Lately I've been baffled by my own religious beliefs. I feel a sense of inner peace when it comes to Christianity, until I actually research the beliefs and realize that none of that applies to me at all. Thus, I'm starting to question myself. When I was 11 years old, I become extremely interested in magic and witchcraft. I loved the ideas of spells, and (albeit this may sound like appropriation, so apologies) various shamanic practices appeal to me too. I've looked into Voodun in the past, and that appeals to me a lot, but I'm white, and unsure if that's even allowed in the practice of Voodun. Community is an important part of religion for me. I need other practitioners to really get a feel for anything, unfortunately too. So in that sense, I like religion to be semi-organized. I have found that I'm connected to various Gods, such as Hera, but I don't quite know if I believe in Her.
Yet, my beliefs are strange, and I will label them in order according to importance to me:
#1. For one, I am not sure that I believe in gods so much as spirits. I don't see gods as humanoid at all. They are more spiritual than human. I believe that there are spirits for everything. Not only inside of everything (like animism), but also larger spirit representations of things. For example, a tree may have a spirit, but there may be a larger spirit representing trees in general. A wolf may have a spirit, but there may be a main wolf spirit. Ect.
#2. I'm not sure what I think about the afterlife, however, I do believe that when we die, we have some form of "awareness". I do believe in ancestor reverence and respect.
#3. I believe in reincarnation, but I believe that depending on the particular case, it may be voluntary or involuntary. In other words, sometimes a person must learn a lesson by reincarnating. Other times, a person may not need to reincarnate, but may choose to on their own. I believe that reincarnation is not just limited to humans.
#4. Magic is something I believe in, and I believe that things close to a person can carry said person's energy, including hair, blood, clothes they frequently wear, jewelry, ect.
Lastly, I want to make it clear that these are beliefs that I have found resonate with me. I don't really know how consistent they are with any religions, and I do not actively practice anything at the moment.
-Kodama