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These are some of the most amazing stories about what a great job our Universal Life Church ministers are doing. These are stories of why they became ordained, the courses they've taken, and the great things they are doing with their ministries.

Monday, January 30, 2006

Metaphysics and Miracles

A course in miracles study
My life and Miracles
By Joseph Marion

During the last 20 weeks I have had some real life changing miracles happen.

I’ve always had problems in dealing with my most basic emotions, like anger, resentment, patience, and envy. As the weeks past, there was something going on inside, I started to respond in a more gentle way both inside and out. Something that someone would say or do would usually anger me.

Now I would stop going overboard like many times before. Instead of letting the anger build, as I’ve done for years, I would remember to pray for love and patience. This is not something that is going to be fixed overnight. But with prayers and meditation, I will not need counseling and medication. I am starting to balance myself through love and forgiveness.

I am starting to love through charity and giving. It’s funny that as my understanding of love has changed, so have the challanges that I face every day. But I see now that this is just another story that has to unfold. And as I go back to the lessons again, things just seem to get a little clearer. I have tried to change the way others might respond, But I see that it is my response that changes the event.

The very first lesson on connecting to the higher conscience and letting go of ego, has taught me to feel what is going on rather than trying to think about it. The more important things around are not material possessions, or lacking something I don’t have. But that the Kingdom of God is right here right now. And it is only when we let our ego control us that we fall back into the false beliefs. By letting ourselves love life and one another, by forgiving each other and ourselves, by walking in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Then we will shine through the most difficult of situations that come along.This is a tool that I can use every day. As long as my desires and intentions are in line with the Holy Spirit, I can live a life pretty much free of guilt and sorrow. I can arm myself with these weapons to fight off those addictions and lusts that come my way. Through the Holy Spirit, in prayer and meditation, I can feel the love of God entering my life in new ways every day.

I can start to see the paths of the Garden in front of me. I can walk with the Holy Spirit and take others along for a walk if they want to go. Thank-you very much for this gift that you have given me. I will be sure to pass it along to others that I know. I will always try to walk with the Holy Spirit.

Love and light. Joe.


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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.



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Friday, January 27, 2006

Shamanism Course

Shamanism - A course through the Universal Life Church.
My journey to this place of knowing has been a wonderful yet bittersweet one.

On February 2, 2003, my husband of 16 years, left me and our two sons to search for ‘greener pastures’. On this day, I have a ‘moment’ and the name ‘Blossom Spring’ appears in my consciousness. Where did it come from? Who gave it to me? It doesn’t matter. It seems to fit me. I now see it as a sign of the fruitfulness of my new path in this life. I was, however, hesitant to own it so I used the name for my new company.

This is a usual reaction of mine. I have a vision, see an actual entity or a flash of clairsentience, then I second guess it. Tell myself things like, "I’m not crazy" or "It didn’t happen," and "I must be dreaming" were my common responses to these phenomena. I’m a much better listener, now.

When I was a very small child, I’m not sure how old I was, but I had bars on the side of my bed to keep me from falling out, I awoke in the middle of the night and watched a parade of ‘people’ walk into my room. They can in, single file, through the bedroom doorway and marched around the room in a big circle, to the foot of my bed, then climbed up and continued past my head where they disappeared into the wall. Of these figures, one stands out to me; He’s an Indian chief in full costume. A headdress and all. He looks at me and almost smiles. It makes me feel safe and I drift right back to sleep. I never told anyone about this before. I don’t know why really. I guess it just felt like a normal, everyday thing to me. It didn’t worry me a bit and I felt safe.

Another memory that stands out to me is a long forgotten one that just came back to me recently. I was at a birthday party when I was about three or four years old, for my cousin. It was in a picnic area outside of his apartment building. I sneaked inside to look for toys to play with when I saw an old woman in a rocking chair in the corner of the dining room. She had a crochet blanket on her lap and a shawl around her shoulders. She had tight gray curls, a large round body and pale complexion, and she wasn’t happy to see me. In the strangled, raspy, gruff voice of a very old woman, she told me to get out. She said I was in her house and didn’t belong there, but I saw a playpen in the corner which I recognized as my cousins. I knew I was in the right place, but I didn’t dare argue! I was very confused and I ran outside to tell my mother what happened. She and my aunt told me that no one was inside.

I guess I thought that everyone had experiences like these; unexplainable coincidences, intuition and even visions. It wasn’t until I started to think it might be neat to explore psychic energy that I realized my experiences were unique. I had this ‘gift’. I’ve since read about people who were frightened by such phenomena when it happened to them, but I never was. It has always felt natural to me.

Once I learned how to tune into this energy, instead of catching things as they randomly came in, I began having deep and meaningful exchanges with the other side.

The first big message I received came when I was concerned about my sister and her husband having trouble conceiving. I relaxed myself into the now familiar trance-like state and asked, "Why?". Suddenly and vividly, her womb appeared in front of my eyes! As I strained to look more closely, it magnified itself and came closer to my face. I saw a beautiful, pink uterus and left fallopian tube. The right tube was in a shadow and I saw a broom sweeping it away. I was so excited, I jumped up and started dancing around my living room! I couldn’t believe how easy it was or how well my vision responded to my questions. I was thrilled!

Once I regained my composure, I called my sister and calmly explained to her what happened, then I urged her to see her doctor. She did, and the x-rays showed scar tissue in her right fallopian tube so they made plans for surgery to clean it out. Later, I told her she would be a mom in January of the coming year. I told her that I had seen a vision of her and her husband welcoming me into their home and I saw a bassinet in the living room. She called me that summer and asked me to remember what was supposed to happen in January. We both started screaming and I was jumping around the back yard laughing and crying all at once! She was pregnant and the due date was January twelfth. However, a week later, she called to say she had miscarried. It didn’t occur to me until that moment that I never saw a baby in the basinet. I determined right then and there to seek further training.

This is how I came to find Elizabeth Joyce. She lives nearby and I found an ad for her upcoming psychic development class. I learned many things from her about trusting myself and asking the right questions when seeking answers from the spirit world. She helped me to gain the confidence to ‘read’ again.

