An Inspirational Rant of Godly Proportions (Religion and Me)

Adequately titled because this isn't an essay of any vague academic value. It is, entirely, a self-obsessed rant fueled by the unholiness that is 7up, lack of sleep and P!nk's 'God is a DJ', in conjunction with a number of recent readings and vlogs and things sent my way that just, frankly, made my head hurt. I won't name them, because this isn't about inflicting my special brand of shame on unwilling references.

And most importantly, egotistically, this is about me. Yes. Everything revealed (almost), and hopefully I won't ramble for too long.

Let's start from the top then.

Religion?

From a very young age I identified with the word 'Pagan'. I went through all the typical goth/Wicca phases (though of course, there is nothing wrong with that), but that word always stayed with me as I matured, because to me it meant more than any of these neo-Pagan philosophies and paths that have popped up over the past few decades. It wasn't a religion, and it wasn't a teenage period. Nine years I have carried this word around with me in various degrees of honesty; to the point where if you asked me what my religion was that word would emerge before I could blink.

I am not an expert on all things Pagan. When people are told the umbrella term that describes my spiritual beliefs they often expect me to be a guru on all things Wicca. And though I commend writers and people the world over in whatever format trying to educate others on various Pagan religions I stop and frown whenever I see comments like 'this is what Wiccans believe', 'this is what Druids believe' and so on.

How can you know what all Wiccans believe? All Druids? The very structure neo-Paganism has carved for itself as a modern religious movement is that, on the most part, belief and practice are so flexible that it's rare to find two Druids who believe the exact same thing. These religions are not organized, they are loosely structured.

As I said, I commend the attempt at education but if that education is misleading then it may only serve a short-term purpose. I heart-wrenchingly value writers who commit only to their own truth and do not claim it to be universal within their religion but they seem, especially in amateur form, to be greatly outnumbered.

So though, generically, I could be called an 'Eclectic Pagan' this is:

My Personal Religion - What I believe, and what others with similar religious labels may also believe.

* I believe in evolution, but I believe the universe was created by primal, divine beings. Because divinity is nature, and evolution is nature, they exist alongside each other.

* I believe in deity in all its forms. We create deity, we give it names, make it more human so we can connect to it, we see it in the world around us. And that makes it exist in those forms, because we believe it. Power and energy are in words and names, especially ones that have been used for thousands of years.

* I do not believe in 'evil' deities and personifications. I do not accept the existence of a Devil and I certainly don't worship one. Temptation, destruction, lust, greed and the rest - these are part of human nature and cannot be blamed on outside forces. Does this contradict my above point? Not really, because we cannot help what we believe - if I don’t believe in evil, does it exist?

* I believe in magic and the power of the mind to do extraordinary things. I don't mean flying around on broomsticks or blowing things up, but magic is an elaborate form of prayer that can bring about change.

* I believe in honour. Honour where you are from, where you are, your family and ancestors, whatever deities you have named. Honour the passing year.

* I celebrate the 8 festivals that have come to be adopted by a lot of modern paths, also known as the 8 sabbats. I do not claim to celebrate them in their historical and original festivities, and their names are used only for convenience in conversation. These are new festivals, the same only in name to those that were celebrated by ancient Pagans.

* I do not follow any scriptures. I may find a particular text meaningful or inspirational, but I have my own morals taught to me by my family, as should we all, and have no need for external influence.

* I believe that life is a cycle, like rainfall. I do not believe in 'heaven' or 'hell' because a cycle has no end.


That is an overview of the very complicated part of my brain that considers religion and spirituality on a daily basis, ever changing and rearranging. I reiterate that this is not a 'this is everything you need to know, because we all believe this' commentary.

Criticism

Recently, I've read a number of texts that criticise this way of viewing religion. Again, I won't reference anything directly, but the central theme of all these texts are the same; that this 'new' spirituality, and neo-Paganism in general, is culturally and religiously abrasive. That we are somehow committing theft or assassination.

To this, I would say that religious history as a whole could be accused of the same thing. That is how new religions are formed - with the disenchantment with certain aspects of another. Christianity in its many forms, Hinduism, Islam...they weren't always there, they had to evolve from older religions. The Romans, anyone?

But neo-Paganism is targeted, I suspect, because of the fact that we are forming new and exciting religions. Personal religions connected by similar, united warmth. Yet many of us, it seems, would cling to fantasies that we are reconstructing or continuing old religions. We cannot do that! We may emulate fragments of old beliefs, but even the most faithful historian can’t tell us how accurate we are. And that is where the criticism lies, in a debate of historical barbs and claims to grandeur. We don’t need it. Why is old religion more relevant, truer than new?

We borrow names and ideas and we create new, beautiful ones. And there is nothing wrong with that.