Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
The Rantin’ Raven: Faith, Hope, and Clarity

The Rantin’ Raven: Faith, Hope, and Clarity

Last updated on: January 31, 2017 at 7:27 pm by Dana Corby

The Rantin’ Raven: Faith, Hope, and Clarity 2017-01-31T19:27:45+00:00 Dana Corby

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Among the tenets of British Traditional Wicca (BTW) is the statement that our Gods offer us “certainty, not faith.” The idea is that we don’t need faith because we have ways of directly communicating with our Gods, as well as gaining empirical knowledge of things that in mainstream religions must be taken “on faith.”

young woman opening curtains in a bedroom

lzf / Shutterstock.com

Questions like what the Otherworld is like, what our Gods expect of us, why we’re who we are in the here and now, and many other questions get direct answers. We’re expected to seek and find our own answers to these life-questions through personal experience, and no authority figure will tell us we’re wrong, damned, and by-gawd better change our way of thinking before it’s too late. The worst judgment we’re likely to get is of being ‘not a good fit.’

But having certainty doesn’t mean that we don’t need faith. It means don’t need blind faith, the kind that places our lives and the responsibility for our own spiritual fate in another’s hands. And, it is in this sense, I believe, that the “certainty, not faith” statement was included in the foundations of the Craft, short as it was otherwise on statements of belief. We’re not expected to take a dogma or gospel on faith and internalize it, though we may accept another’s idea as a working hypothesis. There’s an old saying in the Craft: “If it works, it’s true.” By which we mean, true enough to get results.

So what kind of faith do BTW’s have, and how do we exercise it?

At bottom, faith is confidence in the future. For the Witch, it includes confidence in oneself. Faith is the basis of all magic. Without confidence in a future, one that can be shaped by action taken now, there’s really no point in taking action at all. Without confidence in oneself, the temptation and most likely course is to simply let things take their own course, or to hope someone else will deal with them. But, a Witch’s faith is based on personal experience, not second-hand tales.

a key with a label on which is written the word "hope"

Orla / Shutterstock.com

Which brings us to the precursor of faith: hope. The first few — or several — times we attempt magic, all there is to go on is hope; we follow the ritual script and hope it works. And, then we feel something; if we’re lucky, we may see something. And, a while later we get that job or our friend gets well, and we haven’t been able to shake the euphoria. And, the next time we do that ritual we don’t need hope. We know it works; we have faith.

Faith is what leads us to work now on a project that will bear fruit years from now, whether a PhD or working through the Wiccan degrees. But, to accomplish anything you have to have one final quality: clarity. You have to examine your motives, your methods, and your goals. You have to be prepared for the outcome. You have to clearly see the path ahead and how you’re going to negotiate it. You even need to have clarity about the basis for your faith, which is not easy.

The monotheistic religions discourage clarity, teaching that to have faith is to follow blindly, to accept uncritically. Wicca and other Pagans like to question authority, which seems antithetical to faith but upon examination is far from it. With faith, hope, and clarity we can change our world.

So mote it be!

Click here to like
Patheos Pagan on Facebook.

Click here to like
the Agora on Facebook

The Rantin’ Raven is published on alternate Saturdays here on the Agora. Subscribe via RSS or e-mail!

Please use the links to the right to keep on top of activities here on the Agora as well as across the entire Patheos Pagan channel.

Columns

The Rantin' Raven

Theology, Ethics, Philosophy

british traditional witchcraft

traditional witchcraft

witchcraft

Previous Post

October 2, 2015

Adventures in Wortcunning: Harvesting Dreams

Next Post

October 4, 2015 The Other Side of the Hedge: Animism and Virtue

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Lakeside Hearth Adventures in Wortcunning Alone In Her Presence Arts, Crafts & Cooking Birthing Hereditary Witchcraft Book of Blackbirds Book Reviews Born-Again Witch Cauldron, Sword, Spear, & Stone Cermony and Liturgy Columns Community Dandelion Seeds Dear Jasmine Druid Thoughts Editor's Picks Everyday Pagan Family & Household Practice Family Traditions Full Frontal Magic Gateway Goddess Guest Articles Happily Heathen Health and Wellness Hearth of Hellenism Heathen Woman Hills of the Horizon History Holidays Horse Goddesses Interfaith Interviews Irish-American Witchcraft Jewish Witch Lamp & Labyrinth Letters from Midgard Literature, Media, Film, Music Loop of Brighid Love, Sex & Relationships Magic or Magick Making Light Naturalistic Traditions Nature News Outside The Circle Pantheisticon Politics Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories Queer Femme Mystic Queer of Swords Recipes Ritual and Practice Science and Research Seekers and Guides Seeking the Grail Socially Responsible Magic Spear of Athena Star Made Witch Syncretic Electric Technology The Blooming Staff The Busy Witch The Cartomancer The Crow's Nest The Dance of Pagan Recovery The Hearth of Hellenism The Lady's Quill The Other Side of the Hedge The Path of She The Rantin' Raven The Witches Next Door The Zen Pagan Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Tree City Witch Urban Earthwitch Wayfaring Woman Witch on Fire Wyrd Words

Select a Month January 2026 March 2025 December 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which chapter of Genesis recounts the genealogy from Adam to Noah?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Genesis 5 Genesis 10 Genesis 2 Genesis 7