Spirituality vs. Science: Fight?
by Kyeli on July 10th, 2009 @ 9:30 am in
How To Be Awesome
I read a book. (I’m not telling which one, so as to avoid spoilage.)
In this book, a boy from a very spiritual culture experiences a cataclysm of epic proportions, winds up alone, and questions his gods. Then he meets a girl from a very scientific culture. They become friends, and eventually, her people show up and teach science, and the gods are abandoned.
I’m summing up and being very liberal, but that’s the gist.
What does this have to do with Kyeli?
I’m a Witch. As I said in my silly video, for me, being a Witch is like being a girl. It’s not something I particularly chose, nor is it something I feel I could un-choose.
A few weeks ago, Pace said something about being more spiritual on the blog and in our work, and I flipped out. Share my spirituality? No way. That little video is as close as I get to publicly sharing my spirituality. No way, nuh-uh, no how.
I’ve never talked about seeing Faeries. I don’t mention the visions I’ve had. I don’t talk about my Guides. I haven’t discussed how I came to be devoted to the Goddess, or what that means to me. I don’t talk about it.
And because I don’t talk about it, I don’t know anyone else who has experienced anything like anything I have.
And because of that, sometimes I have doubt.
A crisis of faith.
So then I read the aforementioned book. An epic crisis caused the spiritual nature of the boy to change and become more scientific. He started saying, “Why?” He stopped trusting in his gods, and eventually stopped believing in them altogether.
I finished the book and burst into tears. The message I’d received was, “Faith is silly and unprovable. Science wins in the end, so you might as well give up and give in.”
Then I spent a week in crisis, unable to talk about it because no one I know had read the book (and Pace hates spoilers). I locked it up and started asking “Why?” and looking for proof.
Proof that the Goddess is real.
Proof that Faeries are real.
Proof that my Guides are real.
Proof, proof, proof.
“Proof” is a science word.
Finally, Pace read the book. When she finished it, we talked. Three hours later, and my faith was not only restored, but strengthened.
What changed?
Sit down, ’cause this is really funny.
My paradigm.
I forgot about paradigm. I’m a paradigm-shifter. I talk about paradigms all the time in my work; I teach people about paradigms for a living, and I forgot.
In the book, the author made the usual error. In our dominant culture, science is the dominant paradigm, so if the events in the book had happened today in our reality, it would be only natural for the boy to turn to science.
But in the boy’s paradigm, that would have actually been completely impossible. He might have asked “Why?”, but the answers would have come from his gods. His people would have re-written their stories to explain the crisis in their own paradigm, with their own gods.
Proof is a science word. In a spiritual culture, in a gods-centric paradigm, the word is meaningless.
Imagine an Aztec boy.
He’s very smart and clever. His mother is taken for a sacrifice to make the crops grow, and he looks at his baby brothers and older sisters, and wonders “Why?” He asks his father, who tells him that it is their way. Unsatisfied, he manages to ask the tribe chieftain. Again, he’s told that it is the way of the gods.
In our scientific culture, we might write the story thus: The boy, being very smart and clever, manages to rescue his mother and run away with her. From afar, they discover that this action doesn’t anger the gods at all. Together, the boy and his mother continue rescuing intended sacrifices for a year, and they discover that the crops are no different than with sacrifice.
Eventually, they go to the chief and are able to convince him to stop sacrificing humans, and the tribes-people are safe! Hooray!
…but in reality, the boy would’ve been next on the block. Asking “Why?” was tantamount to sacrilege. And if he’d somehow managed to get to his mother, she would have refused to leave with him, because being a sacrifice to the gods meant her people would eat better for the rest of the year.
The boy had done an experiment and had been able to prove that sacrificing didn’t make a difference one way or the other. But that’s scientific, and against his paradigm – and therefore, not likely to have happened at all. And in the unlikely event that it had happened, the boy is speaking an entirely different language from the rest of his people. He’s saying “Experiments! Evidence! Proof!” And the rest of his people would be making stories to explain what the gods must’ve been doing while the crops grew without sacrifice.
In truth, it likely would never have even occurred to the boy to try and change things.
Science isn’t the only way.
So in my personal epic crisis, I was shaken and upset because I felt like, when you start asking “Why?”, science is the only eventual answer. Science can “prove” things.
And since I don’t know anyone else who lives in my personal witchy paradigm, and I can’t answer “Why?” with proven things, I must be wrong.
Right?
Absolutely not.
Absolutely not.
In my paradigm, there are Faeries. I can see them. I talk to them and sometimes, they talk back.
In my paradigm, I pray to the goddess in many forms. I walk in the hands of the gods, talk to them, and listen when they talk to me.
