{"id":17001,"date":"2019-12-08T04:00:48","date_gmt":"2019-12-08T10:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=17001"},"modified":"2019-12-05T19:08:46","modified_gmt":"2019-12-06T01:08:46","slug":"dealing-with-religious-uncertainty-hold-loosely-but-practice-deeply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/12\/dealing-with-religious-uncertainty-hold-loosely-but-practice-deeply.html","title":{"rendered":"Dealing With Religious Uncertainty: Hold Loosely But Practice Deeply"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Over on the Modern Witch blog, Storm Faerywolf has a very interesting piece titled The Undeniable Hubris of Knowing<\/a>. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever read anything where I simultaneously agreed and disagreed so strongly.<\/p>\n

I encourage you to read the whole thing for yourself. Read it twice (I did) to make sure you understand exactly what Storm is saying. He writes as a witch, for witches, but what he says is applicable to pretty much anyone in the Big Tent of Paganism, and well beyond that.<\/p>\n

Storm does an excellent job of describing the inherent uncertainty in religious and magical experiences, and the difficulty of interpreting them accurately.<\/p>\n

Whether one asserts that the gods are independent, separate beings, or affirms that they are but aspects of the human psyche, both arguments suffer from the same fatal flaw: they assert to know something that by its very nature cannot be assessed fully with the rational mind.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m in complete agreement with this statement. And I think it\u2019s important to pay special attention to the final words: \u201cthey assert to know something that by its very nature cannot be assessed fully with the rational mind<\/em>.\u201d It\u2019s not that we don\u2019t know the true nature of the Gods and magic because we haven\u2019t discovered it yet. We don\u2019t know because it\u2019s beyond the capabilities of our brilliant but still limited minds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

How many religious conflicts would simply disappear if everyone understood and accepted this obvious truth? Not all of them \u2013 many \u201creligious\u201d conflicts are cultural or political, not theological or doctrinal. But plenty would.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, how many meaningful spiritual experiences do we miss because we\u2019ve decided they aren\u2019t possible?<\/p>\n

I grew up in a fundamentalist Baptist church where preachers continually talked about knowing this or knowing that and how doubt is a sin. I can remember being 11 or 12 years old and silently screaming \u201cno, you don\u2019t know \u2013 you believe<\/em>.\u201d I never want that kind of false certainty in my Paganism.<\/p>\n

But having accepted the inherent uncertainty of religious experiences, we are still left with the question of how to interpret them, and how to integrate them into our lives. This is where I shift from strongly agreeing with Storm to strongly disagreeing with him.<\/p>\n

Before I begin, I want to be clear on one thing: I\u2019m not saying Storm is wrong. I\u2019m saying I have a different approach that I think is better, even though we can never be completely sure who\u2019s right\u2026 or if we\u2019re both wrong. As always, you must choose for yourself.<\/p>\n

Experiences require interpretation<\/h1>\n

Raw, unfiltered experiences \u2013 religious or otherwise \u2013 are literally meaningless. They\u2019re a collection of sensations: sights, sounds, and smells. Touches that range from barely noticeable to pleasurable to intensely painful. Emotions like joy, elation, anger, and fear. And thoughts: not words in your head that may or may not be your own, but ideas and images not yet articulated \u2013 what our earliest ancestors would have experienced before they had the capacity for language.<\/p>\n

Part of interpretation is a simple matter of determining cause and effect. I feel pain in my arm. I see blood flowing from my arm. I see you standing in front of me holding a bloody knife. I conclude that you cut me.<\/p>\n

But the bigger part of interpretation is figuring out what it means. Are you a doctor performing surgery? Was I tied up and you were trying to cut me free? Or are you threatening to cut me again unless I hand over my wallet? In each of those cases I have a very similar set of sensations, but the meaning I assign to the experience is very different.<\/p>\n

Likewise, we have to interpret our spiritual experiences. Do these raw sensations have an internal source or an external source? Was a favorable outcome the result of our magic (whatever magic is) or was it random chance? And regardless of the source, what does it mean? How should we respond?<\/p>\n

Even calling something a spiritual experience is an act of interpretation. Doing so assigns a meaning of \u201cspecial\u201d or \u201cnon-ordinary\u201d or \u201csignificant\u201d \u2013 as opposed to random or ordinary or trivial.<\/p>\n

We may never know exactly what\u2019s behind our experiences, but we still have to decide what they mean.<\/p>\n

Interpretation requires context<\/h1>\n

Gordon White of Rune Soup<\/a> once told a story about dog-sitting for his mother. This particular dog was old and needed daily medication, which had to be given by injection. Gordon wondered what the dog thought of the fact that the people who fed him and pet him and generally loved him also hurt him once a day every day. The dog had no context for chronic diseases or injectable medication.<\/p>\n

