Ever felt the pressure to conform, even when it goes against your inner voice? What if you could harness the power of self-awareness and embrace your inner truth, even when that truth is outside the societal norm? We're here to tell you, it's more than possible. Join us on the Pagan Preacher podcast as we discuss the challenges of living authentically in a world that often rejects what's outside the standard. With insights on how to coexist with opposing beliefs and finding the balance between light and darkness, this conversation will guide you towards understanding, wisdom, and ultimately, fulfillment.
Ever thought about how spirituality, personal truth, and labels intertwine? We dive into the provocative thought that truth and the kingdom of God are within you, not confined within walls of a building or the binding of religion. We also shed light on the concept of paganism and free will in the context of the corporate church, advancing the conversation on making your own choices, without the burden of external pressure. We round off with a critical look at authenticity, reminding ourselves that being true to our beliefs is the path to inner strength. Listen in for a transformative exploration that promises to empower and enlighten. You don't want to miss this!
Ever felt the pressure to conform, even when it goes against your inner voice? What if you could harness the power of self-awareness and embrace your inner truth, even when that truth is outside the societal norm? We're here to tell you, it's more than possible. Join us on the Pagan Preacher podcast as we discuss the challenges of living authentically in a world that often rejects what's outside the standard. With insights on how to coexist with opposing beliefs and finding the balance between light and darkness, this conversation will guide you towards understanding, wisdom, and ultimately, fulfillment.
Ever thought about how spirituality, personal truth, and labels intertwine? We dive into the provocative thought that truth and the kingdom of God are within you, not confined within walls of a building or the binding of religion. We also shed light on the concept of paganism and free will in the context of the corporate church, advancing the conversation on making your own choices, without the burden of external pressure. We round off with a critical look at authenticity, reminding ourselves that being true to our beliefs is the path to inner strength. Listen in for a transformative exploration that promises to empower and enlighten. You don't want to miss this!
Speak your mind on the show - Message Richard Ravenbrook
Speaker 1:
Welcome everyone, welcome to the Pagan preacher podcast and another spiritual message. You know, over the last few months we have talked about many different things, most of it being about coexistence, understanding this limerence, the similarities between the religions, learning to cohabitate with each other, learning how to be at peace with each other, learning to be at peace with ourselves, learning ourselves and having the courage to be ourselves. We haven't really spoken too much about how to live in a world that Rejects everything outside of the norm, a society that demands that you follow a guideline, that you follow a certain set of rules, a Set of rules that was put here years before your existence. How do we live in a world that demands we be a certain way, live a certain way? How do we live in a world that judges us by false perception, tradition, ignorance, just simply not understanding the lack of wisdom? Most people that listen to the Pagan preacher podcast are people that are seeking the truth, seeking the divinity within themselves that they understand there's truth out there, they understand there's truth in spirit, but they also understand that there's been many lives and deceptions when it comes to religions on earth.
Speaker 1:
The religion Is not evil in itself, but what mankind does with religion From the evil of their own hearts, how they change something that was good and always seem to make it bad. That's the difference in spirituality. Spirituality is simply about understanding spirit. There is no determined way To achieve this, because it's different for everybody. What works for one person May not work as well for another. Different paths help us achieve the final, that final outcome understanding, wisdom, fulfillment, completion, simply just understanding that what we are is okay, that what we are is Just as it should have been.
Speaker 1:
This world has a way of wanting to Play the role of the gods all the time, trying to re-bowl things in the way that fits their narrative and their agendas. But how do we live in a world that does all these things? How do we live in a world, say, will? You come from a Christian household? And, of course, as parents, you know we want our children to be just like us, and I know I've spoken of this many times before. But how do we live in A situation where our families Say that we either have to be like them or be away from them, that we will always be the black sheep unless we conform to what it is that they believe? How do we live in a world that we have coworkers, even in our jobs, that may seriously have issues or oppose the very things that you and I believe in or that we don't believe in.
Speaker 1:
Learning to live in this situation and in this day and age is complicated. It takes spirit, it takes time and it takes understanding. And it takes a hide of a mongoose. Everybody knows what a mongoose is. It's a very powerful small animal but its hide is thick. It eats rattlesnakes and various other snakes. Its hide is so thick that the snake can't penetrate.
Speaker 1:
You've got to be thick and hide it to understand that when people come against you, sadly, even in good intention, they come against you speaking what they feel is the truth, speaking what they feel are blessings, not understanding that each and every word that comes out of their mouth is nothing but a poison arrow to everything that you believe in, to everything that you hold true that somehow in this world, everything has to be black and white. Now, everything has to be black and white, right or wrong. There is no in-between and there is no gray. But anybody that has been out there in the world, anybody that knows anything about reality, has to understand that there is a gray zone in almost everything that we do in our existence, that there is that balance. You can't have light without darkness, no, darkness without light, good without bad and bad without good. It's a balance of all things above and below heaven and hell, whatever it may be. There is an opposite, a male and female. There is an opposite of everything. It is not just one or the other, but in-between lies that area, that area of balance, of balance, understanding that we don't have to be like them, we don't have to be all light and love, because there is more to existence.
