Paganism or other Gods

My goodness, that's a tall order, but I guess I'll answer it...and if it gets moved, no big deal as I monitor SRE too.

Well, it all started when I finally realized I wasn't a Christian any more. I didn't know what I was instead. So I went through what I believed.

I found that I believed there was a God/dess out there that was in some ways fundamentally alien to us, because S/He was infinite and the finite cannot fully understand the infinite. I believed that Being poured Her/Himself into our concepts of God, therefore, because the only way an Infinite could relate to us was to become finite...or understandable by the finite.

I believed the only uncorruptable, true sacred scripture out there was nature itself and the life in it.

I realized I believed that, therefore, female concepts of God made as much sense as male concepts.

I read about different religions, including Paganism. I read Margot Adler's book Drawing Down the Moon and found myself agreeing with and relating to the Gods in it and the beliefs delineated there (in part; it is somewhat encyclopedic in scope and covers aspects of Pagan traditions with which I disagree...for myself, anyhow). I believed nature reflected the Divine. I believed in magic changing the world. Finally, I sought out the God and Goddess, and they came to me in a spiritual vision I cannot even begin to describe. It was real beyond real. I knew they were real, cared for me, and I felt the joy of knowing once again who I was. I was a child of the Gods, a celebrator of Nature, a practitioner of magic, and a participant in the sacredness of life itself.

Hey Rae, do you still want to talk about this by email? I can talk here if you'd like.



God bless!

Bad:
Interesting, what do you call it?

Rae:
What do I call what? I don't know what you're asking about here. What do I call my Gods? My spiritual experiences? My service to the Gods? My magic?

Bad:
Is there any literature on this?

Rae:
If you re-read what I said above, you see I cite Margot Adler's book, Drawing Down the Moon. There is much literature on Pagan beliefs. The problem tends to be, as Adler's book admits, we are less united by similar faith than by similar practice (as is Buddhism). Our magical practices tend to be more similar than our Gods and our beliefs about the Gods.

If that was not what you were asking, as I had a difficult time understanding both your questions, please rephrase.

VM:
Hey Rae, do you still want to talk about this by email? I can talk here if you'd like.

Rae:
If you want to talk here, I'm amenable as long as you read my e-mail first, as it makes clear that I'm not amenable to attempts at conversion and other important points.

Rae-

Have you ever casted a spell? What was it and how do you know it worked, etc?

Soul:
Have you ever casted a spell?

Rae:
I have cast numerous spells, yes.

Soul:
What was it and how do you know it worked, etc?

Rae:
Well, one example was when a friend requested good energy to help her get through a tough time. I created a messenger to send the energy to her. I know it worked because (a) I didn't set a form for the messenger, yet it appeared to me in a form that made sense given who I am in a magical sense, (b) I could sense it traveling straight to her, and (c) she thanked me later for supporting her, though I never said what I was going to do for her.

What did it look like?

It appeared as a birch tree. My magical name includes the word birch.

I dont understand...you created a birch tree messanger?

Yup. It's still around, too, for when I need to send energy to people.

What's hard to understand?

Originally posted by Rae
Yup. It's still around, too, for when I need to send energy to people.

What's hard to understand?

Click to expand...

Sorry, I just haven't heard anything like this before, I am not patronizing you or anything.

So, you are saying that you "poofed" a tree into existence?

A spiritual messenger that takes the form of a tree, yes.

Originally posted by Rae
A spiritual messenger that takes the form of a tree, yes.

Click to expand...

Can other witches do these things? 

Also, I really don't want to be offensive, but I was wondering if you ever hallucinate or have some mental problem.  I know that sounds bad, and I dont want it to come across that way. Just looking at all the options, and I have asked the same of Christians seeing things. 

Peace.

Soul:
Can other witches do these things?

Rae:
Yup. A chaos mage/Hellene Pagan I know of gave a presentation on how to create them, as a matter of fact.

Soul:
Also, I really don't want to be offensive, but I was wondering if you ever hallucinate or have some mental problem.

Rae:
About as often as Christians do when they "experience Jesus." In other words, no, and it is offensive.

Soul:
I know that sounds bad, and I dont want it to come across that way.

Rae:
Uh huh....out of curiosity, why would you ask me that anyhow? If I don't have a mental problem, which I don't, I'll answer that question "no." If I do, I probably will still answer it "no." Right? So what could your purpose be if not to offend, seeing that if you're smart you can tell what my answer will be already...so it can't be for informational purposes?

Soul:
Just looking at all the options, and I have asked the same of Christians seeing things.

Rae:
Gotten anyone who's admitted it when they actually have mental problems?

Uh huh....out of curiosity, why would you ask me that anyhow? If I don't have a mental problem, which I don't, I'll answer that question "no." If I do, I probably will still answer it "no." Right? So what could your purpose be if not to offend, seeing that if you're smart you can tell what my answer will be already...so it can't be for informational purposes

Click to expand...

I gave you the benefit of the doubt that you would be honest. You assume that anyone would lie about such a thing, I don't.

I admitted on this very forum, today, that I have mental illness, actually.

So, care to answer the question?

In my experience, those I've known with mental problems, including someone whose religious experiences always followed those she admired at the time (no, I'm not joking) did not know they had them. So no, I don't think they'd lie, I think many with them don't know they have them.

If I say I have no mice in my apartment, sincerely believing there are none, and there is a mouse there, was I lying?

Didn't you read what I wrote above? I already answered your question.

Soul:
Also, I really don't want to be offensive, but I was wondering if you ever hallucinate or have some mental problem.

Rae:
About as often as Christians do when they "experience Jesus." In other words, NO, and it is offensive.