Leaving Religion
First off - Leaving Religion is not about " not believing" - It is the very opposite. It's about leaving mainstream religion for a true spiritual connection. We dig deep and deal with Religious trauma and we strive towards a real religious coexistence
My name is Richard Ravenbrook. Some call me The Pagan Preacher. I am a man, a clairvoyan life coach, and a spiritual guide. Throughout my quest for truth, the spirit has guided me along various paths. My roles have included church ministry, street ministry, and publishing, among others. I have shared this journey with Christian companions as well as pagan allies. I have received ordination in Christian ministry and I have also embraced initiation into the magical arts.
The leaving Religion podcast encapsulates the wisdom and insights accumulated from these varied theologies, traditions, and philosophies. Leaving religion is about seeking true divinity and truth rather than simply following the crowd.
Leaving Religion
Finding Authenticity: Embracing Spiritual Freedom Beyond Organized Religion
What if leaving organized religion could lead you to a deeper, more authentic spirituality? On this episode of "Leaving Religion," we explore the life-altering journey of stepping away from the confines of a church to embrace a path that aligns more closely with your true self. We dive into the profound courage it takes to be true to oneself, especially when it feels like you're standing out or risking relationships with friends and family. We discuss the rewarding wisdom and joy that come from this brave transition, stressing that authenticity is the cornerstone of enlightenment. True spirituality, we believe, is an inner journey that transcends the barriers of organized institutions.
Our episode also breaks down the crucial distinction between leaving the church and leaving God, helping you understand that this path doesn't mean abandoning your faith. We offer essential tips for those contemplating this transformative decision, emphasizing the importance of self-worth, confidence, and listening to your inner calling. Even if the path seems daunting, the Spirit guides and protects those who trust in their inner divinity. To better align with our mission, we also announce our podcast's name change to "Leaving Religion," reaffirming our identity as the "pagan preacher" and our dedication to guiding others on their spiritual journeys. Join us for an inspiring conversation about embracing individuality and finding true spiritual freedom.
Find The Pagan Preacher on U Tube and other platforms
Welcome everyone. Welcome back to the new podcast. This is Richard Ravenbrook and I am the pagan preacher. This is Believing Religion. You know, the podcasts have always been about deconstruction and about various everyday things that go on in our life everyday questions, spiritual questions, questions that people have when trying to get out of the box of religion, trying to discover themselves, discover new things.
Speaker 1:Leaving religion isn't about leaving God. It isn't about leaving faith. It's about leaving organized, structured, labeled, organized, structured, labeled, formal religion that requires membership and ties to that faith, to that religion. Leaving religion is about spirituality. It's about finding you, finding the divinity within yourself, learning to tune in to the spiritual world, learning to connect to life on Mother Earth, learning to feel and see and hear things that we can only phantom. Getting out of the box, getting out of physical, laying down the book or the books and experiencing life, experiencing spirit and experiencing a true touch of the divine.
Speaker 1:Today, what I want to talk about it has been talked about before, but I want to re-literate. I want to talk about having the courage to be who you are. Having the courage to be who you are, you know, having the courage in this world to be different, to stand out as different, to be something that isn't considered the normal, sometimes even to be considered the outcast, the black sheep. It's not easy, while deconstructing from religion, while leaving religion, learning to do these things to enhance our spirituality and to find real enlightenment.
Speaker 1:We lose friends, sometimes we lose family, we find ourselves in a valley, in a desert. A time of learning, a time of experiencing A time of learning, a time of experiencing a time of sorrow and, at the same time, a time of wisdom and joy in that wisdom. That, though there be sorrow in wisdom, there is also joy to know the truth for what it is. Being who we are is the first, the first act of true intent, trueness being real with the universe of the divine, of the spirit, being real with ourselves. Who are you today? Are you the person? That dwells within you.