Speaker 1:
In order to understand light and love, sometimes we must understand sorrow and darkness, all the things that we go through in life, trials and the tribulations, and our torn hopes and our shattered dreams. Those things build us, create us, mold us and make us the better people that we choose, that we want to be. If we take those lessons and we learn from those lessons not ignoring those lessons or just feeling sorry for ourselves over those lessons, but saying you know, I'm going to take from that lesson and I'm going to learn from it, because it was put here for me to learn from it. How do we live in a world that opposes us, the family that opposes us, a workhorse that opposes us.
Speaker 1:
Number one thing know who you are, know who you are, believe in who you are, because when you do that, first and foremost, nothing can sway you, nothing can change you, because you will be intimidated to change for the love of your family, for the love of whatever it may be, for the sake of an income, for the sake of keeping your spot in the community, whatever it may be. But it takes real courage to know who you are and to stand on who you are and what it is that you believe, what it is that Spirit is speaking to you. That is the truth, the Spirit speaking to you that you need to leave corporate church, that you need to leave corporate church, that you need to leave the temple, that you need to leave your current religion, that you need to leave that whatever it is that you're into right now and begin to allow Spirit to teach you more. You know, when we do those things Gonna have obstacles, and Saturday, some of the biggest obstacles our people, our friends, our family, people that love us, that Maybe spirits just not communicating with them in the same way as spirit is with us. And that's the way it usually does happen.
Speaker 1:
A lot of division comes Because spirit pulls us away from those things that would ender us and hurt us in our walk, sometimes even family, that can be toxic for us. Spirit will cause the division in order for us to continue to grow and we have to understand that In all of this, good things will come, that we hope, we believe and we love. That spirit will open the eyes of Everyone that has the will to learn, that has the will to want truth, real truth, not a truth written down by man in order to control, in order to Try to unite. You know it may have had a good intention, trying to create religion that Unites people and puts people together and they all believe the same thing and they stop fighting. But you know, a lie is a lie and if you seek truth, then you've got to let go of everything that feels like it's not true. Because when I say you feel, you do feel truth. You know, when you hear it, when you see it, you Understand because you confirm within yourself, it kind of clicks, it vibrates within yourself that you know that, yes, this is Truth and we all have a Fundamental truth. You know that truth that permanates through all of us and all religions, you know, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Love your neighbor. You know things of this nature are multi religion. Love is about everything.
Speaker 1:
But you know, labels, people want it. People want to label you oh, you're not a Christian anymore, or you just don't go to church anymore. Well, you're just not, you know. You just don't do those kind of things anymore to label yourself, as you know, a churchgoer. But they don't quite understand the concept that that doesn't mean that you don't believe in a God. That doesn't mean that you don't believe in spirit. It doesn't believe that doesn't mean that you don't believe in a creator. It just means that your Understanding is different, that your understanding Is based upon truth, not simply the words of men, telling men telling men, but from spirit, directly. You know, truth is found within you. Know, even biblically, even the man on the week, all Jesus, said that the kingdom of God is within you, within you, not within a four-wall building, not within any labeled church, not within any Denomination or temple or whatever other religion. Truth, the kingdom Is found within you. You're searching for God, you say. Christians all over the place searching for God in whatever church it may be when Jesus himself said the kingdom is Found within you. And where else, where God resigned, other than the kingdom? If you want to find God, the biblical God Spirit, you have to look within.
Speaker 1:
You know people ask me sometimes, you know it's like why do you call yourself the pagan preacher? Many people know and they understand that. You know I come from a very Omnist background, studied many different religions, many different practices, even many practices of the magical arts. But you know, to me the word pagan, even though I understand that it comes from. You know the old phrase, you know, country dweller, that the church put upon people that hadn't been converted yet and Some wouldn't convert. But to me, pagan Usually leads to some type of honoring mother earth, understanding the physical parts as well as the spiritual parts, mother earth and father spirit.
Speaker 1:
You know these things that Labels can be so distracting, so misleading, because of perception and how we perceive them, how we were taught to perceive them and how we were taught that certain Labels are defined. You know we it's difficult sometimes to understand where someone is coming from, because we come from a different area and we learned a different way, and that's why perception could be so dangerous, because if we're not perceiving a situation right, we may be completely In error of everything that we're attempting to do, completely wrong. We may perceive something is completely wrong and it be completely right. But you know, as the pagan preacher, I Came up with this name Because that's exactly what I am. I am a preacher of sorts, a preacher of spirit, spiritual messages. Allow him, spirit to speak, threw me into the microphone. But I have a heart for mother earth, for creation. I have a love for people, wildlife and the beauty of nature, the balance of life. I Think everyone that truly says that they love a creator must love their creation as well. And if you do that, then you do have a pagan heart. You do have an element of what is considered. If you want to label it as pagan, because it really doesn't have a label, but I consider the word pecan just as that Do you have a love for Mother Earth? Do you want better things for Mother Earth, to see the creatures on this earth flourish rather than go extinct, then yes, then you are somewhat pegging.
