Wassup y’all

In today’s episode, I talk about a recent encounter I had with *dysfunctional* faith and what I learned from the experience. It’s levels to this! Give it a listen and drop a comment if this resonated.

Prompts for the week:

* Where are you using faith as a bargaining chip to access something that’s not for you?

* How can you utilize faith to get alignment with what *is* for you?

Check out/revisit the previous posts in the Functional Faith series to assist in answering these questions.

If you appreciate the free content I provide & you feel moved to, you can leave a tip/donation here: https://linktr.ee/kamilashakur

I love and appreciate y’all for being on this walk with me. Have an amazing week and a Happy Full Moon!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit walkingthepath.substack.com/subscribe

Peace, y’all.

This is part 2 of the Functional Faith series. I may come back and add some additional text, but the episode is pretty comprehensive. How is your Faith journey going? Drop a comment if this message resonated, even if it’s just a emoji 🙏🏿✨ As I said, I’m not working so if you wanna drop a love donation for my work, that would help me a lot as I work toward recovery ❤️‍🩹 Pay links: https://linktr.ee/kamilashakur

Love y’all💫

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit walkingthepath.substack.com/subscribe

What’s good y’all. It’s been a minute! I’ve been laser focused on creating content for y’all as well as other endeavors I have going on. As we gear up for May, as we approach this solar eclipse this Saturday (the last day of the month), as we get up everyday and work towards the future we want, we need to talk about two things: faith and functionality.

If you’re signed up for this newsletter, your faith matters to you. You are invested in your spiritual development, at least enough to seek out content that can help with it. Because life is better when you believe in something. But the age of belief is over. Now we’re in the age of knowing. The age of information. Data. And a focus on how information is used to increase functionality for people (get used to the tech analogies 😂). 

That includes spirituality. So let’s get right into it:

How functional is your faith? 

Let’s look at the definition of functional. 

From that definition, 3 key words stood out: Purpose, Operate, Useful.

Functionality in the spiritual sense is measured by how you operate, how aligned you are with your purpose and on a “mundane” level, it’s about usefulness. How useful are the operating systems you’re using to become a better person? How do these things help you achieve the purpose you came here to fulfill?

Now let’s look at the definition of faith.

To believe something is to accept it as truth. To KNOW something is to watch it operate & witness the outcome. We go from accepting what we’re told to observing long enough/well enough to see for ourselves what is true/what works. That’s essentially the process of growing up out of what we were taught as children and into seeing the world for ourselves. This is what gives our faith a strong foundation, because it is built on our life experiences and dedication to observing what leads to self-improvement vs what doesn’t.

Let’s be clear: There will absolutely be times when you have to believe it before you see it. However, the saying that “faith is blind” or that you don’t need proof when it comes to spirituality is also incomprehensive. Even in the Bible, some things had to happen in the physical realm for people to respond to God. (Burning bushes, instant healing, plagues etc.) Regardless of how it seems, tangible results have always been a part of spirituality. Because this life we are living is a spiritual assignment, of course seeing things in the environment we learn in is necessary. 

When I ask how functional your faith is, I’m not asking if all your prayers get answered instantly. I’m not asking if you’re able to manifest whatever you want. What I’m asking is, how is your faith improving your ability to be the best you? When we look at the keywords for faith, we see trust & confidence. Confidence has been a major theme for me ever since my 5th house profection year last year. Astrologically, Confidence often relates back to Leo (which is ruled by the sun & rules the 5th house - I’m a 5th house stellium :)

If it’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that without confidence, faith does not exist. If you are not confident in what you claim to believe, it’s not faith. It’s most likely fear. Fear to admit you don’t really know who or what to believe in. Fear of the devil/hell you were taught to be afraid of. Fear that you will fail at embodying your best self. If that is what you’ve been carrying around and calling it faith, this is where you have to get off that ride. It’s a pretty scary conclusion to come to, but a necessary one if you hope to move forward with clarity. I’m pretty sure these upcoming eclipses will help with illuminating this, so if you’re into astrology, pay attention to these transits and be intentional.

Here are some prompts for you to reflect on this weekend (you’re gonna wanna revisit it after we hit mid May and have that full moon lunar eclipse in Scorpio):

* What/who do I have the most faith in? *Is this reflected in my actions?

* What was the last choice I made that demonstrated my faith? *How did it turn out? (Skip if n/a yet - check back next month)

* Are the things I put my trust & confidence in helping my heart, mind and spirit?

Music Meditation: Who Do You Believe In - 2pac

I’m toying with the idea of making this a series, so please respond with how this newsletter helped or flopped for you. Cuz at the end of the day, my mission is to give y’all what you actually need - not what I assume you need. So don’t be afraid to comment, dm me, any of that.

I’m gearing up to schedule clients for the month of May. I have services starting from $22. From creative clarity to connecting with your ancestors, there’s something there that will help with your spiritual journey. Check out my services: Let’s Heal.

