h
★
$LAYYYTER
KIROKAZE
dirt enthusiast
ellievsbear
NASA
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
Discoholic 🪩
YOU ARE THE REASON
Today's Document
Kiana Khansmith
Sweet Seals For You, Always
todays bird
RMH
Three Goblin Art
Andulka
JBB: An Artblog!
❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Italy
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Malaysia
seen from Brunei
seen from Israel
seen from Maldives
seen from United Kingdom
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Greece
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
@boneshades-blog
The reality of cyberspace and technocratic progress needs plenty of tricksters to counterbalance its own overwhelming, and, thus, destructive, sense of self-assurance.
“Why Do We Want Tricksters?”: Elzbieta T. Kazmierczak (via lokavinr)
I am nothing but words, just a shape of dreams or night.
Euripides (via abjudico)
Finals week...
Happy Solstice!
FIGURES OF NORSE MYTHOOGY: BALDER
The son of Odin and Frigg, Balder was the god of light, joy, beauty, and purity. With his friendly, gentle, and wise nature, Balder was considered among the best of the gods. When he began dreaming about his death, Frigg extracted an oath from every creature, object, and force in nature to never harm her son. However, she overlooked the mistletoe due to its youth and small size. Using this to his advantage, Loki created a dart from the plant and manipulated Balder’s blind twin brother, Hod, into killing Balder. When the new world arises from the aftermath of Ragnarok, Balder will be reborn.
Paganism is difficult.
It’s less the enjoyment and more the you look like an ass and you aren’t worth my time because you aren’t actually looking for shit at all. This sentence doesn’t help the appearance of asshatery either.
You're right, I wasn't looking for shit in that post, which was a personal meditation on my personal blog. Probably shouldn't have tagged it as paganism; I'll keep my whining off the tag from now on.
As someone who literally just walked out of college half of a year, been there, done that, had some time to research side projects on the side of me doing stuff as well as being employed on and off trying to keep money in my pocket and food in my mouth. I understand that it’s overwhelming to be in college with various professors and what not. May I suggest, again without being that guy, that if you can’t do both, do college. You’re paying for college [more ways that one], so don’t take up extra projects and extra work if you literally cannot handle college. College is a full time job, which you clearly state as I’ve indicated here.
It’s not that I’m nagging you or anything because live your life how you feel, obviously, it’s that if your reason for not having the time to start it is because college or being a student is eating up your time, then the answer is simple. Be a student and don’t bother with paganism until you have more free time on your hands.
I literally have nothing other than that to say.
Done for the semester now! Plan to spend a good portion of my break doing research.
I recall you saying “ But I still don’t know who or how I want to be.” Which to me read within the context of your post that you expected to find out who you are through your searches through being pagan and paganism in general. Perhaps this was not what you had actually wanted to say. Which is why I discussed that it may be problematic to view paganism or your research into it or even being pagan in general as the “end all resource” which will answer that question.
It's not what I meant to say, so I see your point.
Except that western paganism [not recon] is not new religion. I’m specifically addressing here Wicca, which is not a recon, it’s a modern religion that developed out of BTW. I’m also addressing Thelema and other forms of High Magick religions which are classified as paganism. As well as the American style pagan practices which developed as a mixture of old European Tradition and the developing nature and changes in landscape and environment. There’s a whole fuck ton of them in America that came out of various different situations including Southern Slavery but also including the immigration of European ethnic groups to certain sections of the US [though some would argue this is not modern because it’s a readaption of an older practice, I would argue that the “New” World and the practices that evolved out of it are modern or at least far more modern than much other practices which originate elsewhere by comparison] . As well as many people who create their practices or their paradigms. If you’re too busy being hung up on recon or associating paganism with a western context [which I totally was not, but feel free to assume that all modern forms of paganism come from the “west”] perhaps that’s somewhat of a minimization factor to answer your questions about geography. It also means that you may be focused on solely European or Mediterranean styles of paganism.
Because I'm white, I'm mostly looking into paganism that doesn't run the risk of cultural appropriation, so I was specifically referring to things like CR, Asatru, and Theodish (?) Anglo-Saxon revival paganism, all of which, at least to my knowledge, sprung up sometime in the 20th century. Sorry for not being more specific -- but yeah, that's how I'm minimizing my geographical research into paganism. And I'd agree with you in saying the practice of European pagan traditions in America is more of a modern phenomena.
The context of the post for me was a discovery through paganism and being pagan of who you are. The problem is that who you are (and it’s discovery) may exist within a branch of paganism that you have no access to, which case you should be prepared for that possibility.
