Do you practice any religions or faiths?

[Darkat]

I find it fascinating and sad at the same time, that for a forum that says it is here to discuss occult subjects, that the majority of people on here are from a christian background and still are very much hooked on that faith.

 

[hollowglasd]

most people from the english speaking west are from a christian back ground of one sort or other. since this is an english using board it only makes sense
besides christianity and the occult go far back in their relationship . i am a Roman Catholic and an occultist. i didnt see the need to abandon my faith for the occult if anything my faith has helped me in the occult.
but i accept everyones faith to each their own.

 

[Sedim Haba]

Indeed, many mix their religious heritage into their occult practice. Even tho I abandoned the RC church right after catechism, I find I use

the concept of Patron Saint today. Much of my Magick is built on a Lurianic Kabbalah foundation. I take the wheat and throw out the chaff.

 

[QeturahBaphomette]

I personally don't have a use for a personal-universalist salvific figure -- I just do Wim Hof. Hope this helps!

 

[Sedim Haba]

I personally don't have a use for a personal-universalist salvific figure -- I just do Wim Hof. Hope this helps!

What about communal religious expression and tikkun olam, are you a shul member?

 

[daughter0fevil]

I was raised under a strict, traditional Christian family that held into this belief there was no God in the general sense, but simply a divine entity that existed to serve as the father of us. However, I personally don't subscribe this belief system anymore and am actively attempting to separate myself from it altogether.

I would now consider myself to be a partial agnostic as I have a strong belief in Lucifer as my Lord for several reasons, as well as Greek mythological deities, practically Eleutheria and Zeus.

 

[Primal]

I consider myself as an explorer of myself and the occult. Rooted in Christianity but not opposed to Lucifer (I see him as the bringer of knowledge and freedom from blind obedience) Still confused and indecisive. I only read and try to understand everything.

 

[sharkbite]

I have gone through several religious journeys over the years but have landed pretty squarely in graeco-kemetic pantheist that dabbles in my family practices (norse polytheism, mètis/cree spirituality) and demonolatry. My creation and afterlife beliefs are a bit of a mess LOL

 

[kazanagifire]

In my country (Japan), very few people hold strong religious beliefs, and I have lived my life without adhering to any specific religion.
However, even without religious faith, I have long enjoyed incorporating practical religious techniques—such as Buddhist Zen—into my daily routine. That is why I practice magic now.

I still do not subscribe to any specific religion.
However—and I imagine some people here have experienced this—when meditating, one sometimes senses something akin to a "Great Being" that lies at the root of all existence. I hold a sense of awe toward that presence.

 

[vulpesarcanus]

I was raised Christian but left. Looked into Buddhism but wasn't for me. I've tried being a pagan, a Heathen, and a Satanist.

I've learned from these religions, but I can't seem to fit in entirety with a single tradition. I'm a lot happier beimg a freelance occultist and doing my own thing in private.

What about the rest of you?

Yeah, I'm not interested in worshipping anything/ being beholden to any spirit. if people around me ask, I typically say buddhist because it aligns with a lot of my actions and is just easier to explain than all of the occult things I'm interested in/practice.

 

[Hydor]

I was granted a choice about religion by wise parents and consider myself eclectically spiritual. It's been an amazing journey . The Abrahamic religions were not for me and I was waylaid by one of them longer than I should have been.

 

[zipzapzop42]

I’ve joked that I’m a vajrayana Quaker but a more accurate description would probably be hermetism heavily influenced by Abrahamic and hindu mysticism

 

[Levi]

Was raised, growing up as a muslim with my Dad being a muslim and Mom being a christrian who converted .However Never have really found Relgion to be for me. Still new too most of all of this occult spirtual stuff and it just reaffirms my belief in Non of the religions. Probs would say im more so agnosist believer. And Do think all these phrophets are beings of high enlightenment telling their storys with their also being many relgious Books lost in history. Im still new to most it but do know meditation will help guide me to the answer on what is the right path for me.

 

[MagiCircino]

I was raised Christian but left. Looked into Buddhism but wasn't for me. I've tried being a pagan, a Heathen, and a Satanist.

I've learned from these religions, but I can't seem to fit in entirety with a single tradition. I'm a lot happier beimg a freelance occultist and doing my own thing in private.

What about the rest of you?

I'm a practicing progressive esoteric Catholic animistic monistic panentheistic monolater, occultist, and universal reconciliationist. I've been through multiple Christian denominations and even planned on becoming an ordained minister/priest. I'm in a weird spot where I believe that all other faiths are valid expressions of the Divine that is also fulfilled in the Person of Jesus Christ. Yet I believe this with not an absolute certainty.

 

[pointwithinacircle]

This seems like a good place - if such a place exists - for the funniest and most inappropriate joke that I know. Do you know the difference between a cult and a religion? In a cult there is one guy at the top who knows that it is all bullshit, in a religion that guy is dead.

 

[nunaphael]

I was raised and baptized as a christian, but at the age of 9, and with serious traumas and mental issues at that age due to early abuse, it meant nothing to me except that it would satisfy the social parasites living inside my parents. I did it for strategic reasons, nothing more. I felt nothing for Christianity then. Ironically, now that I'm 43, I can actually say there are many things about christianity I respect and admire, and many things I don't. I at least got over my traumas (somewhat) enough to develop a more nuanced and personalized relationship to it.

These days I practice anscestor worship. I place my faith in the fate of humanity as a whole. Not just my own direct anscestors (though, I do give my own bloodline a little "extra") but all the dead that have ever lived. All the lives of all the humans who ever lived. Even the baddies. I give thanks to them all. All those who came before, I pour one out for the humankind collective. That's it. Nothing fancy. That's my faith.

