Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve appreciated the beauty of starlight. My parents even put stickers of shooting stars and the moon on my ceiling to watch as I fell asleep every night. Those twinkling lights in the sky are a constant reminder of the vastness of the universe. But I recently learned something about stars that makes their sparkle a little more personal.  

Stars — the most noticeable and fundamental building blocks of galaxies — make up 97% of our bodies. In fact, according to the Natural History Museum in London, “Any element in your body that is heavier than iron has travelled through at least one supernova.” 

In an interview with the museum, Dr Ashley King, a planetary scientist and stardust expert, explained, “Every element was made in a star and if you combine those elements in different ways you can make species of gas, minerals, and bigger things like asteroids, and from asteroids you can start making planets and then you start to make water and other ingredients required for life and then, eventually, us.”

RELATED: The Spiritual Meaning and Symbolism of the Moon

This speaks to a question that Baha’u’llah, the prophet and founder of the Baha’i Faith, asked in the book “The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys”:

Dost thou reckon thyself only a puny form
When within thee the universe is folded?

But Baha’u’llah wasn’t referencing merely the physical universe inside us. He was referring to the spiritual “planes and states [that] are folded up and hidden away within” us. So, could there be spiritual and symbolic meaning to humans being made of stardust?

Author J. E. Esslemont explained in his book, “Baha’u’llah and the New Era,” that Baha’u’llah wrote that the religious prophecies about “the sun, moon and stars, the heavens and the earth, are symbolical and are not to be understood merely in the literal sense. The Prophets were primarily concerned with spiritual, not material, things; with spiritual, not with physical, light.” 

When the sun — the most noticeable star at the center of our solar system — is mentioned in religious texts, it often symbolizes the many prophets of God who spiritually enlightened the world.

RELATED: The Spiritual Symbolism of the Sun

“The sun is the supreme source of light, so Moses was a sun for the Hebrews, Christ for the Christians, and Muḥammad for the Muslims,” Esslemont wrote. He explained that the stars sometimes signify “the lesser sources of illumination, the religious leaders and teachers, who should guide and inspire the people.”

One of the first Baha’i prayers I memorized as a child was, “O God, guide me, protect me, make of me a shining lamp and a brilliant star. Thou art the Mighty and the Powerful.”

I believe that I was praying to one day become a source of inspiration for others and to dedicate my talents, knowledge, and strengths to uplifting and serving society.

To that end, I find inspiration in these words of Baha’u’llah:

O people of God! Righteous men of learning who dedicate themselves to the guidance of others and are freed and well guarded from the promptings of a base and covetous nature are, in the sight of Him Who is the Desire of the world, stars of the heaven of true knowledge…They are indeed fountains of soft-flowing water, stars that shine resplendent, fruits of the blessed Tree, exponents of celestial power, and oceans of heavenly wisdom.

But to become stellar, we need to live a virtuous life and detach ourselves from the material world. So, what does doing this look like? 

Abdu’l-Baha, the son of Baha’u’llah and one of the central figures of the Baha’i Faith, wrote that the “friends [who] are the stars of the summit of Providence and the planets of the firmament of Guidance” dispel “darkness and destroy the foundation of envy and enmity. They wish for the world and its denizens unity and peace; they destroy the basis of war and strife; they seek integrity, faithfulness and friendliness, and are well-wishes even of the evil-disposed enemy. Thus they make this prison of infidelity the sublime mansion of fidelity, and this dungeon of envy a delectable paradise.”

Becoming a spiritual star is not an easy task, nor should it be taken lightly. It requires us to devote our lives to working for world unity and dispelling hostile divisions, such as racism, sexism, and other prejudices. But, it is certainly a worthy calling to aspire to. After all, we are meant to shine as stars do, as we strive for our inner spiritual lights to become as radiant as the physical beacons in the night sky.

The post We’re All Made of Stars. What Does This Mean Spiritually? appeared first on Minds Valley.

Cults take center stage in Hulu’s new TV series, The Clearing. Based on the crime thriller In the Clearing by novelist J. P. Pomare and inspired by real-life cults in Australia and around the world, the psychological thriller follows Freya [Teresa Palmer], a cult survivor haunted by her past. She was a member of the Kindred, a sect determined to twist the hearts and minds of children.

Now, as an adult and single mother, Freya lives in a secluded home in the woods. She keeps a vigilant eye on her young son. But when a cult group kidnaps an eight-year-old named Sara, painful memories from Freya’s childhood begin to surface. Soon enough, Freya comes to realize that the trauma connected to the cult and its icy, imposing matriarch, Adrienne [Miranda Otto], still runs deep. Palmer and Otto recently spoke to CBR about their work on the show, the allure of cults, traumatic baggage, embodying a leader, and the new Fall Guy feature film.

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CBR: Why do you feel there is a natural fascination with cults?

