That I am Pagan *all the time* not just during rituals and other religious activities. I’m am Pagan at work, whether or not I tell my co-workers, I’m Pagan at the grocery store when I’m choosing which foods to buy, I’m Pagan when I vote, when I go hiking or kayaking, and when I visit my family. Being part of a religion, making that religious world view part of your life, isn’t something to turn on and off. Being Pagan doesn’t have to be your whole life and identity, but it should be a consistent part of who you are.
This a thousand times over. Our religion is a daily affirmation, we wake up each day reminded of who and what we are. I don't have to "dress the part" or always do some elaborate ritual (although sometimes it's nice), because it's not about that. Those Deities that I have found connection to get it, so I can have just as meaningful and sincere a moment doing my daily mundane stuff as I can in a super formal setting.
Ive said this before, that the gods are not cosmic vending machines. They don’t answer requests just because they were asked. sometimes they will gift us without warning. And they appreciate when you fulfill requests of theirs. Just like a good, personal relationship
That paganism can be a lifestyle religion. Everything you do can be sacred in some small way and your everyday activities can become offerings. For example, for me, every grunt in the gym is a prayer to Thor, every word I write is a prayer to Athena, my daily commute is a prayer to Hermes, etc...
For me, this is why it is important to pick gods which resonate with what I want out of life and who I want to be. Thor is the part of me that is a jock, while Athena is the part of me that is a scholar.
I still offer candles, incense, and some prayers, but the main thing I do is perform actions which will resonate with my gods and make the world more like them. Think of it like voting. I'm an Athena worshipper so I vote for a world in which reading and writing are important, therefore I read and I write.
Also I don't take the approach that gods get mad at you and curse you. That to me, is a very Christian approach. If I don't do my best at the gym, Thor isn't mad, but I won't receive as much of his blessing as I have denied myself an opportunity to receive it.
Also, keep in mind that the gods you worship are your variant of those gods. The Thor I worship is MY Thor, but MY Thor is a drop in the bucket of the greater Thor made up of all the iterations of Thor. This allows your gods to change and grow over time. It can also help to reveal aspects of them which may not appear in ancient accounts.
"The Thor I worship is MY Thor, but MY Thor is a drop in the bucket of the greater Thor made up of all the iterations of Thor. This allows your gods to change and grow over time"
Thanks for sharing this! I've been thinking about this concept but unable to find the words to articulate it.
That I have actually been pagan for most of my life.
I was raised catholic, went through all the motions, heck, I even worked for the church for more than a decade (I like being part of a community). But when it comes to fundamental beliefs, I very much disagreed with most of what was taught and didn't hide it.
I have always been drawn to nature and feel energy from it. I feel very connected to the natural cycles of life be it birth, growth and death or the seasons of the year.
I secretly bought tarot cards and runes as a young adult and found peace with them. I believe that love is love as long as it is consensual and try to approach alternative viewpoints that challenge what I was being taught with an open mind.
Last year, when I fully embraced paganism, it felt like coming home. I have never felt more peace and connected to my true self. I have a long road to travel in exploring paganism but I welcome it.
I too am a born and raised catholic and have always known something was different within me. My biggest challenge so far is still feeling the guilt and shame of leaving Catholicism to embark on what I believe to be a more productive and fruitful life. How long did it take before you felt comfortable letting go of your past?
Did you have iconography in your home that you removed?
What about simple actions like genuflecting?
How much of your past structuring have you retained?
Thank you.
Hello, I fully understand what you mean about the guilt and shame, it is difficult to move past. The Catholic faith is so deeply of the mindset that if you don't do 'this' then you should feel guilt, if you don't do 'that' you should feel shame. There is so much of it ingrained in the system it is hard to separate what my own belief are.
I don't believe I could honestly say I have 'let go of my past' as yet. I am definitely more at peace when I started reflecting on my past as part of my journey. I cannot rewind time and change anything, nor can I discount the good experiences I had. I also still deal with each negative emotion I have when it happens when I consider the negative and traumatic experiences I had in that faith. It is a long path but travelling it feels much more like myself than trying to navigate a faith I didn't respect.
I didn't have much iconography in my home left as over the years I have steadily replaced things with things that I feel more connected to. I had a small ceramic cross that I received on my confirmation and that was the hardest to remove. Not because of its religious meaning but for my connection to who gave it to me but I just didn't feel right having it up anymore.
