Double, Double, Toil and Trouble...

I am a full, card-bearing member of a coven.

The Coven is my newspaper at my alma mater, and I started my journalistic career there. I dug and delved into complex issues, participated in scrums, created leads, headlines and cutlines and put it all together in a pretty package day after day, week after week, for two years. I can honestly say that the experience ranks up there with my best moments.

About two months ago, I entered a coven of a different sort. Members: two. I know you're supposed to have 13 but we are just at the beginning, my friend and I. Every coven has to start somewhere. So, start we did.

I had gone over to catch up. I had also expressed my interest in exploring new religions. In a previous post, I had written "Compassion is my new religion." It's still the case, but with this compassion comes a curiosity of other religions - Pagasim, Hinduism, Buddhism and even Wicca, which sort of flows along the same lines as Wicca, worshipping the earth and the sky and all the elements in between.

My first Wiccan circle experience was a little disconcerting. It involved salt, knives, candles and a call to Mother Earth to show me a sign. I had been debating a life path at the time, wondering outloud what my next step should be in a certain situation. So, after calling on the North, South, East, West, Fire, Water, Mother Earth, Father Sky, I raised the question and asked for a sign. A flickering of lights, a loud noise - it could have been anything. What happened next was anything short of eerie.

I'm not going to tell you what the question was. To do so would give away trade secrets and perhaps hurt feelings in the process. I will tell you that I got my sign - loud and ever-feckin' clear. Steps away from where I first uttered the question, hopefulness full on my face, fear quivering in my eyes, there was a loud, fluttering noise and then a small, well-contained crash. A flickering of lights would have been enough, but apparently Mother Earth decided I needed a firmer answer: my friend's painting of Mother Earth had fallen off of a wall, a place of honour it's held for months. And there it was lying on the floor, moments after I had opened the discussion - "Should I... Will I... What should I do..."

To say I was freaked out was an understatement, but I was also intrigued - intrigued enough to buy an "Intro to Wicca" book. It's not to say that I will enter the coven forever, but it's certainly another realm to examine, along with meditation, compassion and anything else that brings enlightenment and balance to my life.

Happy Spring, bloggers. The season is a-changing and so am I.

Compassion is my new religion

*** I apologize in advance for the seriousness of this post. I was reading an article about religion online and that got me thinking. ***

I was asked not too long ago whether I was religious or not. My response? "I'm spiritual." The answer was not good enough for the questioner. He was asking a specific question and expected a specific answer: yes or no. The thing is, I couldn't really answer it definitively.

I grew up in a household where you could choose your own religion. My dad was a non-practising Anglican and my mum was brought up in the United Church in Scotland. My brother is now a converted Catholic and I'm living with a non-practising Catholic and a practising Buddhist monk. I've visited many a church and read up on a variety of religions, including the Mormons, Buddhism and Muslim faiths. All have their own gods, their own rules and their own rules for exclusion.

In college, I was exposed to the evangelicals. A friend of mine had joined a specific group. She was adamant that her church, her practices, her god was the law and anyone outside of that circle was wrong, that they were not worthy of an after-life. It was her job to "save" me, to bring me into her fold and secure my spot in heaven. She used trickery to have me attend a "party" with her, only to find out it was a bible reading and I was fresh meat.

I'm not surprised that so many people were part of this group: it practised inclusion to those invited, and for a girl searching for her acceptance, her place in life, it can be an alluring prospect. But what this group failed to do was to practise acceptance of all people, of all creeds, religions and orientation. Opinions are accepted only if it's the status quo of the group.

I have a picture on my fridge. It's a card from my cousin's Catholic church for a donation that I made almost a year ago. It came in the mail and I thought it was a joke, forgetting the $50 that I donated to the church in lieu of a gift. It was at my cousin's request and didn't think anything of it. Jesus now has a spot on my fridge, but that same "savior" now wears glasses. Sunglasses, and he wears them at night. I think every diety can enjoy a little levity.

In answer to the religion question: I am not Catholic, I'm not Anglican, I'm not Muslim or Seik. I am not Agnostic, and as much as I joke, I am not Pagan and my Catholic brother and boyfriend both joke that I may burst into flames if I set foot across the threshold of their church.

I don't think I'll ever choose one religion, as my parents, in their wisdom, have granted me that right. Those are limits I don't want to even consider. Compassion is my new religion and if that makes me an outsider, so be it. I'll have an open mind, devoid of any misconceptions or nuances, and that to me, holds a lot more weight than a membership in any club.