Transition problem

[amandabruner]

I’m having a weird problem. Maybe it’s a transition thing. I’m having a sort of hard time incorporating my religious lifei into my everyday life. What I mean is, I feel like I should do stuff like at least meditate every day, or something like every few days, but I’m usually too tired or doing something else. I find I have to be in a sort of religious frame of mind, like sort of psych myself up to do a full moon ritual or something like that. I guess I don’t want to become dependent, like those people who seem to see their religion as a cure-all, you know, just sit back and let their divine power take care of things. More Christian baggage, I guess. I want to feel more connected than just some of the time, but sometimes school and other things I have to do sort of get in the way. I like to think that most of the everyday stuff I do can be a sort of ritual, cleaning my house to honor Hestia, for example, and that helps. I just hear about all these people who just seem so connected to the divine, and I guess I’m jealous or something. Anyone else have this problem or something similar? Hope it makes sense. Thanks.
Amanda

[Ben Trismegistus]

Amanda,

It's difficult to make that transition. Those of us who grew up in organized religions are used to dealing with religion once a week, and not having to think about it the rest of the time. Even in my coven work, I tend to concentrate on coven nights and forget about it the rest of the week.

But I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Some people are good at bringing spirituality into their lives 24-7. Some people aren't. Some people would like to be. But it's a process, and it takes some time to bring your spirituality into your life at all times. Maybe you could work on doing something spiritual once a week, and then twice a week, and then three times a week, and so on. Work your way up to it.

[Athena-Nadine]

I agree with Ben. Also, keep in mind that many of those people who seem to be so connected to their gods on a day-to-day basis often look at everything they do in their lives as a religious experience. Just the act of living is spiritual. Mostly, it's a mind shift. You don't need to meditate all the time and such to live your religion. Think of it something like this--every time you breathe, it is a culmination of your religious beliefs. Inhaling and exhaling every minute of every day is as much spiritual as mechanical. The act of living our lives the best we can is the biggest tribute we can pay our gods.

Try incorporating your life into your religion, and not your religion into your life.

Your beliefs are nothing but a reflection of who and what you already are.

[Avalon]

Something relatively simple, but with a lot of meaning behind it, is the "houzle", a practice I've borrowed and adapted from traditional pre-Gardnerian Witchcraft. It consists of sharing bread and wine (juice is fine) with your Gods once a week, while saying special prayers to Them. Here is what a link to what a traditional houzle is like, but as I said, I've completely rewritten it to conform to my practices.

Click here, and scroll down to where the author describes the "Witches' Feast" (http://www.angelfire.com/wv/clanndroen/houzle.html)

What's most important, IMHO, is making sure to spend a few minutes each day with your Gods. Talk to Them, let Them know how you feel, and sense Their responses to you. This is the basis of all Witchery.

Hope this helps, Amanda :smile:

[Heathen Dawn]

Hi,

As a monotheist I believed in a profane universe and a hidden holy reality. But now, as a pagan, I believe in a revealed holy universe together with a hidden holy reality. The religious core of paganism, at least for me, is the ability to see the Divine in everything. See the Sun setting? That is the Sun Goddess in all her glory. See the green trees? They are Cernunnos and Pan made concrete. See the river flowing? It’s full of undines merrily swimming in it, giving it power. It is not difficult, as a pagan, to bring religion into every aspect of your life. You just have to view the world through pagan glasses—to see the Divine in everything. Just let go of the Christian baggage, with its “my kingdom is not of this world”. I’m a Jew and it takes me a lot of mental excercise to get rid of the Jewish mindset, which is against worshipping the cosmos, but it’s worth it in the end.

[Aominay]

Merry Meet Amanda!

OH yes, I feel what you're saying. Like Ben said, going from a once a week mentality into an everyday, everything is divine mentality is a big jump, and it's not easy to do all at once. It's a gradual process. You will constantly be adding to it or changing the way you do things little by little.

One thing I do is to make things feel magickal ... it's all about ambience with me! Candles are fabulous, and I love them and have lots (craft stores sell decent ones for cheap) all over the house, which I burn constantly in the evenings. I also love funky 'witchy' music ... always have for as long as I can remember, so I find it and I play it. And incense ... nothing is more mundane to me than the stale smell of bacon from a Saturday morning breakfast that for whatever reason just sticks around after all is cleaned up. Incense takes care of that!

