Describe your path

[JustJesse]

Re: Describe your path

I'm still discerning my spiritual path. I have done a fair bit of reading and thinking over the past decade or so, but it has been sporadic and, frankly, not a high priority. I'm currently trying to be more serious about actively discerning my path. I don't know all of what I believe for certain yet, but this is what I do know:

* I believe that there is a greater-than, rather than any deity as such. The greater-than is, simply put, what is greater than myself; this includes my chosen and biological family, my community, the world, and ultimately the universe as a whole.

* I believe that we are all inextricable parts of the greater-than, and that the greater-than exists within everything. I believe we are all incredibly powerful (or at least potentially so) and incredibly interconnected.

* I believe that, after I die, I will decompose and little bits of me will become little bits of other things, some living and some not. I don't believe in reincarnation, but I do find it tremendously powerful and beautiful to believe that my matter and energy is on loan. I can't fully know what they once were or will be later, but I do know that I am a part of the greater-than.

* I believe that my spirituality, as with my politics and everything else about my life, should be informed by a sincere, honest, and unceasing attempt to achieve justice and knowledge.

* I believe that it would be deeply wrong of me to work with a tradition, deity, or pantheon to which I have no claim. I believe such appropriation would be not just distasteful but directly contrary to my ethics. (i.e. I will not work with Egyptian deities or adopt the practices of a Native American tribe because I have no cultural or ancestral ties. Most of my ancestors were probably Celts, but I will not work with the Celtic pantheon or practices either, because my ancestry has never been an important or relevant aspect of my life.)

* I believe that my spirituality, as with my politics and everything else about my life, is and should be informed by my existence/consciousness as a queer person. This doesn't mean that I'm better or worse, or that anyone else is better or worse; it means that my spiritual approaches and practices are often actively queered in some fashion. (e.g. I do not believe in the duality of a goddess and a god, because I believe that neither sex nor gender are binary concepts.) (Also, I use the word queer for myself and toward the LGBTQIA* community at large in a positive sense of reclamation and inclusion, which is congruent with the word's social, political, and academic use since the 1980s.)

* I believe that prayer and magick are effective, both as a form of contemplation/meditation and as a form of encouragement and work within oneself and the greater-than. I do not believe that they work from entreating favor from a personal deity or set of deities. I believe that everything I do, ultimately, is a kind of prayer or magick; I also believe that conscious prayer and magick are effective.

I am not sure if I believe nature is sacred. That's got some serious philosophical depth that I need to explore. Nature is very important to me, but I have a lot of cognitive dissonance about it, too. If nature is as sacred as I think it is, then I need to seriously alter what I do -- not to be scrupulous or condescending but so that my actions are in line with my beliefs.

[SCoyote]

Re: Describe your path

I don't know what my path is.

What my beliefs though, that is easy for me to define. i believe that everything around me is sacred, I can feel it when I walk in the woods. I need no more proof then that, it is beyond a shadow of a doubt to me. I never considered myself pagan, never believed in anything really but have felt some itch to delve more into it lately, to perhaps find a more purposeful path then just wandering about aimlessly in the woods. I've stopped caring years ago what people thought of me. yeah, I talk to the animals and the plants. I know they are there and sometimes they gift me with things (yesterday a fox left me a mouse, freshly killed.) I walk the woods solo, and I can feel it all. Its a wonderful thing, perhaps there is magic there, I don't know. But is's something I don't feel when I am in the city at all.

[callmeclemens]

Re: Describe your path

So much in my Universe has changed. I believe In "God". I Worship the Earth. I believe "God" is everything around me. I believe in Spirits as Wardens of the Earth. I believe in Magick I do not understand it and I have nearly no knowledge of it. I believe in Rituals and Worship multiple times a day. I believe The Forest is the Most Sacred place on Earth for it is full of Tree's and without them we would fail. I believe in deep and frequent meditation and Prayer.

