Deepening Pagan Thea/ology

I'm a big fan of reading books or articles that attempt to deepen our Pagan Thea/ology. I recently read an article on Patheos titled Rebooting Beliefs in the Witching Operating System by Heron Michelle. I appreciated this article since it got me thinking.

First, I do like very much that she critiques the Patriarchy and it's attendant systems and ideas. As a long time feminist, I could not agree more. The Patriarchal mind set has crippled all humans into believing many lies about reality and about power.

She says that she follows Hermetic Principles, and the first principle is that the Universe is mental. "Everything we perceive is considered a thought in Divine Mind. Humans also think creatively within that Divine Mind." I would re-frame that notion to instead say - the Universe is the result of consciousness. Consciousness is the primary "substance" of reality. This idea comes from my study of Biocentrism. The first principle of biocentrism is "What we perceive as reality is a process that involves our consciousness. An external reality, if it existed, would by definition have to exist in the framework of space and time. But space and time are not independent realities but rather tools of the human and animal mind." ( Lanza, 2020, The Grand Biocentric Design) This statement is actually pretty mind-blowing. However, when we consider one definition of magic, the art of changing consciousness at will, it takes on a profound meaning. All of us are participating in consciousness, all of us are participating in collapsing the wave functions into particles, into something, instead of a probability. Thus, we are not thinking creatively within that Divine Mind, we are that Divine Mind.

She then talks about beliefs and sees them as a kind of operating system. She's right that we take on beliefs from our families, our friends, our schools, our culture and so much more. And yes, we need to determine which beliefs serve us and which don't. However, there is one thing missing here. Each of us has our own information that we are receiving this lifetime from our inner being. That being is what is YOU between all your lifetimes. So as we work to change our beliefs we can use our own information to decide what resonates with us and what does not. The goal, to me, is to fully live within our own information for this life, keeping some of the beliefs we have been given or taken on, but mostly working off of our own inner guidance. While I understand using an operating system as a metaphor for this discussion, my own understanding of seeing beliefs as "pictures' in the aura through which we view the world and take in energy seem to me to be more precise. Those beliefs do live in the aura and chakras and can be moved out of your space, if desired.

Certainly cultural programming, and I would argue gender programming, are very strong aspects to all human cultures. It takes conscious effort to root out those beliefs to find our true information. I believe this statement agrees with her conclusion that a "witch walks the path of learning to trust our own perceptions and experiences, no matter what others think." Gaining direct access to your own information helps you walk your path with personal integrity. Who better knows you than the YOU that lives through all your lifetimes? Who knows better what intentions you came into this life with? Your own information from your own inner being is the best guidance you can have.