In my paradigm, I was born a Witch. It took me a while to get there, but I found myself and my path.
In my paradigm, science is fun. It answers questions that we curious humans want answered with answers that sound and look right – and to some extent, they are right. And I’m a philosopher – I ask questions all the time! I love to learn and I seek out knowledge.
But “question everything” doesn’t mean “believe nothing”.
Just because a planet is made of gas doesn’t mean there are no gods there.
Just because we can see the entire forest doesn’t mean no unicorns live there.
Just because we think we know everything doesn’t mean we understand anything.
I am a Witch.
I am an Edgewalker. I choose to live a magickal and spiritual life, full of mythical creatures and Guides and gods and discovery. I choose to ask and to seek, and to listen to what my soul says is true. I choose to be both spiritual and seeking, a Witch and a Philosopher in harmony. I choose to dance in the moonlight and cast circle and create sacred space and trust my intuition and leave milk out for the Faeries.
I choose to believe.
- Related posts:
- The Structure of Social Revolutions
- In Defense of Closed-Mindedness (or, I Won’t Argue With You Because I Live in a Fantasy World)
- A teetotaler drinks a pint of Guinness and changes her mind (Hint: it’s Pace)
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12 Comments!
#2 Posted by 
Tari on July 10th, 2009 12:22 pm | link
But “question everything” doesn’t mean “believe nothing”.
This is a great line. So right on.
I like to cultivate the idea that understanding something in a scientific way doesn’t diminish its magic or mystery. I have theories that explain woo-woo phenomena I have experienced, in non woo-woo ways….but that doesn’t invalidate or even contradict the woo-woo bits at all. For me, that’s just another way the mundane is magical.
Tari’s last blog post..Family news, plus SFSV: The Reboot.
#3 Posted by 
Bryan on July 10th, 2009 12:36 pm | link
“In the book, the author made the usual error. In our dominant culture, science is the dominant paradigm, so if the events in the book had happened today in our reality, it would be only natural for the boy to turn to science.
But in the boy’s paradigm, that would have actually been completely impossible.”
The author creates the world and decides what is or isn’t possible. The author can’t make the usual error because the author is the creator of what’s in the boy’s head. And it’s certainly possible for someone from a religious culture to reject everything they’ve been told. Otherwise, we’d have no atheists to begin with.
Maybe you’re making the usual error in comparing the boy with yourself?
#4 Posted by 
Sandy on July 10th, 2009 12:46 pm | link
You’ve got me thinking on a bunch of different tangents already… not the least of which is “oh wow, I lead 2 separate lives – one in which I am a witch, priestess and teacher and one in which I’m just a ‘regular’ person.” Some serious thinking to do there.
The other thing is, the best scientist end up nearly as mystics. Look at Einstein and most of your quantum physicists. The people who cannot abide both, who have such insecurity in their world that science can be the only answer practice what I call the religion of science. What you, I think, call the paradigm of science. But I think there is another paradigm of true science. One that is much more about asking questions and seeking to understand the universe and how we interact with it… and that is not so far from the paradigm of most witches. The people who practice the religion of science don’t believe in questions until they already have answers. What a very difficult way to live.
#5 Posted by 
kate on July 10th, 2009 2:17 pm | link
“And because I don’t talk about it, I don’t know anyone else who has experienced anything like anything I have.”
wow – this jumped out at me because i really don’t talk about my spirituality either. much less publicly! in a blog! and at the same time i complain (mostly in my head) that there is no one to talk to about… spiritual things!
It seems so obvious here, but honestly, i think i just keep waiting for someone else be the brave one and start the conversation. my ’spirit’ stuff is different from yours, yet i find yours fascinating too and still relate-able. I really do hope you write more about these things in the blog!
THANK YOU for sharing!! it strengthens those of us who are big chickens :)
#6 Posted by 
Nathalie Lussier on July 10th, 2009 6:30 pm | link
You are such a brave soul, pioneer woman, and wonderful witch. Yay!! I totally believe in faeries, and my spiritual guide is a hummingbird. I’ve had him since I was like 10 or so, and my dad always encouraged me to keep my connection with him. So I’ve been really lucky to have such an open minded dad, when it came to spirituality.
I freaked my mom out by buying lots of Wiccan/Pagan books in my early teens. She got over it eventually, but I stopped mentioning it too. Now I’m really taking a look at where I lost track of my spiritual path along the way, and getting back in the groove! :)
Thank you for putting yourself and your spirituality out there. It has been life changing, and I’m sure others are also equally touched!