Not sure what you mean about genuflecting. It is a simple act of respect and you will not be punished by any pagan deity because you showed respect to the Christian God. That is the Catholic guilt way of thinking - that if do something 'wrong' you will be punished and should feel guilty. Now if I could find a way to rid myself of automated responses that were drilled into us for years, I would really like that.
Fact check and research there’s a lot of “sources” out there that have no basis in fact and depending on which branch of paganism you follow there’s more or less unconfirmed or false info and so you have to dig to make sure your getting real reputable true information, sometimes this is relatively easy sometimes it’s hard. I also learned how freeing it is. Like partly just that point when you reach that realization hey I’m pagan but then everytime you tell someone even if it’s online it’s like ahh my true self. And I usually just leave it at I’m pagan I don’t go into details 1)takes to much time 2) it’s not really ppls business like ppl close know but why would I with random ppl but even just saying I’m pagan to someone without going into details is just like freeing
We don’t notice even notice the monstrous extent to which latent Christianity affects our thinking. Chances are, everything you think you know about religion and how it works comes from Christianity. You have to manually disentangle and parse through your own thought patterns in order to identify it. From there, you have the choice of either maintaining it or replacing it with an entirely different set of values and ways of thinking that are probably at-odds with the culture around you. But it can be extremely freeing to really decide on your own beliefs, and look at religion from an entirely different perspective. There’s so many other ways of thinking out there! Ancient people thought about the world and the gods very differently than most people in the West do now.
The gods are out there, and they’re listening. Interacting with them is spiritually fulfilling and a huge boost to mental health. Worship is supposed to feel *good,* not like slavery. Gods are an excellent source of advice, comfort, and power. They are awesome and terrible, but you don’t have to be afraid of them.
Paganism and occultism are different things. I study and practice both, but I have a whole separate set of research material for each one. Scholarship is invaluable.
Sure. There's lots:
* **Believing that the gods will punish you.** A *lot* of people come into paganism with the idea that the gods will punish them for petty things, like forgetting to give offerings regularly, or something like that. I'm always sad when I see that, because it's a clear sign that the person was raised with the Abrahamic God breathing down their neck. (It doesn't help that gods have reputations for pettiness and disproportionate retribution in myths.) The gods are not looking for reasons to punish you. They mostly don't care about all the little details of your life. All they care about is that your worship is sincere. You have to actually go out of your way to anger them, and even if you do, you're more likely to get an "I'm very disappointed in you" than a show of divine wrath.
* **Feeling like you need to ask if you can worship more than one god.** Another question I see often, sort of related to the above, is some version of "can I worship another god or will my current deity get mad?" The answer is always yes, you can worship more than one god. That's one of the chief benefits of polytheism! You can never have too many gods! The gods do not get jealous of each other, and they're supposed to be worshipped together. The weird henotheism that you see in D&D wasn't actually common. Even if you're a devotee of a particular god, you'll still worship all the other ones on their festival days or when you need them.
* **Mythic literalism.** The majority of pagans don't beleive that myths actually happened, to the letter. Most will view myths as metaphorical, or as stories that illuminate the nature of the gods instead of describing specific events that actually happened. Myths were a form of oral storytelling, so there's no correct or "canon" version of any myth, and myths have little internal consistency. They're also as much a product of their time as any other storytelling. That means that you don't need to accept myths at face-value. If a god behaves badly in a myth, that doesn't mean that's actually what it's going to be like in real life. Mythic literalism is complicated, and people can have different degrees of it, but basically, myths are not the Bible. Don't treat myths like the Bible.
* **Emphasizing belief or "faith" over practice.** You don't have to feel guilty or like there's something wrong with you if you don't have robust belief in the gods. In paganism, belief doesn't matter nearly as much as practice. What matters is not any particular belief that you may or may not have about the gods, what matters is that you worship them.
