Thursday Thirteen #30: Personal Code

One of my friends on LiveJournal asked me for some rough religious differences between Paganism and Wicca yesterday, since she, like many people, don't really understand alternative religions. In the middle of that post, I included a nutshell list of my own religious and moral convictions.

As part of the new religious year, I feel it's appropriate as my Thursday Thirteen.

Thirteen Convictions of my Faith:

1) Belief in both Goddess and God, both as individual forms and as the universal life force that binds everything together.

2) Casual adherance to the Wiccan Rede ("An' it harm none, do what you will")

3) Strict adherance to the Law of Three (Anything you do, good or bad, will return three times as strong to you.)

4) The entire world is my ritual space. I create sacred space where and when I feel the need, rather than having a set space to worship.

5) A belief that the Divine and Nature are inseparable because the Divine gives energy to Nature. Under this belief is also the need for balance - cause and effect, positive and destructive, life and death. All are on an endless loop, constantly renewing themselves, then destroying themselves, and then renewal once more. The seasons of the year are the most visible example of this.

6) A requirement to rededicate myself every year, on the anniversary of my initial initation. (Lughnasadh, Aug. 2nd).

7) A belief that the soul rests after death, and then is reincarnated to learn the things missed in the last lifetime as well as exposure to new things

8) Marking the eight Sabbats through ritual (which I haven't been good at as of late). The names I use for them (there are several, depending on trad) and dates I celebrate them are: - Samhain (Oct. 31), Yule (Dec. 21), Imbolc (Feb. 2), Ostara (Mar. 21), Beltane (May 1), Midsummer (June 23), Lughnasadh (Aug. 2), Mabon (Sept. 23)

9) No importance placed on the 26 Esbats - while I admire the cycles of the moon for their beauty, I have never felt a pull to mark them religiously.

10) A belief that mundane means should always be used before magickal means to solve a problem. Spellwork is not part of my ritual, unless I really need to focus my energy on a problem. I use it only as a last resort.

11) A belief that humans can touch and join with the Divine, albeit temporarily, through different methods - meditation, Drawing Down the Moon, and consentual sex being among them

12) A rejection of the idea of sin, both original and ongoing. Sin is something that you will pay for after death unless you repent. I do not accept long-delayed consequences to actions and feel that "sin," as taught in Christianity, tends to be a "well, we really don't like that you do this... but we'll give you a loophole to feel better about yourself later through pennance" type action. Wrongdoing brings negative consequences (again, the Law of Three) here and now. We are all responsible for our actions toward others and toward the world.

13) Strong belief that faith is fiercely individual - my beliefs are only as valid as the respect I give to the right of others to have their own beliefs. This doesn't mean I have to agree with others' beliefs, or even respect what they believe in. But I do have to respect their rights to believe in something different than myself.



Comments are welcome on this Thursday Thirteen. You are welcome to disagree & discuss.