R is for Religious – Pagan Blog Project 2013

This is something I’ve talked about before – That I think of myself as “religious” rather than “spiritual”.
 
Today I want to go a little bit more into what I mean by that.
 

See, like any good religious studies major, I know that “religion” comes from “religio” meaning “to link” – to bind or connect.
 
When I first learned this definition, back about 10-15 years ago (during the same period in-which I was coming pretty strongly into my own Pagan identity, as it happens), I thought it was a very “Abrahamic” choice of words. If “religion” mean “link” or “re-link” that, then, implied that the original connection had been broken in some way, didn’t it?
 
I don’t think that’s quite what’s going on though. At least not necessarily. These days, I understand the link/connection in “religion” to be an ongoing process of acknowledgement. Almost like “touching base”, if I can go that route.
 
Every time I light my altar candles, I’m acknowledging and (thsu?) reinforcing the connection between me and my People.
Every time I acknowledge my gods at a crossroads, a sunset, a bridge, a riverbank, I’m reinforcing that link.
Every time I use my tarot cards to ask my gods and ancestors for advice, I’m re-touching that base, making that “phone call”, and maintaining those connections.
 
The same way that walking a path regularly and frequently will keep the path well-worn and free of over-growth. The same way it’s easier to pick up a conversation with a friend whom you chat with (in person or online) often than it is to reach out to someone to-whom you haven’t spoken in a year.
 
So, yeah. “Religion” –> An ongoing process of keeping the lines of communication open and the ties of my relationships strong.
 
 
TTFN,
Meliad the Birch Maiden.