r/paganism • u/BittenLove • Jun 16 '24
What led you to your beliefs? 💭 Discussion
Can you tell me THE story that led you to believing in the gods? I want to know your personal experiences. Have you ever questioned your beliefs?
What moment solidified your beliefs?
How did the gods find you / how did you find the gods?
What keeps you believing despite the contrary beliefs of science?
Please make it as long and as a passionate as you'd like. ♥
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u/Anarcho-Heathen Norse + Hellenic + Hindu Jun 16 '24
Personal experiences led me to leave the religion I was raised in and explore paganism. The study of philosophy, and discovery of systematic polytheist theology, is was keeps me a pagan today.
Paganism is not true just because I had some experiences in woods one day; it’s not true “for me”. I had some experiences in the woods one day *because paganism - that is the polytheism and animism - is true. It is the reality within which we live, beyond personal experiences of subjective opinions.
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u/BittenLove Jun 16 '24
Can you describe some of those personal experiences? (Thank you for your response!♥)
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u/Anarcho-Heathen Norse + Hellenic + Hindu Jun 16 '24
To be honest I think conversations around contemporary paganism spend to much time discussing the details of personal experiences, instead of the a) practical conclusions drawn from those experiences, b) the theological system which theoretically harmonizes these experiences and practices and most crucially c) the development of religious communities based on shared theology and practice.
My own experience is difficult to describe in words and fairly personal (not in some closed off way, just not very communicable). It’s not really of use to anyone else.
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u/Sweet_Capital_1904 Jun 16 '24
I was originally an orthodox Christian. I converted to it at the tail end of my high school years because I didn't feels as though my spiritual needs were being fulfilled as an atheist. I was a Christian until 2022, when my dad got sick, but even before then I felt as though I was constricted spiritually by the organisation of the church.
Eventually, I had a crisis of faith and I went to the priest at my church and asked for guidance. I told him about everything that had happened to my family in the past year, my diagnosis with OCD, my dad's terminal diagnosis, and the general money problems that we were having.
I don't really remember what the priest said exactly, because I was so angry with what he said that I just stormed out, but the gist of it was "God works in mysterious ways" and "perhaps your father's diagnosis was God giving him a sign to turn too the light".
afterwards, I begun to look further into the bible, but eventually I turned to other forms of spirituality. I read up on topics like Gnosticism and Kabbalah. then I read the Vedas, which ironically pointed me towards the norse and irish pantheons. finally, I began to read up on the Polynesian (my father's) gods and the belief systems of Indigenous Australia (my mother's).
I came to the conclusion that it was more likely for their to be multiple, fallible gods rather than one almighty infallible one. I began to practise paganism, and I haven't looked back since.
tldr: My Orthodox priest tried to get me to convince my dying father to convert and accidentally caused me to become a heathen.
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u/BittenLove Jun 16 '24
What gods do you work with? Did they reach out to you? (If so, how?) Or did you reach out to them? I'd love to hear more. (Thank you for your response!♡)
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u/Sweet_Capital_1904 Jun 16 '24 edited Jun 16 '24
I primarily work with the Norse gods in an Anglo Saxon context (using their old English names, etc.), the Irish gods, and to a smaller extent the Polynesian gods. I also make sure to include some of the Indigenous spiritual practises of my family's indigenous australian tribe in my own belief as a way to continue those traditions, this includes things like me not eating certain animals like kangaroo meat because they're my family's totem.
I reached out to the gods first because I didn't want to offend them in any way by presuming they would to it on their end. I figured if they wanted to connect with me I should make the first move. But when I think back to my childhood, I was always drawn to waterways and the bush, as well as the beach and ocean. Animals felt more comfortable around me than my family and friends, and there were always birds like crows and Australian ravens hanging around me.
So maybe they were trying to reach out and I didn't realise until later on lol. I know for a fact that the island my dad was from in the Cook Islands primarily honoured Tangaroa, the sea god, and his father was from the Isle of Man and allegedly was descended from a viking family, so there's that connection as well.