Yeah, I get it. Because I'm half-Japanese I was tempted to start researching Shinto too, but I don't think I'm part of that culture enough to ever call myself a practicing member of that religion (and that's my personal opinion about my upbringing and how it relates to the practice of my ancestors' religion), so I see what you mean.
Not prepared to answer specific things like this which all pertain to some form of paganism or another [some more witchcrafty than others], then you’re not really ready to discuss a specific topic like the ones I’ve been pointed as an example. The problem is not that you’ve been “trying” to answer those questions it’s that you haven’t bothered with it. Do you have a favorite country? No. Yes. Maybe. Then that’s route you take for narrowing down your research. Because within a particular country, there are a multitude of folk practices and possibly pagan practices which could be used to help guide you along the lines.
But if you’d rather have something specific, a specific topic, a specific one answerable question: all of those above have some aspect in paganism or witchcraft or both.
But if you’d rather have a general concept or idea - which is what I understood/gathered from your post, to research [such as the idea of rules or no rules] then you need to pick one and research that. It’s how I rolled with my research, generally, and went down to specifics and cross referenced and researched.
But like I said, you want specific questions which all relate back to paganism/witchcraft/occult. I’ll give them to you.
What do you think the symbolism is of a petal shape?
Why would someone feed a statue milk?
Again, it’s a topic, but I was thinking you were more wanted generalizations rather than pinpointing aspects. Helpful “hints” rather than helpful factoids.
You're right, ha. I'm sorry for being an ass. I am well aware that I need to answer those questions before I get started on more specific things -- and also well aware that I've been avoiding answering the questions at all, believe me. I think this month I'll have more time to make some headway in that, both in examining myself and doing some further research on the traditions I've already found and in which I'm interested. Thanks for the replies though, honestly. I am embarrassed but appreciate them; I needed that kick down to get over my self-indulgence and get to work.
“No one wishes to be ‘rescued’ with someone else’s beliefs. Remember your task is not to convert anyone to anything, but to help the person in front of you get in touch with his or her own strength, confidence, faith, and spirituality, whatever that might be.”
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (via slychedelic)
By j y . on Flickr.
Paganism is difficult.
Not to be that guy [based on your tags which taint the article a lot for me, by the way], but if it’s too difficult then get the fuck on. Researching paganism or witchcraft or any religion including catholicism, should not be simple and easy to regurgitate. It’s part of a wider scheme of things - specifically human spirituality - which is very complicated and complex and requires a lot of attention and thought. If you’re looking for yourself in paganism, then again I don’t want to be that guy, you may be disappointed.
Sorry my tags are ruining your "enjoyment." I'm a full-time student and had more than enough on my plate this semester so it was a struggle just to get my work done, let alone start unguided research into the multiple types/ways/theories of paganism, of which, by the way, I'm well aware. Don't worry about being "that guy."
Finding yourself and finding what you believe in may overlap, but if you’re looking for yourself in a religion or a religious umbrella, you might find that it’s not there at all. I’d suggest finding yourself separate to finding which religion applies to you specifically based on yourself. Though I’m sure others will argue the point with me, but I’m not backing down on this. Religion should not be responsible for helping you find yourself and thus all the disappointment of not finding self would be flung on that. For example, I have a lot of disappointment surrounding Orthodoxy. Even while I know that Orthodoxy is and was not meant for that.
I also don't quite recall saying anywhere in my post that I was looking for any sort of ultimate answer or anything that wasn't completely individual to myself, to be honest. I mostly wanted to comment on the difficulty of shifting my world from a "top-down" revealed concept of religion to a more subjective inner reality -- that fascinating and manifold world of human spirituality that you mention.
As for thread of information being obscured, actually some of them have only been obscured from the 1940s/1950s and right on up. Perhaps your first order of business is to realize that paganism is not “old shit.” But lots of different unique things with lots of variation in time lines.
I am aware that paganism -- as in the "western," reconstructive paganism -- is a very new religion. I am at the moment, however, interested mostly in the reconstructionist branches (CR, for example), and so a lot of my research involves reading about other people's research on old shit, and commentaries on the validity of said research.
The second order of business is to realize that you do not have access to all of them [forms of paganism]. Some of which by blood, by ethnicity, by age, by initiation, and by time [as in the span of time between it’s origin and now] - so don’t think that you will get access to every single drop of paganism just because.
I never meant to imply that I would gain access to "every drop of paganism," and I apologize if I came across that way.