[ACuriousPerson]

Re: Describe your path

To be quite honest I have no idea what I believe. I feel like I'm in a hole having a bunch of ideas thrown at me at once and being surrounded by them. Not saying that it's a bad thing (though it can be sometimes). I believe/follow what is taught in multiple religions, so it's hard for me to explain what I believe, and how to apply them to my daily life all at once. But I manage, and it has helped me become more open minded and appreciative of what is around me. Not sure if my beliefs fit this thread (sorry), but I just wanted to make them clear and let go of my confusions. Can't tell if I follow more of monotheism, paganism, or both. But anyway, here is what I believe:
I believe that there is one God, but there can and/or might be multiple gods, but they all have one supreme God above them all. Coming from a Christian background, I treat the gods like angels or saints. I believe that all (or most) religions lead to God or the gods and to a happy afterlife. I believe in the afterlife, that we will all be judged when we die and our destination will be chosen accordingly. That said, I also believe that reincarnation can exist if God, or the gods, wills it. I believe that there may be other forms/consequences/results of the afterlife that I do not know of. I do believe in evil spirits and that prayer and meditation are some of the ways to prevent them. I believe that the whole world and all of nature is an open ground for us to appreciate what a beautiful world we live in for such a short time. Thus, we must respect it and take care of it just as it was created for us. I believe that meditation and prayer is very important in one's life.

[TheGlassesGirl]

Re: Describe your path

I am an Eclectic, so I believe in a myriad of things. I believe in a God and Goddess, those who take care of the earth and universe. I believe in faeries, and that there is a faerie for every element of nature and then some. I believe all of us have the ability to use magic, but it will come back to us somehow.
I suppose I believe in the old gods (Roman, Greek, Norse, etc) but not as Gods, only as those who assist the God and Goddess, a bit like faeries do. In a way I suppose they are fae in their own right.
Being eclectic I often change my belief patterns when I express a new idea, but I don't mind. That's all about what keeping an open mind is about!

As for the afterlife, I believe there is a place we go when it is our time to pass on. When we are ready to leave that afterlife, we come back tot his physical earth. If your soul is wicked enough and really messed up here on earth, there is a place for you. I wouldn't say it's a Christian hell, per se, but it is not a pleasant place to go. Your soul cannot be reincarnated from here.

[nbdy]

Re: Describe your path

What Gods or Pantheon do you believe in?

It is my perspective that all is of the same (spirit / aether / vibration / ?) and anything that can be said in words is metaphor for understanding the experience we have of this. The actual source is ineffable; it can be apprehended but not described. From this perspective all pantheons are legitimate paths for understanding.

What rituals do you practice and for what purpose?

I use ritual as a means for focusing, clarifying, and reifying. I do not think there is power inherent in the ritual in and of itself; it is a means for the person or people involved.

Do you believe in the Afterlife or Otherworld?

I believe it is an infinite, nonlinear system.


Wow, that seems very sparse, but I have actually worked on it for quite a while now. Words are difficult.

[Noble]

Re: Describe your path

I call myself Slav with a traditional views but my position is more similar with agnosticism.
I believe in Slavonic gods but not worship and just respect them as my ancestors.
I believe that they`re (gods) just egregors that we make themselves
I think that gods of some European traditions are the same types of ancient Aryan gods and was a primary
total European pantheon.
I believe in energy whitch everywhere and inside everythings (something like Power of Jedi knights)
and every thing or place has it`s own informational field of energy. I mean that this divine natural energy doesn`t listen
human prays and it works according to it`s own principles. It`s not in pagan way but sometimes I compare this natural energy
with OS of PC.
I believe in reincarnation
I practice the rituals of ancient slavs during celebration pagan holydays. I practice work with scandinavian runes
In last time I greatly interested in shamanism as a one of primary religion traditions
I don`t believe in Valhalla, Paradise and Otherworlds from myths This was just beautiful tales for people
For ex. Valhalla or celtic Avalon were a real geographical places in our world
I believe that there is an Eternal circle in nature - morning-day-evening-night, winter-spring-summer-autumn,
birh-life-death-and birth again. From gods of slavonic pantheon I honor Veles more than others. God of nature,animals,wisdom,
poetry,music,abundance,otherworld and sometimes of darks features of human nature. He is similar with Wotan in German,
Cernunnos in Celtic and Dionysus or Pan in Greek traditions.
Meaning of paganism for me it`s a balance between extreme measures in everything. It`s a beauty that expressed in music and arts.
It`s belonging to my nation culture

