Hi everyone,
Just to say that the Dragonspace Calendars for 2008 are out now. There's a bit more info on my journal, or e-mail me at checkingvoyagerstuff(at)hotmail.com.

(Shrunk so as not to seem too much like an advert! OK, it's like an advert, but I know a lot of people look forward to these calendars and they're not really advertised, so let's call it a "public service announcement". ;))

Sincerely,
Natalie.

now this is a question, or questions, that i have spent a long time pondering.  pondering about how other pagans perceive deity.

 

so how do you perceive deity?  and by that i mean gods and goddess. 

 

do you go with: I have listed a few of the more common ideas but I would love to here your own take on it. 

 

"all Deities are the same Deity  just manifested in many different ways"

 

"Deities are individuals in their own right"

That is goddess and gods are separate entities with in there own right with separate lives, individual wants and needs. 

 

“Deity created humans” in that god created the world in 7 days kinda way

 

“Humans Created Deity”

In the need to explain the big wild word around them, and the nasty stuff that happened, humans created gods who were responsible for these happenings.  (this in many ways is a very durkheim  (think crusty old theorist)  who said that humans created gods because they needed a parental figure to take responsibility for everything that they didn’t understand. 

 

“There is no such thing as Deity”

Deities is just anthropomorphised characteristics created by humans.  (by anthropomorphised I means assigning human characteristics to)

 

 

“I acknowledge the existence of something out there that is bigger than me, it is indescribable and can not be contained with in such a simple concept as God and or Goddess”

 

“same as above with an added, however I choose to work with known deities, as it is much easier to comprehend rather than having to focus on the big unknown and unknowable  in the middle of a working” 

 

“ I am my own deity”

 

 

 

I know that there are many different ways of perceiving deity or not perceiving deity as the case may be. I just wanted to get the ball rolling, so to speak. There are no wrong or right answers, as everyone will have their own take, and own experience on deities, goddess and gods.  What my goal here was to get people thinking, and discussing.  Not for people to tell other people that their perceptions of deity are wrong because xyz. 

 

Ok play nice now. 

 

*smiles*

Hey there guys, just a quick notice to let people know that Pagan Poddies is now up and running; a site where monthly Pagan-orientated podcasts from New Zealand will be made available for downloading sometime during the first week of every month. The first two interviews ('Circle Casting' and 'Working Tools') are already posted up and can be downloaded as mp3 files for anyone who is interested.

Site: http://www.paganpoddies.org/

Cross-posted to nz_pagans

Hi Everyone,

We're delighted to announce that the PagaNZ website
http://www.paganz.co.nz
is now live and ready for visitors!

Please throw your support behind this venture - we're really enthusiastic about it and we know others will be too!

Regards,

Strudel

and on behalf of
Meaghan

Its a different world out there.  If you think you have problems with being discriminated against for being pagan then read the following article, gleaned from the New Zealand Herald (5/5/07). You think you are a hardcore pagan?  Then check out the last paragraph.  The goddess is alive!

(x-posted)

****************************************

On the off-chance anyone is interested...

I attended this conference last year and was mightily impressed and so I'll be going again this year. 
_____________________

2nd Annual Alternative Expressions of the Numinous
( Read more... )

The Magick Earth Festival is back at Tatum Park in Levin for Easter 2007
Friday 6th April to Monday 9th April (three nights)

Cost for camping is Adults $15 a night if paid by the 3rd of March ($20 a night after)
with Communal Dinner and Breakfast included each day

Many more details at
http://www.freewebs.com/magickearthfestival/

and i am selling them on Trademe

they are made from black calico, with new zealand craft print boarders all 100% (cotton as far as i am awear)and then painted with a spiral on one a pentagram on one and lastly the triple moon. there are two sizes

i will be making others with diffrent craft prints and designs painted on them so keep and eyeout there might be something that you like. !!

( pictures can be seen under here )

(x-posted to southernpagans)

Hi all

*gulps, breathes in deeply and draws together the courage to step forward*

Back around the equinox, I realised one of my projects for this year was going to be to put together a resource site for Southern hemisphere pagans about celebrating the seasons south of the Equator.  I'm wanting this to serve dual purposes

1/ To be a specific resource site for the seasonal celebration group I'm wanting to put together in Auckland, to give us ideas on how exactly we're going to celebrate each quarter or cross-quarter as it passes

2/ To be a general resource online site for non-Aucklandian Pagans who are wanting ideas for their own celebrations.

I'm doing the site as a wiki (meaning anyone who registers - registration just involves picking a user name and password, although you can include your real name, if you want contributions attributed to you, and your e-mail address if you want to be notified when it's updated - can contribute articles and comments) in the hope that it's going to become a community project that kind of grows organically.

</a> I have the structure nutted out, and a skeleton of the site in place, so I'm wanting to pimp it around the various Pagan LJ comms I'm part of in the hope that there might be folks who felt drawn to be part of it - contributing either links they've found helpful, or their own experiences and thoughts.

