I want to thank you for sharing your story. It's your story that tells me you are real.

I, too, journeyed from Christianity to Witchcraft. It has been a long journey. Based on my experience, it's the religion that is fraught with problems, not Jesus or God. Religion can be such a roadblock to truth.

I still regard Jesus as divine and God as real; but I don't believe what the Christians say about them. For me, I had to journey through Hinduism -- which recognizes the reality of many gods -- in order to finally wean myself from the prison of Christian theology. Now, while I worship the Goddess -- with great joy, I may add -- I also know that the Christian God is real, and that Jesus is the Redeemer (even if I don't understand that, which I don't, and I don't care that I don't 😊). I unashamedly worship the Goddess, and call myself a Witch, and not a Christian, even though, if Jesus appeared before me, I know I would fall at His feet -- not because I think He's "better than me," but because I love Him.

But He's not part of my faith and practice, which is Welsh pagan. And I don't think that's a problem for Him. If it is, I'm sure He'll let me know. A God of love can be nothing if not fair, after all; wouldn't you say?

In "The Mists of Avalon," by Marion Z Bradley, a fiction book, she writes that when Christianity first appeared in the British Isles, the Christians and the Druids got along; they understood each other perfectly. It was only later on that things went south. I think that's kind of the way reality is. Jesus, like all truth-tellers, got co-opted by people seeking to capitalize on the power of His name. That doesn't mean that the divine is not present in the Catholic Mass; I know that it is. I've experienced it. But that's just the supreme love of the divine, Which is willing to work through any medium, no matter how distorted or corrupt, to have a relationship with us.

I really hate religion. Hate is such a strong word; and I realize that people do benefit from religious systems. I know that the divine works through them, in Their mercy and love. But I really think they're awful. Give me Jesus, not the church. Seriously! Let's have it all out, right here. I know what would happen. Seriously, I know.

"Witchcraft," for me, means knowing the gods. That's all. Spellcraft is something different. Hey, if They want me to cast spells, great! I'll do it! I don't have a stake in the game. I am a Priestess; I live for my gods, not for myself. Whatever they want, I'm in, 100%

Scary, eh? But why would you want to live any other way? Reach for the stars, Xylia. Be a priestess. 😊