gjstoryteller

I posted a "Happy Imbolc" here at R & S a few days ago. Asked how my fellow Pagans/Wiccans were celebrating the Sabbatt. All the answers were glorious to read but one stood out as a total surprise. This was the answer in question.

"Happy Imbolc to all who celebrate it!

Source(s):

Christian"

Is this not truly a wonder-full blessing? With all the religious discord in this world, all too often expressed here on R & S, a Christian answered and answered in such a positive and blessed way. So to "Em (BoC)" who posted this response, my thanks for your input, your understanding, and your openness to the plethora of religious and spiritual expression. I honestly wish more were like you.

Your thoughts?

I will be celebrating the Lady's Feast Day with beef! A cheese plate too, and lots of beer. You?

The first stirrings of Spring. You might not see it but it's happening just under foot.

Blessed Be!

Taking my cue from an R & S member who asked the same question but from a biblical standpoint, what artist or song is a favorite - and employs Pagan or Wiccan references?

Mine? The Tea Party.

Favorite Song? "Inanna"

Lyrics:

"over the skies and sea my love

over the sky and sea

riding the crest of winds

above bringing her back to me

into the starlit sea my love

into the moonlit sea

riding the crest of winds above

i'm begging you stay with me

would you walk ten miles with me my love

would you walk the skies with me

would you walk ten miles with me my love

inanna"

So, who is your favorite? 10 points given to the person who comes up with the most popular and publically well known artist - yet the average listener is unaware of what the lyrics really mean.

It says,

1. You shall have no other gods before me.

Three cheers for Pagans and Wiccans! Let's break out the champagne and toast to our victory! And just what do I mean by that?

Given that Christians firmly believe that the Bible is IT, the real and actual WORD OF GOD, then this commandment proves that the God of the Jews, Christians and Muslims has some rivals. You wouldn't command, "You shall have no other gods before me," if you were in fact the only one.

So let's dance around the Circle Fires and toast the Christians who have proven, without doubt, that our Pagan Gods and Goddesses are real! They must be otherwise why would that all powerful, one and only god of the Christians be so worried about "other gods" that he made it his first commandment?

Interesting question, right?

Your thoughts?

Check this out. Amazing stuff.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22188535/?GT1=10645

Which makes me ask, why do creationists continue to box themselves in with the premise that proof of god's existence is in those things that science cannot explain? That just tosses the guantlet to scientists so that they work harder to explain further. Truth is, science and spirituality are not mutually exclusive. Consequently, the more that believers try and justify their beliefs by saying "you find god in the dark, unknown places" the more they box themselves in when science finds a way of shinning light into those dark, unknown places.

It's time to accept the fact that evolution is real and exists. It's also time for believers to find a way to reconcile that fact.

Your thoughts?

As with "a murder of crows" or "a pride of lions," what is the term for a group of seals?

I've checked wikipedia, google, and I've come up with a big zero.

If anyone knows the correct term for a group of seals, I would be very appreciative.

Thanks in advance for your help!

In honor of this day, I just couldn't help injecting a little humor into the proceedings.

Not really a question but I thought you'd enjoy! Hit the link and see what I mean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQzk9Qo

As the argument continues to rage on this site over which religion is right and true, I thought I would share an astonishing video depicting the amazing capacity of the human spirit when faced with dire circumstances.

In my opinion, the women who saved these horses are most definitely Epona's Daughters. Would you agree?

Watch this video before you come to a conclusion.

http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=-4584913278...

Blessing to Everyone!

This traditional Navajo Prayer?

AS I WALK WITH BEAUTY

As I walk, as I walk

The universe is walking with me

In beauty it walks before me

In beauty it walks behind me

In beauty it walks below me

In beauty it walks above me

Beauty is on every side

As I walk, I walk with Beauty

I think this cuts straight to the point. Often simplicity goes right to the heart of a situation. In this case, right to the heart of where we should be as human spiritual beings.

Your thoughts?

I just read this and thought it important to share.

NATIVE AMERICAN TEN COMMANDMENTS:

1. Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect.

2. Remain close to the Great Spirit.

3. Show great respect for your fellow beings.

4. Work together for the benefit of all mankind.

5. Give assistance and kindness wherever needed.

6. Do what you know is right.

7. Look after the well-being of mind and body.

8. Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greatest good.

9. Be truthful and honest at all times.

10. Take full responsibility for your actions.

Although the concept of "God" is not a part of Native American religious experience, these commandments, instead, were given to them by the Great Spirit.

Do you agree, that if we shifted our consciousness more towards this approach, we, along with our planet, would be a lot better off? What are your thoughts?

Have you thought about your day?

Have you imagined what it might be?

With every cell of your being, are you consciously creating? Or are you just reacting?

If you are a co-creator with the divine, are you aware? With each step forward, are you smiling or cursing this glorious life that you have?

I'm about to have my morning shower. From there I will be heading out to teach. Singing. I have some knowledge of what my day will be but along with that, I also know that I can impact my day, my reality, in either a positive or negative way.

I intend to create; to make magic today.

You? What is your intention? What do you plan to co-create with the divine?

If you have the time, please let me know what you think of this video. It's about an hour and twenty minutes long so you will have to decide when you can invest the time. Here's the web address.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-224362920...

It's titled, "The Terrible Text of the Bible" and it is presented by Bishop John Shelby Spong. Very thought provoking in my humble opinion.