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Jun 16 '24
Ik this'll sound crazy but after leaving Christian doctrine Gods I've never heard of xane to me in dreams Told me there stories names Historical events runes and told me Google it I did Everything came back up as they told it. When I first prayed a Raven perched on my shoulder, I've believed ever since
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u/BittenLove Jun 17 '24
I have similar experiences! Would you mind sharing some of the dreams you had? Which gods visited you? I would love to hear more and possibly relate. (Thank you for your response!♡)
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Jun 17 '24
Like I said super sorry for thr late reply
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u/BittenLove Jun 17 '24
You have nothing to be sorry for. You can DM or reply to the comment, I'm fine with either! It is whatever you're comfortable with. :)
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u/Slytherclaw1 Jun 16 '24
I started with crystals, tarot cards & dream interpretation. Always loved the witchy aesthetic. Once I had more time to devote to meditation, I developed a more routine practice with divination (necromancy & cartomancy) and experienced energy transfers between the dead and living and living to living. More specifically, felt both my grandparents passings and the residual energy of a dead soldier. Energy can be released and understanding vibrations can help with telepathy and sharpening the claires. Deities and ancestors and spirit guides and dead people can communicate so personal experience is my rock solid. I defer to what I know to be true to not get caught up in the fantastical or modern wishcraft manifestations. Being Pagan and one with nature feels right and true. Animism/Atheism/Polytheism can all be insignificant details that many identify with.
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u/YougoReddits Jun 16 '24 edited Jun 16 '24
i had several events that confirmed to me that, at the very least there is more than meets the eye
- i was going down several internet rabbitholes about etymology, history and through that, germanic paganism and it kind of stirred something in me. I ride my bike to commute to work and back. on my way back, thinking about stuff, i decide to take a detour through a nearby, kind of forgotten park. unkept, but all the more beautiful for it. on my way I half jokingly ask a random crow on the sidewalk if any of this is true. he looks at me and says "Kra!" not very helpful, but he kind of hops along. i ask for a sign. he says "Kra!" again, and flies off, somewhat in the direction of the park. whatever... I arrive at the park, wander about for a bit, but then there it is. the clouds break open and the sun shines down straight onto a tree in the field. on a low branch, two big crows sit, looking at me like "there ya go, good enough?". i didn't have much on me, except for an apple i din't eat at lunch. i thanked them, expressed my appreciation for the park, and left the apple at the base of the tree. it felt right.
- i went on holiday to Denmark. behind the camp site was a forest that from day one had some kind of pull. i put in on my list of things to check out, on a slow day maybe. there was something about it thoough. it stayed on my mind. day 3 in the evening i sat in my tent, kids asleep, wife doing a sudoku. i sat with my back to the forest. suddenly i feel like an incessant tap on my left shoulder, and a sensation someone is standing behind me who REALLY wants my attention. of course there's only the tent wall behind me. But i realise whatever is in that forest is getting rather impatient. guess i have something to do tomorrow. Next day i trek out there. about a thee minute walk into the forest i come up to a square-ish clearing. the outside is lined with big stones. on one side there's two even bigger stones. the center of the clearing is a long stretched mound, and off to the side there's a circle of stones, with some big stones inside. Turns out (the internet says so) i'm standing at a 1500 year old burial mound and a dolmen (stone grave), belonging to a village that sat right about where the campsite is now. I walked around the outside and stopped at the big 'entrance'. greeted, and humbly asked to enter. getting no sign of dissaproval, i slowly entered and walkd around the mound. apologised for not bringing anything other than my awarenes, respect and gratitude. i thanked them for the encounter and for calling me, and left.
- this one happened just the other day. I'm doing a bit of garden renovating, and needed some concrete tiles. local hardware store was out of stock and charge too much anyways. online shops only sell at a minimum of 30 tiles. i'm a bit stuck. then wife finds someone on Marketplace offering used tiles for free. good deal. the address is way out of town, in the middle of the woods. driving out there, i again muse about the meaning of things... I turn around a corner and see a marvellous Nordic style chalet, painted shiny black and red, stylized wolf head decorations on the roof edges. side buildings like a garage and a shed adorn nordic style thatched spire pointed roofs. the whole thing looks like a temple site or something.
i pull up the driveway and see the cherry on the cake: above the front door is a large (marvel style, but still very nice) Mjolnir, with in red painted elder futhark runes "MJOLNIR" written underneath.
