When I was a small child in the Baptist church, I was taught to sing a song that included the line \u201cfor the Bible tells me so.\u201d According to the Baptists \u2013 and traditionally, most Protestants \u2013 the Bible is the ultimate source of truth. When I asked how we could know that, I was told it was because the Bible had never been proven wrong about anything.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t very old when I figured out that wasn\u2019t true. The Bible is factually wrong about many things (such as the age of the Earth) and morally wrong about many others (slavery and homosexuality, to point out the obvious), so it cannot be the ultimate arbiter of truth.<\/p>\n
I respect my Christian and Jewish friends who advocate a more nuanced reading of scripture and I wish them well. There is value in their approach. But that ship has sailed for me \u2013 I\u2019m a Pagan.<\/p>\n
And the question remains: how do we know?<\/p>\n
More specifically, how do we know anything about Gods and spirits and the non-material world?<\/p>\n
The answer is that we know through our experiences of them.<\/p>\n
The branch of philosophy that deals with knowledge and how we know is called epistemology. Volumes have been written on the topic \u2013 the Wikipedia page on it<\/a> provides a good outline of its schools and methods. I wish I had known this when I was a kid trying to figure out what I wasn\u2019t being taught in Sunday School. But even if I had, I don\u2019t think it would have changed my eventual thoughts \u2013 it just would have helped me get here faster.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think what I do here is sophisticated enough to qualify as epistemology. That\u2019s OK. I\u2019m a Druid and a priest, not a philosopher. What important is to recognize that there are different ways of approaching the question of how we know.<\/p>\n My way is through experience.<\/p>\n We tend to think of religious and spiritual experiences as the times when we are overwhelmed by a deity. But we mustn\u2019t overlook our less-dramatic-but-every-bit-as-important experiences in the natural world.<\/p>\n A beautiful sunset, a majestic mountain, the miracle of birth \u2013 experiencing any of these can bring that classic sense of wonder and awe. As I wrote about last week, I get that when I look up at the night sky, realize just how big the universe it, and also realize that I\u2019m a part of it all.<\/p>\n Our more ordinary experiences and observations are important too. We follow the moon from new to waxing to full to waning to dark to new again \u2013 every month. We follow the sun as it moves along the horizon, rising and setting a little farther south each day\u2026 until the Winter Solstice, when it will begin to move northward and the days will begin to lengthen.<\/p>\n We experience these things and we know they\u2019re true. And if these rhythms and cycles of Nature are true, where else can we find rhythms and cycles? In the course of our lives? In cycles<\/a> that take thousands of years to complete? In death and rebirth<\/a>?<\/p>\n Because Paganism (or at least, my Paganism) is grounded in Nature, our experiences in and of Nature help form the foundation of our religion and spirituality.<\/p>\n This is the big one. How do I know the many Gods exist? Because I\u2019ve experienced Their presence.<\/p>\n I prayed and They answered. I listened and They spoke. I lowered my resistance and They (or more specifically, some of Them, one at a time) merged a part of Their being with mine and I was overwhelmed with an experience that I cannot describe. Not because it\u2019s forbidden but because words are entirely inadequate to describe it.<\/p>\n No, I can\u2019t prove it to the satisfaction of the skeptics. I don\u2019t have to. My religion isn\u2019t about converting everyone to my way of thinking and practicing\u2026 though I want those who might be interested to know this path exists. The only person that has to be convinced is me. My first-hand experiences of Cernunnos, the Morrigan, and Others have done that many times over.<\/p>\n Many people in our contemporary society want to make religion and spirituality an entirely individual thing. This is a needless mistake.<\/p>\n Yes, too many people use the power of religion for manipulative purposes. And yes, at the end of the day you need to follow the path that calls to you. But there\u2019s no need to walk your path alone.<\/p>\n Your experiences are yours, but other people have experiences that are similar enough that you can compare and contrast them. This give you additional insight into what your own experiences mean, and how you should respond to them.