Monthly Columns

Nurturing Your Wild Child

Prepping the Roots of Spirituality

When and How to Introduce Your Children to the Path

A common denominator in our Spiritual pathways as Pagans is the very immediate indoctrination of a secular Faith, and this beginning is very sheltering and terrifying for many of us. Growing through our Spiritual paths we find that healing becomes a part of this, a necessary piece to rid ourselves of this fear of something unknown which draws into our lives another commonality – the need to save our families from this same Faith-based trauma. This idea coupled with the understanding of how our natural cyclical beings are attuned to the Universe, we begin to pave a path for our Children, one where we generally promise to remain open, honest, and pure in faith for raising Spiritually independent and educated human beings.

As this plan of action really begins to take shape there are two questions that seem to bring heightened levels of conflict and stress within our Community – when is the appropriate time to introduce my children to a lifestyle that is considered so alternative? How do we begin to teach them an idea and Faith that is so much larger than the secular notions that seem so easy for the rest of the world to abide by? With two children who I have brought into this world where I find my life entirely devoted to my Spirituality, these questions took precedence in my life – demanding quick answers as my babies began to grow and ask these larger life questions.

My parents were not Pagan, yet I was raised in a very alternative Faith based household – the two of them not subscribing to any particular Faith or Path, yet still focusing that there is something larger than us at work in the Universe. With my mother growing up in a Catholic family and having to endure the Catholic Education system, and my father who grew up Southern Baptist (not the devout type of Southern Baptist either), they both very much knew what they did not want for me. It was very important in their decision to raise me this way that I do not find fear in my Spiritual Faith.

This dedication to providing my childhood with a safe and pure idea of Faith and how to navigate it would completely shape the way I followed my life purpose. Not only is this type of freedom something that is naturally, rightfully the way of the human being here on Earth, but it is fundamental for remaining in our heightened consciousness. We find clarity throughout our lives leaving our minds so open to the different ideas of Faith and this combats not only our quest for the answers of life, but it keeps depression, anxiety, self-consciousness and doubt at bay. Now this brings us to the first question we need to answer for making our decisions about raising our children on this path – when is it appropriate?

Diving into this question – ask yourself, how old were you when you first believed in Magick? Not the magic we see on TV, but those experiences as a child that as we age almost become questionable figments of our imagination. Stories I have been told by others on this Path explain the childhood ghost story of feeling the Spirit around you and experiencing their presence, having clairvoyant moments, or even having a relationship with what the Irish call the Aos Si – the Good People. Most of us when we ask ourselves this question will have the same answers – a very early age, probably before the age of 10 – even before the age of 7 in a lot of cases. Progressing through our paths we find another common stitching between us, a phrase we have all seen and heard time and time again – I wish I hadn’t stopped working on my Spiritual Gifts. This regret is part of being subjected to this frightful Secular lifestyle that does not promote our individual freedom.

Answering the when – nurture your child’s path from the very beginning. When we are young, we have no mental restrictions and our imaginations run wild. Throughout our studies we come to find that almost all Paths other than the Christian and Catholic based Faiths did not write down such an exact detail of their history. Instead we find beautiful lores that help to keep these incredible belief structures alive throughout our histories, and they are so Magickal in just their portrayal that they draw children into them with hope and wonder. This makes it easy to tell the ideas of God/esses and how they came to be to young minds and help them begin these Paths of full belief and understanding that there are things that to our naked eye we cannot see, but that do still play such a large part in our day to day survival.

Teaching our children the stories of old, we find that the base concepts of natural living on a Spiritual Path truly start to form their reality. They exhibit a calm and soft acknowledgment of living things and how they interact with each other, a belief in intuition that is based within energetic vibrations, and an understanding that things may not always be what they seem. Within these lores, the building of these skills helps children to see that we are not just telling tales that sound fantastical, but they are able to grasp and fully calculate what the inherent lesson or meaning behind the tale is. Nurturing this function will also help to grow their Spirits within the cyclical nature of reality.

We also find during the early years of life that our senses on creativity and boundaries are wildly variant due to our exposure to the world. It is customary in most Spiritual traditions to hand craft some things, and to work with your hands in Rituals or Spellcrafting – so it makes perfect sense to hone these creative ideas with the idea of learning an open Faith as well. There are many crafts that we see throughout history even that show us that we have not always been a species that questioned the age of which we teach our children these traditions, such as the corn husk doll, Brighid’s Cross, bouquets, flower crowns, and even the idea of making cookies to leave out for Santa. This brings us to the definitive answer to, in fact, both of our questions:

It is never too early to begin teaching your Spiritual Path to your children. Start with where you feel comfortable enough to help educate them. Open them to all Paths so they may decide which to follow – and remove their constraints. Teach them through stories, craft, and encouraging them to keep their boundaries open to possibilities within the Universal Vibrations. Do not shun or scare off Magickal experiences or feelings they may be having, and enjoy sharing this connection with them.

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About the Author:

Hallie has been a Practicing Pagan for 17 years and has taken these years of education and study to achieve her Certification in Herbalism at the Master Level as well as her Certification as a Meditation Instructor. Fully devoting her life to Spiritualism and living a fully Pagan lifestyle has become the drive in her life, which she achieves while striving to help others within the community turn back to Nature based living.

Celebrating being open for just over one year, Hallie is also the Owner and Founder of Saol Bandia – The Goddess Life, an up and coming Metaphysical and Spiritual Hub that supports knowledge and education of all paths while selling and promoting Pagan made goods and tools at ?www.saolbandia.com? or www.facebook.com/saolbandia. She has also recently begun teaching online courses on Spiritualism as well through her handmade courses at http://sbsstudies.thinkific.com? focused in Spellcasting and Tarot Divination at this time.

Contact Hallie directly at [email protected]

By text or call at 502-504-7021 Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/halliewood.horrorgore Or you can reach out to her on Instagram @saol_bandia