Amulet reading

I received an amulet reading from Nancy Thompson from Writings of a Pagan Witch (http://writingsofapaganwitch.wordpress.com/) and Kolnza Reiki.

I haven't seen the Amulets of the Goddess earlier, and I find them fascinating, so when I noticed that Nan offers readings, I took the opportunity. She is a lovely person, easy to work with, kind and... well... effective is not really the right word, but that's the closest I have at the moment :-)

I love divination and readings... they make you think.

I like Nan's soft hand on interpretation :-)

She used the Council of Elders layout, and the Goddesses that came to answer my question - as I see it - were:

The Three Muses.

"...only three Muses:
one who is born from the movement of water,
another who makes sound by striking the air,
and a third who is embodied only in the human voice.
They were Melete or Practice (Occasion)
Mneme or Memory and
Aoide or Song (voice)."

Melete means Ponder, Contemplate...

"Mneme (“memory”): Relation: interaction is impressionable and remains in memory.
Aoide (“voice” or “song”): Communication: ability to transfer information or your message from one entity to another .
Melete (“practice” or “meditation”): Presentation: how you practice your message will be how you present and convey it."

Venus of Laussel

"I have time enough, courage enough, and love enough to take care of myself. I listen to the wisdom of my body and my own Moon cycles"


Nanshe

Nanshe is the Goddess of Social Justice... Maat and Athena, the Goddess of Amazons...

"The labrys is also a a symbol of regeneration and transformation."

Nut

 "Be careful what you wish for, because it might just come true."

"Your heartfelt desires, good omens, optimism, paradise"

It's a lot of water and night sky... and arts

Gorgon

"Transforming Anger and Reclaiming Power"


"The Gorgon represents the Crone aspect of the Triple Moon Goddess. She is the serpent Goddess of the Libyan Amazons, often called the dragon of darkness, symbolising raw female power."
- Nany Blair

"Typical Etruscan chariot decoration was a `Gorgon' flanked by lions; which are clearly based on the Çatalhöyük "Goddess' in her Warrior form. (the other two forms were `Mother' and `Maiden')."
- Ray Dickenson

"know within yourself what you want, what barriers might exist, and what possibilities you are hoping to see."

Interesting thing is that the colors associated with these amulets are: silver/white; red, crimson, purple, deep purple, midnight blue and black...

#7 Fun and Frugal Family Tradition for Spring Equinox

I read "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers" as a child (I think I was 10 or so) and I was charmed by the descriptions of Catholic Easter traditions in Austria back in 30's... I created my own tradition that year.

In Finland we have a habit of taking in twigs a couple of weeks before Easter so that they would bring out green leaves for the Holiday. In Finland the only spring flowers around are pussywillows... it's usually still full winter. These twigs are then decorated with feathers and paper chains and tassels.
It is another tradition in Finland that the children are dressed as witches and they visit the neighborhood homes with these twigs, and switch the people with these twigs, and then leave the twig to the family. This is old Finno-Ugric magic - decorated twigs were lashed (or waved... magic wand, anyone? :-D) to whip off the evil spirits, and this switching is done for health and luck. (It's practically just touching the people with the twig, not whipping.) Then the children visit the households again on Easter Saturday to collect their reward, which is usually candy, and especially chocolate eggs with surprises.

So - I have Asperger's so I wasn't going to visit anyone if I could avoid it. I decorated the twigs, and then on Palm Sunday I took my decorated twigs and walked around my parents farm and blessed every field and grove by crossing the air to the four compass points and then tying the twig to a tree or pole in the middle of the area.

Now, if you don't have a farm - and don't wish to do this in your town - just take a walk around the town and especially the parks and forests and fields around it, and see how the spring has sprung.

You could take with you a small offering, as small as you wish, seed bombs or nuts and seeds for birds if nothing else.

Bring in things to create a Nature Table with

Don't forget to take photos.

#6 Fun and Frugal Family Tradition for Spring Equinox

Make ornaments and decorations together.

Most people love to create things with their hands, and there are tons of ideas for crafting with children, that are quite suitable even for adults who are not too used to make things with their hands.
Engage the whole family and friends.

Have one of the crowd read season appropriate books out loud for the rest of the group and arrange some nice things to be eaten, in the spirit of Swedish Glögg party or Super Bowl Night... (Yes, you could make eggnog. It's good for Ostara too. Or carrot juice ;-))

#5 Fun and Frugal Family Tradition for Spring Equinox

Make holiday goodies together, the whole family.

Make candy. Bake cookies and cakes and other things to be frozen. Bake casseroles and other such things to feed the crowd. Do it together with the kids, let them be part of the preparations, make them your sous-chefs. It teaches them how to cook, it gives you together-time and food need to be prepared in any case, so why not make it in good time beforehand and together - why not make it a great family tradition?