I'm starting with Beltane, since it's the next upcoming celebration, and I have a whole *host* of articles I want to read through, review, and place links to under the Beltane page.

Bear in mind that I *really* only have the structure up at the moment, plus a page for the Auckland group to organise its next celebration - I'll be adding info to it over the next couple of weeks.  If you'd like to check it out though, the site is at Celebrating the Southern Seasons and I'd love to get your feedback on what else could be good to include in it  - or if there's anything you'd like to add yourself, that would be even better!

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Hopeful blessings

Starfire

... is anyone on this community planning on going to the Magic Earth Festival

I've not heard of it before, but I just found it when I was googling links for Beltane, and it looks really interesting. I've yet to go to a Pagan festival here since I got back from the UK, and I'd be interested in hearing if anyone in the comm is planning to go this one, or has been to any of the previous ones.

Blessings

Starfire

I've started the last four posts in here.....But it's probably the best place to talk about journeying.
I'd like to hear others views on the bricks and mortar end of doing it.

I don't tend to think in terms of spirit realms etc... a romantic notion, but corrupted by all sorts of influences that I don't want to get into right now.

I think more along the lines of a layered reality. This being the physical one.

The easiest one for me to enter from here is what I call the second physical... everything is pretty much as it is here and because the realities are so close actions can bridge the two. (it is possible to step outside of ones body and give yourself a massage)
There are no doubt realities further on... but I'm having fun in this one and content with leaving it at that for now.

ALL OPPOSING VIEWS MOST WELCOME
*smirk*

 

The Horizon from Paraparaumu beach.

When i first thought of the drawing the horizon,
I thought of a horizontal line dividing sea from sky.
But clouds fill the sky with water,
and the ocean is drenched in oxygen.

Waves reach up and curl over, 
as if trying to capture a piece of sky
and the air escapes in a foaming mass.
With the surging of the tides,
the entire ocean reaches for the moon

Now drawing a horizontal line seemed a little naive.

mw

I no longer have the sculpture that this poem accompanied, but I feel it is touching on an aspect of existence with which I need to comune.

Okay,

Now every belief system is the subject, now and then, of an "objective evaluation" where it is, to some extent, tried and tested.
The standard measure for strength is called breaking strain- and as the name depicts the way to measure the strength of something is to increase the stress applied until such time as it breaks.
To get a true picture of the character of a material a number of tests are needed e.g. tensile strength, elongation, impact, shear, yadda yadda.. And to get a full understanding of pagan knowledge I am inclined to ask as many awkward questions as I can think of to fill any loopholes or blindspots that I may have.

I like the power of words.

Like a woven garment words can be gathered and bound together. A well crafted collection of words can bring you warmth and shield you from the bleak. They can be your armor holding at bay both the enemies you see, and those who cower in the darkness. They can strike down with an unmatched fury, or lift the soul to soar above the earth. They can bring a group together and wrap around them, sharing the common thread.

...beneath the link are words I have gathered, picked up from here and there... but words unspoken are like an un-caste spell, or a pregnancy... they are only potential...

Edit: grrrr... sorry the links fcked up..

I was reading a book about Wicca tonight and the stuff about brooms and their uses for clearing space for ritual caught my eye. Some reference to clearing out the astral clutter that accumulates wherever humans live.

It made me wonder. I don't clear any space in my home before any ritual because it doesn't need it. If my hosue needs clearing then it is because there is some great calamity occured (rare) or that the shields weren't working properly (also rare) And the moment there is a problem I fix it. (or get my husband to because he is Mr Shield extrodinaire.

But that is me. What about others out there? What kind of energies are there in your living spaces, and why? and do you have certain rituals that maintain that energy? what kind of rituals? How does the energy of your house/living space change with the seasons.

And back to the astral clutter, do you get it, and if so, what from?

Just curious about how these things are for others, anything you care to share is appreciated, but not meaning to invade privacy.

Cheers, Tigerweave

Sgt. Patrick Stewart, a member of the Nevada National Guard, was over Afghanistan in September when his helicopter was shot from the sky.

Not really all that news worthy as many solders and civilians have died in this Afghanistan war, against what ever the hell they are fighting about, however when you add the details of this story it becomes quite newsworthy as really it is an outrage.

You see Sgt. Patrick Stewart, was Wiccan like many other American soldiers, and when American soldiers die in combat, they are buried in a war memorial type grave yard, and have a headstone with name, I’m guessing rank, and a religious symbol with which to recognise their beliefs, because while not all Americans are Christian (despite what cloud Mr Bush has his head in) they are religious.

