Witches Weekly--Updated July 15th, seriously. -- old topic

[maenad nuri]

May 27, 2005
Your Deities


What type of theistic structure do you follow? God and/or Goddess, gods, or some form of everything/all is god?

Have you ever felt his/her/its/their presence directly?

How and where do you pray to or honor him/her/it/them?  

[Ailinea]

What type of theistic structure do you follow? God and/or Goddess, gods, or some form of everything/all is god? I don't have one direct belief. I do honor different Gods and Goddesses, from different pantheons, but I'm not dedicated to any one deity.

Have you ever felt his/her/its/their presence directly? Yes.

How and where do you pray to or honor him/her/it/them? During ritual, and most nights before I go to bed I do a small prayer and relay everything that happened throughout the day, my feelings, and thank the elements and a non-direct God and Goddess for how the day went. I have a pillow underneath my altar, since it is quite low to the ground. That is where I do most of my prayers.  

[Spring-heeled Jill]

May 27, 2005
Your Deities


What type of theistic structure do you follow? God and/or Goddess, gods, or some form of everything/all is god?

I'm still searching. Persephone is the only deity that I've had contact with, and I love the myth surrounding her. I don't have a structure at the moment, but I feel that everything is god, but there are god/desses with their own personalities and are separate.
To make that more clear: I see the world as a divine creation of male and female energy. each of these is it's own deity in a sense. I tend to follow them as the basic Wicca pair. (the horn god and the goddess.) I also honor Ganesha and Persephone (not together.) in separate rituals or prayers.

Have you ever felt his/her/its/their presence directly? Persephone is the only one so far. It was in meditation.

How and where do you pray to or honor him/her/it/them? Flowers on my alter everyday. (Persephone.) Ganesha I offer milk to sometimes. The goddess and the god I usually honor on the generic holidays. (Beltane, Samhain, Imbolc.) where usually varies. Where ever I am at an appropriate time. I offer thing on my alter or in my yard.  

[maenad nuri]

Nuri

What type of theistic structure do you follow? God and/or Goddess, gods, or some form of everything/all is god?

The Hellenic Pantheon. Gods gods everywhere!

Quote:

Have you ever felt his/her/its/their presence directly?

I've had a direct experience with both Apollo and Dionysos. Apollo was quite vocal at first, but he has backed off in the last few months, letting Dionysos talk more. Brothers. oy.

Quote:

How and where do you pray to or honor him/her/it/them?

I have an altar and a shrine in my apartment. I have a portable altar with me at home, and I leave gifts for the nymphs at particularly beautiful sites. There's a beautiful tree that I am convinced is a nymph on my campus.  

[KhemetianNutjeru]

What type of theistic structure do you follow? God and/or Goddess, gods, or some form of everything/all is god?
Egyptian godly goodness. A different god for everyone. (Literally)

Have you ever felt his/her/its/their presence directly?
Yes, all of the time.

How and where do you pray to or honor him/her/it/them?
I do so by performing duwa (basic prayer stance), which is sitting on knees, then lowering head to the ground, and hands in front of your head touching together with palms up and cupped. I pray by the altar that I have made with statues of my parent god and goddess. Then I give an offering of blessed water and almonds to them. (Almonds is all I have usually)  

[godhi]

May 27, 2005
Your Deities

What type of theistic structure do you follow? God and/or Goddess, gods, or some form of everything/all is god?

I'm best described as a polytheist, and as a Norse Heathen I worship the Gods and Goddesses of my ancestors: The Aesir and Vanir.
At the same time I believe that the ancestral deities of other pantheons--the Greek, Egyptian, Native American, etc. also exist, although I do not worship them.

Have you ever felt his/her/its/their presence directly?

Most certainly. I am a godhi of my religion, and addition to sensing the presence of the Gods, Goddesses, wights, ancestors, and other spirits at religious gatherings, I have traveled the Nine Worlds in dreams and visions to the abodes of the Aesir and Vanir, where I have consulted the Gods and Goddesses and listened to their counsel.

How and where do you pray to or honor him/her/it/them?

I pray to the Aesir and Vanir usings the traditional ways of my ancestors, both through silent contemplation and public gatherings where I honor them through praise of their great deeds and offerings of mead, beer, and ale.  

[maryaminx]

What type of theistic structure do you follow? God and/or Goddess, gods, or some form of everything/all is god?

