I am... new to paganism, I suppose, though I feel as though I'm not? I read last night that most people seem to believe they've just "come home" when they start to find a path, and that's where I am currently. I have always felt immensely connected to nature and have always had very, very strong faith, but I grew up in a particularly authoritarian Christian sect and that circumstance delayed my journey quite a bit. It was very traumatic for me-- to the point of resulting in two mental illnesses-- and so it has taken me quite a while to sort of give myself permission to "officially" abandon that religion (though I've not been to church in years). It was simple, I suppose, to mistake my love of ritual and the like for being what I was told by everyone around me-- I am from the American Bible Belt-- it was supposed to be. Out of desire to fit in, out of fear: out of a lot of things. There were always things I disagreed with about what I was being told, I always knew that, but I was so-- for lack of better word-- brainwashed that I just assumed this meant I was wrong and that it was just something I needed to pray about.
Needless to say, I have more or less gotten over that.
I have no set label yet-- I know that isn't something I should be transfixed on, as it's about exploring my interests and whatnot, but it is something I care about discovering-- but I stumbled upon this forum and I wanted to go ahead and join, because it seems there is much to be gained from such a community. I don't really have anyone in "real life" to talk to about this-- at least no one who's informed, you know-- so I feel very blessed that I googled "pagan forum" on a whim tonight. I look forward to reading what all of you have to say about things and to learning from your wisdom. At the moment I'm reading Drawing Down The Moon by Margot Adler, but if anyone has any other suggestions of good general starting places I would love to hear them!
Needless to say, I have more or less gotten over that.
I have no set label yet-- I know that isn't something I should be transfixed on, as it's about exploring my interests and whatnot, but it is something I care about discovering-- but I stumbled upon this forum and I wanted to go ahead and join, because it seems there is much to be gained from such a community. I don't really have anyone in "real life" to talk to about this-- at least no one who's informed, you know-- so I feel very blessed that I googled "pagan forum" on a whim tonight. I look forward to reading what all of you have to say about things and to learning from your wisdom. At the moment I'm reading Drawing Down The Moon by Margot Adler, but if anyone has any other suggestions of good general starting places I would love to hear them!
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