My father is great in the kitchen, so is my brother, my husband, my brothers-in-law... there is absolutely no reason why men should be excluded from this tradition. Besides, boys need to learn to feed themselves too. A man in a kitchen is not less manly... on the contrary. One of the things my husband wooed me was to make me spaghetti carbonara in the middle of the night... the way to a woman's heart goes through her stomach too :-D

Also, you can share your plenty with your friends, family, neighbors and the shareless in your community. It doesn't take much more effort to double the batches and give away half of everything.

#4 Fun and Frugal Family Tradition for Spring Equinox

I like making cards and I love getting cards.

It doesn't need to get expensive, as you can use the scrap post as "fancy paper" for your cards. Also, your kids' art - and your own - is absolutely adequate as card decoration. It's at least better than sending some store-bought picture-perfect and soulless cards.

Monica Dunkley's children's artwork :-) I love these :-)

Again, there are tons of ideas for card making on-line.

The postal fees might be horrifying, but you could take a day off and deliver the cards yourself with the kids, as a holiday tradition.

#3 Fun and Frugal Family Tradition for Spring Equinox

bunny kisses countdown calender

One of the big things about Christmas in my childhood was the advent calendars. We used to compare the "gifts" at school, and I was very envious to those who had the tiny plastic toy calendar...
Use the dozens of Christmas countdown calendar/activity lists as inspiration and decorate it to suit the Holiday. For Ostara you would make it in pastels or yellows and greens and decorate with eggs, chicks, baby lambs and bunnies, and early spring flowers, or what ever you associate with Spring Equinox.

I think the lists of stocking stuffers are excellent to help you fill the boxes or pouches, if you go for a gift calendar, but remember that children are not greedy, and would accept something as simple as a candy or nice picture.

You can create your own collector trading cards... for example with deities. There's plenty of resources on-line to help you do this. (I really like the idea of pentagon cards... more witchy, I think :-D)

You could even create your own trading card game, so the kids can play it during the holiday to stay out of harm's way...

The point with this is to help the children to endure the long wait for the holiday and make it more exciting and special. Human beings are made that way - if we make a "big deal" of the waiting time, the event that is being waited for gets bigger too... but use the opportunity to share your beliefs with your family, make the countdown about why you celebrate Spring Equinox. So - why do you celebrate it? What is the meaning of this holiday for you? What is the message of Eostre to you and your family?

#2 Fun and Frugal Family Tradition for Spring Equinox

I love Edain McCoy's Sabbaths, especially because of the correspondences lists in the back of the book... but - the correspondences are pretty weird, when looking at them more closely. "Mythical creatures of Ostara: unicorns, merpeople, dragons, pegasos..." What? Why?

To me unicorns are connected to Beltane, together with the White Deer and goats, especially considering the sexual connotations. (Only a virgin can capture the unicorn, which lays his horn on her lap...)

Merpeople... I don't think about sea when I think of Ostara. To me merpeople are connected to Midsummer and beach. Well... perhaps Beltane...

Dragons, just like other firey mythical beasts, are connected to Imbolc.

Pegasos... Epona, the horse goddess, had two main celebrations; June 13th (old Midsummer) and December 18th (close enough to Midwinter), and I have to say both days suit better to associate with all equines than Ostara. Midsummer for "wild" horses, Midwinter for riders and hunters.

So - what is left? Easter bunny?
No, serpents. Not dragons but worms... also knows as wyrms and wurms - the wingless, not fire breathing giant serpents.

What has this to do with anything?

Elf on the Shelf... It's not an old tradition, but I like it. Copy the construction and sew yourself a bendable doll with a little velcro on hands/paws, and start hiding the little doll around the household, like it was Elf on the Shelf. For Ostara you can make a bird or a bunny that reports to Easter Bunny, and have a surprise egg for the child who finds the little mischievous rascal.

Use the endless list of Elf-on-the-Shelf ideas on-line or harmless, kind and nice pranks and practical jokes, like putting some nailpolish on soap, as inspiration of what your shelf-sitter doll could do.

Now... perhaps it's a bit much to have 8 pranksters visiting your home every year, but... I kind of like it :-D

#1 Fun and Frugal Family Tradition for Spring Equinox

I always loved the family acting sessions from Little Women... That is something the whole family can do together and the props are easily made of old bedsheets and paper. Preparing the play includes a lot of practical education options. It is also a great way of introducing your faith's stories to your children.

You can also create a display, scene or diorama to illustrate the story. I love the Neapolitan presepios with dozens, sometimes hundreds of elaborate dolls... As you collect these dolls year by year, it becomes a wonderful holiday tradition.

The best known stories for Spring Equinox are the meeting of Persephone and Demeter and Cybele and Attis. There is also one about Freya and Idun from the Norse tradition. Nothing much is known of Eostre, the Goddess that gave name to Ostara. The arena is thus pretty much free for you to create your own legend which to illustrate. You can also create a diorama in which all of these stories and others you like are being illustrated.

