(January 31, 2011 at 9:38 am)thesummerqueen Wrote:(January 30, 2011 at 11:47 pm)Minimalist Wrote: I always loved the phrase "practicing Jew," Summer. I always wondered what they were practicing for and if it involved calisthenics?
Every time a Jewish friend of mine ordered fresh ham I told him he needed a lot more practice.
I tried really hard to come up with a clever response to this but I keep giggling. I'll have to pose this question to my mother when she calls next week to begin ensuring I'll come up for Passover.
Funniest thing...i have recently read that "Passover" was a 'Wiccan' equivalent to Equinox...'Wiccan' is a bit more 'Naturalworld/ As it is' orientated if you ignore the God/Goddess mumbo jumbo
(January 31, 2011 at 9:38 am)thesummerqueen Wrote: I can't understand how someone can really be a wiccan. I know believing that allah exists or "jesus is magic" is no more stupid than this but I can understand effects of years of brainwashing.
See above...we NOW have the science to prove most of the "religious" celebrations are to mark the 'turning of the planet/ year' .....what we are arguing about is the 'reasons'
(January 31, 2011 at 9:38 am)thesummerqueen Wrote: The problem is that most people can't separate religion from witchcraft when it comes to their perception of Wicca or any of the neo-pagan religions.
All religions have their superstitions and "magic" practices - they just don't believe theirs are superstition.
If you're in love with nature in a certain way, it makes sense. And hey... I hear some pagan religions endorse orgies. I'd love to sign up for that. Alas, none of them 'practiced' around Manassas. Such is life.
I am thinking (for me at least) that Terry Pratchett's broad concept of "Witchcraft" is close to the bone = correct. "Witchcraft" was the only thing that most country people had....aka someone who was knowledgeable with herbs available in the area and has more than a brief/passing understanding of anatomy...this has resulted from Constantine's (and later zealots of Cataholic/ xtian fervour) of wiping out any intelligentsia that might threaten "The Church of Rome" (including the Semitic population). Thanks to the cataholic church we have witches (along with anti semitism) firmly in the mass psyche who heal and have 'magical powers' ..and quite frankly all they had was knowledge beyond the 'country bumpkin sheep / goat herder' that was the church and heartily encouraged by the 'cataholic church of Rome'.
"The Universe is run by the complex interweaving of three elements: energy, matter, and enlightened self-interest." G'Kar-B5
