3 Comments

  1. David Mcgrath says:

    Only about 3 weeks behind, but my intention remains to respond to each Bewitching Day. This post really caused me to stop and think about Altars and external icons.

    As I may have shared, I was raised in the Roman Catholic faith and was so imbued and enthralled by its ritual richness that I even considered entering the priesthood when I was 13.

    By the age of 23, I considered myself and atheist and all external displays of religiosity seemed to me weaknesses and superstition. This despite the fishing cap with the red star that I never left home without!

    In the last 5 years, I sustained a number of emotional losses and found great solace in a reawakening of connection to the ancient ways of looking at the world and the spirit of the world that I found in the study of Carl Jung. Today, I do indeed have an internal altar, or ritual practice, I guess, that involves no external physical objects, but is definitely rooted in the concepts of directions and circles.

    I combine a daily physical dancing roughly similar to that of the Sufi with a ritual of calling the elements, and then creating an expanding circle of awareness eventually encompassing all the living and remembered that have or continue to touch my life. This gives me immense comfort and acceptance of the universality of love as an active growing thing, and fills me with gratitude for all those, like yourself, with whom I have shared parts of the path. So Hi

    1. I really have trouble imagining you as a young atheist. As long as I’ve known you, you’ve been a deeply spiritual, thoughtful, layered person. Most of the atheists I know aren’t nearly as open-minded and filled with wonder at the world as I perceive you to be.

      That being said, I love the mixture of different traditions that you draw from in addition to having your own practices that are uniquely yours. I tend to do the same, though I draw from mostly Pagan traditions, a lot of what I practice came from my head and my heart. I think that’s where the real alchemy lies, not in a church, but inside of us.

      As always, sending you love from me and Bear. Hope you and your love are healthy and happy! *hugs*

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