Guardian angel spiritual protection from the day of birth

Category: Spirituality

  • Religious freedom is a kind of heaven on earth

    Religious freedom is a mirage or a kind of heaven on earth. Man has always tried to create a relationship with the absolute, giving different explanations to existential questions. However, these roads collide with each other. Why can’t we live together? Is the problem religious or social?

    The theme of religious freedom, although it starts from the spiritual sphere, is absolutely not resolved in it. Clashes based (or justified) by religious incompatibility are the order of the day. Some of us were born with these clashes going on and who knows if the end will be seen. The problem is far more serious than one might imagine.

    According to some experts, there are 56 countries with a level of at least medium risk for the violation of religious freedom. The improvements that are occasionally glimpsed are mostly the result of local initiatives which, however, fail to expand their range of action at least at the national level.

    To understand what stands in the way of total religious freedom, we can deepen some mechanisms of group psychology. If applied in an absolutist way, they close any opening.

    Religious involvement

    If we leave out all the earthly reasons that lead to a clash between groups, the greatest obstacle to religious freedom is certainly the attitude of believers. What is religious orthodoxy based on? Gerard Lenski identified a fundamental difference between devotionalism and devotional orthodoxy.

    Being devout is based on the feeling of an important private and emotional connection with God, while orthodoxy emphasizes intellectual consent to the theological doctrines of a given religion.

    Starting from this distinction it is possible to reconstruct two ways of participating in the religious group.

    • Associative involvement based on participation in the ritual and institutional activities of a community.
    • The emotional involvement that sees religion more linked to the intimate and personal sphere.

    These two orientations are totally independent and cause opposite behaviors. Those who feel attached to the doctrine will hardly jeopardize it with a different version.

    Affiliation and membership

    Regardless of what the individual seeks in religion and religious groups, there are different methods by which the group seeks the affiliation of believers and grounds their membership in the group. Let’s see 4 perspectives.

    • Charismatic groups, all those who take on religious principles in a total way in daily life and without any adaptation, often make use of extreme persuasive processes. The goal is to bring the whole life of the individual back to participation in the group through control and isolation.
    • The perspective that bases affiliation on granting rewarding answers to the person’s problems.
    • The affiliation that is also formed on the possibility of transforming one’s life. In a particular moment of one’s existence characterized by a need for growth or change, religion becomes an engine of growth. It will be the personal history of the individual that will dictate the direction of this change.
    • The fourth perspective emphasizes the religious practices that a group offers. The simple fact of finding more suitable for our personality pushes us towards one choice rather than another.

  • Religiosity is an important area of ​​individual life

    Religiosity is an important area of ​​individual life and psychology tries to understand its characteristics. Religious experience can receive a push from within or without. Let us try to understand what intrinsic religiosity entails.

    Religious orientation is a fundamental object of investigation for human beings. As it aims to understand how one of the fundamental experiences is lived to answer the existential questions concerning our life. How and why do we respond so differently to these needs? The first difference concerns the source of the spring that pushes us towards religion. Here then is what intrinsic religiosity means.

    Religiosity – a personal and social issue

    A first consideration that must be made when speaking of intrinsic religiosity concerns the sphere that the religious sense occupies in the life of an individual. The term intrinsic can mistakenly lead us to think that it is the personal sphere as opposed to the social one. In reality, intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity are both individual ways of living religion.

    Religion and religiosity in its social being refer to phenomena that include groups, a group identity, and their collective actions. For this, we could ascribe phenomena such as orthodoxy, pacifism, and religious fanaticism. In this sphere at an extreme level and far from true spirituality, we also find religious sects that try to annihilate the individual in a group totally devoted to the holy man.

    The intrinsic orientation

    Inherent religious orientation is a personal way of experiencing spirituality and was described by Gordon Allport. Those who have an intrinsic orientation consider religion as an absolute value on which life rests and which gives value to it. There is no utilitarian intent of religion, only the fulfillment of man.

    These people experience religion as a practice embodied in everyday life and who feel the presence of the Absolute in their existence. Everything then manifests itself as a personal and inner conviction. Allport himself has built a scale to measure the type of religiosity of a person and the intrinsic orientation is traced back to high levels of agreement to such sentences.

    • It is not very important what I believe in, the important thing is to be a good person.
    • It is important for me to spend time in meditation and prayer
    • I often had a strong feeling that God was present.

