Separation of Church and State

 I'm gonna be a bit American in this post, mostly because that's where I live and what I'm most familiar with.  But I want to talk a bit about Separation of Church and State...what it means and why that's SO important for everyone.

First, let's talk about what it means.  In many places, throughout history, there has been a dominant religion, and this was often supported by the ruling government.  There was often an official religion, and laws that supported those religious beliefs.  This could include making laws that hinder, or make it outright illegal, to practice a different religion.

What I find interesting is that often the separation was created to protect religion and keep it 'pure' (and out of the political realm).  I think there is something really wise about this, from a religious standpoint.  People shouldn't feel like they have to follow a specific religion, they should practice the religion that they feel is the right match for them.

I also think that our modern world is simply too connected (and in some ways too separated) to support official religions.  In many places, there isn't a proper dominant religion (and I don't count Christianity as a whole, simply because so many branches of Christianity do not agree on very basic tenants), especially now that people can learn about so many different faiths online.  On the flip side, we can't always just 'get up and move' to a place where our own faith is practiced (or at least protected).

Here's where I'm going to get a bit specific (to the US).  We are supposed to be a country with separation of Church and State.  We don't have an official religion...and yet we also do.  Whether I like it or not, our country is functionally Christian.  We have state holidays that are based on Christian religious holidays (and no other religion has officially recognized holidays).  Most people here assume everyone is Christian (which is so very close minded).  We have bits and pieces of Christianity spread throughout our lives, from the Pledge of Allegiance (which didn't include the phrase "under God" in it's original version) to simple things like saying God bless you when someone sneezes.  

But all of that is fairly benign.  Where it gets really scary is the way that many politicians and other people in power treat their faith as if it should be the golden standard to which all people are held accountable.  The fact that the bible is ever brought up in arguments about law is absolutely ridiculous.

What also really gets me seeing red is when some stupid law gets passed or a ruling gets made in a court somewhere that allows for religious exemption or practice, and then a non-Christian is like, "Cool, so I can do my own religion's practice here right?" and the people who were involved in the original law loose their minds because they assumed it would only apply to them.  Supporting prayer in schools comes immediately to mind.  So many people just have no concept of the fact that this means that other religions can represent themselves in this law...and that gets people all riled up.

It's this double standard that really bugs me.  The idea that if I want to pray to the Christian God, that is considered right and proper, and appropriate for children of all ages, but if I want to pray to Odin, suddenly I shouldn't be allowed to share my thoughts with kids.

I also find it absolutely mind boggling that, as people of other religions push back against the rampant Christianity that is dominating our country, Christians are crying out that they are getting persecuted against.  Because other religions want representation around the winter holidays, suddenly it's a war on Christmas and Christians.  I just don't understand how people can be so blind.

The thing is...I honestly feel like the world would be a better place if we kept Church and State separate.  Yes, there would be an adjustment period, and there will always be extremists who will take offense to any way but theirs being offered (and by the way, can we please start talking about the bad parts of some religions?  Every faith has their bad eggs, mine included, and ignoring them makes you look a little silly), but ultimately we create space for everyone to live...and prosper!

I always thought it was silly to not let people have their holy days off...and yeah it makes things a bit more complicated, but it also creates opportunities.  If Christians get Christmas and Easter off, why can't I get Sabbats off?  I'm happy to work on Easter if I can get Ostara off.  Imagine a world where everyone worked together to keep things functioning all year long.

And while we're on the topic, let's do something about Sundays!  Sundays shouldn't be a special day, because that's based on religion (and let's also not forget that Judaism considers Saturday the holy day of not working).  Let Christians have the option of Sundays as their guaranteed day off, let Jewish people take Saturdays, and let other people pick the day they want (based on their religion or just their personal needs).  Also can we not with the whole "stores can't sell alcohol on Sundays" (for the same reasons)?

