Touch Your Soul

There is a renewed interest in the old religion of paganism. Wicca,
a pagan belief incorporating several different myths, is one of the
fastest growing religions in this country and elsewhere.
Disenchanted with the religions people have grown up with, we appear to
be looking for something more, something that speaks to the soul and is
devoid of dogma.

The ancients knew of the cycle animals and plants have in common.
Birth, adulthood, death and rebirth applied to both animals and plants.
They determined that this is part of the cosmic balance, although not
necessarily putting it in those terms, because the pagan way wasn't
just a religion, it was a way of life. They knew that all of what they
observed had to be connected some how and eventually imbued the
elements and nature with a spirits. What better way to understand what
in the heck was going on than to classify them by personification. Keep
in mind that these personifications were human like, they were fallible
and given to the same types of mistakes that humans make over a
lifetime.

In today's world, we rarely think about nature and balance. We are too
concerned with the goings on in society as a whole. We undergo the
ritual of going to work each day, making enough money to live in
relative comfort, making sure the kids are safe and on and on. Who has
the time to work on our inner lives or getting in touch with our higher
selves? Our minds are constantly occupied elsewhere.

Some scholars have suggested that the world today is lacking in a
mythology. Sure we still go to church or synagogue or mosque but then
we are pretty much told what to believe and how to worship and how to
deal with myth and symbolism inherent in these religions.

Paganism is only one way of putting back a mythology into our lives. To
use meditations and visualization to look deeper and find yourself
again. There is no ONE path to follow, each are encouraged to find
their own individual path. It is not necessary to join in a group
worship session, one is perfectly capable of doing this on their own.
This is no easy task by any means. It takes work and concentration. Ask
yourself if your religion is satisfying to you. If it is then you may
not need to look any further. If not, experiment with the ideas and
rituals of the myths we have long forgotten. Use your mind to create
and visualize. Learn to use your energy as well as other energies to go
beyond the rational thinking mind we are all too used to using day
after day. That is where the true magic lays.

Take a look around you. Read the news. We have kids killing kids, out
right greed, down sizing, arguments over who should and shouldn't have
guns, drugs and half of this planet is on some sort of medications to
keep away depression and anxiety. We see people who wish to exploit the
Earth more than it has been with polluted air and water, ozone levels
rising, destruction of rain forests, global warming and governments who
are bent on destroying or dominating. Destroying that which feeds us.
Is it any wonder people are looking for something else? This is not
what life is all about. This is what surviving is all about.