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Author Topic: New pagan, having trouble bringing religion into daily life  (Read 2430 times)

bugjuiceyup

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New pagan, having trouble bringing religion into daily life
« on: August 10, 2015, 03:51:02 pm »
Hello, I am an eclectic pagan with a catholic background. I love the god(desses) and am so very thankful for their influence in my life. Ever since I started to follow the pagan path, my life has only been getting better.

But I have been having some trouble with my non-religious life taking over and pushing the spiritual part of my life aside. I am a busy student, and while I try to acknowledge the moon cycles and try to observe holidays, most of the time I find myself not doing these things.

How have some of you made time for your spiritual lives in your busy schedules?

RecycledBenedict

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Re: New pagan, having trouble bringing religion into daily life
« Reply #1 on: August 10, 2015, 04:23:57 pm »
Quote from: bugjuiceyup;178503
Hello, I am an eclectic pagan with a catholic background. I love the god(desses) and am so very thankful for their influence in my life. Ever since I started to follow the pagan path, my life has only been getting better.

But I have been having some trouble with my non-religious life taking over and pushing the spiritual part of my life aside. I am a busy student, and while I try to acknowledge the moon cycles and try to observe holidays, most of the time I find myself not doing these things.

How have some of you made time for your spiritual lives in your busy schedules?


That happens persons regardless of religious affiliations!

Daily regularity is more important than the length of any ritual.

If you can't find the time at both morning and evening, chose the time of the day or night  your mind is clear enough to reach a meditative state without falling asleep. Different personalities prefer different times.

Do you think you will be able to find ten minutes each day? Collect two short sets of hymns and prayers (one for everyday use and one for festival use), and recite these at your household altar/shrine corner/personal equivalent, and then meditate briefly. For some, it may be helpful to lit a candle before you do anything else. If Hestia, Vesta or an equivalent is part of your pantheon, you may try to recite something appropriate to them when you lit the candle, otherwise you could perhaps find useful candle formulae here:

http://www.uua.org/worship/words/chalice-lighting

You don't explain if you are still comfortable with your Catholic background or not. If you are, you may consider to mix something from your background into your daily ritual, but if you are not, you shall of course avoid to do so. The reason I ask is that dual adherence is not infrequent in some Catholic environments: Catholic Spiritists, Catholic Umbandists, Catholic Benedicaria-practitioners, Catholic Curanderas, and so on.

bugjuiceyup

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Re: New pagan, having trouble bringing religion into daily life
« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2015, 04:35:12 pm »
Quote from: FraterBenedict;178506
That happens persons regardless of religious affiliations!

Daily regularity is more important than the length of any ritual.



I am no longer affiliated with the Abrahamic God, as I feel no connection to him. I do, however, like the ritual associated with Roman Catholicism, so maybe I will try to incorporate that aspect of that faith into my own. For example, I love the rote nature of the rosary and may try to incorporate that into my current prayer beads.

I will definitely look up some hymns, or maybe create my own, and try to practice them every day. I just need to memorize some things, prayers that I can alter every day to suit my needs

thanks, by the way, for your response
« Last Edit: August 11, 2015, 04:25:49 pm by SunflowerP »

RecycledBenedict

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Re: New pagan, having trouble bringing religion into daily life
« Reply #3 on: August 10, 2015, 05:05:53 pm »
Quote from: bugjuiceyup;178507
I am no longer affiliated with the Abrahamic God, as I feel no connection to him. I do, however, like the ritual associated with Roman Catholicism, so maybe I will try to incorporate that aspect of that faith into my own. For example, I love the rote nature of the rosary and may try to incorporate that into my current prayer beads.

I will definitely look up some hymns, or maybe create my own, and try to practice them every day. I just need to memorize some things, prayers that I can alter every day to suit my needs

thanks, by the way, for your response

Since you are eclectic, I don't know what types of prayers you are comfortable with, and which prayers are not so useful for you. If the following suggestions are bad, please pretend that they don't exist.

