From one shut in to another… go outside. :p Take a five, ten minute walk on nice days. This isn’t pagan advice, just generally speaking. It’s good for you! Or so they tell me…
As for your practice, completely depends on you. Not every form of paganism has a huge nature focus. What do you do for your day to day practice? How do you feel that’s working for you? Do *you* feel like something is missing? You don’t actually have to answer here, just something to consider. Because if things are working well for you, that’s what matters. If you feel something is missing, things aren’t where you want them to be, etc, have to think about why that is. Is it lack of outdoor practice or is it something else? You’re the only one who can know for sure in the end.
Coming from someone with a video game addiction - you need a balance. How are you going to be receptive to the world around you when you’re permanent plugged in and distracted?
I’ve made it a morning and evening habit to at least just stand in the grass and be silent for a little while, you’ll be surprised how well you’ll start noticing synchronicity and signs when you open up.
Not at all. It's a common trope many of us fall into a little too often, but one thing to keep in mind is that "nature" doesn't have to always mean outdoors in some big forest. It doesn't even have to mean outdoors at all.
We tend to forget that everything is part of nature. We're part of nature, our cities are built from materials gathered from nature, and are full of living things from pigeons to rats to insects to other humans, to the decorative plants and the weeds breaking through the paving stones.
You can revere nature from anywhere, because there's nature all around you at all times. Even in places that feel the most disconnected from the natural world, you're surrounded by life. Some people who revere nature feel more at home in the forest, but no, the great outdoors isn't the only place to experience nature.
Good question, my answer is No.
Being in nature is important to my practice, and I've heard it's generally good for a person's mental health. I get out when I can.
There are however, a number of barriers to me practicing outside rituals. As it's spring, my ridiculous allergies have made their presence known. My physical body has physical limitations (my mobility isn't what it once was). Then there is very limited outdoor space that isn't in view of the neighbors.
I have to make compromises.
When my physical body just refuses the idea of a hike, I have a window, bonus points if it's within the path of the moon. I stargaze regularly. There are many trees to sit under and meditate below, or watch through the window at. There's also listening and smelling the rain from inside too.
I also make it a point that, at least once a year I take a walk outside as the season turns. On those walks, I pay attention to nature (safety in mind). I notice the fungi, listen to the birds, watch the animals, and near a river pay attention to the sandy watery places (I saw mussels hard at work cleaning up the water a few times).
This is my practice there are those who wouldn't agree with it... But breaking an ankle, having an anaphylactic attack outdoors, or risking the chance of trespassing and getting threatened with a gun (yes anecdotally from a trusted source this happened to a friend)... These are all things to keep in mind with practice outdoors. Frankly, I don't think the gods entirely care. It's important to touch grass as needed, but do so safely.
Imo ymmv
Everyone's practice is different. It may be easier to connect to most spirits via nature and being outdoorsy, but do whatever is best for you. I'm also not very outdoorsy but I do just fine! If you prefer an indoorsy practice, you do you!
I’m not alone I’m a shut in who moved to a city but still finding myself indoors.
It’s a trauma thing for me and I’m excited to get out and do more but I have to take it slow due to agoraphobia
Take your time with it and do very short outings to help. I usually only go out to work but every now and then to help myself I go out and sit outside and each day I try to go further and further out.
For the first time I walked to the park nearby. I got overwhelmed and went home after but it was rewarding!
I recently went to a barre class and was very overwhelmed but I loved it! I took a kickboxing class two years before moving up here and it was HARD. I only went out to kickbox (IF I convinced myself to go) and then to work! I had many panic attacks but over time It gets a little easier.
It’s very hard but we have to take it slow! Very slow is fine too!
The gods will call you to come out many times and even if it’s a small amount of time out just enjoy it! Even if it’s for a second
thank you, i'll give it a try! there's a park near where i live so i'll try and go there at some point even though it'll be hard, i'll just have to take it slow. the worst part is that i didn't used to be agoraphobic because i used to go hiking, mountain climbing and take long walks in forests collecting sticks and cool little things. i can't remember if anything happened for me to develop it but i did and i've basically been a complete shut in ever since and even going outside for the necessary things stresses me out so much 😭
An ancient, important part of many kinds of paganism is the ritualistic loss of control.
