There are several definitions of who is Jewish. There is the religious definition, the ethnic definition and the question of identity. Most people don't identify themselves as Jewish unless they also have one of the other two, but it is possible for a person to be born to converts to Judaism, and therefore identify oneself as Jewish, but not see it as one's religion. It is neither one's ethnicity, because one's parents are not ethnic Jews.

Now, we have a group of ethnic Jews who have turned to Christianism, but who haven't given away their Jewish identity. These people are called "Jews for Jesus", "Hebrew Christians" or "Messianic Jews", which names are VERY misleading. A Messianic Jew is actually a religious Jew who believes in Jewish Messianism, which is something very different from Christianity. It is possible for a Jew to believe Jesus - or Yeshua ha-Notzri - is the Jewish messiah, and still remain Jewish, but it is more likely that one has left the Jewish religion behing oneself and turned Christian. Interestingly enough, the Christians of Jewish ethnicity don't approve these true Messianic Jews as "Messianic Jews".

These are the important questions that make all the difference:

Was Jesus a man or God?
If you think Jesus was in any way or form divine, God's son more than any other human being, part of the thrinity, then you are not Jewish, but Christian.

What is the significance of the Greek Scriptures?
Is it of the same importance as Tanakh? If so, then you are not Jewish, but Christian. One must understand here that what is said in the Greek Scriptures - what they claim Jesus taught - is against Torah, and if you believe Torah is God's Law, given to your people by God Himself, you do not think scriptures where you are told the God's Law is wrong, are of any worth.
If you think the Greek Scriptures are right and Talmud is wrong, you are not Jewish. What is taught in the Greek Scriptures goes againt TORAH, what is taught in Talmud, does not.

This is not a question of interpretation and opinion, but theology and dogmas.

Just like there cannot be Pagan Christians, there cannot neither be Jewish Christians, Muslim Christians, Buddhist Christians or any other such Chimera. Considering how highly the Christians speak about their religion, it's surprising how much they want other people's religions too...

And why am I writing this? It has nothing to do with Paganism...
It's because my Jewish husband is being persecuted by missioners at YouTube, and I hate missioners, especially missioners, who will not accept that I have already found God and I am very pleased with Her and would not change Her to anything in the world, especially not to something like Jesus. That's like asking me to exchange my woolen clothes in a blizzard to a wet polyester satin sheet.

Pagans can be "good people" too

I'm not Christian, Jewish or Muslim. I don't care about the rules these three religions give to their followers of being a "good person", and I don't need to. These rules are for Christians, Jews and Muslims only, even when sometimes they act as if that was not the truth. Frankly, I'm already a "bad person" because I "break" the most important rule of them all - I don't believe Jesus even existed, I don't think Muhammed was right and I'm not Jewish. :-D So why even bother doing any of the other stuff?

Here's where the philosophical ideas of morality and ethics come in. Just because I don't believe the same way you do, doesn't mean I'm automatically immoral and have bad ethics.

I am just as loving, caring and kind to my fellow human beings as anyone else on this planet. In some cases more so than certain others, in some cases less so.

For example, I refuse to judge people because of whom they love, but I will judge people if they choose to physically "love" someone who is not a consenting adult human being. I don't have any problems with homosexuality or polygamy or polyamory, but I have huge problems with pedophilia and zoophilia and "legalized rape", where women are married to someone against or in spite of their will.

I also am generally tolerant, but I don't tolerate extremists and fanatics, nor missionaries who lie, cheat, threaten and punish people to get them "convert". Oh, yes, that happens. I saw a documentary from Papua New Guinea, where the natives were subjected to all of this. The missionary promised the people that if they convert to Christianity, they will be healed, from asthma and everything else, they will get rich and have cars and pigs and what-not. When the majority of the village was converted with lies like this, they were encouraged to make the rest of the village convert too, by telling them, that they weren't cured and rich, because of the few non-Christians in the village. A couple of people were forced to move out of the village, and the loneliness made them come back and convert too, in the end. After that the missionary left the village never to return and answer to where is the cure, cars and pigs he promised... The village kept an eye on each other and punished each other for any minor slip, as the cause to why the missionary's promises weren't fulfilled. >:->
Of course, this story is about just one crooked missionary, but I hold the whole Christianity responsible for this. It's not that this way of missionizing is much different from how Europe was Christened. It began with Charlemagne who cut down the Holy Woods, continued through crusades and inquisition - and yes, that too is the responsibility of the whole Christianity.
It's not either that this sort of things would be unknown in modern, mainly Christian society. My Jewish husband is being harassed and abused because "Jews killed Jesus". Pagans get their HOMES vandalized with the Christian society's good will. I do hold the whole Christian community responsible, for failing to teach their children that this is wrong, for failing to apologize for what their own youngs do (and in some cases these people are not even young) and try to repair the damage.