13 ways of creating fun and frugal family traditions for Spring Equinox.

(If you wish to pin this to Pinterest, my pin is here...)

Holiday traditions are wonderful. In my family there were some traditions for Christmas, a couple more for Easter and Mayday, something for Midsummer and nothing much for the rest of the year. We didn't celebrate All Hallows' Eve, Pentecost or any other of the Christian holidays.
When I grew up I found myself fascinated by the equinoxes and solstices. There's something matemathical about these things... it makes the Creation to a giant clock, and I have always marked these days in some manner. Then when I realized I am a Pagan, I found the days in between these quarter days... All Hallows', Candelmass, Mayday and Loafmass... To my big surprise the Autumn feasts are not being celebrated... There is no harvest feast in Finland. There used to be Michaelmass, but that's for Autumn Equinox, but nothing for Loafmass...

About a decade ago I noticed that while Christmas is made into a BIGGIE on the internet, the rest of the Pagan sabbaths are virtually ignored. Sure, Beltane and Samhain are big, but... it's like participating in an event within the Pagan community is enough. There are no Lughnasadh-mad people out there trying to promote the ideals of for example Lughnasadh to the whole world.

So - my dream is to reach a world where every Pagan holiday is celebrated a month before the day and during 12 days. Just like Christmas.

Now, I have been a "bad" girl, and let things go without doing much about it. I have been collecting information and writing my books on Pagan sabbaths for the last 15 years, and it doesn't show in my home. If I cannot change myself, how could I even think of changing someone else, and not to talk about the whole Pagan community! No, I have to be the change I want to see, Gandhi was correct in that. I have to step up to my expectations and create a "holiday all year long" home.

Most of the holiday traditions are new, not even 100 years old. People create their own traditions by combining how things were done when they were children, how they wished things were when they were children and what is practical and suitable in their lives at the moment.
You don't need to have a family history of generations behind the tradition and you don't need to stay by the traditions of your own religion. After all, Christians never did, and see how well it went for them...

So - 13 ways of creating fun and frugal family traditions for Spring Equinox.

I will be posting more about each of these later, but here's the "master list" ;-)

#1

Re-enacting the Spring Equinox stories by acting or creating a diorama

#2

"Elf on the Shelf"

#3

Countdown calendars.

#4

Make greeting cards together

#5

Prepare the holiday goodies with the family.

#6

Make ornaments and decorations together.

#7

Take a walk in the nature

#8

Sing together 

#9

Play holiday themed games.

#10

Make the Easter tree the centerpiece of your home during the season.

#11

"Ostara daily" scrapbook

#12

Pick one of the silly, odd, unusual holidays celebrated during the time of the countdown and make it a tradition.

#13

Scavenger hunts, egg hunts and treasure hunts.

F is for...

F is for... by ketutar

I just remembered that I am participating in "26 theme alphabet challenge" at Polyvore, where I am to make a set featuring my favorite things beginning with a letter from the alphabet.

Some of my favorite things beginning with the letter F: Finland, fantasy, family, familiars, felines, foxes, of course (Ketutar means Lady Fox, Fox woman, Vixen) fragrance, full moon, fire, fun, Frey, fairies, fairytales, folklore, flying, fascination...

I love the word "fascinating".
I just learned from the Pagan Blog Party newsletter that "Fascination is the practice of controlling another's mind psychically. Can be considered very manipulative and by some traditions a breaking of the Rede, especially when used to frivolously control people."
Didn't know that before. Fascinating! :-) All things one learns as one lives :-D

I also love words like fragrance, frankincense and frangipane...

FRANKINCENSE: (Boswellia carteri)
A small tree or shrub, with pinnate leaves, and white or pale pink flowers. It yields a natural oleo-resin gum, which is used to make a healing incense, which induces a meditative state. Frankincense essential oil is also useful in promoting spirituality and meditative states.
Pliny claimed that Frankincense was an antidote to hemlock poisoning.
Avicenna advocated its use for tumors, fevers, vomiting, and dysentary.
Chinese herbalists use it in powder form and in teas for rheumatism and menstrual pain, and externally as a wash for sores and bruises. The dose is three to six grains in a glass of wine; or twenty drops of the tincture.
Frankincense is highly antiseptic and the scent is said to calm and clear the mind.

Caution: Prolonged use of resins can damage the kidneys.

Parts Used: Resin

Magical Uses: Sacred to the Sun God Ra, frankincense is burned in rites of exorcism, purification, and protection. It is said to accelerate spiritual growth. Rosemary may be used as a substitute.
(Oil)Anoint tools, sachets or the body. Use for spirituality, exorcism, purification, luck and protection rites.
(Resin)burn for protection, exorcism, spirituality, love, consecration, blessing, energy, strength, visions, healing, meditation, power and courage.

