Religion is a very interesting topic, and so is spirituality. Religion is a form of spirituality but spirituality is not a form of religion. Someone can be spiritual but not have a faith because spirits and other other-worldly beings are not necessarily connected to a divine being. Religion, on the other hand, requires that someone believe in a god, gods or some form of divine being(s). Someone can even be both spiritual and religious, like myself. In this article, I will be discussing the differences between spirituality and religion in depth using both external resources and personal experiences.

To begin, the definitions of both will be given. According to the Oxford Dictionary, religion is defined as "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods," and spirituality as "the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things." Both of these are good skeletons to build off of, especially spirituality.

Spirituality is a much larger umbrella than religion is and because of that, there are a myriad of spiritual people. Some of these people are druids; some of them are witches; some are even psychics and mediums. What is interesting is that most religions have some sort of spiritual ilk of people, and most religions are okay with that. The one religion that comes to mind that is not okay with this is Christianity, particularly Roman Catholicism. As both a practicing Catholic and a Spiritualist, I know first-hand.

Catholicism believes any form of divination, that is any type of object or objects used to communicate with a Spirit, is idolatry and therefore breaking one of the 10 Commandments. Divination can indeed be idolatrous, but the way I use it is not. I use my fascination for spiritualism as a way to enhance my faith. What is interesting is that there are many types of divination tools, the most common being Oracle Cards. Oracle Cards take on many forms from Tree Oracles, Fairy Oracles, all the way to Angel Oracles. One of the most famous and beloved Oracle Card makers is Doreen Virtue, Ph.D.

Doreen holds a Ph.D in Psychology and is a licensed counselor. With her knowledge, she has created many Oracle Cards relating to angels, indigo children and Mother Mary. Her experience as a psychologist and counselor helped her understand the spiritual needs of people and in turn, helped her create her plethora of decks. Each deck of her Oracle Cards are different, yet they are all connected with the calming and positive energy that is within them. Her cards aren't about answering religious questions, but rather to assist in human questions, questions that deal with love, money and jobs, relocation, family, etc., even though some of her cards have religious figures on them or are about them, for instance, her Mary, Queen of Angels Oracle Cards.

In summary, religion in part is spiritualistic, but not a part of spiritualism, and spiritualism is not religion. Both can work together to help you understand yourself in a much more in-depth way. It is possible to be both atheist and spiritual because you are focusing on yourself and those around you through activities such as yoga, meditation, reiki, crystal therapy, and so on and so forth. Spirituality is also more complex than religion because it takes on physical, mental and spiritual characteristics while religion is primarily spiritual. A closing piece of advice for people who are curious is to find a deck of oracle cards that speak to you, or find crystals (Amazon is a great place for both), or to have a spiritual advisory meeting with a religious leader (priest, rabbi, imam, guru, etc.) and/or a spiritual leader (psychic, medium, reiki practitioner).

For further information, feel free to contact me via email at nagyr1@udayton.edu.