CAUTION!! Heavy post ahead!

Sometimes I've been known to flex the grey matter, to ponder on the deeper things in life, to even get a little philosophical..... OK, no snickering at the back there!!

On the Freeconmy blog a commenter accused us all of being like religious zealot's following a new Messiah.
Well at first I was aghast!!

Damn it he called me religious!!

But then I calmed down and thought about it....and yeah, he is kind of right.

WHAT IS RELIGION (She writes on the blackboard) *full stop*
Well, what IS religion, other than a series of beliefs and faith in a teacher.
So if someone comes up with a set of ideas that show a "path" to inner peace (be it a well tended garden or the secrets of a video game or Nirvana) its got to be a sort of religion right?

I don't consider myself religious. I have no Christian faith, no belief in a higher being, a heaven, a hell. I don't run my life in accordance to any book or teacher.
I am not Atheist though, to be a true Atheist is to have no faith.
I have plenty of faith, but not in some white bearded dude in a dress.

I only really have time for the old religions. The faiths that were forged on the coming and going of the seasons, the religions that celebrated birth and death and everything in between.
If I am drawn to any it is the Wiccan faiths.
I have a deep respect for a faith that celebrates Ostara with fornicating hares and eggs and doesn't try to hide the meanings behind the more benin bunny and chick and *somethingsomething* about some resserection of *somethingsomething* and Oooooh is that a CHOCOLATE EGG!!??     

The Sabbats observed by the Wiccan/Pagen people are more in tune with the seasons and of real life. They show the quickening of spring, the bounty of harvests, the sleeping of the land and the need for mid winter celebrations to lift everyone's spirits a little.
There is never any threatening.
No one is told they MUST observe this rite or forfeit the the Kingdom of Heaven/whatever.
If the Christian God  and Allah are the disproving stern fathers who are gonna tan your hide if you don't obey, then Wiccan gods are your peers, they don't rely on you to keep the faith as you don't rely on them to provide huge miracles in their name.
They are one of the few religions that treat men and women as equals. No shunning of the women folk during their monthlies here!
Every God has his Goddess, every Lord his Lady.
Perfect balance in everything.

The role of the Goddess is one of the strong woman, from the innocent Maiden to the wise Crone, she is a valued and valuable member of society, not just a means for breeding more men.

Its the balance of nature, the equality and the flexibility that appeals.
I read into it for a couple of years and even tried it out, but the rituals felt false and stilted, like playing dress up.
But I don't feel any less Wiccan-ish.
I dig my hands in the dirt and connect to the earth. I tend my animals and connect to nature. I walk in the wind and rain and connect to the elements. I love my children and connect to that age old, almost lost art of family, of belonging.

Ok... off to rest the old noggin.

Blessed Be? ;)