Sarah Goes To A Spiritualist Church: An Illustrated Journey

 

This is the tale of my Sunday adventure.

 

 

Reba is actually Rebecca, but I like to call her Reba. Mostly, because she doesn't like it and teasing your friends is fun. But also because it's easier to type than Rebecca, which contains so many letters. Therefore, we'll be sticking with Reba for the purposes of this story.

 

Let us begin....

 

 

On Sunday night, after eating a delicious Thai dinner, Sarah and Reba journeyed far to South County St. Louis to experience a Spiritualist church. When they arrived at the address Google Maps directed them to it didn't look like a church at all, but it was. Not all churches come with stained glass windows and tall stone bell towers. Some churches come with a large selection of herbs and incense,  books on how to cast spells and faerie paraphernalia.  Inside the store Pathways was the regular gathering of Circle of Light Independent Spiritualist Church. The girls parked the car and walked slowly toward their adventure.

 

 

"We're here for the service" Sarah said timidly, hoping she was in the right place. "Wonderful" said the man with the long pony tail and forearm tattoos. Sarah then remembered that she was out of incense and decided to take advantage of the opportunity. She carefully smelled the various packages while Reba wandered around the store oooing and awwing over all the pretty crystals. Looking around the store at all the witchcraft candles and spell books and tarot cards gave the girls an idea. Without a word, they looked at each other and knew what the other was thinking - we should totally get into this stuff. It looks so fun!

 

 

 

Ponytail man turned out to be one of the Reverends at the church, Rev. Bill. As people were setting up for service the girls were handed the following materials they would need for the evening:

 

1. A worship book containing prayers, belief statements and songs.

2. A yellow paper containing the many beliefs of Spiritualism such as -

 WE BELIEVE that we are a pulsating energy field of life force, composed of our vibrations, be they negative or positive, energy-taking or energy-giving WE MAKE THE CHOICE.

More Spiritualist Beliefs  

3. Rainbow chair cushions, because the folding chairs we going to be VERY uncomfortable.

4. A pamphlet on Circle of Life briefly outlining their services and activities.

5. A piece of paper and a pen for writing your name so you could receive a Message from the other side courtesy of a Messenger.

 

 

Slowly the front of the store was converted into a worship space. An alter stood at the front of the room with a symbol the girls didn't recognize. Above head were colorful pieces of paper hanging from the ceiling like a banner. On each paper was a memory or statement about Rev. Deborah, Pathways owner and main Reverend of the church, who recently passed away. At the front of the room were four chairs for the leaders of the service who wore purple scarves around their necks.

 

 

A real photograph for comparison.

 

 

 

The girls took two seats near the back. Service was scheduled to start in five minutes (6:45 pm). Other people entered the space and filled in the chairs around them. Everyone was chatting. The room echoed with the sounds of new agey chatter - chakra balancing music, horoscopes, the horror of dealing with Capricorns, moon cycles, reiki stuff, etc. Sarah and Reba talked about rollerskating and the perils of mixing alcohols.  The leaders discussed who would be doing what during the service. Sarah was unclear as to why everyone was just sitting around talking twenty minutes after service was supposed to start. "Are we waiting on someone?" "Is something wrong?" "Is service ever going to start?"

 

 

It was now 7:15 and Sarah was getting frustrated. Reba has no concept of time and therefore had no concerns. She enjoyed sitting and taking in the culture.  Finally, it was time for service. Rev. Bill stood and thanked everyone for their quiet energy work during the first portion of the service. Sarah thought silently, "Hmm..talking is form of quiet energy work? Who knew?"

 

 

 Rev. Bill stood and asked a member to lead the group in Ohming. He and the three other leaders exited the room while the rest of us sat in our chairs and saying "Ohm" three times. It was unclear what they were doing on the other side of the door. Quiet energy work/talking about stuff? Drinking whiskey? Meditating? Back massage circle? Bubble gum blowing contest? The world may never know.

 

 

 

 

After some prayers and reciting things in unison Rev. Bill gave a brief inspirational talk. There were four themes in his talk. The first was about Jesus or "Christ". Spiritualists believe in Jesus, but in a different way than most Christians. Bill discussed how there is a light in all of us, a Christ in all of us. At this point Sarah began imagining herself growing a beard and wearing a cream robe as Sarah Christ. This amused her. The other themes of the talk were about using the tools we are given, remembering how fortunate you are and being grateful for all you have.

 

 

 

Then it was time for messages from spirits.

 

 

Spiritualist believe we can communicate with "the other side" - beings in the spirit world. Messengers are trained to communicate with specific spirits who provide messages for the living.  