And finally the last order of business is simply this. How do you know what you’re looking for, if you don’t have any idea what that thing is? Sound cliche, it is. Start with simple things. Do you like <blahblahnon-closedculture>? Why do you like <blahblah>? Or do you like a particular country? Do you like a particular aspect <self-awareness? Self actualization?>? Pick a single thing, pursue it and don’t care if it crosses boundaries, like into philosophy or back into Catholicism. Whatever it’s ride, go with it.
Actually, the point of this post was to sort of narrow down my thoughts as I attempt to answer those questions. Thanks for being specific about the things I need to know about myself, though; it's really helpful to hear someone asking me the questions I've been trying to answer (but haven't had the time to fully answer) for about six months.
As someone who never found a religion that matches me, I can tell you sometimes it’s just best to not have the idea that paganism or any religion is THE ULTIMATE answer.
Thanks for your advice.
FIGURES OF NORSE MYTHOOGY: THOR
Son of Odin and Fjorgyn (Earth), Thor is the god of thunder and one of the most powerful in the Norse pantheon. While his father championed the noble class, Thor was the patron of the farming freemen who composed the majority of the Viking population. Consequently, he was the most loved and respected of the gods. Thor also represented order, and men invoked him in the name of law and stability. His main weapon is the hammer, Mjollnir, which he often used to fight against the Jotuns, who symbolized nature’s chaos.
Paganism is difficult.
As someone who was raised Catholic and attended a Catholic school for my entire life, researching and focusing on paganism is one of the most difficult things I've done, spiritually, ever. I'm used to rigid frameworks in religion that have existed since before I was born. I'm used to those rigid frameworks being easily accessed through teachers, libraries, the Catechism of the Catholic Church that I think still sits under my desk at home.
Now, I'm struggling to find threads of information that have been obscured for thousands of years. There are so many currents in paganism that I'm honestly not sure where or how to start. Should I stick to one tradition, from one geographic area? Or multiple traditions? How do I find the rules? Are there rules?
Part of paganism seems to be separating from this idea that my spirituality has to be defined by and with an outside source. It's an idea with which I've always struggled: am I good enough? am I sick enough? am I pagan enough? By what yardstick do I measure?
So maybe this process of becoming pagan (or at least, un-Catholic) is a process of becoming myself. Learning to trust myself and what I think. There is no good enough, sick enough, pagan enough. There is me, and what I think, and I am the best and most reliable authority on myself. But I still don't know who or how I want to be.
Imagine a hunger for the invisible world so deep it must have existed before you were born.
—Anne Pierson Wiese, last lines to “In the Beginning” from Floating City: Poems (Louisiana State University Press, 2007)
Why are eclectic NeoPagans so obsessed with pan-Pagan ~community~
They seem to enjoy measuring the whole lot of us across various cultures, races, folkways, narratives and epistemologies with the same measuring stick; the measuring stick of colonial and imperialistic Christian history. We all need to syncretise, become ~one~. Just hold hands and love each other, and know, really that they are right. Eclectic Neopagans collect folkways and cultural narratives like gemstones, and attempt to polish them all to the same size and shape, and then become upset when they wont all just be the way they want them to. All of their talk of community is rooted in privilege. I think it is particularly detrimental to the narratives and preservation of cultures of Pagans of Colour. They want to force everyone they call “Pagan”(because they decide who is Pagan, and who must identify with said label) to assimilate to their way of thinking, and join their idea of what a Pagan Community is. More often than not, they become defensive about people who, well, simply just don’t want to join their Pagan commune. Any attempt to deny them this “community” is met with defensive condescension. They make no attempt to understand how truly vast the scale of their oversimplified version of “Paganism” really is; how different each culture and their regional religions are. We simply aren’t given the choice to say no without being shamed for it, without having our identities and labels policed by them. This is a perfect mirror of white(and many other types of) privilege. It’s, dare I say it, neocolonial. We don’t have to join any idealised pan-Pagan community, and doing so would actually be to our detriment. It erases the diversity of cultural histories and narratives.
(Holy shit, look at this amazing post. Y’all need to read it.)
Eclectic Pagandom has, and continues to have, serious, serious problems with self-identity, labels, and boundaries; if they think you’re Pagan, then you’re Pagan, no matter what you actually are or label yourself as.
I’ve been sitting on this link for ages. I found it months ago when I was searching for more info on the handmaidens, and I thought I’d share.
I love all of this so much, especially the one to Saga.
