If you're creative and have no religion, consider Paganism
Just don't learn it from TikTok
I’ve been going to Pagan festivals in various forms for twenty+ years. I met my husband at the first one I attended. It was mind-blowing. Imagine a deeply spiritual state where you feel connected to the world around you and supported by unseen hands. Combine that with the best party you’ve ever been to where there is a compelling conversation around every corner, [if your idea of a great party is getting trashed then this wouldn’t be for you.] dancing every night, and music everywhere. It was five days of amazing. There was something going on 24/7 and I slept very little.
The people drawn to Paganism tend to be the creatives. The one’s with questioning minds who are open to new experiences. Not just open, but craving. One of the night rituals I attended showcased this creativity. We were invited to ‘guise,’ ie. Be something else. I didn’t dress up, but about half the participants did. I would guise without a costume, holding the energy of what I was being around me like a cloak. I was cleansed in sage smoke and sent along a path through the woods. I climbed a hill and the path was slippery in places. Participants had been told not to self medicate or drink beforehand for this reason.
The way twisted and turned and I came upon various small shrines, carefully lighted and inviting. I stopped at each of these to see if they had a message for me. In the distance I heard strange, semi-rhythmic sounds. I entered a clearing where people smeared in florescent paint were playing instruments that sounded like a chorus of frogs had taken music lessons. Which sounds dreadful and I apologize for the description, but it was wonderful. Enchanted. I stopped and listened for a long time.
Further up the hill was a fire with a Seer. I knew this woman. She was skilled in her art and I was glad to see her. Not because I wanted a reading, but because it just felt good to be around her. We smiled at each other across the flames and then I made way for those that had questions. When I spoke to her the next day, she commented accurately on the energy I was wearing the night before. Even knowing this woman’s skill, it hit me like a brick that I’d been seen.
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There is no place for this sort of ritual in the versions of Christianity in which I was raised. Even Catholicism with its saints and beautiful cathedrals does not. There was a period during the 70s where my mom’s Presbyterian church tried to ‘loosen things up’ with people playing bouncy music on guitars on the dais in front of the congregation. At first look, I hoped for interesting. I was disappointed. The music was bouncy and soulless, the spiritual equivalent of sugared cereal.
Religion isn’t about the bouncy, nice stuff. If that was human life, we wouldn’t need religion. I didn’t think about that way back then, but when I became completely disillusioned with Protestant Christianity, I didn’t assume I could do without some sort of religion. I wasn’t an atheist. I felt the presence of the divine even when I was sad or angry. Back then, I only thought religion had to do with god(s) and didn’t recognize the parallel social aspect. That social piece is conservative in that it maintains the values and acceptable behavior of a culture. This is a good thing. However, doing the same thing one’s parents do isn’t necessarily going to satisfy a creative.
Jordan Peterson once said that for people who had that urge to delve into the unknown and extract something new, [my words] not being able to express it made life not worth living. That hit me hard. It felt so true. Creativity is welcome among Pagans. Like crows, we both love shiny things and like to make shiny things. We love music, and dancing, magic and performance. Putting these things in the service of the gods is powerful.
It can affect even those who don’t expect it. At that first festival, we performed a web-weaving ritual with the intent of understanding how all life is connected. It’s a ritual that had been done by this group many times. Everyone brought or was given a ball of yarn, and the strands are woven in a circular web while we sang a simple song together. I felt the hair on my arms stand up and shivered as that energy flowed through me. It was glorious. I was familiar with this, just not at this scale.
My future husband on the other hand was quite overwhelmed. He was not Pagan. [He’s Jewish.] He’s a musician and the feeling of blending with other players to create harmonious sound is one he knows well. But this was different. He’d come to the event to hang out and have fun, not to be spiritual. But he’d not ever felt this rush of energy, and the loss of boundaries. He got his socks knocked off. [Which endeared him to me.] After the ritual, he wore a glazed expression which said he hadn’t returned to full awareness of the mundane world. My friend and I hung out with him until we were sure he was grounded.
Not every Pagan is creative. [And thank gods for that because we need the pragmatic types just as much.] However, as a religion, it’s a great place for creative people.
[But please don’t go looking on TikTok. Please.]
If you’re curious about Paganism/Heathenism/Wicca, please feel free to message me and I’ll be happy to answer questions and direct you to reputable organizations.
Selina Rifkin, M.S. [Nutrition], LMT, has been Pagan since she was 14 [which was a long time ago] and been to Hades in a handbasket. More than once. This has given her some opinions. She has direct communication with her gods and they’ve always given her answers when she asks. [One does have to ask.] Like most of her generation [X] she’s okay with snark. Most days she tries for good writing. But the snark, and side comments creep in. Be warned.