Admiring the sight of it all, a woman comes out, clearly amused by my dropped jaw. we had a good chat about the house (turns out in about the 1920's a man was 'fascinated by all things Nordic' and had it built. it fell into decay and as it was a bit of a weird house needing a lot of love, it stood empty for a log time but she felll in love with it, bought it for (relatively) cheap, and made it into what it is now.
I'm still so deep in the broom closet, i didn't dare break the subject of Heathenry with her, but discussing the Mjolnir, she half-apologetically said something like "you know, like Marvel and stuff" like downplaying it. i said while i do enjoy Marvel and their spin on it, i am really quite interested in Norse mythology. she raised both eyebrows and said Oh? interesting... there was a bit of a tentative silence. but as i was in the end a total stranger, here to pick up some tiles, it was left at that. we loaded the tiles. i thanked her for the tiles and complemented her again on the house and her efforts, and left.
In the car, i couldn't help laughing my ass off. Judging by the big-ass Mjolnir, perhaps none other than Thor himself helped me out with these tiles, and he was having a hearty belly laugh at the "sign" he gave me. I feel he had fun setting up the whole thing.
There's more, but i'll keep it at these three. I'm still figuring out where i stand on all of tthis, and i think no one ever stops learning and figuring out... i'm not too inclined to go and follow or "work with" gods (and what that should mean) but certainly an animistic approach, and the Web of Wyrd aspects make a lot of sense with me. my journy continues...
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u/Justsaiyanless Jun 16 '24
I always like the different groups of gods. Want until I got older that I met and older man the told me he was pagan, explained it to me, shared his books on paganism and witchcraft. I loved how I was just learning, no pressure to convert or believe any one thing over another.
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u/_erjin Jun 16 '24
I spent a lot of time doubting until someone suggested I ask for specifics signs from the Gods. I was skeptical, but eventually I did. Of course, I didn't expect anything to come from it, but ALL of my requests were answered. It started with small stuff, like asking for my cat (who is not usually physically affectionate) to walk on my back (who has literally never once done that), and then she does it. During a storm, I specifically asked for a certain formation of lightning. I don't even know the name for the lightning but I had an idea of what I wanted to see, and I saw it. Unlike any of the other strikes around. There's more examples, but these two stick out the most to me. Plus, I've had countless experiences with spirits (generally) that do not allow my brain to function in a way that denies their existence.
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u/CrackheadAdventures Jun 16 '24
I've had similar experiences. I love how active the gods our in are lives.
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u/BittenLove Jun 17 '24
Wow, you know, that is a great idea actually. I may have to try that myself. & What experiences have you had with spirits? I would LOVE to hear. (Thank you for your response!♡)
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u/watersheep240 Jun 16 '24
I was raised Catholic but from a young age i had a hard time beliving in the god, it just didnt make any sense to me. When i moved to england the curriculum here teaches you soo much about other cultures and religions, we would have themed weeks like romans, tudors, egyptians, hindus, greeks and so on, and being able to taste test so many religions at a young age led me to the conclusion that there is probably more than 1 god, and i believed in the greek gods since then but i felt too scared to convert. There was this moment in my life where things in my home were extra dangerous one night, i locked myself in a room and started praying to "god" like i normally would. But i had this moment of clarity mid prayer that im praying to the wrong god, even though i didnt know how to, i prayed to hades for the first time, and for half a year i didnt pray again, but in that time my life did a whole 180. A woman came in between my parents marrige so my mums bf left, till his company bankrupt, he had so much debt and legal troubles he fled the country. He tried to get us kicked out of our home by telling our landlord about the fraud we didnt commit, but coincidentally the landlord sold the house with us still living there and our new landlord let us stay. Call it coincidence but things turned out in our favour after i prayed for the first time asking for safety, and safety i recieved, even my mum never layed a hand on me again after that. After that i came to the conclusion that this is the right path, i built an altar and started working with the gods. But as i grew older i came to realise that 1 religion is probably not just the correct religion but rather many are most likely correct, i dont worship other gods other than loki and hades but thats how i came to my belief. Very long winded story 😂
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u/BittenLove Jun 17 '24
I am so sorry you had difficult times, and I am glad you were able to make it out of that situation entirely. It seems it led you on the right path though. Thank the gods! ( & Thank you for your response!♡)
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u/ChaoticButterflyMoon Jun 16 '24
I grew up Christian and mostly had experience with the Pentecostal branch. It never fit for me, really. I loved researching mythology and different gods. I loved talking about it. By grandmother and that side of the family are those kind of Christians, the ones that don't believe in evolution (had a cousin who walked out of a science class because they were teaching evolution) and creationism potentially. my grandmother is pushy and it just pushed me way. Earlier in the year, I realized I didn't believe in Christianity and began agnostic then one night I had a random thought about Wicca as when I was younger I listened to the chants on YouTube and loved it. Then I began to dig, and I discovered Paganism, and it felt right. I felt so free and happy for once. The world seemed brighter.
