Religious Upbringing Meets Your Spiritual Awakening

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hi everybody on this week's episode of Three Cups and a Dash of Spirituality. We are diving into spirituality versus religion. If you like what you're hearing, make sure to download our episode so you can hear them offline. Leave us comments. We'd like to hear from you. With that, play the music. Hi, everybody, and welcome to this week's episode of Three Cups in a Dash of Spirituality. I am Stacy here with the fabulous Michelle. Hello, everyone. And the wonderful Carissa. Hi, Carissa. Hello, hello. Oh, we got it this time. That's magic. Today we are going to be talking about spirituality and religion.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

I've been experiencing a real human emotion that I need to break down with you both. Because you crossed it. You cost it.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Now I'm kind of on the edge of my seat. What is it?

SPEAKER_00 0:55

I would be too. I had severe FOMO about two weeks ago because the two of you met in person.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Oh yeah, she was.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

She was like FOMO.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

I'm like, Stacy hasn't seen us. I know. I was so jealous. I mean, I was a little sad that you weren't there too. I'm not gonna lie, but opportunity presented itself and I couldn't be like, sorry, Carissa, Michelle's not here. I can't meet you. I know, I know.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Last time I went to Boston, Stacy was like, What the hell? I was like, What do you mean, what the hell? Um, she's like, I'm literally right there. I'm like, no, you're not. And she goes, Carissa, look at the map.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

I go, Oh, well, New Hampshire is tiny. So if you're in like I'm 45 minutes outside of Boston, I was two hours away from Vermont. Like, literally, I have worked in Maine, Mass, and New Hampshire because everything is like a 20-minute drive, and it's beautiful up there, it's so pretty. I'm sorry, Michelle, we did miss you and we did talk about how we were sad that you were not there. I I was like really bummed too.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Yeah, I got over it pretty quickly, but I do want you both to know I was sad I couldn't be there. It was a very human emotion, but uh yeah, we're here today. I'm happy to be here.

SPEAKER_02 2:12

Well, you get to meet my my new Bo. Uh he did come in and say hello to Michelle because Michelle has not met him yet.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Yes, I think you know, in a future episode, we need to interview him also to see what it's like to come into a relationship with someone who is psychic because mine kind of evolved after I met my husband. So he didn't know me like that first. But here's somebody walking into it blind and like, what does he think? What does he feel?

SPEAKER_02 2:41

But but I guess it's only fair to share at this point in time because I I think the world knows that I that we are engaged at this point in time. I sent you guys a text as soon as soon as it happened. All right, guys, let's shift back to the topic. I know. So we're talking today about religion and spirituality.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Yes, I got a wonderful question about it, and I just am bringing it here today, and we can open up the conversation. Many religions actively teach that some of the topics you discuss are sacrilegious. So, how could someone be begin deconstructing and open up to the spiritual topics that you guys talk about? Love the question, Stacy.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

I love that you pass it to me directly because I'm sitting here going slowly, slowly and take like legitimately. It is one of the most challenging things I think anyone can do, especially if they were really raised in an extremely religious environment, right? I was raised Catholic. We were at every church, every Sunday, you know, we catechism. I I did all of the things until I was late in high school. And that's when I kind of started deconstructing the religious aspect of it. So one of the things that for me still to this day is very important is to actually draw parallels between spirituality and and and religion. And that's where I talk to people about, okay, we're talking spirit guides, for example. Instead of referring to them as spirit guides, I can also refer to them as guardian angels and I'm talking about the same energy. Or if if I'm asking inviting or if I'm doing a clearing and I need help and I'm I'm calling an Archangel Michael, for example, Archangel Michael is very much so religiously known, right? So it's finding the parallels between, you know, the the spirituality in that language and the religious language, at least, at least for me. And it's drawing those connections because to me it feels very natural. Carissa?

SPEAKER_01 4:50

I mean, it's a big question. And for me, it was finding those parallels because you know, raised Lutheran and having to go through confirmation, and it's a big part of my background. And so it was important to find those connections. But it is a big question. I mean, that's a very, very big question. I giggled when you said that.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

It's it is it is a big question. It's, I mean, but that it's a life-shifting question, right? What what are your thoughts, Michelle?

