How do I help my children maintain their spirituality or become more spiritual?

[Berry]

I have 2 children 9 and 6 whom are very spiritual. I'm not sure what my role is in helping them either develop more spiritually or just sit back and support them in whatever they decide when they are old enough. My worries and fears are that they will lose their abilities as they age and their treasures would be just memories.

My son had some minor abilities when he was a toddler but it did not manifest until he was very near death. Near 7, he almost died of pneumonia and was intubated and hospitalized for 3.5 weeks. He developed the abilities to see and converse with ghosts, spirits, guardian spirits, invisible winged creatures. I thought his abilities were due to the strong medications he was on, but I was wrong. He would maintain his abilities for 2 more years. And it suddenly stopped. It seems that his spiritual abilities are inversely porportional to his health.

How do I help him get his spiritual sight back? Or should I just let him be because that may be his life's path? Maybe he wasn't meant to communicate with spirits.

My daughter has some special invisible friends. 2 are human spirits, 1 is an animal spirit, the rest are winged fairies. They love her and are great companions.

I know my children are not making it up because I have seen 1 of their human friends and a few of my son's guardian spirits. And they shared the same human friends and animal friend.

I would be devasted if my daughter were to lose the ability to see and play with her invisible friends.

Are any of you in the same predicament as me or have experienced situations like this? Any insight would be much appreciated!

[Ninoushka]

Berry, I envy your children!
As a child, anything religious or spiritual was kind of "ridiculed" and invalidated in my family, so I never got a chance to really develop my abilities. Nowadays, it takes tremendous effort to get rid of my mental blocks and to try to be less rational and cartesian. I think that only the fact that you are supportive of your children's spiritual habits and abilities is already a good thing. I know that sometimes when kids get older, they might change their beliefs and habits (because they have less time to daydream, because of peer pressure, ...) but it's really up to them to figure out if they still want to practice their ability. Maybe it will be part of their journey to forget about it for a few years?
In the meantime, I think I would encourage them to practice yoga, relaxation, meditation... Activities such as these can be fun for kids and they help keeping them connected to their true self.
Also, why not trying to have them practice a creative activity, like for example making a scrapbook album of their visions (or friends or guides), just so they keep a trace of what they see right now and can get back to it later.
I don't have kids myself so I can't relate to your situation, but I think these would be two things I would do with them.
In any case, I wouldn't push them too hard. Ultimately, when they will enter their teenage years, you know that everything you will say will be "stupid" or "silly" for them. You will have to respect what they believe and leave them some room for their "secret garden". Maybe they will still communicate with their invisible friends but you just won't know it! Good luck to you and your family.

I always wonder what people mean when they say their child is very spiritual. Do they pray, or talk about Jesus all the time? Is that being spiritual?
In your case you seem to imply that seeing ghost, spirits, faeries, etc is spiritual.

I would disagree about this indicating that this points at any degree of spirituality. I would see as spiritual that they have worldly human friends they treat well, maybe have some animals for whom they care with love and affection.
I would consider effectively relating to other human beings and animals as much more spiritual than relating to invisible (for most) beings.

[Ninoushka]

I guess Merry meant that her children have some sort of "psychic abilities" (not sure what word would describe best their abilities). She wants them to nurture their practice and their abilities and keep them for as long as they can. I think it really is just a question of vocabulary here Maybe according to your definition "psychic" would be more adapted than "spiritual"

Maybe yes. Still, I think I would prefer children to interact with real world people and animals far more than with invisible ones.
There may be a reason why most children lose their psychic abilities when they grow up and that to actively preserve it may even be a disservice to them.

[Ninoushka]

Originally Posted by Rin

Maybe yes. Still, I think I would prefer children to interact with real world people and animals far more than with invisible ones.