All during this time I’ve been working as a Holistic Health Practitioner, both in a local health food store and my own private practice out of my home. I earned my Master Herbalist certification and I make herbal health and beauty products under the name Blossom Spring. To enhance my practice, I learned all I could about bio kinetics, chakras, auras and mind over matter visualizations and the parts they all play in healing. I read voraciously about physics and energy, health and positive thinking, as well as a myriad of psychic authors. Suddenly, my two interests became one. The more I read the more connections I made. I was reading and meditating and finding my way through all of the information out there.

I thought the good Lord must have something ‘different’ in mind for me. I felt the Spirit leading me away from my church and into a true one-on-one relationship with Him. It was a complicated time in my life to say the least.

I was a very active member of my church for ten years. I participated in bible studies, Sunday school and a shepherding program in which I took on ten church families and watched over them and acted as a sort of liaison between them and the pastor. Then my husband left me and my intuition started to grow. These two things effectively changed my relationship with my church. Nobody was happy about the divorce and it made it hard for people to talk to me. I confided in a few ‘friends’ about my growing relationship with God and the things He was showing me. They told me I was crazy because God doesn’t talk to people anymore, (only the devil does apparently!) and they asked me to please not tell anyone else about these so called ‘visions from God’. While I understood their reactions, it alienated me and my boys anyway. The love and connectedness I had once felt were gone, so I took a time-out.

When I went back a few months later to join a bible study, the senior pastor took me aside and he yelled at me saying things like, how dare I come and go as I pleased! If I wasn’t going to come back and be as involved as I used to be, I needn’t come back at all! When I tried to explain how I was feeling and why I backed off for a little while, he yelled over the top of me about how rotten my kids are and that’s when I said that I didn’t think things would get pretty from here, and I left.

The things I just recounted are the facts as they happened in my presence and as they were witnessed by others. There were other things said into the senior pastor’s ear by another member of the pastoral staff which no one told me about. I know these things because the Spirit showed me, not because of gossip or hearsay. I figure that God must have really wanted me out of there to use the senior pastor of such a great church in this way. None of the witnesses that day could believe his behavior any more than I could.

While trying to make peace with that whole experience I continued having visions of my future, deceased loved ones and even little, everyday type intuitions. Things like just knowing I should take a different route to work, only to find out later that there had been an accident on my usual route. That kind of thing.

One day I was thinking about the nature of God and how much I’ve learned and expanded my understanding of Him, when I felt a wave of ‘knowing’ come over me. I suddenly knew that God was calling me to the ministry. I went directly to my computer and became ordained that day.

As for my decision to earn my Doctor of Shamanism degree, that was the easiest, most natural call to answer. Beginning with my first vision of the Indian chief in my bedroom, to my connection to God through nature, to the fact that I have been a Shaman in at least two of my past lives, then add to that my Blackfoot Indian heritage, and it’s just a natural choice.

I am an herbalist, a natural health care provider, and I take my cues for a clients health from the spirit world. I am Shaman.

Dr. Bonnie Tripodi, MH, DD

a.k.a. Blossom Spring



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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.



Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Wicca and Comparative Religion

Comparative Religion at Universal Life Church Seminary
Initial Unveiling
Rev. Baudouin Heuninckx, ULC
LL.M. in European Union Law, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK M.S. in Engineering, Royal Military Academy, Brussels, Belgium M.A. in International Politics, University of Brussels, Belgium B.S. in United States Law, Saratoga University, California, USA

Myth of Creation of a Religion
The religion of witchcraft, or Wicca, was firs revealed by Gerald Gardner in the middle of the twentieth century. In line with the academic work of some noted scholars, he introduced his reader to an age-old nature religion that had been kept alive by witches despite the persecutions of the Catholic Church. The tenets of this religion seemed also to follow and confirm a number of the conclusions reached by anthropology and the literary study of ancient myths.

However, further studies have shown that Wicca was probably a creation of Gardner himself, with the subsequent help and support of others such as Doreen Valiente5. To his credit, it is likely that he actually did intend to recreate and reenact what he and most academics of the time thought to have been the original religion of humanity. Unfortunately, most of the hypotheses on which he based his work have now been proven wrong with at least some degree of certainty, leaving Wicca without an actual basis as a religion in the distant past.

In fact, most recent studies show that we actually know close to nothing about the original religion of humankind.

Wiccan and Comparative Religion – Initial Unveiling This does not, and should not be used to attempt to, undermine the religious value of Wicca and neo-paganism in general. All current religions were brought to the fore at a certain point in time, and the age of a denomination is not a satisfactory measure of its validity – assuming one can even question the validity of religious beliefs.

However, this provides us with an opportunity for an applied study in comparative religion. Gerald Gardner was a learned man who lived in South and South East Asia and had an extensive knowledge of Britain’s history and folklore. He had been exposed to a number of different religious traditions and cultures, and their influence on Wicca through Gardner should be further investigated.

Moreover, Wicca and neo-paganism in general are not organized religions, and their beliefs and practices have evolved and been adapted by a number of people over time8. This allowed even more traditions and philosophical concepts to enter Wiccan theology. Their influence should also be investigated in a comparative setting.

As this essay is submitted to the ULC Seminary to complete the course ‘Comparative Religion’, it will investigate and be limited to a comparative analysis of Wicca for the various aspects discussed in this course. Because of size limitations, it will cover only the aspects of the course dealing with theological principles, and not the more practical ones such as ceremony, sacred space, or religious titles.
It is hoped that further courses will allow expanding this analysis further.

Wicca as a Religion and a Philosophy

Interestingly, some have argued that Wicca did not actually qualify as a religion, and should be considered as a philosophy instead. This misunderstanding is probably due to the prominence given by Wiccans to principles such as the Law of Return and the Wiccan Rede. However, following the definition of religion (‘a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny’), Wicca is clearly a religion. Most Wiccans believe in the immanence of Deity and revere it under various forms, often considered as archetypes for its multiple aspects, such as the polarity between male and female.

In addition, Wicca, like most religions, is also a philosophy (defined as ‘any personal belief about how to live or how to deal with a situation’, or ‘the activity of thinking critically and rationally about life's most important questions’). The nature of Deity, of the world, of the soul, and of life and death are frequently discussed within the Wiccan religion, and the budding philosophical aspect of Wicca is alive indeed.

