Spiritual Dead Ends...

[MidnightLetter]

Just curious, those of you who have been at this for a while...What do you do when the path you have been on seems to hit a dead end? Or when you have been on a certain path for a while, but suddenly the connections you felt so strongly in the past seem to vanish as if they never were? Or what if you feel called to several paths at once?

Thought we could have a bit of light conversation. xd  

[Morgandria]

I've hit the wall before. I couldn't feel anything, I didn't know what I was doing, or why I was doing it anymore...so I just stopped. I took down all my shrines, stopped wearing spiritual jewelry, and pretty much just took a break. I figured I would be better off not doing anything at all, rather than half-assing service to the Gods.

Eventually the Call reasserted itself, and I resumed my Seeking. But it was a very strange few months.  

[RubyLight]

Sure, that's why I left the Christian faith. I came across another wall while studying Tvaan. I don't practice the rituals any more, but the Lord and Lady started communicating with me again. Strange as that sounds. sweatdrop  

[whiporwill-o]

i've "hit a wall" before too, mine lasted almost a year. my life became so stressful and complicated that i fell into such a deep depression that i felt nothing for anything. then i began to feel better and picked up my studies and serving again and then everything just fell into place. biggrin  

[Aryain Flames]

i've hit a slight "wall" like this before. i basicly just - wait. and eventually, even if it's a month or so before it happens, my calling just reasserts its self, and i go from there  

[Violet Song jat Shariff]

When I hit a dead-end, I usually just wait it out. Sometimes it lasts for a week or two, sometimes it lasts for a month or longer.

Or sometimes I back up a bit and go back to doing something that I was interested in previous to my dead end and see where/if it leads me into a different area where I can keep going ^_^ (if that makes any sense)  

[DenvoPryde]

I think the best way to not hit the wall is never stop learning. Learn everything possible, even if it has nothing to do with your path. This has always worked for me when I feel like I will hit the wall.  

[Violet Song jat Shariff]

I don't think hitting dead ends are always bad; sometimes I think it's just your god(s) testing you; to make sure you can stand on your own and that you don't need them every waking second. Or, if you can't be without them, it's a good way for them to teach you how xd

Or if you work with a whole pantheon, it could simply be a transition period when one deity is handing you off to another.

(If I'm understand correctly what is meant by hitting a dead-end)  

[[ Nicolette ]]

I'd only begun learning about paganism when I hit a dead-end, in a sense. Though now I'd interpret it more as a test of faith. Get ready for a story!

About a month ago I started using a notebook to write down information on deities that appealed to me, began buying pagan books, and also wrote some prayers modeled on those in one of the books I bought. I was wondering how best I could make a shrine to at least one of the deities, but never really found the will to do anything about it.

Then my family crisis happened, just two weeks ago. It's resolved now, but the first day, I lost my spiritual notebook and someone very dear to me [lost them for a while at least], and I had no idea what to do. My friends were over, trying to help me keep calm through it. Before we went to bed, I decided I'd finally get to cleaning off my bureau and I'd make at least one shrine. I made three; they're crudely separated by a lamp wire, but I had nothing else and nowhere else to put them. Then, I made a clay figure in the likeness of this person I had lost and placed it in one of the shrines and asked the gods to protect the person. It lasted a grueling nine days, during which I always tried to say a word or two to at least one of the gods, hoping it would be resolved.

Now that's been resolved since Tuesday, I've gotten my notebook back, my family crisis has dissolved, and the settlement money we were supposed to get came today. I strongly believe, even more so after my first Tarot reading, that it was a test of faith, and, being that everything is more or less back to normal, I think I did a nice job of it. Although, at one point during this crisis I was afraid the Christian God was chastising me for going after paganism. I ended up dismissing that, as, being a Unitarian, I never really believed in or worshiped him; he was just a means of relaying a prayer to my father's soul.

I sure hope somebody else ends up posting a story; boy would I feel awkward if I was the only one with a wall o' text. XD  

[Starlock]

I don't think I view anything that happens in life as a 'dead end' in general. Things are in a constant state of change and transformation; beginnings are endings and endings are beginnings. The Path goes in phases and cycles. Some days I'll just be reeling in a sense of the Sacred, other days I'm caught in a monotony. Each has their place.

One of the big problems I see in the Neopagan community is a lack of *organized* community in most locations. There isn't a "church" group you can go to that keeps you energized week to week about what you're doing; most of us are solitaries, not coven-goers. Instead you have to find that in other sources. Perhaps a meditation group at a Christian church or Buddhist temple. Maybe Sunday services at a UU congregation. Some might find it in volunteer groups that pick up trash along highways. No two ways about it, it can be a challenge to really integrate your path into everyday life; nevertheless it can be done.  

[Ellisari]

Sure, I've hit a wall before.

In my studies, and practices, sometimes I'll go for weeks without being compelled to do a reading or a spell. But I'm always called back to my path.

What I'm more accustomed to is a feeling of not-belonging. Like you're living through a dead end. Having to do something you've got no calling for.
That's how I always felt when I was forced to be a Catholic. =3
And when I'm forced to go to church. =3  

[Vanya Karamazov]

All the world's a stage
And the men and women merely players

I'm actually just peeling myself off a spiritual wall. I'm pretty sure mine was caused by the absurd level of outer stress I've been under lately, which caused me to largely neglect my spiritual practices. However, after an intense meditation session involving reciting a few malas, I've been feeling amazing. I seem to have restored a bit of my connection to the astral, and I'm going to devote myself back to at least one meditation and Bhakti session a day.

 

[IceQueenMizore]

The wall was there blocking me from the whole "Christian"' thing, and I sorta hit one right now, but its starting to go away...  

[Kimiko no Tenshi]

I''m actually getting acquainted with that wall right now ^^;; It feels like I'm in something of a fog, with no real sense of direction. I still send silent prayers to the Goddess and God, but I haven't done anything else in a while. I don't know if it's the recent move from the country to the city, or what. My life has been admittedly hectic as of late so that could be pushing on me as well. My Tarot cards won't even let me touch them right now. I do feel the 'fog' as I have come to call it, lifting somewhat. But it's not completely gone.  

[Namikikyo]

I'm hitting this wall now. It feels so odd..

I know my Goddess and God loves me, But ever since I've been solely working on my chakras and learning about spirituality .. It's like I've drifted from them and it feels like I'm forcing myself to turn back..

I'm feeling a different sort of deity that don't know about. But I know she's not gone because.. I feel her now. AH! it's infuriating! I think what I need is to go back to the craft. Leave the energy work behind for a while and dip myself in head first with some much needed witchcraft.

It may just be the God reminding me that he is here too, Not only my Goddess..

But who knows.