How long did it take you to decide..

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[madame.kiera]

On your current spiritual path or religion? This is just a poll, if you will.

Was it something you realized right away and just "knew" was right for you OR did you have to research and study to decide? Do you remember how long it took you to come to that conclusion?

[RhiannonWhiteMare]

On your current spiritual path or religion? This is just a poll, if you will.

Was it something you realized right away and just "knew" was right for you OR did you have to research and study to decide?

I was raised agnostic and taught to question everything. I was raised with no religious training at all, though I would sometimes attend Sunday school with a friend of mine (she was Methodist). But I knew from an early age that I was not a Christian and that there was no appeal of that religion for me. I think deep inside I knew that I was a Pagan from an early age. I loved mythology and legends, so that's where I started. I did lots of research to find the right path for me. So in a sense I knew Paganism was the right path for me. I just didn't know which "branch" of Paganism was the one that I wanted to follow.

[Marilyn (ABSENTMINDED)]

On your current spiritual path or religion? This is just a poll, if you will.

Was it something you realized right away and just "knew" was right for you OR did you have to research and study to decide? Do you remember how long it took you to come to that conclusion?

I'm still on the path I was born on.  I've read about others, and found them interesting and informative, but I've never run across anything that tempts me to change my own ways.

No sense of adventure, me.

Absent

[HeartShadow - Cutethulhu]

On your current spiritual path or religion? This is just a poll, if you will.

Was it something you realized right away and just "knew" was right for you OR did you have to research and study to decide? Do you remember how long it took you to come to that conclusion?

It took me YEARS.  Sometimes I still wonder if where I am is the end product (more or less) or if I'm going to build it into something completely different.  FlameKeeping is not the same as where I started - the more I learn, the more I understand, the more it changes.

And even if I do stay on the same path, it is not where I started, and it will not be the same when I am done.  Of course, I'm writing it, so that part shouldn't surprise me.  But I'm not walking it ALONE, and that changes it too.

[herbalgoddess13]

On your current spiritual path or religion? This is just a poll, if you will.

Was it something you realized right away and just "knew" was right for you OR did you have to research and study to decide? Do you remember how long it took you to come to that conclusion?

I'm very new on my path.  So far I've decided what I'm not very clearly, but I've yet to decide exactly what I am.  I'm leaning toward eclectic at this point.  I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds for me.

[Jenett]

On your current spiritual path or religion? This is just a poll, if you will.

Was it something you realized right away and just "knew" was right for you OR did you have to research and study to decide? Do you remember how long it took you to come to that conclusion?

Around my junior year in college, I began considering whether Catholicism was going to continue to be the right place for me. (I was very actively involved, especially in music ministry, but about a third of my friends were Pagan of some form).

I moved out to Minnesota about 2.5 years later, and deliberately spent about a year trying to figure out *what* I wanted from religion. Made a bunch of lists, did a lot of thinking, did a bit of reading. Finally settled on some version of Paganism - and more specifically, Wicca or something closely related as a starting point for a bunch of reasons. Went to a bunch of public rituals, did intro classes with the group I ended up training with.

Being reasonably sure I was on the right track? About 2 years from that "I need to be doing something different, let me look around". Being really truly sure - well, my 3rd degree initiation is a pretty firm point there. (Which was about 15 months ago, or about 8 years after I started looking.) My first degree, which was about 3.5 years into the process, is a good waymarker too.

[RhiannonWhiteMare]

I forgot to add this to my post: Even though I've known for a long time that I was a Pagan, my original path did change through the years. I started out as a Wiccan with an emphasis on the Celtic pantheon. I'm still with my original deities, but I left Wicca several years ago and became a Celtic Reconstructionist. That has also changed somewhat in that I'm studying Druidry as well. It remains to be seen as to whether I remain a CR or fully embrace becoming a Druid.

So in some ways my path has remained the same as always and in other ways it has changed quite a bit. Sometimes I think that it will always be in a state of flux.

[OpenHands]

On your current spiritual path or religion? This is just a poll, if you will.

Was it something you realized right away and just "knew" was right for you OR did you have to research and study to decide? Do you remember how long it took you to come to that conclusion?

