My Truths

Written November 17th, 2008; updated September 25th, 2009.

It's time to wipe the slate clean and burn away the dross.

When I was eighteen, I'd been studying paganism for three years and practicing it for two. On my birthday, I formally dedicated myself both to Wicca and to the Warrior archetype. I still have the oaths I took.

I reread them. Though my labels have changed - I no longer consider myself a Wiccan, and I no longer call myself only a Warrior - the concepts, the truths, have not. The tenets that I felt were so important then that I would swear to them are still valid to me today.

Recently, my head's been clouded with things from various paradigms/faiths that I found, that I like, but that I don't feel. I've been unwittingly trying to contort myself to adopt those as my truths when they simply don't fit. I've been losing touch with my roots, with what I feel, and what I feel is what I believe.

So, I took a scalpel and sliced away all the extraneous nonsense and self-imposed expectations, and here's what I found amidst the remains.

The purpose of life is to live it - to experience, learn, grow, and evolve.
Life is sacred. Harm as little as possible in the course of striving and thriving.
The Universal Soul connects and animates everything.
The world is alive and full of magic; everywhere you look, you can find beauty and wisdom and wonder, even in the most trivial and artificial of things. Seek joy.
Everything happens for a reason. There is no such thing as a meaningless coincidence. Also, karma works.
Reality is subjective and there is no absolute truth; we choose our own paradigms. You get what you believe, and sometimes even what you ask for.
Quantum physics, the string theory, and science form the basis of my religion. All is energy at its most base level; we are frequencies that have built ourselves shapes.
There is more to life and this world than what can be perceived with the physical senses. Every physical entity and object has an energetic counterpart in the spiritual/astral plane, and there are also entities and objects on the spiritual/astral plane that do not have physical counterparts.
Belief, intent, and energy all have the power to manifest changes on both physical and spiritual planes.
Souls (living spirits bound to bodies) outlive their bodies and reincarnate. They have no permanent species or gender, and they choose the circumstances of their rebirths.
Archetypes and base/elemental forces shine through various faces and names, including animal totems and man-made deities. We can choose and/or shape the faces and names through which we experience the Universal Soul.
Love is the driving force, as is joy and desire/passion/hunger.

Oneself is not better or lesser than any other individual. Take care of yourself and your life before you try taking care of others and their lives (and respect their individuality and free will).
Similarly, humans are not superior, nor are we inherently unnatural. We are equals to all other life-forms, and we come from the same womb as they.
Walk a lifetime in another's skin before you judge. Look from all angles before deciding or opining.
Difficulties are opportunities to experience, learn, strengthen, and wisen.
Stability does not equal stillness. Strength can be found in fluidity and adaptability; apathy and stagnancy are death.
Honesty, respect, kindness, courtesy, patience, generosity, tolerance, strength, and gentleness are prized. Deceit, manipulation, rudeness, bigotry, and malice are reprehensible.
Words are art and offerings, not an exchange, when communicating with Spirit. True dialogue is achieved in silence, through the heart and not the intellect.

Those are my truths. Those comprise my spirituality, my faith, my religion, my path, my worldview. I may intellectually admire and study other things, such as mythology and pantheons, but the above truths are how I view this world and this life. (And, if it wasn't glaringly obvious, the second section are more guidelines on how to live than truths of my paradigm. They are also specific to only me; I wouldn't presume to judge anyone else's relationship with the Universe.)

This entire process of stripping away the slag and getting back to the core of things has been incredibly reinvigorating - it feels very right to me.