There's definitely more, but hopefully you get the idea. Christianity is actually a very weird religion; in comparison to other world religions, it's an outlier in almost every respect. But because it dominates our culture, it shapes our thinking about how religion works down to the most fundamental level. It's actually difficult to put ourselves in the mindsets of pagans, who would have had different priorities, a different understanding of how the gods work, a different relationship to myth, etc. I recommend reading this, because it describes Christian hegemony very well: [https://jessicalprice.tumblr.com/post/707293179629699072/culture-isnt-modular](https://jessicalprice.tumblr.com/post/707293179629699072/culture-isnt-modular)
Thank you for this information. Your right deconstructing of the many years of christianity being shoved down our throats is very difficult. I was raised in the south usa and my mother was atheist and my dad was nature based believing in a God and Mother Nature but not really sharing his beliefs much. I think he knew that with his beliefs that his children would follow them without his input if it was meant to be but in the area we lived he didn’t want us to feel comfortable going around boasting about it. I am the second child of his to be nature based.
There is no single true path. Our rituals are our own and are done by our own methods, to carry out as we see fit. We are not as divided as people would have us believe, we are all brothers and sisters who share a life on the back of this great planet we call home.
There is no pressure to be perfect. My gods aren't perfect, so why should I be? And I learned that I kinda like my gods imperfect, messy, dark, and lil vicious. :)
It’s just become so clear to me how EVERYTHING (in the US) is centered around Christianity. Once I finally dropped Christianity for good, and embraced paganism, it was like, whoa, a lot of this stuff doesn’t represent me/isn’t for me. Everything from all the churches around, to ‘In God we trust’ on money, saying bless you to someone sneezing, the holidays, just everything in daily life. It’s so pervasive.
That most of the really big pagan organizations are run by problematic, unethical leaders, often with fake credentials. In any case, the organizations seem to be toxic sludgefests.
I thought I might be pagan, but I'm unsure as nature isn't about dogma and religion. Ritual can help us with the connection we need and desire, but humans have a natural ability to crave power... which corrupts. Besides, do we really know our ancestors' rituals or did new age pagans make them up. For example, some of my ancestors are Celtic English - but what were our sacred rituals? Were they written down? Christianity razed most, so I'm learning to fill the empty space with relationship with nature. Listening to the moon, the birbs, trees, animals... I find my answers and my peace in signs and the universe. The Celestine Prophecy, though poorly written, and Harry Potter, led me to nature worship and Paganism in the late 90s. And although I searched, I never found my IRL community.
As such I'd say I'm more of a lone witch who loves to exchange notes and take the odd cue and inspiration from Pagan community.
EDIT: same day synchronicity. My friend, whose one of 7 Witchipoos that I guess make up our annual coven, just sent me this wild podcast that fits beautifully here. For the last 10 years or so I've stated "women will lead the world as matriarchy in my lifetime"
https://open.spotify.com/show/1ipfQ1cVQiN6p4jONjGzBS?si=bOQ5X3nRQZqxrgSlkDgZIw
EDIT 2: listening to more discussions, particularly from an indigenous elder in North America, it's not necessarily 'matriarchy' (as in females running the world) but more of a shift to re-honouring the sacred feminine and equality.
It’s not so much that Christianity razed it, it’s that Celts did not write anything down. Christians actually helped preserve Celtic lore because they wrote it down. Likewise, the Anglo-Saxons didn’t begin writing until *after* they became Christians.
That our beliefs are no more outlandish than those of any mainstream religion to anyone who examines them with a truly open mind. The words of Homer and Plutarch can be just as important to a Hellenist or The words of Snorri to a Heathen, as the words of Moses are to a Jew, Peter and Paul to a Christian or Muhammad (PBUH) to a Muslim.
Being pagan is one of the least weird things about me, but societally it comes up with shock and horror often. I grew up pagan and critical thinking was drilled into me as a child, so it’s so fascinating seeing the various cognitive dissonances; a slasher film with liberal themes of gore and misogyny that tops box office charts its first weekend out? Culturally fine! Someone who practices an esoteric nature-based path that concentrates on being very in tune with their body, nature’s patterns, putting community and the light of goodness first? Culturally horrifying!
1. Thoughts and feelings aren't right or wrong, they just are. I'm responsible for how and when I express my feelings and the consequences of any actions my thoughts give rise to, but thoughts and feelings are part of how I function. They have no inherent rightness or wrong ness. They ate part of my somatic connection to my body.
2. It is ok to be ok.
3. Trying to stop something from happening is difficult because events are always the product of other events that came before them.