Exodus 22:21
You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 23:9
You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19:34
The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 10:19
So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Matthew 5:44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Luke 6:27
But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you

Romans 12:20
But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.

This is what YOUR Holy Book says about "strangers" and "enemies". Do see me as a stranger and your enemy, but remember that if you treat me as I treat you, YOUR GOD will punish YOU for it. Not me. You are endangering YOUR place in heaven, not mine. I don't have any. You, as a Christian, are also responsible for what your children and other Christians do in your community. It is your duty to remind them, to discipline them, when you see they are doing something wrong. Allowing the town gang to bully the town witch, makes ALL the Christians of the town to risk their spot in Kingdom Come...

Sure, it can be hard to go against the human nature, and it can feel bad to know that it IS expected more of you than of me, but this is the payment for your salvation. This is your ticket to the heavenly wedding. We will get what's coming to us in the end, just like everyone else.

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"
- Matthew 21-23

But back to the possibility of non-believers being "good people".

“You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
Matthew 7:16-20

"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
Galatians 5:19-23

I agree with no objections to "idolatry and witchcraft", even though I believe there is only one God to whom I am and will be true and loyal to the day I die and beyond, if there is life after death, and because there IS only one God, I am not technically guilty of idolatry. I also know that the followers of the Abrahamic religions disagree with me there, because I do not follow any Abrahamic religion, I'm a true Pagan, and that is what they mean with idolatry. Also, I am a witch, so of course I'm guilty of witchcraft :-D
I also appreciate my senses very much and I think we have come to earth filled with things to experience and appreciate through senses to do just that - experience and appreciate the world through senses. I believe one is to ENJOY life. Nevertheless, "drunkenness and orgies" are not part of that. I'm Epicurean, not hedonist.
But I also believe that one is to be kind to one's fellow human beings here on earth. Of course, I don't always succeed in that, but who does? So far I haven't met anyone who has managed to go through his or her life without ever "acting sinfully" with "hatred, discord, dissensions and factions", especially not those Christians, who engage in all of this in their relations with anyone who is Pagan, witch, homosexual, not doing things as they want things to be done, not belonging to the same group of people. I at least admit openly that I do hate some people and that I have strong prejudices about certain groups I do not belong.
Of course I have been envious and jealous to people, the more the older I get. That too is something I think everyone has experienced. What I have not done is acting on the envy and jealousy. I don't hate people because I'm envious to them, I don't sabotage their work, speak ill of them or so, because I'm envious or jealous. I do that because I think these people are harming others and I want to stop that. Also, I never lie nor mislead people, like some people do. But - hatred and discord, that is there.
There is also love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
So - this tree bears a couple of bad fruits, but most of them are good. Whether you see me as a good tree or bad depends on which fruit you taste, and if you judge the whole tree by one fruit. This is true with the whole humanity.
None of us is 100% good and bears nothing but good fruits, just as none of us is 100% bad and bears nothing but bad fruits.

Which Pagan Gods do you worship at "christmas"?

Again, back at one of my pet peeves - Christmas.

Now, I don't mind at all if people celebrate Christmas as their God's birthday and give it a significance they can live with and which they can enjoy, I am not against Christians celebrating Christmas as their holiday, not at all. I am also not saying one word about how they should be doing that. Christians have been celebrating Christmas for a very long time now, and have given a Christian symbolical meaning to most of their Christmas, so it is theirs.

What I do mind is the Christmas fanatics, who get offended when people wish them "Happy Holidays" and complain about the national post office publishing stamps that aren't "Christian enough" to their liking, and other such things. These people try to push THEIR ways down everyone else's throat, and THAT is what makes me boil. What you do inside the walls of your home is your business, and if you have a warm and lovely Midwinter, I'm happy for you. Sincerely I am, even if it means "stealing Yule". What ever fits your personal, private purposes, is fine with me, as long as it doesn't harm anyone or anything else. But when you start DEMANDING that YOUR personal preferences MUST be followed in PUBLIC sphere, you have gone too long, my friend. You can count on me, telling you how your so called Christian ways are anything but Christians.

