what do you all see in spiritualism?

[robvalue]

Enjoy your travels tiger! Thank you for the discussion

@bennyboy,
interesting - what do you mean by myth?

I'd describe it as a narrative that represents the essential qualities of an idea rather than a historical truth.  There's no material being Venus, for example, but you can see in her description and mythology that she represents certain aspects of the female personality, and also of the male obsession.

So if a spiritualist was to make a little shrine to Venus, meditate for a couple of hours, burn some incense or whatever, what is the point of this?  It will give her a focal point for a particular aspect of her self that she wants to connect with-- maybe she wants the confidence to approach a romantic interest, for example.  She will meditate until she feels she is a manifestation of Venus, i.e. that there's a sense of sexiness exuding from her.  Factually, we'd interpret this as a kind of positive visualization with subsequent changes to mood and behavior, mediate by changes in brain function and the release of hormones.  But she might take it much more literally: "I give myself to Venus.  I AM Venus.  Venus expresses herself through my body and my being." etc. etc.

This is just one example.  All kind of spiritualists engage in all kinds of rituals and practices.  But it seems to me they all involve some kind of deliberate focus, a suspension of aspects of belief, and some mental state or experience which they are hoping to achieve.

So maybe it's a matter of losing yourself in the subject matter. Maybe when I play a game or watch a film and become fully immersed in it, it's a spiritual experience. I'm pretending that I am the character in the game, or that the characters in a film are "real".