#ex christian witch

[creature-wizard]

If you're leaving Christianity and getting into some form of paganism, you should check and see whether you've got any internalized "faithmaxxing/worshipmaxxing is the only true way to be spiritual" going on, and if so, work on it. Stuff like thinking you need to have perfect faith in your deities at all times or thinking you need to practice 3.5 spells per day to be A Real Witch. You're going to mess yourself up if you carry on with that.

[witch-in-the-dirt]

Sometimes I miss the Christian church.

Not the dogmatic parts. Not the feeling of fear and debt. Not the lack of acceptance from the people around me.

I miss the singing, and large buildings. I miss the familial atmosphere, where you know everyone there, just barely. I miss the way a preacher would speak of “fatherly love.”

Sometimes I miss the way the Christian god made me feel. Not the biblical way, but the atmosphere of it all. The way it felt when a chorus rang out and it rang in an auditorium and made me feel something more powerful. The way majesty is described in the Bible.

I have yet to find all of this in my new path.

Majesty in humanity and in nature is real. I don’t need a God to see that. Human voices was the majesty I felt. It’s community.

[1unpunishable1]

Mother Mary My Beloved

[samwisethewitch]

One element of cultural Christianity that took me forever to move on from is the idea that you have to pick one spiritual path, or one set of spiritual beliefs, and stay on that path to the exclusion of everything else.

You do not.

Speaking from a pagan perspective, most pagan groups not only allow but encourage sharing space with/learning from other spiritual traditions, and I know the same is also true for a lot of other non-Christian religions. You can practice or believe multiple things, even if they seem to contradict each other! If it works for you, makes you feel connected to something greater than yourself, and doesn't cause discomfort or cognitive dissonance, there's no reason not to include it in your practice!

Fyi this post isn't just for ex-Christians who still want to have a spiritual practice. I absolutely see this same basic belief that you can only believe/do one thing show up in culturally Christian atheists who seem to think being atheist means they can't be open to spiritual or mystical experiences. There are many, many religions and spiritual traditions that do not require belief in a God, but culturally Christian atheists seem to mostly believe atheism and spirituality are mutually exclusive. They aren't.

[beastrambles]

Visiting the same decaying carcass week after week and watching it slowly blend back into the Earth has done more for me spiritually than any Church service I've been forced into

[mxmorbidmidnight]

I'm trying to better myself. I realised for a while I had this hatred of christianity because of my own experiences being in a house where I must continually deny my own faith and pretend to be a christian (as well as general issues with scrupulosity and the christians who have sought to harm me for "my own good"). When I started out on paganism I thought that pagans were unlike christians, not judgmental or discriminatory. I have come to realise that is very much not true. Like all religious communities paganism has many issues (racism, misogyny, silencing of indigenous voices, abuse, etc). Christianity has many issues and is continuing to cause issues in our society. Paganism is the same. Religious trauma can come from any religion.

No religion is immune to causing harm. since the beginning of time religion has been getting people killed. Christianity is not evil, nor is paganism. But what festers and grows in our communities, is deadly.

The pagan community is most definitely not as accepting as we claim. For many people including me witchcraft and worship of pagan goods is a source of joy, community and great freedom. As is the same with Christianity. Yet religious communities are very much capable of doing the opposite of joy, community and freedom upon others. I think, we just all need to be aware and not tolerate hatred within our communities.

[thedawnwitch]

Welcome

Hello! You found me (maybe it was fated).

My gods asked me to create this blog, so I'm excited to see what they have in store. I plan on using this space to talk about my experience with the gods, my practice, and deconstructing fundamentalism.

A Little About Me

I've been on my spiritual path since I deconstructed from my fundamentalist Christian Church of Christ roots in 2013. In 2020, I officially claimed the label "pagan" and it's been quite a wild ride of self-discovery. My high school sweetheart and I married when we were 21 years old and celebrated 11 years of marriage this year (can you tell I'm a hopeless romantic?). I'm working as a nurse and am going back to school to become a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. I love nature walks, writing, and all things art.

My Current Practice

I'm a hellenistic polytheist which means I honor and work with the gods of the Greek pantheon. I incorporate features of reconstructionism and neopagan ideas to create a practice best for me. I'm a devotee of Aphrodite and Hekate. Apollo is my patron. I practice hedge witchcraft in the mountains of Colorado.

Don't Be Shy

I'm happy to answer any and all questions relating to witchcraft, deity work, and pagan practice! I love connecting with others in this community.

[maythestormsnevertakefromme]

The pagan community is probably the absolute worst religious community when it comes to acknowledging the autonomy of women

[the-mountain-flower]

Revisited a story that was very important to me as a child, and learned about the author being very vocal about the harm gender roles & stereotypes cause. I thought "oh that's great!" but was afraid. What if she only applied that logic to cis ppl?