So - which Pagan Gods are you actually worshiping by celebrating Solstice? Oh, don't make the mistake of believing that you are NOT celebrating the Winter Solstice, because that's usually on December 21st and you are celebrating December 25th. 25th of December was established as the Winter Solstice 45 BCE, and even when the calendar has been adjusted several times after that, the date remained. I celebrate Winter Solstice on the exact time of Winter Solstice, ignoring the calendar all together. I know it's December 21st this year and it will be December 22nd in a couple of years, like it was a couple of years ago, but the date itself doesn't mean anything to me. The centuries old feast days that have been put in the calendar on the other hand do follow the Julian Calendar, back at 45 BCE, with all the important Pagan feast days "rededicated" to Christian characters. Summer Solstice is given to John the Baptist, Autumn Equinox is given to Archangel Michael, Spring Equinox is Virgin Mary's and Winter Solstice Jesus'. The early Christians weren't stupid, they chose a character from the Christian mythology that best corresponded with the Pagan Deity celebrated at the time of the year. John the Baptist replaces several artisan Gods, Michael replaces Mabon, Virgin Mary replaces Goddess Herself and Jesus... yes, whom did Jesus replace?

Everyone knows by now about Mithra or Mithras, the Son of God in the Zoroastrian mythology. His name means "contract", "deal", "agreement", "covenant" - He was the embodiment of the covenant between God and His people, fulfillment of the promise God made. He is the ultimate defender of Truth, the Judge.
His feast day, Mehregan, is celebrated at the time when taxes are collected, and people gave each other gifts. The king, of course, received very valuable gifts, like gold and rare incenses and such, everyone else gave what they could afford. The poor people gave each other apples. This Mehregan is always on the 16th day of the 7th month, the day and the month named after Mithra. That happens usually in the beginning of October. It is the first day of the second half-year, Nowruz or New Year being celebrated on the first day of the first half-year, in March. The Jewish people has this same division of the year into two half-years, but they celebrate the New Year in Autumn; Rosh Hashanah.

Now, in Persia (Iran) they still celebrate Yalda, Winter Solstice, as the birthday of Mithra and "the triumph of Light and Goodness over the powers of Darkness". This feast, with that name (yalda - birth) was actually celebrated thousands of years before Zoroastrianism, but today we don't know what was the "reason for the season" at that time.It was probably the birth of Sun.

December 25th was "natalis Invicti" - the birthday of Sol Invictus - the invincible Sun. This date was made a state holiday by emperor Aurelian, (215-275 CE) who worshiped the Sun, as many other Roman soldiers. Romans had a habit of combining the mythology they encountered with their own, and as the Roman soldiers found Mithra very appealing deity, they combined what they knew of him with what they knew of every other Sun God, and created Sol Invictus Mithra, with birthday on December 25th, the Winter Solstice, when Sun is born, because the Romans did celebrate birthdays, contrary to Hebrews and Persians.

Other Sun Gods the Romans collected to this group were Horus of Egypt, Apollon of Greece, and Attis of Phrygia. All these deities were believed to have been born of December 25th.

Attis of Phrygia was the son of the Virgin Goddess Nana and there's a very fascinating mystery connected to His father... That is, that He is actually Himself His own Father. (Sounds familiar? You have no idea of how familiar it is going to get...). Attis was a shepherd, and so beautiful that the Goddess made Him Her lover. She was a jealous Goddess and when She believed He was having other women, She made Him sacrifice his male organ, which He did, tied on a pine tree and He bled to death, on March 25th (Spring Equinox, Ostara, or Easter) and His blood gave life to the barren earth. The Goddess regretted and brought Him back to life, on a Sunday as Sun God. The followers of Attis tied an image of the God to a tree, which they carried along in a procession to the temple, escorted by "reed bearers" carrying reeds symbolizing God's organ. This happened on Friday near Spring Equinox, which day they called the Black Friday or Day of Blood. They mourned the next day and on Sunday they had a huge feast celebrating their Savior God who was dead but lives. They used to bake a bread in shape of a man, name it Attis and share and eat it, to get Attis' blessings.

