How do I overcome my fear of going within and take my spirituality to the next level?

[MrsBlessed]

I have always been interested and curious about spirituality all my life. I was raised Catholic, and I am no longer religious (but I still have a
little baggage left over) Anyway, since finally being able to let go of religion, I've had a tremendous paradigm shift over the past couple
of years, and no longer consider myself "religious" or even a christian. I just want to find my purpose and live it out, connect to Source without any middlemen , and basically use my mind and it's potential to it's fullest.

The past year I have gone to two different psychics for the first time, to get readings. I asked about my life's purpose, and the first one told me that my main purpose was to develop and explore my spirituality, that I was more open to this than ever before (in previous lifetimes). I was stunned since I had not mentioned my previous paradigm shift or my lifelong interest in spirituality. The second psychic told me that she saw that I had a strong sense of clairvoyance within me, that the angels were working with me fully to help me develop this gift. I thought this was odd, since I had never had what I considered to be true psychic experiences, yet psychic phenomena has always intrigued me, and when I was younger I wished to have these abilities but I was told that psychics were "evil" and got their information from demonic sources. So even though I was intrigued, I didn't let myself explore this in more depth because of fear and ignorance.

Anyway, I was basically given advice on how I could develop spiritually, specifically that meditation every day was essential. For years I have always
been curious about meditation, ESP, telepathy, astral travel, OBE, and many paranormal and metaphysical topics in general, but have never really tried anything long enough to see real results. Everytime I tried something, I would end up sabotaging myself and quit. I have only gone as far as reading about these things and not really living them the way I want to.

My problem is, is that I am afraid of what I will discover about myself, and of what I will "see". Like I said before, I have never had any paranormal
experiences, but I had read a lot about others experiences to know that negative entities exist! Even with benevolent beings, angels, my guides, I am afraid to "meet them" even though they are there to assit me in a positive way. I know a lot of this fear stems from my upbringing, about what I was taught about heaven, hell, devils, evil, etc. Even though I no longer believe in the dogma, I still have these blocks that are preventing me from moving forward.

So, right now I am stuck. I want to know who my spirit guides are and communicate with them, to develop my clairvoyant abilities (assuming I really have any), and to basically take my spirituality to the next level.

How can I get over this fear? I want to move past this and make some real changes.

[Kaspian]

You might consider reading Sonja Choquette's book Trust Your Vibes to get started. She's got another book, Psychic Pathway that specifically addresses how to deal with fears about psychic stuff.

[MrsBlessed]

Thank you. I just got the audio book version of Psychic Pathway too, talk about coincidence! I haven't listened as of yet, but I will.

[Anna Conlan]

Hello MrsBlessed,

A while back, I posted on this forum with this same issue (and got lots of helpful responses. I'll have to have a look for the thread.) I since overcame my fear and wrote an article about what I learned in the process.

I was probably worse than you in that I was paralyzed by a fear of spirits. I'd get freaked out if I was in the house or in a room on my own in case there was a spirit or a ghost with me! I was also afraid of my own guides.
Now I work with them daily and sometimes encounter deceased spirits who want healing. I would have had a heart attack if I'd encountered a deceased spirit two years ago

Here's the article I wrote: healingandinsight.com » Blog » Overcoming a fear of the spirit world

Anna

[MrsBlessed]

Your article was very helpful, thank you. I liked the part about how you said that spirit guides and such things are a normal part in many cultures.

I go went through periods where I would visit the forums or read an article on Erin's blog about a bad experience she had when she was younger and it would be hard for me to go to sleep at night. I, too, would literally not get out of bed if I had to use the bathroom and would be scared of the dark or being alone even during the day. The fear would eventually pass, but then I'd read about someone's experiences and start the cycle all over again.

Last night I was in bed thinking about this thread, and I had a little anxiety but it's definitely not as bad as it used to be, so I am making progress a little at a time.

I know rationally that there is nothing to be afraid of, that the more fearful I am, the more I will attract bad energies.

It's a tough cycle to break.

Originally Posted by Anna Conlan

Hello MrsBlessed,

A while back, I posted on this forum with this same issue (and got lots of helpful responses. I'll have to have a look for the thread.) I since overcame my fear and wrote an article about what I learned in the process.

I was probably worse than you in that I was paralyzed by a fear of spirits. I'd get freaked out if I was in the house or in a room on my own in case there was a spirit or a ghost with me! I was also afraid of my own guides.
Now I work with them daily and sometimes encounter deceased spirits who want healing. I would have had a heart attack if I'd encountered a deceased spirit two years ago

Here's the article I wrote: healingandinsight.com » Blog » Overcoming a fear of the spirit world

Anna

[Mato Kinze]

Fear is one of the most fundamental roadblocks people encounter in their lives. For most, it is THE defining factor in their existance. Ultimately, though, there is only one real fear; the fear of Death.

