Stories of people who have changed paths or are leaving their religion.
Should I stay or should I go? Exploring a journal prompt from chapter 2 of “Changing Paths”
Excellent post from Jarred reflecting on one of the journal prompts from Changing Paths.
Hello dear readers! It’s Friday morning so that means once again exploring a journal prompt from the wonderful book, Changing Paths…
Should I stay or should I go? Exploring a journal prompt from chapter 2 of “Changing Paths”
Sarah Zang hoped to escape her highly controlled home life in 2006.
— John Verner
She enrolled as a student at Liberty University in Virginia. She looked forward to making her own decisions, free of her parents’ strict rules. Liberty University, a Christian college, seemed like the perfect haven, promising safety and a community that shared her values.
Read the rest of the article on Substack (content note: sexual assault trauma and white evangelicals being obnoxious)
Polish Folk Witch (on instagram and Patreon) has an excellent article on dual faith practice and syncretism among folk witches: Dual Faith: the elephant in the room of the witchcraft community.
The topic of dual faith keeps returning on a regular basis in the broader witchcraft community online, especially on the intersection of folk magic, paganism and christian occultism.
Folk witches often practice some form of dual faith, developed based on the mixture their cultural background, religious background, as well as bioregional features and animistic immersion in the world around them. Each folk witch’s exact praxis will therefore vary.
—Joanna Wiedźma (Polish folk witch)
This reminded me of my articles on dual faith practice based on an essay I wrote for my masters degree.
Dual-faith practice (part 1 of 4)
Dual-faith practice (part 2 of 4)
Dual-faith practice (part 3 of 4)
Dual-faith practice (part 4 of 4)
And this article that I wrote about my personal experiences of practising more than one religion (not the same as syncretic practices):
And here’s one that I wrote about my spiritual wobbles, which was the start of the process that gave rise to the book (Changing Paths):
This blog post was originally written in 2006 and posted on my old blog Nemeton. Some friends had asked why I tended to make statements about the awfulness of Christianity.
Don’t be fooled by the cranky exterior of the Exclusive Brethren. They’re the religious equivalent of Vogons.
I know because I was brought up in them till the age of 9. For those who don’t know me, no, this does not make me sad and repressed. (Aleister Crowley was brought up in the Exclusive Brethren also – it’s why he was so vehemently anti-Christian and outrageously hedonistic).
Continue readingCheck out my conversation with the wonderful Elyse Wells (writer and podcast host) on The Magick Kitchen podcast, series 5, episode 9.
Changing Paths challenge day 29—memories.
One of my earliest memories is looking up at the constellation of Orion. I’ve always loved it.
This amazing photo of Orion is from NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day. In the early days of the internet I used to visit this site every day. I should get back into the habit!
The significance of this memory is that looking up at the stars makes you realize the sheer size of the universe, and how magnificent it is in its own right — and much larger than most fundamentalists could possibly imagine. This reminds me of the awesome quote from Douglas Adams: “You may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s but that’s just peanuts to space.”
Changing Paths is published by 1000Volt Press and is available from all the usual online stores. Ask your local bookseller or library to stock it!
The goal of the book is to help you decide your own path by guiding you through the perils and pitfalls of the terrain, and asking questions to help you deepen your understanding of the reasons for your desire to change paths.
Changing Paths challenge day 26 — wobbling
Spiritual wobbles can happen when your spiritual path becomes out of synch with your religious community. They can be dry spells, when it feels as if the source of your spiritual life has dried up, or the wobble can propel you out of your old path and into a new one. It depends how severe the wobble is.
Continue readingOnce I dreamed that I was walking across a rocky sandy landscape (the bedrock was reddish sandstone) and saw an old church.
Changing Paths challenge 18 — throwback Thursday.
This was my local library when I was a kid. It’s where I discovered Greek mythology, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Mary Stewart’s Arthurian trilogy, Robin Hood, Roger Lancelyn-Green, Geoffrey Trease, Henry Treece, and many more. I was introduced to Cynthia Harnett by a teacher at school but I am sure I borrowed some of her books from this library. I first learned about heraldry from Cynthia Harnett too.
Continue readingGreat new post from John Beckett on interfaith relationships.
Our wider society tends to assume that couples will follow the same religion, and generally they do. But interfaith marriages have been a thing for a very long time, whether between Christians and Jews, Protestants and Catholics, or any other combination – including Pagans and people of other religions, or of no religion.
John Beckett, Pagans in interfaith relationships
Changing Paths 