Horus is an Egyptian Sun God, born from Queen of Heavens, Isis and Her brother Osiris, whom she brought back from death just to father the child. It is believed that Osiris spirit was transferred into Isis to be reborn as Horus. This happened at Winter Solstice.

And so on and so forth. Most bits of "Jesus' story" can be found in one way or another in another "God story" in Rome during the time of the spinning of the "Jesus' story" - virgin mother, birthday, epithets and symbolism, significance, life, companions, miracles, death, resurrection... everything. We have Dionysos of Greece, Krishtna of India, Apollonius of Tyrana...

Everyone knows today the Pagan origins of "christmas", but to those who still question, here's somethings to watch:






The Catholic church argues that 25th of December is "simply 9 months after 25th of March, the Annunciation" - but how do the Christians came up with March 25th as the day of Annunciation? The Bible says ""Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin...".
March would be six months from Rosh Hashanah, and if one pinpoints Rosh Hashanah on September 25th (Autumn Equinox), March 25th (Spring Equinox) is 6 months after that. But Rosh Hashanah doesn't start the first month of Hebrew Calendar. It is celebrated on the SEVENTH MONTH of the Hebrew Calendar. That makes "sixth month" August, not March. If the author of the Gospel of Luke is following the Greco-Roman calendar, that would make the 6th month June - or perhaps August, as "November" is "ninth month".
The Christians say that March 25th is a very important Biblical day, because God also made Adam and Jesus died on that day. The Persians believed that Adam was created on Mehregan, the Persian second New Year, just as the Jews believe the world was created in Tishri - in Autumn. Why did the Christians change this belief?
I'm sorry, but this claim of the church is just false. 25th of March was chosen as the date of Annunciation BECAUSE the 25th of December, the Roman birthday of Sun, was 9 month after that day, not the other way around.

Does it matter what you CALL the God you are worshiping at Midwinter? Of course it doesn't. As C.S.Lewis lets Aslan say in The Last Battle,

"Not because he (Tash) and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services thou hast done to him. For I and he are such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath's sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted."

I happen to think that this is actually the Truth. It doesn't matter if you serve the "Pagan Gods" at Midwinter, because there is only One True God, what ever you choose to call Her and how ever you choose to worship Her and celebrate Her mercy and miracles. That the Sun rises every morning IS a God's Miracle worthy to be celebrated, the seasons and the turn of the year from summer to winter and back again, over and over, spinning years to eons is a Miracle, every year we get to live is a Miracle and a Gift from God, and Yule is truly a wondrous and lovely time, whoever you dedicate it and in which ever name you do the good deeds you are inspired to do at this time of the year.

Just you remember that.

Christians stealing again...

You all know that Xians stole Yule already some 1500 years ago. Now they are stealing Chanukah.

You see, Xians have never understood this "yours - mine" division of things. They see the world as "things that are mine" and "things that are ours". To them there are no "things that are yours". I suppose they cannot help it, as everything they have, they have stolen from someone else. How could they understand that they cannot both have the cake and eat it, when they have been doing just that the last 1700 years?

It all started some 2000 years ago in the Roman empire. Romans have never understood this "mine-yours" idea either. They too always took what they fancied and adjusted it to fit their purposes. In this great melting pot, they took some Greek ideas of God, like Bacchus and Apollon, some Egyptian ideas of God, like Horus and Isis and some Persian ideas of God, like Mithras, added to that the Jewish ideas of God, shook it and out came Xianity. Now, they were used to have a big, lovely party at Midwinter, celebrate New Year, exchange gifts, eat well, drink and have fun. Of course, they didn't want to stop that, so they didn't stop it. We can see it so clearly today, most people celebrate "christmas", which of course means "let's decorate the house, eat well and exchange gifts". The Pagan Midwinter is a lovely celebration.

Now, the Xians claim that their God, Jesus, IS the Jewish moschiach. They claim that they do believe the Bible is God's Word, and what is said in the Bible is The Holy Truth and may not be changed... but... The Bible tells very strictly and often that people who follow the One God may not follow other people's ways in anything. Those ways are either futile or lead to a lot of bad things.

