[Main Blog Post] My Spiritual Path

[jprussell]

So, I'm with some of my kinfolk for the holiday weekend, and I didn't wrap up the editing I was hoping to do before getting here. As such, I want to post something on time, but I may make some edits in the next few days. At any rate, this is a walkthrough of the beliefs I've had over the years, and how they got me to where I am now. This might be super self-indulgent, but I'd like to hear what you think.

As I said, I might make some edits, but in the meantime, let me have it.

Comments

[thinking_turtle]

Thanks for sharing your personal story. I also remember Magic the Gathering and Tolkien from my youth. It seems that a certain international uniformity was already present back then!

Eric S. Raymond's blog "Dancing With The Gods" was an enjoyable read. He had a "sudden intense" religious awakening. He worships different or no Gods at different times. He has a limited list of ways to contact his subconscious. It's amazing how varied religious experience is! Raymond also writes "Scientific method cannot ultimately be reconciled with religious faith". For me science and religions are both views of the same underlying reality. If they contradict, at least one of them is wrong. I wonder why Eric writes they cannot be reconciled.

That JMG sees "scientific realism" as what you can sense with the five senses is surprising to me. Our zeitgeist is very disconnected from our five senses. For most people, the spectacle is more important than what their senses tell them. Twentieth century physics is no exception: there's not much about quantum, space walks or relativity that one can sense. I'm no expert in planes, but I believe you won't find any modern science on the material plane.

To share, since you write you're interested in Roman history, I've been reading "A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry" https://acoup.blog/. Apologies if I learned about that blog from your blog!

[tamanous2020]

Thank you for the personal background/recap! I find it a good sign that Greer's philosophical polytheism has acted as an effective third choice between materialism on one side and standard monotheism on the other. And props to you for being open which let those experiences occur.

Has your family been curious about your new practices or your new beliefs? Or have they just been happy to see that you're back on your A game?

Tamanous

[boccaderlupo]

Thank you for your candor in discussing your life and spiritual path. Interesting read.

I have read all the "New Atheists" and others (I do like pop science, myself) in order to understand their worldview, but never could fully take it to heart, probably expressly for the second reason you list. The argument seems to go "science works, therefore your consciousness is an epiphenomenal construct and its contents are meaningless." Which seems like a heckuva jump.

Speaking of jumps, I have a great affection for Saint Michael Archangel, who is both the patron saint of my dad's birthplace in the old country and just generally cool.

Axé

sources for learning about Germanic deities

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Jeff,
Although I have been reading JMG since the early ADR days, I have been diving into the spiritual side of his writings for about a year and I just found this post of yours. Thank for sharing your journey, some of which overlaps my own as I try to create a spiritual resting place for myself.

Do you have a recommendation of where to start learning about Germanic ditties? I am curious about that.

Thank you.