Pagan Centered Podcast™

I would like to first thank you all for your insight on the question I raised in episode 103, regarding what I should do with my 6 year old. Yes, I am a proud Pagan Parent, and yes, my family is aware of such, and although they do not share the same beliefs as I do, there is a certain level of respect that takes place. In other words, I am not condemed to hell for what I believe in, and I won’t Tell them what they believe is wrong. Being a Pagan Parent in a christian Family has not been easy. The holidays for the sake of the family, are easily handled; I Honor Mabon and samhain, for example, but celebrate christmas with the family. and although my daughter ellie does pose some rather interesting questions, such as what are angels, or is the goddess God’s girlfriend, for the most part i can answer most questions rather mundanely, such as how do flowers grow or where do storms come from, and she understands. The trouble begins when the family imposes to me that my daughter needs to go to church every sunday to worship a God that I chose a long time ago not to believe in, and i don’t feel that at 6 years old she needs a religion force fed down her throat. when I came into paganism, it wasn’t force fed, I walked into it willingly, and as My daughter matures, if she chooses so, I would like for her to walk in her own way at her own pace. where the tools i use in my sacred space are concerned, she asks about them, and i give her the easiest answer i can’ such as “the candles are for when the lights go out” or “that knife(athame) is to protect us against the bad guys in the neighborhood.” and you’re 100% correct, I don’t want a shit storm caused in the family, especially after when I walked out of the “broom closet” back in the day the response at first was closer to “you’re the devil!” than “well that’s your decision and we accept it”. I know there has to be more pagan parents ot there facing the same dilemma as I, where they have the added pressure of the Giant wildebeast that is christianity looming all round them in the form of family members. Yes. my daughter is 6 years old. no, at this time, it’s probably not a good idea to force a belief structure upon her, especially of the impending nuclear bomb i might set off if i do this in front of the rest of the family. What I have learned, is to slowly introduce her into some of the things that daddy does and if she want to know more and i feel it’s safe, i let her. For example, i recently sat down for meditation in my sacred space, and my daughter walked in, wondering what I was doing. after telling her i was just “sitting and thinking” she asked to join. I Personally believe that as impressionable as she is, ellie doesn’t deserve to be torn between two belief structures, and she doesn’t really need to know one or the other at this point. she’s too busy chasing ants anyways. well this has gone on for a bit more than i planned, and I apologize for that. Once again, PCP Thank you for your insight, and i hope this indeed turns out to be a good topic for an episode.