Hi there, I am and Ex-atheist I'm struggling as a baby witch of two months. I'm struggling between really believing and feeling true in my spirituality but also having a hard time as a ex-atheist who use to think its was silly to believe in a deity.
The first thing I should tell you is being a witch does not mean you have to be religious. Witchcraft is a practice, and every witch decides for themselves if their path calls for them to incorporate a belief in deities into their craft. I myself am a pagan witch, but I also know Christian witches, Muslim witches, Satanist witches, atheist witches, and witches from many other walks of life and belief systems. So don't feel pressured to believe in a deity- it's not a requirement to practice magic in any way.
Another thing I want to tell you is that I was raised Roman Catholic. Heavily Roman Catholic. I'm talking baby picture-book bibles as soon as I could string the alphabet together, daily rosaries, Sunday school, aspirations to become a nun- the whole shebang. But it never felt right, deep inside. I was also a voracious reader in a multicultural environment, so I ended up learning a lot about religions outside of my own as well. Eventually I became something of an atheist- or agnostic, perhaps, I don't really know for sure. I never ridiculed anyone for their beliefs, but I did give up participation in organized religion for some years. In spite of that, I still felt like there was more to the world, forces beyond human perception or control. And so I eventually found my way to witchcraft and paganism.
I was a witch before I became a pagan. Joining this community may have led me to my gods, but it did not require me to have any of them, which I found wonderfully freeing. Unlike Catholicism, which was force-fed to me from a very early age and is still being forced upon me by certain family members who refuse to accept that I am and have been a pagan witch for several years now, witchcraft was an open space for me to discover myself and my beliefs, which ended up being paganism. But I acknowledge my experiences may not be universal, so I can only hope you haven't felt pressured to believe in anything you weren't personally drawn to.
If you are trying to connect with deities, but struggle with your former(?) atheistic beliefs, then my advice to you would be to relax and understand that the path you have chosen to walk is not a linear one, and as long as you do your best to shed those beliefs and find new ones, you will be fine. Progress is progress, in any shape, form, or amount it appears in. You are moving at your own pace, and don't need to rush to catch up with anyone else. Your beliefs and practices are yours entirely, and there is no right or wrong way to practice witchcraft or find a belief system. Another thing I would advise you to try is communing directly with whichever deities you may be attempting to worship or align yourself with. If you feel a bit silly, try to cut back on the pomp and ceremony and think of them less as distant guides and more like close companions. Address them respectfully, but also try to talk to them the way you would talk to a friend. That helped me a lot when I was still tripping over my own roots as an ex-Catholic, ex-agnostic(?) atheist, or whatever I used to be as I tried to find my path. It helped ground me and more easily allowed my mind to accept the presence of the deities I found myself drawn to. Something I really find warm and welcoming about being a pagan witch is how much less estrangement there is between my gods and myself. Unlike Catholicism, which made the concept of God something heavy, foreboding, and woefully out of reach, (in my experience! this is not universal, and many witches out there practice their craft hand-in-hand with their God,) paganism was much more relaxed and open about communing with the deities I chose to connect with on a personal level.
But this has all just been my two cents on the matter, and everything I've said comes from my own experiences, which may or may not be similar to yours, so don't feel as though you need to take it to heart if nothing here has helped clarify things for you in any way. Good luck with your practice and your beliefs! Feel free to message me if you have any more questions or concerns.
turnnoffyourmind
areudirty
gracieabrams
pixelskylines
jimmyeatworldofficial
2087