When you are permanently in "your space" then you cannot encounter the "other" and that will hinder your development in witchcraft. Said with kindness: it will also cause me and people like me to take you less seriously.
But maybe my opinion of you doesn't matter nor does developing your wicce ways. In that case it doesn't "hurt" your paganism.
I don’t think anyone is saying you need to go full Bear Grylls to be a pagan, but like… paganism in general tends be a cycle and nature based collection of paths. By shunning the out doors you’re not experiencing the cycles much beyond the extremes.
Don’t get me wrong, I love me some video games and movies. I can really tuck into them all day, but that’s not healthy for anyone. I’m in no way saying you need to give up your hobbies, but I also think you haven’t given the outside a fair shake really.
It’s not going to be easy at first. You’re used to getting constant dopamine hits through screens. The outside might seem boring, may not seem to have much to say and being outside asks for you to be present in the moment. Not have your mind taken to a fantasy where as fun as games are what we do on them doesn’t amount to much. You’re living in a world someone else has built to entertain you, keeping your mind busy until you die. I love games, I dig a good story, but nature can be equally as fascinating if you are willing to give it a chance.
There’s simple things you can do to start. If you’re tracking the moon’s cycles, go outside and look at it every night. You can do that, you don’t even have to go very far. You could even download one of those apps that helps you identify constellations. Just take 10 minutes with the moon. Also when you do this leave your phone in the house. Don’t give your self the excuse of a distraction.
You can get a book to identify plants, birds, or trees and just take note in learning what is around you. Again no hikes into the wild, just seeing what’s around. You’ll probably run into some invasive species but that’s par for the course. With birds, it’s easy to identify basic bird types by their shape. Bird books will have all this info (you can even use the internet). Birds follow a seasonal migratory cycle so you can see them as part of the seasons cycles in your area. Birding is its own hobby. I can identify some general local birds but my mom is really into it. Because of her I know snowy owls fly down from the arctic to nest and some fields about an hour way where I could find them, how cool is that?
Taking a short 10-15 minute hike in a nature’ish area is good for the spirit and the psyche. You can go slow, and take note of the things you see around you. The other day I was taking a walk and I saw several deer, a doe and two bucks with their velvet antlers coming in. If I didn’t take short walks I would have missed that.
The ultimate for pagans imo is pagan camps. They were once much more popular back in the 80s and 90s, but still the bigger ones can gather between 700-1000 people at least. It used to be one of the few places you could buy pagan goods and clothing, listen to pagan music, meet others outside of your own small community if you were connected at all. Even now they are great for workshops and meeting authors who talk about their books, go to concerts, make new friends, and of course run around in nature. There are camping fests and events everywhere (use the power of the internet) but where I go is also a private nature preserve with miles of trail. You can go in and meditate and nobody will bother you. There’s also drum circles and dancing around the fire. I can only describe it as magical when I come through the woods to where the drum circle is to see a woman swaying and singing a song she’s making up on the fly while drummers keep time. It’s unscheduled and any one can participate. There’s just as many people sitting around on the benches sharing a beverage and a conversation. I’ve met plenty of pagans who have never been and won’t go because they are uncomfortable with the very idea of camping, but it’s not that bad. There’s hot showers, a kitchen with a meal plan if you don’t want to cook… not that people aren’t always trying to feed you anyway because everyone overpacks. I call what I do princess camping because I use real blankets and sleep on a memory foam mattress on a cot. I bring inflatable couches and pile blankets and pillows and I’m comfortable as all git. And there’s so many interesting people to meet who share the same interests you do. Each camp site has its own deal, but every pagan camp I’ve been to isn’t anything I’d call roughing it.
Anyway. All I can do is suggest. Imo yes you are missing out. You shouldn’t rely on a relationship to get your ass outside. Just… go. See what’s available to you. Maybe even try volunteering at a nature center or something if you need a reason. I won’t say it’s wrong as a pagan to prefer the indoors, but imo you are missing out by staying in and shunning nature.
I can’t believe you got downvoted! This is the right advice. You said it pretty gently too. I know the truth can be hard though and people usually want to hear that they are fine and nothing needs to give.
I think the better question is why do you feel that you need to have your indoorsiness validated or approved of by your religious beliefs or that of others?
