The Keeper's Path

I’m not spiritually satisfied?

I am a Catholic Christian. I believe in God and I appreciate him and thank him for a lot of the little things in life. However, lately, I’ve been admiring how Wiccans honor their God and Goddess. They connect themselves to nature when they want to honor them. When I want to honor God, I have to go to church, pray with a lot of material objects, listen to songs that I honestly don’t listen to, and have to be nice to our mean priest (he called my friend a toad because he couldn’t find a page in the Bible). I don’t see why I can’t adopt some of the aspects of Wicca and use them for my religion. They have their “casting” circle (which many times isn’t even used to cast spells, but just to honor) to represent the elements and spirit. I feel much more connected when I and relaxing on my own time in my yard with the leaves rustling in the wind, grass itching my cheek, and the sun beating down on me. I feel like it shouldn’t matter how you celebrate religion, as long as you are spiritually connected and are happy.

– Dana B.

Dear Dana,

I want to start by first saying that I know how you feel and I agree with you. It shouldn’t matter how you celebrate your religion, as long as you are spiritually connected and are happy. If you follow your own advice, right there, you’ll be off to a great start!

Now, my suggestion for how to best do what you already know is right:

Get a journal. Even if you already use one, or have never used one, start with this. Find a blank book that appeals to you and sit down with it. Relax, open it up, and start your first entry by saying “I am __” and finish the thought from there. Just write, fill up a page with all of the things you know or believe about yourself. Second, after you have completely exhausted the “I am” entry, start one that says, “I believe __” and again, go from there. Write down all of the things you believe. What are your thoughts on God, on nature, on science, on life, on death, on morals, on ethics, on religion… And on and on. Make sure this entry is dated. You will want to refer back to it at some point to see how your thoughts or beliefs change.

Then, once you have these things, explore what they mean. This is how you begin a spiritual journey and practice. You figure out what is already inside of you, and build on that from there. Continue using the journal as a tool to figure out who you are and what you believe. Put a question a day to yourself if you wish. Answer that question. The entries don’t have to be long and they don’t have to be short. They just have to be yours.

If you feel you are missing out on experiencing connection with God through the tools and systems of your current religious practice, then you need to change your current practice.

You don’t have to change your beliefs.

In Wicca, beliefs come from practice. Wicca doesn’t tell you what to believe, it tells you what to do. You do the practices and by the experiences you get from those practices, the connections you build, that informs your beliefs. You’re going about it backwards But that’s the difference between the two religions – Christianity and Wicca.

So, change your practice. Instead of seeking a connection with God in a church, or praying with a rosary, go outside and sit in nature. You don’t have to believe that nature is sacred. You can believe that nature is special and evidence of your God’s handiwork. The point is that you find your own way to find God. Just try some different tools to get there.