I’m searching for my own personal Truth, and the only three things I know for sure are that Christianity doesn’t fit me, athiesm doesn’t fit me, and the neo-pagan religions intrigue me no end. But I’m not comfortable trying to fumble through an understanding of the various belief systems completely on my own (though I’m doing some reading right now to see what appeals to me the most).
I tried checking with the local Akashic bookstore, but all they had were listings for psychics and holistic psychiatrists.
Any suggestions would be welcome. This is a real struggle for me.
You might want to see if there is a Uniterian Universalist church in your area. You can read more about UUism at the Uniterian Universalist Homepage and find one near you.
There are many UUs who classify their beliefs as Pagan. In addition, since you are “searching for my own personal Truth,” UU might be perfect for you because they valkue the worth of all human beings and as such a congregation can run the gambut from Pagans, Christians and even Agnostics.
The only problem with UU for some is how it seems unlike a “religion” in the strict definition of the word, since it has no set theological doctrine. But if you go and find it not to your liking, nobody is going to make you keep going, which can also make UU a good first step on your “search.”
Good luck and Blessed Be.
Yer pal,
Satan
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4846 cigarettes not smoked, saving $605.81.
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Satan, you need to keep your witnessing restrained to Great Debates. Don’t make me get the genital cuff.
But seriously, dogsbody, UU is one option, also Wicca should be widely available in California (which I’m guessing is where you are from because of all the pictures you took of John Taylor in various CA locations). As for other options, I believe SqrlCub and OpalCat are pagan, IIRC. They may have some ideas.
…we need more info.
Why does neo-paganism appeal to you if you don’t know much about it? Because it sounds cool?
And the fact that atheism doesn’t work for you suggests you do believe in God.
If you are looking for the new hip belief system, but don’t really believe, you’re on your own.
But, if you really want to believe (in something other than God) you need a strong base in philosophy. Read, read, read. Nietche is a good start. ‘The Snow Leopard’ by Matthiessen is a GREAT read (for anyone), and finally my bible - “Zen and the Art of Motercycle Maint.”.
It’s a very hard read. It will take you, probably 5 times to understand it, but it’s worth it. It is IMHO the most important book written this century. But like I said, it takes comittment to understand completely.
Satan - come on, I practically asked for witnessing.
Balance, beth thanks for the links.
darkcool, No, I’m not just looking for the “new hip belief system.” In fact, that’s part of the problem I’ve been having getting information about Wicca, Shamanism and Druidism (which all have facets that interest me). It’s hard to locate texts that aren’t “pop” texts - written for the trendy hoping to make themselves seem cool.
I believe in a “divine force” (I feel, in the immortal words of Oliver Wendell Jones, that “The universe is too darn orderly to be a big accident”), but I don’t believe that force is all that interested in what man does. I believe it got the ball rolling here on earth and has proceded to sit back and watch, rather than interfering. I don’t believe in heaven nor hell, although I might believe in an afterlife (this is one of the things I’m struggling with). I don’t believe in “God” in the Xtian sense, for a lot of reasons (and this post is getting long enough. ;))
I’ve studied both Buddhism and the Tao Te Ching; What got me started on the neopagan/wiccan thing was a book called the Spiral Dance. I’m currently reading up on Druidism and on Shamanism, and I’ve picked up Scott Cunningham’s text for the solitary Wiccan practitioner, despite the fact that I find many of the books from Llewellyn’s Practical Magic Series to fall in the category mentioned above.
I’ve read Niezshe (or however the %&*( you spell the man’s name), but I’ll look into the other two. I’ll admit that my philosophical background isn’t as extensive as it could be - I kept falling asleep in my philo class in college.
Along with Satan, I’d recommend visiting a UU meeting (but I’m not witnessing, which is antithetical to UUism). I don’t consider it a religion in the generally accepted sense(it isn’t trying to teach you much of anything, it isn’t trying to explain the unexplainable). What “UUism” does is tolerates and fosters all manner of inquiry, without judgement and prejudice, and that’s the kind of community I enjoy. Instead of “You should think this,” its more “Why do you think that?” We (the members of the group) are helping each other along what is, by and large, a very personal path.
The Unitarians are certainly a very good place to start. They worked just dandy for my father, who, weirdly enough, is a born again Unitarian. They should assuredly be able to put you in contact with the right people if they don’t turn out to be.
mini-hijack: Heard any good Unitarian jokes lately?
Why do Unitarians make such lousy hymn singers?
Because they keep reading ahead to see if they agree with the text.
Why should you never piss off a Unitarian?
He might burn a question mark on your lawn.
sliv, listen to Garrison Keillior often? Those jokes are both in his jokebooks. I lived in Minnesota for a year and old Garrison is one of the state’s best aspects. I still catch his show (Prairie Home Companion) on NPR every so often. Intelligent jokes, great sketch comedy (Guy Noir, Private Eye), and sometimes some good music.
Another good site is http://www.wicca.com, also known as the Celtic Connection–although they
have information on a wide variety of Pagan beliefs. The message boards get a little crazy
sometimes, but generally people try to police their input to avoid deliberately offending others–
at times it’s a bit too PC, in fact. They have a networking site so you can connect with others in
your area.
The UU is also a good place to find people willing to talk about God, etc. in an open-minded way,
which is important when you’re willing to find your own way. Some congregations have a Pagan chapter,
called CUUP (Congregation of Univeral Unitarian Pagans), and they recently added a “living in interdependent
harmony with all things” clause to their guiding principals (what other religions might call their dogma or creed) to
show their inclusion of "earth-based’ belief systems.
