We go on the assumption that you chose to follow your path NOT as a sign of rebellion against the mainstrem religions but rather our paths chose us. There was SOMETHING about our path that spoke to our very spirit and told us that THIS is the way for us to live in an eternal loving relationship with our Deity. How does our path address us, spiritually? What got awakened within you that let you KNOW that you ARE on the right and proper path for you?
Brightest Blessings,
Raji the Green Witch
2007-12-01 05:27:58 · 13 answers · asked by Raji the Green Witch 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Lil, I only JUST asked it 20 minutes ago, give folks time to wake up. LOL
Mahen, we recognise that BUT, this series is intended for those who DO hold to a Religious conviction, or at least a Spiritual conviction. Tjose of us who DO wish to educate those who hold different views and because of a lack of knowledge and understanding fear and hate us. We are attempting to educate NOT attack nor condemn. Neither are we tring to change anyone's Faith or path of Spirituality. ONLY inform and educate. Preachers WILL be reported as will all off topic answers. This is intended to be a serious discussion (although a few harmless humorisms are certainly welcomed).
My selection of Best Answer is NOT made with respect to WHO is on myu contact list. I choose based on ONLY the quality of your answer. To me, it is irrelevant whether or not I agree with the answer, if it's informative and thorough, you get the 10 points, Period.
2007-12-01 06:02:42 · update #1
Heathern Daughter, What a beautiful answser! Thank you so much! BB
2007-12-01 06:05:17 · update #2
Imapagan, NICE answer. It sounds to me like your parents had something else going on in their lives other than just the simple switch fro Paganism to Catholicism. I'm undrstanding about your pain over the changes in all of that. birghtest Blessings to you on being willing to weather all of that hardship.
2007-12-01 06:28:59 · update #3
A wonderful answer, KC. Thank you :)
BB
2007-12-01 07:54:45 · update #4
Cool Answer, Tobi. I can see this one is going to end up being a hard one to decide WHO to give BA to. LOL
2007-12-01 07:59:46 · update #5
Wow! Cool, Kayla. Then you KNOW what this is...."
Gobble Gobble Gobble". Hail Discordia, HAIL Eris, Hail Yeah!
2007-12-02 05:07:38 · update #6
Raji,
I was raised in a very Christain home by my dad (my parents divorced when I was 4). My mom, however was always her own person and was a very open minded person. I definately got my mom's side of thinking! Anyway, most my life I lived with my dad and was perfectly happy as a Christian. However, I always had a love of nature and of magic and all things fantasy (I even remember stateing that "If I wasn't Christain I would totally be a hippy witch!" - self fullfillling prophosy much?! lol). My interest started I think when me and my mom watched a special on witchcraft the Goddess Chant "We all come from the Goddess, and unto Her we shall return" always stuck with me. I continued as a Christian though. However, the more I grew up, the more I began to realize that Christianity just didn't satisfy something within me. I couldn't see an all loveing God send his childeren to hell becuase they didn't worship Him in the right way. When I made it to college I met a few friends and one was interested in Wicca. I decided I would study it with her. It didn't go very far though lol. I just wasn't quite ready. The idea needed to sit with me a while. A fiew months later I meet a friend online who was a witch and that sparked my interest again and I found a teacher a fiew good books and felt that I had finally found something that fit me and was inline with what I personally belived. I even found that my friend I had studied with before had also finally found the Path. I stayed with Wicca for a bit untill Eris called me. I was with a friend and we went over to her then boyfirend's appartment who's roommate was to move out that day and was finishing his packing. I happed to see on a pile of his books "Principia Discordia" it just seemed to say reeead me! I skimed through it and really enjoyed and connected with it. When I got home I did a bit of reasearch on this little book and Dischordianism and found it really facinateing. If that wasn't sign enough a coulple of weeks later the school's PSA I was a part of hosted a Dischordian ritual lol. It's been an interesting and exciting jourrney sence. I've never really felt a call to a particular god or goddess besides Eris, however lately I've been wanting to read up on the Norse pantheon.....even though I have no viking/norse blood (Mainly celtic. Although most celtic probably do have norse blood)....hmmm....
Sorry it's long but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Goddess Bless!
