For the Goddess Speaks with Certainty

Over the past few weeks I’ve been watching documentaries on music and religion in the South, particularly in Southern Appalachia. I’ve heard hyperventilating preachers, women speaking of their faith and culture and musicians conjuring up ballads of love and loss. It’s the sound of my childhood and my heritage, and there are things here of worth to me as a Pagan. I am revisiting Southern Appalachian heritage as a way to be more rooted in my spirituality.

When I feel anemic I crave foods rich in iron. When my blood sugar is low I crave something sweet. When I’m thirsty I crave water. So what is it in these songs, expressions and traditions that causes a Pagan like me to crave them so? It’s not Christianity I long for but this way of expressing spirituality. I’m slowly starting to identify the elements in this culture that I need to fortify my Pagan soul. One of these elements is certainty. Gospel music especially is a genre of expressing certainty and of soothing aching souls with certainty.

Certainty is related to the concept of truth. To be certain is to know without a doubt that this is so and that you will stake your soul upon it. The title of this post comes from Emerald Rose’s “Summerland” and I have always found comfort in that line. There is a comfort in certainty yet Pagans find strength in uncertainty, in questioning and in evolving.

Almost a dozen years after discovering Paganism I can honestly say I’ve begun to find a certainty in my soul. Not a universal truth or anything I think I need to shout to the world, but just a settling of certain questions in my soul. After years of trying to find my footing I can safely say I’ve got a good solid foundation to build on, and there is certainty in that. Yet, how do I express that as a Pagan? How do I express my faith without hubris, imposition or disclaimer?

So I’m curious what role certainty plays in your spirituality?