Post by Misty Circles on Apr 27, 2016 3:02:05 GMT
Like most of those who grew up in my small town in north eastern PA, I was raised Christian. However, I never paid attention in Sunday school. I found it boring and honestly paid more attention to the boy in my class that I had a crush on than to the material we were being taught. It wasn't until sometime around third or fourth grade that I started questioning my religion.
Oddly enough, it started with an Adam and Eve bookmark that I was given in class. At this point in my life, I was attending Sunday school fairly irregularly (partially due to my parents' divorce). I remember looking at the bookmark and wondering, if evolution is real, then how can I believe in the story of Adam and Eve? How does that make any logical sense? I immediately brought this question up with my mom after Sunday school. Not being very religious herself, she gave me some sort of logical answer along the lines of, "You can believe in the story of Adam and Eve, but they didn't just pop up on Earth. God created the Earth its beings, and humans evolved later on." I still was unsure of what to do. The only thing I was fairly sure of was that I didn't believe the story of Adam and Eve.
I sort of dropped questioning Christianity until some time in seventh or eighth grade. My dad was dating a woman who introduced me to the metaphysical. One day, since I was curious, she let me borrow a book she had about Wicca. I immediately fell in love. I finished it in one night and brought it to school with me every day because it made me feel protected somehow, like if I kept it with me, I'd be safe. I shared it with a friend I had in school who was also interested in Wicca, and she also resonated with the book. This was the point in my life when I began identifying as "Wistian"; I was too scared to completely ditch Christianity (and I still wanted to celebrate all its holidays), yet I knew that Wicca was the religion that my heart and soul really belonged to.
My change in religious beliefs shocked my mother. She thought I was worshipping Satan, even after the countless explanations of the fact that Wiccans don't even believe in the devil. Even today, I think she doesn't fully understand my spirituality.
During my sophomore year of high school, I decided to ditch the Christian religion altogether and instead identify as Wiccan. I immediately felt 10 times better, knowing that I was making this change for myself and that it was really what I wanted. Of course, the hardest part of this is when people misunderstand me. Even now, people will ask me what I believe in, which I will gladly explain, but then will turn their nose up at me if I mention that part of my spiritual practice involves witchcraft; I also self-identify as a witch. This part is called "coming out of the broom closet", and let me tell you, it is no joke. Wiccan witchcraft is misunderstood because of the fact that Western society has given it such an awful label. It's emotionally and mentally exhausting to have to tell person after person, No, I do not put curses on people, that is against my religion. No, I cannot make miracles happen. Witchcraft is all about putting positive thoughts in the direction of a goal I want to obtain, also known as utilizing the law of attraction. Now, that doesn't sound so scary, does it?
Thankfully, since coming to college, my spirituality is a lot more accepted than it is at home in my small town. I'm so thankful for people here being open-minded. I'd say the biggest struggle I have here is that I can't light candles or burn incense, and therefore it's nearly impossible to do rituals during any of the 5 Pagan holidays that fall during both the fall and spring semesters. However, college has connected me to other Wiccans/Pagans as well as people who are interested in learning more about Wicca, Paganism, or Witchcraft. I in no way regret switching my religion, and I'm so thankful to be in a school in which I feel accepted, no matter what my religion is.
Oddly enough, it started with an Adam and Eve bookmark that I was given in class. At this point in my life, I was attending Sunday school fairly irregularly (partially due to my parents' divorce). I remember looking at the bookmark and wondering, if evolution is real, then how can I believe in the story of Adam and Eve? How does that make any logical sense? I immediately brought this question up with my mom after Sunday school. Not being very religious herself, she gave me some sort of logical answer along the lines of, "You can believe in the story of Adam and Eve, but they didn't just pop up on Earth. God created the Earth its beings, and humans evolved later on." I still was unsure of what to do. The only thing I was fairly sure of was that I didn't believe the story of Adam and Eve.
I sort of dropped questioning Christianity until some time in seventh or eighth grade. My dad was dating a woman who introduced me to the metaphysical. One day, since I was curious, she let me borrow a book she had about Wicca. I immediately fell in love. I finished it in one night and brought it to school with me every day because it made me feel protected somehow, like if I kept it with me, I'd be safe. I shared it with a friend I had in school who was also interested in Wicca, and she also resonated with the book. This was the point in my life when I began identifying as "Wistian"; I was too scared to completely ditch Christianity (and I still wanted to celebrate all its holidays), yet I knew that Wicca was the religion that my heart and soul really belonged to.
My change in religious beliefs shocked my mother. She thought I was worshipping Satan, even after the countless explanations of the fact that Wiccans don't even believe in the devil. Even today, I think she doesn't fully understand my spirituality.
During my sophomore year of high school, I decided to ditch the Christian religion altogether and instead identify as Wiccan. I immediately felt 10 times better, knowing that I was making this change for myself and that it was really what I wanted. Of course, the hardest part of this is when people misunderstand me. Even now, people will ask me what I believe in, which I will gladly explain, but then will turn their nose up at me if I mention that part of my spiritual practice involves witchcraft; I also self-identify as a witch. This part is called "coming out of the broom closet", and let me tell you, it is no joke. Wiccan witchcraft is misunderstood because of the fact that Western society has given it such an awful label. It's emotionally and mentally exhausting to have to tell person after person, No, I do not put curses on people, that is against my religion. No, I cannot make miracles happen. Witchcraft is all about putting positive thoughts in the direction of a goal I want to obtain, also known as utilizing the law of attraction. Now, that doesn't sound so scary, does it?
Thankfully, since coming to college, my spirituality is a lot more accepted than it is at home in my small town. I'm so thankful for people here being open-minded. I'd say the biggest struggle I have here is that I can't light candles or burn incense, and therefore it's nearly impossible to do rituals during any of the 5 Pagan holidays that fall during both the fall and spring semesters. However, college has connected me to other Wiccans/Pagans as well as people who are interested in learning more about Wicca, Paganism, or Witchcraft. I in no way regret switching my religion, and I'm so thankful to be in a school in which I feel accepted, no matter what my religion is.