Ask me anything.... (rituals, church, pagan, spiritual, worship)

[Isabella Lecour]

Following in the footsteps of Lady Gentoo, I'm offering myself up to the mob for questioning. lol

Brief bio:
I'm 30, female, in an open marriage and I now have a daughter. I've been exploring Paganism sense my late teens. I'm a solitary within eclectic Paganism.

So ask away....

[Random]

What is the Matrix?

[thomas alonarg]

Open marriage huh? I remember that was very popular in the sixties. Some advise from a child of an open marriage: you don't want your daughter to hate you do you?

What can anyone give you that your spouse can not?

Well, you said ask anything, that is it.

[Jayhawker Soule]

Originally Posted by Isabella Lecour

Following in the footsteps of Lady Gentoo, I'm offering myself up to the mob for questioning.

Why is the half-life of carbon-10 19.255 seconds?

[PureX]

Originally Posted by Isabella Lecour

Following in the footsteps of Lady Gentoo, I'm offering myself up to the mob for questioning. lol

Brief bio:
I'm 30, female, in an open marriage and I now have a daughter. I've been exploring Paganism sense my late teens. I'm a solitary within eclectic Paganism.

So ask away....

I don't really know what any of this means. I don't know what an open marriage is. I don't know what a pagan or a solitary is, either. And what is eclectic paganism?

Your bio doesn't give me any sense of who you are because I don't understand what you mean by the terms you've used to describe yourself.

[Isabella Lecour]

Cool.....Questions.............and.............Res ponces.........

What is the Matrix?

Which one? There was the movie, the book, a band, scientific theory, crystaline structure, bussiness enterprise...ect. See also: dictionary dot com.

Open marriage huh? I remember that was very popular in the sixties. Some advise from a child of an open marriage: you don't want your daughter to hate you do you?

What can anyone give you that your spouse can not?

Well, you said ask anything, that is it.

Of course I don't want my daughter to hate me. But if you imply that an open marriage causes a child to hate the parants, then it's clear you have your own issues to deal with. Besides if you have to ask what another partner can give that the spouse can not, you're not using your imagination in the least. What another partner can give me is the same that I give them, just as I give my husband. And yea....I did say ask anything. lol
But it didn't say that I'd answer.

Why is the half-life of carbon-10 19.255 seconds?

Why? Hmm....it's the same reason why the sun comes up each morning and goes down again. It the same reason why the stars exist and the clouds form in the sky.

I don't really know what any of this means. I don't know what an open marriage is. I don't know what a pagan or a solitary is, either. And what is eclectic paganism?

Your bio doesn't give me any sense of who you are because I don't understand what you mean by the terms you've used to describe yourself.

So my labels are not so well known it seams. My bio was brief on purpose to generate questions. Let's see..open marriage; it's just a form of polyamory. It's a commited relationship where monogamy is not expected nor required. We are both allowed other partners of a romantic nature.

Solitary as refering to worship pratice. This means I don't worship with a church, coven, circles or even another partner. It means I worship and I conduct my worship alone. I don't require or need another person to conduct proper worship.

Eclectic refers to the method of selecting the best of various systems, useing various sources and chooseing what one likes to form a personal religious practice.

And at last Paganism, well there has been numerous debates what Paganism means and I guess I'll give my personal take but it's not the final take for sure.
With the Classic defination, it would refer to a someone who isn't a memeber of any Monothestic religion but a member of a Polythestic religion. This is good enough for me.

Hopeful it will make sence when put all together.

[PureX]

I guess I'm not that curious about the open marriage thing. Some people need monogomy and others don't. I suppose that as long as you're both on the same page it could work out.

Do you really have aorship rituals? I ask because I find that as someone who does not participate in any organized religion, I tend not to organize my own spiritual behavior, either. I automatically gravitate toward gratitude because it feels good, is healthy, and I have come to be vary wary of the ulternatives. But I still don't practice gratitude, necessarily, I just tend to gravitate to it whenever the opportunity presents itself to my consciousness.

I'm a little puzzled about polytheism, even though I call myself a taoist Christian. The only way I can fit these together is because I'm not religious. I find theology as a category of humans thought very interesting, but I find it mostly unacceptable as a collective religious practice. I'm just wondering how you resolve some of these issues for yourself.

[Lemon]

You say you're an Eclectic Pagan, I used to be one too (it didn't work out for me). Do you ever feel guilty/disrespectful, and like you're just "stealing" from other religions? This question isn't meant to offend. I know when I was Eclectic I had a problem with feeling this way.

[Isabella Lecour]

I guess I'm not that curious about the open marriage thing.

Not many people are curious about open marriages, and it's a good thing I think. It's tough enough to do it right.

Do you really have worship rituals?

Yes, some are little things that occur during the day or with certain events, others are for High Holy Days and family events. I've gravitate towards snippets of prayers instead of full rituals and often use condensed rituals instead. I'm not really sure what you mean by "gravitate toward gratitude." I've found gratitude to be an emotion that pours out rather than something that needs practice; to each his own.

Theology is very interesting. I'm still puzzling it out with a polytheistic perspective. I think I've made it harder by taking up a hard stance, that is each God and Goddess exists, separately and individually. That alone makes the Gods number among the stars. I know I've bent some of the common ideas by rewriting what deity is in my mind and what deity can do. I just don't find supreme power to be a quality worth worship so it makes it a little easier for me. At the same time I'm perfectly ok with some things being beyond the Gods, or just beyond what I know of the Gods. Are there any particular issues you are referring to?

Do you ever feel guilty/disrespectful, and like you're just "stealing" from other religions?

Not at all. More often I'm frustrated by the accusation of stealing, borrowing, plundering and being all around un-original. Not saying your making such a statement. Any deep examination of a religion's history will reveal the deeper roots that trace back to religions long dead and forgotten. The thing is, every idea is build on the foundations of older ideas. All that I do is to build on purpose a framework for myself that's based on existing foundations creating a new thing that needs to be tested by time.

All too often the complaints are about yanking practices out of a culture without understanding the reasoning within the culture, ie. stealing their religion. I find that to truly steal a religion, fraud has to be committed. I do not claim to be anything but what I am. I keep a Sabbath candle but I'm not Jewish nor do I, nor can I claim such. I keep the practice as it is family tradition and a family line. I keep medicine bags. I could never rename them mo-jo bags or gris griss bags. That's not what they are to me. They are still little bags worn about the neck that's filled with various items that are blessed and worn for a particular purpose.

My dreamcatchers are a wonderful example and a sore point. I make them as does my husband. They are never made without a particular person in mind and is given away. Due to some upset people, I can not rightful call them dreamcatchers nor can I attach one of several great legends to them. I have to make my own. So I merge two+ different cultures to create and keep my dreamcatchers, creating a new legend. It doesn't erase that a dreamcatcher, catches the bad dreams while letting the good ones pass, it's essentially a charm of dream protection.
It's a lot of work just to stay honest. I'm adapting so that these great practices fit within my framework.

[Nanda]

Originally Posted by thomas alonarg

Open marriage huh? I remember that was very popular in the sixties. Some advise from a child of an open marriage: you don't want your daughter to hate you do you?

Kids can come up with just about any reason to hate their parents, if they're determined to do so.