The Next Phase of Belief
Belief is a cycle (at least for
me).
As we learn and experience
divinity and hone our magic, we open to different experiences and thus, forge
our beliefs. Belief as defined is an “acceptance that the statement is true or
that something exists”, so in this premise, we may see things and accept it
differently from others.
The journey of my belief is quite
a gradual change. I was baptized as an Aglipayan, then converted to Catholicism
when it was needed (since I was in a Catholic Church choir – for my scholarship
during college). The belief in the Monotheistic godhead which has “three forms”
was a curious topic for me. When I was still a “Christian”, I discovered an
affinity with Mary, as the intermediary between me and God. I always feel that
God (The Father) was too far, and the only Divine aspect of this monotheistic
God who is accessible is either the Holy Spirit (The Will of God), and Jesus
Christ, who is God made flesh. Since Mary is the Mother of God, her presence
and her intersession is a “short-cut” to reaching God.
When I was in high school (way
back in 1995), I discovered the joy of Wicca. Looking at the belief of the
religion, it is mainly Duotheistic – the belief that there is a God and a
Goddess with many form and faces. What I believed this time was that God (or
the Divine) is not somewhere far, but is here, around us. This, together with
the belief that Mary is a Divine being and should have been worshipped as a
Mother Goddess, opposite to the Father God. During this time, I familiarized
myself with the different forms and faces of the Goddess, believing that She is
like a diamond, with Her different forms (including Mary) as the different
facets of the gem.
As I have continued becoming a
Wiccan for a few more years (1995-2012), I have immersed myself in the lore of
the Goddess. Here I started to research on my favorite Goddesses (or aspects of
the Goddess at this time), looking at their cultural and historical background,
their beliefs, and places of power. Here my belief evolved into what it is
right now, polytheism.
Comparing the way the Goddess
Hecate is worshipped (and the spirits in general) in Wicca versus how She is viewed
and worshipped in Roman paganism (as Hekate or sometimes Trivia), is quite
different. She has her own set of worship, with sacrifices done in the
crossroads. She is not just a form of the Great Goddess, but a separate Deity altogether.
As a crossroad Goddess, She was deemed as a protector of the roads and travelers.
She is also seen, not just as a crone aspect or face of the Great Goddess, but
also a motherly midwife goddess who takes care of the young. This along with so
many titles and epitaphs make Hekate a powerful and complex deity, not just a
crone and the symbol of the Waning Moon in Wicca.
Roman Paganism on the other hand,
focused first on the spirits of the place. The formless nameless gods that
interact with us daily and giving them respect and prayers as form of an
obligation. The ancient Roman belief started with the veneration of the Numa,
the Divine presence in a place. People regardless of their skills to perceive
the spirits, would always “feel” if the place has something in it. When they
start to bring offerings in these places, creating shrines and altars, the
Deity of the place is “born”. They will also make representations of the Deity’s
form and give it a name, then worship it. As the worship of the deity grows, and temples
are erected in their honor, their following becomes so big that they are
sometimes regarded as the patron/matron god of the place.
This way of worshiping the
spirits is also evident in most animistic practices – in Shintoism, Native
American Shamanism, Philippine Babaylanismo, to name a few. The spirits of the
place are also closely tied with ancestor worship, as some believe that the ancestors
who are interned in a specific place become the guardian spirits of that
location.
In the evolution of my belief system, my polytheistic view of the Divine fit with the beliefs of the Roman religion I am in. Gods within the Religio Romano are individual beings with different personalities and attributes. The reverence of the ancestors is also a very strong system in the religion, as well as the veneration of the spirits of the place (The Lars). In this structure, Religio Romano can also accommodate the native Filipino spiritual belief system – and that makes it better as this hits home.
Growing up in Iloilo, I have been
familiar with tamawo and engkantos. I read them in books, heard it from neighbors,
but most of all, they are characters in stories my grandmother used to tell us.
They are part of the everyday life of people in our province, where they leave
offerings to the “tag-lugar” on altars, invite them during meals and asking
them for bounty – ex. in fishing and farming. People long ago are very
sensitive to these beings because they are not treated as something different
but are considered our unseen neighbors. As I grew in my practice, I have
focused far from home, studying Western magical practices and religions, paying
little attention what we have here. Now it is time to come home to our own
practice and beliefs.
Though I cannot let go my obligation
to the gods I swore to, I am incorporating our pre-Hispanic belief of the
spirits in my practice. Now I am focusing more on the reverence of the ancestors
and working with the spirits of the place, formless, nameless or not.
Let’s go back to the basics,
again.
Moon Phases - https://www.teenvogue.com/story/witchs-guide-to-the-new-year
Shinto Shrine - https://www.greenshinto.com/wp/2017/03/16/hearn-14-ancestor-worship/
Lalarium - https://arjuna-vallabha.tumblr.com/post/160389383012
Wiccan Altar - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca
Hekate Trivia - https://archetypicalwitchcraft.wordpress.com/tag/hecate-trivia/
Babaylan - https://www.aswangproject.com/filipino-shaman/
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