Beliefs

Last week I went to my native place, my village, where my parents and many of my family live and where I grew up.

I visited a goddess temple as it was last day of a festival called Navdurga (nav means nine. durga means goddess)
This festival lasts for nine days and people worship and fast for the duration of this festival.

Last day of the festival and on this day people come to the temple to celebrate, they believe that the person holds the sword allows the goddess to enter their body and they dance. The belief is that the person acts out whatever the goddess wishes them to do.

People also hit their body with the sword and other weapons and it is said that they don't feel any pain, although i don't know how true this is?

I grew up in the village and took part in this worships when I was young and my family still do. They believe in these god and goddess but I no longer do because I have gone through a long process and various experiences where I have searched for the truth behind all of these thing, I was always curious to know the truth and what was real and not real, what had true meaning and relevance and what didn't. It took me a long time to discover what it was that I believed.
If I was to say anything that questions the validity of theses types of worships to the people that believe in the god/goddesses in this way then they would say to me that I am mad and will be punished because of the lack of belief in these god/goddess.
I do believe in God but not in these types of demi gods.
I believe in vedas / vedic philosophy and the interesting thing is these people also do believe but they also accept things that are not true and do so with out cause or evidence of its truth, and this kind of faith is called blind faith.