Doing your own spiritual work is an absolute necessity for everyone.<\/p>\n
Religion has nothing to do with DNA<\/a>.<\/p>\n Spirituality is about practice.<\/p>\n And yet, some of us are born different.<\/p>\n Almost everyone can run. You can be a sprinter and run 100 meters \u2013 I\u2019ve done it. You can be a distance runner and run a marathon \u2013 I\u2019ve done it. With training and hard work, you can learn to run faster and farther than you did before \u2013 maybe faster and farther than you thought possible.<\/p>\n But you will never sprint or run marathons at an Olympic level unless you were born with the necessary physiological traits. Those who are born with the traits to be an elite sprinter cannot become an elite distance runner, and vice versa.<\/p>\n The same is true with magic. While almost everyone can do magic, it comes easier to some than to others. As best I can tell, I have average magical talent. I\u2019ve had some good success with it because I\u2019ve worked and practiced for a long time.<\/p>\n Some people are the magical equivalent of that kid nobody could catch on the playground. They can do with ease what takes me a lot of hard work, and when they work hard they can do things I simply can\u2019t do.<\/p>\n A few can work wonders. A few have an in-born connection to the spirit world that they can\u2019t turn off. They can see, hear, and know things most of us can\u2019t.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t necessarily a good thing.<\/p>\n If you want to start a fight on the Pagan internet, bring up the topic of shamans and shamanism. I made my position clear in this post<\/a>: \u201cshamanism\u201d isn\u2019t a religion and the vast majority of white people who call themselves shamans are lying to themselves, because they don\u2019t do what authentic shamans do.<\/p>\n Even when you expand the definition of \u201cshaman\u201d beyond its Tungusic Siberian origins to mean \u201cspirit worker in an indigenous tradition\u201d (which is problematic), you\u2019re left with an unavoidable fact: becoming a shaman is difficult, painful, and traumatic.<\/p>\n Shamans aren\u2019t people who take a weekend course in drumming and meditation. They\u2019re people born with unusual traits and skills. In some cultures, they\u2019re people who die \u2013 physically, not symbolically \u2013 and then come back. They\u2019re dismembered and reassembled \u2013 usually spiritually, but sometimes physically as well.<\/p>\n This almost always renders them incapable of living an ordinary life.<\/p>\n Some of these people exist outside of tribal cultures. The spirits don\u2019t know \u2013 or more likely, don\u2019t care \u2013 that the lack of a tribal culture means they have no support system. Shamans have difficult and often short lives \u2013 these people have it even worse.<\/p>\n I know a handful of these people. None of them call themselves shamans, because they understand the meaning of that term and they know that without a tribe to serve and to support them, they aren\u2019t one.<\/p>\n The Anomalous Thracian was the first to call these people \u201cshaman-class persons.\u201d They\u2019re the people who should be shamans but aren\u2019t, because they don\u2019t have the community support a shaman requires. They do the best they can to deal with their gifts and to put them to good use. They all have difficult lives. You almost certainly aren\u2019t one, and you definitely don\u2019t want to be one.<\/p>\n But some people are.<\/p>\n I used to hear this quite a bit \u2013 not so much in recent years. But in the past couple weeks I\u2019ve heard it three times \u2013 all from people mature and informed enough understand exactly what they\u2019re saying.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t jump to skeptical conclusions here. Remember: if you aren\u2019t entirely of sub-Saharan African descent, you aren\u2019t 100% homo sapiens sapiens<\/em><\/a>. It is entirely possible that some of us carry genetic traits from species other than Neanderthals and Denisovans, traits that occasionally manifest themselves in unexpected but important ways.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also possible the non-human elements these people describe are spiritual in nature, rather than physical. Some of us believe we are spirits who have bodies, not bodies who have spirits \u2013 the more I learn the more I\u2019m inclined to agree. The origins of even ordinary spirits are unknown \u2013 I can only speculate on what might go into making someone spiritually different in a significant way.<\/p>\n And while I respect the experiences and identities of people who say they aren\u2019t human, it\u2019s entirely possible that they\u2019re at the extreme end of a normal distribution. That makes it feel like their differences are of kind, even though they\u2019re actually of degree.<\/p>\n Everybody wants to be \u201cdifferent\u201d \u2013 so long as they can take off the difference and go back to being \u201cnormal\u201d whenever they want.<\/p>\n Despite significant social progress over the last 65 years or so, we remain a society where people are regularly attacked for their sex, race, religion, language, sexual orientation, gender identity, and any other characteristic that makes them stand out.<\/p>\n Those of us who were labeled \u201cgifted and talented\u201d in school remember the pressure to live up to our \u201cpotential.\u201d We struggled to fit in. We remember the attacks from other kids (and adults) who resentfully said \u201cyou think you\u2019re better than everybody else!\u201d Most of this didn\u2019t go away when we became adults. It just shifted into something more subtle but every bit as damaging.