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    Confused with my path

    On my introduction post I mentioned that I have been researching paganism and holistic spiritual traditions since December. I'm very confused on what I want to follow and I'm beginning to wonder if it has to do with what I believe or not. From what I have heard, paganism covers many types of beliefs so there has got to be one that I can relate to.

    Here is what I believe:
    - God/Ultimate being exists in all of matter. It is so complex that it has to be broken down so humans can comprehend it.
    - The ultimate oneness can be broken down into two representing the duality in the world- logic/intuition,yin and yang, God and Goddess. I believe the god deity governs oneside and the goddess the other. I believe symbols alone (not human icons) can represent each side.
    -All Gods/Goddesses/Spirits are manifestations of the Divine Oneness. They can interacted with, prayed to etc. They also exist within us (hence why they are part of the ultimate being).
    - I prefer to stay away from idols as much as possible when representing the Ultimate Oneness with the exception of the Flower of Life.
    - There are two realms in existence- The physical and spirit. Both are equally as important. The physical realm is quite self explanatory: everything is being represented "as is" or logic. The spirit realm is very deep and complex. It shows hidden or inner meaning in things, mostly defying logic.
    -Finding Balance and peace is what I strive for. I wish not to become a stranger or outcast in society- I wish to better it. I believe that healthy relationships are very important. I want to be more connected with things.
    - I'm drawn to celtic and hindu philosophies. I love nature and animals.

    #2
    Re: Confused with my path

    From my experience it doesn't really matter if you follow one set faith or path. From what I've been noticing around here a lot of us are eclectic pagans-meaning we take parts from everything and combine it into our own unique way of following everything. You dont need to specifically follow a norse path, or a celtic, or buddhist, or anything like that. It's not like we're a bunch of Christians and Catholics who are going to tell you that if you don't follow one path and one path only that you're going to go to some special pagan hell for not being super strict.

    It actually looks like you've got a pretty good grasp on what you believe, and that's the best thing that you can really do for yourself in my opinion. If you want to branch it out to following some celtic or hindu philosophies or traditions, feel free to. It never hurts to incorporate more ideas to get a better understanding of everyone elses beliefs as well, or to further enhance your own path.
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      #3
      Re: Confused with my path

      Originally posted by Greyowl64 View Post
      -All Gods/Goddesses/Spirits are manifestations of the Divine Oneness. They can interacted with, prayed to etc. They also exist within us (hence why they are part of the ultimate being).
      Thank you for this. This is something I've been struggling with, and this explains it really well for me.

      Cheers And Welcome.
      ThorSon's milkshake brings all the PF girls to the yard - Volcaniclastic

      RIP

      I have never been across the way
      Seen the desert and the birds
      You cut your hair short
      Like a shush to an insult
      The world had been yelling
      Since the day you were born
      Revolting with anger
      While it smiled like it was cute
      That everything was shit.

      - J. Wylder

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        #4
        Re: Confused with my path

        I understand how you feel. My path is still continuing to develop, and I expect that it will continue to do so. I spent a lot of time reading about different traditions, worldviews, and such, sometimes looking for particular kinds of rites to adapt to my own purposes. Sometimes I still do this! And I never find anything online or in books that I could strictly pin myself down to. So instead I've just started turning within myself and listening, and I did a lot of great work on my private practice. Once a ritual or a prayer is on paper, the principles contained therein naturally unfold. It might be that as far as your personal spiritual practice, it won't necessarily be based on a popular path.

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          #5
          Re: Confused with my path

          You have plenty of time.Relax and enjoy the wonderous things Mother Nature has placed in front of you.She is by far a more experienced teacher than any of us.Do this and you will find your way.
          silly old man

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Confused with my path

            To me you don't sound confused at all. In my opinion you pretty eloquently described your path

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Confused with my path

              If you want to find your path, look at your feet.

              Your path is what you do. You walk it every day. While it can be nice to put a name to it (as that makes discussing it so much easier) this can also be limiting. Keep in mind that if you DO find a label that fits today, it may no longer fit in ten years and that's perfectly okay.

              Should you be interested, I have an exercise you might find helpful. http://vigdisdotter.wordpress.com/20...ists-exercise/
              "The doer alone learneth." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

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                #8
                Re: Confused with my path

                You seem a lot less confused with your path than I am with mine - I don't think I could make such a comprehensive list of the things I do/don't believe yet. However, i've been researching and trying to find my path for about half as much time as you.