Miranda Otto: Because it takes something really pure and turns it into something else. It takes people’s natural instinct to try and better themselves and create community and take a path through life and something to hold onto. It takes you so far from that into something dark. We look at these things thinking, “It could be me.” How do you avoid that? How do you have your antenna up and see where this could be taking you?

The Clearing is inspired by real-life cults. What does that add to the gravitas of the show?

Otto: This show is based on the book In the Clearing. That is a work of fiction. This is very much a work of fiction. Once you make the television show, you are removing it again slightly because it is different than the book. When we approached it, we really approached it very much from the script, our imaginations, and then research that we had done on a whole lot of different cults. I guess there is that weight of thinking about the people in various cults, what they’ve been through, and the weight of that.

Teresa, in your deep dive, what surprised you the most about cults?

Teresa Palmer: That it’s not reserved just for the down and out. It’s not reserved for people in a midlife crisis. It can be anyone who has some sort of yearning to get to know themselves better and do spiritual work. You see how popular self-help books are right now. There is a longing for each of us to be the best version of ourselves. I can understand how you can find this community of like-minded people. You are like, “Wow, this is like a utopia. This feels so great.” It’s so gradual how the cycle of abuse comes into play. You are already so deeply ingrained in this world that the idea of getting out of it feels overwhelming. That, to me, is the most fascinating aspect. A lot of people can watch from an outside perspective and be like, “That wouldn’t happen to me because of A, B, and C.” But I think that narrative is wrong. It is definitely accessible to all of us. I understand how it happens.

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Miranda, a lot of cult leaders are depicted as over-the-top fanatics. That’s definitely not your character. What did you want to bring to Adrienne?

Otto: I felt like she was impenetrable. Adrienne was someone who had constructed herself. In some ways, on some other strange level, she is like the CEO of this empire. She is a very powerful woman who has made herself and put herself together. But the things she is doing to the people within her group are not good. If she was a better, more fully-realized human being, perhaps she could create a lot of good in the world. Unfortunately, she has her own demons. Her perspectives on mothering and family are very warped.

Adrienne has an interesting dichotomy. In public, she’s killing people with kindness. Behind the scenes, she is ready to snap.

Otto: Yeah, she is very much dishing out the dirty work to people within her structure so that she can be seen as a Madonna figure. She keeps herself clean of all these things and seems to be in touch with some kind of higher power.

Teresa, your character deals with a lot of personal demons, as well. How has her past continued to haunt her in the present day?

Palmer: Freya had an incredibly traumatic upbringing. She has had absolutely no secure attachment to a pivotal caretaker, which is what we all need. We all need to have a secure attachment — hopefully, an adult — in our lives. That, of course, manifests in every aspect — in her romantic relationships, in her interactions with very normal people like a school teacher or the mother of my son’s friend. Even that is triggering for her in so many ways. She is such a survivor, and I think she is just trying her best to keep her head above water. She’s also not had the bandwidth to really get in and do the self-work to unpack all the trauma. However, in the series, when we meet her, the abduction of a child makes it so she is forced to face the demons. As the show unravels, she gets further and further into that work. It is harrowing and very confronting. Ultimately, this is a redemption story.

How unhealthy is the relationship between these two characters?

Palmer: Very unhealthy.

Otto: This is not a healthy relationship at all. There is some semblance. Underneath it, you think, “Maybe if this person wasn’t so messed up and if this hadn’t happened, maybe there is some kind of love there.” But everything is so conditional and transactional.

Palmer: It’s interesting because even though my character has this really warped attachment to Adrienne, she still goes to her when she is having problems. When she is dealing with something heavy, she still turns to her. I think it’s that classic case of Stockholm Syndrome, as well. Another thing that is looked at throughout the series is how the abuser has their hold on these victims. It’s so complex and nuanced. What I loved about it is [that] it’s not black and white. It’s so many colors, and who am I to judge the choices these characters make? Once you are in it and you are in the fabric of it, it makes more sense why my character is still involved with Adrienne. She’s a cunning, manipulative woman. She has me in her little box. My wings are clipped in so many ways.

Lastly, Teresa, many viewers grew up with The Fall Guy TV series in the ’80s. In what way is director David Leitch raising the bar in terms of action? And how was it keeping up with Ryan Gosling, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Emily Blunt?

Palmer: Oh my gosh. I had the best time on that movie. I cannot stress enough about how fun it is going to be. David Leitch is the king of action. There is also so much comedy in there. Ryan Gosling is a natural comedian, so he’s throwing in things left, right, and center and adlibbing. It was such a fun environment where everything was elevated. It was the biggest movie I have been a part of in terms of budget, scale, and fight sequences. It was such a joyful experience. And what a nice break to go from The Clearing and this dark, harrowing headspace to this action/comedy. I think fans of the Fall Guy will be really excited by this interpretation of the story.

The Clearing Premieres Wednesday, May 24, on Hulu.

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The post The Clearing Stars Unpack the Insidious World of Cults appeared first on Minds Valley.