Why Did You Take The Path You Took?

[Nycteris]

Sorry for the bad title.

Anyway, I have a question. What drew you into your current religious paths?

What is it about your current religion that appeals to you?

Why, out of all the religions avaliable, did you pick the one you picked?

I think what appeals me most is how Satan wants us to become spiritually strong ourselves, instead of just strengthen him. Satanism makes one feel powerful and realize there's nothing wrong with that. Knowing what is at your disposal through respectful evocation/invocation of the Demons is also reassuring, not on my to-do list for now though
I think I answered both your questions to the best of my ability.

[StudiodeKadent]

Thanks for all the additional replies

I think what appeals me most is how Satan wants us to become spiritually strong ourselves, instead of just strengthen him. Satanism makes one feel powerful and realize there's nothing wrong with that.

That is what I respect about Satanist belief systems too, even though I do not embrace them personally.

[Aiwelin]

What drew you into your current religious paths?

What is it about your current religion that appeals to you?

Why, out of all the religions avaliable, did you pick the one you picked?

 
As for the Wiccish side of my practice - I have always had an intense love and affinity for the natural world, and a healthy dose of skepticism regarding Christianity.  At first it was just contempt for the commercialization and materialism of the modern church, but eventually I realized that I disagreed enough with many of the basic tenets that I could no longer call myself Christian.  Being, at the time, a teenager who was always somewhat fascinated by the occult and 'forbidden' things, I was strongly drawn to Neo-Wicca of the Scott Cunningham variety.  Over time, I learned much more about Paganism and the various religions under that umbrella term, and concluded that I wasn't being very accurate calling myself Wiccan; I'd never been initiated and disagreed with many views held by BTWs.  I still use a Wiccan-flavored ritual outline when doing many rituals, and I attend a circle regularly for the full moon, and so I feel comfortable referring to that side of my practice as 'Wiccish'.  I suppose I chose this path because Neo-Wicca was the only Pagan religion I had found any books or information about, and I stick with it because it is comfortable and familiar.

As for the Druidry side of my practice, it is more recent and definitely more 'chosen'.  I was pretty comfortable in my practice, but was looking to deepen it with daily devotions or ways to honor the nature spirits around my new home.  In researching, I came across a variety of Druid organizations that I found very interesting.  I looked into the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, as well as the New Order of Druids and Ár nDraíocht Féin.  OBOD and NOD are rather Wiccish in their practices as well, though with a distinct Celtic and nature-spirituality bent; but I don't feel they have much to add to my current practice.  ADF, however, was exactly what I was searching for.  They are very structured and have very specific ideas, and though I don't agree with all of them, the pre-existence of a working framework was incredibly appealing to me.  It was easy for me to incorporate into my existing worldview, and provided me with a wealth of ritual ideas and ways to practice; I honestly don't have the time to create a religion from scratch, and ADF's template fits me quite well.  I now do my daily devotions and the 8 High Days (Wiccan Wheel of the Year) as ADF-style rituals, and use my own Wiccish rituals for full moon celebrations and rituals.

[Altair]

What drew you into your current religious paths?

Honestly, it just happened. For both paganism (nature-based) in general and my particular brand of paganism (my gods), I fell into them without realizing it; it grew organically from the way I live and think.

What is it about your current religion that appeals to you?

A profound sense of connection to the glorious universe around us, and the creativity inherent in my religion.

Why, out of all the religions avaliable, did you pick the one you picked?

I didn't, as explained in the first response. If I had to pick out of the existing religions, I'd probably end up Hindu, except that it would be ethnoculturally discordant. But their pantheon rocks.

[Nyktelios]

Sorry for the bad title.

Anyway, I have a question. What drew you into your current religious paths?

What is it about your current religion that appeals to you?

Why, out of all the religions avaliable, did you pick the one you picked?

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to judge anyone's reasons. One's spiritual/philosophical/religious/etc. beliefs are an intensely personal matter. I'm simply curious as to why the individuals on this forum took the paths they did.

 
Depends which path. I've followed quite a few over the years.

If we start at the beginning, I never felt any connection to the Christian religion practiced around me (my parents aren't religious at all, but my grandparents are, and I had friends who took me to church when I was a child). I just didn't find any of it believable. My main issue was that it was too focused on humanity, and I always felt there was a lot more to the universe than just us. Also, as an effeminate boy, the patriarchal status quo, and the concept of one male god up in the heavens, didn't do anything for me. I really liked the idea of mother nature, and always wondered why people didn't take that concept more seriously as a religion rather than some imagined God out there with his book of rules written by humans. (Sorry if that's rude to followers of Abrahamic religions, it's just what my mindset was like as a youngster.)

