Pagan Journeys > In the Broom Closet

When You Live with Your Parents

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anubisa:
That's a good article bluefire. I live with my parents and I definitely don't shout my religion from the rooftop, but i'm open to them and respect their religion.

Quotensilence:
Thank you so much Blue. This is more helpful then you may realize. My dad was raised Catholic and although he doesn't really go to church anymore, he's still rather religious. My mom doesn't go to church at all, but still believes in God. I tried to tell her that I was interested in Paganism and Wicca and she flipped out. I love this path and all that I'm learning, and yet I can respect my parents and their beliefs as much as I want, but unfortunately they may not respect mine. I guess that just comes with the territory....

bluefire:

--- Quote from: Quotensilence on April 02, 2010, 11:47:24 AM ---I love this path and all that I'm learning, and yet I can respect my parents and their beliefs as much as I want, but unfortunately they may not respect mine. I guess that just comes with the territory....

--- End quote ---

Your parents may not accept your path, but they can still respect YOU.  That is what we all want in the end, yes?  No two people on earth agree on every subject.  The challenge we face is to still connect to that part of others we can connect to, even when there are gaps.

VisionFromAfar:
Excellent post! My question runs a little deeper, and maybe those wiser than myself could help here. I only recently exited the broom closet with my parents, and unfortunately, that was over the phone. (Not fair to them, I know, but they live 10 hours away, and I won't see them for several months, and I felt they deserved to know about this major change in my life.) Since that very stilted conversation, there hasn't even been an akward pause... But my new faith doesn't come up, ever. I certainly don't want to "shout it from the rooftops", as BF mentions above, but it is a part of my life now.

My wife suggested mentioning it every other conversation or so, just mentioning a topic I spotted on witchvox or even something as simple as "I gotta go to the coven meeting now, talk to you later," so that it at least becomes common in the conversation and there isn't this audible wince from the other end of the line from my mother. I agree that I don't want or need to rub their noses in it, but any ideas how I can ease them into this so I don't feel the need to jump back in the closet every time the topic is near, especially since they refuse to bring it up themselves?

Tirya:
In general, how often does religion come up in your conversations? Do your parents talk about how their church service went, or about their pastor/minister/rabbi/etc? To me, going "out of your way" to mention it - even with the best of intentios - is rubbing their noses in it. If it comes up in conversation, then talk about it. If it doesn't, then do't feel like you have to frce them to accept it. Let them know that if they have questions you'd be happy to answer them. Let them know that you're happy with your choice, and live the best example that you can so they don't have to worry that some "devil worship" is going to turn you into some blood-sucking fiend. Just my $0.02...

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