[TheAdvocate]

Re: Describe your path

I believe that there are many Gods, and Goddesses but only acknowledge, and praise a few(which is henothiesm). The two I acknowlegde, and praise is Lord Satan, and Lady Lilith. As for praising them I mainly say thank you prayers. I do have a Pagan influence in it, such as my belief in many Gods, animism, wanting to connect with nature, etc. I'm not much of a ritual person but I do cast spells. I typically do spells for various situations, it all just depends what is happening in my life. I practice chaos magick, and a bit of witchcraft. Now as for afterlife, I believe I will go to a Underworld.

[Aeran]

Re: Describe your path

What Gods or Pantheon do you believe in?

I believe all deities are imperfect, human attempts at describing and relating to the basic, fundamental powers which underlay our reality. I have strong pagan leanings but also a heavy interest in ceremonial magic and hermetics, so I tend to work with pagan (primarily celtic) deities in general prayer, holidays, when connecting with nature, etc. but sometimes end up using names and imagery associated with judeo-christianity when working within the ceremonial/hermetic paradigm, since they tend to be primarily designed around that understanding. It took me a while to get used to, but I don't really feel that it's contradictory, just two names and two ways of relating to the same thing. In the same way that a person might be called by one name and perceived in one way by their partner or family, but be perceived in another way and called another name by their coworkers, but it's still the same individual.

What rituals do you practice and for what purpose?

Standard LBRP on a daily basis, small, quiet celebrations for the usual wheel of the year, very occasional spells/rituals from either side of that spectrum depending on what I'm trying to achieve, daily meditation (both eastern style and concentration exercises from the hermetic tradition), and daily qi gong.

Do you believe in the Afterlife or Otherworld?

Yes, although I'm not certain about which form it takes. My gut feeling is that we're all fragments of a greater divine consciousness, and on death we go through a 'downtime' of reintegrating what we went through and learned during that life, before being spun back out to live another life, or possibly merging back into that cosmic divinity, but I don't really have any evidence for that, it's just what feels like it makes sense based on what I've learned about the beliefs of different traditions.

[Cryfder]

Re: Describe your path

What are basically your beliefs...

Things like....
What Gods or Pantheon do you believe in?
What rituals do you practice and for what purpose?
Do you believe in the Afterlife or Otherworld?
etc...

I honor the Gods of the British or Brythonic Celts! I mainly honor 4 dieties, they being The Gods Belenus, and Taranis. The Goddesses I honor are Sulis, and Andraste. I try to have a reconstructionist practice, the best I can. I celebrate the 4 main Celtic High days.

[PsykhikosAnarchosNautikos]

Re: Describe your path

This is going to be a bit long, as defining beliefs takes a life time- and like many of you, I am still searching, but this is what I have discovered so far.

My Pantheon

I don't worship anything but I have reverence and respect for nature and certain deities and nature spirits (Fae and elves in particular, although all spiritual beings can be considered Fae, even deities). Deities of the underworld, warriors and magic seem to call to me the most. I have only found one patron for sure, but I intuit there may be a few more, I just haven't fully opened myself up to them, nor they to me, for whatever reason. I grew up seeing spirits and other realms, shut it off with various drugs and alcohol and am beginning to open up again. Sometimes you just don't have a choice.

I think culture and blood line is important for a strong connection to your deities and spiritual path, but intuition and synchronicty hold just as much value.

