12 Month Challenge-via M.Shaffer: Blast from the Past

12 Month Challenge-via M.Shaffer: Blast from the Past

 

Geez you make it sound like we need to legitimize ourselves or something.

 

I used to be a part of a Druid grove that practiced Geek paganism (weird right), and after that I took a long hiatus and started becoming more and more interested in ancient Celtic society and their religion. But in truth, I really don’t cling to any of them. I suppose you could simply call that eclectic or whatever but for me it has a lot to do with what works and what doesn’t. To me the gods are merely aspects through which we perceive the natural forces of the universe as they relate to us. We make them in a form which we understand because in the end we are unaware of the true power of nature itself. I tend to break them up into the forces of Life, Death and Chaos, and any deity you will find can usually fall somewhere within these three (sometimes within all of them). From there if I must pick a deity or something, to me it’s more important to pick one which relates to the cause as oppose to one from any particular pantheon. I will say though that I do have a preference for female deities. I am trying to work more with the male aspects here and there, but they just don’t resonate with me the same way the females do.

 

That being said, I’m a history fan. I truly enjoy learning about historical religions and cultural differences and how things have changed. I consider myself open to trying out now POV’s and to me part of choosing this crooked, wayward path of ours is allowing yourself to experience the new and strange. I have been to rituals that deeply impressed me and others in which I had to keep myself from laughing. But all in all it’s part of the experience, and if someone gets something out of it, well than who am I to meddle.

Impeccable Karma

If you know what karma means then you know the impossibility of this statement.

I don’t want this to turn into a slam down about others, that’s not what this blog is about, so let me try to do this in a way that doesn’t implicate anyone in particular.

Lets say you have a favorite brand of hot dog. It’s good, your prefer it over other brands. But does that make all other brands “bad”? Of course not! It simply makes them different. Maybe not your preference but you couldn’t label them all inferior to your brands. So if someone else served another brand of hot dog in their house, you wouldn’t be so rude as to refuse to eat it now would you?

People seem to get into this concept that one tradition of witchcraft must be better than the other. Well the truth of the matter is their all just different brands of hot dogs. Some people prefer Dianic, others Gardenarian. Some people are Druids and others lean towards Shamanism. These are all FINE! There is nothing wrong with any of these concepts or paths and arguing over correct terminology or spell-craft is futile. Most people I know are eclectic to some extent any how so why get your dander up over how something is accomplished in word, deed or spell?

I’m not saying you shouldn’t know your work, you should. If you specialize in a particular branch of witchcraft then you need to know what your doing (especially with herbs!). All I’m saying is that opinions differ, and you should neither belittle or indulge others opinions too far. Just be respectful when differences arise within the craft.