It seems that I am once again seeking the right spiritual path for me. I suppose a big part of it is the fact that no matter how much I have meditated, no matter how much I have tried to get in the correct frame of mind during rituals, I never experience that closeness to the Goddess that I see other Wiccans and Pagans talking about on their blogs.

I have identified myself as Wiccan for the past 6 years – I started in December of 2003 – but have yet to have any sort of patron deities. I have no deities that I specifically ascribe to, which of course, is not really a problem, I simply called them Goddess & God. But the closeness that I craved is simply not there. No amount of meditation, ritual, etc has brought me any closer.

Another problem I find is that although at first it felt like I was “home” in my Wiccan faith – now it seems more like I am a guest in someone else’s house – a guest that may well have overstayed my welcome.

So I am once again seeking to find the right path for me. I am trying different things – an experiment if you will. Right now I am going back to the Christian church my best friend attends. I am attending Bible study on Wednesday, reading the Bible, and going to Sunday services as well. If after a couple of months it still does not feel right, I will move on. I will endeavor to start anew with Wicca and Paganism – see if one of them fits me. If not, I will look to things such as Buddhism for spiritual fulfillment.

I know the right path is out there, and I know that it is possible that my needs have changed – that Goddess is telling me that this is not the path I need to tread right now. Either way, it is a great possibility that this blog may cease to exist if my path leads me elsewhere.

Please know that no matter what path I find at the end of my experiment to be the one I choose, I will always love and cherish my Wiccan and Pagan friends, and that no matter what, my mind is always open to the fact that my path is not the right path for others.

Yes, I know, Imbolc (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) is not actually until February 2nd, but I decided I would start up a series of posts regarding the next Sabbat on the Northern Hemisphere’s Wheel.

Imbolc is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere on February 2 and in the Southern Hemisphere on August 2.

Imbolc is also known as Candlemas, Imbolg, Oimelc, Brighid’s Day, Lupercus, The Feast of Lights, and Groundhog’s Day.

Symbols of Imbolc include: Candle wheels, grain dollies, Sun wheels, besom, evergreen sprigs, bowls of snow, and small statues of the Goddess that represent her Maiden form.

Gemstones associated with Imbolc: Amethyst, aquamarine, turquoise, garnet, and onyx.

Colors associated with Imbolc: White, yellow, pink, light blue, light green, red, and brown.

I plan on posting more posts that will include some more information – lore, recipes, etc that go along with Imbolc. Please stay tuned for these posts.

When I was discussing the various religions with some coworkers of mine (when I was employed), I mentioned that I am Wiccan. The immediate response from one of the Christian members of the conversation was “oh, so you do not believe in God.” Well, that’s not exactly true. It made me think about what it really means to believe in God.

Christians believe in God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. To them, anyone who doesn’t believe in their version of God doesn’t believe in God period. But that isn’t true. Others believe in God, just not the Christian version of God.

A Wiccan or Pagan believes in the Goddess or God or both. They believe in other forms of Deity, which are usually polytheistic. They do not see just one face or form of Deity, they see mulitple forms or faces. This does not make them non-believers in God.

An aetheist however, does not believe in any sort of higher power or deity. They do not believe that any sort of deity exists and they believe that any and all things can be explained with science and logic. But there is another – an agnostic. They acknowledge the possibility of the existence of a higher power or deity, even if they themselves do not believe in or worship them.

It frustrates me to no end to go to YouTube and see videos made by fundamentalist Christians who have nothing better to do than bash other people’s faiths. They claim true believers never leave their faiths. Well, that is correct. A TRUE BELIEVER in a particular Deity will not leave the faith that allows them to believe in and worship that Deity. So it DOES stand to reason that a TRUE BELIEVER in Christ would not leave the Christian church. However, just because someone does, that does not mean the “Devil” is working on that person. It means that they exercised their free will and left a place that was not good for them.

But to me, the word Believer should not be reserved solely for the Christians. I believe there is a higher power. I believe that higher power is made up of the Goddess & the God. I BELIEVE so I am a BELIEVER. Do I believe that Christ existed? Yes, I do believe that a man named Jesus Christ existed. Do I believe that he did all they say he did? No. I also do not believe the Bible to be an infallible book of Scripture for the very reason that HUMANS translated it to the different languages and HUMANS are not infallible! I do not believe that a book contains all the rules, regulations, and laws for how we are to live our lives – especially when that book is entirely subject to the reader’s interpretation.

How do you feel on the subject of Believers, Aetheists, or Agnostics? Which are you? A believer? (In ANY Deity) An Aetheist? Or an Agnostic?