Elsabe Smit

You can apply The Secret as much as you want, but if your thoughts sabotage you, you will not get what you want.

Everything happens at the destined time. The time is determined by your soul, and not by your body or the world around you.

There is a range of emotions that we go through as part of the grieving process. We only complete the process when we understand that we have not lost anything with the death of a person or animal, or the loss of a possession.

Our thoughts are originally cosmic waves of consciousness that we first turn into thought and then into action. There are more waves than people, so nothing prevents you from achieving your goals.

The Law of Attraction focuses on your wishes without any judgment. Ensure that you focus on what you want, rather than on what you don't want.

A journey does not only take you from point A to point B. The journey also teaches you that language is emotion more than words, and gives you experiences that are irreplaceable.

Keep learning and keep asking questions. That is a powerful way of breaking down boundaries.

Don't believe everything you read in the Bible. There is much truth hidden behind prejudice and wrong translations.

If you believe in and celebrate Christmas, you may choose not to read the rest of this article, because I respect your choice and wishes and have no desire to change you or your beliefs.

If you don’t believe in Christmas or you have not made up your mind yet, read on.  I may have some interesting information for you.

I am not convinced that a person called Jesus ever lived.  I have read widely on the subject and can put forward a convincing argument that Jesus did exist, that he spent a fair number of years travelling the world (including countries as far away as India and the current United States), that he eventually was crucified and survived that experience, and then got married to Mary Magdalene.  Apparently, they had three children and then got divorced, and Jesus was last heard of when he was still alive and well into his seventies.

On the other hand, I can also put forward a convincing argument that Jesus was a resurrection of the myth of a virgin birth, where the ruling tyrant wanted the baby dead.  The baby became an adult, was worshipped as a savior and put to death on a cross between two thieves. He then rose from the dead and ascended to heaven.  Other mythical characters that had the same history include Bacchus, Narcissus, Zoroaster, Cadmus of Greece and a list that is too long to repeat here.

It also makes no sense to me that a monotheistic religion such as Christianity then breaks down their one God into three gods which includes this figure, Jesus.

I was impressed at how flexible and adaptable religion is, and how big an impact the Christian Jesus has even had on other religions, when I discovered what the Hindus did with Christmas, which is not a traditional Hindu holiday. In 1985 a five-day festival named Pancha Ganapati was created by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami along with elders of various Hindu groups.

During the festival of Pancha Ganapti Hindus create and decorate a shrine in the main living room of the home.  The focus if the shrine is a statue of Lord Ganesha.  Every day the children of the home dress the statue in a different color.  On 23rd and 24th December, the third and fourth day of this five-day festival, presents are handed out.  Now the Hindu children can also receive presents and not feel left out when the rest of the world goes mad on tinsel and sanctimonious songs.

Apparently, the tradition of having a Christmas tree is rejected as a heathen practice in Jeremiah 10:2-6: “Thus saith the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen ... For the customs of the people are vain; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.”  I know many Christians who ignore this part of their Good Book but insist that the rest is true.

Why does Santa Claus always dress in red and white?  Because he works very hard on Christmas Eve delivering gifts to children all around the world, and when he gets thirsty, he stops and drinks Coca Cola out of a red and white can.  Yes, that company decided that Christmas was really about the spirit of Santa Claus, and they decided to dress him in company colors.

And to think all of this started with a Public Relations job that was commissioned by the Christian church 2 000 years ago! I wonder if they would be willing to take on the PR for my new book?

What are your beliefs about Christmas?  Why?

I love travelling.  I enjoy the butterflies and anticipation of getting on a plane.  I get excited about the idea of arriving and having to find my way, especially when I do not understand the language and where the country is different.

But I also enjoy discovering beauty and interesting history near my house.  England is one of those countries where even the mundane probably has a history of one or more centuries.  And like other European countries, they are proud of their history and happy to display their knowledge to anyone who wants to listen.

But what has all this to do with a spiritual journey, you might ask?  Everything.

A spiritual journey is much more than packing your bags to visit a holy place.  There are people who go to a graveyard regularly to talk to those that are buried.   Other people visit a spa and get pampered from head to toe.  Others simply sit in a garden and regain their balance.  Then there are people who survive trauma such as bereavement, divorce, rape, torture, redundancy, and so on, and become an inspiration to others.  And others go shopping to release their stress.

How do these journeys qualify as spiritual journeys?

The tarot major arcana describes our journey through life.  We enter life as innocent fools, and have various experiences that cover every aspect of life.  We choose to have a particular slant, such as emotions, intellect, money, or faith.  We also choose a life theme, such as Love, Justice, Judgement, Temperance or any combination of the major arcana.

People like to think of themselves as unique, because we are all unique.  Each one of us chooses a different combination of aspects that we want to explore in our lives.  Then we get born.

Our spiritual journey on earth commence when we choose to inhabit a body and those cells start to multiply and divide after conception.  From that moment, we are destined to have a spiritual journey on earth.  When we also choose the experience of a journey such as a pilgrimage or hajj or any other form, the journey is more intense during that time, because of our focus.

Does this mean a still-born or aborted baby does not have a spiritual journey?  No.  They have their own journey which coincides with the mother’s journey, and with the journeys of everyone that are affected by them.  When the medical doctor or nurse or chaplain or social worker deals with the consequences of death at any stage, they do so because they chose to explore matters such as life and death as part of their own lives.  They cannot do so unless other souls are willing to participate in these journeys.

We have conflict in our lives and it gets resolved.  We have troublesome relationships and grow from them.  We doubt ourselves and find our confidence.  We have traumatic experiences and recover from them.  We feel the intense joy of being loved and we have our senses stimulated by nature.  All of these happen for a reason.

Every single experience we have in life is planned as part of our spiritual journeys.

Do we have to be spiritually aware to gain from these experiences?  No.  Where a person claims to be an atheist, they are still able to love and be loved.  You can be very religious and still experience intense gratitude or have out-of-body experiences.

You may not want to put a label of spirituality on any experience you have, or you may shy away from describing anything in your life as spiritual, but that does not make anyone less spiritual.

On the other hand, going on a pilgrimage of any kind does not make you more spiritual either.  You may raise your awareness by doing a consciously spiritual journey, but when you started out in life you were on a spiritual journey, just like the person who chose not to do a pilgrimage.

And when we leave this world, we will continue our spiritual journey, because it is an eternal journey regardless of what you believe about any life after this.

If you have already packed for your journey, take my advice.  Leave half of your stuff behind, so that you can make space for new discoveries.  If you insist on travelling with a full suitcase, expect your body to protest.  Expect physical illness and exhaustion.  If you are afraid of your physical journey, your body will protest, but that is only the symptom of your fear of a spiritual journey.  And there is nothing you can do to avoid your spiritual journey – you cannot even die, because the journey continues after your death.

If you only pack half your stuff, expect to bring back not only gratitude and joy, but also new challenges – that is proof that you are alive and still on your journey.

What is the nature of your spiritual journey?  How do you gain from your journey?