Quote of the Day

[telerib]

"Many witches will complain that we are taking them out of context and that magic is not evil, only the intent of the caster is evil. Fine. We believed Charlton Heston when he said something similar, we'll believe you too."

- Cracked.com lists dubious magical services available on the Internet.

Comments

[beatrixherald.livejournal.com]

Coming from you I choose not to be offended. A. Because you are a pregnant lady and not to be contradicted in any way. And B. Because I know you are a science type non-religious person who probably things that of all religions.

HOWEVER.... while I am NOT offended, I am going to say my peace... because I have to in order to get on with my life. Thanks.

I am a practitioner of Vodou. It is my religion, the way that Catholics are Christian, and Muslims are Islamic. SOME of the people who sell those things are selling total garbage, not unlike some televangelists.

HOWEVER, My very bestest friend in the whole world sells vodou dolls for a living. I have worshiped with him and performed spells and magic with him. (or If you want to call it Prayer... Its the same thing). He is not trying to rip anyone off. He is selling a product that can be used as art, or as a tool in Magick. He meditates while making them to infuse them with the spirits of his Loa and Orisas (Ancestor Spirits and Gods).

Weather you believe or not, some people do believe in Magick. I am one of them. I am Neither stupid, nor ignorant. Although, I will admit that there are A LOT of stupid ignorant people out there.

Also, People who mess with that shit get what is coming to them. There is a lot of bad energy being thrown around out there and the right 'precautions' are often overlooked. I almost NEVER cast spells anymore because you dont always get exactly what you wished for. And its not always good. There is ALWAYS a price, a sacrifice you must make to prove your devotion and intent. Willingly offered or not.

People are used to the Moral purity of religion of the Judeo-Xtian type. Voudo is NOT run by a lawful good god. There are many spirits and Orisha, and some are dedicated to good and other are just the spirits of our ancestors. And spirits are people. the protect their family from harm, and if that takes a little bad karma, so be it.

I was glad that the site looked at holy water so we could make fun of Xtian magick as much as pagan magick.

Ok Back to being silly and make fun of stupid witchy stuff on the internets!

[telerib.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry - I didn't mean to be upsetting. I didn't mean to support or unsupport the Cracked.com article itself. I liked this one quote, because of the way it juxtaposed magic as a tool - not innately good or evil - with Heston's iconic "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" quote. Because you don't often see the NRA and Wicca mentioned in the same paragraph.

I'm not sure what you think I think of all religions. :) I think you're right, and there are sincere practitioners and frauds in just about every branch of every faith.

I have too many neopagan friends to dismiss it as a path to truth. There's a lot about the symbolism and ritual that I like very much about it, and there have been times when I've wished it was a faith path that worked for me. It doesn't, but that doesn't mean it can't work for other people.

But I am a theist. I draw heavily on Biblical teachings, because I'm so familiar with them, but have rejected the concept of original sin (and hence the need for salvation). I'll take Jesus at his word when he says we're all sons and daughters of the Divine - that there is something eternal and holy in each person, and that love is recognizing that holiness.

Other than that, I'm still working on it. I intellectually can grasp the idea of a Monadic Divinity that exists beyond binaries of good and evil or love and hate - and that appeals to my analytic brain, which says if the Divine encompasses all, it must encompass all - but I don't spiritually grok it yet. I'm comfortable with "God is Love" and not so much with "God is Hatred." I'm not sure if I should be - I need to think and reflect and somehow come to know what I really believe to be true, rather than what I would prefer to have be true.

And there's bunches more stuff, some of which are on my radar as things I need to think and pray about and some of which I'm sure isn't. And I'm dragging my feet on a lot of it, because corporeal or mental "to dos" always seem more pressing than starting to collect and read some of the stuff I want to get a grounding in.

That was a vague assumption...

[beatrixherald.livejournal.com]

So I knew what I assumed you thought, but did not articulate it very well. Basically I figured you for a New Jersey Recovering Catholic who is more or less agnostic.

I think I was pretty close in my assumptions, based on what you wrote here.

That was a good quote. And I agree with it (as well as what Charlton Heston said) For the most part.

I just hate that Vodou gets a bad rap. I am just pushing back against anti-vodou propaganda.

Nothing personal!

Re: That was a vague assumption...

[telerib.livejournal.com]

Basically I figured you for a New Jersey Recovering Catholic who is more or less agnostic. I think I was pretty close in my assumptions, based on what you wrote here.

The closest label I've found so far that fits is "Unitarian Universalist Christian." But it's not very useful, since "Christian" is a very loaded word (and is being used in a rather iffy way in this case) and "UU" generally needs explaining too. But yeah, I've even been going to UU church and everything. It's a lot better fit for me than Catholicism, even if the DIY bits that make it attractive also make it difficult.