Religion?

i'm from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints....LDS or in other words "mormon" ^^
 
Duty said:
What's so funny? >.>
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being "dedicated" is a characteristic stereotypically given to the religious, thus you being nontheist and dedicated seems humorous (until you realize most nontheist [including atheists] tend to be more dedicated than theists).

Also, Alcyone: YAY Kitchen witches!! though I have a lot of ritualistic ideas, in practice I turn out to act a lot like a kitchen witch
 
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alcyone said:
Earth centric Kitchen Witch.
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VindurNótt said:
being "dedicated" is a characteristic stereotypically given to the religious, thus you being nontheist and dedicated seems humorous (until you realize most nontheist [including atheists] tend to be more dedicated than theists).

Also, Alcyone: YAY Kitchen witches!! though I have a lot of ritualistic ideas, in practice I turn out to act a lot like a kitchen witch
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What is a kitchen witch vs. a 'regular' (non-specialty?) witch?
 
I center my rituals on my hearth (aka stove). Ritual and spells are crafted during the preparation and cooking of food.

This isn't a 24/7 thing, not every meal has some sort of magical or ritual. When I'm working I have an intent I'm planning the meal around. I utilize candles, prayers, have a representation of my Lady and my Lord present. The food and herbs I am using have been sanctified and dedicated to a task, my tools have been cleansed, and generally I purify the space and meditate to bring myself into the right mindset before beginning.

Wiccans and other neo-pagans operate under similar actions, but their rituals are centered generally on an altar and in a circle. Generally, they also concentrate their rituals on the Sabbats or Esbats.

I generally don't do anything elaborate for the Sabbats, I keep things low key for the Esbats. I am not very outspoken about what I do, mostly cause there aren't many people who are open minded. There have been a lot of people who are friendly to me, looking to get to know me more, then when they figure out, or I tell them that I have a non-traditional spirituality I seem to grow another head and they step back.

This is as open as I have been about it. I like it here and would be dismayed if people discount me and what I could offer them (as well as deprive me of what I may learn from them) based on something as trivial as religion. But, that is a risk you take when you step out of the broom closet.
 
alcyone said:
I center my rituals on my hearth (aka stove). Ritual and spells are crafted during the preparation and cooking of food.
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Thank you for sharing Alcyone. That sounds quite interesting! I've heard the term kitchen-witch before, but didn't catch the explanation. I once took part in a small wiccan healing ritual, and I really enjoyed it! I wish I had rituals as part of my spirituality. I mean rituals that already exist, with specific tools, specific meaning and significance, etc. Creating something from scratch for myself might be cool but still not the same.

It's so unfortunate that people respond in a fearful and negative way. I have heard of the same feeling shared among other wiccans.
 
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Don't ask.

I'm open to spirituality. Call it agnostic or whatever, I don't care. I'm actually pretty sympathetic to Christian beliefs as well. However, I prefer not to give a name to it because I prefer not to associate with any organized idea of religion; I keep myself open to anything.

My religion is my world; it is my perception; it is spirituality as a whole. And it is intensely personal.

If anyone wants an entire synopsis of my ideals, then you may ask, but it'll be a pretty long explanation, and I won't want anyone to respond with, "Oh, so you {insert religious affiliation or philosophy}." If I was, I would have said so, and even if my ideas are close to that, I'd still not call myself it, because my views change as I grow as an individual.


So there ya go.
 
gloomy-optimist said:
If anyone wants an entire synopsis of my ideals, then you may ask, but it'll be a pretty long explanation, and I won't want anyone to respond with, "Oh, so you {insert religious affiliation or philosophy}." If I was, I would have said so, and even if my ideas are close to that, I'd still not call myself it, because my views change as I grow as an individual.


So there ya go.
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Sure, if you feel like sharing and typing it out :)
 
gloomy-optimist said:
Don't ask.

I'm open to spirituality. Call it agnostic or whatever, I don't care. I'm actually pretty sympathetic to Christian beliefs as well. However, I prefer not to give a name to it because I prefer not to associate with any organized idea of religion; I keep myself open to anything.

My religion is my world; it is my perception; it is spirituality as a whole. And it is intensely personal.

If anyone wants an entire synopsis of my ideals, then you may ask, but it'll be a pretty long explanation, and I won't want anyone to respond with, "Oh, so you {insert religious affiliation or philosophy}." If I was, I would have said so, and even if my ideas are close to that, I'd still not call myself it, because my views change as I grow as an individual.