As stated above, most Wiccans believe in the immanence of Deity in the world, a concept often referred to as pantheism. This concept of immanence of Deity implies a strong holistic view of the world and a belief in the interconnection of all things, requiring Wiccan to attempt to put themselves in tune with nature and show respect the physical world, including their own body. This principle would encourage the performance of healthy activities such as sports and the shunning of additions that could have a negative impact on health.

Some Wiccans – maybe a majority – also believe in the actual existence of transcendent divinity. This combined belief, far from being contradictory with the immanence of the Divine, has sometimes been described as panentheism, the belief that the divine is both transcendent and immanent.

Additionally, many Wiccans consider themselves polytheists, believing either that there are many definite and separate divine beings, or that these are different facets (archetypes) of one or more divine principle.

It has been argued that the original Wicca as described by Gardner, with its emphasis on the Goddess of nature and her consort the God of the wild, was a form of duotheism.

Whatever the point of view of the individual Wiccan, the depth of these discussions sometimes reminds the reader of what is known about similar discussion among the first Christian churches.

Wiccans have generally a monist view of the world. For them, no difference should be made between the spiritual and the material, the sacred and the secular, life and death, dream and reality, and most importantly between good and evil. There is only one reality, but a multitude of choices. This is close to the philosophical principles exposed by Hegel, and also to what is thought of as the philosophical view of the Celtic druids.

The philosophical debate between Wiccans on the nature of the divine is certainly not closed. Discussing these issues in Internet forums reveal that sources as varied as Greek philosophy, Hindu philosophy and the Jewish Cabbala are used (and sometimes, unfortunately, misused) in a remarkable feat of syncretism. It has been argued that Wicca in the U.S. has also been influenced by the pantheist and nature philosophy of Emerson and Thoreau.

It is worth noting that a number of courts in the United States have recognized that Wiccan churches were performing religious activities and that their brand of Wicca was indeed a religion.

Ecumenicalism

Some Wiccans harbor a measure of animosity towards the Christian Churches, some of it due to resentment for their upbringing in what they feel was the yoke of Christianity, and some of it due to anger at the so-called ‘burning times’. However, Wicca is generally a tolerant religion. Since it became more and more accepted in the mainstream religious circles in the United States, Wiccan religious figures have been part of interfaith dialogues and groups.

Any other position would be contradictory to the Wiccan principle of free will: If it is the will of the divine that all people should be free to do what they want as long as none is harmed, then this must include also the freedom to worship differently. This has been referred to as henotheism, a belief in the Divine that does not reject the validity of other such beliefs. Holding theological discussions with Wiccans show their wide interest and acceptance for other religious views, often up to the point of incorporating some of them in their own set of beliefs.

The Golden Rule that is usually followed by each religion is very nicely embedded in the Wiccan Rede: An it harms none, do what thou wilt.

It has sometimes been called simplistic, or hedonistic, but a more thorough analysis shown a much deeper meaning, similar to that of the Gold Rule of many other religions. Some have seen its last part as a license to act on whims, but it actually implies an obligation to will, and this will must be yours. People have therefore the obligation to decide for themselves what they want and to will it actually to happen. Their second obligation is then to act to make their will take shape.


The first part of the Rede qualifies its second part, but has sometimes been mocked by people arguing that it obligates Wiccans to do nothing, as any action would actually harm something or someone. However, ‘none’ also includes us. By doing nothing at all, one would wither, and therefore suffer harm. Some measure of harm will always happen in any case. Therefore, in acting to realize their wishes, Wiccan have the obligation to balance the harms carefully such as to minimize any damage done. This obviously ties-up with the principle of Peace preached by so many religions and highlights the importance of responsibility and choice.

Many religious traditions ask their followers to seek within themselves. As some other religions, the Wiccan belief in the immanence of Deity implies this principle. In religious and magical ceremonies, Wiccans often attempt to draw the divine energy out of them to attain some form of enlightenment. An interesting Wiccan ceremony is called ‘drawing down the moon’, where the celebrant would actually attempt to draw the Divine inside and then out of him- or herself in order to become temporarily an incarnation of the God or Goddess (theophany).

Wiccan Religious Stories

As Wicca does not have sacred scripture, as we will discuss below, Wiccan religious stories are a somewhat fluctuating concept. However, a few of them recur in various traditions. This is especially the case of Descent of the Goddess, which aims to teach Wiccans about the circle of death and rebirth.

There is no flood story in Wicca that the author knows of. Considering that Wicca considers the Divine to be immanent in the world, and that It gave free will to the creation, there would be no reason to create a flood. Moreover, as Wicca is a new religion, its lore cannot really incorporate early reminiscences of an actual flood.
No Wiccan story actually tell of social change that happened in the past. However, most of the Wiccan theology embodies the rebirth of the divine feminine. Therefore, most Wiccan stories are actually about social change. Especially the strands of Wicca based in the U.S. have long advocated feminism as a religious duty.

There are no heroes per se in Wiccan lore. However, it can be argued that the role of the hero is held by the Divine itself. The many creation myths of Wicca present the Goddess in a more human way as for instance Christianity. The so-called Wheel of the Year described the life of the God and the Goddess over the course of the seasons. This supports, the whole concept of immanence of the Divine and of drawing divine essence down in and out of each human actually encourages men and women to emulate God, or at least to become closer to Her/Him.


Esoteric v Exoteric

Wicca, as a non-organized religion, does not have an overt (or covert, as far as the author is aware) ambition to regulate society, despite the fact that Wiccan followers are expected to abide by the Wiccan principles of life, adapted by themselves as required. Wicca was originally presented as a religion limited to initiates, and revealed to the world only to ensure its memory was kept alive. Therefore, the exoteric dimension of Wicca is quite limited.

However, Wicca considers itself a descendent of the ancient mystery religions, where esoteric practices were the key to religious knowledge. Therefore, its esoteric dimension is important, despite the fact that this dimension is dulled by the wide availability of books and testimonies on the subject in this modern world. One characteristic of Wicca being the absence of dogma, there is not much technical esoteric traditions. However, mystical esoteric teachings are an important part of Wicca.

