Pagan Holly

In a moment of uncharacteristic daring, I volunteered to be a panelist at a multifaith spirituality event hosted by the university mindfulness group with which I volunteer. In order to preserve confidentiality I can’t discuss the other panelists’ talks or the conversations we had with attendees, but I’m happy to share my own answers to the guiding questions, which I’ve edited a little to suit the blog format. How has spirituality and/or religion helped or hindered your development as a person and your life path? My family’s first church was Presbyterian and it had a positive, welcoming vibe; I have a lot of good memories from my childhood as a part of that church community. When I was a young teenager, my parents started looking for a new church. I hated that process and didn’t like the church they eventually picked, which was Methodist. Around the same time, I entered a relationship with an Evangelical Christian boy who was concerned that I’d go to hell if I didn’t practice

I promised that when Imbolc 2020 rolled around, I would look back at my first year of Paganism and consider where I’m headed next. I didn’t anticipate that one year would go by so quickly! It took me a little while to organize my thoughts but here they are. I’ve separated them into sections that helped me think logically about where I’ve been and what’s to come. What Worked I’ll start with the obvious: Paganism. I’m still here. Although I experienced doubts and setbacks, at no point did I reconsider my choice to walk a Pagan path. There are things I’d like to do differently in the coming year but try a new religion isn’t one of them. I am overwhelmingly sure that I want to stick with Paganism. Awareness of nature. I’ve been developing my conscious relationship with nature for a few years longer than I’ve been practicing Paganism. Marking seasonal changes by celebrating sabbats deepened my connection with the natural world and leant more meaning to that connection. Tuning int