 

 

Here's how works -

 

The Messenger draws a name from the basket. He or she reads the name aloud and makes eye contact with the person receiving the message. Both parties raise one hand toward the other - sending energy. The Messenger closes his or her eyes, quiets the physical realm and listens to the voices from the spirit world. Then the Messenger receives, interprets and delivers the message.

 

Example: Carla T. Hello. (both raise hands. messenger closes eyes). Yes, they are showing me an image of a tree. It's the tree of knowledge. The spirits are telling me that you need to eat from the tree of knowledge, so now is a good time to seek out new books/literature. Maybe go to the library.

 

 

Reba and Sarah's messages were by far the most interesting.

 

 

Reba's Message

 

 

The Messenger acknowledged Reba and raised his hand. Unsure of what to do and feeling slightly foolish Reba ever so slightly raised her hand too. "I see a unicorn" were the Messengers first words. Sarah tried hard to remain poised and calm. "You are riding your unicorn. You need to use this unicorn to help you. Let your unicorn's horn tear through any obstacles in your way so you can get to better things." Reba nodded a silent "thank you". Sarah and Reba avoided eye contact for fear of gigglefits.

 

 

Sarah's Message:

 

 

 

Sarah's message came from a different Messenger than Reba's - a female who was communicating with the spirit "White Mountain". Immediately after raising our hands the messenger said, "You are riding an arrow like a pogo stick. The arrow is plowing hard into the ground - symbolizing all the work you have to do, but White Mountain is saying you need to have fun with the work ahead of you. So work hard, but have fun with it."

 

 

Everyone in the room received a message. Even the Messengers. While the messages are directed toward a specific person, they are often applicable to other people in the room too so everyone is encouraged to listen carefully. Communicating with spirits and passing along messages is a unique and defining characteristic of Spiritualist churches.

 

 

The last activity of worship was guided meditation. One of the leaders instructed everyone to close their eyes and picture themselves sitting in a large quiet field.

 

 

Sarah pictured herself with long flowing curls sitting peacefully in half lotus among the bright twinkling stars.

 

 

We were guided to focus on an issue or problem we were facing.

 

 

We were told to experience the problem through our physical self, emotional self, mental self, spiritual self. Noticing how each self felt different/better.

 

 

BUT...

 

 

Roughly two minutes into meditation Sarah experienced brain overload, as she does during most meditation sessions.

 

 

 

 

Her quiet reflective time became a torture chamber of unrelated thoughts. She became fixated on her inability to picture herself accurately - always making herself prettier than she was or seeing her face as some Picasso painting- misshapen and weird. Next she was flooded with movie images and memories of her weekend in Hannibal, MO with her best friends. She started thinking about what she would do after service - the errands she needed to run, the laundry she needed to finish, the crap she needed to clean. Frustrated, her mind turned to thoughts of drinking wine immediately following the conclusion of worship.

 

Sarah did not enjoy the meditation.

 

 

 

 

To conclude service everyone held hands and sang "Let There Be Peace on Earth". Reba and Sarah didn't know the words. Sarah, loving music, mumbled along. Reba stood silent.

 

 

With hugs and well wishes worship was over. Sarah and Reba bid their goodbyes and were out the door.

 

 

They hopped in the car and immediately started to giggle about their adventure.

 

 

It was an odd, but interesting experience.

 

 

 

 

On the drive home Reba couldn't get the closing song out of her head, but she enjoyed singing a different version changing the word "peace" to "poop". Reba and Sarah sang out "Let there be poop on Earth and let it begin with me". The girls had a deep love for the word "poop" as it almost always made them giggle. Though "poop songs" were one of Sarah's all-time favorite things she couldn't change the sour expression on her face. She was still frustrated by her meditation experience. Reba tried to provide helpful ideas for how Sarah could improve her meditation. This only angered Sarah further, as she is immature and doesn't often take improvement suggestions well.

 

The girls rode in silence briefly.

 

 

Until...

 

 

 

They stopped at one of the happiest places on Earth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Target.

 

 

It was there, through the spending of excess amounts of money on things she never planned on buying, that Sarah regained her usual pleasant attitude.

 

 

 

Afterwards the girls enjoyed some cheese and crackers and of course a bottle of wine along with the pleasure of the others company. Sarah was grateful for a friend like Reba who is always willing to embark on new adventures with her - even when she's crabby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*A special thank you to Beth for suggesting I attend a Spiritualist service and providing information. It was a fascinating experience. THANK YOU!!!