Elias describes belief systems as containers which hold beliefs (this is illustrated in the well known bird cage analogy). Understanding beliefs and belief system is basic element of the shift.
**Session #284**
ELIAS: The base element of this shift in consciousness is to be identifying, recognizing, and addressing to the belief systems that you hold and to be accepting of these belief systems – not eliminating, not altering, not changing, but to be accepting of these belief systems, which therefore renders these belief systems neutralized, which shall be creating of this new establishment in consciousness; for if you are not affected by those belief systems that you hold, you allow yourselves the opportunity to open to your awareness and you allow yourselves to view more of your reality.
**Session #339 (The shoe analogy)**
ELIAS: Let us view a very small belief system. Let us return to your shoes! (Laughter)
You all engage the practice of wearing shoes. This, within your belief system, is acceptable. You hold no conflict with engaging this belief system that you wear shoes. You may wear shoes, you may not wear shoes. It is acceptable to you for your feet to be covered, for your feet to be bare. You may all choose to be wearing many different types of shoes or you may choose to wear not any, and this offers you no conflict.
The practice of placing the shoes upon your feet is a belief. It is unnecessary, but you hold no conflict in placing shoes upon your feet. The belief continues, but there is acceptance of this, even to the point of how you shall be wearing your shoes and how you shall place them upon your feet.
Now; if you are placing your shoes upon your feet, your right upon your left and your left upon your right, you shall be creating conflict, for this is not in agreement with the belief. The right belongs to the right; the left belongs to the left. You may continue with the belief and acknowledge its existence. If your shoes are wide enough, it shall matter not that you place them upon the left or upon the right. As your shoes are too narrow, they shall constrict you if you are placing them upon the opposite feet, and they shall hurt and they shall be creating of discomfort. But as you create shoes that are wide enough, they shall not be creating of discomfort, and it shall matter not which foot you are placing them upon.
The belief continues, but how you are constructing the belief matters not and is creating of no conflict, and as you widen your awareness, the belief continues, but it matters not, for it does not hold its power and it is not affecting.
There is a session in which Elias lists ten belief systems. In his way of seeing this, these belief systems hold all possible beliefs, i.e. every belief can be assigned to one of them.
**Session #364 (The ten belief systems)**
ELIAS: I shall express to you that you hold fewer belief systems than you think, although within these belief systems, you hold many more aspects than you think. In this, (pause) you hold belief System of relationships . You hold belief system of duplicity. You hold belief system of sexuality. You hold belief system of truth.
… This being also those in conjunction with emotion, and perception. You also hold the belief system of certain senses. You hold religious belief system|, which we shall identify as spirituality, and you hold scientific belief system, which shall be the designation of physical reality and the elements of it. These are the basic belief systems that you hold within this particular reality.
You hold one other belief system also, which may be viewed to be more encompassing, and this would be the belief system of physical creation of your universe[?], which is slightly different from your scientific belief system or your religious belief system. In this, that particular belief system involves the aspects of coincidences and accidents.
As I have stated, these are the basic creations of your belief systems within this dimension, but each of these expressed holds a tremendous amount of aspects within them. Therefore, although the designation of the belief systems – the cages themselves – may be few, the aspects or the birds within them are very many, and many of these birds may appear in manners that you do not even associate with these particular belief systems.
Note: Elias sometimes uses the term belief system loosely with what seems to be something that is not one of those ten belief systems. In a private session (thanks Cat!) he was asked to clarify this for us (for example about using the term "belief system" in relation to "protection") and here is his answer:
(Unpublished Session):
ELIAS The belief systems that I listed were, or are, the ten belief systems in which all of the beliefs are contained. In this, at times I may incorporate the term "systems" referring to a belief in relation to a belief system. Protection is not a belief system but would be included in the belief system of the religious belief.
Elias explaines further aspects of belief systems:
**Session #255**
ELIAS: Also, you hold belief systems that serve as motivation for you. If you are being instructed that any element is taboo, it creates an automatic fascination within you. Therefore, you are motivated to explore. You move beyond your confines and limitations of duplicity and you allow yourself permission to explore these areas that are taboo. Although you may be exploring privately and to your thinking secretly, you continue to be motivated to explore.
In an instance that any individual expresses to you, "You may not do this," you shall automatically naturally within you respond with, "I SHALL do this," for within essence you hold a knowing that there is no element that may be denied to you. You also hold the knowing that there is no right or wrong. This provides you, in spite of your belief systems, a very strong motivation to move into areas that are denied to you as resulting of your belief systems.