Nathalie Lussier’s last blog post..Organic Food: The Raw Debate Over Benefits of Organic
#7 Posted by 
Julia on July 11th, 2009 12:07 pm | link
I’ve just started reading Simon Westchester’s book about Krakatoa (and since I’ve just started it, and I’m going to say something about what’s in the first 8 pages of over 300, I figure that’s not spoiling anything, right?). Its eruption/destruction in 1883 was traumatic for humanity, not because it was a big-ass mountain blowing up and throwing all sorts of things into the air that messed with weather for a good while, but because portions of humanity were making a paradigm shift from using religion to explain things to using science to explain things — and while this was happening, there wasn’t enough *information* to explain how it could have happened for a long time, and this was psychologically traumatic to a great many people.
(If anyone wants a quote of the most relevant paragraph, the one I thought of when I was reading this post, I’ve checked the box to be notified by e-mail of any more comments here, and I’ll be happy to come back with it any time before Wednesday. And holler if you want to know more about the book once I’ve finished it — at page 18, he’s working on some of the political history of the era, and that’s as far as I’ve gotten at this point. But so far, I’m finding it to be very interesting.)
#8 Posted by 
Kira on July 11th, 2009 2:08 pm | link
I’m happiest when I have an explanation from science and from spirituality for the same phenomenon. And when I don’t have an explanation, I have faith. I choose to believe in the gods, and act as though unseen forces are real because it makes my life more meaningful and interesting. I prefer the kinds of reality-making I can do within my witchy paradigm. But I never forget that it was a choice. I don’t like people who believe in something as a default, without questioning it, or because their culture tells them to. Faith is always a choice.
#9 Posted by 
James on July 11th, 2009 3:15 pm | link
A question for you. You talk a lot about paradigms and paradigm shifting. Do you believe that people who follow different paradigms experience different worlds (i.e. if I believe in fairies, they exist for me, but they won’t exist for the person standing next to me who is a Born Again Christian.), or do you believe that a paradigm is a way a person has of explaining and interpreting the world around them and we all experience the same world?
#10 Posted by 
Tatty Franey on July 11th, 2009 4:19 pm | link
oh Kyeli, what a wonderful post. i too choose to believe. and i talk to my guides all the time, and they reassure me when things are tough. and they help me pick up pieces of me when i break down. and the fairies? they sprinkle golden glitter on me every night. and anyone other than my parents of my husband take it all as a big joke from weird Tatty. but that’s ok :)
thanks for posting this, so so much!
#11 Posted by 
Goddess Leonie | Goddess Guidebook on July 11th, 2009 7:36 pm | link
I adore, adore, adore this post possum.
My word for this year is: Faith.
No matter what else is going on, just keep trusting and having faith that I am loved, I am taken care of, Great Spirit is all around me, and that all will be well.
Recently I went back home to my family’s land. And so many of my family don’t believe in anything. And it got me to thinking about *why* I believe.
I believe because the deep wise voice inside me tells me so.
I believe because it makes my life richer, more wonderful and more amazing than I could imagine.
I believe because that I was born to do – follow this spirit named Leonie and find out what gifts she has to tell me.
Big love you
xoxo
#12 Posted by 
Pam Hogeweide on July 17th, 2009 4:04 am | link
I loved how you said,
“But “question everything” doesn’t mean “believe nothing”.”
Totally. I totally get that and say a hearty-praise-the-Lord-Amen!
As a follower of Christ, I often downplay and keep secretive some of the experiences I have hearing the voice of God. The dreams I have. The uncanny knowing of Knowing without any reasonable explanation of that knowing. I minimize it. I hide.
And it does not serve anyone when that hiding is out of insecurity. I understand the wisdom of patience and caution, yet this is not why I often hang back in expressing the reality of the dynamic friendship I enjoy with God.
It definitely distills down to faith. And a preacher friend of mine asked, How do you spell faith?
R-I-S-K.
We risk being foolish and sounding foolish by what we put our faith into. And of course we risk being duped and led astray. Some agnostic friends of mine who are cynical towards Christianity sometimes try to dissuade me from my paradigm of faith with their rational arguments. I finally had to tell them, “Hey, I don’t know. How can anyone know for sure about anything. But what I do know is that following Christ has helped me be a kinder more loving human being. So I will follow Jesus all the days of life…”
This was such a great post. And it’s the last one of the day for me. Long summer days with active teens in the house means I’m staying up way too late. Time to hit it.
Blessings to you guys!
Pam Hogeweide’s last blog post..Demotivational Devotional: Unpurposed Living {Day Four}
#1 Posted by
judyofthewoods on July 10th, 2009 10:47 am | link
I think there is room for parallel universes in our reality. Well, what is reality? And nothing is more weird than science. A limitless universe, subatomic particles, black holes, quantum physics all make fairies seem kinda normal by comparesment.