Ritual and Spirituality

[Kim]

So I decided that since I'm now posting here on an off, I would share a train of thought I've been having about religious stuff. If it violates the rules, go ahead and close it, but I think it's in the clear so long as nobody tries to make it into an antagonistic thing.

Generally speaking, I've self described lately as non-theist. I don't really believe in the supernatural. However, I have nothing against anyone who does. Whether it's god or satan or angels or demons or buddha or ghosts, I respect others beliefs in the supernatural even though I don't share them.

I do mean respect, because even today there's still a part of me that wishes I believed, because there's a lot of appeal. Not appeal in regards to religion, but the appeal of spirituality and ritual.

A lot of things that people attribute to spiritual things, I see as their beliefs interacting with their world. Their beliefs are a context, a lens through which their reality is viewed and thus changed.

Someone tells a story about a time they were prompted by the spirit, for example, and it saved a life or a flat tire or a pet. From my perspective, it's them trusting their gut. Their spirituality not only makes it easier to trust their gut instincts, but actively encourages it. This can be a very good thing. The positive effects of spirituality regardless of whether the supernatural exists.

Interpreting tarot cards can help us organize thoughts and think about things we might not have or from angles we hadn't considered. Prayer helps us vocalize, even internally, our wants and concerns, and in return there is the feeling that those wants and concerns matter.

So, as I said, I don't believe in the supernatural, but I kinda want to, and there are benefits to a lot of stuff different belief systems encourage.

Obviously even atheists or non-theists can and often do find other ways of accomplishing similar things. But the framing is alluring to me.

So, in addition to my two wonderful owners, I've got a miss in Boston that I love a lot, and she worships Lilith. I asked her to talk to me a bit about what that meant for her, and she did, and she also linked this to me.

So, after reading that and doing a lot of thinking, I decided that Lilith would be the focus of my spirituality. From my perspective, she isn't real, but many of the things she embodies appeal to me, and treating her as my object of worship provides a nice context for ritual.

Lighting incense, playing calming ambient music, saying a quick prayer, and taking a hot bath while I contemplate Lilith. It's self care. It helps me relax and deal with the day better. The spirituality is just a context that aids it. Even if I don't really believe.

It's really hard to articulate this stuff so it may come off as rather weird, but I've been thinking about it a lot today and I thought I'd share these thoughts and see what others had to say or if anyone else did anything similar or if other atheists/non-theists recognize the value of ritual.