that have worked with me for awhile now, know that around the Full Moon they will be getting the maximum amount of their learning materials for the month and then pretty much the rest of the month is for the reading and taking in and learning and letting the flow happen naturally. I don’t try to fight it anymore, I know I’m going to flow, I know my flow and I’ve learned to flow with it. Learning to work with my body and Spirit in it’s natural flow. Why fight Mother Nature? Work with your body and listen to it and what it needs at the certain times. It will tell you. And then you can learn to get through these times in a more Peaceful and Contented manner.

     As I tell many, it takes work. It takes at first, making a daily, conscious effort and paying attention to your self. Waking up each and every morning and making an effort to have the best day that you can in your current situation. I may wake up and say, “uugghh, I hate mornings!! My back hurts, my allergies are killing me and the sun is too bright!!”. Grumble my way to the kitchen and pour a cup of coffee and stagger to the computer to read my morning mail. Well, knowing how much I hate mornings and how long it takes me to become a decent human, I check my mail under a certain name first, because that is where my Spiritual messages are. So I have it set to where my morning mail first thing, are my daily Spiritual messages. A healthy way to start the day, get my focus where it should be and drink my coffee. Then I take a bath and then I meditate. But now…my mind is much healthier. I set this routine for myself and for my own emotional, mental and Spiritual health. Only I know what is best for me and only I can make myself do this. At first it is work, but after you do it for awhile, it becomes habit and natural and it isn’t such a struggle anymore to think positive. It becomes your natural flow and way of life. Through your consistent efforts, habit forms. Try to always keep in mind that if you don’t take care of yourself, how can you take care of those around you?

       When life becomes chaotic and busy and it seems like there is no time in the day for anything but the work and daily grind, stop and remember your self. If you don’t feed your Soul and your Spirit, how will you feed others? We often get caught up in the rat race and when we are inside of it, we do not see what we are really doing to ourselves. And through what we are doing to ourselves, we are also affecting others. Always remember that when there seems to be no time for anything, there is always bath time, or shower time, take advantage of these. There is always the drive home from work, make this a Sacred time for you to release your daily grind, crud, roll down the window and let it fly out on the way home. Release it. Take the long way home and blare your radio and scream along to the songs. Or, drive in silence if this is your wish. Whatever works for you, find it and take advantage of the times that you do have to work with. Before bed, take 10 minutes to write in your journal, or to kneel and meditate, or to lay in bed and dream the wildest dreams. Let your mind go and play. Close your eyes and find your Sacred Place and go and play there. Whatever it takes, whenever you can get it, take care of you. You are no good all broken down and spiritless. You cannot help others if you cannot help yourself. And you cannot help anyone that doesn’t want to help themselves. So, on the same note, if you don’t help yourself, how can you expect others to help you? Anyway you look at it we are the only ones’ in charge of ourselves’. These are a few very easy ways of making time for your self, all it takes it you making the effort for yourself. We also are really good at continually focusing on the problem, the negative, whatever it is that is going on that is causing this dark time in our life rather than what we can do to cure it. If it is going to happen, why sit and focus on the negative? Aren’t things negative enough for you? Let’s try and find out what we can do to get through this in the best possible way and while I’m at it, is there anything I can learn from this to be better prepared next time? Take every opportunity you can to learn from life. It is our best teacher. It is up to you what you do with it, learn from it and kind of experience you have in it. Nobody is in charge of your life but you and it is up to you to make the best of all situations we may run into.

     Everyone has a terrible story to tell, a horrid experience they would rather forget or some form of chaos going on their life. This is life. This is what it is about, learn from it, grow in it and with it and flow naturally with it. When life becomes a struggle and seems all damned up, step back and evaluate what you are doing. Try and find what is creating that damn and what you can do to fix it, get rid of it and get back to your own natural flow.