I firmly believe that my government has NO business making laws specific to any religion.  We make laws to create a society that supports everyone, and basing any of those laws on one of the many, many religions of the world is just insane.  It may have worked in the past, when people didn't know better, but we should have grown up by now.  We should have learned that different doesn't mean evil, and that just because someone doesn't follow the same religion as you doesn't make them a bad person.  We are waking up to SO much, we need to wake up to this as well.

The importance of shared experiences

 I firmly believe that everyone is unique...we are all our own special people and our experiences are specific to us.  Even if when looking at twins who grew up together, they will be different people, and they will have different experiences in the same situation, even if it looks (from an outside perspective) as if they are having the same experience.

We tend to try to clump people together and make generalizations about experience based on common factors.  For example, we may feel like women in general are more nurturing and 'naturally' take to motherhood, and yet obviously, not every woman feels that way.  By trying to create a unifying factor, we are actually isolating the people who don't feel like they fit and making them feel like they are less than or 'not a real' woman (or whatever other category you clumped people into).

This is why I feel like shared experiences...in conjunction with talking about those shared experiences and our personal responses to them...are so important.  The shared experience gives us a common ground to work from, but then our personal reactions (and talking about them) let us see the differences in our perspectives.  The more we not only share experiences but really dive into how we felt during those experiences, the more we will come to realize that no one experiences things exactly the same..and not only is this okay, but it's wonderful!

But I also feel like we need to work harder to include diverse groups in our shared experiences.  Most people have certain groups (or types) of people who they associate with on a regular basis...and most of us seek out people that are 'like us' to hang out with, because we feel like we have that bases of shared life experiences.  In fact, we often seek out groups that fit the parts of us we most identify with, whether that is based on our race, our culture, our gender, our sexual identity (or tastes), our hobbies or our struggles.

The problem comes when we only associate with (and share experiences with) people who we assume are like us.  The more we surround ourselves with people who are just a reflection of our own self, the more we start to forget that there are other types of people and other types of experiences.  We are literally denying ourselves the opportunity to experience a bigger world...we are limiting our world.

Being in broader groups and sharing experiences with people who aren't like you can definitely be scary.  You may feel more alone (at the start) and worry if the other people will understand you or judge you.  You may have been told stories about what other people are like (and often stories about 'other people' are very biased and designed to make outsiders seem undesirable) or maybe you are just scared of making a mistake and insulting someone because you don't know better.

But widening your circle to include more diversity can also bring a lot of excitement.  It can literally open up whole new worlds to you, expose you to ideas and things you couldn't have imagined....and also show you how many similarities you have with people you maybe didn't think you'd have anything in common with.

Truth is something we often struggle with, but sharing experiences has a way of letting people experience the truth for themselves.  It's much easier to show someone how hard something is (especially if you can make it so they can go through it personally) than to try to describe it.  

It can take a lot of bravery to put yourself in a new experience, but being open to it will go a long way in helping you adjust and have a wonderful time.  One of the most important things is to try your best to get rid of all your expectations (except for having a good time!).  If you think you know what a thing will be like (but you've never actually tried it), then take a breath and clear your mind and focus on what you are experiencing. 

Setting aside our judgements can be tricky, but it is worth it.  And sometimes your expectations might be spot on, and sometimes the experience might not be that enjoyable.  But even in those cases, you learn something!  And moving forward, you now have experiences outside your comfort zone, you have shared experiences with people who aren't in your normal social circles...and that alone can give you a huge advantage over anyone who keeps only to people they feel are 'like them'.

Informal notes...aka Pagan Prayer Journaling

 Okay, so a bit ago I was thinking about stuff to write about, and I stumbled across this blog post:  65 Prompts for Pagan Prayer Journaling.  Now, this is a fabulous list of things to write about, but what especially caught my eye was the reframe it had on studying, notes, daily practice and journaling!  

As someone who is a big fan of taking personal notes (I definitely remember more when I have to write it out by hand, but also information sinks in better if I need to reword it into my own words), I still think of 'notetaking' as a formal process.  I have organized Books of Shadows, as well as a whole collection of notebooks that hold other notes and information I've written down.  And in my head, the goal is always to keep information tidy, so that when I want to find it again, I can.

