I know we have a list of users spiritual and personal blogs. I have questions, though.
1. When did you decide to start blogging about your spiritual life?
2. Why did you make that choice?
3. Why did you chose the website you did for your blog?
I used to cast all my spells late at night, however, I am trying to fight insomnia by getting up early in the morning and getting to bed before midnight. This is such a basic question and I feel really stupid for asking, but I have never been faced with it before, so I am wondering if I really need to wait for the light of the moon to do my spell work? Would it be just as effective in the afternoon or early in the morning? Or does time of day have a significant effect on spellwork? I should add that doing spellwork earlier in the evening is not an option because my DP is home, and I just do not feel comfortable doing spells in front of him. We live in a studio-like home, so there isn't another room where I could be alone.
The short question: Has anyone ever lost contact with their god/goddess for an extended period of time? What happened? Did you ever get that connection back?
The background, for my specific case: I was first drawn to my goddess about 3.5 years ago. We've had what I can only describe as an incredibly close relationship this whole time. She's always been fantastic about communicating with me, several times a week on average. There are times when we can't talk because she's busy, and it's never really bothered me, since she's really good about following up with me, usually speaking with me a few days after a missed connection. Prior to this year, we've never been incommunicado for more than a month at a time, and we've usually picked up right where we left off.
Things changed this year, though. I was really sick for a while. I wrote my senior thesis. I searched for a job. I struggled through classes. I graduated. I moved. I got my life in order. Through it all, I would send the occasional mental note (tinged with guilt and regret), "Sorry, I've been busy, I haven't forgotten you, and I miss communicating with you. Just give me a little more time." I never seemed to have energy or time for any more than that, and I just hoped she'd bear with me.
Finally, a couple of months ago, I finally was back in a stable place in my life, so I wanted to get back in regular contact with her. So I sit down, reach out, and get nothing. Complete radio silence. I figure she's busy. So, I wait and try again later. Still nothing. Lather, rinse, repeat for the next 8 weeks.
At some point a few weeks ago, I started to get a sinking feeling that maybe something had changed, and whatever connection we had is gone. It's not a thought that pleases me, because I'm not really ready or willing to give this up yet. Usually I'd just ask her, but obviously that's out of the question for this instance. My other methods of divination and answer-seeking have come up with absolutely nothing. I'm really, truly stumped, not to mention a little concerned and confused.
Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I'd love to hear anything that comes to mind.
Now yeah, I know there are those of you who go pfffft! 3X-something.. OLD. Ha get agrip girleen, but then again I will point to reframe like this. I can only compare then to now and yeah, there are differences. I know there are twenteens who are like dude, you're over. Deal.
As one of the families on the front lines of an economic situation that hardest hits those who are educated middle class who fell on the tail end of the dot bomb, I can only say sometimes I feel like I'm aging in ratio to dog years. Procreation and being an allergic anemic person has sort of left me a mess after three kiddos. I've got abdominal hernias, need root canals on most of my teeth, have arthritis and circulatory and dietary issues. Some days I really wanna go screw it and fall into the darkness of accepting that it's just the product of a well used life. I try not to do this. I consider it giving up. I push myself with the modeling stuff but times, I get tired. I see myself and know someday is around the corner.
I am both good with this and not.
What do you do to feel you're not ready to be wrung out and hung up?
I am part of a pagan playdate group and we are designing our first sabbat for our kids, who range in age from 1 month to 5 years (my son will be 6 months at the time of the sabbat).
We have some basic ideas of how to proceed, but most activities designed for kids are aimed at kids at least 2 years old. Anyone with small children have some good ideas for this sabbat for kids?
For the past few years, I have been feeling a bit stagnate in my current practice....mainly because I haven't been doing much with it. I'm not sure what the cause is. I also know that I have some spiritual beliefs that would probably be more in tuned with other cultures (I know that at least one of them is a hold-over from my Wiccan days). I find the idea of eclecticism more appealing every day so I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice? Has anyone else felt the need to start over?
I'm more familiar with LeVeyan/nontheistic Satanism, but am wanting to have a better understanding of Theistic Satanism.
How do you view Satan? How do you view the JCI God? What role do angels/demons play in your beliefs? Do you believe in other gods?
I was reading a (generic) book on mythology a while ago and came across the Irish bird god Nemglan. The only information on him was that a) he was a bird-god b) the myth about his son Conaire Mor.
So far I haven't been able to find anything about him online - only the same myth I already knew of. There seems to be very little information on him, or perhaps I just don't know where to look.
Does anyone here know more about/work with/worship/whatever else Nemglan? Are there any other myths he features in?
Inspired by the 'How'd you choose your deck' thread, I wonder what kind of tarot decks and oracle sets do you own?
Stories that go with them?
Little review?
Just wondering who carries crystals with them during the day?
Do you like to have the with you even when in the house / relaxing (maybe like now)?
What stones do you carry?