It took me about 4 years from the time I left Christianity to the time that I began to settle into my current religion.  I spent the first two of those years avoiding organized religion altogether and another two exploring various pagan paths.  I did a lot of research because I wanted to avoid a "rebound religion" if you will. 

One thing I really struggled with initially was transitioning to full-fledged polytheism (in terms of practice).  I did NOT want to worship more than one god at a time, thankyouverymuch.  I sort of felt like I got dragged into that one unwillingly, but it turned out fine.

- OpenHands

[Aster Breo]

Was it something you realized right away and just "knew" was right for you OR did you have to research and study to decide? Do you remember how long it took you to come to that conclusion?

Decades.   

I knew in my teens that Christianity was not right for me.  I discovered paganism (in Wiccan form) when I was about 18 or 19, but knew fairly quickly that Wicca was not the right path.  At that time, though, back in the early 1980s, it was really hard to find any kind of reliable info about any kind of paganism.  There was no internet and very few books.  IIRC, the Circle Sanctuary newsletter was the only periodical I could find back then.  (I could be remembering that wrong -- my memory sucks.)

I did lots and lots of reading, took huge blocks of time "off" when I didn't think about religion much at all, and finally arrived at "something Celtic" 6 or 7 years ago, give or take.  The realization that I was meant to be dedicated to Brighid came, I guess, a few years ago.  And that's where I'm at now.  I wouldn't be at all surprised to see more evolution on this path, although I don't think I'll ever turn away from Brighid.

[Star]

I forgot to add this to my post: Even though I've known for a long time that I was a Pagan, my original path did change through the years.

That would be me, too.  I first left Christianity when I was ~20, and my initial choice was a sort-of solitary eclectic Wicca-ish thingamajig.  I stayed there for roughly a year, and then decided it wasn't really for me.  After that I just kind of wandered around for a few years before stumbling (repeatedly; it took a few times to stick) onto the Hellenic path I'm currently pursuing.

[FierFlye]

On your current spiritual path or religion?

8 years of looking and I still haven't decided. 

[Steve - ComW]

On your current spiritual path or religion? This is just a poll, if you will.

Was it something you realized right away and just "knew" was right for you OR did you have to research and study to decide? Do you remember how long it took you to come to that conclusion?

I rushed it.

I stop being christian by anyones mesure around 18. wander into and out of wiccan type practices repeatedly for 7 years and stumbled across shads blog after less than 10 years of lookin.

[Maythe]

8 years of looking and I still haven't decided. 

Ooh maybe 8 years is the magic number :p I've been a Pagan of some kind (don't ask me!) for the last eight years and am finally feeling like I've figured stuff out. Now all I need to know is whether the stuff I've figgered is close enough to an established path (Heathenry in my case) to really make that my path, or whether I should carry on through the forest making my own path with a machete. Machete work can be hard and lonely and confusing though.

[OmPom]

On your current spiritual path or religion? This is just a poll, if you will.

Was it something you realized right away and just "knew" was right for you OR did you have to research and study to decide? Do you remember how long it took you to come to that conclusion?

It took me years to find the path I'm on. The reason for this is because I was interested in paganism since I was a child but I didn't know the name for it and didn't know where to look; after all I was just in 5th grade. I looked at different areas in high school and ultimately arrived at Druidism. I know I'm an animist for sure and that is why Druidism seem to work for me. Right now I'm looking for gods to do rituals with. I don't seem to be too keen with the Celtic gods; strange since I love the culture and the fey lore from there. I'm looking at some Shintoistic stuff at the moment as well.

[bearlaurel]

On your current spiritual path or religion? This is just a poll, if you will.

Was it something you realized right away and just "knew" was right for you OR did you have to research and study to decide? Do you remember how long it took you to come to that conclusion?

It took me a little while to really dedicate myself to my religion.  I left Christianity after I started thinking about what I really believed God meant and what it was.  I had a friend that lived with me for two years.  She said she was a witch, but I never saw her do anything and she never taught me about it.  When she left I set up an altar and started practicing, then I bought two books.  After I had really figured out what I was doing I formally dedicated myself to it.  As far as knowing though, i wanted to be a witch when I grew up.  So, I grew up and became one.

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