But the idea of just writing stuff down everyday, whatever comes up or seems to want to be written down is such an enticing one.  I used to keep an 'internet notebook' just for copying over stuff I found online that I wanted to have..but didn't really fit in my BOS or maybe I wasn't sure where I wanted to put it just yet.  I sadly fell out of the habit as I got more used to just bookmarking sites (to be read later....my tbr bookmark selection is like my book tbr list....it's longer than I expect my lifetime to be, and I expect to live for quite a long time!)

I also feel this practice of keeping your daily writing in one place would be very helpful if you are one of those people who (like me) struggles with remembering to work in books that are put away (sometimes, the act of pulling out the specific book I want to write in is too much and I don't end up doing anything at all).  It would also be great if you spend a lot of time outside your home, as you would only need a single notebook to carry with you!)  You could even do this on a journaling app (which makes it even more travel friendly, and you could find one that lets you tag or organize your notes in a way that works for you).

One of the things I really like about this idea is that it lets you vary your daily spiritual writing practice.  Especially when you use a prompt list like this, you have lots of ideas of stuff to write about, when you want to do something spiritual but maybe don't have anything specific in mind (please tell me I'm not the only one who wants to do something but then kinda gets hung up on what to do).

It's kind of like a combination of a commonplace book (which is basically your personal journal of helpful tips and information to remember....made popular back in the days before published books were a reasonable price for the average person), a bullet journal (where you note down important stuff from your day) and BOS (specifically the style of BOS that is like a personal magic diary).

I definitely see aspects of this when I look for examples of witchy/Pagan bullet journals or calendar work.  And I used to see these pretty (or functional, depending on your style) pages of notes and think "wow, that would never work for me, I wouldn't ever be able to find anything", but I think that's really not the point of this type of practice.

Sure, you may end up with notes on things you are interested in and studying, and of course you could go back through your journals and compile the notes into something more cohesive...but you could also just keep making new notes (especially if you are like me, and your brain remembers best through small bits of repetition over the years...it's okay if this is my millionth time writing about astrology because I still don't remember what all the signs mean!!!)

Looking over the list, I think a lot of it could be distilled down to:  "Find a thing that interests you today.  Read about it, or do it...then write about it."  It's an action and then a reaction, and that's where the beauty lies!  It's funny, while I always hated reflections when I had to write them in school (especially reflecting on papers I had written..I hadn't yet figured out that teachers weren't just there to give me grades, but to help me learn, and that honest reflection on what went good, what went bad and how you felt about it is such a major part of learning).

In some ways, I think that is something that can be missing from solitary practice:  the feedback.  This style of journaling allows you to give your own feedback, both immediately and also later, when you go back and read what you wrote previously.  In fact, that would be my own addition to the list:  read a previous journal entry and then write your current thoughts on what you wrote before.

I also really like that they include brainstorming and planning as part of it.  Brainstorming or just coming up with ideas is such a great task, and it's something that we sometimes forget we can do in an unfocused way.  Sure, we can plan out that next ritual or gathering we are attending, but we can also just keep a running list of:  things we'd like to research, ideas we read that we want to try (someday), ritual ideas that would be fun, books to read, tools to buy....anything that you may want to do in the future (but have no definite plans for right now).  The best thing about playing with brainstorming like this is you end up with things you can turn to later (when you are actually looking for stuff to do).

But the absolute best thing (in my opinion) about informal notes like this is that there are no rules.  You don't have to format it in a specific way, you don't have to list your sources (but you can if you want!), you don't have to have all the answers or even know really what you are going to do.  Just pick a thing, and let your thoughts flow onto paper.

Things don't always age well

 The world is constantly changing, and we are living in a time where we see ideas become obsolete in our own lifetime, and sometimes things that were socially acceptable when we were little are definitely not now.  It can be hard to adjust, and to reconcile our feelings with our thoughts.  But we also don't want to toss the baby out with the bathwater, and just because some things are outdated and didn't age well doesn't mean that they should be completely set aside.