Aromatherapy Uses:
(Oil) Blemishes; Dry and Mature Complexions; Scars; Wounds; Wrinkles; Asthma; Bronchitis; Colds; Coughs; Flu; Laryngitis; Cystitis; Anxiety; Nervous Tension; Stress-related Conditions. Dilute before applying to the skin as it may be irritating.
Frankincense has the ability to slow down, and deepen the breath - very conducive to prayer and meditation.

From Joelle's Sacred Grove

They were also talking about flying ointments. As far as I know the "flying" is being high, having hallucinations, out of body experiences etc.

PLEASE, FOLLOW THE LINK FOR MORE INFORMATION OF THE SUBJECT!

I find everything I linked to fascinating ;-) and informative, very good read.

More about Ego-hard Tolle

"Negative states of mind, such as anger, resentment, fear, envy, and jealousy, are products of the ego."
- Eckhart Tolle

Oh, dear... So when ever you are having these quite normal and acceptable feelings, you are supposed to feel bad and try to get rid of them, because that's your "EGO" speaking. Don't try to understand why you have these feelings, suppress them, banish them, hide them, ignore them, and wonder why you are getting more and more depressed...

I was watching Oprah show one day and there was someone talking about functional way of expressing feelings and what happens if you don't.

I copied this:

Anger becomes blame becomes resentment becomes hate
Sadness becomes depression becomes hopelessness becomes indifference.
Fear becomes anxiety becomes doubt becomes jealousy
Sorrow becomes guilt becomes self-pity becomes unworthiness.
(I have added later Shame becomes bitterness becomes vengefulness becomes martyrdom - not so very well thought through, but it works well enough.)

personal success is happiness; when you're feeling happy, confident, you're trusting your life and that your life is falling away as it is supposed to be. You're feeling content and at peace, you're grateful.

Understanding, gratitude, forgiveness, trust, love, confidence.

"The Secret" states that these so called "positive" and "negative" feelings are signs from the Highest to show us the way - like traffic lights.
If I want to do something, if thinking of something makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, if I feel joy and happiness, the light is green.
If I don't want to do something, if thinking of it makes me feel anxious, angry, resentful, it's red light.

I can believe that.

"Simple Abundance" is based upon six simple and yet profound principles: Gratitude, Simplicity, Order, Beauty, Harmony and Joy.

I know that is true.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
- Galatians 5: 22-23

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
- Philippians 4:8

Response to A Fundamentalist Christian

I could be deleting a lot of what you post, "A Fundamentalist Christian", because you are repeating yourself and what you post is not relevant to the discussion. But I will respond anyway.

#10
You have misunderstood the point. The point being that you are supposed to realize that when a person believes in something - how ever stupid, wrong, mislead, unwise, what ever YOU personally think the belief is - the person believes the same way you do, with the same sincerity, purity, strength, hope, love and everything else you put in your belief.
To an Atheist you are just as wrong as all non-Christians are to you.
To a non-Christian your beliefs are just as wrong, false, "demonic", bad, evil, self-serving and anything else you call every non-Christian's beliefs.
You don't need to agree with other people's beliefs, but you really need to understand that there is no difference in the act of believing.
So - when ever you find it necessary to start bashing another person because he/she doesn't believe in the same things you do, remember that there are a lot of people who don't believe in the same things you do, and if you don't like when people are bashing your God, faith, dogma and beliefs, don't bash another person's God, faith, dogma and beliefs, how ever [fill the blank with an appropriate adjective] they seem to you.
Get it?

That you believe to be right and everyone else to be wrong is not an excuse.
That you think you are "simply pointing out the truth" and having all the good intentions, is not an excuse.

"And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."

And don't try to excuse your bad behavior by saying "you'd like people to tell you that you are worshiping a false god and that you'll go to hell if you don't change your wicked ways".
That's not what you are doing.

You are telling a person that the God he/she believes in doesn't really exist and that following the teachings of his/her parents, teachers, spiritual leaders, living by his/her Holy Scripture, is going to take him/her to hell... Nothing different from what Atheists are doing to Christians, and what is called "Christian bashing" by most of the Christians who are subjected to this, that causes a lot of tears and hurt feelings (if not outrage) to many people, and considered "persecution" by many Christians.

#9
"you have it wrong when it comes to how we feel"
Might be that YOU personally don't feel that way, but many Christians say they feel "insulted and dehumanized". You can speak for all Christians just as little as anyone else.
Nevertheless, that's not the point with this point either. The point here being that to many Christians, pointing out an ape and saying "we share the ancestors" is an offensive and "dehumanizing" idea, while pointing at the ground and saying "that's the stuff we are made of" is not. Being a human animal is "dehumanizing", being a bag of dirt is not.

"The theories of evolution stem from a denial that there is a Creator who has the power to speak and create something from nothing."

No, they don't.