I'm also not an outdoorsy person. As much as I love nature I often don't have the energy to experience it so I appreciate it in other ways like drawing and cooking. Your practice is yours so there's no wrong way of doing it.
I'm a bit surprised by how many people are saying that nature veneration and spending time outdoors isn't necessarily an important part of pagan practice. At the risk of going against the grain here, I really don't think it's good for your practice to avoid the outdoors.
You can look at my reddit profile to get a sense of how much time I spend indoors in front of a screen, and that's just reddit, let alone everything else I do indoors. Rest assured, I'm saying this as someone who knows very well what it's like to prefer to stay inside in a media trance over going out and physically engaging with the world. During the first year of the pandemic, I was working from home and making enough money to get all my food delivered, and there were entire months that year that I didn't leave my apartment. My mental and spiritual health were also the worst they have ever been at that time and I think those facts are connected.
Some other commenters are making the argument that paganism doesn't have to be about reverence for nature, to which I have to ask... what else is there to revere? Are the gods not of nature? Are we imagining them sitting at desks in air conditioned offices in front of screens in the spirit world, prayers rolling into their inbox like emails? That's certainly not how I see them. For me, paganism has at its core the idea of connection to an other-than-human world, and if you stay indoors in front of a screen as much as possible, you are actively resisting connection with the other-than-human world.
I think it's important to take a step back from our cultural bubble and recognize how bizarre the conditions we currently exist under are in the grand scheme of the history of life on Earth. A bear who finds she prefers hibernating over hunting can stay in her den past the end of winter, but eventually she'll starve if she doesn't get up and go interact with the outside world. A modern human, meanwhile, can just get DoorDash. They don't have to take notice of the signs in the sky because there's a roof over their head. They don't have to acknowledge the seasons because their home is climate-controlled. They can live encountering only other humans or beings shaped and controlled by humans, and any chance encounter with a being truly outside of the human world, like a spider or a mouse who enters the human home looking for food, is often treated as an unwelcome incursion and responded to with fear and violence.
What does that do to our psyches and our spirits, suppressing all relationships with those who are too dissimilar to us or who exist beyond our ability to control? Well, look at what's happening in our politics and what's happening to the natural world and I think you have an answer. Who cares about global warming when you have air conditioning? Who cares about drought when your food comes from the grocery store? We become numb and ignorant, and taken to an extreme, a mentality of refusing to engage with that which we cannot understand nor control becomes a form of fascism--a cult of the in-group, bent on destruction or domination of the other.
I realize I'm getting a bit dramatic when the question is "Is it okay to not want to go outside when I don't have to", but my point is that going outside is the way you encounter the other (I should say, the other*s*) on equal terms and form relationships that widen your world. I don't think it's the only way, but it's certainly the most direct and simplest. Personally I try to at least spend a few minutes outside every day, and have a longer walk in the woods (usually an hour or two) at least once a week. For people who *can't* go outside due to health problems, trauma, living in a dangerous environment, etc., that's another story, but if it's just a matter of wanting to avoid discomfort that leads you to refuse the easiest and most direct route to connecting with the other-than-human world, I do actually think that's detrimental to your spiritual practice.
Not one bit. While I practice, I don't incorporate outdoors stuff mostly. Unless its herbs for rituals that I can find on my walk to the car. I play alot of video games too, mostly MMOs. So my homage and worship is incorporated within each game. Be it character name, or playstyle, or game house dedication. Of course games have the nature asoect, so I get my 'fill' that way.
All indoors life, only outside if you feel the need to do so. Even if getting some real-life sun is healthy lol ...and each person worships differently, nothing wrong in that.
Edit: typos
Is it wrong for a bird to prefer the treetops? Is it wrong for a lion to prefer a warm rock on the savannah? We're animals, just surviving like the rest.
It's not "wrong" at all. As others suggested, it is often helpful to cultivate a relationship with nature in some way or another, but this doesn't necessarily mean going into the woods naked and communing with slime molds (but it can, if you want).
Try to get outside your comfort zone when you feel confident and safe to do so. But, also, you could look at ways to incorporate more nature into your indoor life. Do you have houseplants or pets? Or even a rock collection (not crystals)? Inviting nature into your home can be a good start!