    Religion and prejudice

    Further consideration of Allport concerns the relationship between religious orientation and the phenomenon of prejudice. Prejudice is a cognitive phenomenon for which a priori beliefs are created about specific groups or people with certain characteristics. According to Allport, intrinsic religiosity becomes the substratum for a more tolerant and open orientation.

    Extrinsic religiosity leads man to use religion for his own purposes (not necessarily evil, only more utilitarian), this leads to a greater propensity to believe that others also have purposes in relating to us regardless of what they really are.

  • Syncretism spread thanks to the New Age

    Syncretism spread thanks to the New Age

    For syncretism, it is not important to which creed one belongs, but the actual commitment to inner research. Syncretism is a religious form that mixes doctrines, liturgies, and spiritual practices of different origins.

    By syncretism, we mean the integration or fusion of doctrines of different origins into a new doctrine, both in the sphere of religious beliefs and in that of philosophical conceptions.

    More particularly, in the history of religions, syncretism means the fusion of two or more religions or even the partial contamination of one religion with elements of others.

    However, the term syncretism has spread in modern times thanks above all to the New Age movement, which attributes a particular meaning to syncretism.

    New Age and syncretism

    In fact, the New Age doctrine represents a form of religious syncretism because it mixes elements of various origins. It takes up elements of Eastern wisdom – Buddhism, Hinduism, Yoga -, of the esotericisms of the Western tradition – theosophy, anthroposophy, occultism – of Christianity and of the religions of the primitives – shamanism, animism, magic.

    In this vision, God is real, exists, and is part of nature and man. God is seen as an energy that permeates all things – the sum of the consciousness existing in the universe. Man’s transformation lies in learning to recognize divine energy in oneself and in nature.

    For the New Age, the best part of any religion is its esoteric, secret, and mysterious side. At the same time, the more modern meaning of syncretism simply indicates that the substratum of all religions is unique.

    For the effects of syncretism it is therefore not important to which creed one belongs, but the actual commitment to the inner search within the religion or doctrine in which one is established, by choice or culture.

    Religious s yncretism affirms the substantial unity of all faiths and schools of thought, beyond dogmas and formal and external differences.

    According to the syncretistic view, the founding concepts and principles of every creed – such as the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men, the value and importance of prayer, universal love, etc. – are the only and the same.

  • Charity is the greatest of all virtues

    Charity is the greatest of all virtues

    For many, charity is an action that ends with alms. There is no doubt that every good action of giving towards the other is meritorious. But for Christianity, the charity has a much higher value and must be practiced in a form that goes beyond giving.

    For the Christian religion, charity is linked to love, to the taking of total responsibility towards the other, and implies behavior of close brotherhood. Perhaps for this reason St. Paul indicated charity as the greatest of all virtues.

    What is charity?

    Charity is the very identity of God. This is what we learn from the first letter of the apostle John – God is love – 1 Jn 4:16, in this passage the Apostle uses the Greek term agape, which means love free of benevolence.

    The charity also means the love with which God loves each of us This is the meaning of the prayer that Jesus addresses to the Father before his arrest (Jn 17:26) – The love with which you have loved me be in them and I in them -. Charity means the love with which we love God, ourselves, and others. Therefore, a love of response, a love of result that depends on the fact that God is love and that God loves us.

    What distinguishes Christian charity from the concept of solidarity

    The characteristic element that makes the difference is the origin, the source, and the awareness of this origin. Charity is the very nature of God, it is the fact that God loves me with the love with which he loves himself. And precisely because God loves me and involves me in his dynamism of love, then I am made capable of loving with his own love of him: this is Christian charity.

    A kind of enabling, of empowerment that God works in us. By loving us, Jesus Christ makes us capable of loving in turn with his heart and his enthusiasm, with his motivations and his goals. This is the plan of salvation in which every man and woman is called to actively enter: a plan of salvific love that is realized with love that becomes an offering of oneself.

    Therefore, charity finds its origin in God himself and conforms us to the life of Christ. Solidarity, altruism, generic benevolence are good dispositions of the human soul. They are virtues and as such they are appreciable, they can lead to the same gestures that charity can lead to. But the origin and goal of solidarity, altruism, and generic benevolence are different from the origin and goal of charit y.