This is one place where I feel like we have to engage both our critical thinking and our ability to see things from another perspective.  Just because we don't agree with an idea today, doesn't mean we can't see how our ancestors might have viewed something (and how it could have been something good for them while simultaneously being not good for us).  

One of my favorite examples of this is with mythology.  Many modern practitioners accept myths as a version of teaching stories.  They were a way that our ancestors tried to make sense of the world around them, especially when they lacked the understanding to explain things in a way that made sense to them, and so creating a story to explain what was going on helped them accept changes and situations that would otherwise create anxiety and stress for them.

A lot of myths talk about how things came to be.  Perhaps they are explaining the universe or why humans are different from other life on the planet, or they might be explaining unusual natural phenomenon (like eclipses or earthquakes).  Our ancestors would see a thing, and it wouldn't match with the rest of the world, and they would try to figure out why this thing was different.

Of course, today we often know the reasons why the earth shakes or how humans evolved to develop speech and use tools.  And this may cause us to question our love of myth, because we have two conflicting sources of information (or more, especially if you follow multiple pantheons and now have multiple creation stories for different things).  

But we also have more levels of understanding on how our own brains work.  We have the left brain, the thinking brain, the ego, and that part is the one that likes knowing the why.  In our modern lives, this is the part that often turns to science and logic.  We also have the right brain, the child self, the id, and this part of us loves whimsy and play and symbols.  (yes, these different parts don't quite line up, and then there is the superego/higher self....but you get the idea)

And that is where we can love a thing and also understand why it's not Truth (with a capital T).  Things don't have to be 'real' to be real....a story can be completely made up and still carry weight.  It can move us, in ways that logic and science don't always.  It can bring us to a place of magic.

With outdated ideas, this can sometimes bring real conflict.  Thinking about some of the earliest books on Paganism that I read, there were a lot of really inappropriate ideas about how people interact with each other (being skyclad, sexual initiations, power dynamic, gender duality, cultural appropriation).  Even at the time, I knew some of the things I was reading didn't 'work' for me, I just kind of assumed I was the odd duck out, I must have been just not ready to be that open or that connected to other people.

But even the parts I was conflicted about imprinted in my brain as examples of 'how magic works' (especially magic with multiple people).  I think I will always have romantic ideology about dancing naked in the woods or a working partner, and I kind of tuck those thoughts away in the fantasy part of my brain (you know, the part that idly dreams about movie stars and being rich...yeah that part).

The thing is...I can enjoy those thoughts in my brain, even though if I were to be in that situation in realty I'd definitely be freaking out and highly anxious.  Things aren't black and white, and there are a lot of places where we can live in the grey area.

We may be absolutely opposed to any kind of nakedness with other people, and still enjoy reading a novel where a coven holds those kinds of meetings.  We can watch a movie that embraces very sketchy magical practices....and like the movie, but still condone real world work in those areas.  We can examine a historical document and recognize that we have methods available to us today that simply weren't there before (and thus our ancestors had to take a very different approach when put in a bad situation).

Everyone has to decide their own levels of comfort with things that haven't aged well.  For some, it may make them uncomfortable enough they want to avoid it altogether, and that's fine.  For others, they may be okay with sifting through the troubling bits and pulling out the parts that are okay.  Or enjoying something in a purely entertainment fashion and recognizing that the things we may enjoy in a bit of fiction aren't things that we actually support.  The important thing is to know that there are different ways to approach this, and you don't have to completely avoid things that haven't aged well, if you don't want to.

The sacredness of everyday objects

 When we talk about things that are sacred, we often end up putting things on pedestals.  It reminds me a little of the 'company plates'...you know, the fancy ones that you only break out when company comes, or for holidays or other special occasions.  As a kid, I always looked forward to times when we would break out the company plates...even though it meant more work for me (the company plates couldn't go in the dishwasher of course, so they had to be hand washed and dried).

