Welcome to October.
Iām thinking of any of you who have been adversely affected by Hurricane Ian, and hoping youāre safe and well. The pictures of devastation are tragic, both in the US and in the countries that lack the US infrastructure and are completely in ruins. My go-to for relief support isĀ Together Rising, but if you are connected to any smaller organizations doing on-the-ground relief work that could use support, please do send my way.
If youāre new to Sunday Soul Care, I welcome you most warmly. I try to create a cozy space of curiosity here each week, to remind myself and others that we really are okay. No matter the level of hurt, distance from previous faith, or how lost we may feel, my hope in this space is that you can remember thatĀ all spiritual journeys are okay with God and that your soul is a safe place to try on new ideas.Ā
This month is October, historically my least favorite month because Iāve never really liked Halloween, and all the gnarliest things of Halloween seem to seep into the rest of the month. But it wasnāt just Halloween-y things that Iāve avoided: basically anything mysterious not included in the Christian canon of āacceptableā supernatural beliefs got lumped together as āevilā and ādemonicā or āoccultā and shunned.
As Iāve deconstructed, Iāve realized that while I will never, ever, ever want to watch a movie about a chainsaw murderer and that I will always hate those motion-detected laughing zombies people put outside their front doors, there are other things in the supernatural realm that it is okay for me to be curious about and explore. I thought you might be curious, too.Ā
So, this month weāre going to talk about some of the more woo-woo things we might wonder about, but havenāt ever felt free to explore. Things like astrology, Pagan spirituality (we already celebrate their holidays, why not?), Tarot reading, ghosts and demons.Ā
But today, I want to look at the whole topic in general and understand a little more about why we might feel so tentative and fearful, and how we can move beyond that.
THOUGHT
Have you noticed that whenever someone finds meaning in something mystical, they often preface what they tell you with the phrase, āI know this sounds a little woo-woo, butā¦ā? Thereās an overall skepticism toward anything intellectually that goes against the laws of physics as we understand them. And yet sometimes, our experiences reach a different conclusion than our logic.Ā
Are we just silly and gullible for believing, or are we tapping into a knowing greater than what we can rationalize?Ā Is all this bogus, or have the intuitive wisdom traditions perpetuated by women been silenced and derided over centuries by a threatened patriarchy?Ā Are we fraternizing with the forces of evil, or have they been given undue credit for the mysterious ways of the world?
When I look back at my own faith foundation, thereās a lot thatās pretty woo-woo in Christianity. Here are a few things that Christians of various traditions have absolutely no problem believing:
There are invisible angels and demons battling and influencing us at all times
Going in and out of the water during baptism impacts your eternal destiny
Bread and wine turns into Jesusā body and blood in your body
The spirit of God lives inside our bodies and communicates to us
If I put my wants and needs into prayers, vocal or silent, that has the power to change the course of the future
Snakes and donkeys can and have talked
Jesus died and came back to life and walked around
Jesus was conceived by a virgin and became God walking on earth, able to control wind and waves with words.
God spoke the entire universe into existence over the course of a few days.
If we can believe all of this, is it so outrageous to think that there are other supernatural things that might be true, too?Ā If we believe that the earth was spoken into existence by God, is it so crazy to think that the natural world might retain some of that power and have something meaningful to communicate with us? If we believe that the wise men were led to Jesus by the stars, is it so evil for me to look into astrology to find guidance? If we believe that Jesus raised people from the dead, is it so crazy to think that ghosts might be a little bit real, even if not in the horror/scary ways weāve told tall tales of? If Jesus believed in demons, does that mean I have to believe in them, too?
Or maybe for you, itās more like if youĀ donātĀ believe all this about Jesus anymore, are some of these other things true, instead?
For a long time, Iāve avoided learning about many of these things because I was afraid. I told myself it was out of respect for Jesus that I didnāt want to engage in these topics. But I think deep down I was just afraid of poking around and getting on Satanās radar as a potential target. I was afraid of dabbling (why do we always use that word for this topic?) into things that might have the power of Satan at their root because I didnāt think I was spiritually strong enough (i.e., hadnāt memorized enough Bible verses) to defend myself. I was afraid of getting spiritually attacked in scary and violent ways.
But as my inner health grows, I realize how much of that avoidance was, in itself, an old wiveās tale. I am a grown up. I am a human. I still believe I have divine spirit collaborating with my spirit within me. I no longer believe in hell, which minimizes my fear of evil beings quite a bit. I can explore things without fear of retribution, understanding that a lot of that fear has nothing to do with God and is just historical conditioning by men in power trying to control what people believe through the centuries.Ā I am capable of learning anything, evaluating it for myself, and deciding whether to receive or reject what I learn.Ā
I donāt know yet if I believe in astrology, but I believe that millions of people find it meaningful, and Iām curious to understand what they see in it. I donāt know if I believe in Paganism, but I see that there has been a consistent thread of finding divinity in nature across time and cultures, and Iām curious to see if I have anything to learn from these traditions. I donāt know if I believe in Satan or demons or ghosts, and Iām still a little afraid, but Iām curious to learn more about the history of these beliefs and where they came from.
So, with the confidence of my autonomy and the trustworthiness of my judgment, Iām eager to explore a bit more about these topics over the next few weeks, and share with you what I learn as I go.
What woo-woo things are you interested in, however tentative and nervous you may be?
AFFIRMATION
You are a grown up.
You are a human.
You have trustworthy intuition.
You have divine spirit guiding you from within.
You are allowed to explore any topic that interests you, to evaluate it for yourself, and decide whether to receive or reject what you learn.
You do not need permission from your religious heritage to find meaning or wisdom in your world.
You can be as woo-woo (or not!) as you want to be.
Trust that gut. It's a good one. See you back here next Sunday.
Have a boo-tiful week,
Joy