I did some searching, and found out that not only does she support trans ppl, but has also spoken multiple times about how important it is to be able to see protagonists outside of the perceived norm. A.K.A., she doesn't see my very existence as wrong.

I let out a deep sigh of relief. I could continue to enjoy this thing that had been so important to me growing up.

But this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Too often I discover a new artist, or even be unsure of one I've enjoyed the work of for a long time up to the present; and I have to desperately search to know if I can enjoy their work. Either I am extremely relieved, or absolutely crushed.

This shouldn't be necessary. I shouldn't be feeling this deep fear that something so important to me, was created by someone who despises my very existence. That I, as a disabled queer femme ex-mormon Pagan witch who was raised like a girl, will be shoved off the emotional cliff of "this person you looked up to hates you for the same reason all bigots do".

I was so terrified that something that meant so much to me as a kid could've shattered me emotionally. Simply because I didn't know if the person who made it hates people like me.

We shouldn't have to live like this.

[acrystalwitch]

✨ For Lucifer 🍋

——————————————————————

We used to get down on our hands and knees

and declare that God was holy

and we were full of sin, unclean and dirty.

I think it’s time for classic mutiny once again.

The devil had it right in the end.

I think I’d make a kinder king than him.

-chase ember

————————————————

[01298283]

Me after blaspheming:

[pray-harder]

catholics bothering u about being a witch? call the mass a cannibalistic ritual to their faces and watch as the smoke comes out of their ears

[witchthewriter]

𝐄𝐯𝐞 & 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐦

And Eve loved her husband, as she was made to do. Although she did not know it; her days were full of servitude, and obedience. Not just to her husband, but also, god, who she believed to be good.

  Who she believed was mighty and kind.

    Who she believed knew her better than herself.

        That he knew every thought before she thought it, that he knew every hair on her head. 

               That he had a destiny for her. So, surely all her actions were ... the right ones?  Because in truth, Eve was as she was made to be.

  The young woman’s curiosity was ripe. Riper than the pears and oranges and grapes. Riper than the trees, and the flowers. However, her faith never wavered, as she knew nothing else. Because everything she could ever want was before her.

  The garden of Eden was beautiful. It was a paradise. (But whose paradise?) As she cooked and cleaned for Adam; he lay in the sun. Day after day, it was the same.

And when she asked god, “is this life?” he would say, “yes Eve, isn’t it good?”

It must be good? How could it be anything but? Adam would hunt while she foraged for berries. And when Adam came back empty handed, she would make something from her own findings.

 This is good, she thought, every morning when the sun rose.

Now, there was one rule in The Garden; Adam and Eve must not eat the fruit from a particular tree. The reason? Unanswered. 

  And one day, an animal that Eve knew as a snake, told her to give in to her curiosities. That was all. The snake told her that god was all-knowing, all-loving. So, he would already know she would take a bite from this tree’s fruit. 

It all made sense. Her destiny was known, and this was it. How could it not be? Because surely her life was not to live in servitude! 

 And so she ate, and it tasted good. Like no other fruit in The Garden. And when she did eat, it was if a part of her was unlocked. Wisdom... she had wisdom. This is what this tree was ... one’s way of gaining their own opinions, their ... their freedom. She did not need to rely on god for the answer, as now she knew them. 

Eve ran to Adam, wanting him to claim his own autonomy. Hesitation was in his eyes until he looked into Eve’s. He trusted her, and so he ate. 

  When both gained clarity, god appeared in a mighty fury. 

      “The rule has been broken.” His voice boomed and chilled them, surrounding the two naked individuals as if they had been plunged into water. 

“Yes. I broke the rule,” Eve stood forward, daring to face god. “And now I do not need to rely on you. Is that what the rule was for? So that you had someone who needed you?” 

Adam was silent. Looking from Eve to god and god to Eve. He said nothing as the both of them were cast out of The Garden. 

It took him a long while to understand Eve’s words. And a while longer when he realised that just like god, he too needed someone to need him. 

[wingsadorned]

my mother ( a christian ) wholeheartedly just told me while we were discussing a video i sent her said that she loves me , but if she killed me tomorrow she would still be going to heaven ( we were talking ab something like that ) . i was left with my jaw hanging . she literally said that tomorrow if she killed me , since she’s a christian , she would still go to heaven , because she would be living the consequences here on earth legally and morally and yaddah yaddah . like . . she said this with her whole chest . . hello ? ? ?

[1unpunishable1]

what my alter would look like. Picrew by Camade

[maythestormsnevertakefromme]

No tumblr user apollos-massive-cock666 Christians aren’t the reason for every problem in the pagan community.

No tumblr user apollos-massive-cock666 not every pagan is a convert from a white western Christian country.