Speaker 1:Is that person that walks around at your job, at the local supermarket, at your church, at your home local supermarket, at your church, at your home? Is that person that people see? Is that the same person that dwells within you? If it's not, then we lie to ourselves and we and we are in a prison that only we can break out of and we live a life that, though we live, we had no life because we didn't experience it for what we were meant to be. Being real, is that first act, that first step on that path of enlightenment, when you are called to leave religion, when you are called into a deeper spiritual walk, into a deeper spirituality and a different, when you are led to get out of that box and to walk onto that path, though it may be dark and you can't see too much on that path at first, you can't see any light at the end of the tunnel, but you know that you've got to take that step forward and you got to take another step forward and you don't have to worry about stumbling on the rocks, you don't have to worry about enemies and things on the path that may seek to hurt you, because the spirit puts you on this path, spirit has already cleared the way and spirit will protect you so long as your intent is pure.
Speaker 1:Be who it is that you are, no matter who that person is, the person within you. Don't be afraid to voice your thoughts. To voice your thoughts, to voice your opinions, to voice your deepest emotions. During this transformation, during this time of change, you will change, your beliefs will change, your beliefs will change, your desires will change and people around you will change as you change. Don't be afraid of that change, because for every change is another step forward in that path and another step forward closer to path and another step forward closer to the light at the end of the tunnel, that light being truth, the answers that we all seek, that we sought when we first dove into religion. First dove into religion when we sought to have a connection in a relationship with a creator, to know more than what our physical eyes can see, to see divinity in a real sense and a real experience we can't experience that we begin by being real within ourselves.
Speaker 1:It's not easy, is it? Because when we start being real, many people around us will have many different reactions, different emotions. Some will say we betrayed our faith, our church, our God, our family. They'll say that we've walked away from what we know is right, that we've fallen by the wayside. We have to dig deep within ourself. To dig deep within ourself, we have to be ready to lose in order to gain.
Speaker 1:You're going to say well, this seems like a very hard path, and we know that the narrow way is a hard path. The narrow way is the way that most people don't go down Because they're all following after the path of all those thousands of followers. When you go down this path, sometimes you'll do it alone. The Spirit will always find you a friend. The Spirit will always find you someone and something to bring you that peace and that understanding as you seek that truth. But it'll feel dark, it'll seem distant, because Spirit's wanting you to connect to Spirit, trying to teach you to let go of this physical and to dive into the spiritual things. And that's not easy, because the church hasn't taught us to be spiritual. It's taught us that we have to be in a four-walled building to experience God that we have to know the 66 books put in a man-made book in order to experience divine actions. And it's not true. The kingdom of God is within you, spirit is within you and truth is within you. All the power in the world is within you and it comes from intent. It comes from believing in that intent, believing in the words that you say, that you speak, that the things that you feel and think and believe manifest into reality. These things Spirit seeks to teach you. And when we first pull away from religion, and when we first pull away from religion, it can be some of the darkest times we will ever experience. We will experience traumas, feelings of depression, anxiety, anxiety. But don't let others tell you that this is evil trying to destroy you, because it's not. It's simply the place, on this path, that you will learn to tune into spirit.
Speaker 1:Getting out of this box, getting out of corporate religion, getting out of having to have a physical experience in everything rather than a spiritual experience has blinded us, it's numbed us to where we need this experience. We feel we do anyway, and Spirit wants to tell you that there's so much more, there's so much more to experience that's within than you could ever find in a four walled building or a church. God isn't in a four walled building. God, or the divine, the creator, whatever you choose to call it, is within you and is within all forms of life.
Speaker 1:When we begin to tap in, when we begin to really feel and I know sometimes I repeat myself when I try to explain it, but sometimes spirit has me go back through and over and over and over, because he wants somebody, somebody out there that's listening to hear, even if it's that one phrase, that one sentence. I need listening to hear, even if it's that one phrase, that one sentence. I needed to hear that I needed to be validated. I needed someone to tell me that what I'm going through is okay, that it's natural, it's normal. It's natural, it's normal. It's normal to feel down when you realize that everything that you've been taught by the people you love the most is wrong and that when you begin to find the truth and see the truth for what it is, and your family won't listen to you and your friends won't listen to you, your spirit is grieved and when people begin to walk away from you, betray you, it hurts. You will feel these things and I know this isn't the most upbeat podcast. It's kind of sad in a way, but it's not sad. It's merely letting you know for the one that's listening to this that knows that they have to leave religion because they know that it's just not what it's supposed to be Corporate religion. You know when Spirit calls us to do these things.