Speaker 1:
You believe in the spiritual things. You believe in theyou know. You believe in some things that are in Scripture. You believe in some things that are in Buddhist Hindu. You believe in all these kind of things because you find truth in many different things. You're ominous because there is truth in many different things and that's how you stand when all these things come against you in this world. You're understanding of truth. You're hide of a mongoose that you. You're not going to be hurt or offended by people trying to help you, but simply let them bounce off and you carry on doing what it is that you do, working and taking every opportunity to speak to people about. You know what you are going through and what youyou know. I'm talking about your mother, family and things that sometimes spirit, but open little doors. Open little doors for conversations about understanding, where people will question why do you believe this and why do you believe that? And, number one, we don't argue, we don't debate Just to me, there is no debate in spirituality what is is and what isn't isn't, and it's different for all of us because we have different purposes, we have different walks, different journeys or going different places. That's why it's not the same for everybody.
Speaker 1:
You know I talk about free will. Free will isn't free will at all If it comes with punishment or standing upon that free will so many churches want to talk about free will and then understand and don't understand the fact that what you preach isn't free will, because if you believe in true free will, you will allow your children and their children or whoever's children, to live the life that they choose, letting what you say God is in control, be in control, allowing the spirit those times to speak about what you believe, what you don't believe, and in a course of a lifetime, people become what they are to become. They're not forced, they're not coerced, they're not pushed, but they get to where they are based upon free will. They learned their way in their time and they are where they are because they want to be there rather than because they felt they had no other choice, that there was no other option, when there are many, many options.
Speaker 1:
Are you one of those people right now that is trying to deconstruct from corporate religion Not necessarily just Christianity, but many, whatever it may be? I know a majority of people are Christian that are leaving the corporate church. I say the corporate church because I believe there's a big difference between basic Christianity and corporate church or churchology. You know there is a difference Because there is some truth in Christianity. Are you one of those people that are doing that and you're having a hard time trying to understand. Well, how can I be like the Peg and Breacher, how can I be a minister? Or how can I be a spiritual person believing in some of the things in the Bible but at the same time believing in Mother Earth? Then the Spirit will give you that understanding.
Speaker 1:
You know, I say all the time you know, talking about Mother Earth. Why do we call her Mother Earth? Because she is our Mother. Even in Scripture, what does it say? It says that God made us from the elements of the earth, from the dust of the earth. We are created from the bosom of Mother Earth. Same elements that reside in her reside in us. We come from Mother Earth and we're supposed to go back to Mother Earth. Dust to dust, and the cycle continues. When you begin to understand, a light just seems to go off.
Speaker 1:
You know, many in the magical traditions understand the phrase as above so below. Do you know that exact same phrase as in the Bible too, just in different words? That what you release in heaven shall be released on earth and what you bind in heaven shall be bound on earth? Those two phrases said the same thing, one in a magical practice and one in the Bible we begin to see the similarities. We stop arguing, we stop debating, we simply let spirit teach and we let the gods have control. I say gods because even Scripture says there's many gods.
Speaker 1:
It's when we really begin to read and that's why a lot of people say, well, if you read your Bible, you wouldn't believe that. And it's like, well, you know, I believe this because I have read the Bible and when you truly begin to read everything that is out there, all Scripture, even the Scripture that's been removed by the church remove our reading Scripture. That was Scripture before it was altered three and four times in order to fit the narrative of the day You'll begin to see a truth that lies deep under cover, you know, covered up by fabrications of control and power, hungry people, mankind's way of trying to take from the divine and making something of theirs out of it, and they have destroyed a world that was once so beautiful, and it will be again. I have no doubt of that. It will be again, you know. We and I've and I've and I've been as to this many, many times before, but it's not as many people think. My hope spirit has kind of taught something here today.
Speaker 1:
I know the main message was, you know, talking about how to live in a situation of where we just can't fit in. And you know what. You weren't made to fit in. That's the problem. You were made to blaze your own path because it's your life, it's your path. It takes courage sometimes to let go of all the things that you love and care for and to fly. But if you want the things that reside within you, sometimes that's what you have to do. Doesn't mean it's permanent. Sometimes at the time it's temporary. It's a phase, it's a season, a time for change, time for growth.
Speaker 1:
But follow spirit, follow that leading Spirit's telling you to leave that church, to listen to a certain someone, read certain books, maybe go somewhere different, listen, dissern what it is that you hear, what it is that you feel. Does it reside within you? Does it vibrate within you as truth? Are you hungry to go back? Are you hungry to learn more? Where you are, is spirit calling you deeper and deeper? Just take a moment this week and really contemplate where your life is, where it is with your family and your friends, your coworkers. Are you able to be who it is that you are. Are you who you are in front of them? Do you have the courage to be that person?
Speaker 1:
Because that's where the strength lies, and when you have that strength, you become powerful, you become mighty, you become magical, because you rise up above everyone else in that room, because you are truth, you are real, you are everything that you say. You are when you stand as you are. If you be fake for good reasons, you still be fake. If you be fake for bad reasons, it's still bad. Fake is fake, false is false and a lie is a lie. Be you, be proud and learn. Be blessed everybody and blessed. Be you. Be blessed everybody. Be blessed everybody. Be blessed everybody. Be blessed everybody. Be blessed everybody. Be blessed everybody.