Wiccan esoteric teachings are inspired by the little that is known about ancient mystery religions. Such religions were anchored in the living an actual experience of closer contact with the divine during specific ceremonies that would give enlightenment to the initiate and bring him or her to understand the ‘mysteries’ providing a deeper understanding of the nature of life. These mysteries, even described and explained, cannot be fully grasped without the actual experience of the initiation (subjective wisdom).

The Wiccan Mysteries can be summarize as experiencing the immanence of the Divine within oneself and the universe, the acceptance of death and the understanding of the circle of rebirth, and the interconnection of all things through the divine union of male and female polarity. However, it has often be argued that one can only become truly aware of these mysteries through the initiation process, either within a coven or not.

As in theosophy, some form of direct experience of spiritual illumination is required, but this illumination has to be sought from within, sometimes through a theophany, a divine manifestation in or through the initiate. However, as the Divine is immanent in the creation, theophany can also be seen, and should be sought, in nature. These precepts are in line with some of the principles presented over time by philosophers such as Giordano Bruno, Hegel and von Schelling.

There is therefore a strong esoteric tradition in Wicca, and it could even be argued that Wicca was originally supposed to be an esoteric religion, secret and limited to the initiates. Much of this esoteric tradition came from Gerald Gardner, who was partly drawing on the ceremonial magic of Aleister Crowley, the rites of the Freemasons and, indirectly, the Jewish Cabbala, Hermeticism and alchemy. Therefore, it is correct to say that Wicca was formed around the experiences and teachings of an Esotericist.

Esoteric practices are at the heart of Wicca, even if the wide availability of simplistic books on the subject, and the focus of too many teachers and practitioners on practical magic, sometimes cloud the deeper meaning of what it means to be Wiccan. If mystical Wiccan traditions are not eradicated by oppressio (which is unlikely), they could very well be by publicity.

Wiccan Symbolism
Wicca uses a number of religious symbols, most of them coming from older traditions such as the Cabbala. Gardner and some other leading Wiccan figures have been strongly influences by the work of Jung, and they therefore were clearly aware of the importance of symbolism.

The circle is an important symbol in Wicca. It embodies the principle of circularity of time, and represents the circle of death and rebirth, which reflects the belief in transmigration of the soul to another human body after death. Most Wiccans believe – contrary to Hinduism or Buddhism – that this cycle of transmigration does not aim to end and is generally infinite. We will come back later to that point.
 
Used to delineate ritual space or drawn around the pentagram to form a pentacle, the circle also represents the Divine, which embraces and unites creation. As in the Wiccan view, the Divine has a strong feminine aspect, the circle is usually held to represent the Goddess. As in many religions, circumambulation is often used in Wiccan rituals, even more easily because the sacred space is defined by the magic circle.

Although the combination of two triangles to form a six-branch star is sometimes used in Wicca as a symbol of duality, this is relatively rare, probably because of its close association to Judaism. Likewise, the cross is rarely used in Wicca.

A more common symbol is the pentacle, a pentagram inscribed in a circle, that represents the five elements of Aristotle (Air, Earth, Fire, Water and Spirit) united by the Divine. This symbol therefore represents the universe and/or perfection. Because of the shape of the star, some have also held it to represent humanity embraced by the Divine.

Prayer, Invocation and Evocation
Prayer, meditation and contemplation are very often used in Wicca, and are considered by some as a most important duty of Wiccans. Many different prayers and techniques are used, some of them based on those of other religions (principally Eastern ones), and some using techniques developed within the New Age sphere.

The use of invocation and evocation in Wicca has been mentioned before. As Wiccans believe in the immanence of the Divine, drawing it out of oneself (evocation) is seen as a way to bring the best out of people. In addition, as most Wiccans also believe in the transcendence of the Divine, calling on divine power to enter a celebrant or to grant a favor (invocation) is also a usual practice. An interesting combination of both is the ritual of ‘drawing down the moon’ mentioned above. The regular use of practical magic by Wiccans is also a good illustration of these practices.

Suffering and Death
Suffering and death are at the heart of the theodicy paradox: how can we reconcile a benevolent and omnipotent Deity with the suffering that happens every day in the world? Many religions have solved this contradiction by the concept of sin, or human transgression from divine law, complemented with some form of post-mortem judgment and possible salvation. Humans suffer because they breached divine law, but those who lead a just life will be saved after death and reunited with the Divine.

Contrary to most of these religions, Wicca does not condone the concept of sin. As the Divine granted freedom to the creation (as shown in the Wiccan Rede), it would be very difficult to breach any divine laws up to the point of being punished. If one wants to be coherent with the immanent concept of Deity, divine laws would simply be the laws of nature. To quote a famous television show ‘Nothing happens in contradiction to nature, only to what we know of it.’ The concept of sin, or even more, original sin, implies that humans separated from the Divine, which is inconsistent with the concept of an immanent Deity. If one believes in an immanent god, belief in salvation is a contradiction, because each of us is already ‘with god’.

According to Wiccans, retribution for bad actions and reward for good deeds will not come in the other world after some form of judgment. In this case, Wicca differs from most religions, even the ancient ones, such as that of Egypt. Because of the Wiccans’ monist vision of the universe, there is not really ‘another’ world. Reward or retribution will come in this world, either in this life or in a following one. This belief is embodied in the Law of Return, or Threefold Law, which some have mocked because it sounds simplistic.

Additionally, most Wiccans also do not see the concept of evil opposed to good in a dualistic way. For Wiccans, evil does not have as its source a tempter or opponent of the Divine: it is simply one of the consequences of nature47. What we call ‘evil’ is in any case a very relative term. The reason why bad things – as well as good things – happen in this world is that the Divine gave the world the freedom to do these things in order to grow.

Growth obviously does not happen during one lifetime only, and requires further transmigration of the soul to ensure its growth over the long term. This view is close to pre-Christian Celtic religion, which held among other things that surpassing oneself brought men closed to the Divine, and that the only possible fault was to remain passive49. Failure to succeed in one’s endeavor was not a sin. This cycle of transmigration does not need to end, because there will always be something to learn (although this view is not shared by all Wiccans). In this sense, any judgment is a self-imposed decision to come back as a human being in order to grow.

If the benevolent and all-powerful Deity would intervene to stop some evil deeds from being done, it would also prevent some souls from learning a potentially important lesson. As in ancient mystery religions, enlightenment comes through experience.