Speaker 1:I know it took me years. It took me years to build up the courage and the bravery to walk away from everything, because not only did I have to admit to myself that I was wrong, that I wasted all those years, but to all the lost people that were going to be around me and that wouldn't listen and that wouldn't listen, but that somehow, someway, spirit called out to me, as spirit calls out to you and says come, my child, I have for you what you want the truth. I have what you need, you need, you need home. You need to understand all the whys and the hows of this universe, this world and of life, the purpose of things, just this universe, this world and of life, the purpose of things, and that Just you understand what I'm talking about. Being who we are, who are you today?
Speaker 1:I know there's many of us just like me when I was ministering in the church or wherever else, and I was trying to do my best, and I would, you know I would write things in a way that was more down to earth and more understandable, you know, and. But I knew that things just weren't right and what we were teaching people just was not a hundred percent. And it took me a while. I had to be brave. You have to be brave, you have to be brave, you have to be determined, you have to be bold, but you have to be ready. Prepare yourself for the cost of truth. Be prepared, put on your armor, learn things like grounding and blocking. Learn things, meditate on things, protect yourself, guide yourself.
Speaker 1:This will be about you In your walk, in your relationship with spirit. The church will teach you that it's not about you, that it's about the church. It's about, about you. That it's about the church it's about somebody else or it's about something else. No, your spiritual walk is about you and it's about spirit. And on such walk you have to be prepared to not necessarily defend against evil, but you have to be prepared to defend yourself against yourself, against your doubts, against your emotions that want to pull you back into things Just because it's easier. It's easier just to believe or to follow, whatever they are, whatever they do, because at least you have friendship, at least you have family. The thing that you sacrifice is yourself, your, your, your. Everything that's within you you sacrifice. You have to be prepared to fight that person in the mirror, because that will be your greatest enemy on this walk. It isn't evil and it isn't even religious people with good intentions.
Speaker 1:They will try and they will shoot their arrows, even in good intention. But the biggest enemy is us, our doubts, our confusions. We have to keep moving forward, we have to keep conversating with spirit, we have to keep meditating deeper and deeper, we have to have the spirit of a warrior that nothing, nothing but death, will stop us, that we will seek truth, that we will seek truth and we will seek the divine until we can no longer take that last breath, and that we hope that, on the other side, that we can experience even in greater value the things that we learn here on earth, that we are spirits having a physical experience and we've been taught to not be who we are, but just to follow, to conform, to be like everybody else. And spirit says no, not for you, my child. I call you out from among them, I call you out From the followers of man and offer you not gold or silver, but I offer you the divine, a true touch of spirit, god Life. True touch of spirit, god life, the understanding of life, the understanding of the purpose of life, the understanding of the beauty and everything that we see understanding and being connected to all life, no matter how small, no matter how different, that we can still somehow someway connect with that life. That, though we even be a different species, though we have a completely different language, though we are designed differently, built differently, we still can connect and communicate in ways that our physical selves, our physical minds can never even phantom. That the things we see around us are only a portion of what reality actually is.
Speaker 1:If you take anything from this podcast today about leaving religion, just remember that first thing when you first say I'm going to leave the church or I'm going to leave religion, you're not leaving God, you're leaving religion.
Speaker 1:The very most important thing On your list of what to do's and how to do's Is to know who you are and to be who you are, to walk as you are. Don't let anybody tell you that you are less than what you are, that you're not worthy because you are worthy. Don't let anybody tell you that you're on the wrong path, that you don't know what you're talking about, because you don't have to know everything, because when you first begin this you won't know everything. But you don't have to. We don't have to know everything To begin to walk on this path. All we got to do is have the faith and the courage to take that first step forward, to know within ourselves that we know we're being called, we know this, we feel this, we don't doubt this. Thank you everybody, thank you for taking the time to listen. Remember, the name of the podcast is changing to Leaving Religion. I am still the pagan preacher. Be blessed everybody and blessed be.
