Welcome back to By Her Fires, a space dedicated to the Goddess Hecate Brimo. I’m Rev. Sosanna Olson, founder of the Sanctuary of Hecate Brimo. Today, we are doing the hard work. We’re talking about the 'Stockholm Syndrome' of spirituality, the legal battle for your moral agency, and how to finally reset your own internal compass. Stay with me—we’re going to look at the history they didn't teach you and the archetypes that can help you reclaim your own path of Active Harmlessness."

Now, you’ll see me looking at my laptop today—I’m neurodivergent, and I use my notes as an anchor to make sure I stay on track and don't wander off on a tangent. It’s my way of making sure we stay focused on the history and the archetypes that help you reclaim your path."

Let’s get started.

Is our spirituality inherited? Are we following the religion of our oppressors?

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1. The Morality Hijack: The Permission Slip Myth

Arthur C. Clarke famously stated: "One of the great tragedies of mankind is that morality has been hijacked by religion." This is our starting point. When an institution "steals" morality, they convince you that without their specific book, building, or blessing, you would be a monster.

The magician Penn Jillette famously addressed this question. When asked, “Without God, what stops you from stealing all you want?” he replied that he already does steal as much as he wants—and the amount he wants to commit is zero.

"Goodness" isn't a religious product; it’s a human trait. We have an internal compass powered by empathy. Most of us don't avoid hurting people because we’re afraid of a divine "police officer" in the sky; we avoid it because we don't want to cause pain. That internal desire to do no harm proves that morality is built-in, not bolted-on.

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2. The Stockholm Syndrome of Spirituality

Many of us inherit our religion the same way we inherit a family debt. We are born into "spiritual muscle memory"—rituals we perform without thinking and loyalties we never signed up for. This is where it gets uncomfortable: Are you praying to the same system that was used to colonize your ancestors? There is a specific kind of tragedy in rejecting every part of a past oppression except the religion that the oppressors used to justify the chains.

The Ghost Laws Even today, seven states in the U.S. (including Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas) still have language in their constitutions that technically prohibits atheists from holding public office. In our own state of North Carolina, the document that governs your neighbors still technically lists non-believers alongside "criminals" as people disqualified from service.

In 1961, the Supreme Court ruled in Torcaso v. Watkins that these "religious tests" are unconstitutional. Yet, these states refuse to remove the language. Why? Because keeping those words on the books is a form of spiritual "territory marking." It’s meant to tell you that you are a second-class citizen if you don't subscribe to their specific God.

Historical Control

• The Incan "Sun" Monopoly: The Inca held tribal idols "hostage" in the capital to ensure loyalty. Modern systems do the same by holding your "reputation" or "legality" hostage.

• The Council of Braga (572 AD): They banned lighting torches at crossroads to break the people’s connection to their land. If you can’t honor your own crossroads, you have to go to their church.

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3. The "Apostasy Trigger": Recognizing the Glitch

Why do people eventually walk away? Usually, it's because they encounter a "glitch" in the system. This is the Apostasy Trigger. It’s that moment when your inherited system demands you hate someone your heart tells you to love, or when it mandates a conflict that your internal compass rejects.

When the "habit" of your religion causes more suffering than it heals, your mind naturally seeks a new "technology." This isn't a rebellion; it’s an Integrity Upgrade. You are finally putting down a weapon that was handed to you at birth—a war that was never yours to fight.

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4. The Scribe vs. The Follower

If you are resetting your compass, you are moving from being a "Follower" to being a "Scribe." A follower waits for a script; a scribe researches, edits, and writes their own.

• Research as Ritual: In the ancient Hellenistic world, people didn't just "submit" to one god. They mixed and matched. They "subscribed" to the values that helped them survive and thrive.

• Choosing Your Tools: For me, archetypes like Hecate, Thoth, or Anubis are not "new masters." They are mirrors. Hecate is the guardian of the threshold—the perfect "key" for someone in transition. Thoth and Anubis represent the discipline of the mind and the weight of the heart.

• The Mirror Test: You don't need my archetypes. You need to find the "mirrors" that reflect the best version of your humanity. The goal is the same: to have a toolkit that helps you live a life of Active Harmlessness.

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5. The Sovereignty Checklist

Ask yourself these questions to see if you’ve truly reset:

• The Harm Test: Does my path require me to dehumanize or "other" anyone else to stay in good standing?

