Of infinite names, without a face...
So, last night my therapist and I got into a discussion on prayer and spiritual life.
And she asked rather eagerly if I would share my religious views with her.
"well" I said, "I'm a neopagan".
And she blinked at me for a minute and then smiled and said "What's that?"
After some more discussion, it became quite apparent that she really had no clue what on earth I was talking about.
That, I didn't expect. I was braced for everything from professional indifference to hostility to "blessed be, sister"!
But I never her expected her to just not have heard of it.
Then I had to figure out how to effectively explain the concept of henotheism and earth-centered spirituality in under two minutes. I failed miserably.
Heck I once had to write a college paper on henotheistic Native American religions for a religious studies course, and it was hard to sum it up clearly in twelve pages.
This worries me more than just about anything that could have come up in therapy. Because, at least if she had heard of it and had some kind of pre-existing opinion about it, whether or not she shared that opinion with me, would give me someplace to start in talking about it.
This is way more intimidating than any of the other options, because this being the first time that she has encountered a pagan, no doubt my words and actions as a believer/practitioner will contribute a great deal to her opinion of the religion as a whole.
So I'm thinking of putting together a little pamphlet, say 2-3 pages on the subject with quotes from my favorite wiccan/pagan authors , summing it up, with some examples of common ritual prayers.
At that point, I can just hand it off to her and tell her I hope it explains my chosen religion and my prayer life a little better, as well as the definition of neopaganism if she was curious. And then hope and pray that it makes a good impression.
I'll post the finished project on here before I give it to her.
And she asked rather eagerly if I would share my religious views with her.
"well" I said, "I'm a neopagan".
And she blinked at me for a minute and then smiled and said "What's that?"
After some more discussion, it became quite apparent that she really had no clue what on earth I was talking about.
That, I didn't expect. I was braced for everything from professional indifference to hostility to "blessed be, sister"!
But I never her expected her to just not have heard of it.
Then I had to figure out how to effectively explain the concept of henotheism and earth-centered spirituality in under two minutes. I failed miserably.
Heck I once had to write a college paper on henotheistic Native American religions for a religious studies course, and it was hard to sum it up clearly in twelve pages.
This worries me more than just about anything that could have come up in therapy. Because, at least if she had heard of it and had some kind of pre-existing opinion about it, whether or not she shared that opinion with me, would give me someplace to start in talking about it.
This is way more intimidating than any of the other options, because this being the first time that she has encountered a pagan, no doubt my words and actions as a believer/practitioner will contribute a great deal to her opinion of the religion as a whole.
So I'm thinking of putting together a little pamphlet, say 2-3 pages on the subject with quotes from my favorite wiccan/pagan authors , summing it up, with some examples of common ritual prayers.
At that point, I can just hand it off to her and tell her I hope it explains my chosen religion and my prayer life a little better, as well as the definition of neopaganism if she was curious. And then hope and pray that it makes a good impression.
I'll post the finished project on here before I give it to her.