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Well, you notice that I quickly passed it off to both of you because I've still struggle a little bit with defining where I stand with everything. It has been such a huge shift in my life. Also raised Lutheran, also have a lot of religious people in my life who haven't really taken very well to some of the topics that I've chosen to share. I mean, I've been uh told I was gonna go to hell. I've been told that they're worried about my soul. I've been told, I don't know, so many things. For me, it's been that journey, and I like the word parallels. I think that's a wonderful word to describe it. I just had to put it into a context that I could understand because I didn't know what I was doing, and it was stress, it really truly was stressing me out. This whole topic really stresses me out because I still don't want to say the wrong thing. I don't want to offend anybody who is religious or anyone who's spiritual either.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

You know what's a great answer? Just read all the about the different religions in the world. So if you're looking at Buddhism, Muslim, they all have different ideas. So why would it be hard if a listener would feel weird about spirit guides, knowing that in all different countries and cultures, they're completely different. So if someone tells me I'm gonna go to hell, or if someone tells me I'm gonna continue having a past, I'm gonna come back as a beaten cow, you know. I mean, compare it all to the different religions out there in the world.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Well, and that's and and I think like one of the things that you said that's absolutely perfect, Cursa, is is really what it comes down to is language. It comes down to the way we are viewing things and those again, and that's where I say we draw the parallels. You go to each and every different religion, and there are going to be different things that tie them together. And Michelle, one of the things that I'm gonna throw out to you really like bluntly is you're gonna piss some people off. It's going to happen. Just breathing. So yeah, I know that topics. Tag facts. Yes, I do as well. Um, but ultimately, when I sit down with somebody that's struggling with the religious piece and they're able to come to the table and have those conversations, it can really shift their perspective in a very light way. It doesn't have to be I'm right, you're wrong. It's why don't we come to the table, sit down, and have a discussion around spirituality and religiousness or religiousness and spirituality, because religions are not inherently wrong, nor is spirituality. And I think that creating that definition and those hard lines of you're going to hell because you read tarot cards, or you're going to hell because you're a psychic, or you're going to hell because you do clearings, I think it's unfair to the people that are actually helping spirits that are stuck in this world.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

And I would agree with that. And again, it has been a huge journey. I was raised Lutheran. We've already established that. And I had to put it in a context that worked for me. And very much like you, Stacy, I believe in God. And with God, I have Archangel Michael. I work with the archangels, but God created the universe. So what if I call God the universe sometimes or source sometimes? I'm referring to the same thing. He put us here, he made us the way that we are, he knows our journey. For me, sometimes I think the spirituality gets a little woo-woo for people or a little out of their comfort zone. I think they can understand the spirit guides, but when we talk start talking about that paranormal aspect and how do they bring that into the fold? And you know what? I don't have all the answers there. I'm doing the best I can do day, day by day, also. And sometimes it makes perfect sense. And sometimes I have to sit with it for a while, and it may never make sense, but I'm here for the journey, I'm here for the lesson. And God knew that about me before He placed me here on this earth. That that would be my journey. Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

It's like even when so for me, and it's not a trigger anymore, but as I was starting to question religion and question things, because I was starting to open up when I was younger. We sometimes still say the word God is He. And you know, that's indoctrinating us from religion.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

The Bible itself was written by a man. They were stories that were passed down for generations. With that said, that doesn't mean it doesn't make it unreal or inaccurate or wrong. What it does is it gives us an invitation to look at these stories that are thousands of years old and adapt them into today's world. And unfortunately, we can't go back thousands of years and live the same life that we're living today. It doesn't work. It doesn't work. So I am not stepping and saying religion is wrong. I'm not stepping in and I will not argue at all about religion for or against it, because I am all about belief systems and and where people stand in their life situations. All I'm saying is be open to other perspectives. I had a client this morning come to me and say, Stacy, I had this experience. And I was like, oh my gosh, that actually sounds really cool. I'm not gonna get into it, but she saw, she saw an entity. Like she she saw something that she was not expecting. And she was like, Stacey, was it real? Or did I make it up? And I was like, Okay. I said, if you made it up, I said, I said, we're talking imagination versus reality, right? I said, if you made it up, like how how how long would it have taken you to get to this picture? And she was like, quite a while, because it was so like out of the the ordinary. And so when it comes to religion versus spirituality, I'm kind of looking at the out and out of the ordinary stuff too. So what's to say it's real? What's to say it's not real? Like, I'm not are like again, I won't argue with it because as the essentially that that source energy, God, whatever you want to call it, why can't it be all around us?