It is submitted that the different views of the final aim of transmigration/reincarnation between Hinduism, Buddhism and Wicca comes from the fact that the world into which these religions were created was much different. A few millennia ago, life in South Asia must have seemed like a punishment to most people. The only way to make sense of it was to hope that one day it would be possible to reach enlightenment and to be liberated from the cycle of reincarnations. On the contrary, the life of most current inhabitants of Western Europe and North America is generally enjoyable (and in any case, much more so than a similar life in India at the time of the Buddha). Therefore, there would not be a reason for Westerners actually to want the cycle of their rebirth to end.

Sacred Literature
As stated above, Wicca does not actually have sacred literature. The works of prominent Wiccans such as Gardner or Starhawk are used by many, some of their texts more than others, but one of the main characteristics of Wiccan literature is that beliefs and rituals should be modified to fit the need of the individual and of the group. Doctrine is therefore flexible and evolving, and dogma is generally non-existent.

Wiccans also often uses religious mythology from various ancient cultures when it fits the purpose of their rituals, in addition to recently created mythology. This is in line with the idea that the gods are archetypes of various aspects of the Divine, and allows for a wide syncretism.

The Wiccan tradition is written (through so-called Books of Shadows, which are personal) as well as oral and, in accordance with mystery traditions, supposedly reserved to the initiates. However, we have seen that the publication of many books on the subject has put much of these teachings in the public domain.

There is no belief in the end of the world in Wicca. This seems coherent with the belief that the cycle of transmigration would never end, and also with the lack of belief in the need for salvation. It could be argued that an immanent deity destroying the creation would also be destroying itself, or at least part of itself if it is also transcendent.

As sacred literature is absent from Wicca, and most of the authors of current texts are well known and still alive, exegesis and hermeneutics are close to non-existent in Wicca. However, this could develop in the long-term, as the link with the authors of some books dissolves.

Evolution of Wicca

We have seen above the origins of Wicca. It shows an extreme syncretism, openness to gender and race, and adaptability, and is not an organized religion.

Wicca is not the consequence of a schism, as it did not come out of a break from another religion. Neither is it an heresy, as Wicca does not seek affiliation withy any of the current organized religions. In that sense, if the hypothesis of Margaret Murray that the burning of the witches by the Catholic Church was the repression of an ancient religion had been accurate (and we saw earlier that it was not), the Church would have been as incorrect to qualifying witchcraft as heresy as it was to label the Cathars as heretics. Both would have been wholly different religions from Christianity.

As Wicca is composed of many solitary practitioners and small groups without any charismatic leader overseeing the whole movement (Gardner never actually saw Wicca develop as a worldwide religion), it could not be classified as a sect or cult, either.

Conclusion
The ‘Comparative Religions I’ course has provided a deeper insight into the world’s religions in a comparative setting. Analyzing Wicca in that context shows many similarities with some tenets of other existing religions, as well as with some ancient religions, which highlight its strong syncretism.

On the other hand, Wicca also brought some fundamental innovations, such as the importance of gender polarity, the restoration of the feminine, considering the human body as sacred, drawing the Divine into and from the body, and the absence of sin and salvation. These are inexistent or uncommon in other religions, and some other beliefs of Wiccans, such as the immanence of the Divine and a monist view of the world, are far from what is considered as valid theology by most current religions.

These characteristic make it an original religion and philosophy that is fit for the twenty-first century. Wicca certainly has a place in a comparative analysis of religions and religious movements, and it is probably bound to expand further in the years to come.

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers hand-fasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.



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Paganism Course

Paganism through the ULC - Universal Life Church Seminary
I have enjoyed the Paganism course. As in the other courses I have taken, it was like someone was just reminding me of something I had forgotten. I did learn some new things. Those things just added depth to the knowledge that was already there. I am getting the same experience in some programming classes I am taking. It must be the right time for me to increase the depth of my knowledge.

The first thing that I learned was the Pagan Story of Creation. I have heard and read many different versions of creation from several different view points. This is the first time I had heard it as a love story. One thing it teaches is there is a balance of power. Ying without Yang, Male without Female, Dark without Light, is unbalanced. Another thing that the story teaches is that the greatest creations start in Chaos. If Chaos is guided it can create beautiful things. Left alone Chaos is just chaos.

It always amazes me that if you look at religions side by side, they all seem to have something in common. I have always wondered why people look for what is different rather than what it the same. A lot of religions have ceremonies around the moon phases. A lot have gods and goddesses. The gods and goddesses usually have multiple forms or faces. There are guides or helpers for good and demons or tempters for bad. I think it is a good thing to understand others. In understanding others, you learn more about yourself.


I enjoyed learning about the Pagan year and the using of the terms the Northern European Wheel and the Mediterranean Wheel. I had not heard these terms used with the Pagan year before and when I started doing research on the internet it was amazing how many these terms pulled up. It also helped to have the year broken down into the different festivals and moons. It is making it a lot easier to give things a name of what I am celebrating rather than just a description of why I am celebrating.

The thing that most impressed me was the listing of the tools and their uses in this course. I have seen each of things listed scattered among books and text but this was one of the better listing of tools in one place. I also appreciated the explanation on the Runes and their meaning. It helped explained why Rune reading is not my thing. Before I always thought it was something I was doing wrong.

I could go on and on about the things I enjoyed about the course. There were some things I do not see the same way as the course presented but that is the beauty of learning. As you take any course there are things that you agree with and things you disagree with. If you agree with everything that everyone says with you are a sheep and we can only hope that the person guiding you is a good person.

The last thing I would like to mention is that I am closer to saying I am a Universalist. I do believe that every religion has truth in it. Depending on how a person thinks is how a person believes. I have found no one religion or set of beliefs that encompasses all that I believe. I had a Tarot Reading about 10 years ago and something the lady said has stuck with me.

My question was will I ever find the religion for me. She said that I would never be happy if I chose one religion. That I was a Seeker and would find the truth in everything and that one day I would set up a place for others to teach and learn without adhering to one belief. I have found that reading coming back to me often. I am learning about all beliefs and one day I hope to open a place for all to come to worship and learn in whatever manner they wish.

I can’t wait to see what the next classes teach me.