     If you are faced with a situation that is out of your hands and control, step back, evaluate what you are doing to handle it and how you can better arrange this situation for your Spiritual and Emotional self. You have to find time to play and have fun. You have to find time to enjoy the simple things in life. You have to find time to feed your soul. No matter what. This is where we find the Light in the Dark times. We have to make it. Only we can light the flame, only we can find our way out. Everyone in the world can hold out there hand to help, everyone in the world can give advice, but it is up to you to act on it. And this is where we also get our strength. Weight lifters don’t start out being able to lift 1000 lbs. They work at it, daily, sometimes all day!! They have to start out small, with “baby weights” and work their way up to their goal. And then, once they reach their goal, it still takes daily work, if they stop lifting weights, their muscles weaken. Just as, if we start missing days of taking care of our Spiritual self and Souls, they too weaken. Our Light begins to fade away and life has no spark all of a sudden. And we wonder why. Well, what are you doing to create a spark? What are you doing to feed your soul? Or are you just expecting it to happen for you and someone to give it to you? Again, if you are not taking care of yourself, how is anyone else supposed to?. It takes daily work before it becomes habit. And then it takes upkeep, feeding, rearranging after that.

     Remembering that we are ever evolving and ever changing forms. Life is always teaching us something about ourselves’, all we have to do is listen and pay attention to get the fullest lesson out of it. And we can look at it all as a big bad experience all the time, or we can look for the good and the lessons and what we can take from it to help others get through their tough times. This, is the True Spirit of Life.

      The Love that comes with Life, taking care of ourselves so that we can help others. Remembering that even in the darkest of times, we need to have fun. How else are we going to get out of the dark? And if the dark and hard times are all we are seeing and enduring, what is this doing to us? Come out and play, give yourself a break to see some Light. Without it, you wont have any Light to give others. Our Spirit can only give out to others what we feed it. And if it is only getting fed hard times and struggles, it is up to us to find that Light and fun and play. Only we can open the door to go out and have fun in life. It truly is what we make of it. Every situation is. Even the worst of them, they too, have their good. It is up to you to find it. You already know the bad about it, now…find the positive, to the best of your ability and focus on that instead. So here we are again, looking in the mirror, finding all the tools you need are within yourself. All you have to do is search yourself out to find them. And in the times you are looking into the face of darkness, look a bit further until you find that Love Light, The Sacred Flame inside of you, take a look around you at those you Love and let that be your way out. Your Heart will never steer you wrong, all you have to do is find silence long enough to listen to it.

© 2004 MoonlitMysticsm

     If you have done the work, put your heart into it and stuck with it, then by the end of this course you should have a better idea of who the True You is. This course doesn’t have all the answers by no means. There is a ton of work to do outside of this. This is just a good foundation and structure to follow and help guide you in finding your own Path to Inner Peace. It introduces you to some basic tools to help you get through some of the more difficult times in life in a healthier manner. It introduces you to the Mirror of Self and the different aspects of you. The rest of the work is up to you and how much you put into it. But I guarantee, if you stick with it, work hard and keep your focus and your intent healthy, that you will find your own Path to Inner Peace within yourself.

     Remember, the work of self is never done. We are ever evolving and growing beings. We cycle through life and we wax and wane as the Moon does. Just because you work through the Inner Child self now, doesn’t mean that all issues have been dealt with and more may pop up at a later time. Always allow these growth spurts, always allow these hurts to come so that you may continue to heal. We will cycle through all aspects of ourselves’ at various times in our life. Or a certain situation may spark something in us to set us back a few steps. You now know that this does not mean you are sinking…It means you are Healing! So now, you have something positive to focus on and look forward to in those dark times. You know the Light always shines in the end. You have a clearer Path to walk on as well, knowing who is true and who is not. You have faced hurt, losses and the darkest of your fears and you are still here to tell about it and you are Lighter, Freer, and Clearer to go forward in Life. Your eyes should be a little more open to what is Truly important to you in Life. And most importantly, you have learned how to Love yourself, Wholly! Give yourself a Hug and a pat on the back, you deserve it.

This is the hardest work of all that you have just accomplished. Learning to Love yourself…ALL of Yourself.

 ~*~

~In Peace, Love & Service Of~

~*~ 

By: 

*Mystic Priestess Lady LiL*

© 2004 MoonlitMysticsm

Please Feel Free to Contact me at:

Sacryfice@MoonlitMysticsm.com