Recently, I received a message from a "suitor" on OKCupid. Further into the message, he wondered at my revealing that I am a "practicing Pagan."
"What does that mean?" he inquired. The following is my response, of which I am quite proud.
Pagan, from the Latin "pagani" meaning people of the earth. You may have heard of "Wiccans." You've certainly heard of Druids and Shamans. Each of these are types of Pagans. Wicca:Paganism::Catholicism:Christianity. I used to call myself Wiccan, but part of my heritage and other parts of my spirit have called me to follow a sort of cocktail of beliefs. All reside within the realm of Paganism, but I still call myself a Witch. Essentially, I worship and honor nature. Sometimes I pray to the Goddess (my matron goddess being Bast of Egypt), sometimes I pray to Great Spirit (whenever I see an animal that does not usually cross my path), but always, always I honor nature for all that it has given us and all that it is. Like the Greeks and Romans, I believe in a pantheon of deities and elementals. At the risk of sounding like a complete nut-job (especially to an Atheist), when I do energy work, I work with "faeries." Also, when I am in my everyday life, I acknowledge the breeze, lap of the waves, spark of the fire and rustle of the leaves as the elemental energies in nature (otherwise know as the Wee Folk, Faerie and the Sidhe.) Perhaps it all seems like a bunch of hokey, fairy tale jibberish, but it is what resonates with my inner being. It gives me peace. However, I would never dream of trying to convert anyone to my thinking. We all follow the path that is right for us. As the Hindu believe, we follow what religion we may. In loving and respecting what we follow, we give the utmost love to our "Gods and Goddesses" (whatever they may be, or not), because we all end up in the same place when we have passed. Truthfully, we do all end up in the same place, religion/beliefs or no. But I have gone on long enough. *^_^*
How do you describe your path to those less spiritually fortunate, my witchy brothers and sisters?
I respect your candor but it is pretentious to think your religious/spiritual beliefs are more enlightened than another's - "How do you describe your path to those less spiritually fortunate" This gives the impression you care more about your individualism than your beliefs.
ReplyDeleteNope! Not at all what I meant. He's athiest, so is not spiritual. Perhaps "fortunate" may have not best the best word to choose, but I feel fortunate to have found the path I am in. He may or may not feel the same about his beliefs. I don't know.
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks for calling me pretentious! *^_^* Have a great day!
Forgive me for giving the wrong impression too. I had a feeling you may take this as a personal attack but I assure you it was not. I respect your beliefs, intelligence, and character. I just wanted to give you my perspective from the outside-looking-in. Please pardon me if I have offended you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the clarification. I accept your apology. I suppose words got in both our ways, eh?
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I am happy to come to an understanding. Being a historian myself and having studied the rise and fall of religions, cults, lore and deities, in my observations I have found that one set of beliefs is just as good as another. Although I am a firm subscriber to subjectivity, I do believe that faith can help one to accept and cope with their fate no matter how tragic it may be.
ReplyDelete