I’m currently working on some digital products for y’all because sometimes you don’t need a reading, but something you can readily grab as a resource when you need it. Stay tuned cuz y’all will be the first ones to get access to everything as subscribers. Y’all loyal, so you know ima look out.

Spiritual Music Stuff

Click here for part 1 of my musical analysis of Future Hendrixx. You can also listen on Spotify.

Check that out if you want to hear me talk about Future’s connection with the planet Pluto, his low vibrational nature, and his latest album ‘I Never Liked You’.

If you’re interested in my work related to music, check out my upcoming series Intuitive Listening and sign up for the Music Notes newsletter as well.

With that, I hope y’all enjoy y’all weekend! Jummah Mubarak 🤲🏿

Peace ✌🏿

Kamila

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit walkingthepath.substack.com/subscribe

What’s good, ya’ll. The audio is distorted until you get to 1:12, I apologize. Please skip ahead to that timestamp. I was basically talking about the tweets that got me to thinking about the topic. This podcast episode talks about what Maryam Hasnaa calls sacred adornment, the circumstances and environments that contribute to us doing energy work with clothing, jewelry, and accessorizing, as well as examples of how the energy we put into how we look is about much more than how we appear externally. Around the 18 minute mark, I give an example of what a materialistic spiritual assignment could look like.

Now let’s get into the newsletter where I explore other facets of this topic:

This piece has been a long time coming. For decades, I have been grappling with my personal relationship to money and materialism, trying to find the balance between being a poor righteous teacher/starving artist & having a healthy relationship to the material world I’m inhabiting. Of course, because my ancestors have a hand in every part of my life, they are the ones helping me reconcile with this. This line of thinking started picking up last year when I tweeted about my ancestors having dress codes and how they require me to show up to the altar wearing certain things on certain days/at certain times/when I am communicating with certain spirits.

There is a connection between why it was so important for us to look our best at church on Sunday. Why the ushers and the church mothers wore white when they did. Why they took such pride in their hats. It may have seemed superficial, and maybe it was. But that wasn’t all it was.

I thought about it even more as the discourse about Black women in luxury picked up. For context, you can read my general thoughts on luxury in this Twitter thread. For now, let’s shift the conversation from the energy of clothing to Spirit & materialism in a broader sense.

A big part of my fraught relationship with money was due to how I grew up. I was raised an only child and never had to want for anything until I became a teenager, when the recession hit. So it wasn’t a lot of scarcity that produced this, it was actually a fear of overspending and not being able to manage money properly. I’ve been big on saving ever since I was a kid, before I really had any responsibilities. I never wanted to be down to my last if I could avoid it.

As I grew up, that very sensible trait became entangled with fears I developed about when money would run out and how I needed to behave in order to keep the money I’d earned or received. I had learned how to save. But I didn’t really know how to spend and be confidenent that the money would come back to me because my foundation was so rocky. So for me, spending money on what may seem unnecessary to others was something I had to do to heal the energy I had around money. Sometimes I’d go to the altar and the homework was to SPEND the money my spirits had gotten to me through my work or gifts.

In the midst of spending, I still had to be responsible. I still was monitoring my accounts and looking for the best deals. Just because I was spending more didn’t mean I was free to be reckless. Paying off debts was also apart of my spending assignment, and it definitely shifted the way money was flowing in and out of my life. It also brought about exciting opportunities that would eventually turn into a source of income later.

We’re constantly bombarded with programming about the value of money and how it affects people when they have it or when they don’t. I was also running into a lot of prosperity conciousness type stuff that was making it difficult to understand what the real work was. Affirmations, budgeting and abundance frequencies didn’t do the work for me. Citrine crystals and green candles didn’t do the work for me. It was about listening to my spirit and the spirits I trust, which gave me opportunities to engage with energy and money in such a way that it allowed the healing to happen, little by little.

This newsletter isn’t encouragement to spend what you don’t have or to aspire to spending on unnecessary things. But it’s important to remember that because Spirit affects everything and uses everything, that includes material items and money. As Venus Retrograde comes to a close, I want this to prompt you to reflect on how you’re thinking about money and what the dynamic is like between you, your spiritual team and your finances.

Are you using your ancestors like an ATM? Are you trying to do money workings and failing to see the results? Are you judging others in your mind about what they buy and how they spend their money? Are you repressing your fears and doubts about being able to handle large amounts of money? Are you skipping spiritual assignments because to you, they look stupid, mundane or materialistic? Dig deeper.

As I end this newsletter, I am so excited to announce that I’m getting back to work doing readings next month! Remember, if you need help affording any of my services, please don’t hesitate to email me. Sliding scale prices and payment plan options are available. Intuitive Listening sessions are $99.99 for a limited time, so if you’d like to book one of those, this is the prime time to do so.

Check out my services KamilShakur.onuniverse.com

Click here to submit an inquiry for services.

