Stages of Faith 2: Intuitive Projective Faith

by MAUREEN HIGGINS, MA

We all come into this lifetime with ancestral and past life shame, doubt, and guilt. Many of these issues activate in childhood, so we can resolve these inherited issues later in life. This not only helps our selves but help our ancestors and the collective since we are all interconnected.

I’ll be writing a series of articles about developmental and spiritual stages in life from birth - adulthood and the issues that go with these ages. We can become developmentally stuck in ages we haven’t yet healed, so it’s important to understand them to transform them.

My first article talked about what I labeled Stage 1 – an unnamed stage in James Fowler's "Stages of Faith" book. This stage covers ages 0-2. This is when infants and toddlers develop trust so they feel safe and okay in the world. This age is key to forming positive bonds with others. It's been recently recognized as a key component to good relationships and feeling safe and good in the world as an adult.

This article will cover what we’re calling Stage 2 (James Fowler's Stage 1). He calls this the "Intuitive Projective Faith," which is ages 2 to 6 or 7. During this stage, children are unable to compare two perspectives on the same object or situation. They have magical thinking based on their own way of experiencing their world. They do not yet have logic to see if their magical thinking really fits the world. This stage is also about autonomy vs. shame and doubt and initiative vs. guilt.

Since this is the stage of magical thinking, then anything that happens to you during this age can be viewed as your fault since things are viewed without logical reasoning. It can be your fault that your mother is unhappy, your fault that your sibling or grandparent died, your fault that dad lost his job, etc. If a trauma takes place, you will probably believe you should have stopped it or believe you caused it because you’re bad.

This developmental stage is the perfect stage for re-establishing our unresolved guilt and shame from other lifetimes and ancestry since it doesn't take much to do so. If you don’t work on healing this, a part of you stays developmentally stuck in ages 2-7. You will likely respond as though you are this age.

How do you let go of shame, doubt, and guilt from this stage in life?

The body is holding onto these emotions/feelings and keeping this child-like reaction to life going even though there is no validity in it today. It is helpful to talk to the body like you would a small child, "Body these are old beliefs and emotions that you are feeling. They have nothing to do with your life today. It’s time to let them go and move into the truth that it’s not your fault. You have no control over other people’s actions. You can let go of shame, guilt and doubt from every cell. Picture this happening.

You can also picture your younger self and have your currentself talk to her/him. Your younger self can let you know what is bothering them, which will help your current-self understand what’s being stored within the body. Your current self can reassure your child-self which then reassures your body since your body feels the same way as your unresolved child-self. Find out if your younger self trusts your current self. Will she/he let you hold or hug them? Once your younger-self feels safe with you, ask if the two of you can merge together which acts like a soul retrieval. This allows any fragments of your spirit that were lost due to difficulties and traumas to come back in. This creates a positive, permanent change for the better. Emotions are a normal reaction to life but are not meant to be held onto and felt throughout your life span. You are not your experiences. You are not your emotions. You are a Divine Being having a human experience. You are meant to live a life filled with growth and meaning. a

MAUREEN HIGG I NS, MA. Maureen owns Wings of Freedom, an alternative counseling and coaching business. She helps people be their best selves and recognize they are part of the Divine. Maureen also founded the School for Higher Consciousness. Maureen has developed numerous energetic healing systems you can learn through her workshops at wingsoffreedom.com/classes/ and experience through her audios, available at schoolforhigherconsciousness.com