Back To My Roots

I was born into a very spiritually diverse family. My mother is an eclectic pagan, and studied many different forms of Eastern spirituality and mysticism throughout her life. My father may have been an atheist, or at least was indifferent to any God he did believe in. My maternal grandmother, whom I lived with until I was 12, was of the Greek Orthodox Church, and there were elements of folk magic in her day-to-day living that had their roots in her family line going back at least a couple of generations. My grandfather was Irish Catholic. I have a Christian aunt who married a Jewish man, and a cousin who is currently finding religion behind bars. I was brought up learning a combination of my mother and grandmother's faiths, but always gravitated more towards my mother's views. I was enthralled by the mysteries and stories of the gods of several pantheons, mostly those of my actual blood ancestry, Greek, Roman, Norse, and Celtic. I am grateful for the eclectic, diverse views I was exposed to in my early years. I feel it protected me from falling into the all-too-common trap of believing there is only one true religion. I learned early on that when it comes to spirituality, truth is a very slippery thing, and much more subjective than most realize. I feel that, within a framework of love and appreciation for the whole of humanity and a desire to do good in this world, the concept of Unverified Personal Gnosis is a valid one. My personal gnosis is that the nature of the gods is pantheistic, in that they are one and the same with natural phenomena, but that does not mean they cannot be communicative with humanity. Human thought and communication is a natural phenomenon as well, isn't it? I am not sure I have the proper words to explain it right now, so I will just move on.

Recently, I have felt the pull to return to the Greco-Roman side of my heritage, and the gods in that pantheon. The sagas of those gods and heroes have always held a special place in my heart and soul, and I feel I am coming upon a turning point in my spiritual development. The time may come, very soon, that I devote myself to that pantheon completely. This is something I must continue to meditate and pray on, but there is an intimate tendril creeping into my heart from Olympus itself, and I believe it is about to take root. I am not exactly sure how many readers I have, but however many, I will keep you all posted!