Kayla
2007-12-02 04:55:31 · answer #1 · answered by Zaden W 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I first heard about paganism in high school. I was introduced to Wicca through a friend. I bought a couple books and had a yule ritual with some friends. But my books were Silver Ravenwolf and the like, and as I started to go deeper I got more confused. I eventually became disenchanted and gave up Wicca. It didn't help that I was a huge fluff bunny, and that I told my mother and she disapproved. I wasn't really any religion for a long time, I guess at best I would have been considered Diest.
A few years ago, my brother got married to a pagan. She practices Native American spirituality, but she exposed me to paganism again. The thought occurred to me to start looking into paganism again this year. I found the book Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler, to try and find my path. I knew it wouldn't be Wicca, but I figured I should learn about it and other paths. This book is AWESOME by the way, and I highly recommend it if you are curious about paganism, whether you wish to find your path or just learn.
I read the section on Heathenism and got curious. I never really heard of Asatru before. I had never really read about the Norse gods before. But when I read about it I had a spark of curiosity. I saw Heathen Daughter's answers here and I asked her some questions personally, and my spark became a flame. I know this is my path. I can feel the gods when the wind blows. I saw a raven one day who woke me up from a nap. and the next day I saw another one on my way to class. The night I knew I found my path I slept soundly and the next day went awesomely- I felt as if I could do anything. I drove past a street that day called "Valhalla Dr" and couldn't help but laugh. One of the best days for me, after my wedding day. :)
Blessings!
2007-12-01 15:56:31 · answer #2 · answered by Citrine Dream 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
For me, paganism just fit in with the rest of who I am. I've always been attracted to Nature, and I've been talking to spirits since I was a kid (though I didn't always recognize what I was really doing). Additionally, Wolf, my primary totem, came to me when I was very young and has been a constant presence in my life ever since. And unlike many, I never really gave up hope that magic existed in some form (though as any child I wished to be able to fly!).
So finding paganism was basically finding a path that organized and explained things that I'd already figured out on my own to an extent. It offered me more resources, as well as people I could talk to. And it offered me a safe haven, not only spiritually but socially.
I've learned to listen to my instincts, and my intuition is sort of a direct connection to the spirits I work with. So when I get that familiar *ping*, I know to listen up because someone's got something to tell me. In more recent times I've been called to formalize the path that I've walked the past decade and change, and so I've been guided in an entirely new direction in this endeavor. It hasn't been easy to always listen to the spirits; I doubt myself sometimes, and I can be stubborn. But I'm learning the valuable lesson of surrender, let go and let gods, and so forth. Each opportunity to work towards a better world also gives me an opportunity to become a better person.
2007-12-02 03:03:26 · answer #3 · answered by Lupa 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well, It happened when I picked up a book at a book store. I started to read it. It soundend interesting enough, so I bought it. After a while I decided that this was the right religion. I read enough to decide. It seemed really peaceful to me. And tht was all I really wanted. I didn't want a religion that looked down onto other ones. One that was all about bringing peace and joy. And one that doesn't force you to join. One that gives you the choice. And this is what I found. I really love it. I bring joy to people just by being happy all the time, not by forcing my religion down their throat. I hardly even mention my religion around my friends or other people. I think this may be the most peaceful religion here. (besides Buddhism)
2007-12-01 14:16:07 · answer #4 · answered by Flintstoner 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I agree. However, I can't really consider myself a true wiccian or pagan. I was brought up by a non practicing Catholic family. I even went to Catholic school. Throughout my life my spirituality of nature and Deity was just IN ME. It was always there, it was just a matter of tapping into it. I can't say that I own ritual tools, or belong to a coven, but I know that I agree with general principals of it's teachings. Organized religion never made any sense to me. I also believe that people should follow the spiritual path that makes the most sense for them. No matter what it is. You have to practice what you truely believe in order to grow more spiritual. I don't belive we "choose" it. It chooses us.
2007-12-01 13:42:10 · answer #5 · answered by km879 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Raji,
I was raise to belive the Christian world veiw, and for some time thought that to be the path, but then one night I had a dream that was so real that I started to look into paganism and thats where I am today as you can see.
May Athena Bless all with her knoledge.
Goddess Bless.
Blessed Be.
