Day 20: Are you religious or spiritual? How has that influenced your practice?


This post is part of a 31 Days of Secular Witchcraft series in which I answer questions about my own personal views about magic and witchcraft.  I urge you to answer the same questions, found here, on your own blog.

I am both.  I am a Unitarian Universalist.  I pray.  I meditate.  I believe that there is something divine out there or in here, although I don't claim to fully understand it.

Because I am religious, I tend to use religious language in my witchcraft.  I tend to ask divine beings for help in my work.  I work with deities almost daily in some form, so inviting their help during spellwork like asking a mom or a trusted older sister for help with my homework.  I trust that the divine will help, and I don't ever feel abandoned or like I'm imposing.  I assume that the universe wants good things for me, so when I make requests via spells, I ask for help and blessing.

However, I don't randomly call on deities for help with a spell if I haven't introduced myself before to that entity.  I'm sure some deities or beings would be happy to help an unknown human, but it feels rude to ask for help if I don't "know" someone.  I don't say, "gee, Aphrodite is a love goddess, this chart says she is good for love spells, I want love help, so I will invoke her.  'Aphrodite, come onnn down!  You're the next contestant on "The Deity is Right."''"  I would work with her in prayer and meditation at least a little bit before I asked for her assistance.  I think this is just good manners.  As with all things spiritual, your mileage may vary.

Moreover, I treat deities as individual beings during spellwork.  I'm an agnostic at heart, and I am not sure that I believe that all deities are "real," separate, discrete beings.  Still, it feels rude to relate to another being as some sort of symbol or abstraction.  I wouldn't want to invoke me as the "archetype of curly-haired coffee drinkers," I'd say, "invite me, Flaming Chalice, as a person to your party and get to know me a little.  Then I will style your hair and make you a bangin' vegan latte."

I find that treating others with common courtesy and respect is a good way to relate to the universe in general, and I bring that to my spiritual practice.