Tuesday, July 22, 2014

"Blind Faith"

Admit it. Blind faith is a surreal concept when it comes to spirituality and religion. Anyone has the dice-rolling chance to be tangled in it.

Blind faith is when someone decides to start practicing a new method of spirituality that they are uneducated about. They only have a basic amount of knowledge on it, but not enough to really consider if the path they desire to walk on is the right one. In all of my Pagan experience, I had encountered quite a time until I opened my eyes and bluntly questioned my old Lutheran upbringing. When I was younger, I jumped into Pagan practices without pondering over the belief system of a Wiccan. I shielded myself from acquiring a complete amount of understanding because I was blindly experimenting with aspects of the Wiccan lifestyle. For awhile, it led me down a road of ignorance and deception. I wasn't honestly grasping the facts behind my new practice. I've learned from my experience that blindly following an unfamiliar path is ultimately a strain on what you want to receive from something of Spirit.

I'm sure many people do this with the Old Religion.

If you feel you may be going through this difficult stage, feel free to ask yourself these questions I once asked myself:

1. What draws you to this path? Is it the concept of casting spells, the lifestyle, the open-minded belief systems, etc?

2. How much have you read up on the facts? What kinds of sources have you used if you've done any amount of research? Was the information practical?

3. Do you have a gut-wrenching instinct that you went "too fast" on your new found path? What makes you feel like you've come across this uncomfortable territory? Is there a reasonable solution?

4. How were you introduced to Paganism? Was it through TV, the Internet, a friend, etc? This is an individual-based question I can't answer for you. In fact, I can't answer any of these for anyone.

5. Do some concepts of your path seem confusing or puzzling? Have you come across new terms or ideas you thought you already knew? If so, you may be crossing your comfort zone and may need to take a deep breath and review important material before proceeding with practicing.

Having a blind faith experience does not mean you are not fit out to be a Pagan. I look at it as a way of reflecting on your journey so far and how you can improve it for yourself. Don't feel ashamed if you feel like you're only in this for spell work. Don't feel stupid if you missed big chunks of what your chosen path believes in. Life is a learning process, and spirituality is, too! Happy faith hunting!

No comments:

Post a Comment