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Willow Firesong's
Here you will find our beliefs, our myths, our holidays and their meanings, all of the foundations for our religion. Our ethics and our actions all arise from our basic beliefs about the nature of the world.
Throughout the ages of humankind, people have sought within themselves and the world around them for the answers to the questions of ethics and the nature of the universe. We have found, over time, that we are not the only ones to have reached the conclusions we have from this search. We recognize the common path we share with those others, now and throughout history.
We do not know when anyone first reached these views; we are writing them down for our own purposes in the closing months of 1998 CE. Since we do not accord the written word any superstitious respect that we would not grant its author were we to meet them in person, we do not feel that the volume of written material supporting any person's beliefs changes the validity of their reasons for believing as they do. We all live in the same world, though we may understand it differently, and so the test for the validity of any belief is always the same, accordance with reality.
We recognize that many people have voiced sentiments that are in accordance with our beliefs, and state them beautifully and eloquently. These statements, and the people who made them, are an intended addition to this site, as Words of Wisdom by teachers of many faiths.
Religion is a word having its roots in the Latin word for "re-linking". When the creators of Circle of Firelight sought to re-link with the world around them, and the spiritual aspects thereof, these beliefs were the result. Eventually, we felt the call to share these beliefs and our own spiritual resources with others; that path lead us first to ordination, and then to sharing these understandings with others. Circle of Firelight is the result; a place where we share our understandings with others.
No. We acknowledge that each person is called to the path which most accords with their understanding of reality. When we seek to interact with others, we need to define our terms before we can have a meaningful discussion on most religious, spiritual, magical or metaphysical topics. When we accepted the call we had felt to ordination, allowing us to help broaden the choices and opportunites available to pagans and witches to celebrate their beliefs and the major events in their lives, we realized that there was a need for us to define our beliefs in a way that could be clearly understood by others, who could then decide if they were comfortable reaching out to us. Our beliefs need not match yours exactly for us to wish to reach out, or reach back, and share what we can with those who respect our beliefs.
We know that there are many different pagan paths, and we do not seek to pass judgement on any other path by acknowledging the distinguishing factors that mark our tradition as distinct from others. If you share our beliefs, and live by them, we recognize you as a fellow-traveler upon this path, and a member of a common tradition, by whatever name you choose to call it. If you differ here or there, we will think no less of you, if the differences are not such as to violate our ethics. Whether we agree with you or not, we accept the followers of all non-harmful paths as positive in their beliefs and worthy of our respect. We extend also the respect of acknowledging seriousness of belief in all, regardless of path.
We encourage everyone to define their own beliefs clearly, for their own understanding and clarity. If you are open to sharing your beliefs with others, having a clear understanding of your own most basic beliefs makes it easier to communicate them to others. It also helps ensure that you are less likely to be swayed into blindly accepting the beliefs of others as your own. When we try to follow whatever path is being eloquently propounded at the moment, we risk trying to believe things which are incompatible, which may be viewed as a form of schizophrenia. Our beliefs should accord completely with reality as we understand and interact with it. When they do not, we should evaluate them, and consider the cause of the disparity, and what implications it holds for our beliefs.
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