Spirit Medicine
Spirit medicine is the meeting point of evolution and enlightenment. It’s where you find your limitlessness and potential to manifest your highest self. Each civilization, across all of humanity, has had their own practices for cultivating and knowing spirit.
In today’s world, I would estimate that the majority of people do not have a spiritual practice. Most spiritual practices are thought of as religion itself or as new age fluff. Nonetheless, spirit is an essential component of what makes us whole. We, as humans, inherently strive to have purpose and to feel deeply connected to ourselves, to each other, and to the universe itself.
I believe a healthy spiritual practice has many expressions and can be very inclusive, but needs to involve a conscious effort to evolve and to connect. This process of evolving and connecting naturally embodies spirit. This is spirituality itself. Like a plant growing toward the light, humans, too, need a light to grow. To seek spiritual nourishment and to be inspired is a fundamental part of existence and an integral aspect of a happy and healthy life.
Golden Lotus Healing Arts seeks to help you connect to both the exterior and interior worlds where spirit exists. The ancient wisdom of Chinese medicine saw humans as the interplay of cosmic and earth energies, the yang and the yin, the above and below. Cultivating this awareness and these connections is a powerful form of spirit medicine.
Astrology as Spirit Medicine
Astrology has been used for centuries in countless traditions to bear witness to the cycles and patterns of cosmic energy which influence human existence. It observes the moon cycles, the planetary shifts (retrograde, returns, transits, eclipses etc.), the seasonal phases, equinoxes and the patterns of all natural phenomenon. It uses metaphor and symbolism to give it meaning and to place you in direct conversation with higher consciousness and universal wisdom. This connection to universe energy, its cycles, its flow, and its expression, is a direct connection to spirit.
Astrology engages you with the deeper truths, the shadow aspects and the constitutional nature of your existence. It can shed light on your energetic potential, help guide you in times of transition and acquaint you with your purpose and destiny.
Through bringing awareness to your own chart, charts of others or by simply observing the cycles of the cosmos, it will allow you to better understand yourself, your relationships and the ways of the universe.
Chinese Medicine as Spirit Medicine
The ancient Taoists placed one’s connection to heaven at the top of the hierarchy for health and wellness. The highest level of Chinese medicine is said to nourish destiny. Destiny refers to a human’s capacity to connect with and embody spirit. Spirit is said to descend from heaven and to live in the five organ systems of the human body. The five spirits are the highest natures of these five elements and when cultivated can lead to a deep sense of harmony between self and other, between the inner and outer dimensions of existence. This balance is referred to as the highest level of health one can achieve.
Chinese medicine uses all the 8 pillars to interact with and cultivate spirit. Among them, meditation, dietary therapy, acupuncture and herbal medicine have been used for centuries to nourish destiny. Meditation connects you directly to spirit through helping you reach higher levels of awareness, food and herbs contain spirit within them and nourish the body with spirit energy every time they are used, and acupuncture communicates with all the spirit of the points, the organ systems and the spirit of your very existence.
Spirit is the energy that gives us purpose. It is the motivation behind our existence and Chinese medicine specializes in cultivating it.