u/Miserable-Host-9462

Hey guys,
After many years of hating the rulers of our societies, the nonsense they do to control and harm us, etc etc, the prison planet idea makes much more sense to me. I wouldn’t say I strongly believe it or could convince anyone of it, but the story behind it rings true to me regardless.
That being said, how do you guys approach conversations with people who ask for proof or rationale behind believing in it? The best I have is “it feels true”, but I know that’s not very rational lol

Hey guys,
I hear 2 different opinions about spiritual awakening. Some say shrooms, lsd, etc are great avenues. Others say they are false avenues that you have to learn you don’t need.
Any consensus from you guys?

Hey everyone, someone completely new to even looking into paganism at all here.
I keep finding information about different types of pagans: Celtic, Norse, Wiccan, Druid, non theistic, theistic, etc etc.
having been a Christian my whole life, these various types immediately strike me as sort of contradicting camos that all disagree with the others. HOWEVER, the vibe I get from things I’ve read or listened to seem to paint the opposite picture; the feeling seems to be they are all accepting of one another while holding different specific beliefs and practices.
So that’s it, I just don’t understand how you can all disagree in principle, but also agree that the others are valid and good. I love it, I just can’t wrap my head around it. Any help welcome, thanks!

I’ll try to be succinct.

I was a Christian for almost 30 years, stopped believing because I looked into it and realized I wasn’t believing because of logic and reason but because it was normalized around me my whole life.
Started seeking truth in philosophy/studying other religious beliefs.
Found Alan Watts and GREATLY agree with his description of reality (roughly: awareness and existence itself is “god”, and the world as we see it is literally a divine play where “god” is manifesting as all people/animals/objects/etc. I’m entirely sold on this and I find it beautiful.
That being said, I’ve recently found animism and love the ideas. However, I’ve heard from many “animist educators” (I don’t know what you’d call them) that if you don’t believe in the supernatural (specifically fairies, spirits, etc) then you aren’t an animist. Even including actual deities.
This seems incorrect. Could someone help me understand please. A million thanks!

I tend to ramble, so I’ll be super succinct.

I’m interested in learning about paganism.
Pagans seem to have ceremonies, rituals, worship, etc.
Most pagans (at least these days) seem to be more in agreement with the ideology or philosophy behind their paganism, but not actually believing in it as “real” (like the way a Christian would say god/Christ is real).

My essential question is this: why do pagans who DONT believe in any actual gods or actual magic practice “worship” or ceremonies AS IF the objects of their paganism were legitimately real?

I sincerely don’t understand. To me it seems like paganism is a wonderful way to “mythically” explain reality or reflect your ideology about reality in a creative manner, but I don’t understand people who 1) believe any of it as actually real or 2) practice worship/ritual without believing it’s real.

Any advice would be great, thanks!

I long for something supernatural to exist. Some sort of magic beyond the physical world that would give life some ultimate, mystical meaning. Don’t know if it’s my Christian upbringing, history of enjoying Tolkien/Star Wars/CS Lewis, who knows. My longing for it is unbelievable. But logically it seems like a mere wish, and nothing based on reality. So instead I’m just an atheist who thinks there’s nothing beyond matter (at least not proven yet). And I’m pessimistic and fucking depressed, to be honest.
Any wise words that might help someone in my position?