This post is about the prospect of a Pagan boarding school (grades 6 or 9-12), so if this is in the wrong part of the board, please do feel free to move it to the proper place. Smiley
How many Pagan American citizens are there? According to pluralism.org:
"Pagans estimate themselves to be between 768,000 and one million practitioners in the United States. A poll conducted by the Covenant of the Goddess, a national organization, estimates 768,400 Witches and Pagans in the U.S. The Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance suggest a 50% margin of error for all of the widely varying estimates on the number of Pagans. The estimates do not capture the much larger population that is interested in Paganism, as evidenced by the book buying audience and presence and activity on the web."
Perhaps if the US Census did not send out a survey asking about the religious preference of American citizens to only 1 in 100 Americans, and actually asked this on the Census, we might have a more accurate number; I bring this up only because if that is the case, and the US population is an estimated 300 million (and probably growing), it is a statistical miracle that I meet so many of them, is it not? Yet, still, 768,000 is arelatively large number of people.
I have been told many stories of the horrors of public school attendees who are Pagan, and have read of Pagan discrimination in public schools.
Personally, I have experienced the following when I was in middle school and high school:
-Called names.
-Had a temporary grade reduction in choir for refusing to sing Christian songs.
-Had objects thrown at me by a crowd of students who were making fun of me, then made fun of me because I cried.
-A teacher made me sit in the front seat of a bus while on a 4/5 hour ride because other students had asked me about spirits, I answered, and another student complained about what I was talking about.
-Close friends of mine were told they could not hang around or talk to me because of my religion.
In a country where religious freedom is a right, it seems as if not everyone is, "on-board," and persecution is the norm, especially against a religion in which there is an estimated 768,000 practitioners.
Teasing is pretty normal in middle and high school, but should such a high degree of teasing normal or healthy? School is a stretched and a bit distorted version of adult social life, in my opinion, and socialization among one's peers is very important in a person's development. However, being Pagan is NOT a bad hair-cut or an ugly pair of glasses, and allowing students, teachers, and school administrators to exercise prejudice against a student for their religious beliefs because it may seem ridiculous and not compatible with the majority of the population is (again, in my opinion) potentially unhealthy. If you grow up in a relatively functional and happy household, why be exposed to such conditions and end up with issues because of prejudice teasing?
It doesn't seem to me that many Christians grow in the same school environment. As a matter of fact, there are many Christian private day and boarding schools around. Students and parents probably have many different reasons for attending these schools (or, having their child/ren attend), some good, some...questionable. What is not questionable is the success of Christian schools, at least in the realm of longevity and attendance.
Have any of you noticed the, of course purely observational unrelated correlation between low academic achievement and subscribers to the Pagan religion? Please don't get angry, and no, I don't know if I can back that observation up with statistics, but I have seen this correlation in the last few years. There is the issue of personal responsibility, but let's just focus on natural reaction. What if this is because these people relate their experience in academia with personal torture, and eventually drop out of school or have no desire to continue on to college, or the amount of depression and anxiety they have causes their grades to fall and they cannot get accepted into college? I have met another Pagan one year in graduate school, but they're tough to come by. Sometimes, the parents don't help this cause either, of course, not through lack of care, but lack of common sense. I know of a woman (I believe she is a high school drop-out) who took her children out of school because of the bad social experience her children have had, and is now, "home schooling." How do you teach your children subjects that you haven't learned yourself? How are you getting a taste of the real world if there are no other peers around at all?
I've brought up a few topics in this post to try to support the main idea of this post: a Pagan private day and/or boarding school. This way, socialization is possible with many different types of people who just happen to share a common belief system for which they may be subject to persecution in a public school. In my opinion, a school of this nature could focus on rigorous academics tailored to each student's potential, prepare students for first tier universities, and also have compulsory classes in Paganism, spanning different pantheons and standard methods of spell casting, learning the history and components of practice and belief. There could be performing arts and sports programs, holidays off from class with celebration, and lots of fun for students.
Why boarding? That way children can attend whether they live close to the school or not. Also, boarding schools can sometimes be an ideal environment for academic focus.
Any thoughts? Would you send your child to such a private school? Do you think this can be done?
Or, really, how did the deck choose you? (My mother is a big subscriber to a deck choosing its owner.)
I'll start.
My primary deck (which is all but useless now; traitors... grumble...) was given to me as a gift when I was having connection issues with a previous deck. My esoteric deck fell into my lap at a used book store. It was a deck that I had been looking at online, longingly, for quite some time but since it was out-of-print, all of the used copies were exceedingly expensive. I managed to pick up the entire set for $20.
In monotheism, everything is about one. Everything has one ultimate purpose under one ultimate truth and we are all one with everything anyway. There may be gods, but like everything else, they are merely aspects the ultimate unified super deity that rules everything.
Here's a thought... a question, I guess... What if there is more than one thing in the universe?
What if we are not truly one? What if different things had differing origins and destinies? What if things are not all on the same page? In short... what if polytheism is a better way to map the universe than monotheism?