Leviticus 18:3
"You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you"

Leviticus 20:23
'Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you"

Jeremiah 10:2
"This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations"

We know very well what these "ways of the nations" were and the command in Bible doesn't only mean religious or spiritual ways, and astrology, sex and such, even though a lot of Xians like to think that way.
Also, most of the Yule traditions the Xians have stolen ARE religious of nature. Holly, ivy and mistletoe are used to decorate houses to PROTECT them from malicious forces that run wildly in the world during Midwinter. Evergreens are the Pagan God's promise of that life will return. Candles, fires and lights are sympathetic magic to call back the sun. Reindeers, squirrels, robins and other forest creatures depicted at Yuletide all have symbolic meaning in the magical, religious Pagan life. Things were holy and sacred to European Pagans already before God spoke to Abraham.

But - it's too late to do anything about this theft. But there's another theft going on as we speak, and THAT can be done something about. The Xians are stealing Chanukkah.
They are assigning it new, Xian significance, they are creating their own Xian traditions, they are telling people to start looking at the Jews - AGAIN - as their own religion is not strong enough to carry them, but they can see, that the Jews are still among us, even when the Middle Eastern people have tried to eradicate them from the face of earth already 4000 years, and the Xians have tried the last 1700 years... They whine about Xians being "persecuted", while the Jewish people is STILL the most persecuted group of people in the humankind's history, and even when it's not as bad as it was some 60 years ago, it still exists.

It is so darned offensive and insulting!

That there are not enough miracles in Xianity, so that they have to start looking for other people's miracles and own them, is not an indication enough to them that there's something seriously lacking in their own religion... oh no... the fault is never theirs, and stealing has worked through their whole existence... but if they actually would read their holy scripture, they might realize that perhaps God has "abandoned" them, because they have abandoned Him. They are trying to follow other people's Gods and adapting other people's ways.

Here's the blog that first alarmed me of this theft happening:
"Heart of wisdom" - a Christian woman offering "hanukkah gifts" for other Christians :->

then I noticed that this theft has been going on for a longer time:
Understanding Chanukkah for Christian Teens

Now, why would a Christian Teen care about Jewish holidays?
You see... Judaism is still strong and still the oldest and the original Abrahamic religion, and the two others; Xianity and Islam will never forget nor forgive. So they are trying to "make it go away", both in their own ways. Xianity has started doing what they did to Pagans: they adopt the Jewish ways, start calling them Xian and then start teaching Xianity as the "true" Judaism. You can see it happening with the so called "Messianic Jews", who are not Messianic Jews at all, but Christians. You see, if you a Jewish - or anything else - and you believe Jesus Miriamson is the Messiah and Savior and God, you ARE Christian. Of course you are still ethnically Jewish, but not religiously, and claiming that you are is a BIG, STINKING, DISGUSTING LIE.
This is the reason to why Xians now show interest to JEWISH holidays. They beat Pagans through stealing their holidays, like Yule, so they are trying to beat the Jews through stealing their holidays :-> It's not just something "innocent and well-meaning". It's a war against Jews and inherently anti-semitic.

To me this matter is clear, and to quote a catholic priest in a Jewish story:

“There wouldn’t be any Christmas if there wasn’t any Chanukah, but we can't celebrate Channukkah because it’s not a Christian Holiday. Indeed, we don’t even celebrate Shabbat, and that’s one of the Ten Commandments. Ours is a different religion, with its own holidays and beliefs.”

And as a Jewish man answered to a Christian girl asking why Christians don't celebrate Chanukah:

"Also Christians believe in the Old Testament which IS the Jewish Bible The Torah... why don't they celebrate Chanukah?"

"This is actually kind of an interesting question, because the Hasmonean Rebellion actually pre-dates Christianity, and since Christians claim the existence of a Judeo-Christian tradition, one would wonder why they didn't co-opt the celebration of Chanukah. In fact, the first and second books of Maccabees are in the Apocrypha, and as such, made it into the Catholic Bible, but neither the Jewish nor Protestant ones.

I think the answer to this second question is philosophical. Chanukah represents the Jewish refusal to be assimilated, and a rejection of the detestible aspects of Hellenistic culture (the events leading up to the re-dedication of the Temple - that's what the word "Chanukah" refers to - were actually a civil war between the Torah Jews and the Hellenized Jews, as well as the clash between the Torah Jews and the Greeks themselves). Since Christianity represents the ultimate synthesis of Jewish theology and Hellenistic culture, it's only natural that the celebration of Chanukah would be an anathema to true Christians."

And this is from "December Dilemma"

"Jews "celebrating" Christmas is an insult to those Christians who take the holiday seriously."