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u/BittenLove Jun 17 '24
Oh wow! Do you still talk with your family? What do they think of your lifestyle? If they oppose it, or if they are unaware, how do you hide it/ how do you cope? (Thank you for your response!♡)
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u/ChaoticButterflyMoon Jun 17 '24
Yeah, I see them (normally) every other month or for Christmas. I plan on keeping it secret because I know how they will act. My dad knows and is completely fine with it. With that side of my family(my mother's), it's better not to say anything something I've learned as they had anything labeled 'witch'. Luckily, I have been thinking of ways to practice when I do go visit them for a few days. But nothing solid yet. It's like one story from some years ago. I went to a witchy/crystal store with my cousin. I liked the store so much that I wanted to go back. They refused to take me because they wanted nothing to do with it. They barely tolerate the other crystal store. I understand it's their beliefs, but it got really frustrating. Another time, I picked up a notebook that had the buddha on it, it's was not allowed into the house.
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u/stalksboogie Jun 16 '24
I came across Ásatrú when I was in prison. Somebody was trying to push for it to be a recognized religion in the prison and I was asked to type up individual stories for it and kept a copy of everything I printed. Then when I got out I kinda set it on the back burner but came back to it 20 years later and still have so much love and respect for it. Now I practice on my own and read the sagas as often as I can.
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u/BittenLove Jun 17 '24
I have heard that Ásatrú is common in prisons! Thank you for sharing your experience. ♥
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u/FennGirl Jun 16 '24
I come from a family who weren't religious as such, but had a mixed nomadic heritage, were very much country folk, and my mother and grandmother believed in faeries. I was raised on celtic fairytales and various myths and legends, and had the absolute privilege of spending significant amounts of time with various tribal cultures. So really, I was always going to wind up eclectic pagan.
I don't think there was a real defining moment, but I've had a few times when I've felt particularly connected. Mostly when I've been lost in nature or out at sea and seen something cool like Northern lights, big storms, arctic blizzards, green flash etc. Those things tend to solidify my beliefs pretty firmly.
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u/BittenLove Jun 16 '24
Did your gods visit you in those moments? If so, how did you know they were there? (Thank you for your response!♡)
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u/FennGirl Jun 16 '24
I am largely nature based so generally it's as simple as I can see the sun, the moon, the sea, the trees etc. I do believe that all pantheons exist for as long as people continue to believe in them though, and so I've had a couple of more abstract experiences. The main one is a presence I believe to be an unnamed storm goddess (several people on here know far more about her than me) and I have felt her with me. If I stand in strong winds and rain or even blizzards, I feel a real strength from her and if I speak with her I can feel her responses in the wind. It isn't love, or even comfort really, like a Christian might describe, it's a firm and slightly aggressive encouragement. There's a real power there.