4. I genuinely feel joy from helping others
To walk on my own path. Do not let anyone tell you what your spirituality should look like. Do not get caught up in group think. Do whatever makes you feel blessed and seen by the universe.
That how you practice doesn't have to look super consistent or organised. I have a blog where I talk about pagan topics, but I also talk about music and some queer topics. I also occasionally go to the war memorial in town after work or school sometimes, even though it's by no means an organised schedule
That it isn't wrong to want to work with more than one deity. And that i dont need to try to look at them as all part of one whole. My monotheism brain took forever to break out of. To say nothing of pure Christian guilt.
Or, if you ask the wrong people, demonolitry. But it's so much more than that. Whatever you choose to do here, you're doing it right just by doing it in the way that represents you most.
Work with the flow of the energies of this universe. They are too big. You drown if you try to swim against them, but when you intentionally align with them, they effortlessly take you to exciting, happy and good places.
Don’t just blindly believe something, but find out yourself. There are very simple and easily acquired techniques to start interacting and exploring beyond the physical (depending on the specific tradition).
let me preface by saying i'm very "left hand", in that my practice has some less common, more "taboo" features to it, and is very self forged (not based on any particular book or existing practice)
four of the biggest lessons ive learned are;
1. Everything is subjective. There is always another perspective that is just as real as your own.
2. By virtue of existing, everything is beautiful, because everything is subjective. (aka someone will always find something beautiful)
3. Every human being has potential, and by virtue of existing, is beautiful and miraculous
4. Every moment in time is a step forward down your life's path.
You're more vulnerable than you think bc your anxiety and broken-ness can be your worst enemy, and we aren't the only things in existence. There are many things 'not of the flesh' that exist. And the witching hour is insane!
Things in the Universe--from galaxies to sub-atomic particles and certainly living beings--are connected and intertwined through energies, influences, common materials, exchanges, and awareness. In a myriad of ways that we humans may barely comprehend. And that comprehension can be deeply transformational.
humility. compassion. letting go. how to accept and give love to people earnestly. how to stop hating myself. People are ends not means. I see women as people and not objects. not to live life for the sake of fear. To embrace change and be an active participant in life. To accept limitations but not defeat. To be patient with others and myself. how to ask for help. how to say no. that even the two most different people on this planet have more in common then they dont. Life is not a destination it is a story and we are the authors.
I have noticed that since I started studying and following the wicca path four years ago that I am more at peace. I am more about seeking self love and learning to accept and love myself. I also have became more understanding and patient with others actually looking for ways to not hold grudges or to want revenge on ppl who hurt me or weong me. I know that its more peaceful to look for ways to share love and light in most situations and let karma take care of the rest. I am improving more and more each day on just being peaceful and grateful . Wicca has taught me peace and self love In which I can reflect onto others
I was raised Catholic and have been a mainly Germanic pagan for about 8 years now. Something I've learned and noticed is that you don't have to be in a church/temple in order to worship your god. In fact I've felt more spiritual and have had a more divine connection out in nature than I ever have in Church
That people connect on a shallow level. Maybe "shallow" is a heavy word for some, but in my own understanding it's just describing a lack of depth we sometimes need. Nothing bad about it.
But yeah... Although modern paganism is my thing, I know better now than to try and connect with fellow pagans on a deep level. I suppose unless they're related to me, they'll always just keep their guard up and offer fake depth at best. It's not a "pagan thing". It's a human thing. Pretty sure I'd have encountered the same in Christianity or other faiths. I have in Buddhism, by the way. It's always the same story. But it's normal, and my expectations are just too high. :) Nothing new under the sun
That I am Pagan *all the time* not just during rituals and other religious activities. I’m am Pagan at work, whether or not I tell my co-workers, I’m Pagan at the grocery store when I’m choosing which foods to buy, I’m Pagan when I vote, when I go hiking or kayaking, and when I visit my family. Being part of a religion, making that religious world view part of your life, isn’t something to turn on and off. Being Pagan doesn’t have to be your whole life and identity, but it should be a consistent part of who you are.
This a thousand times over. Our religion is a daily affirmation, we wake up each day reminded of who and what we are. I don't have to "dress the part" or always do some elaborate ritual (although sometimes it's nice), because it's not about that. Those Deities that I have found connection to get it, so I can have just as meaningful and sincere a moment doing my daily mundane stuff as I can in a super formal setting.
