Teo Bishop created a crowd sourcing experiment from the Wild Hunt. He’s not sourcing cash to fund a project, he is sourcing information to enrich and inform a community – the Pagan community. Why? Because every so often, the “Paganosphere” goes down a bumpy path, for better or worse, in an attempt to define Paganism. Crowd sourcing this information may demonstrate (in a non-scientific way) the scope of the Pagan religious experience. If not, we can all just have fun looking into each other’s belief structures…maybe learn a little on the way.
What is my theology? To start, I need to focus on the words “God” or “Goddess.” These terms are at the center of Teo’s post but they have never played a big role in my personal practice. Growing up “none” has made many iconic religious terms (like God, Prayer, Faith etc) foreign and very difficult for me to digest. While I understand them on an intellectual level, I don’t typically use them to describe my experience.
As a practicing Wiccan Priestess, I have learned to adapt to these words in order to create and function within a group sacred space. Additionally, I do honor the concepts of deity in my own way. They come through in the natural rhythms of life and its seasonal celebrations and all of the found beauty within nature.
However, I do prefer the word spirit. I prefer the word energy. In my understanding, the universe is made up of pure energy, pure light and pure spirit – all of which manifests into many things and everything. I ground my practice in the elementals – Earth, Fire, Water, Air – and their manifestations. I focus on the Sun and Moon; the trees, the mountains, the oceans and stars. Through these natural and concrete manifestations of spirit, I find my connection to the beyond.
~Magickal Graphics~