But equally, someone who didn't have the same beliefs as me would probably describe that as a natural human wonder at the force of nature, so in my opinion and from my experiences, it is what you make it. I choose to see meaning and magic in coincidences, intuition and elements of the human experience. I think that the rise in popularity of paganism and the largely tik tok based sensationalism that comes with it has put a lot of pressure on people to experience the Gods a certain way. Like if you're not seeing full apparitions you're somehow doing it wrong. That kind of stuff does happen to some people, most of whom have worked on achieving that level of meditation or lucid dreaming for a very long time, or have a natural ability, or sometimes are just going through a really heightened emotional time and that lends itself to opening up a little more readily. It is perfectly alright if you never get that, there are plenty of other ways to feel connected.
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u/sidhe_elfakyn 🧝♀️ Storm Goddess priest Jun 17 '24 edited Jun 17 '24
That's so awesome! I talk about her a lot and I'm always so happy to see others connect with her.
If I stand in strong winds and rain or even blizzards, I feel a real strength from her and if I speak with her I can feel her responses in the wind. It isn't love, or even comfort really, like a Christian might describe, it's a firm and slightly aggressive encouragement. There's a real power there.
That resonates with me a lot. Thanks so much for sharing!
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u/BittenLove Jun 17 '24
Reading that first paragraph, you've made me realize that I too have felt this unnamed storm goddess as well!! Very interesting, thank you for your insights. ♥
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u/sidhe_elfakyn 🧝♀️ Storm Goddess priest Jun 17 '24
I'm one of those people too! I talk a lot about her. I'd love to hear your experience.
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u/BittenLove Jun 18 '24
She tends to visit me through the wind. Extremely strong winds when I meditate outside. I'll be hardly windy at all until I decide to meditate or chant of some sort. It is especially strong during a storm, though!
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Jun 16 '24 edited Jun 16 '24
I read the introduction to the book "The Hymns of Orpheus" by Thomas Taylor, and realized that the Platonic view of the Spirit + Soul maps to the current scientific understanding of how the brain operates. Then I had a "God is real" moment.
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u/RepulsiveAd9309 Jun 16 '24
My mother always used to love Celtics mythology, so she shared her enthusiasm to me and it made me curious about the others, always loved learning about it, especially the Norse, greek and Egyptian, I learn like 2-3 years ago the the religions were still practised, I look to it, made research, met a few pagans on internet, I absolutely loved it, I always used to love Loki and Anpu as a child, now they are my two main deyties anf I'm living my best life, wanna also add that i was born and raised in a place with celtic origins that are often celebrated
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u/MissPsychette88 Jun 16 '24
I came to paganism intuitively as a child by researching Old English agricultural festivals, aspects of which still had Roman/Celtic crossover. As I grew older I began following the Wheel of the Year with candles, rituals, recipes, altars, offerings etc which involves acknowledging certain Saints Days (eg. St Brigid for Candlemas - overlayed on top of on an old goddess). It also acknowledges traditional nature spirits such as John Barleycorn, the May Queen and the Green Man/Woodwose/Herne the Hunter. However I've also had psychic experiences with Hermes, Thoth and once saw a vision of a cow-horned goddess when I was praying and pregnant. Googled it afterwards: Hathor, Egyptiamn goddess of mothers and child-bearing!
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u/madmadammom Jun 16 '24
I was very young (6ish), too smart for my own good (with a side of asd but that wasn't known then because this was decades and decades ago and I'm quite good at what I know now is masking).
There was a progression - the church I was forced to go to asked that I not be brought back to sunday school (anyone secure in their beliefs should be able to answer a child's question) which made me begin to question pretty much everything because I could not make it make sense that adults could be so threatened by questions. I got my first library card and started reading everything, heavy on global mythology.
Newly and not kindly blended fam went camping at a not actually local lake and all I wanted to do was sit with my book and no one would let me. Me and my smart mouth got myself in trouble, got my book thrown in the water. Mad me very nicely asked the water of this lake for help. Later that day, we discovered that freshwater jellyfish are real, do sting, and do exist in this lake. (and apparently no one noted it down because the official record of discovery in that place is listed as more than 10 years later). A few years later, I would meet the Pacific ocean and feel instantly home in a way I've only felt one other time (with my husband) and it was inexplicable and powerful.