And there is something about special items that lends themselves to sacredness.  Often it's the extra work that does it.  Because something is special and not for 'ordinary use' we often have more rituals around how we use it.  Much like breaking out the company plates, we may think of ritual offerings as needing special containers, luxury ingredients, something handmade...rarely do we think of the simple everyday things that we use in our regular life.

But those everyday items have their own brand of sacredness.  Let's talk about bread for a minute.  I'll admit, I'm not always a fan of plain old sandwich bread.  It's a super staple, and we are more likely to have it on hand than some other fancy kind of bread.  But for almost everything, I will pick some other kind of bread if it's offered.  I've heard myself say "I don't really like bread...." and I'm always thinking of white sandwich bread.  The funny thing is, I don't really dislike white sandwich bread either, it's just that when thinking about bread, I think of sandwich bread first, and then my brain automatically compares it to the many other kinds of bread and I end up feeling a bit disappointed.

The thing is....I actually don't mind white sandwich bread.  One of my big comfort foods, especially when I'm feeling really off and needing something soothing, is two pieces of sandwich bread, and two pieces of processed cheese (you know, the ones that come wrapped in plastic).  Microwave until the cheese is melted then make a sandwich.  It's soft, it's gooey, and it's absolutely lovely.  (Amusing note:  I'm definitely a fancy cheese lover as well, but I have never disliked the 'cheap' processed cheese)

When I think about using bread for a ritual or offering....my first thought is never sandwich bread.  Even though, as I mentioned earlier, it's what we typically use around the house.  My brain thinks sacred and wants to use something 'more.'

Which I find at odds with how most of my practice is:  using what I've got and trying to entwine spiritual and mundane as much as possible.  I think a lot of it goes back to the early days, where all your spiritual tools were supposed to be special things, only used for ritual purposes.  I've had to fight my own brain along the way, to use tools that were also used for their intended purpose (my first athame was my pocketknife, which I carried with me for all kinds of things).

I know that it can sometimes be hard to see the sacred in everyday objects, especially if they are both terribly mundane as well as inexpensive.  It's like we have been trained to not honor the worth of things that fall into those categories.  This is one of those places where you might have to really sink into the work and recognize the sacredness of an item before you use it.

I find mindfulness practice can really help here (and working on mindfulness with regards to the sacredness of everyday objects can also help your mindfulness practice, which is great for emotional and mental stability...so it's a win/win!).  If you are looking at something, want to use it as a part of your practice, but are struggling with seeing it as sacred, then take a step back and try to see it with fresh eyes.

Really look at it, as if you had never seen it before.  Look at what colors are there, what texture it is, what it smells and tastes like.  Does it have a sound (or absence of sound....white sandwich bread is much quieter than, for example, a freshly baked crusty loaf of sourdough)?  Think about the role it plays in your life...what does this object let you do?  Think about how it makes you feel...and try to think of several different situations and how the object fits into them (like how sandwich bread is super available or I always remember peanut butter and honey sandwiches as travel food because they don't require refrigeration).

Simple, everyday objects can be super fascinating, when we slow down and take the time to appreciate them.  And not only as they are now, but the role they have played in our life.  Most of us are impacted SO much more by everyday objects than we are by things like company plates.  Sure, we had a matching set of fancy coffee/tea cups (with the little saucers)....and I can't remember ever using them (I'm sure we did, I just have no memories of them), but I can clearly remember the hodge podge of souvenir coffee mugs that we had accumulated over the years.  Those were a part of my life...the fancy cups weren't.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with wanting to have and use fancy objects for your sacred work.  I have some lovely, ornate tools that were handcrafted and I keep for special things.  But you are missing out if you don't also consider the everyday things around you...and how they impact not only your daily life, but how they could work into your sacred life as well.  So the next time you are looking for something to work with, don't overlook the things you use every day...you might surprise yourself in how meaningful they become, once you have seen them as sacred.