What do you think of the concepts persented?

I would suggest highly that all the members of the R & S section run out and rent, "What the Bleep." It will impact your view of reality and perhaps leave you with the conclusion that I drew from it with regard to religion. Being,

It's All Correct. It's All Right. It's All True.

The film deals with Quantum Physics and how this impacts us personally as well as our physical reality. What astonished me was that it proves what the ancient Vedic Seers proposed. Our reality is an illusion. Consequenly, what we firmly believe becomes our reality - therefore we are the creators of our own reality.

As a result of this mind-opening experience, I've decided not to participate in the continual fighting that goes on here over what religion is the ultimate truth. It's true for the one who believes it's true. They create their own reality so it is true within that reality. So, to leave you with a question,

Given that you are a creator, the one and only creator of your reality,

Someone posted a question asking people what they would like to ask a Christian. For some reason, the question was pulled. This was my response which I now throw out to you all.

Given that Christians believe that the bible is the word of god, is your god truly loving when,

The bible sanctifies the ownership of women? And of slaves?

Sanctifies war and genocide when it invokes the name of god over its troops?

Sanctifies incest?

Sanctifies retribution, which includes the heinous act of stoning a child to death?

All of these questions in fact play into the fundamental question being,

Aren't these in fact the words of men and not god? Ancient men who lived in brutal, patriarchal societies?

Should we not look at the bible, and all written holy texts, with an eye to discarding that which is no longer relevant or serves us in a positive way?

I've often wondered why people, particularly Christians, react with fear at the word, "occult." From Wikipedia,

"The word occult comes from the Latin occultus (clandestine, hidden, secret), referring to the 'knowledge of the secret' or 'knowledge of the hidden' and often popularly meaning 'knowledge of the supernatural', as opposed to 'knowledge of the visible' or 'knowledge of the measurable', usually referred to as science. The term is sometimes popularly taken to mean 'knowledge meant only for certain people' or 'knowledge that must be kept hidden', but for most practicing occultists it is simply the study of a deeper spiritual "reality" that extends beyond pure reason and the physical sciences. The terms esoteric and arcane can have a very similar meaning, and the three terms are often interchangeable.

He tried to warn us to find Jesus or go to hell. This was my response:

I found him. I work with him. I have also worked with other members of the Christian pantheon like the Archangel Michael. I am Wiccan.

I also work with a host of other gods and goddess from various religious pantheons. And guess what? Jesus and the members of the Christian pantheon smile on it and accept it. They know that they are all a part of a greater whole.

You, on the other hand, find yourself in a religious claustrophobic box of hatred towards others of differing beliefs. All the prayer in the world will not save you from your own ignorance. And yes. One day you will find yourself in the heaven you so aggressively proselytize about. You will be with your kind. A group of like minded xenophobes who are terrified of anything that is slightly different from yourselves.

A buddy of mine sent me this web address. I looks extremely fair in that Muslims and Arabs are allowed to speak for themselves. It also spells out that "Most Muslims do not support terror". Even so, it's shocking.

http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/12min.htm

Have a look at the film and tell me if you are in agreement that we are facing Hitler all over again. Only this time, with the religious spin, the climax could well be far worse. Which begs the question, "How do we stop it effectively?" Given Iraq, it doesn't appear that the military option is working all that well, so what do we do?!

With all the fighting and backbiting I see on R & S, I thought it was about time for a laugh! So do enjoy!

Men in Heaven

When everybody on Earth was dead and waiting to enter

Paradise, God appeared and said, "I want the men to

make two lines. One line for the men who were true

heads of their household, and the other line for the

men who were dominated by their women - and I want all the women to report to St. Peter."

Soon, the women were gone, and there were two lines of

men.

The line of the men who were dominated by their wives

was 100 miles long, and in the line of men who truly

were heads of their household, there was only one man.

God said, "You men should be ashamed of yourselves, I

created you to be the Head of your household! You have

been disobedient and have not fulfilled your purpose!

Of all of you, only one obeyed. Learn from him."

God turned to the one man, "How did you manage to be

the only one in this line?" The man replied, "My wife

told me to stand here."

I want to thank all the people who answered my question. Some very interesting ideas were brought forward. I very much appreciated reading them. And regarding the whole science issue that can be encapsulated by this quote,

"You're mistaken about what evolution entails-it's about biology not cosmology."

I brought this up in reference to god and the origins of the universe as they pertain to evolution simply because that was the primary point of discussion between Colbert and Dawkins. I know it's mixing apples and oranges but it is fascinating nonetheless.

So again. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who replied! There are some very interesting minds here and I appreciated you sharing your thoughts with me.

I'm watching the Colbert Report last night and Stephen has Richard Dawkins, author of “The God Delusion” on as his guest. Dawkins is a fascinating man with a lot of excellent points on how life began and developed on this planet. So much so that I plan to buy his book. But...

When the interview ended, I turned to my husband and said, "Yeah but, where did the materials that made up our universe come from?"

As Shakespeare would say, "Aye, there's the rub."

You can look at every creation myth from every culture since the dawn of human life, including the creation myth of Genesis, and come away from it knowing that it's myth. Not real. A fanciful story attempting to explain the origin of earth and life on earth. This understanding is due to our scientific advancement. But...

Evolution cannot explain the origin of the materials necessary to create the universe. Where did they come from?

Discuss. I'm very interested to hear your thoughts.