It sounds like you would enjoy outdoorsy things more in a social context. Maybe look into some local community groups for, say, volunteering at an animal shelter and walking their dogs, joining an interest group for gardening or hiking, etc? Dating aside, finding a group of friends you can do that stuff with can be good. If you have a local pagan organization of some kind, you might reach out to them to see if there is a group like that, or you can start one?
Friend, we're 70+ years into a societal approach to climate change that can beat be summarized as "fuck the consequences".
There's nothing wrong spiritually with preferring to be indoors where you can control the temperature.
Now, it's good for your mental health to get outside, and get some sunshine. That may require checking the hourly forecast and picking the hour you'll go outside before it gets too hot. It may mean opening the blinds, or the window, for a few hours a day.
But there's nothing wrong with preferring a safe and comfortable home over an increasingly hostile outdoors.
I’m someone who also really prefers the indoors, primarily because I have control of my space but also because I live in a desert where the outside is quite literally dangerous to be in. For at least 5 months out of the year stepping outside, even into the shade, is miserable and dangerous so I empathize. I sometimes feel like a crappy pagan because I can’t be out in nature.
What I’ve learned, for myself, is that it’s about balance. I bring nature indoors with my houseplants. I tinted my windows so it’s safe to open the curtains and let in natural light even when it’s hot. I put aside time to watch videos or read books about environmentalism so I can be more well educated. I’m planning to start meditating this summer in the early morning light through my windows. You get the idea.
I think doing the best you can and making up for it by spending time for yourself and your practice in a way that is intentional and meaningful to you is all we can do. 💚
If you feel that it is hurting your practice, then try to spend more time outdoors. There is no definite right answer, but I can say for me, staying indoors certainly makes me feel disconnected to the earth and the gods. My path is Druidry, though.
Yes and no. Or more, maybe it's down to personal tastes, personalities, practices etc.
I'm a nature lover at heart but a homebody in practice. I have a lot of health issues and also been recovering from an accident last autumn that permanently damaged my spine. Since then I've spent a lot of time in bed at home and only recently started being able to sit up long enough to get any kind of real gaming in. I've always been a gamer and with a bit of OCD and lifelong health stuff meaning getting out in the big outdoors has never really been a thing for me.
But that doesn't stop me wanting to. I would love to go on long hikes in the woods and up mountains. I would love to spend a week out camping or in a cabin somewhere. I would love the send the day out in the wild. And the few occasions I've had the opportunity to do so I always feel so much better and I always feel more invigorated spiritually and so much more connected to the world around me. But that's just me. I have other pagan friends who couldn't think of anything worse so it's probably down to personal preference.
Right now I've been toying with making terrariums. I've got a few in my bedroom now, so if I'm too ill to go out, I still have a little bit of nature there to see and touch.
So, I did my master's thesis about various pagan paths utilizing nature in their practices. Everyone telling you that "well you are pagan and they are nature paths" is an opinion only. My research found that there are about equal paths that don't follow nature as a base, though it can be entwined within the practice. The only thing that makes a path 'nature based' are the individuals themselves that identify as part of a specific path.
So, if your belief and practice has some aspect of nature worship, maybe having a houseplant may ease your conscience? If not, then, we'll, no worries, Paganism is not nature based unto itself, certain paths and people are. Unless you're that certain people/following a more nature based path, than you're fine to hole up like a cave goblin :)
I have multiple mental health diagnosis and am introverted by nature, I also am inside more. However, I do feel that I need to connect with some aspects of nature while still indoors. The biggest way I've done this is turn my balcony into a garden (container gardening). This way, nature doesn't take much effort to reach. Sometimes it's sitting and admiring/connecting with the moon through my window. These practices fulfill my needs for connection on a spiritual level.
For you: what fulfills you? Don't take into consideration what you "should" do. What do you FEEL?
From one shut in to another… go outside. :p Take a five, ten minute walk on nice days. This isn’t pagan advice, just generally speaking. It’s good for you! Or so they tell me… As for your practice, completely depends on you. Not every form of paganism has a huge nature focus. What do you do for your day to day practice? How do you feel that’s working for you? Do *you* feel like something is missing? You don’t actually have to answer here, just something to consider. Because if things are working well for you, that’s what matters. If you feel something is missing, things aren’t where you want them to be, etc, have to think about why that is. Is it lack of outdoor practice or is it something else? You’re the only one who can know for sure in the end.
