In the Gunsights: Contemplative Arts and Artists Draw Fire

The practice of a new form of "contemplative arts" upsets some religious and secular traditionalists. New book and related seminars on "7 Mysteries" shows how to examine religious and secular truth for the symbolic meanings embedded within them.

EUREKA, CA (PRWEB) February 27, 2004 -- A new form of meditation orginating in Northern California is drawing fire from religionists and secularists alike. In her new book, "7 Mysteries: Contemplative Arts for the Modern Mystic," Rev. Alesia Matson, D.D. teaches practitioners of
"the contemplative arts" a way of perceiving themselves, their lives, and the world around them in terms of metaphors and archetypes -- a practice that upsets some religious and secular traditionalists.

"Metaphoric sight is a way of seeing the truths hidden, or embedded in the symbols that sometimes obscure them," says Rev. Matson. "In `7 Mysteries,' I use the metaphor of seven to illustrate the process of metaphoric sight. It's difficult to take anything at its literal face when you're seeing the symbolic truths behind it."

It's these alleged "symbolic truths" that trouble religious traditionalists. In "7 Mysteries: Contemplative Arts for the Modern Mystic," Rev. Matson uses metaphoric sight to analyze the Lord's Prayer, the Seven Deadly Sins, the Seven Archangels, and many other cornerstones of religious faith.

"I've been told by some ministers that I'm endangering my immortal soul as well as the souls of those who read my books, or attend my seminars," Rev. Matson said. "They're unable to hear my reassurances that souls simply can't be lost, nor endangered. It's frustrating to be shouted down so regularly."

Asked if she means to disassemble modern Christian tradition, Rev. Matson denies it. "Actually I think the contemplative arts can only strengthen one's practice of any religious tradition -- Christian, Jewish, Muslim -- over the long term. If you teach your followers the symbolic beauty in your tradition, they're going to be with you for a long, long time. It's only when you try to sell them on the literal versions of your truth that you're in danger of disillusioning, and losing them."

That is amply demonstrated in Western cultures today. A poll in USA Today published in December 1999 showed that 30% of Americans considered themselves "spiritual, but not religious." 45% said they relied on their own views, not religious teachings, to decide how to conduct their lives, and the trend was likely to continue.

"I teach and write about what I know to be true: That there is deep and profound truth in every religious and spiritual tradition, that the key to finding those truths is `metaphoric sight,' and that using meditation, contemplation, and prayer -- the contemplative arts -- to consider these truths is going to cause you to reap enormous benefits. Not only spiritually, but physically and mentally too."

Rev. Matson is one of the co-founders of Church of the New Renaissance, which claims to be a home for modern mystics. She is teaching the contemplative arts and a specific application called "7 Mysteries" in her national seminars. To see her schedule and sign up for a free email seminar on these topics, visit http://www.metaphorsforlife.com.