Monotheism and polytheism are more than just choices in beliefs. They are ways of ordering the world. The Monotheist demands that the world conform in its essential identity and be not many, but one.
Polytheism does not require unity... you could say it calls for disunity. There isn't one ultimate creation or creator... so you get some stars that are older than the universe. (an interesting googleable if ever there was one) Polytheism says that things are not "one". There is no one truth about anything... there is no one right way to see things...
...therefore polytheism is libertarian... maybe even anarchy... but there is no single authority... there are many diverse authorities or there is none at all.
I am a polytheist. I don't believe in the one ultimate truth. I believe in many ways and many truths. I am omnisexual and polyamorous. A satyr among fauns.... a minor god with cloven hooves and a name that means "everything".
Polytheism is not a matter of belief. Monotheism is uniquely about belief and faith. Polytheism cannot lay claim to truth, and therefore cannot ask for faith. Believe what you will... the polytheist has a different way to order the world... he does it without truth.
Comments?
1. For you, does general location affect the strength of your relationship with a particular God(ess), or how you work with a God(ess)? For example, would it be easier to connect with Manannan on the Isle of Man, or in Ireland, than places where the God isn't 'native'?
2. Also, does specific location matter? Say, would you only work with a deity in a place or situation relevant to their field? Is this preferable?
Having gone from basically being a one-god-girl to someone with two more new deities, I am muddled... One I have definitely been thwapped by, the other... maybe we thwapped each other? At any rate, I've got a few questions.
How have those of you who have relationships with other deities developed those relationships? I find it more difficult to have time to get to know these new goddesses. Do you have any techniques for doing so? What do you do for a deity who is a softer speaker than the other?
I keep being afraid that my subconscious mind is making up personalities to deal with different issues of my own personality, rather than actually having a deity speak to me. Have you had this thought?
And most importantly, when Something Happens-- either something you've asked for or something you just know is out of the ordinary, how do you know who did what? Was it deity A, deity B, deity C, or All of the Above? Do you try and figure out which godly source did the Something, or do you thank them all?
As I posted in a previous post, I believe there may be many gods and goddesses who's work is what we see in nature and the processes of life. However, I feel that their true nature MAY not be easily revealed to people if at all, at least in the sense of their history, interaction with other deities, names, etc. This in turn leads me to be cautious of "revealed" information concerning deities.
Of course, this could simply be due to the fact I've not had many strong interactions with what may be deities-a fact that may be extinguished with time!
That being said, what crossed my mind was following a particular pantheon to represent the "whole". To explain that thought a bit further, the gods and goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon (and I only use that as an example because it is that ancient culture that interests me) can be viewed as "symbols" or "archetypes" for the gods and goddesses who's details may be, in my beliefs, unknown or impossible to find out. I suppose the idea would be that while one does not believe in the gods and goddesses of a particular pantheon, they best represent what may be real (again, the deities who's information may not or cannot be revealed).
Only an idea that crossed my very cluttered, stormy mind. I am interested in other's input. Are there people who follow something similar?
I am new to Paganism and am still seeking which path I want to follow. I have been researching for quite some time and have gotten book ideas from the forums and book lists. I would like some opinions on the books and if you think that they are good for a beginner.
Drawing Down the Moon by Alder
The Spiral Dance by Starhawk
The Pagan Path by Farrar
Voices From the Circle: The Heritage of Western Paganism by Caitlin Mathews
Paganism: A Beginners Guide by Mathew Moorey
I'm not sure in which order I will/should read this in. Figured once/if I got them that whatever gets my attention first is where I would begin.
I'm curious to see what others think of the type of situation we'd be in as a society, as diverse nations, as a planet, if varieties of Paganism/Reconstructionism were to become the "majority" religion(s) of the world, displacing Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam. No one particular Paganism being necessarily predominant, but Paganism as a whole becoming by far the majority practice. What would happen to our political systems? What would happen to our communities and neighborhoods? What would happen on a national or local scale?
Would everything go swimmingly and peace and joy reign on earth, or would new problems be created, new power struggles, perhaps now among Pagan "factions" or different paths, regarding whose was more "correct."? How would you feel if there was no need to "come out" at work, as a Pagan, but rather it was now the Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims who had to trepidatiously "come out" and risk the wrath of the Pagan majority?
Do you think you'd see Christians or any of the others of the formerly mainstream religions differently, if they were in a tiny minority, instead of the vast majority in your daily life? (Is it difficult to even imagine such a scenario...?) How would you personally feel if you were no longer part of a minority or a relatively unknown or questionable group, but were identified with a group that most people knew a good amount about, didn't need to ask you anything or treat you as an oddity, and you became just another Joe or Jill Average as a Pagan?
Would Paganism become banal and kitschy when seized by the majority, threatened with loss of meaning , or could it retain its meaningfulness and its numinosity for you? Any other thoughts?