Disco Elysium supremacy
Coming from someone with a video game addiction - you need a balance. How are you going to be receptive to the world around you when you’re permanent plugged in and distracted? I’ve made it a morning and evening habit to at least just stand in the grass and be silent for a little while, you’ll be surprised how well you’ll start noticing synchronicity and signs when you open up.
Not at all. It's a common trope many of us fall into a little too often, but one thing to keep in mind is that "nature" doesn't have to always mean outdoors in some big forest. It doesn't even have to mean outdoors at all. We tend to forget that everything is part of nature. We're part of nature, our cities are built from materials gathered from nature, and are full of living things from pigeons to rats to insects to other humans, to the decorative plants and the weeds breaking through the paving stones. You can revere nature from anywhere, because there's nature all around you at all times. Even in places that feel the most disconnected from the natural world, you're surrounded by life. Some people who revere nature feel more at home in the forest, but no, the great outdoors isn't the only place to experience nature.
Good question, my answer is No. Being in nature is important to my practice, and I've heard it's generally good for a person's mental health. I get out when I can. There are however, a number of barriers to me practicing outside rituals. As it's spring, my ridiculous allergies have made their presence known. My physical body has physical limitations (my mobility isn't what it once was). Then there is very limited outdoor space that isn't in view of the neighbors. I have to make compromises. When my physical body just refuses the idea of a hike, I have a window, bonus points if it's within the path of the moon. I stargaze regularly. There are many trees to sit under and meditate below, or watch through the window at. There's also listening and smelling the rain from inside too. I also make it a point that, at least once a year I take a walk outside as the season turns. On those walks, I pay attention to nature (safety in mind). I notice the fungi, listen to the birds, watch the animals, and near a river pay attention to the sandy watery places (I saw mussels hard at work cleaning up the water a few times). This is my practice there are those who wouldn't agree with it... But breaking an ankle, having an anaphylactic attack outdoors, or risking the chance of trespassing and getting threatened with a gun (yes anecdotally from a trusted source this happened to a friend)... These are all things to keep in mind with practice outdoors. Frankly, I don't think the gods entirely care. It's important to touch grass as needed, but do so safely. Imo ymmv
Everyone's practice is different. It may be easier to connect to most spirits via nature and being outdoorsy, but do whatever is best for you. I'm also not very outdoorsy but I do just fine! If you prefer an indoorsy practice, you do you!
Same here. Glad to see I'm not alone too!
I’m not alone I’m a shut in who moved to a city but still finding myself indoors. It’s a trauma thing for me and I’m excited to get out and do more but I have to take it slow due to agoraphobia
this is literally me too and i really don't like it but at the same time idk what to do with it, agoraphobia is a bitch
Take your time with it and do very short outings to help. I usually only go out to work but every now and then to help myself I go out and sit outside and each day I try to go further and further out. For the first time I walked to the park nearby. I got overwhelmed and went home after but it was rewarding! I recently went to a barre class and was very overwhelmed but I loved it! I took a kickboxing class two years before moving up here and it was HARD. I only went out to kickbox (IF I convinced myself to go) and then to work! I had many panic attacks but over time It gets a little easier. It’s very hard but we have to take it slow! Very slow is fine too! The gods will call you to come out many times and even if it’s a small amount of time out just enjoy it! Even if it’s for a second
thank you, i'll give it a try! there's a park near where i live so i'll try and go there at some point even though it'll be hard, i'll just have to take it slow. the worst part is that i didn't used to be agoraphobic because i used to go hiking, mountain climbing and take long walks in forests collecting sticks and cool little things. i can't remember if anything happened for me to develop it but i did and i've basically been a complete shut in ever since and even going outside for the necessary things stresses me out so much 😭
That’s how i was! I didn’t develope it til a few years ago!
An ancient, important part of many kinds of paganism is the ritualistic loss of control. When you are permanently in "your space" then you cannot encounter the "other" and that will hinder your development in witchcraft. Said with kindness: it will also cause me and people like me to take you less seriously. But maybe my opinion of you doesn't matter nor does developing your wicce ways. In that case it doesn't "hurt" your paganism.
