A Child's Right to Not be Religious?

So we've talked about raising children within faith, we've talked about exposing them to other faiths, and we've talked about raising children pan-religious in hopes that they will someday seek and find their own paths, without feeling we have coerced them into believing as we do for fear of parental or social disapproval.

We're a very religiously/ spiritually interested bunch though, and I notice that this isn't the same for everyone. My husband for example has a 'relationship' with 'something bigger than he is' and while he experiences some energy connections and has had some unexplainables occur, he is not what I would call overly religious.

My kids, seem to be following in dads footsteps. They enjoy the high energy of special events, but I can't say there is any real reverence there. It's a game to them. To bring them into sacred situations is to invite disaster, and cause things to be handled carelessly if not downright disrespectfully. When dealing with sacred objects, and things that cannot be replaced, this can be dangerous.

This is pretty much the same result I got when trying to get hubbs involved in some spiritual pursuits. Blatant irreverence. They just don't seem to "get it" nor do they have the desire to slow down to try.

When they do have religious or spiritual needs, they will come to me quietly on their own terms with their questions, but once those concerns are addressed, they are satisfied and don't seek out religious learning the way they seek reading, or music.

Which leaves me asking, if a kid doesn't show any indications of religious interest, is it brainwashing to ingrain religion in them through teaching, creating ritual, habits and creating a psychological reliance on belief? Eg. using religious/ spiritual means as coping strategies for life stress without knowing if other methods would be equally effective for the individual in question.

Why or why not?

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Herbs and other Correspondences

I'm trying to expand my correspondences lists so if you have any websites or personal information that you would like to give me to assist me in this manner, it would be greatly appreciated!

Also, I have a question. Why is that some herbs, such as Bay Laurel, have so many magical uses and others only have one or two? Also, how did we figure out what herb was good for what purpose? Just a trial and error method? Any help would be amazing. Thank you!

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Deities and Associated Animals

I'm interested in hearing how deities and animals are related in your beliefs and practice:

* Do you work with deities who are associated with animals or have animals which are sacred to them or do you work with deities who are fully or partially animals?

* How are animals related to your deities or in paths you find interesting? Are the animals doing something for the deities or vice versa? What kind of relationship do they have?

* If you have a relationship to a deity with sacred/attributed animals or one that is fully or partially an animal, how is your relationship to those animals or animal characteristics and what role does this play in your religious/spiritual practice?

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Folk Magic Systems?

Hey, folks, I was hoping a few of you could help me clarify a few concepts. Over the last couple of months I've come to realize that much of my current path is belief and perspective and not so much practice. While that's not necessarily a bad thing I would like to balance some of this out with a bit more of a regular practice.

After thinking about it some I've come to the conclusion that at this point in my life it would probably be easiest to incorporate some form of folk magic. I've never been all that interested in Cerermonial Magic or it's slightly less descriptive name - High Magic. I'm just not all that interested in pomp and circumstance when it comes to practice. Most of what I do is based on circumstance, need, intuition and what I happen to have on hand.

I'd rather steer clear of religious magical practice such as Wicca as, at this point, I don't want to get confused between the magic aspect and the religious aspect. I'm not saying Wicca has no value, just that it has other aspects that don't work for me.

Partly inspired by Juniper's "The meaning of the word 'witch'" thread I thought I'd jump in here and ask what different folk magic systems folks here knew about and could point me towards. A reliable source to begin looking into would be a real boon, too.

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"Alien-ness" of Gods

I've noticed in reading people's accounts of their deities, and in my own upbringing and practice, that there seem to be distinct 'types' of gods that humans relate to. Broadly, I see three basic categories:

"Evolved' gods - These gods were once humans, or related to or 'born with' humans. Several of the Irish gods, the bodhisatvas (sp?), some of the Greek gods who started out human and achieved godhood through effort or favour.

"Representative' gods - more prominent in indigenous societies, and sometimes not defined as gods by everyone. I'm thinking of Coyote, Raven - actually, all my examples here come from FN culture, but that's because that's what I'm familiar with.

'Alien' gods - again, maybe not the best term. Gods who are outside of time and space, born possibly of the universe itself, having no connection with earth or humanity except by their own choice. I'm not sure if creator gods come into this one or not, but possibly the JCI god does.