You believe God took some dirt, formed the human being of it as a clay doll and then blew his breath in him to make him a living being. You believe it took him a work day to do this.
Nevertheless, that's not what the Bible says.

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness... ...So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."


"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

It doesn't say one word about HOW God formed man of the dust.

"God have mercy on your soul - you will have to answer to him, not to us."

So leave it to God to deal with us, ok? I have no problems with answering to God.

#8
Oh, you are polytheists. Ask a monotheist, and he'll agree with me, ask a polytheist, and he'll agree with me too. It's only you who are delusional about this.
If your God can be separated into three distinctly different entities, you have three gods.

#7
What you say about #7 is what the Muslims say when Christians use Quran quotes to explain how violent and horrible religion Islam is. If the Christians disregard that, the Atheists can disregard what ever the Christians say when trying to explain and excuse the Christian God's atrocities.
BTW, the Pharaoh wasn't disobeying God. "And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh..."

#6

"What makes you think that the Holy Spirit would need a physical encounter with Mary anything like men need for procreation?"

And what makes you think it did NOT happen? Is there anything in the Bible to prove it did NOT happen the way the Greek Gods have always created their offspring?

Again, you don't understand the statement properly.

You think all the non-Christian myths of the world are "false" (again, use which ever adjective you prefer, as you have a habit of nitpicking >:->) but the Christian myth, which is in all practicality just the same, is "true" - based on that it's the myth of YOUR religion.

Why would God need a man-god to be killed when God is omnipotent and could just as easily forgive our petty sins, being that we indeed are God's children and do stupid things of stupid reasons - like all children - and our lives are just dust in the wind, here today, gone tomorrow... we are like mosquitos.
Now, what makes you think anything a mosquito does would be reason enough for you to sacrifice your only son just to save the souls of all mosquitos in the world?
And WHAT are these mosquitos - or humans - supposed to be saved from? GOD'S JUDGMENT!
I mean... you kill your son so that you wouldn't need to kill a mosquito... don't you think it's a tad overreacting? Considering that the mosquitos just don't give a dime. They'll just keep doing what they have always done. Yeah, sure, SOME of them realize you killed your own son so that you wouldn't need to kill the mosquitos, but most of them too just keep doing what mosquitos have always done.

Oh, well... I'm sure it makes all the sense to you. Not that it would mean enough to you so that you would actually do what your God told you to do...

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
- Galatians 5: 22-23

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
- Philippians 4:8

Do you really think yapping with non-Christians is expressing any of this? Really? Because it's not. But - keep fooling yourself. God have mercy on your soul - you will have to answer to God... and as a Christian you should know better. Indeed... God have mercy on your soul.

#5
Again, not answering the statement. Sure, this list is not written in the best English and it has a lot to pick on, if one wants to. Why would you? It's not especially loving and forgiving, is it :-D

This statement is not about creation but the age of the Earth. To you these two questions might be the same, but they really are not.

As far as I know there really isn't any scientific evidence to support the theory of creation. I know to you hearsay, subjective interpretations of what is happening, personal myths and conclusions based on these things are "evidence", but they really aren't.

"Proving anything historic is impossible because we weren't there at the time" is one of the stupidest statements I've ever heard. :-D

No-one said anything about looking for holes in science, even though you do that by questioning the scientific methods and facts simply because they don't fit YOUR UNDERSTANDING of what YOU consider being "God's Word" and intentionally misunderstanding words, like "theory".

#4
So this one is a true statement. You do believe what is said you believe in #4. The point is that you really don't see the contradiction in a "loving" God who created a system where people unable not to sin will go to hell for sinning, unless they jump through hoops that were totally unnecessary to begin with, as NOTHING WE CAN DO could possibly be considered as unforgivable sin for a tolerant God...

I believe in God who IS loving and tolerant. I believe in God who is capable of loving me more than I could ever love anyone, my husband and children and family, friends and pets included. I believe in God who is loving me more than my dog does. And the mere idea of the love of my dog and the love of my husband makes me cry of gratefulness, the idea of God's love strucks me speechless by awe... My God wants to keep me with Her because my God loves me.
My God is more tolerant than the most loving and tolerant mother. Of course children will have to learn "the hard way", touch the stove to know it's hot and hurts, so that they won't touch it again. But where your God forces his children to sit on the stove unless they apologize for touching it, my God cools the ouch down with ice and puts aloe vera and honey on it, and kisses it to make it feel better, and does this time and time again, because I'm too stupid to realize that hot things are hot and it hurts to touch them.

"rival sects" are all the Christian denominations - even those that don't call themselves Christian - some Christian people consider "heretic". Most fundamentalist Christians in USA don't acknowledge Catholics as Christians, Mormons as Christians, this denomination or that as Christian - and I find it difficult to believe that you are really that clueless that you are not aware of this fact, so I assume that you are just pretending to be clueless so that you can avoid talking about the issue and in stead talk about irrelevant things.

