Faith Part Two

Despite the evolution of my beliefs regarding the bible and the god described therein, I still stayed within the mainstream to the extent that I operated under the assumption that there is a world of spirit and that there are supernatural phenomena. Perhaps at some future time I will also reject any belief in the supernatural, but that time has not yet come. I am well aware of the contradiction inherent in my forsaking one set of bronze age beliefs for another.

What I tell myself, and use to convince myself that I am not another religious dupe, is that I leave open the possibility that I am all wrong. The 'spirits' that I encounter may be hallucinations or they may be real. Contact with the dead may be legitimate or wishful thinking. Otherworldly messages might very well be a part of my own subconscious.

In part One I discussed how I moved away from Christianity in general and Catholicism and The Way International in particular. My move toward paganism was somewhat related.

As I was casting about for a religion/philosophy to replace what I had set aside, I reread a book by my uncle, entitled "Celtic Christianity". The references to the ancestral religion of the Irish Celts fascinated me, so I began to do some reading on the subject. Most of what I found on the subject was about modern reconstructions of Celtic religion, as well as books on Wicca and Witchcraft. I had just begun to sort through all the different points of view that I encountered when I met my future wife Susie, a self-described witch who participated in rituals with a group of Wiccans.  I participated myself for a while and later moved on to a five-year course of study with a teacher from New Hampshire, partly through self-study and partly through face-to-face meetings at weekend seminars. I decided to pass on a more personal course through an online apprenticeship, but used his teachings to give me some general direction and a framework of study.

Currently I describe myself as a pagan, although sometimes I use the term "witch" as well. I don't argue with "Wiccan", even I don't think it is accurate, since people are more or less familiar with the term. I honor the wheel of the year during the eight sabbats and wear some pagan jewelry. I honor several gods/goddesses, mainly of the Celtic pantheon and some Irish heroes such as Manannan, Bridget, Lugh and Cu Chulain. I meditate and do shamanic journeying. I look at the gods alternatively as archetypes and higher spiritual beings. I like the quote that I saw once attributed to the Buddha regarding the gods being "silly". In other words I think that they exist, but that they have no more right to dictate how I should live my life than any mortal. I think that there is some form of afterlife, but don't really believe that our personality and "self" as we know it in life survives wholly, if at all.

I reserve the right to change what I believe with no notice as more information comes to light!