In Paganism In Depth<\/em><\/a> I talked a lot about unstated assumptions \u2013 the things we\u2019ve always been told are true or assume are true that may not actually be true. And perhaps more importantly, the things we assume can\u2019t possibly be true. These assumptions form the context in which we will interpret our experiences.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons medieval Christians conducted witch hunts was that official church policy said that humans were incapable of working magic on their own. Any magic had to come from a spirit, and any spirit not approved by the Church had to be from the devil. Lots of assumptions there and none of them are likely true.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, there were very few witch trials in Ireland. When bad things happened, the medieval Irish didn\u2019t assume someone had bewitched them \u2013 they blamed the Fair Folk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our assumptions about the world and the way it works provide the context for interpreting our spiritual experiences. We will only consider what we believe is possible.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Two heads are better than one<\/h1>\n

Storm Faerywolf talks about maps, their usefulness, and what happens when we go off the map. He says<\/p>\n

In the end we must adopt the role of explorers, paying serious attention to every detail we encounter, and resisting the very human urge to relax into explanations based on what amounts to little more than hearsay, rather than direct experience.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love the explorer imagery, and I\u2019m in strong agreement with the need to pay close attention to the details of our encounters. The best way to kill a mystical experience is to start analyzing it while it\u2019s happening. In the moment, simply experience \u2013 and if you can, take good notes. Save the interpretation for after it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n

But while all of us can make mistakes in observation and interpretation, together we can do better. We can point out things others miss and we can challenge weak logic. More importantly, we can compare and contrast our experiences \u2013 larger sample sizes facilitate better data analysis. This is how unverified personal gnosis (UPG) becomes shared personal gnosis (SPG) and can eventually become confirmed knowledge.<\/p>\n

Knowing through intense experience<\/h1>\n

Part of me is still that little kid in the Baptist church saying \u201cyou don\u2019t know<\/em>, you believe<\/em>!\u201d But that little kid hadn\u2019t had multiple first-hand experiences of Gods and other mighty spirits. He hadn\u2019t worked magic and gotten favorable results over and over again. He hadn\u2019t discovered that his true calling was becoming a Druid and a priest.<\/p>\n

How do you know your spouse loves you? They can say it, but people often lie. But over time, between their concern and affection and interest, it becomes pretty obvious they do.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know that my beliefs about the Gods and magic are true in the way I know the Pythagorean Theorem is true. But my experiences have convinced me they\u2019re true, and that\u2019s good enough for me.<\/p>\n

Be careful of \u201cthis is my truth\u201d<\/h1>\n

Truth is not relative. There is no \u201cmy truth\u201d or \u201cyour truth\u201d or \u201cthis is true for me.\u201d Things are either true or they\u2019re false. Or they\u2019re too complicated for simple binary classifications, but that\u2019s another rant for another time.<\/p>\n

The Gods are not real distinct beings for me and psychological phenomena for you. Either they are one or they\u2019re the other (or they\u2019re something else neither of us is thinking of, which is a distinct possibility). And if the Gods are real distinct beings, that doesn\u2019t mean your psychological phenomena isn\u2019t real \u2013 it just means it\u2019s not a God.<\/p>\n

Do you want to try to get closer to the truth, or are you content with not knowing?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m never content with not knowing. I have to try, even if I can\u2019t get all the way there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What do we do when we don\u2019t know for sure?<\/h1>\n

Storm says<\/p>\n

I might have ideas on the nature of the gods with whom I work, but in all honesty, I can\u2019t know for\u00a0certain<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I completely agree with that. It\u2019s what comes next that brings the disagreement.<\/p>\n

Storm says we should approach the Gods as a mystery. He doesn\u2019t explain exactly what he means by that and I don\u2019t want to put words in his mouth, but most people who say \u201cthe Gods are a mystery\u201d mean something along the lines of \u201cso I\u2019m not going to think about them too deeply.\u201d<\/p>\n

I want to be clear that this is a perfectly valid approach. As I said in the beginning, Storm isn\u2019t wrong.<\/p>\n

But I prefer a different approach.<\/p>\n

Hold loosely but practice deeply<\/h1>\n

My first-hand experiences of the Gods are the deepest and most meaningful part of my religious practice. I want to understand them as best I can, and more importantly, I want to incorporate them into my life. And so I interpret them, and then form beliefs from the interpretations. Those beliefs lead to religious practices, which in turn lead to more religious experiences.<\/p>\n

Over time, over multiple iterations, and after consulting and collaborating with those who are doing similar things in a similar context, those beliefs get stronger and stronger. Stronger beliefs enable stronger experiences.<\/p>\n

At the same time, I never forget that humans contemplating the nature of the Gods is like cats contemplating the nature of humans<\/a>. If I encounter new experiences or new lines of thinking, I am ethically obligated to give them due consideration. If they look promising, I\u2019m obligated to explore them. If my exploration indicates they\u2019re true, or likely true, I\u2019m obligated to change my beliefs and incorporate them into my practice.<\/p>\n

Hold your beliefs loosely. But while you hold them, live them out as deeply as you can.<\/p>\n

And at the same time, understand that everyone else is doing the best they can. While it is necessary to draw boundaries around significant religious differences<\/a> \u2013 and to actively oppose those that harm other persons \u2013 we are still ethically obligated to treat others with dignity and respect even if they follow a drastically different religion.<\/p>\n

Even if we can never be sure who\u2019s right, or closer to right.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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