• The Origin Test: Am I following this because it brings me peace, or because I’m afraid of disappointing my family?

• The Question Test: Does my system encourage me to ask "Why?", or does it tell me that questioning is a sign of weakness?

• The Ownership Test: If I were the only person left on earth, would I still practice these virtues?

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6. Practical Sovereignty: Morality in the Streets

True morality doesn't need a sermon; it needs a sandwich. When you stop doing things to earn "points" for an afterlife, you start doing things because they are right in this life.

I'm reminded of Sofia in The Color Purple when she tells Celie, "You ought to bash Mr. ____'s head open and think about Heaven later." We need to focus on reducing suffering now and worry less about the "pearly gates."

"Sovereignty isn’t just a word we use to feel empowered; it is a responsibility. When you stop waiting for an institution to tell you who to help, you start seeing the crossroads in your own backyard. You move from 'What does my religion say?' to 'What does my humanity require?'"

This is why we support the Blessing Boxes in Goldsboro, NC. Our internal code—our Sovereignty—requires us to reduce suffering at the crossroads. Your support proves we don't need an institution to tell us how to care for one another.

Now, let’s get to the Three-Card Pull for this week.

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Connect & Grow: ✨ Free Ritual Library: [hecatebrimo.org] 🛍️ Shop & Support: [hecatebrimo.org] 📖 The Blog: [confessionsofamodernwitch.com]

#Hecate #ArthurCClarke #SpiritualSovereignty #InheritedConflict #ActiveHarmlessness #Thoth #Anubis #SanctuaryOfHecateBrimo

Reference of State Laws:

Arkansas (Article 19, Section 1): > "No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any Court."

• The Point: This doesn't just bar you from office; it historically claimed that if you don't believe in their God, your word is legally worthless in a court of law.

Maryland (Declaration of Rights, Article 37): > "That no religious test ought ever to be required... other than a declaration of belief in the existence of God."

• The Point: This is the very clause that Roy Torcaso fought in 1961. It explicitly frames "belief" as a prerequisite for "trust."

Mississippi (Article 14, Section 265): > "No person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being shall hold any office in this State."

North Carolina (Article 6, Section 8): > "The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God."

South Carolina (Article 17, Section 4): > "No person who denies the existence of a Supreme Being shall hold any office under this Constitution."

Tennessee (Article 9, Section 2): > "No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this State."

• The Point: This one is particularly aggressive—it doesn't just require a belief in God, but a belief in Heaven and Hell ("rewards and punishments") to be allowed to serve your community.

Texas (Article 1, Section 4): > "No religious test shall ever be required... provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."

From Oscar Wilde:  “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

To Lady Gaga: “Don’t you ever let a soul in the world tell you that you can’t be exactly who you are.”

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Screenshot of Google Maps - red dots are churches

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people have been around for as long as religion. The Greeks and Romans are widely thought to be the first accepting culture of homosexuality; however there is evidence that ancient pagan practices presented homosexuality as part of their God/dess worship. The rise of monotheism and the belief of a “jealous” God let to the eventual outlaw of homosexual sex within the Roman culture for example. In the sixth century AD the Roman Empire outlawed homosexuality.

Abrahamic religions are monotheistic faiths tracing their common origin to Abraham. The three major Abrahamic religions are Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Judaism considers itself the descendants of Jacob, a grandson of Abraham. It has a central book, the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament does specifically address male homosexuality. In Leviticus, specifically Leviticus 18 deals with a number of sexual activities that are considered unclean. The principal concern of this chapter is primarily incest; there are references to bestiality and lying with a man as with a woman. In his paper “Does the Bible Prohibit Homosexuality", Rabbi Jacob Milgrom states that this verse should not be taken out of the context of the entire chapter. These verses were directed first, a males and secondly at those of the Jewish faith, living in Israel. The question here seems to be how can one be Jewish and also gay? This is a question that The World Congress of Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Jews have offered to answer as they set up a place for LGBT Jewish people to meet and to learn acceptance.

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teaching of Jesus. It is outlined in the “New Testament”. The basic belief is that Jesus is the son of God in human form, sent to earth by his father by birth through a virgin. Most Christians consider Jesus to be the Messiah of the “Old Testament”. Many believe that the coming of the Messiah made the Law of Moses, the Old Testament, obsolete and life should be lived according to the New Testament. Reviewing the scriptures, there are no direct references to homosexuality by Jesus. Some like to use Matthew 19:4 which says:

And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ “and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?’

Today many Christian churches are accepting of the LGBT Community. United Church of Canada, United Church of Christ, and the Metropolitan Community Church are some churches that reach specifically out to the LGBT Community. In Raleigh, NC the Pullen Memorial Baptist Church is submitting to a vote before its congregation this month on withholding all civil marriage ceremonies in light of the new anti LGBT amendment being presented to the voters next year. The church has a long standing history of political activism including opposing segregation and the Vietnam War. Pullen Baptist Church has blessed gay marriages for the past 20 years. Pastor Nancy Petty, herself a Lesbian, stated in an article to the News & Observer, she didn’t want to marry anyone until she could legally wed everyone.

Islam is a monotheistic religion based on the teaching of the Qur’an. Like both Christianity and Judaism, Islam considers its book to be the direct word of God. Religious concepts include following Islamic law, which touches ever aspects of the follower’s life. In the Qur’an like the Old Testament, references are made to male homosexuality. The two are:

"We also sent Lut : He said to his people : "Do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds." Qur'an 7:80-81

"What! Of all creatures do ye come unto the males, and leave the wives your Lord created for you? Nay, but ye are forward folk." Qur'an 26:165

Today, the punishment for being gay in most Muslim countries is whipping, jail and sometimes death. It is possible to come out as Gay while living as a Muslim. Daayiee Abdullah, for example is a Gay Muslim runs a chat room to help support others in his position. His goal is to help other LGBTQ Muslims to know that the Qur’an’s promise is for all human kind.

Paganism is generally used to define religions that are polytheistic, much like Wicca and to some extent, Native American Religions. Both being religions where a spirit force is respected and in some cases worshipped. Spirits of the Earth and Air are honored and Gods like Pan or Baphomet or Goddess like Diana or Hecate are worshipped in Wicca. In Native cultures Gods like Kokopelli or Aholi are worshiped. Sometimes the word “Heathen” is used when referencing Paganism as well. Heathen is from the Old English for “Not Christian or Jewish”.

Since Paganism covers such a wide group of religions its impossible to make a blanket term like “Pagans accept gays” and it be considered true. Generally speaking, in my experience Pagans, do not have issues with the LGBT community. Most are accepting of all people. I can personally address Wicca. Wicca, is typically a duotheistic religion worshipping a goddess and a god. Adherence to the Wiccan Rede, also known as “the eight words” is the general moral code for the Wiccan.

An it harm none do what ye will.

There are many articles, blog posts and discussion topics around Pagans and Homosexuality, one of the most notable sources for information on Paganism and Wicca is Patti Wigington at About.com. Her article “How Do Pagans Feel About Homosexuality?” comes right out and states that we are very accepting of homosexuality.

Again, painting with a broad brush here I’ll reference the Native American Religions very generally. There are numerous tribes and each have their own believe structure. A direct translation of the Ojibwe term “Niizh manidoowag” is “Two Spirits”. This was a word used to recognize bodies that housed both a masculine spirit and a feminine spirit. There are many other indigenous terms for these individuals including Lakota “Winkte” and Navajo “nadleehe”. Held as important members of the tribe some two spirit people were healers, bards and artists; each having something meaningful to give to the tribe.

Today’s LGBT community has the potential to follow the path of their choice. The decision of which path can lead to a bumpy road or to a smooth road. Selecting a religion or choosing not to select a religion is not an easy task.

Around the world there are laws for and against Homosexuality. Marriage, for example, is legal for the LGBT community in many countries and in some states with in the United States. Groups like Equality NC, are leading the charge with news and information for the voter on upcoming elections regarding a proposed amendment to the state constitution which would not only outlaw marriage for gays and lesbians but also put limitations on those marriages from other states being recognized. Facebook group “Vote NO on Amendment ONE” has almost 6,000 likes and is focused on getting the word out to stop the proposed amendment.

Knowing what road to select and how to live by the decision made can be daunting. For me, Wicca gave me the room I needed for growth and allowed me to understand that I am worthy of not only existence but also worthy of the love of myself and others.

Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill, An it harm none do what ye will.
So Mote It Be

Namaste & Blessed Be