A few days ago a blogger friend sent me an email that included the following line: "I really do not know how to begin to incorporate paganism into my daily life." I replied that "for me to be Pagan is not to walk around in robes and dancing around bonfires for every holiday. Paganism is that feeling you get inside that tells you that the world is alive and that you and everyone else are part of something amazing; something worth protecting. So don't worry if you don't make candles for Beltaine, or if you don't burn a Yule log at the end of the year. What matters is that in your heart of hearts you know that for the world to make sense, there has to be a God and Goddess aspect of Nature, and that you as an individual have the key to your own destiny." Today, she resumed our email exchange to let me know how relieved she was to find out that robe wearing or participating in elaborate rituals are not Pagan requirements. She added that her "main focus is to have a strong belief system and to know what that is for [her] personally as well as to have a way to connect to others and nature."
I'm happy to know that I helped a bit. I know that many traditional Witches who read this post will probably shake their heads. I'm saying this because I have been told more than once that I'm not a real Witch, and the fact that I don't wear a robe or belong to any coven, has been used as a justification for the statement.
Well, I'm an Eclectic Witch and my gods, people who matter to me, and I know it-that is enough for me. I raise energy in jeans, skyclad, in a pink dress, in camouflaged uniform... and as of today my gods haven't objected to my dress code or to my eclectic reverence.
How do you feel about formality and uniformity when it comes to religious worship and celebration?
Credit: healing-magic.blogspot.com
