My Beliefs
I like to call myself an Animistic Pagan Witch. Sounds like I worship animals, doesn't it? But no indeed! Animistic as in "animate." The dictionary (can't recall which one at the moment, American Heritage most likely) says:
Animism: 1. Any of the various primitive beliefs whereby natural phenomena and things animate and inanimate are held to possess an innate soul. 2. A theory of psychic concepts of spiritually beings generally. 3. The hypothesis first advanced by Pythagoras and Plato, of an immaterial force animating the universe. 4.An 18th century doctrine that viewed the soul as the vital principle and source of both the normal and abnormal phenomena of life.
I tend to lean towards definitions 1. and 3. I believe everything living has a soul, and perhaps in a collective "oversoul" like the transcendentalists used to speak of, but not in an omnipotent, omnipresent deity.
As such, when I celebrate the wheel of the year I tend to focus very strongly on the actual happenings in nature. For myself, legends and stories of particular gods and goddesses serve as personifications and excellent metaphors for the earth's cycles -- I don't take these aspects literally, per se, but I incorporate them nonetheless. The same goes with rituals and spells -- based on my own beliefs, I center heavily on the elements and directions, rather than spirits, gods and goddesses.
Because my beliefs are constantly changing, or perhaps more accurately, in a constant state of flux, I have what I like to call, my belief spectrum. From day to day, I may lean more toward either what I call the material end of the spectrum or toward the spiritual end . At my most spiritual, I believe that all living things possess souls, that there is a semi-emotionally-conscious "oversoul" connecting everything and that through magick we have the power to manipulate the energies universe on some level. At my most material, I believe that all living things possess an innate soul and that magick can be used to manipulate personal consciousness to some extent, but is mostly a way to personally motivate and make changes within the self. If you are a young person, or even a so called "grown-up" :) struggling with your beliefs, it might be wise to give yourself some leeway in this fashion. It helps to remember that there is no such thing as an absolute truth, and that therefore beliefs need not be set in stone.
*~Thyme~*
*The leaf pentacle gif is work of Kathryn Huxtable.
Back to the Grove * The Beginner's Path * The Clearing * Thyme's Tree