There are ways to practice your Craft, to deepen your spirituality that can be fun. Look outside, better yet, go outside and look at the sky, observe an ant colony, watch a squirrel. If it's raining or snowing, try to catch a raindrop or snowflake on your tongue (I always feel like an idiot when I do it on the way from my car to my office--and I work downtown in my city--but I imagine the people who see me doing it get a laugh out of it!). Go to the beach and take a swim--I love to float on my back and just look at the sky and hear that weird water noise in my ears, and just be surrounded in the elements. Make a snow goddess, or if you live in the desert, make a sand goddess (aka snow angel, but I like goddess better!). Jump in a pile of leaves and smell the musty earthiness of autumn. Stop and send a prayer of thanks to the Spirits for the first buttercup of spring.

These are all things that we're given to enjoy, they are blessings. And the giving back can be fun too. The first time I set out milk & honey on my back porch for the fairies ... well, I felt like an idiot, but I did it anyhow. And it was fun, it was like being 5 again! I also keep a little offering dish in my kitchen on which I put a little piece of each meal I prepare at home as an offering of thanks to the Divine (usually of vegetable origin like a piece of lettuce or carrot, or sometimes bread--I'm not into attracting flies). In the morning, it either gets fed to the dog, or my weird cat who eats anything and everything, or put in my compost pile or torn in pieces and thrown on the grass for all the little house sparrows (I love those little birds!) that nest around my house.

There are so many ways to add magick to your daily life. It's really all about perception, and changing your perception of everyday things. Adding that one little piece of magick to it makes the whole difference.

I don't know how long you have been walking your path, but don't expect it all to change at once ... eventually you will look back over where you've walked and realize how far you've come.

[Ben Trismegistus]

Candles are fabulous, and I love them and have lots (craft stores sell decent ones for cheap) all over the house, which I burn constantly in the evenings.
Well, Amanda's got some perfectly understandable candle issues, but I'm sure we can come up with something a little safer.

Here's an idea -- a quick and easy way to connect would be a nice long bath. There's a number of ritual elements already built in -- you're automatically skyclad, for one thing, and the element of water is useful for bringing forward emotional responses in magical work. Toss in some herbs or aromatherapy stuff, put on some soothing music, and you've got a ready-made ritual bath! Take a minute to clear your head and get in a meditative state of mine, say a short prayer of thanks to whichever gods you feel like, and have a nice soak in the tub. Instant connection!

(Man, isn't our religion great?) ;)

[xblue420x]

usually at night before i go to sleep ill think about everything that happened that day...i used to have horribly bad insomnia and i would stay up all night thinking about things like that, so now its kind of a habbit. maybe when your getting ready to go to sleep each night you can lay there and tell your god/goddess what you did throughout the day, how you felt about things, what your thoughts are on certain subjects-whatever is going on in your mind.-that would help with a connection with the divine i think

[amandabruner]

Thanks! All this has been great! Now I don't feel so weird! Lol. Lol. Our religion is definitely great, yes. I just thought of this. For your free, guilt-free connection to the Divine, call 1-800-goddess! Or deities, whichever. Lol. Just a random thought. Thanks so much again.

[kblackthorne]

Spiritual discipline (which is what we're talking about, here) is a lot like going to the gym.

We all know we should do it regularly, make a habit of it. But it's so much work getting into that habit... and so many things seem to crop up...

Not the same "workout" is going to work for everyone. Start with something you enjoy, and vary the routine so you don't get bored. Pick a time of day that works for you -- early mornings work great for some, or evenings before bed. Try to "work out" at the same time every day, so it becomes habit.

And -- again, just like going to the gym -- once you get into the habit, it's easy to keep it up. Just set a routine and promise yourself you'll stick to it for three weeks, no matter what. After those three weeks, it will just come naturally.

[liliana]

Hello Amanda!
Remember that the real spirit and all spirituality is inside yourself. No house-cleaning for Hestia will be for Hestia if your spirit is not willing to. You do not have to honor gods or godesses every day, if you do not feel it. Just to be conscious of the spirit, the magic and also the god inside of you is the greatest honor you can give. Knowing this combines the whole life with your spirituality. Do you have to go to church to talk with GOD? - You can, but you can also do it at home, without saying a word, or in the bus, or at work... By everything you do you can be spiritual without need of an altar or else.

[Elfa Wylde]

It took some getting used to, I'll say!

I started out by making myself think of ONE "holy/magickal" thing wach day.
when i got down to looking, it seemed like i had started thinking of everything as magickal.

When i would see deer in my yard i'd remember that the stag was Flidas' symbol...
When i'd see little whirlwinds in the drive i thought of Air's Entity...
When i'd BBQ i'd concider Fire and it's personality.
I tried to make a little lesson for myself at least once a day. I suddenly realised that it wasn't as hard as i thought it would be... actually it was REALLY EASY!

I even got to the point that every time i'd shower or take a bath, i'd think about how as i cleansed my body, i could also clease my spirit and mind!

now.. after more than five years of being VERY openly Pagan, everything i see is magickal to me!