Your Beliefs SHOULD Change

"But three years ago you said..." Absolutely. Three years ago I had different understanding, personal gnosis, experience, and fill in the blank with a million other things. Then move the dial back six years ago, ten years ago, twenty years ago.

You see, there is a big difference between following scripture from a book and basing your entire life and ideologies upon it and walking into the Abyss with open arms in order to find the Apotheosis you are seeking. Let me explain.

When the church came into power, it did so with the intentions of control. Feed the information, enforce the information, and lead (control) the masses with the information. People cling so tightly to what they call faith because they don't know any different from what they have been fed. And for some people, this is necessary. This is desired. They don't want to look within themselves, or very far outside of themselves for that matter. They just want to be told what to do, what to believe, and what is right.

We have said many times, if you need a text to tell you what is good or evil, right or wrong, do you even really have any moral compass of your own or are you just borrowing one? And if one feels the need to impose their faith, their beliefs, on others who didn't request the education what does that say about the strength of their understanding?

Personally, I feel no need to push or impose my system of beliefs or understanding, my faith in my spirits and myself, on anyone else. It is MINE. And strong enough that it does not need to be backed up in validity by convincing someone else of it. And the thing is, that statement was not always true. That was something grown into. When I started practicing as a Wiccan at 17 I would easily have argued the three-fold-law or felt entitled to my new understanding to the extent that anything outside of it needed to be considered false. Obviously, my practice now at 40 is a far cry from my Wiccan beginnings - but all of that came through trial and error, experience and mistakes, education and personal gnosis, rituals upon rituals and experience with a multitude of different spirits, currents, energies.

Sometimes when people are faced with new understandings that contradict their previous notions, they immediately fall victim to a severe questioning of themselves and the path in general. But you were not wrong - you were right in the moment and given the understanding you had to work with. As more came, you grew, and your understanding grew.

One of the biggest red flags for me when it comes to others who enter a space of teaching is their inability to change their mindset or inflexibility in their beliefs. If you never change or grow, the question becomes are you actually doing any of the work? This can be true from a completely outside occult context just in human nature, development and self analysis in general. I believe that many occult paths have "traps" placed in them for exactly this reason. Are you going to be able to be open enough to avoid the pitfalls. Can you walk with humility and grace to have the moment of "oh shit this changes everything" without becoming defensive or self conscious?

Crow and I have since the beginning stated "Question everything, including us". Of course part of this is due to not wishing for blind faith or following. We don't need you to stroke our egos so that we feel like we have accomplished something. And if you are on this path, you should ALWAYS question those in positions of leadership - because there are some truly vile creatures out there masquerading as safe landing spaces. But we say this because you should question yourself. Question your understanding. Question what you read. Question your path. Not in a way to show lack of faith, or belief - but because you should always be growing, learning, and obtaining new understanding.

Yes. I will change. The teachings will change. The sermons will change. The rituals will change. As I grow, learn and develop throughout the entirety of this existence. I do love the chaos magick axiom of "nothing is true, everything is permitted". You have both the freedom and the responsibility to utilize belief as a tool, programable through your experience and understanding rather than a rigid set of rules / dogma.

Question everything. Including us. Including yourself. Including your understanding.

And grow.