This prayer is very popular among Druids, and exist in several slightly different versions:

Grant, O [Please here insert the name of the Supreme Being or the World Soul according to your tradition, or any of the the words 'Spirit', 'Goddess' or 'God'], Thy protection;
And in protection, strength;
And in strength, understanding;
And in understanding, knowledge;
And in knowledge, the knowledge of justice;
And in the knowledge of justice, the love of it;
And in that love, the love of all existences;
And in the love of all existences, the love of you:
you and all goodness

Another interfaith prayer is the following. It first occurred in Hindu literature in the 8th or 7th century BCE, was adapted by the Jain author Satish Kumar, and then popularized by the Catholic charity sister Mother Theresa. If not that combination is interfaith, I don't know what qualifies. Pagans may use it with good conscience.

Lead me from death to life,
from falsehood to truth;
lead me from despair to hope,
from fear to trust;
lead me from hate to love,
from war to peace.
Let peace fill our heart,
our world, our universe.

For those interested in Greek deities, the Orphic Hymns may be very useful.

Eclectics are probably not attracted to the Roman style of rituals. They are very formal, strict, and full of legalese. Roman prayers look like the Terms and Conditions files Apple expect you to click in order to use any computer software. I suppose, however, that American lawyers should be attracted to ancient Roman religion.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2015, 04:27:19 pm by SunflowerP »

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Re: New pagan, having trouble bringing religion into daily life
« Reply #4 on: August 11, 2015, 08:04:37 am »
Quote from: FraterBenedict;178506
Daily regularity is more important than the length of any ritual.

This. Even if you can only make time for a quick prayer when you get up or go to bed, the key is to do it every day. After a while you will no longer need to "make time" for it because it will be in your daily routine. Then you can expand what you do a bit either adding a small amount to your current daily ritual or adding a second short ritual. Over time, you can slowly build things up.
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Jainarayan

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Re: New pagan, having trouble bringing religion into daily life
« Reply #5 on: August 11, 2015, 11:04:42 am »
Quote from: FraterBenedict;178506
That happens persons regardless of religious affiliations!

Daily regularity is more important than the length of any ritual.

 
I agree with this also. I used to get hung up on having to perform daily rituals, and perform elaborate ones at that. I didn't think a quick candle- and incense-lighting was enough, but I've come to realize that if done with devotion, it is enough.

Once or twice a week in the evening I may do a libation blót, which takes maybe 10 minutes. Or barring that, that's when I just light the candles (tea lights) and incense, say a few prayers over them, and let them burn while I'm in the house.

Something I do without fail every morning before I go out (if I don't go out of the house, this tends to fall by the wayside) is go to my altar, put on my hammer (Thor's hammer Mjöllnir), and say some prayers to him and to the Gods and Goddesses. It doesn't even take 2-3 minutes, but no matter how rushed I am for whatever I'm going to do (usually go to work), it can wait 2-3 minutes while I do this hammer-donning ritual.

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Re: New pagan, having trouble bringing religion into daily life
« Reply #6 on: August 11, 2015, 11:38:15 am »
Quote from: Thorbjorn;178527
I agree with this also. I used to get hung up on having to perform daily rituals, and perform elaborate ones at that. I didn't think a quick candle- and incense-lighting was enough, but I've come to realize that if done with devotion, it is enough.

I also agree. I've found it's also helpful to find a ritual that you'll enjoy performing each day. In my case, that's wearing a certain perfume that was specially formulated and dedicated to My Lady. It really can be that simple.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2015, 11:38:39 am by Redfaery »
KARMA: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

bugjuiceyup

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Re: New pagan, having trouble bringing religion into daily life
« Reply #7 on: August 11, 2015, 01:20:38 pm »
Quote from: Redfaery;178530
I also agree. I've found it's also helpful to find a ritual that you'll enjoy performing each day. In my case, that's wearing a certain perfume that was specially formulated and dedicated to My Lady. It really can be that simple.

 
All of your responses have been so helpful! I am definetly making some holy perfume now!

