The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

I hope this will be the proper place to post this message. If not please bear with me.
This is my second post on Cauldron, but I needed to share this with everyone here. It is not perfect but it comes from deep within.

    My mother had an x-ray taken lsometime ago  that showed cancer had covered a large part of her lungs. Her doctor gave her one year expectation. I believe  otherwise. I am a man of faith and of science. There is much out there we do not understand or explain.
 
    I am a pagan by nature. I dwelled for many years in judeo-christian beliefs, and finally decided that those rituals and beliefs just didn't make sense to me. I needed some kind of spirituality in my life, something that would make me whole, that would give some meaning  to my messed up life and a purpose or a direction. SO, a few years back I realised that pagan spirituality was  always there and calling to me.
   
    Before yesterday  I decided to make a formal (or the best I could with my knowledge and financial condition,) dedication ritual to the ancient pre-judeo-christian Powers and spirituality. I called upon Goddess Sekhmet who has blessed me with a touch of her power and presence once before in my life.
   
    I also invoked Goddess Bast because of my long time affinity to felines and presence of cats as pets in my house - 11 cats a few decades ago. I only have 2 cats now. Curiously, my black cat ( black cats are one of my favorite animals), jumped from the top of my closet to near my improvised altar as  I  was doing a toast. Does that make me a witch?
   
    So, I prayed for the protection of my family and above all, the full healing of my mother. I offered the rest of my life in full service of body, spirit and mind without reservations in return for that request.  The thing is, the only actual (virtual) contact I had with pagans were online research, forums, chats and books. I am a very empathic person and always loved nature since I was a small boy if you wanna count that.

    So, I am here to make a request also.  I will probably find little or no pagans where I live.  I would humbly and respectfully ask anyone´s assistance, experience and guidance, specially In rituals and meditation, but not only. These days have been hard, my family needing my full attention, so I don't have as much time as I had for myself. No matter, because they gave me plenty, so It is time I give something back also.

    I was somewhat of a gifted child as a very young boy ( not a genius however, ) and these days my mind and body are not what they used to be. Somehow I need to create and practice rituals and meditations to sharpen my body, mind and spirit. Also to learn and incorporate paganism actively in my daily life.

    These are simple words from a humble man and I appologise for it, but they come from the bottom of my heart.

    I come from an all faith spiritual forum, but I decided to search a pagan dedicated forum, that is why you find me here.
I will also be here as humanly possible, but always faithful in my path. Please feel free, brothers and sisters to P.M. or email anytime.
 

Blessed be

Son_of_Sekhmet

Welcome to TC, and I'm very sorry to hear about your mom.


 
I'm curious what you mean by this, because there was no singular pre-Christian pagan religion? devoid

As for your cat, I doubt it makes you a witch. Cats are naturally curious creatures and their interests are often piqued by their owners doing out-of-the-ordinary things. What definition of witch are you using here, by the way?

 
I understand I have a lot to learn and thank you for pointing me this. Maybe i should have said spiritualities (plural). My desire is to study, harmonize and connect to every pre_christian spirituality and knowledge. To all ancient spirituality devoid of judeo-christian influence, who revered and lived in harmony with nature, animals and different  Gods.

I guess I used the term witch loosely  because I consider my pets to be my familiars, I actually call them brother and sister. A witch in the sense of a solitary practitioner.

Thank you for your post.

Son_of_Sekhmet

That's going to be a difficult, if not a life-long pursuit for you for several reasons:

Pre-Christian religions were generally inseparable from their cultures and worldviews, so "harmonizing" and "connecting" with every single one of them without adopting their worldviews and understanding their cultures will be impossible, since none of them really agree on much of anything. Unless, of course, you mean to understand them in more of an academic context, then it's possible. But again, it depends on the depth to which you wish to study.

Another thing that will likely frustrate you in your goal is that pre-Christian religions number in the thousands-- and possibly tens of thousands. And many modern scholars just don't know hardly anything about most of them, either. Rituals, beliefs, and/or god names have been lost for many ancient cultures.

If you want to start, I'd go and hang around the forum's religious SIGs that focus more on reconstructionism. Hellenismos, Kemeticism, Heathenry, and Celtic Reconstructionism will likely keep you busy for a very long time.

I guess I should pursue the academic context for the time being. I have some ( limited ) knowledge of celtic, norse and egiptian deities, and some affinity to them also, As you can see by my user name. I've learned to get the feeling for the energies of deities due to previous spiritual experiences, which will remain nameless because i've already outgrown it and might hostilize some members, which I don't need right now ( or ever again for that matter ) on my life. I am trying to create a positive space for myself on various levels.

Blessed be

Son_of_Sekhmet