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I’m looking for guidance/opinions from people who are spiritual, religious, ex-Catholic, folk Catholic, mystical, pagan, etc. because I’ve been trying to understand where my beliefs fit.

I was raised Catholic and went through baptism, reconciliation, communion, and confirmation, mostly because I went to Catholic schools. My mum’s side is Italian/Sicilian and Peruvian, and my dad’s side is Maronite Catholic Lebanese, so I grew up surrounded by Catholicism culturally even though my parents themselves weren’t super religious.

A big part of my connection to Catholicism has always been the devotional and ritual side rather than the actual theology. I’ve always loved saints, angels, prayer candles, feast days, churches, sacred spaces, rituals and repetitive prayers, the peacefulness of nunneries and monasteries, blessings, the beauty/aesthetic of Catholicism.

I especially feel connected to Mother Mary and Archangel Michael. I see Mary almost as a universal Mother figure or Mother Goddess archetype connected to compassion, protection, femininity, nature, and guidance. And I’ve always felt a very strong spiritual/protective presence from Saint Michael.

At the same time, I don’t really believe in the Abrahamic God, Jesus as divine, the Bible as literal truth, heaven/hell, or the institutional Church. A lot of Christianity has never felt believable to me, especially things like: suffering being “God’s plan”, eternal punishment, the contradiction between free will and God knowing/planning everything, hypocrisy and judgment from many modern Christians.

I also feel deeply connected to nature and natural cycles. The moon especially has always felt spiritually important to me, and I feel connected to ideas of feminine cycles, energy, the sun, the wind as cleansing/resetting energy, etc.

I guess I’m trying to figure out:

• Is there a name for this kind of spirituality?
• Does this sound similar to folk Catholicism, mysticism, or something else?
• Can someone still practice aspects of Catholic devotion without believing in Christianity literally?
• Are there others who connect to saints, Mary, angels, ritual, and sacred spaces in a symbolic/spiritual rather than doctrinal way?

I don’t want to force myself to believe something that doesn’t feel true to me, but I also don’t want to completely disconnect from the parts of Catholicism that genuinely feel sacred and meaningful to me.

Would love to hear from anyone with similar experiences or perspectives.

I’m looking for guidance/opinions from people who are spiritual, religious, ex-Catholic, folk Catholic, mystical, pagan, etc. because I’ve been trying to understand where my beliefs fit.

I was raised Catholic and went through baptism, reconciliation, communion, and confirmation, mostly because I went to Catholic schools. My mum’s side is Italian/Sicilian and Peruvian, and my dad’s side is Maronite Catholic Lebanese, so I grew up surrounded by Catholicism culturally even though my parents themselves weren’t super religious.

A big part of my connection to Catholicism has always been the devotional and ritual side rather than the actual theology. I’ve always loved:

• saints
• angels
• prayer candles
• feast days
• churches
• sacred spaces
• rituals and repetitive prayers
• the peacefulness of nunneries and monasteries
• blessings and pilgrimages
• the beauty/aesthetic of Catholicism

I especially feel connected to Mother Mary and Archangel Michael. I see Mary almost as a universal Mother figure or Mother Goddess archetype connected to compassion, protection, femininity, nature, and guidance. And I’ve always felt a very strong spiritual/protective presence from Saint Michael.

At the same time, I don’t really believe in the Abrahamic God, Jesus as divine, the Bible as literal truth, heaven/hell, or the institutional Church. A lot of Christianity has never felt believable to me, especially things like:

• suffering being “God’s plan”
• eternal punishment
• the contradiction between free will and God knowing/planning everything
• hypocrisy and judgment from many modern Christians

I also feel deeply connected to nature and natural cycles. The moon especially has always felt spiritually important to me, and I feel connected to ideas of feminine cycles, energy, the sun, the wind as cleansing/resetting energy, etc.

I guess I’m trying to figure out:

• Is there a name for this kind of spirituality?
• Does this sound similar to folk Catholicism, mysticism, or something else?
• Can someone still practice aspects of Catholic devotion without believing in Christianity literally?
• Are there others who connect to saints, Mary, angels, ritual, and sacred spaces in a symbolic/spiritual rather than doctrinal way?

I don’t want to force myself to believe something that doesn’t feel true to me, but I also don’t want to completely disconnect from the parts of Catholicism that genuinely feel sacred and meaningful to me.

Would love to hear from anyone with similar experiences or perspectives.

I’m looking for guidance/opinions from people who are spiritual, religious, ex-Catholic, folk Catholic, mystical, pagan, etc. because I’ve been trying to understand where my beliefs fit.

I was raised Catholic and went through baptism, reconciliation, communion, and confirmation, mostly because I went to Catholic schools. My mum’s side is Italian/Sicilian and Peruvian, and my dad’s side is Maronite Catholic Lebanese, so I grew up surrounded by Catholicism culturally even though my parents themselves weren’t super religious.

A big part of my connection to Catholicism has always been the devotional and ritual side rather than the actual theology. I’ve always loved:

• saints
• angels
• prayer candles
• feast days
• churches
• sacred spaces
• rituals and repetitive prayers
• the peacefulness of nunneries and monasteries
• blessings and pilgrimages
• the beauty/aesthetic of Catholicism

I especially feel connected to Mother Mary and Archangel Michael. I see Mary almost as a universal Mother figure or Mother Goddess archetype connected to compassion, protection, femininity, nature, and guidance. And I’ve always felt a very strong spiritual/protective presence from Saint Michael.

