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Tree of Tales Posted Wednesday, March 17, 2010 by Randall
One of my favorite short stories of all time is in the book "Dreams Underfoot" by Charles de Lint. The story is about a poet who goes back to her old university and finds out that they cut down a beautiful oak tree that used to sit right outside the library. She runs into a "conjure man" who tells her that it was a tree of tales, and that it was one of the last ones left. So she goes back, take an acorn that's near the stump, brings it home, plants it, and as it grows, she starts telling it stories. It shows up in some of his other stories (she plants it in a park) as a tree that seems to draw people to sit near it and talk to it, and the stories make it grow huge.
Now I know it's just fiction, but there have been plenty of studies showing that plants react when you talk to them, play them music, and so on, and that they thrive that way. They've also shown that plants can have connections to people. And trees (and plants in general) have always seemed to have personalities to me. So I have a small tree in my apartment, and I plan to tell it stories and play music and stuff for the next year, then donate it to the people who are planting trees in a park next March. It'll either be a tree of tales ... or if not, it will at least provide some nice shade and stuff for the kids in the park.
Have any of you read about religious rituals or spiritual practices in books and stories and they just felt so right that you adopted them anyway, even knowing they were made up?
Value of ADF for undecided pagans? Posted Friday, March 12, 2010 by Randall
Is it worth it to join ADF for the dedicant materials if you are not necessarily considering a Druid path?
I am asking because I have been going through RCIA for the past year, and I've learned a lot through the more structured "initiation" process (including that liking the core message of the Gospels does not outweigh a basic inability to comprehend monotheism and some of the core tenets of the church, lol). While I am capable of doing research on my own, I get more out of it when there are discussions, focused questions to be researching, and so on. A little direction goes a long way and all.
ADF's membership comes with access to the year-long dedicant guide with reading assignments, exercises, and etc., and glancing at their reading list on their website, it seems like they hit a lot of the reconstructionist reading materials and give a really good overview of early European paganism. And looking at their book list, I recognize many, many names and have read a couple of the books, and it seems like they avoid the fluff and inaccurate research pretty well. I feel like I would get an excellent overview of not just Druidry but a lot of the beliefs of various recon paths through this program.
On the other hand, I do not know if Druidry is the path I am meant to take, and I really don't want to commit to something so quickly again. I'm open to it, but I want to make sure I've had a chance to get my bearings before I make a commitment of any sort.
So what I'm really asking, I guess, is: 1. Am I misconstruing the dedicant guide through ADF? Is it a more solitary process, or are there ways to contact and discuss with other "newbs" the materials you're reading even if you're not close enough to a grove to visit in person? And 2. Do they require a major commitment to embark on the dedicant training (i.e., do I actually have to dedicate myself in any long-term sense to Druidry), or are they also accepting of serious-ish dabblers?
Recommend One Novel Posted Wednesday, March 10, 2010 by Randall
I would like to start a thread where everyone gets a chance to recommend one novel, it can be your favorite novel. One that you feel everyone should read. Fiction, nonfiction, religious, any thing you want to recommend can go in here! The only rule is one book per post, but you can recommend a series if you want.
"Breaking up" with a deity? Posted Tuesday, March 09, 2010 by Randall
At the beginning of my pagan path, I was pretty exclusively devoted to Mictecacihuatl, as I had been to her semi-Catholic syncretic form, La Santa Muerte. I was in a very dark, barely-getting-by place in my life, and that's something that really drew me to her--that she deals in harsh realities and in doing what's necessary just to survive. Last fall, she and I had a rather nasty falling-out (I've told the story before; she had the idea that it was my best friend's time, and I argued with her about it) and she didn't speak to me for several months. A while back, she put a bug in my ear that she was calling in a promise I'd made for her in exchange for my friend's life, that I'd get a tattoo to honor her. My appointment to get the tattoo is in a little over 3 weeks.