 

[emjrabbitwolf]

I’m a general pagan, with spell-crafter notation.
Was brought up lapsed-Christian, but went hunting for answers when god was female to me. Decided CoE wasn’t for me at about 10? Took another 6 years before I found out properly about paganism.
Follow a triple goddess and dual god figures, but for me they encompass aspects of other named deities and figures.
I try to observe Midsummer, Samhain and Yule In some fashion every year.
Also kinda say thanks to Lucifer for leading the way to human choice. For good or ill, many great things have come from that.

 

[Phillian]

I was raised in Roman Catholicism; however, when I was around 6 years old, I had my first religious conflict. I started to step away and, as I grew, began to explore and learn more about other religions. A few, over the years, had a stronger impact on me: Buddhism (which later shifted into Shintoism); Paganism (more focus on the Greek & Egyptian pantheon early on; nowadays more diverse, but also a focus on digging local forgotten roots, as Iberian Celtic practice); Umbanda (which I connect the most, due to entities and deities I have connected with); and I guess due to my reconnection with the past and roots, I start to dive back into Catholicism, but through different routes, align more with Gnostic views (but, I still want to read more about it, however, from what I read it is fascinating and align with my Umbanda practise.)

 

[Ohana]

No reIigion make sense to me. I wasn't raised with it and what I briefIy did Iearn about it was stories and my mind did not seperate religious stories with mythic ones since I never got socialized in their importance to reIigion or what they meant metaphoricaIIy or even IiteraI interpretations.

The cuIture I grew up in was definitely Christian in nature so I absorbed some of the stories/cuIture/socialization of it but not fuIIy and always from an outsiders perspective. I learned about the basics but not a Iot of it. So I learned about some stories and grace and praying for things so I did do prayer for a whiIe because I just visualized it as asking the universe for something. I forget what I asked for maybe more food or good health for peopIe or more movies??? I don't know. I stopped after a whiIe and then kind of forgot about it.

I don't innately get Christianity like a Iot of peopIe seem too. Even after trying to Iearn a IittIe bit more about it I stiII feeI like I don't get it.

When I was younger many peopIe in my Iife either left or died so I guess I started to feel connected to the concept of death. So I guess I made my own mini-spirtuality in my slight isolation of where I grew up. So gave respect to the concept of death and I think that helped me deaI with my grief.

After relearning about Christianity what I reaIIy never understood was the Christian understanding of death. How apperently Jesus/Iesus/Yesh/Josh "conquered" death and rose again. Thats the one sticking point that I don't get since it was seemingly putting someone above Death. I don't get it since in my own mini-spirtaulity about death everything had to yield to it so this concept is reaIIy aIien to me and reaIIy makes absolutely no sense.

I just don't get it. I think I "tried" to be a IittIe rebellious as a kid and maybe a bit ago briefly by Iearning about daemons but you can't do that with something you don't understand. I just don't get it.

Maybe that means I'm damned in Christian theoIogy because I don't get it but I tried to and I stiII can't wrap my head around it. And I feeI Iike that won't change. I bet I couId read the BibIe from cover to cover and stiII not get it. That's my min-rant on faith and reIigion. Maybe I couId get other reIigions or paths or beIief systems if I tried them but for now I don't know if I'll get a great many of them due to my upbringing.

 

[Nembra]

No reIigion make sense to me. I wasn't raised with it and what I briefIy did Iearn about it was stories and my mind did not seperate religious stories with mythic ones since I never got socialized in their importance to reIigion or what they meant metaphoricaIIy or even IiteraI interpretations.

The cuIture I grew up in was definitely Christian in nature so I absorbed some of the stories/cuIture/socialization of it but not fuIIy and always from an outsiders perspective. I learned about the basics but not a Iot of it. So I learned about some stories and grace and praying for things so I did do prayer for a whiIe because I just visualized it as asking the universe for something. I forget what I asked for maybe more food or good health for peopIe or more movies??? I don't know. I stopped after a whiIe and then kind of forgot about it.

I don't innately get Christianity like a Iot of peopIe seem too. Even after trying to Iearn a IittIe bit more about it I stiII feeI like I don't get it.

When I was younger many peopIe in my Iife either left or died so I guess I started to feel connected to the concept of death. So I guess I made my own mini-spirtuality in my slight isolation of where I grew up. So gave respect to the concept of death and I think that helped me deaI with my grief.

After relearning about Christianity what I reaIIy never understood was the Christian understanding of death. How apperently Jesus/Iesus/Yesh/Josh "conquered" death and rose again. Thats the one sticking point that I don't get since it was seemingly putting someone above Death. I don't get it since in my own mini-spirtaulity about death everything had to yield to it so this concept is reaIIy aIien to me and reaIIy makes absolutely no sense.

I just don't get it. I think I "tried" to be a IittIe rebellious as a kid and maybe a bit ago briefly by Iearning about daemons but you can't do that with something you don't understand. I just don't get it.

Maybe that means I'm damned in Christian theoIogy because I don't get it but I tried to and I stiII can't wrap my head around it. And I feeI Iike that won't change. I bet I couId read the BibIe from cover to cover and stiII not get it. That's my min-rant on faith and reIigion. Maybe I couId get other reIigions or paths or beIief systems if I tried them but for now I don't know if I'll get a great many of them due to my upbringing.

Of course you don't "get" Christianity when you have arbitrarily made for yourself an assumption that is irreconciliable with it. You have freely decided that death is the ultimate power. It's like saying that you don't understand politics because you don't believe social constructs exist. If you lift that assumption everything makes perfect sense. Well, at least that part of everything does.