    In fact, solidarity arises from the awareness of belonging to the same community and having common interests and purposes. While charity has God himself as to its goal, that is, to participate in his own life of love and happiness, human solidarity has as its goal a more immediate reality, mutual help.

    Classical theology briefly teaches that the formal reason for charity is God himself. That is, the awareness and gratitude of being loved by God and the will to correspond to so much love, while the formal reason for solidarity or altruism is the awareness of having something in common with the loved one.

  • Prosperity theology teaches that God wants us to win

    Prosperity theology teaches that God wants us to win

    Prosperity theology teaches that God wants us to win, Always. A certain false idea of ​​Christianity has accustomed us to despise money. The Theology of Prosperity, of Protestant origin, is of the opposite opinion. Prosperity Theology teaches that everyone has the right to economic well-being because physical and spiritual reality are seen as inseparable.

    It is not bad to ask God for money and prosperity. A doctrine in contrast with Christian churches which teach a false concept of poverty. Poverty is actually the detachment of the heart from material things, not misery and mediocrity. If a man or a woman is successful – they earn very well and with this money they employ others and do good – God is very happy with that.

    He only waits for those who have faith and ask Him the same thing to fill him with his favor and open doors for him that are impossible for men. Money is just a medium that amplifies what the person already is. With a lot of money you can give work to others, you can carry out projects that are useful to millions of people, you can set up philanthropic foundations, research centers and universities, set up university faculties, etc.

    According to a new study by an American social research institute, there is a relationship between personal economic well-being and religious faith. Wealth and religion would be inversely proportional.

    The more religious countries are those with a higher rate of poverty and vice versa, while the richer ones are more prone to atheism. The only exception is the United States of America, where despite the high wealth, 54% of the population affirms the great importance of religion in their lives.

    In the sociological text – Sacred and popular. Religion and politics in the globalized world – the authors point out that participation in religious practices records higher rates among people who are more uncertain economically and who face more health and poverty problems.

    In the general hypothesis, the decline in the value of religion, faith, and religious activities depends on the long-term change in existential security. With the process and progress of human development, the importance of religion in the life of individuals gradually decreases.

  • The inner darkness is stronger than any light

    The inner darkness is stronger than any light

    The inner darkness is stronger than any light, any sprout of hope. It is easy to be happy when things go well, we hardly fall into the dark valley of despair from which the fog of depression often arises. Until we are personally touched by some event that scratches our certainties and questions the foundations of our existence.

    We must avoid judging the behavior of those who cannot go ahead and support them with strength and determination so that they can grasp that ray of light that indicates the way out of the black tunnel in which they find themselves. There are also nights of the soul on the way to true freedom. Nights in which the inner darkness is stronger than any light, any call, any sprout of hope.

    Nights in which you feel swallowed by a bottomless chasm of anguish. Nights in which there is no place, person, or prayer capable of placating the boiling bubbling of inner torment. These are the darkest nights, the most entangled with thorns of anxiety, the most terrible to endure, where the temptation to close the door on life becomes very strong.

    And there is not a breeze of peace, a ray of hope, a sigh of resignation, there is really nothing that can appease this increasingly acute, more penetrating, sharper torment. These are the nights of the soul. These are the nights where that deaf yet so acute cry of despair rises – But what’s the point of living?

    And then drag your heavy body from one place to another, pretend to smile, no longer even have the strength to rebel while one day never ends. It is important, in these moments, to know how to choose the right people and the most suitable tools to cross this inner desert.

    The inner darkness of depression is an evil that oppresses and blurs the vision of the future. When the rays of hope do not come in this darkness, living becomes an unbearable burden. Yet, there is an extraordinary inner strength within us, the ability to remain standing even when everything tells us we should collapse like exhausted boxers.

    Prayer to defeat the inner darkness

    There are many testimonies of men and women who have been able to resist storms and who have taught us not to give in, to go further, to believe in the beauty of life and to cling to strong values ​​in order not to resign themselves to the jaws of pain, of injustice, trauma or loss. It becomes essential to know how to activate this inner strength.

    I believe that spirituality has a fundamental role in these difficult moments because a soul that has grown every day on a journey of faith is more ready to face the days of pain. There is a prayer that personally supports and reassures me. I hope that for some of you it can be a source of inspiration to face the nights of the soul with greater strength and serenity.

