In my post here I talked about reclaiming and retooling traditional Mormon experiences to fit your spiritual needs moving forward when outside the LDS church. I called it “the Gospel”. I have been thinking a lot on this list of ideas and it’s name, and I decided to tweak it.
I now call the list “The 6 Sources of Revelation”, and have expanded it a bit. Here it is in full:6 Sources of Revelation
I have found that there are 6 Sources of Revelation. Instead of “love languages”, these can be thought of as “spiritual languages”. Some people gain more revelations through one method over another. Some gain no revelations from a source.
Everyone is on their own journey; they are their own prophet. Let them lead themselves how they know best.
Personal Revelation: Personal revelation is arguably the most important source of revelation, because it emphasizes your personal responsibility for discovery and growth. Benjamin Franklin once wrote “God helps those who help themselves”. Personal revelation encourages you to learn as much as you can and make a determination based on the evidence that you’ve been given.
There may come a time when you receive further light and knowledge and you get a personal revelation that contradicts a previous revelation. This is completely ok because life is about learning, changing, and growing. It’s good to change your opinion based on new information.
Teachers: Life is a very difficult journey. Going to someone that you personally trust for guidance makes it so much easier to navigate. These people that you go to can have many different titles among other things they can include family, friends, or spiritual leaders.
Community: Talking with others is how we learn. A community dedicated to spiritual growth would allow you to talk about and listen to personal revelations, discuss scriptures, and perform rituals.
Everyone’s spirituality will look different from everyone else’s. It is good to be exposed to different points of view. It allows you to rather improve or replace your own.
Try to approach conversations from a place of understanding and learning. The objective in these discussions shouldn’t be to change minds, but to learn from others’ points of view.
Scriptures: Scriptures are writings that are handed down from past generations that convey valuable lessons. These writings could be fiction, non-fiction, or somewhere in between.
People have different scriptures because the lesson that is taught in one scripture may resonate well with one person, but not with another. It is helpful to find what is scripture to you and why, and learning what is scripture to others and why.
Traditional Mormon scriptures include, but are not limited to, the Bible, Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenants.
Tools: Tools are often used as a reminder of something or is used to produce greater understanding.
Traditional Mormon tools include, but not limited to, oil vials, jewelry, clothing, grooming styles, names/titles, symbols, art, music, seer stones, food, and entheogens. Tools can also be places including, but not limited to, temples, meetinghouses, or in nature.
Rituals: Rituals are formalized and/or symbolic actions that are based in tradition. They often mark a milestone in life, symbolize a commitment, give advice or comfort, or convey a desire for things to change.
Traditional Mormon rituals include, but are not limited to prayer, family home evening, baptism, blessings, fasting, sacrament, dusting off shoes, ordinations, endowments, and weddings/sealings.
I believe these are compatible with a naturalistic and a mystic point of view regarding spirituality. It is a good beginning place to help others understand each other’s spirituality.
What do you think? Would you add anything? Remove anything?