#3
You know very well this is "copied and pasted from some other source".

The God of Islam is the same as the God of Christianity is the same as the God of Judaism. These three religions and their derivates are called Abrahamic. Anyone who says anything different is lying, in spite of anything that might seem as evidence of the opposite.

Your description of your reason to believe in God the way you do IS THE EXACT SAME REASON EVERY PERSON ON THIS PLANET HAS, TO BELIEVE IN GOD(S) THE WAY THEY DO. You should read your Lewis better. Perhaps you could really get on with "preaching the Gospel and serving and worshiping God" because hatred and despise is not part of that.

"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:
and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council:
but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."

Besides, the point with #3 is that you don't give a crap about verifyiable facts if they contradict your personal, subjective interpretation.

#2
means that you will interprete the world and what happens in it according to your beliefs in spite of all the evidence of the opposite. For example, you believe prayers "work", and the reason to why they don't really work is that "God won't give us what we want, but what we need" or some other such cliché.
Your explanation to why prayer doesn't "work" is that "we are not here to get our prayers answered..."

"I don't know where your statement came from, but it sounds like a bunch of impatient, whining, selfish, lazy "Christians," to me. It is not the Word of God."
No-one has claimed it is... but on the other hand. Prove it's not. Prove this person is not God. I bet you can't. And it doesn't matter at all.
"It's not the Word of God" is your typical bunch of "impatient, whining, selfish, lazy Christian" answer to everything you don't know how to deal with, to me.

These statements are not written by a Muslim - as we all know - but an Atheist. They are not questions, they are statements. They are called "signs of a fundamentalist Christian". So we have to look at the statements from that point of view. In science there are success rates expected for an empirical experiment to be considered successful, and these are much higher than 0.01%... In fact, astrology is more empirically successful scientific theory than prayer :-D

So - you don't give a crap about verifyiable facts or scientific method if these contradict your personal, subjective interpretation and understanding.

#1
Again, YOU might know the Bible "very well", but don't talk about "we". 9/10 people defining themselves as Christians haven't even read the Bible. Their "knowledge" of the Bible is mostly hearsay. Their interpretation of the text they believe to be God's Word is also given to them by someone else, as they are not supposed to "question" God's Word.
Most of this is created by people who have no understanding of Judaism; the times and habits of when the Bible was written; who wrote it; why it was written; why some parts were disgarded and why others were included; how much of the text has been lost or twisted in translation etc. etc. (with other words; "Christianity, the Bible, Theology and Church history")
(No, you don't need to be a theologian and church historian, but then don't pretend you have the knowledge by opposing people who do.)

Most of these Christians also hang on the traditional understanding of the words and passages in stead of the most probable and logical, even when the traditional understanding is very confusing, misleading and contradictory. (With "traditional" I mean the one person received from "the elders"; their parents, pastors and other authorities within the spiritual community one is a member of.)

There's nothing wrong or bad in this, it's basic and common human psychology. What's wrong is that one refuses to acknowledge the truth in this and vehemently denies one's personal understanding of things to be just that - one's personal and highly subjective understanding and interpretation.
Even if the Bible were God's Word, a man's understanding of it is not. Your priest's (or what ever name you use of the person; reverend, pastor, preacher...) interpretation is not God's Word.

The truth is that when these Christians start thumping people on heads with the Bible, they do it with less knowledge and understanding of what REALLY is in that book than the people they thump...

You are much more hateful and angry than any of the Muslims I've met and spoken with. You speak about "compassion for a lost and dying world", but show none. You say you love Jesus and God's Word, but you don't live by it. You SAY you do, but you don't actually DO.
Save yourself. Repent and change your wicked ways. Turn the hatred to love, and love, truly love your enemies, like you love yourself, your loved ones, your family, your children, your friends and neighbors. Show the world the truth with your living and your actions, not with your words, because your words are full of lies and deceit.

"But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatever is more than these comes of evil."

"That you resist not evil: but whoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue you at the law, and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. And whoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him two. Give to him that asks you, and from him that would borrow of you turn not you away."

"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you; That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? do not even the publicans the same? And if you salute your brothers only, what do you more than others? do not even the publicans so?"

"Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation."

Ego Babble

As part of the Pagan Blog Project 2012 a lot of people chose to write about ego...
Hagstone: E is for Elitism, Ego and the Eclectic
Lore Catharses: Ego
Discovering Autumn: E is for Ego within the Pagan and Wiccan community.
Walk Softly Witch: E is for Ego
My Witchy Diary: Confessions of a Confuzzled Witch: Ego… What Will Last?

Faerie Daughter touches it in "I Read an Ekhart Tolle Book"
(P.S. I have started to read it... Here's what I think of it so far...)

I don't like the "ego talk". It's like chakras or other concepts people in the New Age community love to talk about.