However because Sgt. Patrick Stewart, is Wiccan the army, who recognise Wiccan as a religion and allow their soldiers to practice in the army, the powers that be had refused to allow the pagan religious symbol (a pentagram) to be place upon this headstone and memorial plaque , so there is a problem, and many many news articles about Sgt. Patrick Stewart, all over America, because really this is an outrage

The state department have not approved the Wiccan symbol of a pentagram as a suitable symbol to place on the plaques of soldiers that died during a war that is apparently about fighting for freedom and the American way.

So the widow is taking the state department to court and pagans all over the world are banding together and making a fuss, and oddly enough some right wing Christian groups are also making a fuss, saying that Sgt. Patrick Stewart, should be allowed the symbol of his faith on his plaque.

You think that the American government would pull their collective asses out of their presidents head, and approve the symbol, which would be the respectable thing to do.. but no.. instead they post-humerus(?) gave Sgt. Patrick Stewart, the purple heart and bronze star, which looks like they are bribing the widow to back down, but like the strong pagan trooper she is, she has not and you know what.. I am glad that she hasn’t which is why I am posting it in my lj. i hope she wins, I hope that more religious organisations around American join in and throw their weight around because really Mr Bush this is unacceptable behaviour, quite unacceptable. If you are going to take your soldiers out to play with, and some of them get killed, you should at least have the decency to respect their religious belief after all American was founded on religious belief and freedom of that religious belief.

ok done now...

The Pagan Christ: Is Blind Faith Killing Christianity by Tom Harpur

This is the third book written on this theme that I have read over the last year or so and it has left me wondering whether it is possible for anyone to write convincingly in support of this thesis.

The idea that Harpur (and the others) are writing about is that the notion of ‘the Christ’ is not unique- and in fact is just one in a line of saviour figures of the Middle East. According to Harpur, the motif’s, themes and miracles that can be found in Jesus’ life can equally be found in other (particularly Egyptian) myth cycles. Harpur argues that the decision to understand Jesus in a historical or literalist sense (be it from a religious perspective or a materialist perspective) is a fundamental distortion of the message of Christ. It was never meant to be understood in this way, it was always meant to be understood in allegorical terms of the awaking of the soul.

This is an approach that I have a great deal of sympathy for and in broad terms I agree with what Harpur is trying to say. Its just a great pity that he is not saying it convincingly

The great mistake of the Early Church, according to Harpur, is the historicisation of the figure of the Christ rather than just keeping him as a mythic motif/allegory as, for instance, the myth of Horus the Redeemer (whom Harpur presents as the direct prototype of Jesus the Christ). In this the early Christians (as Christianity travelled to Greece and Rome) were deviating away from the accepted and common understanding of such figures in the Middle East- everyone in Judea knew that the Christ is an archetype but that understand was lost when it travelled to Rome. Such a claim by Harpur is simply ridiculous- not the least reason being that the first Christians were Jews and used to dealing with (the uniquely Jewish way of) historically emplacing their religious events/interventions/activities.

Chief among Harpur’s academic sins is his reliance on old material as source material. He quotes approvingly from such works as Gibbon’s ‘Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’ (published about the time of the American Revolutionary War) and Higgins’ ‘Anacalypsis’ (1833), which is as much speculation as it is historical/archaeological fact. Harpur also draws extensively on Alvin Boyd Kuhn, who is another problematical author who, from what little of his that I have read, comes across as an amalgam of Joseph Campbell and the H.P. Blatvatsky (who founded the Theosophical Society). The other major source of Harpur is Gerald Massey, whom I have not read but I have to say that he does not lie down in the company of good fellows in Harpur’s book.

As an ‘academic’ work, while I have a great degree of sympathy for the basic thesis Harpur is trying to put across, surely it can be done in a better and more convincing way than this? However, the book is worth a read and makes a number of fine points and connections- but it can not be relied upon (IMHO) and any points or connections made need to be pursued and cross checked with more reputable sources before being taken onboard as fact.

However, the ‘The Pagan Christ’ is not really meant as an academic work (despite its pretensions of authenticity) but rather it is a challenge to Christians to try and re-understand the nature of the Christ and bring that nature into their own beings. Christ is not an external exemplar or a distant and unapproachable God on a Hill but rather is a state of consciousness through which divine grace can flow. Christ, according to Harpur, is not a once and only king but a state of being achievable by all of us.

Curiously enough, I also see value in Pagans reading the book as well. Among the neo-Pagan community it seems that the only discrimination that is largely tolerated is against Christians and Christianity. Many Pagans lampoon Christianity as a two dimensional, authoritarian faith that turns its believers into blinkered sheep. This book, I think, is a good introduction to how Christianity can be understood by believers in terms that, for many Pagans, makes sense- it turns Christianity into a viable belief system. Of course, the main issue is not really the viability of Christianity as a belief system but rather the neo-Pagan perception of Christianity (and no doubt many critics of Christianity will get the message that the Jesus figure is a rip-off of earlier Gods and thus completely miss the point).