And so is Christians "celebrating" Chanukkah, an insult to those Jews who take the holiday seriously.
You weren't fighting, your ancestors weren't fighting, you have no part of the victory nor the miracle. Don't try to take it either.

P.S. I found this: http://www.haydid.org/hanukah2.htm
Of course, the Xians who like to hide their true character by calling themselves "Messianic Jews" have been adding Xian significance to the Jewish holidays for a very long time...

About mediums...

Here in Sweden tv4+ channel is having a "medium training" for a very popular medium show on the same channel. It's a bit like "fame factory" or "idol" or so, people are tested first to see if they have talents and then trained. We are still in the beginning of the testing, of dozens of people 60 were chosen and now they have been limited down to 20. Next episode will reduce the number of the channel's future mediums to 10, and those will be trained in future episodes.

Now, I have been watching this show - basically because I hate the "headmaster" of the "academy" :-D He seems to look down on everyone, and if anyone makes any mistake or talks about things he wouldn't have spoken of, he rolls his eyes, sighs, yawns, raises eyebrows and in other ways shows clearly what he thinks. Two mediums in the jury started talking about the interesting aura one of the contesters had - he was a "witch doctor" and had a dark indigo ring over his head... this "headmaster" interrupted the ladies and said "I don't care to talk about such things".

I have just finished the Celestine Prophecy (and even though I think it's badly written adventure novel, and even worse as spiritual self-help book considered, it made me think certain other things, so it wasn't such a bad experience as I thought it would be) and in it the "control dramas" were mentioned, so I especially looked at the jury dynamics... the headmaster tried to control everything, the two lady mediums had already given in to him, but the fourth member of the jury who is not a medium, totally ignored his efforts to control her... It's so interesting and so blatant I can't understand why anyone would want to be trained by him! It's obvious he chooses people he thinks he can control and who will not outshine him. He got rid of the most promising talents already in the first casting, and now he tried to get rid of a couple more, and tried to get in people who fit his ideas... Thanks to the one woman whom he couldn't control the 20 chosen today are a little better "quality" than what they would have been had he been able to choose all of them.

On the other hand, these people will be trained by him... I'm 100% sure that he won't blink an eye before he does his best to sabotage and bully the people he doesn't like.

But it is very interesting to watch this show... I don't have any "medial talents", but I know how it works. It's interesting how the media in the jury fell for the very same as the "skeptics" - they didn't give one thought of WHAT the medium candidates were "receiving".

For example, there are four boxes and in #3 is a teddybear, a diary and a necklace. One medium-wannabe comes in and says that she sees a church in box #2. Another comes in and says that she feels weird reverence and respect about that box. Well, the box is empty. But I think church and reverence are related. I think there is something these ladies are connecting to. I don't know what it is, but had I been in the jury, I had interrupted the testing for a while and got the first lady back in, so that the ladies together can find out what they were receiving. (Perhaps they were to meet each other... who knows. ;-))

Anyway, the jury media just brushed the ladies off as having no talents, not knowing what they were talking about - after all, they didn't find the right box, they didn't know what was in the box and they couldn't see whose property it was. And the headmaster was miming all through the medium-wannabe's performance... He's such an asshole.

Now, many "skeptic" hate mediums... mediums are phony charlatans, cheating people - because there is no such thing as "life after death", and they are just "cold-reading" and taking the stupid, gullible people's money. Now, no-one knows whether there is life after death or not, whether there are ghosts, spirits, ghouls, what ever. It is always possible that these people are in fact seeing real things, invisible for the most of the people. It really isn't what's important here... what is important is the psychological aspect in this.
If I feel uncomfortable in my home, experience scary, unpleasant things I can't explain or understand, and someone comes to my home, and after he/she leaves the place, I feel comfortable and don't experience the things anymore - it damn it doesn't matter if there were ghosts who were doing things, or if the person used headology and "tricked" me to fix myself...
The same thing with meeting the passed loved ones - it doesn't matter if the medium was cold-reading or discussing with the spirits, if I feel relieved and happy afterwards, the medium has deserved his/her fee.
Or healers - if I heal because I have met them, they have "healed" me, even if they have danced and sang doing it, even if they have given me some weird tea in the side - or even if they have given me pure water and said that it's a miraculous drug that will heal what ever is wrong with me.
Everyone knows that attitude and belief works miracles when it comes to health. In some cases the placebo pill works better than the tested drug. People who WANT to heal, who BELIEVE they can heal, who HOPE to heal, will heal better than people who don't want to heal, who believe to die, who have lost all hope... Everyone knows this. The "supernatural", "parapsychological" is actually quite natural and psychological... people just use different words to describe the same thing. Some people call it God, some people will, some people power of thought... it exists. No-one has been able to prove the existence of thoughts, dreams, ideas, will, wishes and all the other invisible things flashing through our minds, but no-one doubts they exist ;-)

