Being Human

Feeling like a human being, and connecting with other humans can be a struggle for me as an autistic person. So often, qualities that are defined as essential and “natural” to humans don’t come as naturally to me, or as I’ve come to realize, simply *work differently*. Over time, the definition of human has broadened- in Western Enlightenment tradition, only white land-owning Christian men were accorded full human rights. Hundreds of years later, we are still working on the whole “all are created equal” thing. In Unitarian Universalism we acknowledge this in the First Principle- “We affirm and recognize the inherent worth and dignity of every person”. This is in contrast to the Christian belief in Original Sin- which was actually not a part of early Christianity, we have stodgy ol’ St. Augustine of Hippo to blame for that one. We believe in Original Blessing, that every child is born a redeemer. 

I do not interpret the First Principle as meaning that humans are perfect. At some point we are all going to mess up in both minor and major ways, and we need to find forgiveness, atonement and redemption. I believe these concepts are often missing in Pagan religions, with their emphasis on cosmic justice and harsh honor codes, but I think they can be found if we look more deeply. They may express themselves differently in Paganisms but they are still present. Paradoxically, in different types of Christianity forgiveness and redemption can be at times too easy and too difficult. I’ll go into this more in another post (and after more research!) but suffice to say that in most Pagan religions, personal responsibility needs to be taken for wrongdoing. It is not easily forgiven by a god who will take away your sins. There is usually some type of ritual purification, both spiritual and physical that takes place, and atonement made to the community and to the spirit world with material offerings.

In the esoteric philosophy of Thelema, “Every man and woman is a Star”. Each person, then must find their True Will (Thelema means “will” in Greek) their higher purpose, which cannot conflict with that of any other person. Freemasonry also focuses on human self-improvement.
It is not surprising to me to find similar ideas in these other philosophies, because they also are very influenced by the humanism of the Enlightenment. For anyone who has interest in both UUism and magic, those are two paths I would suggest checking out, and both are very theologically open.

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Favorite “M” Pagan Blog Project Posts

Catching up on some major backlog!

Holidays

Midsummer’s Light– Magickal Pen- lovely poem and reflection on the Solstice!

Deities/Spirits

Mara & Modesty– Book of Mirrors- one of things I enjoy about PBP is all the different perspectives- this person worships Mara, a goddess from the Skyrim video game universe. This may seem silly but if you read it, you can see the sincerity and devotion she feels. (Note: there’s also a Latvian goddess by that name, not sure if there’s a connection..)

Mother Nature– Blue Crow- comparative myth & commentary about earth mother figures- I liked this comment: “Note to all you people who called our earth Gaia: that’s the Greek pantheon. Why pick one name out of the air and use it to name our living world, yet give no consideration to the rest of the Greek deities?  You aren’t Greek, you aren’t in ancient times, you don’t follow those gods and goddesses, so why? New agers, pfft! It’s all very well having a varied path, finding pieces of many threads to weave your own path but come on! If you’re going to make things up, why not call Her Sheila or another name lol?  Or how about just Mum?”

Meretseger– Fluid Morality writes about a lesser known Egyptian cobra goddess

Multiple Gods with the Same Focus– Kylara’s Musings

Morning Glory Zell: America’s Priestess– Book of the Eucalypt- a beautiful tribute to an amazing woman!

Male Familiars in Disney Films– Hedged Paths- I suppose it’s debate-able how “pagan” this really is, but the Disney geek in me couldn’t resist!

Sacred Objects, Symbols etc.

Masks– Kylara’s Musings- nice little essay on the uses and meanings of masks, Broom with a View also writes about masks.

Moldavite– Super-Duper Space Witch- interesting info about a stone I’ve never heard of!

Traditions

What is a Mystery Religion? the Broom Closet explains

Masonry/Co-Masonry– Set-jataset Masonry actually reminds me a lot of UUism, though with more mysticism and ritual. So if you’re a UU looking for a mystery tradition, that’s one way to go. “On a personal level, members are encouraged to raise their personal value without dogma and as a whole, members are encouraged to unite together to converse about theosophy and spirituality whilst respecting each other’s personal differences.” Also founders of this particular order were involved in French women’s suffrage!

Practices

Moontime– In Librarius Venefica- While I’ve never been especially interested personally in the spiritual aspects of menstruation, I’m all for finding more positive ways of viewing/experiencing it!

Morning Ritual– Book of the Eucalypt I always find it interesting to see regional variations on the directions.

Mandrake & Bear– Love by the Moon- poetic writing about experiences with Mandrake ointment

Minimalism– Serpent’s Labyrinth- after painful experiences of losing many of his spiritual items, Nornoriel learns to make do with very little.

M is Not for Muggle, Experiential Pagan and Kitchen Witch Musings both write on this. Honestly I’ve used that term jokingly, and I’ve seen other folks do so as well, but I haven’t really seen people seriously use it. Technically I am a Muggle, not being a magic-user! Now, I could see using it for non-Harry Potter fans…

Motivation– Fluid Morality