Click here to check out testimonials.

Want to tip me? It would be very much appreciated. Cash App-$KShakur2U PayPal Venmo-@MilasUniverse

Check out the K Shakur Speaks Podcast

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Have questions about the topics I discuss? Email me at [email protected].

Peace

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit walkingthepath.substack.com/subscribe

*Warning* The podcast is kinda hype and all over the place 😬 If you’re in that mood, listen. If you want something serene, read the newsletter. Same topic, different tone lol.

Peace ya’ll.

Many blessings to the pure of heart, welcome back to Walking the Path. As you can see, this newsletter comes with its own podcast episode, which is pretty cool. This is exclusively for Substack, I won’t be uploading this anywhere else for the for-seeable future. I curse and ramble all throughout it, but if the message is for you, it will hit and stick like grits lol. Let’s get into the written version of this message.

Welcome to the Wu.

The image above is the Wuji (Wu-chi) symbol. It represents the highest state of nothing. A few years back, I started learning Qigong, “a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial-arts training.” as Wikipedia so eloquently states. I was looking for different body movement techniques because I couldn’t do dance as intensely as I once had and yoga just wasn’t hitting for me. I came across qigong, started practicing and I loved it. I fell off in my practice, but recently, it has re-entered my life, a welcomed return at the start of my 6th house profection year. The 6th house in astrology rules over health and routine. As someone with various health debilitations, this year is extremely important for me.

In the midst of my Saturn return, as I get more acquainted with aging and my own mortality, it has become crystal clear that I cannot afford to neglect my health any longer. Qigong is now apart of my daily routine and improves the health of my body, spirit and mind. It centers me. It helps me regulate and distribute my energy efficiently, in the flow.

During my daily or nightly qigong practice, I have to come into the wuji posture. Being in this state always feels so sublime. The amount of vitality & stillness that you feel in this state, after you’ve renewed and charged up your energy is unmatched. It truly is the highest state of nothing. Wuji can also be translated to “without ceiling”. And that’s the essence of why it feels so good, because you can feel the pure potential and how limitless it is. How limitless you are.

We tend to want to do in order to see how far we can go, how much we can accomplish. But often, we miss the crucial step of accessing and becoming one with nothingness before we make our moves. When we prioritize being in the wuji state, we move with a clarity, a sharpness and yet a fluidity that begets efficiency, authenticity and wholeness.

Now I know what you’re thinking: this is just the same message everybody else is saying about rest, but with a different word and philosophy. You would be correct, because all of these topics are interconnected and influence each other. But the reason I’m bringing it up now is because there is often an immense pressure to have a million things done before January 1st. The house has to be spotless, Black folk got rituals we have to do, we gotta figure out what our goals for the new year are, we need to have a plan for how to achieve those goals, and a back up plan just in case the first one doesn’t work, and a vision board and you need to be doing whatever you wanna be doing for the rest of the year on January 1st - you get the idea.

While all of these things are important, I feel the need to encourage you to place doing nothing at the top of your to-do list. A few minutes every day, just you and the cosmos. Not going over what you have to do that day. Not planning anything. Not even verbally praying. Again, you’re probably like “So meditate…” Yes lol. But it’s less about trying to clear your mind of anything and more about sinking into the space you exist in before you start thinking and planing and doing.

The wuji state is meditative by nature, but it’s different to me based on the fact that before I reach that meditative state of stillness, I was actively cleansing, strengthening and renewing my energy. I didn’t get to stillness by just being still and that’s what makes the wuji state different from meditating from sitting down and being still from the get go. You don’t have to do qigong to get this effect, you get the same sensation after you listen to a song that had you hype as hell and when it ends, it’s just quiet, you’re still in the vibration of the song, but you’re quiet and/or still. That’s the wuji state. If you don’t know what I mean, turn on a song that makes you get lit every time, without fail. Play the song and have the time of your life. When the song ends, just sit still and be quiet for the next few minutes. Try it and see how the rest of your day goes. Observe your responses and how you feel throughout the day. Try implementing it these next few days and see how you feel on New Years Day.

I’m currently on hiatus from readings and energy work from the public until February 2022. However, I am going to be servicing Walking the Path subscribers who want to book a service before February. Whether it’s ancestral guidance or energy work through music, I got you covered. Lately I’ve been wanting to be more exclusive about who I share things with. This podcast, the offerings that are closed to the public, this is my way of doing that with you, as a token of my gratitude for your support.

Click here to submit an inquiry for services.

Click here to check out testimonials.

Want to tip me? It would be very much appreciated. Cash App-$KShakur2U PayPal Venmo-@MilasUniverse

Check out the K Shakur Speaks Podcast

Listen on Anchor

Listen on Spotify

Have questions about the topics I discuss? Email me at [email protected].

Have a beautiful end to 2021 and a beautiful start to 2022.

Salaam

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit walkingthepath.substack.com/subscribe