Freedom of Speech

"Prevented from Harassing Wiccans and Pagans, Xians Claim Discrimination"

Freedom of Speech does NOT mean that you can say
- what ever you want
- when ever you want
- where ever you want
- to whom ever you want
- for what ever reason you want
without any consequences...

The 1st Amendment of the American Constitution reads:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

You may not use your rights to limit someone else's rights.

It's not ok to speak against the peaceful assembly of representers of another religion - or the peaceful assembly of ANY KIND.
It's not ok to exercise your religion in a way that it limits others opportunities to exercise their religion - or choice of no religion.
It's not ok to speak against any opinion or religion as long as it is expressed peacefully and legally.

In this case the park was lawfully separated from public space to form a specific feast area for celebration of certain specific forms of religion. Entering the area with any other attitude except respect towards Paganism was thus equal to entering a church, mosque or synagogue with any other attitude than respect towards Xianity, Islam or Judaism respectively. I can't understand how anyone can even consider anything else.

The same way speaking for limiting another person's rights because one doesn't approve his skin color; ethnic, cultural or religious inheritage or identity; political opinion; sexual orientation; gender etc. etc. is not protected by any laws guaranteeing freedom of speech.

You may NOT use your rights to try to limit someone else's rights!

Birth control, abortion...

"Last night, I had dinner with my six youngest children at a restaurant (ages 6 to 22). It had been a long time since we were all at one table. I loved every minute of reminiscing and laughter. Midway though the meal I realized and announced, “If I practiced birth control, I would be the only one at this table right now!”"

Her six youngest? How many kids does she have?

I got offended...
I am against abortion, but I am for abortion as an option. It's not my job, place or business to decide whether other people go through their pregnancies or not.
But birth control? That's the best thing ever invented! Of course, there's a lot of promiscuity as consequence, but millions of women have been saved thanks to birth control, and that's more valuable than some forced moral problems. Sex is a lovely thing, and every adult should be able to enjoy it without fearing the society's condemnation or other unwanted consequences. Pregnancy related deaths are a big problem in the world today, and was even bigger before the invention of birth control. Also, condoms protect you from STDs. (Which any existing or non-existing foreskin or hymen doesn't do...)

This woman is happy for her 11 children - I would be too - but she is privileged. So am I.

My husband loves me and would love all our children - so does her husband. There are millions of women out there whose husbands - or fathers of their children - do not love them.

I am well educated, can read and write, can speak several languages and live in a country where freedom of opinion, speech, religion etc. is self-evident benefit. I am fairly intelligent, and would be able to homeschool my children. So is she. Millions of women are not educated at all, can't read or write, can speak only their mothertongue and don't enjoy the freedom of speech - they wouldn't even get a hearing at home.

I am an emancipated woman, living in a society, where my worth is not necessarily bound to my gender. The whole world is open for me, I can become what ever I want. So does she. There's millions of women whose worth is to breed and take care of the household. They are forced to breed from the day they are able to, often force-married to someone lot older than they, raped, beaten to submission...

The Western women's life was very much like that only 100 years ago - before the invention and availability of birth control.

The main thing is that I have a choice.
I can CHOOSE to use birth control.
I can CHOOSE to abort a pregnancy that is going to kill me.
I can CHOOSE to have sex.
I can CHOOSE to stay home and take care of it and my children.
This CHOICE is what women all over the world NEED.

Another thing, "I have experienced the deepest hurt when our adult children have not understand my spiritual beliefs or convictions."

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

-- Kahlil Gibran

My children are not MINE. It's their life, their choices, even when it comes to things important to me. Of course I'd want all my children to follow the same path I do, but it's not my decision - it's not their decision either, I believe. They were born on the path, and I - or anyone else - have no right to try to seduce them from that path! So I have no reason, no justification, no sense in getting hurt when they disagree with me.