We all complain that religion isn't a soundbite; but if you had to make a soundbite out of an important part of your religion, what would you say?
It doesn't have to sum up everything, but pick something: ethics, gods, something.
Mine would be "We are the eyes and hands of the Divine".
I have a question for the reconstructionists in the forum. Whether it's Celtic, Greek, or Egyptian, historical records indicate an established priestly caste that the common people relied on for their spiritual needs. Undoubtedly, there was the village wise person that could be called upon for assistance, but major religious observances were conducted by the temples.
That being the case, if it's an accurate discription, the people performed prayers, devotions, and offerings for themselves and their families. So when reconstructing these belief systems and ancient traditions, how do the reconstructionists go about creating a full, working belief system?
If working in a group, would you have members that performed as the priestly caste, and the rest as "lay people" so to speak? If working as a solitary, would you be a priest, or like the common person, performing small acts of devotion and offerings?
I was wondering what people's thoughts were on Kahil Gibran - specifically his work 'The Prophet' (as that's the only one I have) but in general, as well. I've loved the book since I found it on my mum's shelf, and refer to it often. It has a place of honour on my bookshelf.
I even used a portion of it (On Eating and Drinking) in my Autumnal Equinox ritual:
And when you crush an apple with your teeth, say to it in your heart:
"Your seeds shall live in my body,
And the buds of your tomorrow shall blossom in my heart,
And your fragrance shall be my breath
And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons"
So, naturally, I was curious - how many of you have read any of his works? What do you think of them?
I'm in the process of reading a fictional story about Ceasar's life and there was a scene where Socrates is being quoted about how all souls are not only the image of God, but are female.
Well, that made me stop and ponder: Do souls have a sex? I guess I've always just took it for granted that because I'm female, then my soul must be female...it is me, after all.
How do you feel? Is your soul the same sex as your body is, no sex at all (a nice ball of light), or could it even be a hermaphrodite?
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Periodically I come here and browse through some of the posts... After reading a number of posts, a few times I've come across the statement that most people here are not Wiccan. (Which seems a little odd at a site called "e-cauldron"!)
I'm curious about what you (anyone who cares to reply) would catagorize yourself as. Wiccan? Pagan? Druidic? Native American Shamanistic? Cerimonial Magician? Qabbalist?, Etc.? And what, in brief, does that mean to you? (A summary of what you practice.)
Something that I am interested in a the moment is guilt. It is powerful emotion that can cause people to do many things they would not noramally do (e.g. give money to causes, adopt dogs from adds in newspaper). Is guilt Magick?.
I find descriptions of astral projection, astral work, the astral plane, and other such things all over the place, but I find them very confusing and conflicting.
I'm looking for a solid description. I'm uncertain as to how astral projection or visiting the astral plane differs from imagination, for example. How do you know when you've achieved work in the astral, as opposed to simply on a mental level?
All thoughts are greatly appreciated. This one's been puzzling me for a while.
When I volunteered to run the Challenges (what, almost two years ago now? time flies), I originally had assumed that I would be responsible for thinking up new ideas every month. This worked out pretty well for about a year, I think, and then I started falling behind. I've been constantly asking the staff for new ideas and feeling bad about it because I felt like I was asking them to do stuff I'd promised to do. Finally, I made a decision: the way the Challenges work just has to change. My brain has just run dry on ideas. I can't keep up any more. So I'm asking y'all to help me out with ideas from here on out. If you've got an idea for a Challenge you'd like to see, or one from the past you'd like to request be repeated, please post it in this thread!
I can't promise I'll use every idea, because some will be better-suited to the forum in general than others, but I'll do my best to use as many as I can. (With proper credit given to those who suggested them, of course!) Some guidelines to consider which would increase your chances of your idea being used: Keep it general, so that you don't cut out large portions of the forum who can't participate or have little interest in doing so. Keep it simple, so that people can understand what they're supposed to do fairly easily. Challenges should be -- well, challenging -- but not impossibly difficult; you don't want people to get discouraged and drop it halfway through the month. Basically, keep it user-friendly.
If there comes a month when no one has any suggestions and I don't have any stored up, I should be able to come up with something, but if y'all could pitch in a bit it would go a long way to keeping the Challenges up and running smoothly. Any suggestions are much appreciated. Even if you just have a vague direction, go ahead and post it -- maybe it will generate more ideas from other people too. If nothing else, even vague direction is more than I've usually got going right now.
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