All gods and goddesses exist in one way or the other (I respect subjective experience no matter how outlandish the claims, as long as the person/group has proven sane and grounded on most other levels). My patron exists to me in a very literal form- too much synchronicity and objective experiences that I can only give over to my lovely patron. But I see this deity as more of a wise elder and not some being to be worshiped. It ruins the dynamic and balance of the relationship, and I think it would be disrespectful for me to perform such actions as it would be based on fear and false pretenses of merit acquirement. The spirits that work with me are very aware of my nature. I am anti authoritarian, a spiritual anarchist if you will- but I am humble (try my best) and kind. Just because I love, learn, respect and am blessed by the presence of such a great being, among others, does not mean I need to bow my head in service and slavery. We offer to each other. I also do not believe in commanding spirits for my or others gain. That's just rude.

I do not pray, I communicate. I do not worship, I love. I do not serve, I listen. I do not deny, I question and I think my guides and patron appreciate this. I seek to walk amongst my gods and goddesses, spirits and elders as a wise and blessed being some time in my existence.

I am my own god, and since I do not worship gods, I definitely do not worship myself, but I treat myself, friends and family (this includes the low and high spirits that choose to commune with me) with love and humility. As humans we are gods and goddesses, some of us have just fallen from the celestial realms or have been shoved out of the underworld for whatever reason. Because of a curse, to learn a lesson, or just to explore an unknown reality.

I also believe certain, not all, of our deities and spirits are ancient ancestors. They physically walked the Earth and some of us are their physical blood line, so some of the respect and familiarity is an ancient line of genetics. I have worked with the Loa (Vodoun spirits) and hold them in high esteem as well. The little offerings I have given them, they have blessed me with so much more- and I didn't even ask for anything! This is how I find my spiritual friends and teachers and this is one of the gifts they bestowed upon me, the act of courage and that all relationships are mutually beneficial if they are to be continued in such a benevolent fashion.

My Rituals

I used to do Ceremonial Magic, but I feel I need a personal temple to really feel the power and benefits, although I do not agree with the commanding and binding of spirits, like I mentioned earlier. I seek more to understand the working of the Universe and the Nature of Existence for self illumination and knowledge. I consider myself an occutist- a long and winding path with many obstacles, but the benefits outweigh the trials. I only do low magic these days, thus my new found journey into Paganism. I am getting back into herbs, gems, crafts and the such and am about to venture into Shamanism with the help of a family friend. If I feel like working magic (which is rare) I turn to good ol' chaos magic! Siglis, laughter and glossolalia!

I am attuning myself to my Runes currently and meditate on getting in touch with angels, although I do not believe in the Judeo-Christian God, or any Almighty God/Source/All, at least not as an eternal entity. If that God existed it is most likely dead and gone and the only remnants are the consciousness of other deities and our selves as consciousness. Honestly, I used to believe in the All or Source- but I basically view each deity as a separate entity with its own self aware consciousness. We may be connected in that we exist in this Universe and can travel amongst the different planes and commune with different beings, but it is only connected through our observance of them and their observance of us. If there is a Source, it has no actual awareness or care either which way about anything. It is abstract if it does currently exist as one mighty existence, thus we can never truly know or understand it in our little human minds- not even the wisest and most powerful of deities could conceptualize such a Source, for it created them as well.

I do not do full rituals nor celebrate any holidays, but I do enjoy going out on the Full and New Moons just to admire the embracing darkness and soft breeze. I plan on making crafts the more I get into it for the holidays, just because it sounds like fun. Fun is a big part of magic and ritual for me. I also am getting more in touch with my totems, mainly through dreams and paying attention to nature. I am also intrigued with shape shifting and have done a few rituals on Full Moons to try and get in touch with my inner animal. Totems and inner animals are different to me- the totem is a guide the inner animal is an aspect of self. I am also interested and studied a but on the Otherkin and Psychic Vampire Communities, although I only have access via online and books.

