I tend to post a lot of spiritual things on Twitter but what people don’t seem to understand is what I actually believe in. Sometimes, I get asked about my personal beliefs & being vague about them often satisfies their curiosities.
This post is to explain what I was, what I am and what I plan to be.
What I {was} : As a Hispanic, I was born into a Catholic upbringing. Once my mother remarried, I was then exposed to a Baptist household. The catalyst came when I turned 11. I was exposed to Wicca through a middle school friend who had lent me “Wicca 101”.
What I {am} : I am a follower of Thelema. I wasn’t always a Thelemite… but I discovered Thelema long before I made it my personal philosophy through Invisible House.org.
What makes Thelema ideal is that it focuses on the inner god and encourages the person to follow his or her own true ‘Will’. Whether the path is destructive or constructive, through chaos or peace, all paths will and should ultimately lead to the discovery of your True Will.
All of Thelemic thought and philosophy is based on the Kabbalah Tree of Life. ALL things can be categorized within the Tree of Life whether you are a Christian, Buddhist or completely Agnostic. Any follower of any faith can be a follower of Thelema, although I prefer a more puritanical approach and follow Thelema with no other dogmas.
I am not a Christian because:
- It is based on faith without fact.
- The Bible, it’s source of followers and textbook for study, is historically incomplete, hypocritical and due to varying cultures and languages, is interpreted differently.
- Because of said interpretational differences, a majority of the wars in this world have been purported by the differences in this blind faith.
- It’s main dogma is to believe in an external God, a male God, the ultimate creator and destroyer of all things.
- It discourages introspection, as all energy ‘should’ be directed toward the ‘praising and exaltation’ of this one God.
All things in this world should be questioned. All topics are up for debate. True religion is the religion of the ‘Self’ as one would perceive it to be. What right has a man to say that he has a soul if he cannot feel it or that there is a God if he does not see it?
Although my blog is not exclusively one about Kabbalah or Thelema, I’d like to hear your thoughts, questions and retorts on my thoughts. Educated debate and exploration is always welcome here.
93! Having room to breathe is essential in nearly all things but when it comes to personal spirituality…it defines you therefore it needs to be something that one can fully connect with. As a female, I cannot connect to an overbearing, jealous and wrathful male god.
What drives me now is that in order to fully understand my world, I need to understand myself. It’s going to be a long journey but I am sure it will be worth the wait. Love is the Law. Love Under Will.
93! Terrific tutorial on Thelemic basics, I think, and all power in realizing your will. I often think of John Lennon’s statement, “Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.” So, I think the central problem with Christianity is that it’s adherents follow the thick and ordinary ones rather than it’s source, an we end up with wars and discrimination, and a lot of unpleasantness all around. Generally, I think dogma is the death of any system, because people relay on it rather than experience, insight, and relation, which is what makes any system breathe. 93/93
Thanks for your feedback! Being open minded and accepting is supposed to be a Universal virtue…after all, we are all cut from the same cloth.
Unfortunately sectarianism does no good for the human culture. It’s a lot like cliques in high school…”you’re not a part of our group, therefore we shun you” sort of mentality. You’re right, there are a lot of nutters out there which make things worse, however, my standpoint comes from the point of view that the theology that Christians practice is just not practical and is mired in way too much mystery.
Mystery mongering dulls the mind, making for more willing and blinded followers.
I stumbled on Wicca when I was 18, and just before that I was a confused Christian with a lot of questions. Now I consider myself a nondenominational Neopagan if anything. I lean most toward the western European pagan beliefs.
I do know some Christians, whom I refer to as “cool Christians” because they’re loving and open-minded, the way I’m pretty sure Christianity was supposed to be. You can have your nutters and your cool people in every religion or belief system. Thanks for writing this, maybe people will look into these things and be a little more open-minded.
My feelings on religion is that it is a man made thing. God made man. Man made religion. We are each on our individual journeys. The one “truth” I wish people would understand that there is no “right” or “wrong”. Your individual beliefs are correct for you based on who you are and who you choose to be. They don’t have to be right for anyone else. We are constantly creating who we are in relation to (blank). Who are you as a friend, lover, sister, mother, etc. We do not have to agree with anyone else’s beliefs, just acknowledge that everyone is on there own path.