When I was a child, I wondered why God had stopped talking to people in the cool of the evening, as we walked together through lovely gardens.
None of the answers I got seemed adequate. I eventually left Christianity in search of something else.
Years later, in a guided meditation, I found myself in a beautiful garden. A glowing female form approached and embraced me. I felt whole, complete, loved unconditionally. But who was She?
I stopped at a metaphysical bookstore. I thumbed through the displays. There, on a laminated card of “Goddesses of the World,” was Inanna, Sumerian Goddess of Heaven and Earth. She was exactly as I had seen Her in my meditation.
I asked a clerk for information about Inanna. She suggested Patricia Monaghan’s The Goddess Path. And I read for the first time the story of Inanna’s descent into the underworld in search of knowledge, Her death and resurrection, and Her return to wholeness and power. In that dark time of my life, She had come to bring hope. And from that moment, there was no more seeking, because I had been found. From then, my path was a Pagan one.
This post is a contribution to Patheos’ Blogger Challenge, asking writers to explain their religious choices in 200 words or less.
Other responses from the Pagan Channel: Steven T. Abell, Yvonne Aburrow, John Beckett, Aine Llewellyn, Angus McMahan, Jason Mankey, Jen McConnel, Sarah Twichell, Sam Webster, Gus diZerega.
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