Destiny vs. free will (ritual, Earth, beliefs, choice, prophecy)

[CelticRavenwolf]

I'll do you one better:

http://www.celticravenwolf.com/artframe.html

I do mostly horses and dragons, my choice of medium is pencil. I didn't draw for about 2 years, but recently I've started again, and have been somewhat pleased with the results. No recent scans, unfortunately. What I try to accomplish with my drawings is to capture something of the source. The personality of the horse, or the impression of a movement. Sometimes I feel I succeed, other times I just abandon the drawing if I can't catch it.

I've lived rurally for much of my life, though the better part of my childhood was stuck in the city. Chronologically it was rural, city, small town, rural, university (ie temporary city), and currently small town.

Raised strictly Roman Catholic, renounced at the age of 16, and not just on a teenage whim. I just didn't believe in what I was raised to believe.

[Sunstone]

You're much more than a little talented in drawing. I'm curious that you haven't made a career of it?

BTW, do you know of this site? http://www.wildhunt.org/blog.html

What's happened recently in your life that you haven't kept your journal up? Did you just grow tired of it? Or, is there some other reason you haven't posted in it for a couple of months now?

[Sunstone]

Originally Posted by CelticRavenwolf

Raised strictly Roman Catholic, renounced at the age of 16, and not just on a teenage whim. I just didn't believe in what I was raised to believe.

What does the phrase, "Be true to yourself" mean to you? How would you interpret that? Is it something you have a positive feeling about or a negative feeling about?

[CelticRavenwolf]

No, I've never seen that website, but I'm sure checking it out!

As for the blog, mostly life got in the way. I was pretty well away from home for weeks at a time all summer with my job, and when I came home I had so much to do that writing in my journal just wasn't at the top of my list. And since things have been so slow in the winter, I just never got back into it. Too time consuming, I guess. I do kind of miss it as an outlet, but I'm just too lazy to write in it when I could be out for a walk with my dog, or catching a movie with my husband.

Originally Posted by Sunstone

What does the phrase, "Be true to yourself" mean to you? How would you interpret that? Is it something you have a positive feeling about or a negative feeling about?

Lol, that's actually a tough question and I have no idea how to answer it. I guess I keep swearing that it's what I'm going to do, but then I don't do it and end up hating myself for it, and swearing that this time I'm really going to do it, and the vicious circle continues.

I keep thinking about trying to sell some of my artwork, but I'm a champion procrastinator. I don't really draw enough to really make a go at it, I think. I used to take commissions, but I stopped because I wasn't able to fulfill them all. I could get in a rut and go months without drawing something I was satisfied with.

[Sunstone]

Originally Posted by CelticRavenWolf

Lol, that's actually a tough question and I have no idea how to answer it. I guess I keep swearing that it's what I'm going to do, but then I don't do it and end up hating myself for it, and swearing that this time I'm really going to do it, and the vicious circle continues.

What does being true to ourselves involve? Could you give me an example of what it means?

Do you feel there's any area in which your talents and skills meet the needs of society or of those around you?

[Willamena]

Originally Posted by CelticRavenwolf

So to my original question - do you believe we have a destiny, or that life is simply what we make of it?

Both! Both are true; destiny is not an "either-or" question, it's simply a matter of perspective. I say this as a defender of divination against the 'Machine of Destiny'.

Divination today is largely seen as "fortune-telling" or foreseeing "what will happen," but in ancient times it was a religious device that served to allow people to "speak" with the gods, consult them and get their advice on matters of importance to them. They asked gods what should be done about a future they've determined for themselves, not what would be done in a future they had no control over: "This is what I will; does it meet with your favour?" The god would then give some acknowledgement of a yes/no type through omen, 'give it the nod' so to speak, and this 'nod' could change from moment to moment as the intentions of man changed, in other words as he wrote his own course.

According to author Geoffrey Cornelius, "Despite the immeasurable authority of the numinous realm called upon by divination, the question of destiny is in effect a fliud and open project --the gods may be propriated, the sacred may be approached."

[CelticRavenwolf]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

What does being true to ourselves involve? Could you give me an example of what it means?

Do you feel there's any area in which your talents and skills meet the needs of society or of those around you?

Lol, I get the feeling I'm being psycho-analyzed...