SPEAKER_01 11:38

We're talking about high vibrational energy, and this is why we all prepare really well because Stacy's got the balls to come out and say it. She literally read my mind, and I'm like, no, I'm not gonna go there.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Yeah, and she articulated it so well too. I mean, I know with religion it teaches us our part of our, I mean, our parents teach us our values, but it reinforces them and the way that we view the world. But there was also a little bit of a fear component that went with that because you do everything right, you're going to heaven, you mess up, you're going to hell. And again, I've been told, oh, you're gonna go to hell. And it's a very scary place to be.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

But not only that, if you if you ask forgiveness for anything that you do in life from a priest before you passed, you will be forgiven everything, which means it doesn't matter at the end of the day. And this is so this is where religion and I really went separate ways because I I really struggled for the longest times going, if I murdered someone tomorrow, which is not gonna happen because I would never do that, I can ask for forgiveness and and and I'll be good. I'll be good in the afterlife. Like, no, no, no, no, no, no, that's it's just it doesn't make sense, it doesn't feel right to me.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Yeah, there's what I'm hearing. It's too many contradictions. Yeah, it's too many, too many contradictions, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:06

A lot of contradictions and it can be divisive too. Like they say, don't talk about politics, don't talk about religion. There is a reason for that. People are so um it gets hot ingrained, yeah, with their beliefs that they really always tolerate other people with different beliefs.

SPEAKER_02 13:24

And honestly, that's why if I have a conversation around religious and spirituality with anyone, I want them to be at the table with me and willing to listen to. Because if you're coming at me with your beliefs and your beliefs are are being held like a bowling ball, and my beliefs are like a feather, you and I are not gonna be able to sit at the same table because I I will be willing to listen to you and hear what you have to say and learn from you, but you're not willing to learn and grow. So we're not gonna, we're not gonna, we're not gonna survive.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Yeah, no. That's true. Well, another difference that I read about between religion and spirituality could be one where a religion just really focuses on like worshiping God, where the other one encourages spirituality, encourages a oneness with God. How do you feel about that?

SPEAKER_01 14:18

Yeah, it's a relationship versus a worship.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Well, you're talking worship versus growth, right? Because a relationship is is, you know, if you look at any relationship that you develop throughout your life, you are growing within that relationship or you're shifting. And you know, when I say shifting, I mean you you tend to walk away from relationships you don't grow from, right? So that's the difference. It's the I'm going to sit and stare at you versus we're gonna learn and grow together.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Right. And I know like James von Prague, he says, God is love, love is you, you are God. I mean, like that is kind of how he so it is that oneness with God too, that he's not outside of you, that he also lives within you. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

Well, and you can look at the term namaste, which is used a lot. Namaste means I the light and love in me sees and honors the light and love in you. It's basically honoring that each of us have that godlike vibration within ourselves, and we're one.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

That's true, and again, two different religions. And it's also been said that, you know, a lot of times with religion, it's really based on other people's experience, like you were saying, the Bible and everything, whereas spirituality is more based on your own experiences and how you choose to process the world. Yeah, no, I I absolutely agree with that.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

I think you know, how we ultimately process in in the world and and see the world and view things, that's going to shift and alter our views of religion and all of the other things.

unknown 15:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

And I think when my spiritual awakening started, and I know I've shared this on the podcast before, I thought it was all gonna be light and rainbows and so easy because like I'm raising my vibration, but it's not, and it's not for you know, this reason, too, because we've got to relearn everything, we've got to reprocess everything and put it into new packaging that makes sense to us. And it's not pretty, it is difficult. And so when someone's stepping into this, you got to give yourself grace, you got to give yourself room to say, well, anything is possible. Let me just hear. And I think it's that hearing that is that first step in growing and making that shift.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

I agree. I wholeheartedly agree. I think, I think hearing and listening and being open to all possibilities. I mean, but that's a big part of opening up to any sort of ability or forward movement within the spiritual realm, is being open to all possibilities and just seeing how it flows out and how it happens. So that's that's where I go back to kind of how we started this is religion versus spirituality. It's not about separating the two. It's about finding the parallel and seeing how it matches within your energy body, your energy, your energetic field, right? You don't have to be spiritual versus religious. You can be Catholic and and and read cards as long as you you accept it and you're looking at it for what it is, right?

SPEAKER_00 17:26

Yeah, it's all about accepting yourself too, as you are. And I know how my journey's played out or continues to play out, how I got from my spiritual awakening to where I am right now. But what advice would you give to somebody just starting to open up? And they're afraid to talk to other people about it, and they need advice. What would you tell them?

