Day Nineteen: Friends & Family

My friends generally know I'm a pagan, but my family doesn't. I don't necessarily volunteer the information unless it's relevant, so not all of my friends know.

I do think my family would have complicated feelings about it. They're very Catholic, but they're not intolerant of other religions (except my grandma has explicitly said that she doesn't like Satanists, which is understandable if you are Catholic). I remember when I was maybe 20 years old, excitedly talking about Norse mythology, and my grandma (and later my mom) kept asking me "you know they (the gods) aren't real, right?" and kept asking until I gave an unambiguous answer of "Yes, I know they aren't real, I don't think they're real." They would be supportive if I chose to convert to Judaism or Islam, or chose to practice Shinto or Buddhism. They just think worshiping Norse (or Greek, etc) gods is mental illness. Which is a problem. Becuase I do worship those gods.

I do think, if I explained it, they'd eventually understand. But I really don't want to go through all of that.

As far as friends, I have had people respond with the knowledge that I'm a polytheist (more important than the paganism piece in this context) with surprise and immediately insulting my intellegence by saying stuff like "You seemed so rational. I thought you were smarter than that." I think the existence of God (or gods, or whatever) is more of a philosophical question than a scientific one. Some people have responded with curiosity though, which is definitely preferable. Some people also react like me disclosing that I'm a pagan is the first step in me trying to "convert" them. There's nothing to convert to, nor do your personal religious beliefs (or lack thereof) impact me. I do not care.