Lately, I've been getting to know Brighid, and I'm getting the feeling that, while it's not so harsh that I'd describe it as a "thwap," she'd like me to stick close to her, and that I can't really serve Mictecacihuatl and walk the path Brighid wants me to follow. I feel like I have to get the tattoo, because I made the promise, but I'm afraid that if I do, I'll be obligated, and that it's going to make it harder to move forward. Mictecacihuatl helped me through a very ugly time in my life, but I feel like she was interested in the person I was, rather than Brighid, who's a better example for the person I want to be, and (if this makes sense) Mictecacihuatl has always made me feel like I was her property, while Brighid has made herself known more as a mentor/"older sister" figure. Not a mother, exactly, but looking out for me, and leading me in the right direction.
So what can I do? I don't want to be tied down to a goddess who won't let me go down the path I need to go down to grow as a person, but I don't want to piss her off, either. Would it be inappropriate to get the tattoo as sort of a closing of my account, so to speak, with Mictecacihuatl? Sort of like, I've done what I promised, so this is goodbye? The other goddesses I've worked with don't seem to care--they've just sort of backed off. But Mictecacihuatl has a bit of a temper, and I really don't want to see her angry. I just really get the impression that Brighid thinks I'm running with the wrong crowd and would like me to reconsider my association with Mictecacihuatl.
All paths lead to the same meadow? Posted Saturday, March 06, 2010 by Randall
What do you think of the saying all paths lead to the same meadow? Do you agree to it? Why or why not?
How do you interpret the saying? Does it mean that there is one truth or one God/dess? Or does it mean that all paths have ultimately the same destination (which could be Summerland, a return to the Divine Source or something else)?
Do you think it's a valid saying or do you think it's fluffy? (Is fluffy valid, LOL?)
I've also heard that all paths lead to the same meadow, if you harm none. This sounds very Wiccan, so non-Wiccans probably wouldn't agree?
What about the saying all clockwise paths lead to the same meadow? Clockwise as in either the right-hand path or a positive, non-harm morality?
My birthday is Ostara Posted Thursday, March 04, 2010 by Randall
Literally, and every year I have tried to separate the 2 and it has ended in minor disasters. This year I'm putting them together, and putting on a good sized festival/pot luck thing. Instead of presents, I'm asking everyone to bring a dish to pass and mead. I was wondering, what can I ask for everyone to bring? I have done a bit of research, and so far I have fresh bread (and hot-cross buns), salad, stuffed eggs, roasted lamb, and herb soups.
Religion Remains Elusive at Present Posted Tuesday, March 02, 2010 by Randall
Have you ever felt like things were finally coming together again in your religious life, only to have it blow up in your face?
Recently, someone else posted on here about how he was experiencing a religious dry spell. I commented on this entry and told him that I was going through the same thing--it tends to happen. Personally, I'm finding it difficult to worship the sun disk while working third shift. I know a lot of people on this forum commented on that entry with the same bit of advice: things like this tend to happen and we can only get through it to the best of our abilities.
Anyway, as I said, my current problem is that I'm having issues celebrating the Kemetic sun deities since the sun is, of course, anathema to me. However, I was finally coming to grips with this. I had begun instruction with my son on the Kemetic deities (well, religions in general) and it was making me feel like I was finally slipping through the gorge in the middle of my path. So, tonight, I felt especially connected to netjer and was going to do... something... with that feeling. So, I went to do something with it and... I find myself back in the religious desert I was screaming about/cursing about only a week ago.
So, have you ever thought you were finally getting out of your dry spell only to realize that you were bypassing an oasis instead of having actually come to the Promised Land?
Touched by a God/dess? Posted Monday, March 01, 2010 by Randall
If you have had a distinct and unmistakable connection or interaction with a god or goddess, was it readily apparent at the time which deity it was? How did you know?
If not, how did you eventually figure out the identity of the god, and how long did it take? Was it fairly shortly afterward, or did it take a while - and do you feel that you were led to the identity, or was it difficult to figure out?
Or have you been touched by a god/dess, but still aren't sure of the identity of that god to this day?
What does "Religious Ritual" mean to you? Posted Thursday, February 25, 2010 by Randall
I've been thinking on the meaning of ritual in a pagan context, and wondering if I've been approaching the idea too narrowly, so I'm here to pick you brains and see what you all think.
What does "religious ritual" mean to you? Are there certain things it should encompass, no matter the religion? (And by this I mean not only the various pagan religions, but also JCI and others.) What makes a religious act a religious ritual? What kinds of religious rituals do you engage in?