Once we recognize that Death is an ally, not an enemy, we can truly begin to live a fearless life. Coming to grips with our mortality and understanding the thinness of the veil that separates "life" from "death" helps us to put all other "fears" into perspective.

This is the Path of the Warrior - the Path of Strength and Power.

Some books you may find useful on the subject:

"Beyond Fear", don Miguel Ruiz
"Places That Scare You", Pema Chodron
"When Things Fall Apart", Pema Chodron

Erin has written about the difference between "startled" and "afraid". I like the distinction she draws.

To me, the distintion is that startled manifests as, "Whoa....didn't expect that!" while Fear manifests as, "EEEEK!!![run away, flee, hide, protect yourself]"

The former allows you to remain open to the experience while the latter closes you off.

Fear, or "dread" - in my opinion - stems solely from our desire not to die or to have ones we love die. Also, to a lesser degree, not to be uncomfortable or feel pain.

When we give up thinking of Death as the enemy and accept that Pain is merely a state of mind, we have nothing left to cause us Fear. It is at that point that we can truly begin to see the world as it "is" and not how we'd like it or want it to be. Same with other people and ourselves.

don Juan Mattus called Fear the first obstacle of a Man of Knowledge. This is what he was talking about.

[amixa]

Hey Mrs. Blessed.
Just a few weeks ago I posted that I could not get over the fear of the spirit world and no matter what I tried or read.. I was super afraid.
But how Anna phrased it really helped me out -- that if you think of it that those negative entities are just a 'simulation' to let you know your vibration is low or you're thinking negatively about something then you could just read it as a visual sign to help you realize and remind you to think of the positive aspects of that subject instead.
It kind of seems like a simulation too though, because if God/the source is all light.. the negative is just a simulator for us to experience.. or overcome.
I've also been exploring shamanism (not a religion, wikipedia to see more) and in shamanism around the world the general consensus is that there is an upper world and a lower world of helpful spirits. lower world is thought to be where the devil is in other religions but this is not the case. the lower world tends to look like the natural landscape of earth with animals and so on.
Anyway, it is the middle world, which we reside in that has these so-called negative spirits.
This is a long Q&A article of the man Michael Harner who started a shamanism organization and offering the knowledge of shamanism through courses at his school in the states.
Articles on Shamanism and Shamanic Studies: My Path in Shamanism by Michael Harner, from Higher Wisdom by Roger Walsh and Charles S. Grob

you can just skim through what you're interested in finding out but eventually they start talking about the three different levels etc. He starts talking about good and bad spirits at the bottom of page 3.

I'm mostly over being scared of the spirit world (it took what.. 20 years?) -- I think. I'm not as jumpy about it partially because I did go see a shaman and have been journeying with them (without any herbal use) and met my spirit guide in a very safe environment in my minds eye. After exploring a little it didn't seem so bad at all.

I will tell you I saw one or two negative spirits in my lifetime one of which was in front of me a good few seconds to make out what it was. but it was actually *leaving* me because I had just contacted the shaman for the first time and it was making its way outta there so that it could avoid the shaman. This spirit I read, on wikipedia likes to hang around people who have an immense amount of negative energy stored in their body and thus it feeds off of it. So it wasn't doing anything to me per say.. just living off the negative energy I was carrying around.. kinda like a leech!

anyway if I can get over my fear I know anyone can as my parents would definitely remember the number of years I would not go into a room by myself because I always felt like I was being watched. It definitely was freaky but chances are they were my spirit guides or angels all along

Originally Posted by MrsBlessed

Your article was very helpful, thank you. I liked the part about how you said that spirit guides and such things are a normal part in many cultures.

I go went through periods where I would visit the forums or read an article on Erin's blog about a bad experience she had when she was younger and it would be hard for me to go to sleep at night. I, too, would literally not get out of bed if I had to use the bathroom and would be scared of the dark or being alone even during the day. The fear would eventually pass, but then I'd read about someone's experiences and start the cycle all over again.

Last night I was in bed thinking about this thread, and I had a little anxiety but it's definitely not as bad as it used to be, so I am making progress a little at a time.

I know rationally that there is nothing to be afraid of, that the more fearful I am, the more I will attract bad energies.

It's a tough cycle to break.

[nicholaspowiull]

This question was answered in great detail from the perspective of love: How Do You Take Spirituality to the Next Level?
How do you take spirituality to the next level?