                Originally posted by Vigdisdotter View Post
                If you want to find your path, look at your feet.
                I like this philosophy

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Confused with my path

                  honestly, you're less confused with your path, then i am with mine, and i don't even feel confused half the time. everyone else has already said basically all there is to say, but i just wanted to throw in: for the longest time i tried to find some sort of divine truth, free of bias. something that wasn't entirely norse, something that wasn't entirely christian, something that wasn't entirely buddhist, or hindu, or muslim, or pagan, or anything. something that was just real. i came to the conclusion that there is a divine force which men call "god", and the religion we choose is how we wish to represent that god to ourselves. for example, i chose a path of heathenism to represent this god to myself, through the germanic gods and nature. christians choose to represent it to themselves through yaweh (god) and muslims choose to represent it through allah. in my opinion, it's all the same in the end, even if some doctrines conflict with one another. god and religion are seperate, and often conflicting concepts, as god is an uncorruptable, omnipotent being, and religion is man made, thus subject to mistakes and falsehoods.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Confused with my path

                    Reminds me a lot of the meditations of the Neoplatonists, Pythagoreans, and Stoics. All worth looking into, for anyone who is testing the waters of monism (as I have been as of late.) The more spiritual Hellenic philosophies are actually a very close western counterpart to the Indian philosophies, in my experience. The worship of "Idols" as you call them was accepted by all of the above, but some schools considered it a lesser form of spiritual experience than contemplating "The One".

                    It's interesting you also mentions the oneness being divisible into two elements. The Pythagoreans referred to this as the "dyad", originating from the oneness or "monad"

                    As others have said, you seem to be well on your way to defining what you are. Even I don't have a concrete doctrine when it comes to the soft vs. hard polytheism question, although it's interesting to contemplate. I am open to the idea that all Gods, humans, and other living things are part of an all-encompassing oneness. However, I don't ignore individuals like my friends or my neighbors, because even if we are all one, they are still individuals on a certain level as well. For the same reason, I will not ignore Gods, even if I do become a monist.
                    If you want to be thought intelligent, just agree with everyone.

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                      #11
                      Re: Confused with my path

                      Trying to label yourself is mostly a cosmetic fix to the problem of not having a concrete answer when it comes to talking about your path -- it's for other people. Your path is unfolding every day as you walk it, and it's not up for scrutiny unless you freely choose to speak about it.

                      Relax. Besides, with most people's understanding of the words you'd have to string together (panentheistic agnostic folk witch, for example) would only make them scratch their heads more.

                      Check out some Buddhism. Got some Buddhist ideas in there where you describe how "god" is everywhere and part of everything.
                      No one tells the wind which way to blow.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Confused with my path

                        Like others have said, it doesn't sound like you're confused at all, just that you're struggling to fit your beliefs into one of the narrow, pre-defined boxes provided by society. Which imo is probably a good thing. Once I stopped worrying about how to define my beliefs and practices from an external viewpoint (whether I was this type of magician or that type, or any type at all, whether I could be any or all of those and also be pagan, and was I pagan when I didn't really fit under any of the branches of paganism people describe, and were the two aspects of my spirituality compatible, and where did all the Eastern stuff I found so informative and inspiring fit in) and focused on understanding these beliefs as they relate to eachother and myself instead, I found things started making a lot more sense.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Confused with my path

                          You look to have it all nutted out with a good grasp on your own beliefs and direction. I notice a lot of people wish to create labels for themselves and their beliefs in order to fit into a select group that will in turn show acceptance towards them. But more often than not politics gets in the way and the group soon develops some disarray between themselves. This is where I feel a lot of solitary witch's are clever in their approach. I follow a set path from my families pagan ancestry but I did stray and discover other ways, and although I enjoyed the journey, I have found myself back into the comfortable arm chair of my pagan upbringing. When it comes to matters of the spirit there are no set rules or labels that are correct or incorrect, there is only yourself and your own spiritual comfort zone.
                          My posts are generally sent from my cell fone. Please excuse my brevity, and spelling/grammar errors.