At the same time, I don’t really believe in the Abrahamic God, Jesus as divine, the Bible as literal truth, heaven/hell, or the institutional Church. A lot of Christianity has never felt believable to me, especially things like:

• suffering being “God’s plan”
• eternal punishment
• the contradiction between free will and God knowing/planning everything
• hypocrisy and judgment from many modern Christians

I also feel deeply connected to nature and natural cycles. The moon especially has always felt spiritually important to me, and I feel connected to ideas of feminine cycles, energy, the sun, the wind as cleansing/resetting energy, etc.

I guess I’m trying to figure out:

• Is there a name for this kind of spirituality?
• Does this sound similar to folk Catholicism, mysticism, or something else?
• Can someone still practice aspects of Catholic devotion without believing in Christianity literally?
• Are there others who connect to saints, Mary, angels, ritual, and sacred spaces in a symbolic/spiritual rather than doctrinal way?

I don’t want to force myself to believe something that doesn’t feel true to me, but I also don’t want to completely disconnect from the parts of Catholicism that genuinely feel sacred and meaningful to me.

Would love to hear from anyone with similar experiences or perspectives.

I’m looking for guidance/opinions from people who are spiritual, religious, ex-Catholic, folk Catholic, mystical, pagan, etc. because I’ve been trying to understand where my beliefs fit.

I was raised Catholic and went through baptism, reconciliation, communion, and confirmation, mostly because I went to Catholic schools. My mum’s side is Italian/Sicilian and Peruvian, and my dad’s side is Maronite Catholic Lebanese, so I grew up surrounded by Catholicism culturally even though my parents themselves weren’t super religious.

A big part of my connection to Catholicism has always been the devotional and ritual side rather than the actual theology. I’ve always loved:

• saints
• angels
• prayer candles
• feast days
• churches
• sacred spaces
• rituals and repetitive prayers
• the peacefulness of nunneries and monasteries
• blessings and pilgrimages
• the beauty/aesthetic of Catholicism

I especially feel connected to Mother Mary and Archangel Michael. I see Mary almost as a universal Mother figure or Mother Goddess archetype connected to compassion, protection, femininity, nature, and guidance. And I’ve always felt a very strong spiritual/protective presence from Saint Michael.

At the same time, I don’t really believe in the Abrahamic God, Jesus as divine, the Bible as literal truth, heaven/hell, or the institutional Church. A lot of Christianity has never felt believable to me, especially things like:

• suffering being “God’s plan”
• eternal punishment
• the contradiction between free will and God knowing/planning everything
• hypocrisy and judgment from many modern Christians

I also feel deeply connected to nature and natural cycles. The moon especially has always felt spiritually important to me, and I feel connected to ideas of feminine cycles, energy, the sun, the wind as cleansing/resetting energy, etc.

I guess I’m trying to figure out:

• Is there a name for this kind of spirituality?
• Does this sound similar to folk Catholicism, mysticism, or something else?
• Can someone still practice aspects of Catholic devotion without believing in Christianity literally?
• Are there others who connect to saints, Mary, angels, ritual, and sacred spaces in a symbolic/spiritual rather than doctrinal way?

I don’t want to force myself to believe something that doesn’t feel true to me, but I also don’t want to completely disconnect from the parts of Catholicism that genuinely feel sacred and meaningful to me.

Would love to hear from anyone with similar experiences or perspectives.

I’m looking for guidance/opinions from people who are spiritual, religious, ex-Catholic, folk Catholic, mystical, pagan, etc. because I’ve been trying to understand where my beliefs fit.

I was raised Catholic and went through baptism, reconciliation, communion, and confirmation, mostly because I went to Catholic schools. My mum’s side is Italian/Sicilian and Peruvian, and my dad’s side is Maronite Catholic Lebanese, so I grew up surrounded by Catholicism culturally even though my parents themselves weren’t super religious.

A big part of my connection to Catholicism has always been the devotional and ritual side rather than the actual theology. I’ve always loved:

• saints
• angels
• prayer candles
• feast days
• churches
• sacred spaces
• rituals and repetitive prayers
• the peacefulness of nunneries and monasteries
• blessings
• the beauty/aesthetic of Catholicism

I especially feel connected to Mother Mary and Archangel Michael. I see Mary almost as a universal Mother figure or Mother Goddess archetype connected to compassion, protection, femininity, nature, and guidance. And I’ve always felt a very strong spiritual/protective presence from Saint Michael.

At the same time, I don’t really believe in the Abrahamic God, Jesus as divine, the Bible as literal truth, heaven/hell, or the institutional Church. A lot of Christianity has never felt believable to me, especially things like:

• suffering being “God’s plan”
• eternal punishment
• the contradiction between free will and God knowing/planning everything
• hypocrisy and judgment from many modern Christians

I also feel deeply connected to nature and natural cycles. The moon especially has always felt spiritually important to me, and I feel connected to ideas of feminine cycles, energy, the sun, the wind as cleansing/resetting energy, etc.

I guess I’m trying to figure out:

• Is there a name for this kind of spirituality?
• Does this sound similar to folk Catholicism, mysticism, or something else?
• Can someone still practice aspects of Catholic devotion without believing in Christianity literally?
• Are there others who connect to saints, Mary, angels, ritual, and sacred spaces in a symbolic/spiritual rather than doctrinal way?

I don’t want to force myself to believe something that doesn’t feel true to me, but I also don’t want to completely disconnect from the parts of Catholicism that genuinely feel sacred and meaningful to me.

Would love to hear from anyone with similar experiences or perspectives.