Recently, I was asked to put together a series of resources for people who are new to spirituality and feel like they're drowning in the overwhelming number of "resources" on the internet and things to research, so this article aims to simplify things as much as possible, while still giving helpful direction as you embark on your wisdom journey.
What is spirituality anyway?
An overview of spirituality
Spirituality is a deeply personal journey of seeking meaning, purpose, and connection to something greater than oneself. It involves exploring one's inner self, values, beliefs, and understanding of the universe. Unlike religion or other modern constructs, spirituality is not bound by specific dogmas or rituals. It transcends boundaries and invites individuals to explore their own unique paths toward enlightenment and self-discovery.
Spirituality is a life-long learning and growth endeavor because it is a continuous process of self-reflection, introspection, and evolution. It involves exploring different philosophies, practices, and experiences that help individuals deepen their understanding of themselves and the world around them. This journey often leads to personal transformation, increased self-awareness, empathy, compassion, and a greater sense of interconnectedness with all living beings.
By embracing spirituality as a way of life, individuals open themselves up to new perspectives, insights, and possibilities that can enrich their lives in profound ways. It encourages a sense of wonder, curiosity, and openness to the mysteries of existence, fostering a deeper appreciation for the beauty and complexity of the world we inhabit.
What types of spiritual paths are there?
Eclectic Witchcraft — A personalized approach to witchcraft that combines elements from various traditions, such as herbalism, divination, spellwork, and energy healing instead of being labeled with any one particular path. Other labels/paths that witches may identify with if they prefer a singular focus to their craft include Green Witchcraft (plant-based), Kitchen Witchcraft (cooking and herb-based), Hedge Witchcraft (liminal space-based), Death Witchcraft (cycles and rebirth-based), Hearth Witchcraft (home-based), Astral Witchcraft (astral realms-based), Astrology Witchcraft (celestial bodies-based), Crystal Witchcraft (crystals and minerals-based), Art Witchcraft (color and creativity-based), and countless more.
Solitary Practitioner — Some individuals prefer to practice spirituality or witchcraft on their own, without belonging to a specific tradition or coven. Solitary practitioners often tailor their practice to suit their individual needs and beliefs. Similar to eclectic witchcraft, they simply focus on whatever resonates and fits their needs in a given season without the input of other practitioners.
Paganism — A diverse umbrella term encompassing various nature-based belief systems, such as Polytheistic religions, Witchcraft, Wicca, Druidry, and Heathenry. Paganism typically honors the Earth and its cycles and often involves rituals, ceremonies, and a deep connection to nature. Anyone can choose to be pagan and paganism can be practiced in conjunction with countless other paths and belief systems if so desired.
Buddhism — An ancient tradition originating in India, Buddhism emphasizes mindfulness, meditation, and the pursuit of enlightenment. It teaches individuals to cultivate wisdom, compassion, and inner peace through the Noble Eightfold Path.
Hermeticism — Rooted in the teachings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, Hermeticism explores the interconnectedness of the spiritual and material worlds. It often incorporates practices like alchemy, astrology, and esoteric symbolism to facilitate personal transformation.
Gnosticism — A mystical tradition that focuses on attaining direct spiritual knowledge or gnosis. Gnosticism emphasizes the importance of transcending the material world to reach higher realms of consciousness and understanding.
Wicca — A modern pagan religion that focuses on the worship of nature and the practice of ritual magick. Wiccans follow the Wiccan Rede, which emphasizes harm none and do what you will. Note this is a modern religion, and though Wicca practices witchcraft, most witches are not Wiccan as they strive to embrace the older ways.
Druidry — An ancient Celtic spiritual tradition that honors nature, ancestors, and the cycles of the seasons. Druids often work with trees, plants, and sacred sites in their practice.
Shamanism — A spiritual practice found in various cultures around the world, shamanism involves connecting with the spirit world to heal, gain wisdom, and commune with nature spirits.
Heathenry — A modern revival of Norse paganism that honors the gods and goddesses of the Norse pantheon, as well as the spirits of land and ancestors.
How will I know if spirituality or a particular spiritual path is for me?