    God is my rock
    God is my salvation
    God is my anchor.
    God is everything to me.
    I will not let myself drown in despair, because you, my God, are my Father, the One who wants to save me and who wants to heal me from the evil that grips me inside.
    God, it doesn’t matter if I don’t feel anything, because I know that you are a faithful God, a God who supports me even when I don’t feel it. And with this prayer that I close my eyes, I offer you my pain and my hand to walk with you.

  • Fear crushes us but faith elevates us

    Fear crushes us but faith elevates us

    Fear crushes us when we are haunted by the shadows of the past and the gray clouds of pessimism and resignation darken the golden fields of wheat. Instead of starting to run like free people towards the sun, we hide behind the boulders of our fears. Every day we can decide to look at reality in a positive or negative way.

    Life calls us by name and invites us to assume a position of trust or mistrust, of pessimism or optimism, of despair or hope. Based on our attitude we will have different visions on how to deal with the past, the present, and the future.

    The Old Testament tells the story of the Jewish people who under the guidance of Moses begin a journey towards the Promised Land, a symbol of peace, joy, and freedom. Upon leaving Egypt, the children of Israel began a fascinating journey, full of challenges and adventures towards the land that God had promised the patriarchs.

    After various incredible experiences, the passage of the Red Sea, the Sinai alliance, they arrived at Kades, the gateway to Canaan. Here Moses decided to send good news from the land of hope to encourage the people now tired and oppressed by monotony.

    As leaders he chose twelve brave and intelligent men, to bring back objective and truthful information from the earth that was presented to them as a challenge. Going into exploration, he instructed them to scrupulously observe every detail, to realistically analyze the data, both positive and negative.

    After 40 days they returned from exploring the country and went to see Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of the Israelites. They returned carrying information of opposite sign, double in aspect as life itself or as a symphony that knows the high tones and the low tones.

    Ten of them reported that it was impossible to access this land full of pitfalls and unbeatable enemies. Two of them, on the contrary, spoke with enthusiasm of this new country, bearing the fruits and describing the beauty of the places.

    Caleb, representative of the Tribe of Judah, calming the people who murmured against Moses said – Let’s go quickly and conquer the country because it is certain we can succeed. But how did the multitude of the Jewish people react? With the attitude of fear that led them to exclaim – We will not be able to go against this people because they are stronger than us -.

    These words of the people indicate the inability to free themselves from the conditioning of the past (years of slavery) and therefore to measure their real strength. This is a bit like what happens to us when we remain prisoners of wounds or negative experiences that have clipped the wings of courage and self-confidence.

    Many times fear overwhelms us and prevents us from making those courageous choices that give full fulfillment to the realization of the Happiness Project. When we are haunted by the fears of the shadows of our past the gray clouds of pessimism and resignation darken the golden fields of wheat and instead of starting to run like free people towards the sun, we hide behind the boulders of our fears.

    But when we rediscover the power of faith in our resources, in the talents present in us, in the ability to learn, to heal, to improve, and in the strength of life. We become capable of undertakings that are impossible for those who find themselves in the shadow of their fears since fear crushes us, faith elevates us.

  • Self-esteem is a light that does not leave us in the dark

    Self-esteem is a light that does not leave us in the dark

    Self-esteem is a light that does not leave us in the dark. Thanks to it, it is possible to find the way home where serenity, harmony, and trust in life live. Human growth is inherent in our nature, as for an acorn to become a tree. The human being is like a fountain that releases vital energy from every cell.

    If in the course of existence there are traumas, dysfunctional environments, or ill relationships, limestone settles, preventing the fountain from expressing itself in a harmonious and balanced way. There are people who have over-developed cognitive functions to the detriment of effective ones.

    Every time we block a part of us, we generate a compensation mechanism that unbalances the proper functioning of the various dimensions of which we are composed. One of the fundamental elements for healthy growth is self-esteem.

    Self-esteem represents the value that a person gives to himself and being able to not depend on the approval of others. Those who achieve solid self-esteem can relate starting from a position of equal dignity. Therefore he does not need to submit or hide for fear of being rejected when he expresses the real nature of his feelings and thoughts about her. Furthermore, self-esteem is like a shield that protects from the ignorance and wickedness of others.

