My Take on Doreen Virtue’s Return to Traditional Christianity
I’m not the type of person who normally concerns myself with the religious belief changes of others, but there has been so much buzz around Doreen Virtue’s choice to return to a more traditional form of Christianity and Jesus teachings that I simply couldn’t keep my trap shut on this one. Additionally, my own mother has followed her though out the years and owns many of her tarot decks which Doreen is now denouncing and advising her followers to dispose of. So, it’s a bit personal for me as well even though I don’t consider myself to be one of her followers.
I find Doreen’s path change interesting but not surprising. She has always has always spoken of Jesus, angels and God in all her new age type of work over the past twenty years. It makes sense for her to return to her root beliefs if she is having some doubts about the path she was following. Whether she is correct or not in her statements is not for me to decide for her. Spiritualty is a highly personal journey and we must all follow what we resonate with. I own one of her books and a card deck, but for myself personally I found her a bit too “fluffy” for my taste. I look to incorporate both the light and dark in my learning because I sincerely believe leaning too heavily on one side creates unbalance. I suspect this is what Doreen encountered on her journey, hence the abrupt change. I see the value in not giving power to our internal shadows and darkness, but I also believe there is a big difference between not giving them power and ignoring them completely. Darkness will not be suppressed forever because is a necessary part of the world we live in. We cannot have perfect loving light 100% of the time, we must also occasionally face struggles of many varieties because that is what causes us to grow stronger and wiser. Without darkness we would grow lazy and stagnant in our spirituality. Via my own speculation, my guess is that Doreen faced some sort of dark entity or internal shadows she had been suppressing over the years and it may have frightened her. It happens. Heck, my previous blog this week reveals a dark entity I encountered in New Orleans and had to learn to work through to emerge victorious. Therein lies the key to any sort of progressive development one seeks in life – we need to work through the opposition instead of running away from it. In the end, I am not here to judge her decision and if Jesus teachings make her happy and more grounded then it’s a good move for her. Like I mentioned before the spiritual journey is a highly personal one which takes all of us is many different directions.
Now, I promised not to judge her decision but must add my two cents about all of her followers she has just left behind. There are all sorts of videos on YouTube, most of which accept her decision to change but also feel a bit betrayed. There are reactions to her original video which has been since taken down where people felt she was being very judgmental of the New Age community which made her so famous. I would have liked to have seen that video for comparison, but the recent video I did see posted by her appears to have a much less judgmental tone. I felt she explained herself well and appeared to be sincere. She must have also known the backlash she would receive and I have to respect her for standing up for her beliefs. But I also watched a video put out by Scarlet Moon Magic who made a very good point. When your journey is your own, changing paths is not a big deal. However, when you have a huge following of people who you have taught for over twenty years, leaving them in the lurch so abruptly can be a bit reckless. So I understand why her followers feel betrayal and had I been one of them probably would have similar feelings. That being said, I also think this is an excellent opportunity for her followers to learn from the experience. Eventually every spiritual guru will fail you because at the end of the day they are still human. I’ve had this happen to me in my own journey where a teacher I relied on for lots of guidance went on to teachings I simply could not resonate with anymore. It was disappointing because I had grown to be quite fond of this teacher, but the time had come for me to leave the nest and go at it on my own. As you progress on your own spiritual journey there will be a time when you reach the crossroads and must decide to either find another “guru to follow” or blaze your own trail which is in true alignment with your higher self. Finding your own trail is scary and you will make mistakes, but in those mistakes and missteps you will grow at an exponential rate and never bow down to another guru ever again. We must remember to guard against becoming star struck. Do not put any spiritual teacher on a pedestal, they are your equal in life – always know this! The experience teachers offer can be helpful in bringing thoughts and ideas to incorporate into your journey, but when you approach the crossroads the road must become your own if you want to reach true enlightenment.
It is my sincere hope that Doreen’s followers use this as an opportunity to claim their own power. Perhaps some of them will start writing and making angel cards of their own. There is much turmoil in our world right now and blindly following someone else’s teachings will weaken you for the battles we are sure to face in the coming years. I challenge everyone to take up the reins and skin up their knees a bit so they are a bit tougher for round two.