I find it amusing that it's always someone else who's suffering of ego :-)

I might have a strong sense of self. After all, that is all I know. I am me.
I cannot know how other people are feeling or thinking, not even if they tell me, because everyone lies and everybody is full of crap and know nothing (me included.)

(I have lost the "I'm full of it and know nothing" reference. It was posted in Gaia community 2009 or 2010, and that community doesn't exist anymore. But it went something like this:
Someone told a story about a shaman who taught him the secret of wisdom.
"Step one: admit, understand and acknowledge, that you are full of shit and know nothing.
Step two: When ever you think you know something, go back to step one."

I mean - that's the correct picture of every human being - even people considered "highly evolved" by the Pagan community. There are things no-one knows about us. No-one knows how we would react in an unknown situation. We know how we would LIKE to react, we know how we HAVE reacted when in similar situation, but as we all grow all the time, none of us is the same person today as we were yesterday, and tomorrow we'll be yet another person...  Anyway...

As I am the only person I can change, as I am the only person I can have at least an idea of why I do things etc. I shouldn't care about other people and their possible "ego".

The New Age Spiritual community - in which I count Neopagans - seem to think ego is some sort of evil spirit that possesses people to be egocentric and egoistic. It's something other people have problems with. It's something other people should deal with so that there wouldn't be as many problems in the community.

The thing is that WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE "EGOCENTRIC".

*I* am the only person I can change.
*I* am the only person I can influence.
*I* am personally responsible for my thoughts, ideas, attitudes, reactions - even feelings, though my husband would oppose to that sentiment.

As far as I know this entire world exists only in my head. As far as I know it is created for me. As far as I know it is created by me...

Now, I don't believe that. I believe in the material world created by Creatrix, and I am part of that creation. I believe we are here together, all the "egos", created by Creatrix, all Goddess' children... and She loves us all... even more so because we are not copies of each other. Because we are "egos" - all unique, all having our own distinct persona, all with our own specific virtues and vices, with our own individual experiences and insights...

Individual, unique, special "egos"... 

I have been collecting quotes and sayings and such that speak to me at Pinterest. Most of them are about this fact; that *I* indeed am an "individual existence" - "ego" as New Age Spirituality defines it.

*I* am responsible for my choices.
*I* am responsible for my own happiness.
*I* am responsible for my own life.
And so on and so forth.

I believe we have been put on this earth, this highly material, existing world, this amazing, beautiful, wonderful, lovely earth, to be "egos", because that is the only way to learn... and we need to learn. What it is like to have a body. What it is like to sense. What is this very material, sensual, existing, egoistic pleasure and joy we can only experience through an earthly, material body...

Angels don't know what it is. Spirits don't know what it is. We do...

It must mean something, it must be important.

According to Finnish shamanism "ego" - "self" - is self-esteem, self-image and consciousness. If one loses it, one gets depressed, sad, anxious and unhappy. One can be isolated from one's "ego". That happens to people who are being bullied, tortured, forced to live in fear, ignored, abused, used, exploited, etc. etc. PTSD is another name of being separated from one's "ego". As far as I can see it, this is the worst sickness of the modern world. We have lost ourselves... we have lost our "ego".

I have a challenge to all who speak of "ego" as if it was something bad.

Stop using names. There is no Dalai Lama. There is no Eckhart Tolle, no Deepak Chopra. Think of the person you think is most spiritually awake and evolved and wise, and know he/she doesn't exist.
You don't exist.

Remove all the (c) marks from your blogs and photos and writings. Denounce all income from books and speeches/lectures. Live by copyleft.
Remove your profile from your blog. Actually, don't have a profile on the internet. Don't have a blog, don't have a facebook account, don't have an account on any internet forum. There is nothing that would need a profile. You don't need to comment anything, because you don't have an opinion. You have nothing to teach to anyone, you have nothing to say to anyone, because you don't exist, and neither does anyone.

Besides, we are all full of shit and know nothing, and at the same time know everything we need to know, deep inside ourselves, where the One dwells...

There is no anyone, someone, everyone... all those words are based on the idea of individual ego-self. There is only One, and that's not you, nor me, not he or she.
Don't use the words "I", "you", "he", "she" or "they". There's only "we".

Actually, denounce all income. You don't exist, so there's no need to be rewarded for what this "you" does. It's all an illusion.
You don't need money either. There's nothing you'd need to buy.
You don't need to sleep, you don't need to eat, you don't need clothes, you don't need anything. You don't exist.
Ignore the hunger. It's just your ego trying to survive.
Ignore the cold and warm, ignore uncomfort of any kind. It's just your ego trying to survive.
Ignore pain. It is just your individual, earthly body trying to get your attention, your ego trying to survive. It doesn't really exist.

Go sit by under the tree and watch the river flow and lose your ego... Nothing matters because nothings exists... except One and that will always be.

