I have never posted on this board. I am a member of the March 2003 board. But I have come over to read messages over here.

I am very confused about my religion and kinda hope that maybe some can help me a bit.

Let me give you a little background first. My family is military, so we moved a lot. My mother (raised Lutheran) tried to get us to church. My father's view was that they just wanted money. My parents divorced when I was 12 and we moved to be near my mothers parents. My mother worked nights. So my grandparents took us to their church and raised us Lutheran as well. Don't get me wrong I really enjoy the Lutheran church.

Here is my problem. I don't believe that Christ is a God. I have come to this realization in the past year or so. I mean he was probably a very great man, but not God. So that means I am not a Christian, right?

I married a soldier and moved away from my family 7 years ago. I was not a regular church goer, but still believed. In that time my mother became Wiccan and my brother's claim to have become Pagan's. My mother has taught me much in her religion.

Because of that I have been questioning my beliefs. I have been reading some of Mom's Wiccan books and researching Paganism on the web. I agree with parts of what I have read, but I am very confused. The more I read the more overwhelmed I got.

I have lately been trying to find myself. Many of the things I believe in are described in the pagan websites I have been reading. But how do I choose one religion out of all of them. How do I figure out where I belong?

I know that there are not many that come here right now. I guess I just need some support. This seemed a place to start.

Thank you for reading if anyone made it this far and if anyone wishes to respond thank you for that.

Take care

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Hi Heather!! to the Pagan board! Sorry it has taken me a couple of days to get back to you. I'm in the middle of moving to a new house and don't currently have regular access to the internet. As soon as we get settled I'll be on daily.

I was really confused when I first started studying Paganism, too. I finally realized that I didn't need to choose any one religion. I pull beliefs and practices from several different ones, and not all of them Pagan, either.

I found that I was hungering for spirituality, and religion, for me, actually got in the way. The rules and set of beliefs that one is supposed to adhere didn't always fit what I believed. It was frustrating. I found a couple of religions that came close (Hinduism and Wicca topping the list) but there was always something that didn't match. I don't claim any religion now. I'm just Pagan (non-denominational Pagan ).

I hope that gives you a little food for thought. Brightest Blessings in finding your personal path. Keep posting here. I would love to talk with you more about things, and there are a couple of ladies that are starting to post here once in a while that seem to be very knowledgable.

~Blessed Be!

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Thank you for your welcome and words of encouragement.

It is nice to meet you and I look forward to posting here.

I completely understand about moving. I have moved 4 times in the last 5 years and will probably be moving again soon. But then I really enjoy it.

What you said about not being a religion gave me something to think about. After reading a little more I realized that I don't need to pick one religion. I have found bits of them all that speak to me. I read on one of the websites that religions like Wicca and Druid are specializations of Paganism. That makes sense to me. Right now I am interested in Celtic Traditionalism and Celtic Reconstructionism. But those seem more like a Spiritual thing than a religion. So right now I continue in my path of learning of who I am and what I believe. But now I am less pressured to name it.

Thank you for your help. I know I will have many more questions. I am glad that a friendly board like this exists. I also look forward to hearing from other members.

Take care and have fun moving.

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Good luck in your search. The nice thing about paganism is that I've never seen a branch of paganism ( druids, wiccans etc) that claimed to be the "right" one and have all the answers. My family would also be considered non-denominational pagans. We go to Druid rituals on sabbats but belong to a group for wiccan parents that includes the equivalent of wiccan sunday school. My husband is native american and calls on father sun, mother moon, the four winds. Take a little bit here and a little bit there and add it altogether and you have a nice earth based spirituality.