The name Cloaked Cathedral came from the idea of a hidden temple of ultimate truth and peace within oneself that is trustworthy, accurate, and divine—an individual space that each person has access to. The more we are able to release the imbalanced approach of relying solely on the analytical mind to discern truth, the more we can drop our conditioned judgments and allow our senses to receive the expansive opportunities that lay before us. As a collective, we have often been confined by the idea that skepticism is a tried and true measuring stick for accessing intellectual truth. We cannot wholly evolve as a human species while still holding onto the view that the skeptical mind is the only space where we are able to gain clarity or make the best choices for our future.

The Oxford English Dictionary offers the following definition of skepticism: “[a] disposition to doubt or incredulity in general; mistrustfulness.”

While an attitude of doubt can be seen as a virtue, especially when contrasted with groups’ who are quick to digest societal perspectives, rumors, and propaganda, the idea that one can find truth with automatic disbelief is inaccurate and often leads to cynicism and a closed mindset. While the analytical mind exists for a reason, we work from the perspective that it was meant to be in service to the body’s inner senses or inner knowing. The issue we face when listening to the body’s inner knowing is it’s ideas of where we should go, who we should go with, and how we should get there are often in direct opposition with what the rational mind and ego says is possible or even remotely practical.

Unfortunately, relying on the rational mind as subservient to inner knowing is nearly impossible for most, we as a society have been conditioned to believe that the mind’s judgment, reactive skepticism, self-righteous dogma, and cynicism are the keystones of practical wisdom.

The truth is, the mind is highly valuable and necessary, but only when it knows how to observe its own senses in a state of neutral non-judgment and then interpret the received information without bias. 

The scientific method itself begins with a need for true observation. The issue with our current medical, education, and government institutions is the belief that we already know how things must work, and if we say “we don’t know, but are looking for answers” those answers must come from a set of pre-disposed parameters or preset institutional dogma that our mind adheres to. Anything outside of these set parameters is often considered “fringe,” “crazy,” or if the interpreter comes from a religious background, “evil.”

Beyond these mental boundaries is where we may discover breakthroughs for our current systems, where lasting opportunities and solutions lie, where we can find our own individual path that is truly fulfilling, and where the human race as a whole can find renewal for themselves and the planet.  

One of the main doubts or questions I receive is regarding the relegation of the analytical mind to the service of intuition and the body. Without the mind’s judgment, how can we possibly avoid falling prey to deceit or bad information?

The answer to that is found in discernment as opposed to judgment. Judgment comes from a place of fear and self-preservation. It’s the ego’s way of protecting you and controlling the narrative, but unfortunately it tends to lead to self-limitation, stagnancy, and projection. Judgment comes not from wisdom but from societal conditioning, assumptions that are based on past experiences, stereotypes from culture, or the voices of our parents, caregivers, or teachers. We are essentially limited to our relationships and the world around us, viewing life through the foggy lens of our own dogma, trauma or the limited extent our experiences allow, and prone to fall prey to manipulation and unbalanced, toxic, or ill-suited relationships, jobs, and situations. We easily become followers to systems of authority that are also operating from a place of judgment.

Reactive skepticism does not help protect a person either, as it essentially blocks one from the first step of the scientific method. We must observe the person/subject/object/idea/thought that we wish to know and gather information on from an unbiased and neutral position first. If we react with immediate skepticism, we are coming from a place of weakness, and are often operating from past assumptions and past data, and cannot observe in a clear manner. Neutrality and detachment from outcome is the first step in beginning to see the truth of anything clearly. 

When we have practiced releasing the judgments and chatter of the mind, that is when we can begin experimenting with hearing our body’s inner knowing (the inner voice is called many different things by different people: inner authority, Holy Spirit, intuition, higher self, instinct, inner compass, God, Source, inner voice, etc.)  When I use the word “experimenting” with inner knowing, I am speaking on testing your intuition in order to find grounded and evidential answers when you learn to sense, discern, interpret, and follow your inner voice. But it’s the testing after observation that is necessary. This is where you learn how to discern what is your inner voice or inner magnetic pull and what is actually fear or conditioning.

“If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything, it is open to everything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few. ”

― Shunryu Suzuki

The third step in mastery is interpretation, which is arguably the most important. Interpretation may come naturally to you, and if it does, it will be proven to you with clear evidence. If it does not come naturally, it can be learned when you understand how to tune into your subconscious and ask questions and wait for the answers. This is one of the many ways to access wisdom and discernment. 

The goal here at Cloaked Cathedral is not to tell you what to think, but to teach you how to think, and help you find your own way of accessing your inner knowing in order for you to surrender and become aligned with your authentic self, your true desires, and what you came to earth to do. After you find your own inner knowing and learn to follow it, the second goal is to learn how to read the energy all around you: what’s coming from other people, other situations, the whole world.

The universe is always speaking to you. Humans are naturally evolving into a state that is beyond speech. One of the key ways we learn to read energy naturally is not to look for truth in someone’s words or actions, but to sense the energy underneath those words and actions. This is what it means to “discern spirits.” When you can read the energy of a person, place or situation, you will know everything you need to know (as long as you are free from judgment and full of empathetic ego-free discernment).

Shadow work and shame healing is the first step in becoming aware of our projections, learning to observe without bias is another step, reading the energy of archetype is another, and lastly, being able to discern spirits via clairaudience, claircognizance, clairsentience, and clairvoyance, as well as being able to access the Akashic Records are all wildly helpful tools to become proficient at sensing and discerning anything without having to analyze anything. Reading energy is a sense that can be re-learned so that it operates as naturally as the other five senses do. The key here is to understand that just because you’re reading energy or accessing something you cannot see, the results of these pursuits will be grounded in peace, clarity, and individual or collective evidence. 

by, SZ Audrey 

© Cloaked Cathedral LLC