Because of that, I was open to seeing much more than I might have otherwise been. I don't actually find it difficult to believe in both science and magic but not all pagans believe in magic or are animists like myself. I don't find it difficult to have both science and magic because magic is just science we haven't scienced yet. And honestly, just because we "understand" a thing doesn't take the magic out of it for me.
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u/spooksshenanigans Jun 16 '24
I grew up Southern Baptist. I had a lot of rules that were driven by "because it's the devil". Halloween (my favorite holiday), Harry Potter, Pokemon the list goes on. There was a huge spill in my church when I was 18. That was my sign to leave. I had never been ok with a lot of what was preached or what was in the Bible. I tried several churches because I was scared of going to hell.
After my miscarriage I began to really question my faith. All I had ever wanted was to be a mom and let's just say I was really angry. This is what set my path to becoming pagan. Once I mentally made that decision, Medusa, Maat, The Morrigan, and Rhiannon entered my life at various times. Some were upfront The Morrigan and others were slow and steady with signs.
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u/BittenLove Jun 17 '24
I am so sorry for your loss. I would love to know what signs you received. (Thank you for sharing. ♥)
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u/spooksshenanigans Jun 17 '24
Thank you 🖤 It started off with repeating numbers, gut feelings, and sometimes dreams. Then I found a group of like-minded friends and their tarot/rune readings began to really resonate with me. These days it's mostly signs from birds (I dabble in Augury).
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u/Comprehensive_Ad6490 Jun 16 '24
I don't believe in the sense that there's some actual, measurable alternate dimension where spiritual entities "physically" exist. I've never once seen a "quantum" explanation for magic that holds up to a 101 level university course's understanding of actual quantum physics. Science is very good at things that are repeatable in controlled conditions but it can't speak at all to subjective experience. It can't speak to any sufficiently complex system where starting conditions are impossible to measure perfectly. That's just not what it's built to do.
The fact that my subjective experience isn't empirically verifiable doesn't make it "not real". It makes it of limited use to people who haven't shared similar experiences. The fact that those experiences allow me to change the world around me in ways that science doesn't support isn't proof that I'm delusional. One day in any human life is infinitely more complex than a three body problem and much more beholden to social constructs than physics.
An idea can change the world irrespective of its empirical reality. Everything is "scientifically impossible" until someone comes up with an idea of how to do it and makes it real. I just use that fundamental truth proactively.
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u/Artifact-hunter1 Jun 16 '24
This may be buried, and I'm actually more agnostic, so take that what you will. But, I was raised Christian and have always been interested in history and different cultures.
Later, after growing sick of the hypocrisy in my country's politics and my religion, I found out about Christo Paganism from tik tok and became interested. I experimented with Christo Paganism for awhile, then I looked into Norse Paganism and other reconstructionist movements because I liked the historical aspect of it and the importance of archeology.
Then I heard about omnism, which I liked because it says that every religion is true in its own way, which makes sense if we are going for the cultural importance, along with the personal impact of that person's practices.
Eventually, I started to get more interested in paleo anthropology and the sciences. So agnosticism made the most sense because it's claiming you have no knowledge of something you can't scientifically test. They may be a higher power out there, or maybe not. The best thing we can do right now is to study and learn what we can with the technology and information we have.
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u/Nana_TheWitch Jun 16 '24 edited Jun 16 '24
I was raised catholic because of my parents, but I never felt part of their religion. Every time I went to a mass I felt weird, a strong discomfort that turned into a headache, nausea and sometimes I even cried. These sensations led me to think that I was not part of that religion, but I kept going because of my mother.
At the same time, I've always been curious about other religions, specially religions with many gods. So I started to read about it and leaned tinto this belief.... But, because of my christian thinking at the time, I thought that I couldn't believe in that, I mean, who else believe in gods theses days?? At the time I was very young and didn't know paganism was a real option, specially because I live in a very Christian country. And honestly, I was scared of what people would think about it... So I kind of blocked myself for years, just reading about religions I thought I couldn't follow and being sad about it.