Rev. Terri Greer

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers hand-fasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.



Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Master of Religion

Master of Religion - Christian Studies through the Universal Life Church. Universal Life Church When one takes the time to hear statistics concerning the Bible, the full impact of its influence on the human race begins to be revealed. A single book comprised of sixty-six individual books, written on three continents, in three different languages by more than 40 authors from all walks of life, the Bible is one unified book from start to finish. The part that stopped me in my tracks was the statement of the author of this course, Dr. Herbert L. Fuchs that ‘the Bible remains one unified book from start to finish without contradiction’.

A statement made by Dr. Fuchs is one I’ve believed in since I started down this ordered path GOD has set me on. “It’s not necessary to demonstrate to the rest of the world how experienced we are by throwing around masses of Bible quotations. The proper approach is not only to be humble about our acquired knowledge, but also to find our basic belief in a way similar to an effective Bible Study.”

I also add my own observation in which I’ve seen ministers whipping out credential after credential at gatherings in an attempt to set themselves above everyone else. The attention that is gained by the minister can backfire as he/she rattles off verse after verse from memory acquired in sessions devoted in memorizing the Scriptures and paying the least attention to their meanings, just to get that paper to show off.

To me, that would put you on dangerous grounds, leaving yourself open to attacks and ridicule of your character by those who are legitimate in the acquisition of their knowledge. It’s the old case of; ’Keep you mouth shut (and credentials in your pocket) and let people wonder about your ignorance, or open your mouth and remove all doubt.” The study of GOD’s word should not be taken lightly or used as a show piece.

What I found to be the most captivating topic of this course was the comparison of the texts containing the Ten Commandments and the differences between translations and how they’re arrival was orchestrated. This was a comparison between the Protestant Bible, the Catholic Bible and the Apocrypha and the Hebrew. To me, the revelation of the variances of the Ten Commandments in the same Bible, between the Books of Genesis and Deuteronomy in every day language, ‘blew me away”! I had to keep my belief system I’ve developed in the forefront of my thought processing, in which I profess a belief of all translations are of GOD-inspired words that are different for a reason.

Possibly to give us a sort of parable to study several Bibles to “average out” or “sift” through to acquire a parcel of GOD’s panoramic view of the history of man. Man possesses a finite brain that resembles a sponge. If you poor enough into it, some will be absorbed and retained. We are forced by “GOD’s plan?” to come to some acceptance and announcement of a belief system to adhere to, from all the thousands of texts that are known.

It was stated that “No book of ancient times has come down to us exactly as it left the hands of the author. All have been in some way altered………before the invention of the printing press (1440),…….the little care of copyists and translators…………….for the text, was so different from the desired accuracy of today.” . So I ask myself and GOD in prayer why HE would allow this to happen. My answer presented to me was that HE didn’t just ALLOW this to happen.

By allowing several different sets of texts, without having lost any of the Words inherent meanings could only be accomplished with an intervention by GOD. If GOD didn’t control the development of all the different variations to force us to dig deeper and in doing so, find the more esoteric messages, who else then? Satan? I don’t believe my GOD would allow a violation of HIS Words without intervention. The course text claims that to the mix were added exegetical difficulties and dogmatically controversies. “To exempt the sacred writings from ordinary conditions, a very special providence would have been necessary, and it has not been the will of GOD to exercise this providence.”

I ask from which text it is taken that GOD doesn’t exercise HIS rights as a Divine Creator to exercise HIS divine (special) providence. We must remember it is HIS book! And HE doesn’t do things (to our limited ability to understand) for any reason. In addition we need to study the ‘lost’ books of the Bible as well as those purposely removed for as little as a political ploy, and make our own statement of belief from those as well. In doing this we must remember, and I reiterate, the main point of Bible Study is not the acquisition of knowledge, but to get to know GOD personally. “Praying and turning things over in your mind are complementary activities.”

We then enter into a four chapter discourse of the New and Old Testaments (very informative), with the intent of instructing us on the history of Christianity, highlighted by the story of the Apostle Paul’s career as THE foremost champion of GOD’s word, following him throughout his journeys. We are then introduced to the various religious titles, women as priests, followed by a discussion of the sacraments and the variance of what is considered to be a sacrament in each of the different religious denominations, we are told to go to church regularly and freely without spousal influence, take part in the sacraments and to “Enjoy the gift of Jesus.” What follows then are several chapters devoted to marriage and its success and failures.

GOD established marriage very early on in man’s history. The question is raised why satan attacked the weakest link of the family, the woman. If man was the superior of the first family unit, why didn’t he stand up and speak up when satan (as the snake) approached Eve? The topics of the roles of the Father and the Mother, partners of the same sex, prostitution, abortion and divorce are all covered.

The view taken by the author is hard to swallow as truth, with reference to abortion he says about taking an infant's life…. “And GOD surely understands.”…..I say to this WHAT?!?!? Who gives anyone the right to say what GOD says about a topic outside HIS Word, the Bible!!! This topic could cover volumes, but I now am going to present some of the course texts ideas on the family and divorce, a topic that is an arrow in my heart.

It was stated that too many people rush into marriage………underestimating the importance and seriousness of this Holy Sacrament. I know of a young man, who at the age of eighteen, who had received an early honorable discharge from the US Navy, married his high school sweetheart who was also was eighteen.

For the sake of time and space I’ll briefly numerate many of the issues that were present in their relationship and also discussed in this the text. This relationship was based on lust, ownership of another human being, unfaithfulness (cheating), lies, deceit and most importantly lacking GOD or Christ in their lives.

As the text mentions that in the breakup of most marriages lays sin. This couple “hoped” love would germinate, though not voiced, but was apparent in their start of a 37 year relationship. And Dr. Fuchs is right…in the middle, strong as ever…..sin and satan. After tolerating each others transgressions with no knowledge of forgiveness from GOD’s Word. A boiling point was reached one cold fall night. The partner who after 14 suicide attempts was poised to follow through, when the other partner walked in and called the authorities.