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                            #14
                            Re: Confused with my path

                            Originally posted by Greyowl64 View Post
                            Here is what I believe:
                            - God/Ultimate being exists in all of matter. It is so complex that it has to be broken down so humans can comprehend it.
                            - The ultimate oneness can be broken down into two representing the duality in the world- logic/intuition,yin and yang, God and Goddess. I believe the god deity governs oneside and the goddess the other. I believe symbols alone (not human icons) can represent each side.
                            -All Gods/Goddesses/Spirits are manifestations of the Divine Oneness. They can interacted with, prayed to etc. They also exist within us (hence why they are part of the ultimate being).
                            - I prefer to stay away from idols as much as possible when representing the Ultimate Oneness with the exception of the Flower of Life.
                            - There are two realms in existence- The physical and spirit. Both are equally as important. The physical realm is quite self explanatory: everything is being represented "as is" or logic. The spirit realm is very deep and complex. It shows hidden or inner meaning in things, mostly defying logic.
                            -Finding Balance and peace is what I strive for. I wish not to become a stranger or outcast in society- I wish to better it. I believe that healthy relationships are very important. I want to be more connected with things.
                            - I'm drawn to celtic and hindu philosophies. I love nature and animals.
                            My beliefs are basically Celtic, and you have just outlined what I believe. I don't think you are as confused as you are looking for reassurance that this is the right direction for you to go. To that end, if it's not the "right" direction, it is a very good direction to go. You're not as confused as you think you are.

                            Think about this for a moment: when man first became aware of "god", he had no web pages to look at, he had no written material to read. He simply recognized that there was some greater "power" and, that if he got on good terms with this "power" or deity, the deity would help him. Man saw that some harvests were better than others. He saw that game was more plentiful some winters and scarce others. He reasoned that by making the god(s) happy, the god(s) would provide better harvests and more game to hunt in the winter. From those basic beliefs, man reasoned that the god(s) could help in other ways too. And thus came to being most of the pagan beliefs of today.

                            I'm not saying that you should believe that way; just look at it from that viewpoint and see if your current beliefs make a little more sense.

                            I believe that the energy of the Goddess, and God are in everything. As such, it ties my life into the lives of plants and animals just as much as it ties my life with yours. My beliefs are nature based, as are many pagan beliefs. And if you are going to be tied to nature in your beliefs, you are going to notice a balance in everything. That balance may not be apparent at first. How can pigeons be balanced? They are noisy and ugly and all they do is poop all over everything. That's because hummingbirds are so quiet, so pretty and you never notice the poop.

                            It boils down to man's, or your, "beliefs". To avoid confusion, I try to keep my beliefs as basic as I can (Although I do strike out on a wile tangent or two from time to time). I would say that there is little to be confused about with your beliefs.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Confused with my path

                              Originally posted by Greyowl64 View Post
                              On my introduction post I mentioned that I have been researching paganism and holistic spiritual traditions since December. I'm very confused on what I want to follow and I'm beginning to wonder if it has to do with what I believe or not. From what I have heard, paganism covers many types of beliefs so there has got to be one that I can relate to.

                              Here is what I believe:
                              - God/Ultimate being exists in all of matter. It is so complex that it has to be broken down so humans can comprehend it.
                              - The ultimate oneness can be broken down into two representing the duality in the world- logic/intuition,yin and yang, God and Goddess. I believe the god deity governs oneside and the goddess the other. I believe symbols alone (not human icons) can represent each side.
                              -All Gods/Goddesses/Spirits are manifestations of the Divine Oneness. They can interacted with, prayed to etc. They also exist within us (hence why they are part of the ultimate being).
                              - I prefer to stay away from idols as much as possible when representing the Ultimate Oneness with the exception of the Flower of Life.
                              - There are two realms in existence- The physical and spirit. Both are equally as important. The physical realm is quite self explanatory: everything is being represented "as is" or logic. The spirit realm is very deep and complex. It shows hidden or inner meaning in things, mostly defying logic.
                              -Finding Balance and peace is what I strive for. I wish not to become a stranger or outcast in society- I wish to better it. I believe that healthy relationships are very important. I want to be more connected with things.
                              - I'm drawn to celtic and hindu philosophies. I love nature and animals.
                              You sound celtic with a hint of pantheism and plato-esque philosophy, a bit similar to myself actually. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk more about Pantheism (the belief that all existence is one grand god, and at least in my philosophy, that this god has many splinter "beings" that we see as gods or spirits, such as a personality and its parts in psychology). I could drone on and on about pantheism, so instead of doing that here, I'll let you ask if you want more.

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