2007-12-02 02:18:56 · answer #6 · answered by Zero Cool 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Well, I'd already considered myself a Taoist, but one day I was going about the regular Christmas preparations with a sense of boredom and lack of meaning. Then the History Channel had a show about the history of Christmas and the symbols, like the tree and feasting together.
The fact that the symbols were pagan was always kind of there in the back of my mind, but what I didn't realize was their deeper meaning. Celebrating light and life in the face of darkness struck a chord in me, and I did some reading about the other holidays. I came to realize that the Celtic pagan holidays are about celebrating each phase of life in its turn according to the corresponding season, and I was blown away. It was so profound, so sensible, and so FUN it was irresistable to me.
I remain a Taoist in spiritual philosophy, but my mode of celebrating life is pagan and enjoy it immensely.
2007-12-01 14:50:08 · answer #7 · answered by KC 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I love telling this story. LOL
Welp I found paganism, but Asatru found me. When I started in paganism, I asked people how they knew thier path was right. They all told me "Oh you'll know". So I started reading. I learned everything I could on generic and then went to the Egyptian gods for a starting place. I knew it wasn't my permanent path, but I wanted somewhere to start.
When I starting coming here, I read a question on viking death rites and had this overwhelming urge to learn as much I could about Asatru. Still it didn't totally ring with me. So I kept studying Kemetic, and my understanding of gods in general grew a lot. Switching from monotheist to polytheist is hard thing to do and it takes time. You can't be Asatru and not be pretty hard polytheist.
Any how, I would read Boars Hearts answers (yup he gets LOADS of credit in my book) and it just started to really pick at me. I would think about it and think about and so one day I asked the question to pagans on how they felt about honoring the gods of your ancestors. Boars answer was Blood Calls. I swear to you I still get the chills LOL. I realized at the moment, my blood was calling me loud and clear. Not only where the gods calling me, they were smacking me over the head with a 2x4.
That night I talked to Isis, thanked her for all she had done and as soon as I had, Frigga came through loud and clear with "You belong to us. Welcome Home". It was like a piece of me that had been missing locked into place and like I woke up after being asleep my whole life. Everyone was right, when you find your path "You just know". I wouldn't trade Asatru for the world.
Hail the Gods!
2007-12-01 13:53:43 · answer #8 · answered by ~Heathen Princess~ 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
To be honest I was born pagan...What Im trying to say is that my parents were pagan we we lived hapilly and my childhood was very unique I remember my parents doing their work and stuff in school many kids celebrated christmas one day I asked my dad "daddy Why dont we celebrate christmas?" he said "we do Its just known as a different name 'Yule'" so from then on I bragged about it saying I celebrated yule instead of christmas in the dreadfull year of 2000 my parents converted :O to catholism I was in middle school at the time I immediatly refused to be baptized first communion and confirmation and all that stuff my parents said that we were blinded by Satans work and they threw everything that had to do with pagan away they cleansed the house with holy water and all that was left of any existince of out pagan beliefs were the books I rescued them from the trash and kept them hidden in the farthest corner in my closet I still celebrated the pagan holidays in my lonesome of course I remember one time about 2 years after they converted my mom found my Yule altar she got into a rage she even struck me in the face, I have never been hit before by my parents she also grounded me with no christmas present and threatened me with kicking me out of the house. High school for me was the worst I still practiced my religion and even though I got picked on alot about being "satans servant" I finally found 3 other people who I could celebrate the holidays with! We were seperated when we graduated and I still keep in contact with only 1 friend I made new ones over the years but none pagan or whatsover I now live in a appartment and am a solitary practitioner now in the I made hundreds of friends and we have fun on the weekends but we dont question each others beliefs I still keep in contact with my parents And I still love them very much. I think I got sidetracked but maybe not I see the hidden meaning when one person is strong in their religion NOTHING can get them to change I feel that I have survived over the years B/C I could have became catholic and had a new path but no I stayed Pagan and will forever! :)
2007-12-01 14:18:48 · answer #9 · answered by ? 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Ah that's tough...
The problem for me when anyone asks this is that it's unexplainable to me. I can't remember exactly how I ever got to googling "Wicca" that first time, and I can't remember when I decided that it was where I wanted to be. It just happened.
2007-12-01 14:12:28 · answer #10 · answered by xx. 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