<\/p>\n We aren\u2019t the first generation to hear directly from the many Gods \u2013 They\u2019ve been speaking to people for at least as long as we\u2019ve been human. We can draw on the wisdom of our ancestors to help us figure out how we should proceed in our relationships with Gods and spirits. As I\u2019ve said many times, there\u2019s no need to reinvent the wheel of religion.<\/p>\n Our own experiences are amazing, but we can learn from the experiences of others as well.<\/p>\n Some of those experiences \u2013 particularly from the distant past \u2013 are encoded in stories and myths.<\/p>\n The stories of the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Celts, and others are not scripture. They are certainly not intended to be read literally. But they tell us something about how our ancestors experienced their Gods and how they related to Them.<\/p>\n Some of these stories rise to the level of myths. They don\u2019t tell us historical facts \u2013 they tell us something more important. They tell us how to live: what is virtuous, what is helpful, and what is not. Their truth is not vested in an almighty author, as some Christians claim for their scriptures. Their truth is vested is something far more reliable: the lived experiences of our ancestors.<\/p>\n Raw experiences are powerful and amazing. But until we interpret them, they are simply a collection of sensory (and extrasensory) inputs. In the moment, that\u2019s enough. In the moment that\u2019s usually all we can handle. But after it\u2019s over we have to figure out what it means.<\/p>\n Discernment<\/a> is the process of examining an experience, figuring out what it means, and \u2013 most importantly \u2013 how we should respond to it. Good discernment requires context, knowledge, observation, analysis, synthesis, and finally, a decision.<\/p>\n Your experiences are always real \u2013 never let skeptics gaslight you and tell you they weren\u2019t real.<\/p>\n Your interpretations of your experiences are less certain. They can be more accurate or less accurate, more meaningful or less meaningful, more helpful or less helpful. They can be flat-out wrong. That\u2019s all the more reason to consider the experiences and interpretations of others and not rely only on yourself. You have both the right and the responsibility to make the final interpretation of your experiences, but you\u2019ll do a better job if you get more input.<\/p>\n When in doubt, do divination<\/a>. Runes, Tarot or other divinatory systems can\u2019t give you a clear and unambiguous answer (except when they do), but they can help you see what you\u2019re missing<\/a>.<\/p>\n One of the reasons Paganism is growing is that it is an experiential religion. We don\u2019t sit in pews and listen to sermons. We help call in the Gods and spirits, we make offerings to them, we participate in magical workings. And we receive their blessings.<\/p>\n And sometimes, a God or an ancestor or another spirit will speak to us directly. It\u2019s an amazing experience. But we cannot command our spiritual allies to appear, and we cannot force them to speak to us\u2026 nor would it go well for us if we could \u2013 they don\u2019t like being ordered around anymore than we do.<\/p>\n But there are things we can do to facilitate these experiences \u2013 beginning with building strong relationships with our Gods and ancestors. We can create an atmosphere conducive to hearing the Gods \u2013 mainly that means free from distractions. Being in a natural setting helps, but my strongest experiences have come in suburban back yards (including my own). Pilgrimages<\/a> are great, but they\u2019re not necessary for this.<\/p>\n And if they don\u2019t come? Then we continue honoring the Gods, living a virtuous life, and enjoying the spiritual experiences that come to all of us when we participate in Nature.<\/p>\n How do we know what is true? How do we know what is best?<\/p>\n Fundamentalists point to the Bible. But the Bible is a collections of writings by and for a particular group of people living in a particular place and time. Some of the scriptures contain great wisdom, but other scriptures contain great evil<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2020\/11\/Erwin-Park-11.13.20-04.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nEpistemology: how we know what we know<\/h2>\n
Experiences in the natural world<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2020\/11\/Prairie-Creek-Falls-11.12.20-02.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDirect experience of Gods and spirits<\/h2>\n
The experiences of others<\/h2>\n
Stories and myths<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2020\/11\/Erwin-Park-11.13.20-05.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDiscernment and interpretation<\/h2>\n
Spiritual experiences cannot be commanded<\/h2>\n
The primacy of religious experience<\/h2>\n