Into the Mystic

[TeaDidikai]

Within the pagan scene, I find a heavy focus over all on the nature of mysticism and magic over theology and religion.

The obvious reason for this is that in a culture that has a vast majority of people who belong to a faith that as part of common practice shuns the personal practice of mysticism- the alt theology scene fills that niche.

So the question posed is thus:

Which do you take part in more? Mysticism, Religion or Magic?

Allow me to make hodgepodged distinctions for the sake of this thread:

Magic- spiritual practices that are designed to have an effect on this realm.

Religion- spiritual practices designed to connect with the gods within the ritualistic terms of the given path. (Asatru Blots as an example).

Mysticism- spiritual practices that fall somewhere inbetween often more focused on the personal experience there of.  

[Aesi]

Mysticism, without question. I'm more concerned with understanding the nature of man and gods, and how we relate to them and each other. I see this as serving both man and my god by trying to finding a better unity between the two.  

[Henry Dorsett Case]

I'd have to say Magic, mostly, as my Mysticism exists almost solely to guide my Magic. I can't say I have any Religion other than the occasional supplication to Those Who Watch and the thanks thereafter.  

[Fiddlers Green]

I'm a naturalist.
To me, everything is mystical, from a drop of rain, to a divinity made flesh.

That having been said, distinguishing between these is rather alien to my mindset.
Now, similarly related, may be those who engage in their faith for the tangible rewards, the intangible (or so it may seem) rewards, or do so out of a sense of connection to whatever they are focusing spiritually upon.  

[Vertigo_Kiwi]

I'd have to say religion, simply because I'm too skeptical of magic or mysticism. Actually, many times I'm even skeptical of gods and religion. But, of the three religion is what I am most comfortable with.  

[maenad nuri]

Probably Mystic to Religion. I've been lazy on the religion end (when are my holidays again) but I'm still wary of doing magic (despite a newfound interest).  

[Kal Eldritch]

As beautiful as religion can be, and as enthralled as I am with their myth's, I can't seem to mesh into any sort of belief system quite completely. So far, it's been mostly magic, but lately, mysticism as a facet of magic to reinforce my belief in the supernatural.  

[blindfaith^_^]

My practices lean towards a focus on mysticism and then magic. I don't have the religion part quite working into the mesh at all right now or maybe ever. As far as what I like to talk about, I'm pretty comfortable and interested in all topics though, even if my own practices lack the religion aspect.  

[in the flicker.]

my practices definately lean more towards mysticism (with some religion mixed in there) rather than magic.

also, i agree with fiddlers green on this one: to me, most everything in nature is a miracle and worth taking some time to look at and ponder. and so the distinction between religion and mysticism is blurry at best, for me.  

[Kuroiban]

I can't say I favor one over the others, nor ignore one for the gain of the others. I haven't fond myself willing to practice magic without a religion to lend some definition to the world, nor have I been able to find some mystical sense of connection.

THusly I'm sort of a squarely fence sitting on this one.  

[Scathefyre]

I'm very Mysticism inclined but Magic kind of goes hand in hand with that. I have problems with Religion though, I'm an ex atheist and even though I can kind of believe in something I'm not sure what that something is and sometimes I'm not sure if it's one thing or the other or if I can trust in it (my mind is a very vast an empty place when it comes to trust.)

But now I'm kind of rambling off topic so I'll leave it at the order of:

1. Mysticism
2. Magic
3. Religion  

[Pelta]

I'd say magic first.

Although I connect with my Gods a lot, nothing I do can really be described as ritualistic, so that kind of cuts me out of the religion definition for this thread.

That leaves me with being somewhat mystical in relation to my Gods, although the idea of a mystic leaves me with a mental image of stuffy old scholars in rooms of musty bookshelves. I'm allergic to musty bookshelves.  

[CuAnnan]

I seem to find myself unable to dissect my religion like that.
In alphabetical order (magic, mystic, religion):

Fiddler has called me a magus... and I practice a fair amount of magic, no doubts about that.
I am a mystic. No doubts about that.
And there's a profound relationship between God and adherant....

Can't say I care enough to prioritise them.  

[Starlock]

I have a problem similar to that of Fiddler's Green. While I don't have this nailed down yet, I keep finding very little if any difference between magic and the divine; I question, then, if these are even really two different things. It often feels to me that these are two labels put on largely the same phenomena, but that's partly because of how I see the divine as well. Others with more concrete/transcendent visions of the divine would doubtless disagree with me here. Given that disclaimer...

Magic - I honestly don't practice this much in day-to-day life. Most expressions of magic in my practice come out of the religious aspects or interacting with otherworlds.

Religion - Most of what I do falls here. A large chunk of my practice is reading, research, and info gathering; then reflecting upon what I've read and drawing lines of connection between things. That helps me to better understand the divine world around us. The ritual/spellwork I DO do, most often is towards synching with some sort of divine essence or in honor of some divine essence.

Mysticism - depending on how the disclaimer above is handeled, this could be what I classify as. (shrugs)

Labeling things has a tendancy to distort them as much as define them. I am what I am... the label is generally unimportant to me.  

[AingealOreiad]

Nuri

(when are my holidays again) .

Most of the time, I don't think anyone really knows...
blaugh