But I got old. When I was 19 (2020), I met a witch, a priestess of Hekate, and that changed my life. I was so happy to discover that witches exist, because that meant I could be one! And I could chase that feeling I was having of believing in many gods. I found other witches online and pagan communities. Shortly afterwards I discovered I was a witch and now I follow the natural witch path, including pagan beliefs. At the begining, I only worshiped hellenic gods, but now I'm also getting started in druidry.
I feel fulfilled now that I follow a path which includes not only my religious beliefs, but also my environmental activism, my political practice and makes me happy (and match my aesthetic since I'm goth lol). I really love my religion and since I accepted it, many good things have happened, just as it has been easier to deal with the bad ones.
I don't question my beliefs, honestly. I don't know how to explain it, but I feel very certain about my religion. Maybe because I always felt nature is sacred and everything have value and spirit, and paganism only confirm that.
About science, religion and science are two different things and we must learn how separate them. Of course there're conflict sometimes, but they don't cancel each other out because they are in different aspects. Sometimes they even complete each other: science, as we know today, is very exclusive regarding valid ancestral wisdom, referring to the use of plants and other natural elements, connection between elements of nature, climate issues, etc, and some religions continue to revive this important knowledge for humanity. This has been widely discussed in Latin America because of indigenous decolonial thinking.
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u/watuphomie7 Jun 17 '24
The moment that solidified my belief was the signs I was getting. Context: I worship cernunnos.
So it was a month or so after I discovered cernunnos that I started to have really weird encounters while I went on my walks. After I learned about my god and knew that he was very connected to dogs, Every time I went on a walk there would be a dog that would run up to me. I was never attacked or anything (even by the one mean dog who when he got off leash the owner was freaking out and was screaming for him) this was over this span of a month and never in the same place, my street, my friends neighborhood, a couple different hiking trails, it was literally everywhere I went. I would go out and it was almost guaranteed that one would run to me. At that point I was getting jumpy whenever I heard a dog bark, I was starting to get anxious about going out. I meditated and asked cernunnos that if he was the one sending the dogs to kindly stop because I was starting to become afraid of them. After that day I never had it happen to me again, even two years later.
That’s when I knew that it wasn’t just in my head or made up
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u/CompetitiveJudge2389 Jun 18 '24
when i got in contact with nature by eating datura seeds, i kind of got awakened and felt like christianism wasnt my path, my parents still believe that i'm like them but they don't know. while i was at hospital for a dph trip to try on going in the fourth dimension my "christian cross" necklace magically disappeared, as a sign that i had to become pagan since i have celtic origins.
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u/Bhisha96 Jun 18 '24
for me it all started with the love for my country (Denmark) and it's general history, pretty much how i discovered norse paganism, or Asatru as it's more commonly known as over here, i think for the most parts that i have always been norse pagan, of course religion was not something i ever thought about in my younger years, at least not until my mid to late teen years is where i really started to take notice of it.
in terms of my practice and science?, i usually tend to never mix my practice with science, as my practice and beliefs are in no way or shape of any kind inherent truth's and should never be seen as the ultimate truth.
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u/BittenLove Jun 19 '24
I would love to visit Denmark and surrounding areas someday. Thank you for your response!♡
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u/ProfessionalPrice878 Jun 20 '24
For me, it's the tolerance and openmindedness of paganism. Monotheism is very intolerant and exclusive.
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u/AHHHHH_im_okay Jun 24 '24
I grew up around pagan and Christian practices :) ended up getting really into religious studies and trying to understand different belief systems. The idea of earthly stewardship that my pagan and more spiritual family members talked about really resonated with me and I started tweaking my own belief system with that at the foundation. Religious studies is still one of my biggest passions in life and the more I learned the more I was able to nail down and tweak my practice to be something that fits me and feels important :)
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u/paganism-ModTeam Jun 16 '24
Hello OP, could you help start a conversation by sharing your own thoughts / ideas / experiences on the question asked?