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Stoughton's Elizabeth Goodson has released her first book, 'The Tarot's Warning', published by Friesen Press of Victoria. The contemporary novel is based on the author's real experience with an unfriendly ghost and is available in hardcover, soft cover and e-book editions.

Lynne Bell

Stoughton minister, healer-and now novelist-Elizabeth Goodson drew on a mix of the spiritual and the spooky for her first book, 'The Tarot's Warning.'

It's about a real experience with an unfriendly ghost, she says. There is a lesson to it. It's the story of three women, their relationship, and their spiritual journey together, but it's also got an element of mystery and a little humour.

I see it as a story of three women who are exploring their spirituality and a haunting, so [the novel] has a double theme, adds Goodson. It's published as a novel, but it's about 90 percent a true story. I am the only 'real' character in the book, Beth.

I wrote it as a gateway for people. It might mostly be attractive to people seeking spirituality, but it's also just a story. It's about 90 percent my own experience, but it's based on events from three different communities. It took place before I came to Stoughton, so none of the places or people are from Stoughton. The Stoughton content is limited to the cover photo, which is a picture I took from my kitchen window here.

Beth is pretty much me, and there are also parts of me in the other two main characters. I didn't want it to be an autobiography. Instead, I wanted the book to be a window into spirituality for readers. Many people are starving when it comes to spirituality and I wanted to reach people with this book. People yearn for spirituality. They might not be really into church or religion, and many tend to describe themselves as 'spiritual, but not religious.'

Goodson says her position as minister of Stoughton's Grace United Church and her partnership in her business, Arbon & Goodson, Energy Practitioners, allows her to explore and appreciate many avenues of spirituality and healing, which her novel explores.

Because the United Church is very accepting and very curious about all types of spirituality, I have been able to train as a reiki master and I am also qualified in healing touch, crystal healing, and tarot exploration. My interest in these areas has been growing for years. My grandmother was interested in all this stuff. People are eager to learn more, and I want to help them get spiritual nourishment.

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Why Do We Keep Dissing Chabad's Spirituality?

Orthodox Outreach Is Getting Something Right By Jay Michaelson

Published November 13, 2014.

Its been a year since the Pew Research Center released its Portrait of Jewish Americans. I havent counted how many words have been written about the report since that time, from the Forwards e-book to endless handwringing by the OJC (Organized Jewish Community). But somewhere along the line, Pew definitely turned into Phew. As in, Phew, thank God thats over.

But Ive been struck, over the year of reflections and recommendations, at the relative absence of my own primary vector of Jewish engagement: spiritual practice.

One example, which I came across because its author and I are acquaintances, is Rabbi Dan Smoklers excellent strategy to attract Jewish college students. (Dans piece matters more than most, since he is chief innovation officer at Hillel.) I am on board with his six-point plan: social groups, Jewish mentors, encounters with different kinds of Jews, Torah study, the Jewish calendar, and Jewish service. All good.

But Dan waves off the successes of Aish HaTorah and Chabad on campus, saying most Jews are unlikely ever to move into any sector of the Orthodox camp. That may be true, but its still worth asking why these groups succeed in the first place.

Surely, the odds should be stacked against them. Chabad shlichim are generally quite sincere, open and friendly. But they often look funny, talk funny, and do funny things like put tefillin on strangers. Their practices seem out of step with contemporary mores in many areas, not least the different privileges accorded to women and men.

And yet, as Dan briefly notes, they and other Orthodox/ultra-Orthodox outreach programs often do quite well on campus. Even correcting for the free food.

The fact is, there is something Chabad Houses offer that Hillels dont: effective spiritual practice, and people who believe in its efficacy.

Note the word effective. Of course, Hillels, and mainstream synagogues, offer various forms of religious observance. You can sit (and stand) in traditional services all week long, if you like. But what do these services do, exactly?

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Why Do We Keep Dissing Chabad's Spirituality?

SCIENCE & SPIRITUALITY, DR J P AGARWAL, MANAV DHARAM SANDESH, TALK SHOW EPISODE 1 (Ii) – Video


SCIENCE SPIRITUALITY, DR J P AGARWAL, MANAV DHARAM SANDESH, TALK SHOW EPISODE 1 (Ii)
Talk Show , Episode 1 Part II, live webcast by Golivewithus.com on 26th October 2014. at 10.30 AM to 11.30 AM. Dr. J P Agarwal answering questions on Science and Spirituality in Nepali, Hindi...

By: JAIPRAKASH AGARWAL

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SCIENCE & SPIRITUALITY, DR J P AGARWAL, MANAV DHARAM SANDESH, TALK SHOW EPISODE 1 (Ii) - Video

Positive Affirmations for Spirituality With the Ocean (Positive Affirmations for Spirituality… – Video


Positive Affirmations for Spirituality With the Ocean (Positive Affirmations for Spirituality...
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The University leads research and teaching into spirituality in health care

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

10-Nov-2014

Contact: Nicola Werritt n.c.werritt@hud.ac.uk 01-484-473-315 University of Huddersfield @HuddersfieldUni

THE term 'spirituality' is now widely used to describe the qualities that give people hope, meaning and purpose. In the case of patients, it can aid their recovery. The University of Huddersfield has become a key centre for research into spirituality and how it can be integrated into health care teaching and practice.

Articles, overseas conference presentations and now close links with an NHS trust are among the recent outputs and activities of the University's Spirituality Special Interest Group, based in the School of Human and Heath Sciences. Established for ten years, the group has also run a series of master classes for health and social care practitioners.

Spirituality is embedded in a wide range of undergraduate courses - covering subject areas such as psychology, social work, nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy - and four PhD students are currently carrying out research on spirituality in health care. Also, plans are being made for a 2015 conference on the subject.