As a teenager I had classmates who studied Wicca, and since I had heard that word on Charmed, I was interested in looking into it myself, as I always thought witches were cool. I read one of Scott Cunnigham's books, and instead of finding cool and spooky spells, I found a religion that followed a goddess and honoured the divine as immanent in nature. It vindicated my own ideas about divinity. From there I found Starhawk's Spiral Dance book and became really interested in feminism and Goddess traditions, and that's where I first learned about the Feri tradition. I heard it was a tradition of Witchcraft more oriented towards queers, so I studied that for a while with the help of books and online mentors.

Also from childhood I was very interested in ancient Egypt and Greece, and so naturally I was drawn to deities from those cultures. I started with the Greek deities, especially Aphrodite and Dionysus, and eventually the rest of them. I kind of abandoned Witchcraft for a while to practice Hellenic Reconstructionism. Long story short, I had bad experiences with people in that community, but I loved Greek culture and tried to stick with it. Eventually I found many aspects of Greek culture to be in conflict with my life and my views, like the inherent misogyny of the culture that is reflected in religion, such as in the myths like that of Pandora, and the limited roles of the Olympian goddesses. In traditional Hellenic context, my favourite deity, Aphrodite, was considered to be the feminine ideal of love and beauty, and was portrayed by Homer to be a bit of an air-headed adulteress. The goddess who was considered to be the supreme deity in Cyprus, goddess of life and fertility, childhood and death, queen of heaven, earth and sea, mother of all living things, patroness of royal dynasties, lady of both nature and civilization, ruling over life and death, was reduced to a patroness of prostitutes and goddess of beauty and sex without the universal influence she originally had.

Taking a course in Ancient Egyptian Religion in university about 2 years ago made me realize how appealing I found that to be, and started doing my own research. The gods seemed so much more universal than the two-dimensional Olympians, the cosmologies made so much sense to me, methods of worship seemed more practical, the culture was less oppressive, and there was a greater depth to Egyptian theology that was missing in Greek religion, except for the few mystery cults. I read a book called "Isis in the Ancient World" by R.E. Witt that described Isis' origins in Egypt and her development into a universal goddess in the Greco-Roman world, and found it fascinating. That's still pretty much where I am now, a follower of Kemetic gods and traditions, and incorporating the nature-based philosophy of pagan Witchcraft traditions that celebrate the seasonal and lunar tides.

Sorry for the long and complicated answer :p

[Sharysa]

What drew you into your current religious paths?

What is it about your current religion that appeals to you?

Why, out of all the religions avaliable, did you pick the one you picked?

1. The Morrigan called me to the path. It took me a year, but eventually I said "Okay, fine." As for voluntarily staying with it, I finally felt like I fit somewhere. With Catholicism, I was always frustrated with the inconsistencies inherent in their religious teachings. Perhaps I could have found consistencies if I tried, but I always felt like I was staying Catholic because my family's Catholic.

2. The constant searching for knowledge/self-improvement. Catholicism always tells you to depend on God for things, and combined with my disillusionment and literal (increasing) fear of God, I never felt like I could do that.

And the importance the pagan Irish placed on the arts helps a lot. Considering America's bipolar "WE LOVE ARTISTS BECAUSE THEY LIVE SUCH HARD LIVES AND ARE CONSTANTLY SELF-DESTRUCTING" perception of the arts, the concept that you can actually be a healthy person and make a living from your art is very refreshing.

3. See #2.

[randomheathen]

Sorry for the bad title.

Anyway, I have a question. What drew you into your current religious paths?

What is it about your current religion that appeals to you?

Why, out of all the religions avaliable, did you pick the one you picked?

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to judge anyone's reasons. One's spiritual/philosophical/religious/etc. beliefs are an intensely personal matter. I'm simply curious as to why the individuals on this forum took the paths they did.

 
1. I honestly haven't the foggiest idea. I'd read about it before and it seemed like a lot of mumbo-jumbo. I was probably still in my 'religion sucks!' phase. Then one day it just... clicked. There were no meaningful dreams, no great revelations, it just made sense when it hadn't before.

2. The sense of honor and duty. The emphasis on acting for the good of the community and the family. The relative lack of mysticism (I'm still unable to muster any patience for it :whis: ). And most of all the fact that the gods are fallible, they can make mistakes and learn from them, and they earned everything they have and are thus worthy of respect.