It will feel right. It will feel like it's something that's always been a part of you or that you've always longed for or known. If you dabble in something and it doesn't feel quite right, that's okay, keep on exploring new paths until you find what sits well with you. Labels are entirely unnecessary, so don't feel like you have to know exactly what category you fit into, enjoy the journey of learning, growing, and exploring, and if it's meant to have a label, you'll find it when the time is right.
What should I be researching or exploring?
In all honesty, you should research and explore whatever you feel naturally drawn to. I'm a firm believer that we are drawn to certain topics because they either hold wisdom that can aid us on our path or they somehow play a role in who we are on a grander scale.
If you begin researching something you feel drawn to and then deem it unhelpful or not in alignment with your path, that's perfectly fine too. There's no harm in the research portion, as you can easily put down whatever you've picked up and carry on to whatever calls to you next.
If this leaves things too wide open for your taste, I've assembled some topics below that I feel are critical to ensuring safety in any spiritual endeavors, as they lay a foundation for everything else you may find yourself dabbling in later on.
Step-by-step guide to safely navigating spirituality
Regardless of your beliefs, culture, traditions, or heritage, somewhere along the way, you've most likely been confronted with the idea that otherworldly beings exist, whether it be God/gods/goddesses, angels and demons, spirits, or some variation or adaptation of these general concepts. With so many different energies at play in the universe, it is important that anyone learning to navigate spirituality and spiritual realms understand four basic principles: grounding, cleansing, protection, and banishing.
Grounding — Grounding helps keep us balanced, and connected to our bodies, and avoid the negative repercussions of allowing our minds to venture too far off into the clouds, so to speak. We've all most likely encountered someone at some point in our lives who experienced psychosis, and it can be quite alarming. This makes grounding practices incredibly important for our mental health, as well as our physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Learn more about the fundamentals of grounding here.
Cleansing — Cleansing helps keep our energy and our space in a fairly neutral state. Though both positively and negatively charged energy have important roles to play in the universe, learning to keep things in equilibrium is necessary as we dive into the spiritual aspects of life. You'll realize just how important this is when you learn how being around certain people, places, or things can impact you in the short term and long term. Learn more about the fundamentals of cleansing here.
Protection — Protection helps keep our energy and space safeguarded from unwanted energies entering, lingering, or impacting us. While there are a lot of things constantly taking place amongst the unseen realms that you'll want to learn to protect against, there are also a lot of unwanted energies that human beings carry with them that we may encounter at any given point if people come and go from our home, we spend time in large crowds, or even in toxic office spaces. Learn more about the fundamentals of protection here.
Banishing — Banishing helps remove entities or energies that have managed to find their way into our space despite our regular grounding, cleansing, and protection efforts. Though banishing is not something that will need to be done all that frequently, it's certainly important to learn and understand, so that if and when the day comes that it needs to be done, you can do so swiftly and confidently. Learn more about the fundamentals of banishing here.
Step-by-step guide to spiritual topics to explore
- Types of spiritual paths and belief systems — ask yourself along the way if anything you are reading about resonates with you or is something you've always felt drawn to exploring on a deeper level
- The spiritual aspects of energy systems in the body — ask yourself if this is something you want to understand in greater detail or potentially dabble in for the purposes of healing
- The spiritual aspects of frequencies and their impact on energy in the body — ask yourself if this is something that intrigues you and you want to explore in a greater capacity
- The spiritual aspects of crystals, herbs, and nature-based remedies
- The history, mythology, and traditions associated with various gods, goddesses, and pantheons (many people start by learning about the Egyptian, Greek, Norse, and/or Celtic pantheons and branch out from there)
- The spiritual aspects of healing, including shadow work and inner child/teen healing
- The spiritual applications of affirmations, mantras, mindfulness, manifestation, and journaling
From there, there are countless paths you can journey down based on what interests you, whether it be learning about divination, spellcasting, rituals, magick, energy work, dream work, astral travel or projection, lunar cycles, astrology, solar cycles, pagan celebrations, and more.
May you walk your path with wisdom and prudence. Blessed be on your journey of spiritual growth and healing.