River: beliefs and practices

[mdlbear]

... so I had a zoom call with my Spiritual Health advisor, EG, this morning. Right at the end of our last conversation, she asked me to talk about my "spiritual beliefs and practices" next (i.e. this) time. Which, for a second-generation atheist (albeit one with an Ashkenazi Jewish cultural background, Reformed Druidical leanings, and a life-long interest in fantasy and folklore) was very interesting question. What do I believe, really?

Here's what I came up with.

• If there is a "supreme being", it can be nothing less than the entire universe. By definition.
• The universe inspires awe and is worthy of respect. It's okay to call that worship -- the universe doesn't mind. Is looking up at the night sky a spiritual practice? Something close to that.
• Nature -- the Earth and the living beings on it, is also worthy of awe and respect. Personifying it doesn't hurt and can be very useful as long as I remember what I'm doing and don't take it too seriously. (I name computers, vehicles, and musical instruments too.) I usually call it the Earth Mother.
• Prayers and rituals don't affect the universe -- nobody's listening. But they do affect me and the people I share them with, so sometimes I do rituals (mostly by invitation) or pray (usually either to the Earth Mother, or to Bast).
• Sometimes I meditate -- not too often these days. Maybe I should get back to it.
• I try (and succeed more often than not) to write a gratitude post every Thursday. My target is at least five items.
• What happens to my consciousness after I die is unknowable. Hopefully nothing, or at least not very long, because eternity is a very long time. But memories live on, and so do songs. Being kind to people makes the memories good ones. (Never anger a bard -- they are not subtle and people remember funny songs.)
• Just because there probably isn't an afterlife, that doesn't mean I can't write about one. There's a lot of healing in stories. I write memorial posts for the ones I've lost. (My wife swore that she saw a ghost on our back stairs, and I've been visited by invisible cats a few times.)
• Talking to dead people, cats, stuffed animals, and rubber ducks is harmless and often very useful. Sometimes they answer -- detachment and dissociation are valuable tools.
• We don't know everything. Or much of anything, really. Mystery is good for the soul (whatever that is -- probably needs another post).

edit: 0428 to fix broken link

Comments

[acelightning73]

"Never piss off a bard. Your name scans perfectly to 'Greensleeves'"

[freyjaw]

Cool!

At this late date, I do pray. I am very Lutheran in how I pray, in that I just quietly talk to God. Nothing showy, just like a friend I really respect. I make sure to thank Him for Chris. Dad made the third sacrament for lunch, namely hotdish. How Lake Wobegon of him.

Samhain is very cathartic. We've been known to hold a quiet sabbat with just the two of us. The last cat who was interested in what we were doing was our Steve. He loved incense, for one.

[dreamshark]

A beautiful and thoughtful post. It accords with most of my own belief system (or lack thereof), except that I don't write songs or talk to rubber duckies. I particularly like your opening statement, which I might borrow if someone asks me if I believe in God.

[mdlbear]

Thanks!

[acelightning73]

Looking up into the night sky was my youngest religious experience. "The boundless sight of heaven's height, and the fires on the deep." And if you dodge between the stars, you can keep going FOREVER, until you wind up going up your own arse.

[mdlbear]

Yup -- that line is a large part of what sold me on "Ship of Stone"

[acelightning73]

Me too. When I was a kid, and I'd only just gotten glasses because I couldn't read the blackboard in school. Just being able to see the world with edges was amazing enough. And then at my family's summer cottage in New Hampshire. I slept on the screened-in porch, because I found that I could make out major constellations without my glasses on! And while the frogs sang their love songs in the lake, I spotted the Dippers above the ski mountain on the other side of the lake. And the night air was pleasantly cool and smelled of pine trees. And the sky always called to me UP! was where I belonged. And in the forest, it was so dark that I could clearly make out how MANY stars there were up there!