Why do I call myself a Pagan?

Don't forget your Supplies!

In this post, I aim to explore why I think I am a Pagan.  This post will not define Paganism or Neo-Paganism more generally.  These terms are very broad, and it is beyond my ability to express what is or is not a Pagan or Neo-Pagan experience.

1.  I am Pagan because I believe that the natural world is ensouled.  I can't define the soul or its capacity or limitations, but I experience it all around me.

2.  I believe that the Abrahamic religions do not have a corner on truth and that their most valuable messages evolved from far more ancient insights which continue to be available to all human beings whose minds and hearts are open.

3.   I believe that all thea/ological discourse about the sacred is just folks talking about something they'll never understand.  I can tell you what I think God/ess is all day and night.  I can be as clever and convincing as hell, but it still doesn't amount to a hill of beans.  The Ineffable will be what it will be regardless of my cheek.  We aren't going to expand or limit Divinity whatever we say, think, or believe.  However, when we limit our conceptualization of the Sacred to that which most closely resembles the powerful, the conventional, and the abusive in our society, then we limit who we are and what we might become, and that's a shame.

4.  So-- I believe that we should be mindful and creative with our theo/alogical language and musings to encourage ourselves to grow toward our potential.  I believe that when we speak of "God/dess" we are reflecting our best hopes for ourselves into the Cosmos.  When we dream of divinity, we can either sanctify all the meanness and injustice humanity has already mastered or we can sing out our human potential for brilliance, warmth, diversity, and love.

5.  Language may only be a construct, but what a construct!  What we build with our language is our choice.  I am Pagan because I am playful with spiritual language.  We need to remember that God is not male.  Nor is God white or European or human for that matter.  God is not even "God".  That word too is merely a construct, a symbol, a signifier. Learning to imagine the Divine in many forms, genders, cultures, species, relationships, and concepts reminds me that the Sacred is not one objective thing or person but is manifest in all life and in all times.  It helps me remember that I can find divinity in unexpected people and unexpected places.  It helps me look for the Sacred everywhere and in everybody.

That's about it, I guess.  My Paganism doesn't define whether I believe in God or Goddess or a singular or plural deity.  It doesn't tell me how I should worship or with whom.  Paganism is not what I believe.  It is what I do.  It is a strategy and a discipline.  It is not an answer to my questions about life and death or the nature of the Divine.  It is a pattern of thought and intent that encourages me to continue asking unanswerable questions.  It encourages me to play and think and wonder and to try as hard as ever I can to understand not the Cosmic Mystery, but maybe just the little bit that resides in me and which is mine to share.

Spiritual vs Energetic or Ancestral Gifts

Someone recently asked me, “You speak in such a compelling way about energy. How do you do that?” That made me pause. Most of my life I haven’t spoken in a compelling or empowered way about something that I’ve innately known a lot about. I used to doubt my knowledge and wisdom and at the first sign of a differing point of view, I would negate my own.

I told the person that it was from many years of experience of working with energy. That was true, but it didn’t feel like it was THE answer to this shift from insecurity to compelling. So I added, “I just seem to know what to say.” Hmm, that wasn’t it either. About an hour later, I suddenly connected the dots.

What are spiritual gifts as I define them? These are innate abilities of your soul that you come in with and that are unique to you. They are fun and effortless and we usually discount them until some adversity in our life makes us recognize and use them.

Spiritual gifts are connected to your soul purpose. They create energetic resonance and power which attract situations and people to you who are ready to receive your soul or life purpose. You are born with them and because they are easy and effortless we dismiss them as unimportant. This makes them challenging to recognize and use in a consistent and efficient way.

Here are three of my gifts:

I read energy: I have always been able to do this, but it wasn’t until I recognized it and owned it that it really began to work for me in a powerful way (instead of creating awkward social moments!).I create systems: I can bring together different elements (including people) to create a system for success. Each system is unique and creative according to who and what is involved. When I was young I had a 4-story Barbie dollhouse filled with furniture, dolls and clothes. The only way I played with it all was to arrange the doll house. Once that was done so was I. This wasn’t about being a decorator but about creating a system so that Barbie could go forth and be successful with her date with Ken. I bend time. Working with timing components, I can create the best possible outcome in any given moment. Growing up I was never on time (highly annoying for a dad who thought in military time!). I was also out of time between my personal and my spiritual growth creating major trauma every time I experienced one or the other. Through these experiences I was able to recognize the gift I held about time and apply it to overcome adversity.

Spiritual gifts are different than energetic gifts. Both Eastern and Western religions recognize energetic gifts. They are known as siddhis by the Hindus and gifts of the Holy Spirit by Christians. They include telepathy, telekinesis, levitation, teleportation, healing, clairvoyance, clairaudience and many more. They are universal to everyone and are accessed through spiritual growth, development and ultimately enlightenment.

Here are some of my energetic abilities that became available to me as I grew in spiritual development:

I am a healer: This was developing throughout the 90s as I worked with subtle energy but it became really activated when I became a Reiki Master.I am clairsentient (the ability to feel what others are feeling): This became more activated when I became a massage therapist and healed my sense of touch.I am clairaudient (the ability to hear higher realms including my guides): This became active when I was working with my son who had hearing and listening issues. To better understand his own challenges, I also worked with my own.

Ancestral gifts are those abilities that we inherit. They can be enhanced with both energetic and spiritual gifts and they can also be lost due to accidents or aging. Here are 3 gifts I have from my ancestors:

I am a winter survivor. Those humans who were able to create a good fat store to get them through the winter had the best chances for surviving the tough time of little food. (Right now I could physically survive about 4 winters back-to-back!)

All levels of gifts are too be honored and protected. But it is only the spiritual gifts that will lead to success with your life purpose.