    In reality, having high self-esteem does not protect life from suffering, injustice, and unhealthy situations, but allows you to stand up or get up quickly because there is a reservoir of confidence in your potential. Self-esteem is like an anti-limestone that restores vitality and balance at various levels – personal, relational, social, and in family life, as a couple, and children’s education.

    A family without self-esteem is at risk for the simple reason that any communication exchange can cause hurt, misunderstanding and a sense of personal threat. It is no coincidence that it is precisely during adolescence that the tension between parents and children skyrockets.

    Both a child and a parent feel rejected, not understood, opposed or provoked by the behavior of others in a communicative circularity that becomes more and more dysfunctional over time.

    This is why it is important to work on the sense of personal self-esteem and of the people close to us. Self-esteem is like a lantern that never leaves us in the dark. Thanks to it, it is possible to find the way home where serenity, harmony and trust in life live.

  • Today is a gift, yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery

    Today is a gift, yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery

    Today it is a gift, our body is constantly living here and now. If you feel hungry it is today and not in the past or in the future. Our body does not live on feelings of guilt or mental brooding but on constant feedback that is updated every second. If we stumble and hit the knees, the body reacts instantly, providing a very rapid mechanism for repairing the damage.

    We should learn from our body how to conduct our existence which often hangs between looking back or running forward. This does not mean that the past does not have its own value and that the future does not have to be imagined or planned. The past is the sum of all the experiences lived, while the future represents the new paths to follow.

    Today is a gift we learn from past mistakes

    Walking always looking backward prevents us from grasping new horizons and can plunge us into the valley of regrets. Walking forgetting where we put our steps can make us fall into the chasms of illusions and dispersive reveries. If we learn from the mistakes of the past and listen to the voices of the different experiences we have lived we will be able to collect many lessons to be spent in the awareness of the here and now.

    If we listen to the part of the deep conscience, where the most intimate aspirations reside, we can begin to design a self-realization project to be implemented with strong desire and determination here and now.

    When past and present meet, embrace, exchange emotions, thoughts, and information, and communicate with each other, our psychic apparatus becomes full of energy, vitality, passion, and enthusiasm. It is in this way that we can choose what makes us grow and feel at the center of ourselves and in harmony with life. And the journey continues.

  • Evil eye how to defend yourself with Prayer

    Evil eye how to defend yourself with Prayer

    The Evil Eye is a topic that often arouses heated debates between those who believe in it blindly and those who think it is just superstitions from past centuries. In case you think you are the object of a curse there are countermeasures to be implemented to defend yourself from the effects of the evil eye and misfortunes.

    For anyone who believes in the real effectiveness of the evil eye and curses, it is natural to wonder if there is a method to defend oneself from the evil effects caused by the evil eye and misfortunes. Can you defend yourself without resorting to the intervention of an expert? Generally, insiders argue that the intervention is inevitable and necessary.

    However, an attitude can be taken that facilitates the expert’s work or at least partially prevents any attacks. Here are several tips to give life to a form of defense and prevention against evil.

    The defense against evil comprises three stages

    Arrange the mind in an attitude of extreme cleanliness, that is, to remove rancor, jealousy, hatred, envy and gossip, refraining from eating meat and remaining silent.

    Increase spiritual strength by forgiving all enemies, doing works of charity, and praying continuously.

    Using physical means such as coal which is a powerful isolator of the astral. Coal can be placed under the bed. What is important is to put it in the garbage the following day.

    The steel points, such as hooks, knives, needles, or others are powerful insulators with which we can deflect the evil forces unleashed against us. It is therefore sufficient to surround yourself with metal spikes in the places where we sleep and live. It is also very important to collect flowers and plants on the roadsides and take them to where we live.

    Another method that can give good results is to incense the photograph of the person twice a day, at the quarter of the crescent moon, surrounding them with perfumes. It is not incensed during the period of the waning quarter moon, except on Sundays, when, however, it is necessary to incense throughout the day.

    Then there is the method of exorcism, often considered the best. You take a container, fill it with spring water and throw three handfuls of common salt into the water, saying – I exorcise you, oh creature, go out in the name of the Father, of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

    The four points of the house, which correspond to the four cardinal points, are then sprayed with a frond of spikes. In each of these points the following prayer should be recited – Bless Lord, Almighty God, this house so that in it there may always be health, victory, and prosperous fate. So we give thanks to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Amen. May this blessing remain on this home and on those who live in it, now and forever. Amen Amen Amen.