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Re: New pagan, having trouble bringing religion into daily life
« Reply #8 on: August 13, 2015, 08:52:25 pm »
Quote from: bugjuiceyup;178532
All of your responses have been so helpful! I am definetly making some holy perfume now!

 
perfume, prayer beads(something you can do while riding train/walking across campus, heck bathroom if that's the only time you can carve out). I have a morning prayer that as soon as sit up , I recite to my Patron. I make prayer beads for different deities.

good luck. devotional practice can be a challenge regardless of path

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Re: New pagan, having trouble bringing religion into daily life
« Reply #9 on: August 14, 2015, 12:55:14 am »
Quote from: bugjuiceyup;178503
But I have been having some trouble with my non-religious life taking over and pushing the spiritual part of my life aside. I am a busy student, and while I try to acknowledge the moon cycles and try to observe holidays, most of the time I find myself not doing these things.

How have some of you made time for your spiritual lives in your busy schedules?

 
Mostly, I expanded my thoughts on worship. I find mundane activities that can be done for the gods, and then I try to do them with intention. This means that even when I'm so swamped I can't even *look* at my shrines, let alone do anything with/at them, at least I am still participating in *some* forms of worship.

So, for example. When I clean the kitchen, I am doing this for both Hestia and Brighid (and my sanity). When I write, that is for Brighid and Epiphany. When I work on publishing work, that is for Epiphany and Shemhazai. etc. (I wrote a lot more on my ways of worship on my blog just the other day.)

Also, I try not to punish myself for not having the time to do daily things. My brain is really good at picking me apart and telling me how awful I am, so I have to really concentrate on being gentle with myself, or I just pick myself to pieces. And, you know, this stuff is hard.

The only thing I have ever been able to do consistently on a day to day basis has been offering coffee to Hestia every morning. I made it part of my morning coffee making for myself, and now it's basically automatic. There have been some days when I don't do it (when travelling, for example, or on the few days I don't drink coffee at home/at all), but generally speaking it is my one piece of daily religion; the only piece that I've been able to make stick after...uh. How old am I? When did I start? I don't know. A million years of doing this pagan stuff.

So, yeah, it's difficult. For me, offering coffee every morning/whenever I wake up works. I'm trying to get better at giving something in the evening, too, but the best way for me to do that is to already have a personal ritual -- nightly tea, perhaps. Which I don't have right now. For some reason, a nightly ritual around tea is harder for me to cultivate than a morning ritual around coffee (perhaps because I need the coffee to function).

Something else I've been doing lately is listening to playlists for the gods while I'm doing other things. For me, singing along with songs I associate with Them is a lot like singing hymns in church, even if I'm doing other things at the time. I'm still raising my voice up to Them and connecting with Them.

I have personal playlists on my computer, and there are also some I've faved on 8tracks by other people. (You can see my profile here.) Listening to Florence + the Machine has become a profoundly religious experience for me, to be honest.

(Though, should be noted: sometimes when I do this, the gods decide that since I've taken the time to listen to Their playlist, it's a good time to let me know about certain things I should be doing. So I get...assignments? Assignments is a good word. Yeah, those, sometimes when I listen to the lists. Not always, but enough that if I'm really in a state where I cannot handle an assignment, I don't put on the lists.)

Something I want to try doing, but haven't yet, is dedicated certain make-ups and nail polishes to certain gods, and wearing them when I want to honor them. (There are a few lipsticks and eye shadows I have my eyes on at Rituel de Fille for some certain gods. No, this is not just an excuse to buy Rituel de Fille, I resentemble that accusation.)

(...dear gods, they have new stuff. Halp.)

*reads back over post* Well, this has been very rambly and only slightly coherent. That's what I get for posting when I'm super tired.

Anyway, hope some of it was useful, or at least interesting/amusing/not boring. ^_^
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70sWoodstock

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Re: New pagan, having trouble bringing religion into daily life
« Reply #10 on: August 14, 2015, 04:20:32 pm »
Quote from: bugjuiceyup;178503
How have some of you made time for your spiritual lives in your busy schedules?

 
I'm right there with you. As a new Pagan I am still looking for meaningful and practical ways to incorporate spiritual practices into my everyday life. I started about a year ago with some ambitious goals, which I didn't follow through with. So, as of this week, I am starting again, but this time I'm less ambitious. I have found two prayers, a morning and an evening prayer. I have started reciting these and meditating for a minute or two on the words. I hope to expand from here soon, but this is good for now.
Best of luck to you.
Blessed be.

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