Rin, I totally agree, I'd rather have my children interact with people in the "real" world than the invisible one. However Berry didn't mention anything about her children's behavior in the "real" world. Just because they interact with invisible friends doesn't mean that they don't have little friends at school, at the playground, in their sports classes, etc.
I have to admit that if my kid had an invisible friend, I'd be worried that he wouldn't try to reach out to people in the "real" world. It's kind of like these kids who are more interested in virtual worlds (internet, video games) than in the real world and real friends.

Originally Posted by Rin

There may be a reason why most children lose their psychic abilities when they grow up and that to actively preserve it may even be a disservice to them.

I agree with this too, and I guess it is the reason why I was saying in my 1st post that it may be part of Berry's children journey to forget about their abilities for a while. If it happens, I don't think that forcing them to regain their spiritual abilities will be a good thing. We all have own way of dealing with things...

Show them
Don't push them.

[Berry]

Originally Posted by Ninoushka

Berry, I envy your children!
As a child, anything religious or spiritual was kind of "ridiculed" and invalidated in my family, so I never got a chance to really develop my abilities. Nowadays, it takes tremendous effort to get rid of my mental blocks and to try to be less rational and cartesian. I think that only the fact that you are supportive of your children's spiritual habits and abilities is already a good thing. I know that sometimes when kids get older, they might change their beliefs and habits (because they have less time to daydream, because of peer pressure, ...) but it's really up to them to figure out if they still want to practice their ability. Maybe it will be part of their journey to forget about it for a few years?
In the meantime, I think I would encourage them to practice yoga, relaxation, meditation... Activities such as these can be fun for kids and they help keeping them connected to their true self.
Also, why not trying to have them practice a creative activity, like for example making a scrapbook album of their visions (or friends or guides), just so they keep a trace of what they see right now and can get back to it later.
I don't have kids myself so I can't relate to your situation, but I think these would be two things I would do with them.
In any case, I wouldn't push them too hard. Ultimately, when they will enter their teenage years, you know that everything you will say will be "stupid" or "silly" for them. You will have to respect what they believe and leave them some room for their "secret garden". Maybe they will still communicate with their invisible friends but you just won't know it! Good luck to you and your family.

Thank you so much Ninoushka for your support and advice! I really like the scrapbook ideas. I don't know how to meditate so I can't help on kids in that department.

I grew up with a family with different religions so I won't confuse my children and have decided to let them choose for themselves. Every now and then my daughter will say prayers with me.

Everything I say is starting to get "stupid," lol. My kids already have minds of their own. I can't imagine what their teenage years are going to be like. *shivers*

I cannot mention religion or the kids' abilities in front of my husband. He is extremely skeptical and will argue to no end.

Maybe I'm worried over nothing. There must be a good reason for my son to lose his abilities. If it's meant to be, he'll get it back. How does that saying go? When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

[Berry]

Originally Posted by Rin

I always wonder what people mean when they say their child is very spiritual. Do they pray, or talk about Jesus all the time? Is that being spiritual?
In your case you seem to imply that seeing ghost, spirits, faeries, etc is spiritual.

I would disagree about this indicating that this points at any degree of spirituality. I would see as spiritual that they have worldly human friends they treat well, maybe have some animals for whom they care with love and affection.
I would consider effectively relating to other human beings and animals as much more spiritual than relating to invisible (for most) beings.

Rin, my perception of being spiritual is being connected to the Universe, including seeing spirits, elementals, etc. I had a hard time trying to find which site to post this thread. My bad.

I think it's crucial to treat invisible friends as importantly as the physical friends. Each being is special in their own ways.

[Berry]

Originally Posted by Ninoushka

I guess Merry meant that her children have some sort of "psychic abilities" (not sure what word would describe best their abilities). She wants them to nurture their practice and their abilities and keep them for as long as they can. I think it really is just a question of vocabulary here Maybe according to your definition "psychic" would be more adapted than "spiritual"

Ditto except I don't consider my children "psychic." They have special abilities that doesn't do the general public any good except to themselves.