When I teach the course Year and a Day, where you discover your witchcraft faith and practice (actively being rewritten and revised to be more inclusive towards other continents’ non-traditional faiths and practices), I start by saying:
Your faith is always up for revision. Don’t believe what a person of authority says, just because its a talking head. It is your faith. Believe your eyes; believe your experiences; and believe your relationship to your faith. Even if that means it needs to be revised.
I think I’m at revision mode.
And it’s hard.
VERY hard!
I am…. Was?… Benedicaria. Benedicaria is miscategorized as a Catholic folk tradition, combining the elements of the old Italian faith, which was polytheistic, with Catholicism. In reality, it takes the old polytheistic Italian faith and combines it with whatever the practitioner comes from in blending of families, origin, or nationality. It’s the perfect “Eclectic Witch Religion,” to be honest.
Having been under this belief system for so long had made me objective and accessible in teaching faith traditions because I fully believe that all the religions are correct. You see, if the old Italian ways can be combined with anything (and I mean anything) then that means they all must be right and correct in some way, right?
A true omnist. I believe that your god exists, and I believe that their goddess exists, and I believe that the ones I commune with also exist.
But.
Now, I am… not questioning my faith… but feeling more aligned with another.
Taoism. The more I study, the more I feel one with the way of living and the faith its connected to.
So, what does that mean for me as a witch? As a priest of Benedicaria? As a Shaman of Nefertum? As a kahuna of hilina’i? As a channel for the Orisha? What does this mean?
Does it mean that I abandon the gods who love and help me? Does it mean that I turn my back from what I was… still am… still an expert in… and begin a new path, one that feels like it is more in alignment with who I am and what I am meant to be?
I am not Chinese, I don’t plan on learning any Chinese language, and I only discovered Taoism because I love taking Tai Chi and have moved into instructing (some) and into my black sash status.
Can I adequately accept Taoism as my faith and call myself a Taoist witch, but also practice with the deities of Africa and southern Europe?
I don’t know. I don’t, genuinely, know. And I feel at a loss for my deficiency, especially when so many students around the world regard me as an expert, or at least a guide, on non-traditional faith and how to incorporate it into your life.
Then I was reminded of a Taoist passage:
“To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day.”
And one more;
In order to control our lives, and accomplish something of greater value, we must Believe. We can only believe when we are truly stripped of what we think we know.
I thought I knew my faith. A nice little creolized package. Can I encorporate Taoism into my Benedicaria practice? Will the gods stay?
If I hang on, I’m not actually controlling my life. I am not in a state of Belief.
Facing past me, sitting in front of a class of students who were where I am now, I see the wisdom I had, and now replay it for future me, the current me:
Your faith is always up for revision. It’s yours.
I guess I’m Taoist now? I hope the gods will still love me. I must decide to… Believe.
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