Changing Paths challenge day 31 — where I am now
Nowadays I am fairly and squarely a Pagan and an inclusive polytheist Wiccan, but one who has been enriched by my wobble.
spirituality
Spiritual wobbles
Changing Paths challenge day 26 — wobbling
Spiritual wobbles can happen when your spiritual path becomes out of synch with your religious community. They can be dry spells, when it feels as if the source of your spiritual life has dried up, or the wobble can propel you out of your old path and into a new one. It depends how severe the wobble is.
Wandering
Changing Paths challenge day 25 — wandering
Wandering, like wavering and wondering, is a good thing. There is a whole genre of songs in German called Wanderliede, about hiking.
And as JRR Tolkien wisely remarked, not all those who wander are lost.
Pagans and marriage
Marriage is an odd composite of disparate concepts. It’s a legal contract to share property. It’s usually contracted between two people who love each other. It’s a meeting of minds and hearts. When it’s really special, it’s a sacred union of two people in an alchemical and spiritual relationship.
Continue readingStill friends
Changing Paths challenge day 10 — still friends.
I’m still friends with several Unitarians, either in person or on social media. Last September two of our longest-standing Unitarian friends from the UK came to visit us in Canada and we had a great time together. A quote from one of them found its way into the book too.
Old friends
Changing Paths challenge day 9 — old friends.
Although Unitarianism / Unitarian Universalism wasn’t my path, I still value many of their ideas and values. They’re green, they’re LGBT+ inclusive or at least welcoming, they were the first to ordain women ministers (the Universalists in 1860, the English Unitarians in 1904), among the first to welcome LGBT+ people (1970 in the UK). Many 19th century Unitarian ministers were opposed to slavery, most notably Theodore Parker. They don’t believe in original sin. They frequently refer to God as She or Mother (and have done since the 19th century). They respect other faiths as valid paths to the divine. They characterize their path as a free and responsible search for meaning. They also have really nice hymns. And they welcome Pagans and have an organization for pantheist, Pagan, and Earth-based spirituality. Iolo Morgannwg, whose prayer is used by OBOD Druids, was a Unitarian. There are many connections between Unitarian and Pagan ideas.
My old path
Changing Paths challenge day 8 — my old path
There are many familiar cultural aspects of Christianity such as carol services and harvest services that everyone finds charming. But underneath these charms there lies an austere and often excluding faith. One that has harmed LGBT+ people, excluding them from ministry and community, telling them they have no worth; forced Indigenous Peoples into residential industrial schools, and promoted colonialism. One that’s happy to wedge five solid pounds of very expensive bling on the head of an unelected and obscenely wealthy man. And that’s just the established church: then there’s all the fundamentalist and evangelical churches who are even worse.
Ritual
Changing Paths challenge 6 — ritual
Candle flames flickering, incense smoke curling in the twilight, standing in a circle of firelight, chanting sacred words. Deep in the woods where everything is transformed by the moonlight. Where the warm summer rain falls softly on the leaves.
The atmosphere of ritual is like no other: electrifying, life-enhancing, comforting. It can jolt you out of your complacency and reconnect you with your deepest desires, your authentic self, sometimes both at the same time.
My Pagan path
Changing Paths challenge day 3 — my new path
Well I’m not sure that Paganism is my “new” path any more as I’ve been a Pagan for 38 years now… but what keeps it fresh? Seeing the beauty of nature, and when humans interact with nature harmoniously. The changing round of the seasons. Seeing the trees burst into leaf and the flowers coming out every year.
Blogging/photo challenge
The Changing Paths challenge for May 2023. Feel free to skip a day or post something different from the topic of the day, but if you do the whole thing, I think you’ll arrive at a new perspective on your path.
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Dowsing for Divinity 