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Go and get on an online forum. Go follow, go talk to people like us on Instagram or or TikTok and start out being vulnerable, saying, This is what makes me a little nervous when I'm having these experiences. Join a community, follow people on social media that you're starting to open up to their beliefs and communicating on it. You don't need to go find an online forum anymore. We've got social media.

SPEAKER_02 18:14

I I would say, you know, on top of that, I love number one, I love, you know, the idea of finding that support in social media in any capacity, but also have fun with it. Like, you know, I it's taken me years to get to the spirituality versus religion and having these open conversations with people, but finding those, you know, conjunctions where you actually meet someone with an opposing view can be really liberating and cool and fun because you come to the table, you sit down, you have a conversation, and it's like you walk away with more than you went to the table with, and so do they.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Right. And just always remember that spirituality is very individual and what you're experiencing, not everybody else is experiencing. And so that's why those conversations are so wonderful. But, you know, be excited about it, find people you can talk to and be realistic about those people who you know already are not gonna be open to it because there are many things you can talk about in life. It doesn't have to be religion or spirituality. So skirt the subject if you know you're with an audience that doesn't want to hear it or they're gonna judge you. And I've learned that one the hard way.

SPEAKER_02 19:25

I agree. And I'll also throw out there with that, Michelle, because I I think that's a great point, is it it doesn't it doesn't even need to be a conversation if it's not if it's not going to help you grow. There are many times that someone brings something up to me and I can tell that they are not in a space to actually have a conversation. And I shut it down. I just, I just, you know, I appreciate like there have been people that purchase readings from me, show up to the reading and they're like, Yeah, I think you're full of shit. And I'm like, why are we here?

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Well, yeah, and it's be kind because hurt people hurt people, and yeah, and people who are don't feel comfortable with their beliefs will argue.

SPEAKER_02 20:05

Yeah, and and you'll reach this point of comfortability, which is not even a word, but I like it, where you don't care anymore. And when someone approaches you and they tell you you're wrong and your viewpoint is jaded or whatever, you're just gonna be like, okay, that's water off a duck's back. Yeah, it's not gonna bother you.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

Right. And I think it's really exciting though, when you start the journey, I mean, because you change so much and people will notice that change within you. And again, you know, those people you can't have conversations with those people who kind of know but never ask you. But as Stacy said, there's a lot of growth when you can have those conversations, and it is so incredibly cool when somebody who is very religious and has kind of questioned you comes to you with an experience and they're like, here, let me tell you about what happened because I don't understand it. I want to share it with someone. And I'll give an example. Somebody in my life started smelling cigar smoke when they were all alone, and that reminded them of their father. I'm like, because that's him. And she goes, Well, I was scared. I asked him to please stop, and so she hasn't smelled it again, but now she's like, How do I get it to come back? Because it was actually comforting. But I mean, she probably doesn't have that conversation with many people, so it was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Yeah, because you can be open and comfort and you know, people show up.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_02 21:36

Sweet.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Yeah, so any other things you guys want to discuss about religion, spirituality?

SPEAKER_02 21:44

I think there's only one other thing that I'll throw out there. Religion tends to be a very heavy topic. It doesn't have to be unless we make it that. So try to have fun with it and ultimately, you know, try to be open to other perspectives. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Yeah, no, that's a wonderful point. And you think back in your own religious history and going to Sunday school and stuff, and the youth pastors who would make it fun and would like bring it to you in a way where it wasn't just text from a Bible that you didn't understand half the words. I mean, that was always my problem. I'm like, oh, it's getting a little complicated here. Like I can break it down, but like I get distracted.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:30

Yes. Oh, that was perfect.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

I love it.

SPEAKER_02 22:34

Well, I think that's like the greatest point to end on. Are is there anything else that we need to chat about today?

SPEAKER_00 22:40

I don't think so. I'm just so incredibly happy to see you all. And I want to remind listeners, if you like what you are hearing, if you are enjoying these episodes, if you would please go to where you listen to your podcasts and leave us a review or five stars, that'd be great because download them and ask questions. Yeah, it lets us know that you are enjoying what we're doing and it inspires us. And yeah, send us stories. We want to hear from you. We want to bring those stories to light and make what hasn't always felt normal more normal.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

Well, all right. With that, I'm gonna say stay classy, stay sassy, and stay that assy until next time. Bye, guys.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Bye.