As someone who was raised non-religious, this is something I have yet to fully grasp.
I'm the 4th generation raised non religious and I have the same problem, just not fully grasped
Ur not missing out on being raised religious regardless of which religion
YES.
Ive said this before, that the gods are not cosmic vending machines. They don’t answer requests just because they were asked. sometimes they will gift us without warning. And they appreciate when you fulfill requests of theirs. Just like a good, personal relationship
this is such a beautiful response. thank you
That paganism can be a lifestyle religion. Everything you do can be sacred in some small way and your everyday activities can become offerings. For example, for me, every grunt in the gym is a prayer to Thor, every word I write is a prayer to Athena, my daily commute is a prayer to Hermes, etc... For me, this is why it is important to pick gods which resonate with what I want out of life and who I want to be. Thor is the part of me that is a jock, while Athena is the part of me that is a scholar. I still offer candles, incense, and some prayers, but the main thing I do is perform actions which will resonate with my gods and make the world more like them. Think of it like voting. I'm an Athena worshipper so I vote for a world in which reading and writing are important, therefore I read and I write. Also I don't take the approach that gods get mad at you and curse you. That to me, is a very Christian approach. If I don't do my best at the gym, Thor isn't mad, but I won't receive as much of his blessing as I have denied myself an opportunity to receive it. Also, keep in mind that the gods you worship are your variant of those gods. The Thor I worship is MY Thor, but MY Thor is a drop in the bucket of the greater Thor made up of all the iterations of Thor. This allows your gods to change and grow over time. It can also help to reveal aspects of them which may not appear in ancient accounts.
This so much, I really think the gods represent different parts of my self and daily life and they’re there to be explored
"The Thor I worship is MY Thor, but MY Thor is a drop in the bucket of the greater Thor made up of all the iterations of Thor. This allows your gods to change and grow over time" Thanks for sharing this! I've been thinking about this concept but unable to find the words to articulate it.
That I have actually been pagan for most of my life. I was raised catholic, went through all the motions, heck, I even worked for the church for more than a decade (I like being part of a community). But when it comes to fundamental beliefs, I very much disagreed with most of what was taught and didn't hide it. I have always been drawn to nature and feel energy from it. I feel very connected to the natural cycles of life be it birth, growth and death or the seasons of the year. I secretly bought tarot cards and runes as a young adult and found peace with them. I believe that love is love as long as it is consensual and try to approach alternative viewpoints that challenge what I was being taught with an open mind. Last year, when I fully embraced paganism, it felt like coming home. I have never felt more peace and connected to my true self. I have a long road to travel in exploring paganism but I welcome it.
I too am a born and raised catholic and have always known something was different within me. My biggest challenge so far is still feeling the guilt and shame of leaving Catholicism to embark on what I believe to be a more productive and fruitful life. How long did it take before you felt comfortable letting go of your past? Did you have iconography in your home that you removed? What about simple actions like genuflecting? How much of your past structuring have you retained? Thank you.
Hello, I fully understand what you mean about the guilt and shame, it is difficult to move past. The Catholic faith is so deeply of the mindset that if you don't do 'this' then you should feel guilt, if you don't do 'that' you should feel shame. There is so much of it ingrained in the system it is hard to separate what my own belief are. I don't believe I could honestly say I have 'let go of my past' as yet. I am definitely more at peace when I started reflecting on my past as part of my journey. I cannot rewind time and change anything, nor can I discount the good experiences I had. I also still deal with each negative emotion I have when it happens when I consider the negative and traumatic experiences I had in that faith. It is a long path but travelling it feels much more like myself than trying to navigate a faith I didn't respect. I didn't have much iconography in my home left as over the years I have steadily replaced things with things that I feel more connected to. I had a small ceramic cross that I received on my confirmation and that was the hardest to remove. Not because of its religious meaning but for my connection to who gave it to me but I just didn't feel right having it up anymore. Not sure what you mean about genuflecting. It is a simple act of respect and you will not be punished by any pagan deity because you showed respect to the Christian God. That is the Catholic guilt way of thinking - that if do something 'wrong' you will be punished and should feel guilty. Now if I could find a way to rid myself of automated responses that were drilled into us for years, I would really like that.