What 'type' of god do you follow? Do you think the other types actually count as gods or as something else? What is the actual, way back when, origin of your god, if you know it?

Feel free to rephrase the question or go off into a relevant tangent if I've left out some part of your cosmology.

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The meaning of the word 'witch'?

The word 'witch' has a multiplicity of uses.

It can be used to mean some one who practices magic, or it can be used to mean an evil sorcerer of some sort. It is also used to mean, quite simply, a 'hag'.

Religiously, the word 'witch' crops up quite often. But what exactly is a 'witch' when speaking religiously? Does the word ‘witch’ still mean the same thing when putting either cottage, hedge or kitchen in front of it?

'Witch' is also commonly seen with the word 'craft' tagged onto it. But what exactly is Witchcraft? Is it as straightforward as it sounds: the practice of a witch, whatever a witch may be?

And finally, what do you think about a religious group laying claim to the title of 'Witchcraft'? Do you think there is one that has a rightful claim, or do you think it is a practice that anybody can claim?

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Cultural Absence?

It struck me today as I was reading that here in North America we have no real cultural deities of our own. That could stem from that fact that we have no real single culture of our own - but thats its own subject.

We borrow. We borrow from the Greeks, Egyptions, Hebrews, various Celtic cultures, Nords, etc. Then we are left with the task of fitting what we know of the ideals, doctrine and belief of these deities into a modern culture that makes little room for the worship of anything but money. Often as not it becomes as tasking as it is rewarding due to our societies structure.

I find it strange that we have in our part of the world no culturally located deities. Is it that they are not there at all or are we simply not seeing them? Or do they manifest themselves as deities that we can understand because they are part of the lore that we already know?

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Grounding and Circles and Such

Some time ago I performed a healing ritual. I thought I had grounded myself well with breathing and focus beforehand but ended up basically in shock afterwards. There was a point where I could feel the energy of EVERY thing around me. I always do all my rituals outside so it was quite the flow LOL. I based what I did on a natural ability that I seem to have always had and it was the first time I had used it in a ritual sense.

My questions are these. I obviously did not ground myself well enough so any suggestions on that would be great. I have done all my grounding by instinct for the most part so I am an open book. So where did I go wrong?

Circles. From most of what I have read creating a circle for a ritual is a Wiccan thing, not that I am saying Wiccans are bad - just that I am not a Wiccan. Are circles that important to ritual and how does one go about creating a circle when you are not Wiccan. That may sound hopelessly dumb - but all the info I have found on them is Wiccan.

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How Would You Define the Difference Between Religion and Spirituality?

1) Your beliefs:
Do you see yourself as religious and/or spiritual? In what way/s?

2) Definition:
Do you see a difference between 'religious' and 'spiritual'?
If so, in what way? Maybe...

* Religious as a dedication to (a) specific deity/ies or following a specific path (with cosmological and philosophical underpinnings maybe), but spiritual as an interest in the Other (maybe without dedication, how about cosmological and philosophical underpinnings)?

* Spiritual as the opposite of materialistic? If so, how does this tie to religiousity? Would/does the lack of spirituality make you areligious or would/are you then be religions in a materialistic way?

* Any other idea or definition from any source?

3) Conclusion:
So does

* 'religious' and 'spiritual' just describe different aspects of faith & practice (rather like two sides of a coin, one couldn't exist without the other)

* or are 'religious' and 'spiritual' different characteristics of faith & practice independent of each other (so a person could be spiritual but not religious or vice versa)?

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What's a Hedgewitch?

I've seen this term in several user profiles, but are not sure what it means exactly.

1) What are the characteristics of hedgewitchery/hedgewitchcraft?

2) What makes a witch a hedgewitch? Does it involve some sort of dedication to become a hedgewitch or is a witch who works in a specific way automatically a hedgewitch?

3) Would you define hedgewitchery as a specific from of 'low magic' or do you also see it as spiritual or religious? In what way?
* If so can it be a path of its own or is it just a facultative addition to certain other paths?
* Then which paths have hedgewitch-leanings or are hedgewitch-friendly and which would exclude it?

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