Thoughts about Easter Bunny

"The Easter Bunny doesn’t come to our house. There are a few reasons why my husband and I have chosen not to “do” the Easter Bunny, The Easter Bunny, Santa, Tooth Fairy, etc. are all characters that families tell their children to believe in. They can’t see these characters, the kids learn about them from what their parent’s tell them and one day they find out that it was all a myth.

And then there is God; the kids can’t see Him, they learn about Him primarily from their parents and a naive mind could then think that God is mythical as well. I don’t want my children to grow up wondering if we are going to pull the “God” rug out from under them like we did the Easter Bunny. I think there is great potential for confusion."

- Katie

God IS mythical. Not in the "imaginary", "fictitious" or "based on false collective belief", but as part of the story that is so old it cannot be proven to be true or false.

Easter bunny is not mythical. Easter bunny is pure imagination. Invented fairytale character, imaginary creature. To play Easterbunny with your kids is as safe as reading them fairytales - or any fictional stories - allowing them to watch children's movies or participate in any action where imaginary characters are involved.

Now, I don't believe in Santa in that I'd believe any person pretending to be Santa is anything but a person pretending to be Santa. But I believe in Santa as a personification of the well-will, generosity and kindness that infuses December. I have always thought of him as a sort of special angel. Put in place by Goddess to remind people to be kind at the heart of winter and take care of those with less. I see Santa as sort of facade for the anonymous good-doers.

I have also never thought of God and Santa as similar concepts. God is the Creatrix of everything, omnipresent and very real in that She speaks to me all the time. Santa is more of a storybook character that we make believe. I don't make believe God. I KNOW God is. I feel Her presence in my life all the time. 

Easterbunny is a symbol of childish joy. The gifts of Easterbunny are silly and funny, Easterbunny makes grown-ups play. If you look at the other feasts around 20th of March, you'll have St.Patrick's with leprechauns and you'll have April's Fools... There's the Annunciation, which in Swedish is "Vår Fru Dag" (The Day of Our Lady) which has turned in the folk mouth to "våffeldag" (Waffleday). There's the Crane Day, that reminds a bit of St Nicholas Day in Holland - the Crane leaves presents in children's shoes and while doing so leaves sooty footprints all over the home... and the kids follow the footprints to find the gifts. Silly, funny, joyful celebrations.

I don't think it's a good idea to reduce the Easterbunny into a caricature built of lies. But, that's me. I believe in the wisdom of people, and as the Easterbunny has become a tradition, there must be something in it the human kind needs. I suppose it has something to do with what the farmanimals do the first day of green grass... I don't know what it's called in English, but everyone with cows or sheep knows that the first day the animals get out after long winter inside, they act like wild kids. :-D Grown up, serious and distinquished cow ladies jump and dance and frolick... It's absolutely lovely.

And I think it's the same mechanism with people too. There's something with spring that is relieving, soothing and makes us want to act as if we were sorrowless children again.

BTW, I don't get the photos of children sitting in Santa's or Easter bunny's lap... and how could any kid believe Easter bunny is real, when it is so not a bunny, but something big and scary and strange and... DANG! I'd scream! :-D

Three weeks to Ostara

Three weeks to Ostara... At this time before any holiday I start thinking "what if this was Yule?"

The home would be decorated and ready to welcome Yule on 5th of December.
I would have been burning the candle for first advent, and opening the surprises of the countdown calendar.
I would have planned all the baking, food, gifts and cards, what to wear and where to be...

I have been talking about this - the fact that all the other Pagan sabbaths, even Samhain and Beltane, are being overshadowed by Yule. Christmas is a big business and there's so much of it... I have been talking about this for several years now, and I'm ashamed of myself that I haven't done anything much to change this situation, in my own life at least. Last year was a good year, and I had a good plan... but somehow, somewhere my balloon was inflated, and there wasn't much Ostara to speak of.

I wish I knew how to compose good music. I wish I could make myself an Ostara playlist to get me in the holiday mood, like with Christmas. Songs of spring and sheep and chicks and bunnies frolicking around, girls like butterflies in flower dresses and pastel colored cardies, trying out their new summer shoes for the first time... Easter bonnets."Passion of Christ" really doesn't do it for me. I find it only depressing.

I am more "holistic" when it comes to holiday decorations. I want to decorate the whole home, from window treatments to mantelpieces and have special rugs and scents and flowers and... yeah. You get the idea. Last year I was planning on covering my cookbooks that stand on the counter with Ostara-y paper and making them removable plastic covers, so that I can change the paper by holiday :-D That's how sabbath-mad I am :-D

I didn't do anything, though. I haven't done anything this year either. I suppose I need to go to my sister's and paint the dang cookie tins as I planned :-D And then fill them. There's so many wonderful cookie recipes for Ostara! And you can't believe how amazing some people are at decorating cookies!!! 8-o

Like these by Ljuba Slatkova

Uh... go here: Ketutar's Ostara Board - to see more Ostara goodness :-)