I stumbled upon Paganism by picking up a book in the library, and I was drawn in immediately! It was Deborah Lipp's The Way of Four Spellbook. I have always thought I was something of a religious misfit - I tried out different churches and read up on a few belief systems, but nothing resonated. I didn't feel anything, no sense of connection. I would see all these joyous faces in church and wish that I could feel the bliss they were feeling. I had many questions about the Christian faith, and quite a lot of it didn't sit right with me. I'd always been at home in nature, since I was a little girl. The only places I felt truly happy were the natural places... meadows, forests, lakes, and oceans. I live in the bible belt, where people ask you "What church do you go to?" upon meeting you, because it's assumed that you do. My response has always been, "My church is the outdoors." I'd explain to people that my spiritual development was just between God and me. Of course, I couldn't quite define for myself who or what that God was.
So when I learned that there was a spiritual path I could take - any one of many possible paths, actually - that were centered around nature, I was in awe. Nature-based religion! I hadn't realized it existed before, and it resonated with me completely. And, here was the acceptance and tolerance for all religions that was absent in the other religions I'd tried on for size. Here was encouragement to think for myself, to study and learn, to select what worked for me, to continue to learn and grow.
When I discovered Paganism, it was the first time in my life that I felt that bliss - that excitement, that passion, for developing the spiritual side of myself. It was a very emotional week for me, full of happy tears and joy at finally finding my path. I've only just begun, my feet have been placed on the beginning of the trail, but I am relishing the journey. I have truly come home.
I am a part of all that I have read.
~John Kieran
This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.
~The Dalai Lama
If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
~Mother Teresa
You don't have a soul. You ARE a soul. You have a body.
~C.S. Lewis
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