Faith crisis

[TeaDidikai]

[Kudzu]

Doubt is a good thing! Embrace it! You'll either come back to Paganism stronger than ever, or find something better for you! But if you're feeling "unhappy" and "unfulfilled" with Paganism in general, perhaps it just never was the right path for you, and you're only beginning to see it now that the shiny-newness has worn off.

It's not a doubt, as much as it is a feeling of being... disconnected?

There is nothing shiny or new about it. I gave gnosis of everything on my path save for the core of the Domari Guidelines (as my Baba's kumpania was killed in WWII) and the nature of my patrons. I've worked with Odin. We are still on good terms, and I love the gods of the Slavs and the Domari- but I miss the gnosis that comes with having a patron.  

[Wood Sorrel]

Anyone who's changed religion *should* go through this stage. It's absolutely necessary to find the best fit for you. If more people were willing to question their faith, maybe we wouldn't have so much religious aggression in the world...  

[Deoridhe]

TeaDidikai

I belong to a path that has some roots in metagenetics, and I'm not a kula rati ("pure blood, or black blood"), and to be blunt, the gods and I haven't really "talked" in a long time. It feels like a stale marriage- you know the kind were the couple sleep in seperate rooms every night and it makes me a little heart-sick.

Well... the common "cure" for a stale marriage is setting time aside for the two people to be together just because. Maybe something similar with the gods? I know I have "triggers" which lead me to think of different gods and keeps it somewhat fresh, but I know other people who set formal times aside to commune ith different gods, or collect things. Maybe you could set a month aside toward a god, buy one or two small things, make a small altar, spend some time every day or every week sitting there and cleaning it and reading about or talking to the god...?  

[TeaDidikai]

Deoridhe

Well... the common "cure" for a stale marriage is setting time aside for the two people to be together just because. Maybe something similar with the gods? I know I have "triggers" which lead me to think of different gods and keeps it somewhat fresh, but I know other people who set formal times aside to commune ith different gods, or collect things. Maybe you could set a month aside toward a god, buy one or two small things, make a small altar, spend some time every day or every week sitting there and cleaning it and reading about or talking to the god...?

Dear, you are as always, insightful. Thank you.  

[emmfullness]

cerridwen_uk

I personally wasn't drawn to Pagansim because it was different,although, as it has been said, many are. I was drawn because it was me, the way of thinking was how I thought and felt and so I realised that, regardless of what path I'd followed in the past, I was always pagan and it was probably why I never truly fit in anywhere. Nothing made sense, where as Paganism made total sense to me....It was, in some ways, a little shocking revelation....lol

3nodding I actually thought Paganism was a deep evil and had to be exposed to it by a few people on a few occaisions before I came to actually listen to what was said with open ears. Yeah, Paganism hunted me down and stalked me for a few years and wouldn't leave me alone until I listened.... sweatdrop After that, I found out it was exactly what I had believed in the first place only structured around the specific beliefs and not around some of the stuff I originally didn't believe in. For instance, I didn't understand how a perfectly loving God would create people, allow them to be tempted, and then banish them to eternal missery for giving into the temptation that he permitted. confused I also didn't understand how, say, if I lied when I was 7 and forgot that I lied and therefore never asked specific forgiveness that a loving God would damn me to eternity in pain. Honestly, my biggest gripe with Christain teachings is with the whole "eternal damnation" thing. I'd agree that maybe God/Goddess/All has a place that is away from his/her/its presence that he/she/it would put really bad people for a period of time as a punishment, like getting grounded, but I don't think that he/she/it would leave them there for all eternity....  

[queertastrophy]

Sometimes, when reading through the myths and stories of the Gods, I feel deeply moved and feel a connection to them in some way. Some days, though, I feel nothing, and it makes me feel kind of sad. *shrug* I guess that's kind of normal, so I don't worry too much about it, and I don't really classify it as a "faith crisis."