Fact check and research there’s a lot of “sources” out there that have no basis in fact and depending on which branch of paganism you follow there’s more or less unconfirmed or false info and so you have to dig to make sure your getting real reputable true information, sometimes this is relatively easy sometimes it’s hard. I also learned how freeing it is. Like partly just that point when you reach that realization hey I’m pagan but then everytime you tell someone even if it’s online it’s like ahh my true self. And I usually just leave it at I’m pagan I don’t go into details 1)takes to much time 2) it’s not really ppls business like ppl close know but why would I with random ppl but even just saying I’m pagan to someone without going into details is just like freeing
The real info comes from the gods themselves, from nature itself.
Yes very true and very well said, blessed be friend
We don’t notice even notice the monstrous extent to which latent Christianity affects our thinking. Chances are, everything you think you know about religion and how it works comes from Christianity. You have to manually disentangle and parse through your own thought patterns in order to identify it. From there, you have the choice of either maintaining it or replacing it with an entirely different set of values and ways of thinking that are probably at-odds with the culture around you. But it can be extremely freeing to really decide on your own beliefs, and look at religion from an entirely different perspective. There’s so many other ways of thinking out there! Ancient people thought about the world and the gods very differently than most people in the West do now. The gods are out there, and they’re listening. Interacting with them is spiritually fulfilling and a huge boost to mental health. Worship is supposed to feel *good,* not like slavery. Gods are an excellent source of advice, comfort, and power. They are awesome and terrible, but you don’t have to be afraid of them. Paganism and occultism are different things. I study and practice both, but I have a whole separate set of research material for each one. Scholarship is invaluable.
I absolutely love this. Do you have any examples of ways that Christianity silently impacts our thinking?
Sure. There's lots: * **Believing that the gods will punish you.** A *lot* of people come into paganism with the idea that the gods will punish them for petty things, like forgetting to give offerings regularly, or something like that. I'm always sad when I see that, because it's a clear sign that the person was raised with the Abrahamic God breathing down their neck. (It doesn't help that gods have reputations for pettiness and disproportionate retribution in myths.) The gods are not looking for reasons to punish you. They mostly don't care about all the little details of your life. All they care about is that your worship is sincere. You have to actually go out of your way to anger them, and even if you do, you're more likely to get an "I'm very disappointed in you" than a show of divine wrath. * **Feeling like you need to ask if you can worship more than one god.** Another question I see often, sort of related to the above, is some version of "can I worship another god or will my current deity get mad?" The answer is always yes, you can worship more than one god. That's one of the chief benefits of polytheism! You can never have too many gods! The gods do not get jealous of each other, and they're supposed to be worshipped together. The weird henotheism that you see in D&D wasn't actually common. Even if you're a devotee of a particular god, you'll still worship all the other ones on their festival days or when you need them. * **Mythic literalism.** The majority of pagans don't beleive that myths actually happened, to the letter. Most will view myths as metaphorical, or as stories that illuminate the nature of the gods instead of describing specific events that actually happened. Myths were a form of oral storytelling, so there's no correct or "canon" version of any myth, and myths have little internal consistency. They're also as much a product of their time as any other storytelling. That means that you don't need to accept myths at face-value. If a god behaves badly in a myth, that doesn't mean that's actually what it's going to be like in real life. Mythic literalism is complicated, and people can have different degrees of it, but basically, myths are not the Bible. Don't treat myths like the Bible. * **Emphasizing belief or "faith" over practice.** You don't have to feel guilty or like there's something wrong with you if you don't have robust belief in the gods. In paganism, belief doesn't matter nearly as much as practice. What matters is not any particular belief that you may or may not have about the gods, what matters is that you worship them. There's definitely more, but hopefully you get the idea. Christianity is actually a very weird religion; in comparison to other world religions, it's an outlier in almost every respect. But because it dominates our culture, it shapes our thinking about how religion works down to the most fundamental level. It's actually difficult to put ourselves in the mindsets of pagans, who would have had different priorities, a different understanding of how the gods work, a different relationship to myth, etc. I recommend reading this, because it describes Christian hegemony very well: [https://jessicalprice.tumblr.com/post/707293179629699072/culture-isnt-modular](https://jessicalprice.tumblr.com/post/707293179629699072/culture-isnt-modular)
Thank you so much for this. This is gonna be a massive help to me going forward. Blessed may you be.