<\/p>\n Those who are gifted and talented in magical and spiritual ways have the same problem. They mostly hide what they are. It\u2019s incredibly frustrating \u2013 and insulting \u2013 to see people claiming their titles when those people know nothing of what it costs and how much it hurts to actually live that identity.<\/p>\n Not everyone who is \u201cborn this way\u201d is so dramatically different. I\u2019m convinced I was born with a Pagan orientation<\/a>.<\/p>\n There has always been something inside me that said \u201cNature is sacred.\u201d There has always been something that said \u201cthere\u2019s\u00a0more<\/em>\u00a0to life than what can be measured and quantified.\u201d I\u2019ve always known the Divine has a feminine side, that the world is full of spirits, and that magic is real.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I still had to accept that orientation and then work to develop it. But I did, and I\u2019m far better off than I was when I was trying to fit into a monotheist paradigm where I didn\u2019t belong, despite the many family connections. I don\u2019t think I\u2019m all that unique in this regard.<\/p>\n Some \u2013 perhaps most \u2013 of us are born with a vocation: a suitability for a certain role. Our skills, abilities, and desires match up well with a need in our communities.<\/p>\n Sometimes you can make a living at a vocation and sometimes you can\u2019t. I have a vocation for engineering \u2013 it pays well. My vocation for writing pays very little. My vocation for priesthood doesn\u2019t pay at all.<\/p>\n As with magical ability, vocations are not spread evenly throughout the population. The key is to find which one is your best way to make a living, and which one is your best way to make a life. Only a few are lucky enough for the two to be the same thing.<\/p>\n Orientations and vocations are internal things \u2013 they\u2019re part of who and what we are. Calls and claims are external \u2013 they come from someone else.<\/p>\n I was called by Cernunnos<\/a>. As I\u2019ve previously described, He was with me from a very early age. Then when I was ready, He called me to be His priest\u2026 in a rather dramatic fashion, as the few people who were there at the time may remember.<\/p>\n I had a choice \u2013 I could have said no. That might not have been well-received. Or maybe it would. We will never know \u2013 I didn\u2019t want to say no.<\/p>\n Others have said no. Usually that answer is accepted. Sometimes negotiation is required<\/a>.<\/p>\n But sometimes They won\u2019t take no for an answer. Sometimes the Gods take what They want<\/a>, and sometimes what They want is you.<\/p>\n At times this is a simple \u201cyou will do this for Me.\u201d Other times it\u2019s not unlike what happens to shaman-class persons \u2013 dismembering and reassembly. Either way, there is no real choice.<\/p>\n The idea that religious and spiritual choices must always be free and uncoerced is a very new idea. It reflects the morality of 21st<\/sup> century Western liberals for whom the autonomy of the individual is always the greatest good. This does not match reality for the vast majority of people in the vast majority of places for the vast majority of history.<\/p>\n And it does not match the actions of many of our Gods.<\/p>\n It is an honor to be called to serve a specific deity in a specific way. I am thankful I had a choice, and that my \u201cyes\u201d was freely given. But I recognize that not everyone had that choice.<\/p>\n I\u2019m always reluctant to write \u201cborn this way\u201d posts, because so many times they\u2019re misunderstood, sometimes intentionally.<\/p>\n Some people desperately want to be \u201cspecial\u201d and they grab any identity they can, whether it fits or not, even if taking it is offensive to those who live with its dangers and complications on a daily basis.<\/p>\n Others feel left out, like they\u2019re not a \u201creal polytheist\u201d because they haven\u2019t been picked up and thrown across the room by a God.<\/p>\n What matters most isn\u2019t what you are, it\u2019s what you do with the gifts and talents you have.<\/p>\n It was impossible for me to ever be an elite runner, but I was able to run two marathons<\/a>. I have average magical talent, but I\u2019ve been able to produce some very nice magical results. I cannot be a shaman, or a shaman-class person, but I\u2019ve had my share of ecstatic experiences.<\/p>\n I can tell you how to facilitate those experiences, but I cannot guarantee you will have one\u2026 and I must warn you that they come with serious costs and obligations<\/a>. If you aren\u2019t willing to accept those costs and obligations, be very thankful you haven\u2019t had the experiences.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, what makes you a real polytheist is worshipping one or more of the Many Gods.<\/p>\n What makes you a real priest<\/a> is serving your Gods and your community in a formal, oathed relationship.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2020\/02\/bird-09.14.19-01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSome people have exceptional magical talents<\/h1>\n
Shaman-class persons<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2020\/02\/Seattle-06.15.19-19.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cI wasn\u2019t born human\u201d<\/h1>\n
The dangers of othering<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2020\/02\/rabbit-with-damaged-ear-08.20.19.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOrientations and vocations<\/h1>\n
Called and claimed<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2020\/02\/Oak-Point-Park-12.07.19-12.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhatever you are, what matters most is what you do with it<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2020\/02\/Oak-Point-Park-12.07.19-11.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n