Basically, my rituals are simple for now and consist of self and environmental awareness (there's a lot to learn magically and spiritually by just observing), meditation and getting in touch with nature and my internal energy body. Tarot used to be part of my daily rituals and am now getting into Runes and want to venture into Runic and Tarot magic. I just need to to stop procrastinating.

Afterlife or Otherworld

I have great comfort that when this body disintegrates into the Earth and feeds the soil, or my ashes are spread around or kept in an urn, that my spirit goes home. I return to my place of birth with all the other lost, learning and graceful souls. I find myself here, but I am also wholly there. I am young, and maybe my views will change, but so far I do not fear death, nor do I look forward to it, but I see great comfort that whatever is beyond I will be happy and free, at least for a moment. I don't believe in immortality (although I used to and would like to), but I do believe the spirit lives a very, very, very long time in its original state- although it goes through many changes along the way. I also believe in transhumanism to a degree, but that's another story.

I definitely believe in reincarnation, but only when one has reached a solid state of self awareness and conscious power can one return to the physical realm with any real memory of their past life or lives (check out the Tibetan Rinpoches). As a few posters said, I hold belief that when the majority of us die we are scattered among existence, physically and spiritually, but I still believe there is an essence that lives on as a self conscious entity, and it is this essence that returns to the spiritual home. When it is reincarnated into the physical body once again it retains certain memories but also has a lot of random 'debris' to filter through as well. After a while in deep reflection and magical/spiritual work, one retains this essence and washes away the 'debris' and is thus consciously able to return to the physical or spiritual realms with full memory and power intact- even at will if they have reached a high enough state of awareness and ability.

[Moonlight Mayhem]

Re: Describe your path

My spiritual path is a work in process. I'm Agnostic, but I feel drawn to a few deities of the Greek Pantheon (Artemis, Dionysus, Persephone, Hades), with the exception of Nemetona (a Celtic goddess). It's a really odd combination (especially since I don't drink!), but they all represent aspects of my life, some which are still relevant now, others which were more relevant in the past. I'm considering honoring them if I feel more comfortable in the future. At the moment, I merely pray, visualize, and contemplate. I've been having nightmares lately which are loosely related to my research (more related to my memories of horror movies). It seems as if I've connected the two, which in reality is a ridiculous stretch, but fear isn't always logical.

I entertained the idea about a sole Creator that let the universe develop naturally for the most part, intervening only when necessary. Also I do wonder whether or not human beings were originally from this world. It seems as if there was a time (a long, long time) in which we weren't here. I want to research creation myths more to understand this. If the beginning isn't clear, I don't see how the end could be so certain. I view the deities as archetypes that eventually took on a life of their own. I see spirits and the like in either the same vein, or possibly from other realms (I suppose this could hold true for deities as well). I’ve never really believed in an afterlife, I’m starting to consider reincarnation, but I’m undecided on both as of now. I wouldn't be disappointed if science could explain everything, I ultimately just want the truth.

[wisp]

Re: Describe your path

I believe that all gods exist as their own beings. My focus is on celtic, especially Irish, lore. I'm still working out who my patron(s) might be as I'm drawn to a few but not yet connected. I do shamanic work, so I believe strongly in an Otherworld. I try to Journey often to speak with my totem and with spirit guides, sometimes for advice and sometimes just to honour them and keep company with them. I am still learning a lot of my path, so I am currently learning rituals to attune myself to elements and to the directions and seasons. I am also much happier now that I've acknowledged this path than I think I've ever been, spiritually.

[Denarius]

Re: Describe your path

I believe that all gods exist as their own beings.

Including outright fictional gods? Like Superman, Slaanesh, Haruhi Suzumiya, or Varda?

[wisp]

Re: Describe your path

Including outright fictional gods? Like Superman, Slaanesh, Haruhi Suzumiya, or Varda?

I guess I could've worded that better.