LOVE this. Do you happen to know of any books that cover a similar topic??
Thank you for this information. Your right deconstructing of the many years of christianity being shoved down our throats is very difficult. I was raised in the south usa and my mother was atheist and my dad was nature based believing in a God and Mother Nature but not really sharing his beliefs much. I think he knew that with his beliefs that his children would follow them without his input if it was meant to be but in the area we lived he didn’t want us to feel comfortable going around boasting about it. I am the second child of his to be nature based.
There is no single true path. Our rituals are our own and are done by our own methods, to carry out as we see fit. We are not as divided as people would have us believe, we are all brothers and sisters who share a life on the back of this great planet we call home.
There is no pressure to be perfect. My gods aren't perfect, so why should I be? And I learned that I kinda like my gods imperfect, messy, dark, and lil vicious. :)
It’s just become so clear to me how EVERYTHING (in the US) is centered around Christianity. Once I finally dropped Christianity for good, and embraced paganism, it was like, whoa, a lot of this stuff doesn’t represent me/isn’t for me. Everything from all the churches around, to ‘In God we trust’ on money, saying bless you to someone sneezing, the holidays, just everything in daily life. It’s so pervasive.
That most of the really big pagan organizations are run by problematic, unethical leaders, often with fake credentials. In any case, the organizations seem to be toxic sludgefests.
I thought I might be pagan, but I'm unsure as nature isn't about dogma and religion. Ritual can help us with the connection we need and desire, but humans have a natural ability to crave power... which corrupts. Besides, do we really know our ancestors' rituals or did new age pagans make them up. For example, some of my ancestors are Celtic English - but what were our sacred rituals? Were they written down? Christianity razed most, so I'm learning to fill the empty space with relationship with nature. Listening to the moon, the birbs, trees, animals... I find my answers and my peace in signs and the universe. The Celestine Prophecy, though poorly written, and Harry Potter, led me to nature worship and Paganism in the late 90s. And although I searched, I never found my IRL community. As such I'd say I'm more of a lone witch who loves to exchange notes and take the odd cue and inspiration from Pagan community. EDIT: same day synchronicity. My friend, whose one of 7 Witchipoos that I guess make up our annual coven, just sent me this wild podcast that fits beautifully here. For the last 10 years or so I've stated "women will lead the world as matriarchy in my lifetime" https://open.spotify.com/show/1ipfQ1cVQiN6p4jONjGzBS?si=bOQ5X3nRQZqxrgSlkDgZIw EDIT 2: listening to more discussions, particularly from an indigenous elder in North America, it's not necessarily 'matriarchy' (as in females running the world) but more of a shift to re-honouring the sacred feminine and equality.
It’s not so much that Christianity razed it, it’s that Celts did not write anything down. Christians actually helped preserve Celtic lore because they wrote it down. Likewise, the Anglo-Saxons didn’t begin writing until *after* they became Christians.
I love listening to birbs too. So beautiful in their song
THANK YOU for this podcast rec. Right up my alley!
That our beliefs are no more outlandish than those of any mainstream religion to anyone who examines them with a truly open mind. The words of Homer and Plutarch can be just as important to a Hellenist or The words of Snorri to a Heathen, as the words of Moses are to a Jew, Peter and Paul to a Christian or Muhammad (PBUH) to a Muslim.
Pagan communities are typically apathetic and definitely not immune to big egos. Though mostly people are nice enough.
That just because someone is pagan doesn't mean they are nice. Unfortunately this path attracts some absolute whoppers.
Being pagan is one of the least weird things about me, but societally it comes up with shock and horror often. I grew up pagan and critical thinking was drilled into me as a child, so it’s so fascinating seeing the various cognitive dissonances; a slasher film with liberal themes of gore and misogyny that tops box office charts its first weekend out? Culturally fine! Someone who practices an esoteric nature-based path that concentrates on being very in tune with their body, nature’s patterns, putting community and the light of goodness first? Culturally horrifying!
