Greetings! Father Kodiak+ here. I am a Neo-Pagan Catholic priest, observing the Great Wheel along with the Catholic Liturgical Year and affirming the presence of The Divine in “all things visible and invisible”. How’d I get here?
As a child, I found doors into a paranormal world while taking refuge from abusive parents.
As a teen I followed those paranormal experiences into an appreciation that spirituality is a far wider world than they taught at my Lutheran Sunday School.
As a young adult I came out as a gay man and soon discovered the worlds of Leather and BDSM and how they played with and expanded my spiritual world.
As a pastor/priest, I’ve always been a mystic with a flair for ritual and prayer driven by intention (yes, thinking of them as spells). The Whole of the Universe is a sacrament to bring us into intimate relationships with one another and The Divine.
I’m here to find a community within which to listen, learn, expand, and integrate.
In Kink and Light.
Father Kodiak+
Hello Father Kodiak. Catholism is my favorite Christian religion. Years ago magick and mysticism was part of the Chrisian belief, but Kings took it away. I have books on Christian magic. I don’t see anything wrong with it. Others may even hiss and spit at you, but it is your path not their. I was going to college to be a Priest, but I discovered I did not like standing in front of a crowd and preaching the gospel. I have a statue of Jesus and Mary on my bar in the Den. My son has a statue of Benzaiten and Inari, Shinto Gods, in the living room. I have statues of Apollo and Aphrodite in my bedroom. Some may call it contradiction. I call it my entire life at the age of 62. People use stuff like this as an excuse to feel superior to others and condemn them. Jesus Christ is nothing about condemning. I try to tell my family, friends and other who come to me with this dilemma. Through God all things are possible and Treat others like you want to be treated and my favorite. Matt 7:1, Judge not lest ye shall be judge. I left priesthood behind and became a Wiccan Priest. I tell people I am not a Christian, but Jesus and I are friends and he is welcome in my house anytime.
Welcome! It is your path, as @whitecrow said, and no one else’s. That’s the great thing- paganism is a all-size fits all kinda thing. We each make it our own.
Another cool thing- before Christianity, almost everyone was Pagan. I was raised southern Baptist. (not Westboro Baptist) Many modern Christian symbols were borrowed from Pagans.
Many Blessings!!
Wow! You’re into blew my mind. It’s mainly because I’ve often been at odds with the Christianity taught when young and the paganism that comes to me naturally. I receive the same peace in an old church as in the middle of the woods. I have a sense of awe in either location. You’ve given me something to think about. Thank you. Morgan
I learned about the paranormal world as a way to escape/cope with pain as a child. The language of liturgical worship and the Nicene Creed gave me hints that Spirit is EVerywhere (such as “creator of heaven and earth and of all things, visible and invisible”, and “heaven and earth are full of your Glory”). Experience with many world spiritualities has only broadened and deepened these worlds for me. Of late, my Norse roots (Vikings were never far from the roots of my family tree) are catching my attention and I’ll follow them into embracing my essential pagan nature. Quite a journey, that, as you know!
In Kink and Light.
Father Kodiak+
Hello , l have just joined and this is my first comment. Everything you have explained is my experience. And the other peoples comments l relate to all. l am brand new to all this world. Just because l was born in another Country and grown up there, the blood of my Ancestors run through me. They are telling me to look for my Tribe!