Do you master self?

An very important factor and actually one of the main keys being a spiritual and dealing with the spirits (and this corresponds to most spiritual direction, religions and paths; in fact I would dare to say all paths where you dealing with the invisible world, first you should be able to master self.
So what does it really entail to- master self? And why is this extremely important when dealing with the invisible realm? Do you feel that you have mastered self? Be honest.. If Yes, then I bow, to you in great respect! Cause in these times, this is rare.

Before I proceed going more in depth of this subject..

Let me briefly talk from a Haitian Vodou perspective. We always start our ceremonies dressed in White. (And we also always start with the Rada Lwa (These spirits primary color is also white). And it`s a reason for that. For us Vodouisants, is basically a symbolic representation for purity; Purity in spirit, heart, mind and action. And dressing in white is something that you often see in many other religions as well (thou not always depending on culture, but still this principle is a dominant factor)
So back to the question, what does it really entail to master self?

It goes hand in hand with purity; your body is -your- temple. it doesn`t necessarily mean that you have to walk around like a saint (that is another different category). The Christians call it  "the 7 deadly sins". Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed and Sloth. Even if I don`t follow Christian ideology, this is actually a great and simple example to use and understand of what I am talking about.

No matter what path you follow in life, who you are, where you from, what you do, your ability to master self, will be challenged. That is unavoidable. And will produce the same result to anyone. And everyone feels the same; either loss of power, or empowerment.

Now, why is the ability to master self and have self control so important, especially dealing with the invisible world. See, dealing with spirits is first of all not a game. Initiates of Haitian Vodou are (or should be) protected (you should have Gads (protective spirits) and we also put Gads on clients by request, that guard us against malicious spirits and attacks. There are prayers as well and spiritual cleansings that can be done. But it`s a little bit more to in then just that; You have to understand (especially as a beginner) that by not having control over self and dealing with the invisible world, is a invitation and an open door itself to lower level spirits (trickster spirits) and can have severe consequences in your life and even effect the life of your loved ones.

There are also spirits passing by, just waiting for that invitation to attach themselves to you and feed of it. Or even worse, enemies that want to harm you (people who know what they are doing have eyes and their spirits will let them know when your weak. Of course another thing is that you risk to stagnate, struggle and if you are protected, once these lower level spirits are around you, they will not let you go that easily.. they want you to fall, they want you to dig your own hole, until you can`t get out.

Of course it`s a work in progress to master self. It takes time, devotion, patience and discipline. We all have our flaws, we not perfect, but I`m not really referring to the "minor issues in life", rather the main principalities like previously mentioned that are in fact the key elements of mastering self, and self control.

It`s a broad subject, but hopefully I was able to highlight the main point across of a extremely important matter; especially when dealing with the invisible world.

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Houngan Kris