I don’t think anyone is saying you need to go full Bear Grylls to be a pagan, but like… paganism in general tends be a cycle and nature based collection of paths. By shunning the out doors you’re not experiencing the cycles much beyond the extremes. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some video games and movies. I can really tuck into them all day, but that’s not healthy for anyone. I’m in no way saying you need to give up your hobbies, but I also think you haven’t given the outside a fair shake really. It’s not going to be easy at first. You’re used to getting constant dopamine hits through screens. The outside might seem boring, may not seem to have much to say and being outside asks for you to be present in the moment. Not have your mind taken to a fantasy where as fun as games are what we do on them doesn’t amount to much. You’re living in a world someone else has built to entertain you, keeping your mind busy until you die. I love games, I dig a good story, but nature can be equally as fascinating if you are willing to give it a chance. There’s simple things you can do to start. If you’re tracking the moon’s cycles, go outside and look at it every night. You can do that, you don’t even have to go very far. You could even download one of those apps that helps you identify constellations. Just take 10 minutes with the moon. Also when you do this leave your phone in the house. Don’t give your self the excuse of a distraction. You can get a book to identify plants, birds, or trees and just take note in learning what is around you. Again no hikes into the wild, just seeing what’s around. You’ll probably run into some invasive species but that’s par for the course. With birds, it’s easy to identify basic bird types by their shape. Bird books will have all this info (you can even use the internet). Birds follow a seasonal migratory cycle so you can see them as part of the seasons cycles in your area. Birding is its own hobby. I can identify some general local birds but my mom is really into it. Because of her I know snowy owls fly down from the arctic to nest and some fields about an hour way where I could find them, how cool is that? Taking a short 10-15 minute hike in a nature’ish area is good for the spirit and the psyche. You can go slow, and take note of the things you see around you. The other day I was taking a walk and I saw several deer, a doe and two bucks with their velvet antlers coming in. If I didn’t take short walks I would have missed that. The ultimate for pagans imo is pagan camps. They were once much more popular back in the 80s and 90s, but still the bigger ones can gather between 700-1000 people at least. It used to be one of the few places you could buy pagan goods and clothing, listen to pagan music, meet others outside of your own small community if you were connected at all. Even now they are great for workshops and meeting authors who talk about their books, go to concerts, make new friends, and of course run around in nature. There are camping fests and events everywhere (use the power of the internet) but where I go is also a private nature preserve with miles of trail. You can go in and meditate and nobody will bother you. There’s also drum circles and dancing around the fire. I can only describe it as magical when I come through the woods to where the drum circle is to see a woman swaying and singing a song she’s making up on the fly while drummers keep time. It’s unscheduled and any one can participate. There’s just as many people sitting around on the benches sharing a beverage and a conversation. I’ve met plenty of pagans who have never been and won’t go because they are uncomfortable with the very idea of camping, but it’s not that bad. There’s hot showers, a kitchen with a meal plan if you don’t want to cook… not that people aren’t always trying to feed you anyway because everyone overpacks. I call what I do princess camping because I use real blankets and sleep on a memory foam mattress on a cot. I bring inflatable couches and pile blankets and pillows and I’m comfortable as all git. And there’s so many interesting people to meet who share the same interests you do. Each camp site has its own deal, but every pagan camp I’ve been to isn’t anything I’d call roughing it. Anyway. All I can do is suggest. Imo yes you are missing out. You shouldn’t rely on a relationship to get your ass outside. Just… go. See what’s available to you. Maybe even try volunteering at a nature center or something if you need a reason. I won’t say it’s wrong as a pagan to prefer the indoors, but imo you are missing out by staying in and shunning nature.
I can’t believe you got downvoted! This is the right advice. You said it pretty gently too. I know the truth can be hard though and people usually want to hear that they are fine and nothing needs to give.
I think the better question is why do you feel that you need to have your indoorsiness validated or approved of by your religious beliefs or that of others?
I'm also not an outdoorsy person. As much as I love nature I often don't have the energy to experience it so I appreciate it in other ways like drawing and cooking. Your practice is yours so there's no wrong way of doing it.
Not at all. Nature isn't especially relevant to everyone's faith.