3. It was probably inevitable, given that I was immersed in mythology from the time I could read. Plus my little 8-year-old mind nearly exploded from sheer awesomeness when I found out I was descended from vikings. For more serious reasons see question 2.

[Lokabrenna]

Sorry for the bad title.

Anyway, I have a question. What drew you into your current religious paths?

What is it about your current religion that appeals to you?

Why, out of all the religions avaliable, did you pick the one you picked?

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to judge anyone's reasons. One's spiritual/philosophical/religious/etc. beliefs are an intensely personal matter. I'm simply curious as to why the individuals on this forum took the paths they did.

Catholicism kind of lost its appeal when I was around fifteen, so I began a search for a religion that wouldn't guilt trip me into believing in it. I think once I left my Catholic elementary school I found people who didn't share my beliefs and way of seeing things and it was like suddenly I was seeing the dark side of the church that my teachers never talked about.

So, basically I went shopping around and found (neo) Wicca, then I found feminism and Dianic witchcraft, and then I got tired of hearing about Ancient Matriarchies and found Asatru, and it was closer to what I was looking for, but not quite. I liked the emphasis on scholarship (to a point) but I came across some real unpleasant folks (not racists, just unpleasant) and it scared me away for a bit, and I thought: "I like these deities, but I don't like the people," and then I found Vanatru, and I was like "Oh, there you are! Where were you two years ago?!" I think, for me, it was a matter of finding a path that could appreciate things like scholarship and still have room for the kind of "earth-based" ethos I found so appealing, that's just how it worked out for me, not that, say, Wiccans are somehow incapable of appreciating scholarship. I blame that on the crap-tastic (nine million women killed during the Burning Times) resources that were available to me.

[SatAset]

Sorry for the bad title.

 What drew you into your current religious paths?

What is it about your current religion that appeals to you?

Why, out of all the religions avaliable, did you pick the one you picked?

1)  I've loved Ancient Egypt since I was young.  A pendant of Aset was given to me along with a book of Egyptian Gods.  I read the book and I loved it.  So when it came time to leave the religion of my childhood, I chose Kemetic religion after looking into Goddess oriented religion for awhile.  I've been Kemetic ever since.  

A short while after I became Kemetic, Aset told me to look to the Yoruba pantheon.  Oya showed up and I've been honoring Her ever since.  

A few years ago, Aset sent me to Frigga to learn about the gods of my ancestors.  So now I honor Frigga, Idunna and Thor.  

I keep all my practices and Holy Powers separate from each other.  

2) I love the Gods and Goddesses.   I love that the divine is in everything.   I love that my ancestors are still with me even if I don't know their names.  I am supported, loved and challenged to become whole, to align my souls.  

3)  See above.

[cigfran]

Why, out of all the religions avaliable, did you pick the one you picked?

Because someone once said to me that if I were to have a religion at all, it should at least be the most Metal.

[Celtag]

Sorry for the bad title.

Anyway, I have a question. What drew you into your current religious paths?

What is it about your current religion that appeals to you?

Why, out of all the religions avaliable, did you pick the one you picked?

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to judge anyone's reasons. One's spiritual/philosophical/religious/etc. beliefs are an intensely personal matter. I'm simply curious as to why the individuals on this forum took the paths they did.

Probably when I started researching my ancestors. I just fell in love with their way and customs. I was just so drawn to the Celtic path, it's just feels like the perfect fit.

What appeals to me is the way of it all. The ritual, the legends, the Gods, the culture.

I didnt really pick it, other than it picked me. I just felt very drawn to it and felt kinda like I was being called home.

[PrincessBurrito]

What drew you into your current religious paths?

What is it about your current religion that appeals to you?

Why, out of all the religions avaliable, did you pick the one you picked?

 
1) I'm not 100% sure. About 10 odd years ago I just started playing games about Vikings and watching documentaries, I was raised by strict Catholic parents so I wasn't allowed to even THINK about Paganism until I was old enough to know how to keep secrets.
Still keeping the same secret

2) The mystery of the gods and the endless things you can do to honor them.
But also how grounded and how it's also based around history and ancestry.
The perfect combination of fact and spirit.

3) I believe it picked me at the young age when I first fell in love with Norse mythology. Then it was my choice to grow into it.

[StudiodeKadent]

First, I apologize for everyone for the slow reply and thanks to all repliers!

Sorry for the long and complicated answer :p

Don't be! That was a really fascinating read! Thank you.
 

Perhaps I could have found consistencies if I tried

Well given how much Thomas Aquinas tried (and ultimately didn't fully succeed), I wouldn't count on it.