Melanie Rogers is a Senior Lecturer and Advanced Nurse Practitioner at the University and one of the leaders of the special interest group, alongside Professor John Wattis and Senior Lecturer Janice Jones. She admits that many people regard spirituality as a nebulous term, or one that is often conflated with religion. However, she says, spirituality is intensely practical.

"It helps to sustain health care workers and patients by recognising and supporting a sense of meaning and purpose in life. It can improve resilience in patients and practitioners alike, in addition to improving the experience of illness and crisis in patients."

She acknowledges that for some people, spirituality derives from religious beliefs. But for many others it stems from factors such as their relationships, community connections and special interests.

The University's special interest group is now a "spiritual partner" of the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which provides community, mental health and learning disability services in Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. It has embedded spirituality into its work.

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The University leads research and teaching into spirituality in health care

Rapper, musicians talk spirituality in Vatican conference

Initiative aimed at students, both atheists and believers

(ANSA) - Rome, November 10 - The Catholic Church used rap and rock artists Monday to bring together young believers and non-believers alike for a conference on spirituality. 'Music: Listening and Vision' held at Rome's MAXXI museum was part of its Cortile dei Gentili initiative, a program to create dialog among atheists and non-believers by involving notable people in various fields from art, politics, religion and education. Students heard from Italian musicians on the spiritual power of music. Renowned composer Nicola Piovani, who won an Oscar for his work on the soundtrack to the film 'Life is Beautiful', joined with Rome singer-songwriter Antonello Venditti, Dire Straits guitarist Phil Palmer, and Italian rapper Er Piotta, who received the most applause from the student audience. The event was hosted by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and MAXXI Foundation president, former Italian culture minister Giovanna Melandri. Ravasi said that a dialog around music is fundamentally about addressing communication. "The issue of language is fundamental, as shown by the effectiveness of a pope like Francis, who is connected not only to the message but also to how it's communicated," Ravasi said.

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Rapper, musicians talk spirituality in Vatican conference

Carl Sagan: the spiritual scientist

Sunday marked the 80th birthday of Carl Sagan, the spiritual scientist. Author James Croft writes that Sagan, who died in 1996 at age 62, found science to be a profoundly spiritual pursuit.

For Sagan, science was not just a technical pursuit, nor was it simply about the discovery of new facts, Croft writes.

I would suggest that science is, at least in my part, informed worship, Sagan wrote in The Varieties of Scientific Experience.

Croft writes, "This may be surprising to some, but one of the foremost icons of todays rationalist movement believed passionately that to preclude spirituality from a relationship with science was to demean science, as well as spirituality."

But here is Sagan's definition of Nature (with a capital N): reverence; awe; celebration; magnificence; intricacy; beauty; soaring; elation; humility; joining and merging with the Cosmos.

Sagans spiritual approach to science, Croft writes in a Religion News Service piece, is important for atheists, skeptics, and Humanists to rememberbecause it offers a different view of the relationship between science and religion than the battleground itis so often portrayed as today.

Read the rest of the story here: http://chrisstedman.religionnews.com/2014/11/09/atheists-carl-sagan-lead/

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Carl Sagan: the spiritual scientist

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PETERBOROUGH -- Four experts will gather to share their ideas to help survivors of trauma.

The Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre is hosting Spirituality and Trauma on Nov. 19. The event is for practitioners, spiritual leaders and survivors of trauma. It will include a presentation, panel and table discussions on the intersections of spirituality and trauma for healing and change.

The following is the list of speakers who will be at the Spirituality and Trauma event:

Barb Woolner: Ms Woolner is a clinical counsellor at the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre where she supports clients who have experienced sexual violence. She is the second Buddhist to graduate from Waterloo Lutheran Seminary with a Masters in Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy. Barb also holds a Master of Arts in Religion & Culture from Wilfrid Laurier University and a BA in Anthropology from Trent.

Glenn Duncan: Mr. Duncan has been married to Sheila for 29 years. The Duncans came to Peterborough to pastor Gilmour Memorial Baptist Church in 1991 and continued in that ministry until early 2004. After resigning from Gilmour Memorial, Glenn joined the staff of Kawartha Youth Unlimited to help develop a prayer base for Youth Unlimited in Peterborough and the surrounding communities.

Paul Fox: Mr. Fox is a Family Counsellor, Psychotherapist and Reiki Master who has been working with clients in Peterborough and surrounding area since the late 1990s. Over the years he has been involved in family and individual counselling and has received training in diverse and esoteric practices such as Hypnosis, Shamanic Journey-ing, Remote Viewing, Reiki, Philosophy, Integral Theory, and Spirituality, to name a few.

Reverend Julie Stoneberg: Rev. Stoneberg began her ministry with the Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough in August 2007. Hailing from Minneapolis, Julie obtained a Masters of Divinity from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, and previously served Lakehead Unitarian Fellowship in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Spirituality and Trauma is a fundraiser for the local United Way. It's being held at George Street United Church from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 19. Tickets are $20 at the door or in advance at the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre office on Water Street.

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FamilyToday Show With Maria Mirkovich – October 2014 – Spirituality Topics (Show 2 of 2) – Video


FamilyToday Show With Maria Mirkovich - October 2014 - Spirituality Topics (Show 2 of 2)
Discussion about different topics related to Spirituality such as the Archangels, Using Your Intuition and Sacred Contracts. https://www.HeartMight.com http://blog.heartmight.com https://www.facebo...

By: Berta Rodrigues

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FamilyToday Show With Maria Mirkovich - October 2014 - Spirituality Topics (Show 2 of 2) - Video