Spirituality, the supernatural, belief and me

Why wonder over the supernatural when the natural is a wonder on it's own?
Why believe in forces outside of our reach when all I need is right here, right now?

Over the course of a few years I've been thinking, arguing, theorising and debated questions of religious or spiritual beliefs. But it was not before a discussion I had in the beginning of the winter 2011 that I finally started to shape the reason why even resonable logical people still cling to belief.

Before I go on I want to stress the fact that this is my observation and might be completely off the mark for anyone else our there but me alone. But I put it out here, open for you to read, deconstruct, criticize or wipe your arse with.

Without further delay, here's the rundown.

When I was a kid I always wanted to believe in supernatural things so I was always hunting for them, scouting graveyards, looking up rumors spread amongst friends and in general I was investigating supernatural phenomena. I was even part of a session of mass hysteria. One of the most awesomely frightening moments in my life. Extremely vivid fear that for a while really twisted reality.

I also dreamt about events that would become real later on, every other week or so. This propelled me down a path of sleep and dream research which I have more or less forgot since then.

I grew up with a christian mother and an atheist father. So I got my share of both worlds suffice to say I always kind of liked the good parts that religion wants to bring forward but I've always disliked misdirecting belief in yourself to belive in something superficial.

My irritation with "belief" comes from the notion that people believe that "God" will solve everything for them if they pray. As such I don't really have a problem with "God" himself but with the people turning to him for help when in many cases all they need to do is believe in themselves or actually spend their time doing something productive instead of praying.

That being said let's talk about my own contradictions and how I'm going to defend them. Yes I have a few "beliefs" myself that kind of go against these principles of mine, and yet not really. Ready? ok.

I believe that the earth is my mother. She is my second mother of two. My biologial mother gave birth to me but without the earth we might have been stardust still, hey maybe that wouldn't be so bad? who knows.

I don't believe in an afterlife but I believe giving a moment of your time for people you love. I actually even go to church to light a candle. Effectively, psychologically anchroing the behaviour so that I actually spend time doing this. I'm not christian, but I really, really like the tradition of lighting candles for loved ones who has passed away.

It gives you time to reflect upon memories that helped shaped who you are. As memories shape us everyday, keep reminding yourself about your past. It is the key to unify your very being.

The concept that overshadows these traits can be summarized by the word "safety". I feel safe believing that the earth is my mother. I feel safe in taking time to reflect on the past. This explains supernatural as being a trait of feeling unsafe or even as a lack of knowledge of what is actually going on.

After all lingustically that is what "supernatural" means. It's beyond natural. In that sense anything we don't understand can be categorized as "supernatural". Quite funny, if you think about it.

I don't mean to step on anyones toes but I would like to say that anything you have ever witnessed that you think clearly in your mind is the result of "God" or a "ghost" or anything similar, is actually us, not knowing what is actually going on. Kind of in the same way religious people cite that "God works in mysterious ways".

There's no way for me to disprove of either. But for me there's no purpose believing in the supernatural.
There was never really a way for me to shoot lightning from my hands as a kid, no matter how much I believed I could do it. But today I can, if I believe in my own ability, put some hard effort into it and actually start learning and developing a way. And perhaps through science, reach my goal.

That doesn't mean I'll stop dreaming or stop believing, I'm still that young boy on the inside. Just the means to reach an end has expanded.

Signed, Mireneye