The end result was the young man, now elderly received a divorce from a wonderful woman; he was incarcerated for some time and exposed to untold hideous sins. Most importantly, he was forbidden to ever see his son or grandson again. Yes Dr. Fuchs, “Divorce IS terminal”. Do I believe in divorce? No, its ramification or shock waves affect many, many more people than you could imagine. Some say it’s better to love and lost than to have never loved at all. The personal pain of loosing a wonderful wife, an entire family with nothing or No one to turn to…(eventually GOD and Jesus)…………………That pain is indescribable and I’d prefer to bypass it, if it should ever come my way again.

That young man is me, and for the longest time I felt that I was the victim, until GOD spoke to me in prayer and made me aware that I was the victimizer and not the victim. That was when I invited Jesus into my life and I opened the door to my heart and life for Him. GOD, in His infinant wisdom gifted me with many wonderful blessings that included my ‘40 years in the wilderness’ in the form of time isolated as a pre-trial detainee.

In getting to the point you hear GOD’s silent voice, isolation gives you an opportunity to listen to GOD’s Word, or as I saw so many unfortunately do, increase their coalition with satan. Every one wants a Bible while incarcerated. But when they are released, nearly all leave their Bible behind and the lessons they were taught. Jesus filled the whole in my heart that had led me to so many wrong paths in my 37 year relationship with my High School Sweetheart. Testimony? I give it freely to anyone who sincerely asks, how I survived heart surgery with complication after complication, going almost totally blind, receiving two, yes two pacemakers, and still came out of my ‘wilderness’ journey in love with my Lord and King. I must recant that I came out of my wilderness journey.

I’m still there, just in a different location. As a soldier for GOD, I will always be in the wilderness, fighting battles against the evil that held me in its claws for so many years. I am a minister of GOD’s will and the faithful servant to HIS son, Jesus Christ.

In chapter #14 we are warned to not over-step the boundary of basic reason. In other words, don’t tread into territories reserved for professional psychotherapists. If we do work as pastoral counselors, we should at least have a minimal training in psychology with a constant awareness of the legal ramifications of our advice. Be careful.

Due to the degeneration of the environment we live in, for self survival, we tend to keep a horizontal perspective instead of a vertical one towards the heavens. Given enough time, many lives become engulfed in guilt, shame, anger, bitterness and fear; devoid of the ever presence of GOD. Life then becomes an endless search for meaning to fill the void we feel in an existence saturated with evil.

We must change that horizontal focus back to the vertical focus many believe we are born with. The evil of the world is the prime mover of this change away from GOD. The horizontal focus that has drifted so far from GOD, so as to require more and more counselors (ministers), who, remaining on the correct path, can overcome this evil that would have a grasp on the world.

The evil that would keep our views on the self and away from our focus on GOD. The underlying motivations of this self-focus reveals creations of GOD that are self-serving rather than serving GOD. Anything done without faith, without reference to GOD’s Word is sin. The course also tells us and I quote, “Our feelings tell us what is happening, but we are not to make decisions or live by these feelings….a Christian doesn’t live by his/her feelings but by his/her will.”

By definition, from Marsha Linehan’s book, The Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorders, our senses tell us what is happening in the environment around us, and the feelings we experience are secondary and derived from that sensory input. All feelings are legitimate and serve a purpose as long as they are expressed correctly. She continues with a concept wherein we should live in the gray area of where two circles overlap each other with one titled “rational mind’” and the other titled “emotional mind, in other words a wise mind with a balance of rational thought and emotional thought, with neither dominating.

Feelings when left unchecked create an unbalance wherein the feelings or emotions feed on them selves. When these emotions are left out of control, we have extreme results such as murder, a predominance of emotions (feelings). Keeping our focus on GOD keeps all of our thoughts, reasoning, feelings (emotions) on what is good and desirable to GOD.

We then enter a chapter which approaches the topic of whose denomination or Church is the true Church, Body of Christ. It lays out a course that Christianity has followed in its development from the ancient Orthodox and Catholic religions, through the major ‘turning of the mind’, the Reformation. This important event gave us the Lutherans, the Reformed, the Anabaptist and the Mennonites. In America we see even more diversity in the form of Disciples and Pentecostals, Bible Churches and the ever present independent Mega Churches that would intimidate us into ‘giving them more money’.

All claiming to be the true Body of Christ. Who is right? Who goes to heaven? Who goes to hell? We now have hundreds of denominations in America, and their numbers are still growing. It really doesn’t matter that much as most of them are built on a common foundation. As long as we strive to avoid shortcuts and ‘detours’ and remember that we are here to serve and glorify HIM and not the other way around… To criticize GOD’s orders as done by the Lutherans is not acceptable. We can’t and must not think for a moment that we can change these orders from GOD, if we decide to just ‘pass’ a Church rule, with no foundation to support these changes in the Bible. GOD will not tolerate that which countermands HIS orders. Patrick Schwab, the author of this discourse, appears to feel that we should distance ourselves from these false doctrines.

He states that, “Nevertheless, a reformed Catholic or Orthodox Church in a basic Lutheran strategy would provide a real Church of the fullest truth if done, based only on the Bible in it’s original version.” There is no contention with that statement if the Bible in its absolute original version, beyond a shadow of a doubt, was available to all. But this is not a fact of the matter. We don’t have an original version, only hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of pieces or ancient texts. GOD has allowed us a literary license throughout our history, which supports my claim I made in the Four Gospels Course, that to be “GOD wise” and “Bible wise” in our capability to absorb knowledge, we have to read and study as many of the ancient texts as we can to gain a panoramic view of GOD’s making, without drawing any prejudices from denominational doctrines into the studies with us. Mr. Schwab then says we should distance ourselves from these doctrines not of GOD therefore incorrect.

I must say that it’s a known fact that Jesus came to heal the sick and not the healthy, so he was always seen with crooked tax collectors, prostitutes, and the worst of the worst. He never distanced Himself from the lost, but chose to be among them in true evangelist’s form. So why should we keep our beliefs from others? Non-believers (future Christians is a better terminology) will see us turning our back on those practicing false doctrines, and most likely interpret that as a sign that we think “we’re better than everyone else” We are all GOD’s creations.