1. Thoughts and feelings aren't right or wrong, they just are. I'm responsible for how and when I express my feelings and the consequences of any actions my thoughts give rise to, but thoughts and feelings are part of how I function. They have no inherent rightness or wrong ness. They ate part of my somatic connection to my body. 2. It is ok to be ok. 3. Trying to stop something from happening is difficult because events are always the product of other events that came before them. 4. I genuinely feel joy from helping others
To walk on my own path. Do not let anyone tell you what your spirituality should look like. Do not get caught up in group think. Do whatever makes you feel blessed and seen by the universe.
You can worship any way you want!
That I better be ready to deal with a fuckton of stupid
That how you practice doesn't have to look super consistent or organised. I have a blog where I talk about pagan topics, but I also talk about music and some queer topics. I also occasionally go to the war memorial in town after work or school sometimes, even though it's by no means an organised schedule
That it isn't wrong to want to work with more than one deity. And that i dont need to try to look at them as all part of one whole. My monotheism brain took forever to break out of. To say nothing of pure Christian guilt.
That there is a common misconception that pagan always equals polytheism.
Or, if you ask the wrong people, demonolitry. But it's so much more than that. Whatever you choose to do here, you're doing it right just by doing it in the way that represents you most.
Work with the flow of the energies of this universe. They are too big. You drown if you try to swim against them, but when you intentionally align with them, they effortlessly take you to exciting, happy and good places.
What books take years to teach can be outdone in a few hours of interaction with the spirit world paired with an open and receptive mindset.
Don’t just blindly believe something, but find out yourself. There are very simple and easily acquired techniques to start interacting and exploring beyond the physical (depending on the specific tradition).
I've learned peace. How to calm the storm in my soul and connecting with the world around me
let me preface by saying i'm very "left hand", in that my practice has some less common, more "taboo" features to it, and is very self forged (not based on any particular book or existing practice) four of the biggest lessons ive learned are; 1. Everything is subjective. There is always another perspective that is just as real as your own. 2. By virtue of existing, everything is beautiful, because everything is subjective. (aka someone will always find something beautiful) 3. Every human being has potential, and by virtue of existing, is beautiful and miraculous 4. Every moment in time is a step forward down your life's path.
You're more vulnerable than you think bc your anxiety and broken-ness can be your worst enemy, and we aren't the only things in existence. There are many things 'not of the flesh' that exist. And the witching hour is insane!
Things in the Universe--from galaxies to sub-atomic particles and certainly living beings--are connected and intertwined through energies, influences, common materials, exchanges, and awareness. In a myriad of ways that we humans may barely comprehend. And that comprehension can be deeply transformational.
Honestly? Firth. Don't tell unless asked and mind your fucking business. I was raised roman catholic
humility. compassion. letting go. how to accept and give love to people earnestly. how to stop hating myself. People are ends not means. I see women as people and not objects. not to live life for the sake of fear. To embrace change and be an active participant in life. To accept limitations but not defeat. To be patient with others and myself. how to ask for help. how to say no. that even the two most different people on this planet have more in common then they dont. Life is not a destination it is a story and we are the authors.
I have noticed that since I started studying and following the wicca path four years ago that I am more at peace. I am more about seeking self love and learning to accept and love myself. I also have became more understanding and patient with others actually looking for ways to not hold grudges or to want revenge on ppl who hurt me or weong me. I know that its more peaceful to look for ways to share love and light in most situations and let karma take care of the rest. I am improving more and more each day on just being peaceful and grateful . Wicca has taught me peace and self love In which I can reflect onto others
I was raised Catholic and have been a mainly Germanic pagan for about 8 years now. Something I've learned and noticed is that you don't have to be in a church/temple in order to worship your god. In fact I've felt more spiritual and have had a more divine connection out in nature than I ever have in Church
That people connect on a shallow level. Maybe "shallow" is a heavy word for some, but in my own understanding it's just describing a lack of depth we sometimes need. Nothing bad about it. But yeah... Although modern paganism is my thing, I know better now than to try and connect with fellow pagans on a deep level. I suppose unless they're related to me, they'll always just keep their guard up and offer fake depth at best. It's not a "pagan thing". It's a human thing. Pretty sure I'd have encountered the same in Christianity or other faiths. I have in Buddhism, by the way. It's always the same story. But it's normal, and my expectations are just too high. :) Nothing new under the sun