2. The constant searching for knowledge/self-improvement. Catholicism always tells you to depend on God for things, and combined with my disillusionment and literal (increasing) fear of God, I never felt like I could do that.

Catholicism (at least theologically) isn't so depend-on-God as Calvinists and co. are, but I certainly agree Catholic culture can make it seem just as bad (and then there's Augustine of Hippo, don't get me started on him). My condolences for your suffering.

And the importance the pagan Irish placed on the arts helps a lot. Considering America's bipolar "WE LOVE ARTISTS BECAUSE THEY LIVE SUCH HARD LIVES AND ARE CONSTANTLY SELF-DESTRUCTING" perception of the arts, the concept that you can actually be a healthy person and make a living from your art is very refreshing.

I admit I love many products of artists-going-through-nervous-breakdowns (goes of to listen to The Downward Spiral) but I absolutely agree. To an artist, the "you must suffer immense pain to produce valuable art!" mentality is... well... depressing!
 

.2. The sense of honor and duty. The emphasis on acting for the good of the community and the family. The relative lack of mysticism (I'm still unable to muster any patience for it :whis: ). And most of all the fact that the gods are fallible, they can make mistakes and learn from them, and they earned everything they have and are thus worthy of respect.

3. It was probably inevitable, given that I was immersed in mythology from the time I could read. Plus my little 8-year-old mind nearly exploded from sheer awesomeness when I found out I was descended from vikings. For more serious reasons see question 2.

Thanks for your reply. I've always had respect for how Heathenism sees the relationship between deities and humans, so I think we have some common ground there.
 

So, basically I went shopping around and found (neo) Wicca, then I found feminism and Dianic witchcraft, and then I got tired of hearing about Ancient Matriarchies and found Asatru, and it was closer to what I was looking for, but not quite. I liked the emphasis on scholarship (to a point) but I came across some real unpleasant folks (not racists, just unpleasant) and it scared me away for a bit, and I thought: "I like these deities, but I don't like the people," and then I found Vanatru, and I was like "Oh, there you are! Where were you two years ago?!" I think, for me, it was a matter of finding a path that could appreciate things like scholarship and still have room for the kind of "earth-based" ethos I found so appealing, that's just how it worked out for me, not that, say, Wiccans are somehow incapable of appreciating scholarship. I blame that on the crap-tastic (nine million women killed during the Burning Times) resources that were available to me.

Thank you very much for that response. Very honest and thoughtful. I do respect elements of Heathenry, but I have sufficient disagreements with many elements of it, so I would never be able to personally participate in any reconstructionist faiths or activities. So I can see why you prefer alternative Norse paganism to hard reconstructionism.
 

1) I'm not 100% sure. About 10 odd years ago I just started playing games about Vikings and watching documentaries, I was raised by strict Catholic parents so I wasn't allowed to even THINK about Paganism until I was old enough to know how to keep secrets.
Still keeping the same secret

My condolences about your parents. If it helps, try to relish their horror when you "come out of the broom closet" (what's the Heathen version of that saying? Is there one? "Come out of the hammer closet" or something?). As long as they don't disinherit you, it could be quite funny.

Also, your signature is very funny. Yes, I've seen the film



Anyway, I want to thank everyone that's responding to this. You guys really are giving me some fascinating responses, and I thank you for it!

[GreyOwl]

Sorry for the bad title.

Anyway, I have a question. What drew you into your current religious paths?

What is it about your current religion that appeals to you?

Why, out of all the religions avaliable, did you pick the one you picked?

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to judge anyone's reasons. One's spiritual/philosophical/religious/etc. beliefs are an intensely personal matter. I'm simply curious as to why the individuals on this forum took the paths they did.

I was born into an Irish Catholic family, and I never really felt any sort of calling to Christianity, especially after becoming old enough to know what "Dogma" was. Yet, I had a spiritual side that could not be ignored.

I searched for something, but did not find a perfect fit,

I am of Irish, Gaulish (I refuse to admit to being French) and Native American. Those beliefs are what came through, Celtic with a Native American flavor.

I also have a deep respect for Buddhism and the philosophy of Taoism (past lives?)

I also feel there are as many religions as there are people on earth.

[StudiodeKadent]

I am of Irish, Gaulish (I refuse to admit to being French) and Native American. Those beliefs are what came through, Celtic with a Native American flavor.

Thanks for your reply!

Also, if you ever eat at any of these places, you'll suddenly feel MUCH more positive of your French ancestry: http://bouchonbistro.com/

(Trust me, I'm a big foodie, and this place was utterly orgasmic)