Pact with the devil

QUESTION: Masters, I have a huge question. My great-grandmother was a medium and I have received many spiritual qualities myself. In my spiritual beginnings I made many mistakes such as devil worship and making pacts with him. It was not for evil purposes. My intensions stemmed from a belief that I could be more spiritual and help people in any matter of life with the information I got from him. Part of the pact with the devil included doing blasphemous acts such as breaking statues of Jesus, crosses, saints, and virgins and then dedicating an altar to him. A few weeks after I had done this, I felt an inner calling from God to destroy this altar. Now I still want to help people but just don’t feel the same about continuing the spiritual path. Can you help me straighten out my feelings so I can move forward?   ~Jovan, US

ANSWER: A big difficulty that you find yourself handicapped by is your belief system. The term spirituality means many things to many people. To some (and this is the way we use the term) it means learning as much as is possible in human form about their true essence as a soul, and has nothing to do with organized religions, paranormal talents, or other people’s beliefs. It does not include any series of abilities, behaviors, or beliefs. It is a sense of being truly honest with yourself, basing your decisions on the feelings that come from deep inside yourself.

To others, spirituality implies an ability to deal with non-physical things. Within certain areas it means following the practices of the mystical leaders. One of the important characteristics is secrecy and the ability to control others. A person who is able to pick up energy signatures of any kind-auras, voices, Earth-bound spirits-is considered by some to be spiritual.

You need to first define just what you believe-not what you have been told, but what you feel. You have a sense that reward and punishment, right and wrong, exist on Earth. That voice that came to you, which you felt was God, was your inner consciousness, or soul, advising you to start making your own decisions and not hold to the superstitions around you. Listening to your inner voice will give you a sense of yourself. It will further help you get out of judging everything and into an ability to evaluate the benefit for you in everything you do and think.

You have a very specific definition in your belief system mind concerning the nature and abilities of what you call the devil. These were placed there by your family and society. You have never examined them to see if the ideas feel the same to you as they seem to feel to other people. Your inner self spoke out to tell you that this activity you engaged in was fruitless. You took back your power from the beliefs in your head when you destroyed the altar.