Table of contents
Hey, Soul explorer!
This week's mini reading came from a conversation I had with a therapist + tarot reader that I admire when I asked her this:
How can I make space for spirituality in my psychology work? And how can I do it without feeling like I'm doing something wrong, or breaking unwritten rules or something?
And she brought up a pretty good point: how many proudly Christian therapists are out there who believe they're fulfilling God's mission? How many Christians looking for a therapist know exactly where to go because Christian therapy is public and accepted in society?
So why should anyone practicing any other form of spirituality feel like they have to hide? Why is one form of spirituality accepted while the others are pushed aside and devalued?
Why do I hold these feelings myself, despite being a spiritual practitioner who has seen the power of spirituality in my own life. Why am I ashamed of my own feelings around healing, around God, and around connection?
Clearly, despite leaving the church 5 whole years ago, I still have a lot of work to do around reclaiming my identity.
The Card: 10 of Pentacles
I knew I wanted to explore this theme in this week's newsletter, so I pulled a single card for guidance on how to approach this huge, intimidating topic. And through the framework of the 10 of Pentacles, I received advice, guidance, and perspective–not enough to fully answer these questions, but enough to get the conversation started.
So like always, here's the channeled message directly from my notebook, meaning it's not edited to sound perfect or pretty.
"Look back at the roots from which you've sprung, and recognize that society may make you feel like certain roots are unacceptable. But the fear of being an outcast can be healed by the powerful act of reclamation.
Look back on the ways the System has pushed aside your roots; tried to create one 'right' way while ignoring all the other ways of doing things.
Your fear is a natural response to being shoved into a box and taught that everything outside the box is undesirable.
But recognize that your desires are not isolated. You stand on the shoulders of those that came before you. You walk in their footsteps. Honor the ones who have paved the way for you–both living and dead. Honor the authors, the YouTube creators, the article writers. Your heroes don't have to be the most famous names. They can be the people who make you feel seen enough, safe enough to do the work that's in your heart, and to live as the person you know you already are on the inside.
We reclaim our identities when we connect with our roots–sometimes our ancestral roots and sometimes our spiritual ones. And by spiritual roots, I mean the spiritual connection we have to all the other souls walking the same path as us, both in the past and present. Honor these connections. Value them. Sink deeply into them. Don't rely on your individual strength. It won't be enough to fight an entire system.
You do not have to be controlled by your fear. The fear was never yours to begin with. It was taught to you by a system that only wanted one type of thinking, one type of feeling, one type of living to be accepted as successful.
Instead, what can you do this week to step out of the shadow of that fear and connect with your Soul family? Where can you draw in support from to strengthen your fragile areas?"
As I prepare to write my thesis next year around spirituality and psychology, and the very real benefits that people miss out on by not having the sacred space to explore their spirituality in the therapy room, this is a topic that will weigh heavily on my mind. And I won't lie, I'm a bit intimidated by having this not only be the focus of my professional life, but also the source of some of my own internal wounds.
So if you have anything to contribute on this topic, or perhaps just want to chat about it and share your thoughts, please send an email to me@terriwanjiku.com.
Till next week, I wish you safety and love and peace.