A Pagan Journey

I decided to create this blog as a journal of sorts to contain my thoughts as I continue on my Pagan journey.

A little about me:

I started down the Pagan path in the beginning of 2011. Before then, I guess you could say I was Christian, but really, I just went through the motions. I was raised Catholic and attended church almost every Sunday for about 15 years. I don't know about you, but to me, church was an excruciating experience growing up. I had to get up very early on a Sunday to spend an hour doing the same thing I did every other Sunday morning. When I was younger, I didn't understand the significance of the rituals in the Catholic Church, and on some days it felt like the rest of the congregation didn't understand them either. My favorite part of Mass was the Eulogy, when the Priest got up and talked about the Gospels. It was the only part of the Mass that was different from week to week, and therefore more interesting. Around middle school I became an alter server and then in high school I joined the church choir. I was almost through my confirmation training when I realized that I hadn't become more involved with the church because of my belief, I had become more involved because I needed something to do to keep me awake during Mass.

So I decided not to be confirmed. I know my parent's were disappointed and I often felt jealous of all those who had found community within the church, but I could not, in good faith, bind myself to a religious path that I did not believe in. This was during high school when I was attending a Catholic private school. So even though I no longer attended church with my parents I was forced to attend it at school. Though...forced really isn't the correct term. I am not implying that I had anything against the Catholic faith. I was raised as a Catholic, so I still considered myself a part of the institution, I just didn't choose to practice it actively. I guess you can say this was the beginning of my agnostic phase, where I just took a break from religion. Most of my friends, being part of the counter culture, were proclaimed atheists; though by this I believe that they were merely denying the existence of the Christian God than denying the existence of any type of deity.

Catholic high school didn't just mean uniforms and mass on holy days. It also meant religion classes, and I was lucky enough that at my school sophomore year meant World Religions. This was the first time that I was really exposed to other religions. Unfortunately Paganism or Wicca wasn't included in the curriculum. We did, on the other hand, learn about Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism, and Hinduism. Its one thing to not believe in something that your religion preaches. Its another thing when ideas from other faiths start making sense. I took another world religion class in college and then my life became too hectic and my personal religious journey was put on the back burner. It was after I graduated college that I realized I had no idea what I believed in or what belief systems I identified with. And then I found Paganism.

This blog is not meant to be evangelical in anyway. I believe deeply that everyone walks their own spiritual journey. What works for you may not work for me and vice versa. I am writing this to detail my journey along the Pagan path and to allow those who wish to, to walk with me. For those of you who have just started their pagan journey or are currently wandering their own spiritual path I hope that we can share in moments of confusion, excitement, fear, joy, disillusionment, and magic. And if you are just looking to learn more about Paganism, I'm here to share my experiences with you, along with the knowledge that I pick up along the way.

So welcome. Won't you walk a while with me?

In perfect love and perfect trust, forever, blessid be.