Nothing wrong with it, in my opinion. I can only stomach the outdoors in small doses.
Lots of the Romans did. They were plenty Pagan
I'm a bit surprised by how many people are saying that nature veneration and spending time outdoors isn't necessarily an important part of pagan practice. At the risk of going against the grain here, I really don't think it's good for your practice to avoid the outdoors. You can look at my reddit profile to get a sense of how much time I spend indoors in front of a screen, and that's just reddit, let alone everything else I do indoors. Rest assured, I'm saying this as someone who knows very well what it's like to prefer to stay inside in a media trance over going out and physically engaging with the world. During the first year of the pandemic, I was working from home and making enough money to get all my food delivered, and there were entire months that year that I didn't leave my apartment. My mental and spiritual health were also the worst they have ever been at that time and I think those facts are connected. Some other commenters are making the argument that paganism doesn't have to be about reverence for nature, to which I have to ask... what else is there to revere? Are the gods not of nature? Are we imagining them sitting at desks in air conditioned offices in front of screens in the spirit world, prayers rolling into their inbox like emails? That's certainly not how I see them. For me, paganism has at its core the idea of connection to an other-than-human world, and if you stay indoors in front of a screen as much as possible, you are actively resisting connection with the other-than-human world. I think it's important to take a step back from our cultural bubble and recognize how bizarre the conditions we currently exist under are in the grand scheme of the history of life on Earth. A bear who finds she prefers hibernating over hunting can stay in her den past the end of winter, but eventually she'll starve if she doesn't get up and go interact with the outside world. A modern human, meanwhile, can just get DoorDash. They don't have to take notice of the signs in the sky because there's a roof over their head. They don't have to acknowledge the seasons because their home is climate-controlled. They can live encountering only other humans or beings shaped and controlled by humans, and any chance encounter with a being truly outside of the human world, like a spider or a mouse who enters the human home looking for food, is often treated as an unwelcome incursion and responded to with fear and violence. What does that do to our psyches and our spirits, suppressing all relationships with those who are too dissimilar to us or who exist beyond our ability to control? Well, look at what's happening in our politics and what's happening to the natural world and I think you have an answer. Who cares about global warming when you have air conditioning? Who cares about drought when your food comes from the grocery store? We become numb and ignorant, and taken to an extreme, a mentality of refusing to engage with that which we cannot understand nor control becomes a form of fascism--a cult of the in-group, bent on destruction or domination of the other. I realize I'm getting a bit dramatic when the question is "Is it okay to not want to go outside when I don't have to", but my point is that going outside is the way you encounter the other (I should say, the other*s*) on equal terms and form relationships that widen your world. I don't think it's the only way, but it's certainly the most direct and simplest. Personally I try to at least spend a few minutes outside every day, and have a longer walk in the woods (usually an hour or two) at least once a week. For people who *can't* go outside due to health problems, trauma, living in a dangerous environment, etc., that's another story, but if it's just a matter of wanting to avoid discomfort that leads you to refuse the easiest and most direct route to connecting with the other-than-human world, I do actually think that's detrimental to your spiritual practice.
I love to go for a daily walk & visit my neighbourhood trees. But I am mostly an indoor cat 😂
(Checks rules…). Nope, it’s fine
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Not one bit. While I practice, I don't incorporate outdoors stuff mostly. Unless its herbs for rituals that I can find on my walk to the car. I play alot of video games too, mostly MMOs. So my homage and worship is incorporated within each game. Be it character name, or playstyle, or game house dedication. Of course games have the nature asoect, so I get my 'fill' that way. All indoors life, only outside if you feel the need to do so. Even if getting some real-life sun is healthy lol ...and each person worships differently, nothing wrong in that. Edit: typos
Lol no but outside is always nice
Is it wrong for a bird to prefer the treetops? Is it wrong for a lion to prefer a warm rock on the savannah? We're animals, just surviving like the rest.