Jesus came to us to provide a means of a blood sacrifice for the redemption of sins of ‘everyone’, not just a few. This we receive by the grace (free gift) of GOD apart from the law of Moses, which Jesus stated that He did not come to do away with the law, but to fulfill it’s prophesies (as the Messiah). I make no inclination towards calling all the “other denominations” either good or evil, which is not mine to judge. What is my right and duty to GOD, is to familiarize myself with them and not “distance myself from them”, If my belief system is of the Word of GOD and GOD’s alone, there exists not a single worry or belief that will touch me, if it’s truth, it will withstand.

I must and do whole heartedly agree with Mr. Schwab’s last paragraph of lesson 19 in which he states “……..there are many good people out there and they do make a difference. It is just very hard to find them as they are doing their missionary work in the dark and often under financial distress.” They are far removed from the Mega (Give, Give, and Give) Churches.

Please don’t misconstrue my intent to defame the large Evangelical Churches. Any Church that brings the lost into GOD’s house and introduces Jesus to them is absolutely wonderful, and most definitely doing GOD’s work they were led to.

In the final chapter the topic of the government’s view of Religion and how they co-exist together is laid out for us. Using our history books, we’ll see there will probably never be a complete alignment between the two. Our currency reads “IN GOD WE TRUST”; but no one seems to remember that those words are there. The government is supposed to be of and for the people.

A government that legalizes partial birth abortions of infants fully formed, innocent, unable to defend or even speak up for themselves, pure and from GOD, needs to evaluate whether those words “IN GOD WE TRUST” is a good thing! My GOD says thou shalt not kill…..period! No clauses, referendums, no stipulations, no amendments to the Ten Commandments. This is a very hefty topic requiring an essay of its own.

Jesus was a practicing Jew His whole life. He didn’t come to abolish the Law of Moses. The character and nature of GOD is revealed in the Old Testament to the Jews who suffered the wrath of GOD, who knew GOD’s attitude about sin and HIS requirements to remedy the separation that sin imposed between the sinner and GOD. A blood sacrifice was an understood necessity even before the chosen people. Abel’s sacrifice is evident of the early knowledge of that requirement by his offering of the firstling of his flock which met that stipulation.

Early Jews thought if you study the “Old Testament” Scriptures you would possess eternal life. In the New Testament we find over 50 references to ‘Scripture’ meaning the Old Testament. New Testament wording says we can not “please GOD with good deeds”. If that’s what you believe you’re in error. You are saved by grace and not by actions.

To please GOD we must meet several conditions. The first being we must have righteousness about us that GOD sees as righteousness. To be righteous requires faith on our part and acceptance on GOD’s part. We shouldn’t view the way of salvation as two separate and distinct ways.

Jews always looking ‘forward’ to their coming Savior and Christians always look backward with faith in the completed work of their redeemer. GOD accepts both Jew and Gentile on the basis of their faith in the death and resurrection of HIS messiah as a substitutionary sacrifice to completely pay the penalty of our sins.

I found this course to be surprisingly ‘readable’ and not dry reading as I expected… It did fulfill my expectations of the train of thought that permeates all of the courses I have and am studying. That being the need and desire that should be instilled in each of us, no matter which path we follow, to get to know, understand, relate and minister to all peoples of every religion. I would also recommend this course as a primer to new Christian and non-Christian alike as well as advanced students of the Bible.

It provides much of the basic rules of basic Bible Study no matter what your level. It does contain quite a plethora of historical events and characters from the Bible, especially my favorite (Besides Jesus of Nazareth) Saul of Tarsus (The Apostle Paul).

That being said I would highly recommend the Master of Religion Course to Students of all levels as well as well versed life-long Christians. Any one with a question in their minds about the Bible, the Church, their personal spiritual growth, GOD and Jesus Christ (Let us not forget the last but by no means the least of the Holy Trinity, the Breath of GOD) will find a foothold to GOD in a way that is provocative and inspiring to create a desire to dig deeper into a topic that strikes them with the impact of GOD’s Word.

What I liked least about the course was the best sections. To clarify, the most inspiring to me was too short. A lot of mileage was given to a lot of subjects. There are a lot of topics that cry out to be heard in more depth. I would like to see this course the same length (or longer) but in two separate courses, I and II. Would I be interested in taking more courses by Dr. Herbert Fuchs and Patrick Schwab? Yes, most definitely.

Love and Be Well.


Rev. Kipper Rowen

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers hand-fasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.



Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

A Course in Miracles

A Course in Miracles through ULCLesson #9 talks about attention. The first sentence in the paragraph immediately before the section which tells the story of the king’s coronation states, “Fear enters when love is not present.” This caught my eye as I was re-reading all of the lessons to decide what to write my essay about. I feel the reason this popped right out at me is because self love is what I must embrace before I can take a leap forward in my own spiritual growth. In doing the work on myself to completely encompass self love I’ve learned that every word I use and how I use every word is very important to the energy I’m experiencing. This is why it may seem like just a technicality to somebody else, yet it is important for me to change a few words.

“Fear enters when love is not present.” My belief is that Love is always present because that’s what God is; God is Love. God is eternal therefore whatever God is, is eternal and will always exist. Since God is Love, then Love is also eternal and will always exist or in other terms Love will always be present. Love is always present therefore the statement, fear enters when love is not present, is an invalid statement.

If love is always present then why are we not always love or loving or feeling lovable, etc? This is where our free will comes into play. Love is always present and we have the choice to embrace this ever present Love or deny it. When we make the choice to deny or turn away from Love is when we create the illusion of fear.

Fear is an illusion because fear does not exist in the Now. When one has fear one is thinking about the past or the present. Eternity is now. There is no past or present with eternity there is only now. God is eternal therefore God is not fear therefore fear is not real because only God is real. Love and fear are irreconcilable. Love is the reality of God and fear is the illusion of the ego. Reality (Love) and illusion (Fear) can not be in the same place at the same time. If you deny the eternal or real then you must create an illusion to justify the denial of the reality and if you accept the real then there is no void to fill up with an illusion.

To sum it up, the illusion of fear enters only when one denies the reality of love. Since this chapter is about attention, a better way to start this paragraph would be, “Fear enters when attention is taken off of love.”

This is my belief.

By Cindy Bartholome

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

The Universal Life Church offers hand-fasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge selection of Universal Life Church  minister supplies. Since being ordained with the Universal Life Church for so many years and it's Seminary since the beginning, I've watch the huge change and growth that has continued to happen.



Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar