Over the years I have noticed a recurring phenomenon. Albeit there are tons of writings here about how one should live their life, not cause problems to others, and not transfer their own issues and project them over to this religion [or anything else they believe in] this keeps recurring for some people. Thankfully less than 1-2% of people fall in this category and as with here, they exist in every philosophy or approach to life. But we have to address this issue to be direct about it.
The tone of the post might be a little offensive but you have to hear me out as if you put your own life and self into danger, this is not the result of the Gods, Zevism or anyone else, but life mishandling. Read on.
Examples: One doesn't want to make friends, is anti-social, or they hate humanity or themselves. They will use whatever as justification to base this on and become a basement dwelling "witch" that sits in a basement and expects the world to fall on their lap, living in total delusions. The witch knows and everyone else is a fool are part of this; this is observable highly in antisocial and "proud outcast" communities such as the "Left Hand Path". This is where people become clowns in order to appease a need for "individuality" or in general for self expression reasons [sometimes it's legitimate, and in my book, accepted]. But we are not talking about my book here we are talking about yours neither, let's talk a bit about society and how they in fact observe these things.
In the context of the Temple of Zeus, there is little to no credence to this example, but one will form one based on whatever they can find to do just that. You don't have to dress a certain way; the ethics are clearly arrayed, the Gods want you to be yourself but also part of a society.
Consequence of not minding the above: Either life gets damaged, or in extreme cases Life is ruined. Further consequence: Because one cannot accept this was their decision, they blame "this place", "their beliefs" and their "nature".
This result would be the case even if one was let's say a Christian or whatever else. They would cherry pick what fits and as Christians run for the mountains, they would justify this and move on with what they wanted to do anyway. Christians who take the lack of societal awareness too far, thankfully, have shown the world how retarded and criminal they can be.
It's important in life for everyone to recognize their own decisions. My first years in this path were years of major solitude; even family friction etc. Nobody told me from this place to do this, it was my own situation that was borne out of my own clashes. Yet in order to "justify" my position I turned these tendencies of mine into a banner that I was trying to convince myself had to do with my faith. It did not.
It was a series of my own unresolved issues at the time; since our faith supported me, I was trying to forcibly interpret everything from this. Yes, the Christianity can make people dumb, intolerant, fearful and they can have false images of projection; any deviation is seen as being a being of evil and how do people respond to evil? They try to exorcise it. Soon in my mind I was taking this as "persecution" for my beliefs, yet over time I recognized my beliefs were actually seemingly seen as a threat by others around me. That wasn't good and it was my mistake; nor of my beliefs, nor of anyone else around me. An example of this later.
Example: Your mother or father is a Christian and you have a ruined relation with them or there is a mismatch. Be it that you want to parade or look smart, or you never went out of your house, you add to this already dysfunctional relation something else as well: That they are Christians. Yes, they might be. Yes, that might affect them. But one does not have reasons to start further problems. In fact, with Zevism you can correct problems - both ways to positive and restraining magick does exist to that end. The net benefit here would be to correct this situation.
There are also cases of people who do things that alert others. No, not everyone in this world or your roommates or whatever is going to consider it "normal" that you meditate, or that you do Tarot spreads. This path carries this situation where you can easily be misunderstood. If you go into a "Fuck them all and who cares" attitude, you will harm your relations with other people. It's important to keep private and stop bullying others to "accept you" or to "get along with it", especially if you are in vulnerable positions.
Certain behaviors that can be the results of this path, can also look erratic to other people. Ten years ago I was meditating and I had a blast of energy that kept me awake for two days straight; a full 48 hours. When people in my life saw this, they thought I might have been using drugs; I of course was not. What is there to explain in this? Nothing. They were convinced I was using some sort of drug or that I was suffering from a form of illness. I was naive enough to admit I was awake for 48 hours.
The results? Two whole months of them thinking I was using substances when I was not. Daily questions, harassment, worries, tears and stress for everyone. This reached all the way where I had to go make a test, to prove I was substance free. I was abnormal, and this abnormality scared them. Abnormal in their book, that is. Then after this they said it has to be insomnia or something else. This was both disqualified. It took a while for the hype to calm down. Then I managed the next time this occurred to not talk about this topic again. Problem solved.
How do you convince them this could be something good? Get in their shoes. There is nothing of this path they know. The need to convince, to show off, or to be validated by them will always fail. One must therefore understand what privacy and secrecy mean in that context; and to put your personal and life safety first.
Where do you think you are going as an arrogant teenager that hasn't figured how to tie their own shoelaces, going against let's say 2000 years of solid indoctrination and misinformation about "Religion"? To your parents you are a child and you know nothing; even if you know a hundred times more things, that's just how they see you and this can rarely change. Forcing it through and marking your own path, will likely not come with the accepted obedience of your parents, but likely with a giant clash.
Yes, they might lack education, have no idea, it's unfair, maybe unjust and a lack of acceptance. I know. But it's not about me but about life itself here. Let's pick another example: After one learns about spirituality, they start meditating, being more introspective, or they might have visual changes; more calmness, even a positive personality change. This can be interpreted good or bad, depending on how you position yourself.
If suddenly you refuse to talk to everyone, you spend 2-3 years in your room locked in there, how do you think others see this? Either as mental illness or that something is really off with you. They won't rationalize you are growing spiritually [and if you do, you shouldn't be in your room, but I get it that some of you are not that social and/or go through some phases].
Family matters must be handled delicately and with acceptable explanations. You should not pick fights over faith with your family. If there are fights or issues, keep religion out of it. Yes, it's a stumbling block to their development, but you being right about this matters little to none where the arguments might occur. Some people won't see sense and one has to learn to navigate life over this and accept that fact that they might never see any sense or want to evolve. That's good for you as you have less weight to carry. Defuse the tension and move on. Banish the need for "validation" and accept the goodness of people as it is. Position yourself to receive goodness and stop spreading disarray and pointless fights.
Learn about your backyard first and stop preaching to others and to your family most of all, especially if NOT receptive at all, about things that you also hardly comprehend. The need to save them or help them has to be restrained over the laws of life itself. Go against these laws and be prepared to hurt. Follow them and one day maybe things will be different.
Yes, I get the whole idea of "being someone different" and how strong this urge can be to want to express itself. Maybe if you live in London you can walk around wearing Pentacles and all and you could be relatively free. Relatively meaning that you might or might not fall under the wrong eyes. In other places, this "being someone different", no matter what you know, can even lead to death, anger, or family collapse. Instantly. Protect your privacy. Your faith is your business and stop not measuring up the living field around you.
Real individuality in this path is forged in the shadows when you learn, do the work for the Gods, do great acts and essentially understand the terrain where you are in. These are crucial. Theatricality is not crucial nor necessary. It can do more harm than good. Focus on building a stable life and a steadier existence, so you can express yourself as you should. This is the key to success.
-High Priest Zevios Metathronos