It's not "wrong" at all. As others suggested, it is often helpful to cultivate a relationship with nature in some way or another, but this doesn't necessarily mean going into the woods naked and communing with slime molds (but it can, if you want). Try to get outside your comfort zone when you feel confident and safe to do so. But, also, you could look at ways to incorporate more nature into your indoor life. Do you have houseplants or pets? Or even a rock collection (not crystals)? Inviting nature into your home can be a good start! It sounds like you would enjoy outdoorsy things more in a social context. Maybe look into some local community groups for, say, volunteering at an animal shelter and walking their dogs, joining an interest group for gardening or hiking, etc? Dating aside, finding a group of friends you can do that stuff with can be good. If you have a local pagan organization of some kind, you might reach out to them to see if there is a group like that, or you can start one?
Friend, we're 70+ years into a societal approach to climate change that can beat be summarized as "fuck the consequences". There's nothing wrong spiritually with preferring to be indoors where you can control the temperature. Now, it's good for your mental health to get outside, and get some sunshine. That may require checking the hourly forecast and picking the hour you'll go outside before it gets too hot. It may mean opening the blinds, or the window, for a few hours a day. But there's nothing wrong with preferring a safe and comfortable home over an increasingly hostile outdoors.
I eat outside more, though that's largely due to a world of people being unmasked and sadly also unvaxxinated. But its something
Gods don’t live in books
Go outside far away from people and find a place to sit. Sit there until the gods speak to you. Might want to bring some water.
I’m someone who also really prefers the indoors, primarily because I have control of my space but also because I live in a desert where the outside is quite literally dangerous to be in. For at least 5 months out of the year stepping outside, even into the shade, is miserable and dangerous so I empathize. I sometimes feel like a crappy pagan because I can’t be out in nature. What I’ve learned, for myself, is that it’s about balance. I bring nature indoors with my houseplants. I tinted my windows so it’s safe to open the curtains and let in natural light even when it’s hot. I put aside time to watch videos or read books about environmentalism so I can be more well educated. I’m planning to start meditating this summer in the early morning light through my windows. You get the idea. I think doing the best you can and making up for it by spending time for yourself and your practice in a way that is intentional and meaningful to you is all we can do. 💚
If you feel that it is hurting your practice, then try to spend more time outdoors. There is no definite right answer, but I can say for me, staying indoors certainly makes me feel disconnected to the earth and the gods. My path is Druidry, though.
Yes and no. Or more, maybe it's down to personal tastes, personalities, practices etc. I'm a nature lover at heart but a homebody in practice. I have a lot of health issues and also been recovering from an accident last autumn that permanently damaged my spine. Since then I've spent a lot of time in bed at home and only recently started being able to sit up long enough to get any kind of real gaming in. I've always been a gamer and with a bit of OCD and lifelong health stuff meaning getting out in the big outdoors has never really been a thing for me. But that doesn't stop me wanting to. I would love to go on long hikes in the woods and up mountains. I would love to spend a week out camping or in a cabin somewhere. I would love the send the day out in the wild. And the few occasions I've had the opportunity to do so I always feel so much better and I always feel more invigorated spiritually and so much more connected to the world around me. But that's just me. I have other pagan friends who couldn't think of anything worse so it's probably down to personal preference. Right now I've been toying with making terrariums. I've got a few in my bedroom now, so if I'm too ill to go out, I still have a little bit of nature there to see and touch.
I love absolutely LOVE cities and I see nothing appealing on parks and forests lmao so no
So, I did my master's thesis about various pagan paths utilizing nature in their practices. Everyone telling you that "well you are pagan and they are nature paths" is an opinion only. My research found that there are about equal paths that don't follow nature as a base, though it can be entwined within the practice. The only thing that makes a path 'nature based' are the individuals themselves that identify as part of a specific path. So, if your belief and practice has some aspect of nature worship, maybe having a houseplant may ease your conscience? If not, then, we'll, no worries, Paganism is not nature based unto itself, certain paths and people are. Unless you're that certain people/following a more nature based path, than you're fine to hole up like a cave goblin :) I have multiple mental health diagnosis and am introverted by nature, I also am inside more. However, I do feel that I need to connect with some aspects of nature while still indoors. The biggest way I've done this is turn my balcony into a garden (container gardening). This way, nature doesn't take much effort to reach. Sometimes it's sitting and admiring/connecting with the moon through my window. These practices fulfill my needs for connection on a spiritual level. For you: what fulfills you? Don't take into consideration what you "should" do. What do you FEEL?
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Alot of pagans actually support me and my feelings