The Sense of Guilt, a Christian Bias.

Recently I happened to witness the Karma taking its toll with a manipulative and selfish person. A person that challenged the fate too often and now is paying the well deserved consequences.

Despite I am well aware that what goes around comes around, I felt guilty for thinking "You deserved it!" - as if I was partly responsible for this sudden reversal of fate.

Have you ever wished something that much to make it come true, even if unintentationally? Have you ever made a wish when you see a shooting star or you blow out the candles on your birthday cake? These are simple acts of sympathetic magic that we make every day - pagan or not. Because the thought has its own shape and energy.

 
From a physical and biological point of view, the thought is a neurological activity happening via synaptic connections and neurotransmitters that act as messengers between neurons and their receptors. This activity can be measured through electric and magnetic fields, coupled with our mnemonic capacity. As known, an electrical pulse generates electricity and therefore it is quantifiable. It is also said that the human being uses consciously only a part of his brain; being this true or not I strongly believe that the energy produced by our synapses is released in the thin web that connects everything in the cosmos.

Based on this, sometimes you feel responsible if something happens to something or someone after having thought "Maybe if...".

But power of mind has its limitations: we cannot break someone else's neck with a glare, despite sometimes we wish it was true!

When talking about paganism, perhaps  the most difficult concept to get rid of is the concept of guilt. What is the sense of guilt? 

From Wikipedia: 

"Guilt is a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person believes or realizes—accurately or not—that he or she has compromised his or her own standards of conduct or has violated a universal moral standard and bears significant responsibility for that violation.It is closely related to the concept of remorse."

Guilt is directly proportional to the concept of sin, that sin that does not belong to the pagan religions. Is there guilt in Nature? There are natural laws, balance and harmony of the forces. We are not lambs of God, we are hungry wolves in the steppe, we are snakes hidden in the tall grass, ready to strike; we are the proud eagle that flies over the sky; the lion lurking in the darkness of night. 

In paganism there is a "Sense of Responsibility '', a very different concept of sin. We are ourselves responsible for deciding what is right and what is wrong, not because of divine dogmas dictated by a sacerdotal élit. 
The pagans become fully responsible for their actions, knowing that destiny pays off - in one way or another. There is no redemption, no fear of the devils with pitchforks wating for us in the afterlife. There is common sense, there is harmony with nature and its laws.

All this talk of "spiritual elevation", "peace and love" ... are nothing but guilt masqueraded as neo-paganism. The truth is that we grow up in an environment imbued in Christianity, crept into our DNA to the core.


There is nothing negative in feeling anger, hatred or joy for the pain inflicted to an enemy. They are true feelings, healthy and authentic - that we insist to bury under the empire founded on guilt, which is none other than the Church. 

This is obviously not an invitation to hurl curses left and right, it is important to pursue our path as healers and researchers of Light. But many times we are imprisoned in gooder concepts that have robbed our conscience of a fundamental part: our ego, hidden in the shadows.

In medio stat virtus, the ancients used to say, quoting the Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle, expressing the greek ideal of measure, moderation and balance: the virtue is in between two extremes which are to be avoided. 

Embrace your Darkness, too often hidden under the rug like dirt. It is part of yourself; you cannot expect to reach the enlightenment without accepting our spiritual flaws that make us human. And it is only through the darkness that you can really appreciate the light. 

Be sincere, be wild, be raw. Do not be tamed by the parable of the Good Shepherd, be the madman of the village who speaks to the shadows. Let be soothed by the winds of the storm that shakes the ground, ride the waves breaking on the rough cliffs, get lost in the labyrinths of greenery, dance naked in front of the Moon, sing together with the cicadas under the scorching Sun. 

Simply be. With all your faults and your virtues, your Light and your Darkness. Be Human. 

♃Ludna

Per leggere questo articolo in Italiano clicca qui.