So there ya go.
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*nod* I know how you feel. I use the term "new age" as my religion because there is no real word to desribe it, it is just the cloest thing to it. If i try to explain my spiritual belifs, they end up soudning muttled.
 
IndigoSensor said:
*nod* I know how you feel. I use the term "new age" as my religion because there is no real word to desribe it, it is just the cloest thing to it. If i try to explain my spiritual belifs, they end up soudning muttled.
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If this is the case for both Indigo and Gloomy I suggest both of you start writing. I expect your posts by next week Friday.



Okay...*seriousness reengaged* I felt the same way for a long time. It is frusterating to 'feel' something but be unable to express it. Especially when someone wants to better understand how you feel. It is absolutely to your benefit to figure out for yourselves how to express your spirituality, and to do so with conviction.

And no one really knows when they find something they've always sensed but never been able to pinpoint. The Gentleperson who directed me to the Tao Te Ching from the Forums for example. The more I've explored the writings the more I am liking it, not to say I will abandon my own religion for it, but am already incorporating it into my spirituality.
 
alcyone said:
If this is the case for both Indigo and Gloomy I suggest both of you start writing. I expect your posts by next week Friday.



Okay...*seriousness reengaged* I felt the same way for a long time. It is frusterating to 'feel' something but be unable to express it. Especially when someone wants to better understand how you feel. It is absolutely to your benefit to figure out for yourselves how to express your spirituality, and to do so with conviction.

And no one really knows when they find something they've always sensed but never been able to pinpoint. The Gentleperson who directed me to the Tao Te Ching from the Forums for example. The more I've explored the writings the more I am liking it, not to say I will abandon my own religion for it, but am already incorporating it into my spirituality.
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I sort of have been describing it here and there in other threads. The reason I use "new age" is because I need a lable. Things need lables for me. (result of my Ti I guess).

The best thing I try to do is say "alot of my spirituality is based in astrology and tarot", it is mostly true, but I HATE saying that because both have a horrible stigma attached to it.
 
I dabbled in Wicca and paganism for a while...until I went to a Wiccan ritual for Imbolc. :m100: I've never met a bunch of people who were so crazy! They scared me from paganism altogether. Witchcraft turned me off simply because the spells always called for some poor animal to be sacrificed. (Old school witchcraft--I realize there are a bunch of different denominations of witchcraft--New Age Witchcraft, for example)

Being a kitchen witch is a lot like being a botanist in homeopathic medicine. Wicca is a lot like that too, at least, without a coven/group.

What I do nowadays, I just take bits and pieces that I like from different religions and try to incorporate it into an independent belief system.
 
EDIT: I like the heart of what Christianity is supposed to be, but I'm not big on modern Churchianity as I call it.

ShadeoftheMoon said:
Evangelical Calvinistic Hedonistic (spell check on calvinisitic and hedonistic???) Complimentarian Christian.
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:lol:
 
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Well, for me, it's not so much that I can't or would have difficulty describing it....it's more because it would take such a long time and a lot of writing.

I might post it sometime. I might have to hijack the thread for a bit to do so though :B
 
I was raised both Catholic and HIndu...at the time my mom was a staunch Catholic (now she is an episcopalian). I was Buddhist for a while, in HS and college. I guess my current belief system is a mishmash of a lot of different things. Mostly it's just a trial-and-error, based on what I can discern from my own experiences.

I believe in Karma but only as kind of a common sense type of thing, because I think we are creatures of habit and we tend to engage with people in similar patterns. So, our lives tend to repeat because we're not really aware of those patterns and don't seek to change them.

I think people like Jesus and Buddha are historical figures and found enlightenment their own way. I enjoy reading contemporary enlightened souls such as Krishnamurthi and Osho (very different paradigms on life, I think).

Mostly I think my religion is focused on vibrations, and energy...I believe that we resonate at certain frequencies depending on our emotions and our thoughts....and those vibrations interact with the world and universe and cause certain things to happen or attract certain similar/complementary vibrations into our lives. I think enlightenment means to vibrate at the same frequency as the entire universe. I think we are all capable of that, and that all religions try and teach this in their own way, but that humans muddle the doctrines to keep themselves powerful and corrupt and other people confused and in chains.
 
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