Pantheism, with individual "consciousnesses". I call them by whichever name fits their attribute: fire, by an important god of fire, etc.

Have you ever felt his/her/its/their presence directly?

Not as such.

How and where do you pray to or honor him/her/it/them?

Nature, I honour by taking care of it and keeping a garden. Others, I "pray" to more or less directly.  

[I be me]

May 27, 2005
Your Deities


What type of theistic structure do you follow? God and/or Goddess, gods, or some form of everything/all is god? Gods

Have you ever felt his/her/its/their presence directly? nope

How and where do you pray to or honor him/her/it/them? I don't, I am lazy, I don't know them personally I just know they exist  

[[NEDM]]

What type of theistic structure do you follow? God and/or Goddess, gods, or some form of everything/all is god?
I always thought of the God and Goddess as simply the Lord and Lady, but I've been looking to define them with a face and personality. I'm currently looking into other deities (Celtic, Norse, and Japanese my top chices). I realize that this perhaps isn't true Wicca, in the strictest sense, but I just like the ideas of them having *some* sort of personality, even if it has nothing to do with traditional thought.

Have you ever felt his/her/its/their presence directly? Mmm..well, I did a meditation once, when I was just learning and beginning, and I had felt something from them. But otherwise, no.

How and where do you pray to or honor him/her/it/them? Well, I often try to give a little prayer of thanks before every meal, and I give thanks every day that I awake. When I can remember; I have a horrible memory, and that's not being funny.

~ domokun  

[Yukinoko87]

What type of theistic structure do you follow? God and/or Goddess, gods, or some form of everything/all is god?

At the moment I don't really follow any structure. I used to be a part of a celtic recon grove, but I haven't really been back for awhile because not only have I felt shamefully fluffy in their presence but because I find I just don't believe. For me the god/ess is everything and everyone, I'm a very group oriented person so it works for me, however I think everyone has their own personal vision of god/ess and that should always be respected.

Have you ever felt his/her/its/their presence directly?

When singing, yes. I generally always pray to some diety that is that they see me through ever permformance with good luck, and so far it's been pretty good. How I know is because there's always those few notes I have trouble doing in practice but when I get on stage...well every note is perfect and that's how I personally know that they're there.

How and where do you pray to or honor him/her/it/them?

I always try to remember the holidays and when I do I always honor it. I also take voice-lessons which I feel is a way to honor it because I find that's it's purpose for me, singing and acting. I just follow what I love to do because I know it's what it would want me to do in the long run, no matter how hard it is.  

[maenad nuri]

July 03, 2005
Pagan Clergy


Questiond donated by: Malory

1. What do you think the role of pagan clergy is in our society/communities?

2. If there was a pagan temple in your community like the Temple of Sekhmet, would you use it for a place to hold handfasting, naming, and coming of age rituals?

3. Would you feel comfortable getting counseling from a member of the pagan community?  

[CounTDeath62]

1. What do you think the role of pagan clergy is in our society/communities?

Well, seeing as I do not believe that pagan religion is one who advertises/converts people; he/she should make themselves known and available to those who have need and/or questions of them.

2. If there was a pagan temple in your community like the Temple of Sekhmet, would you use it for a place to hold handfasting, naming, and coming of age rituals?


Yes, I would. I do know of people in my area that can do such things, but have no "church" in which to do them in.

3. Would you feel comfortable getting counseling from a member of the pagan community?

Most Certainly! biggrin  

[CounTDeath62]

1. What do you think the role of pagan clergy is in our society/communities?

Well, seeing as I do not believe that pagan religion is one who advertises/converts people; he/she should make themselves known and available to those who have need and/or questions of them.

2. If there was a pagan temple in your community like the Temple of Sekhmet, would you use it for a place to hold handfasting, naming, and coming of age rituals?


Yes, I would. I do know of people in my area that can do such things, but have no "church" in which to do them in.

3. Would you feel comfortable getting counseling from a member of the pagan community?

Most Certainly! biggrin  

[Yukinoko87]

1. What do you think the role of pagan clergy is in our society/communities?

Well, I really don't know. They used to be respected and wise individuals now I really don't know what their part is except maybe to pass on that information. I've always viewed the clergy almost in a whole as that wise man/woman sitting under a tree with grey hair and a beating stick.

2. If there was a pagan temple in your community like the Temple of Sekhmet, would you use it for a place to hold handfasting, naming, and coming of age rituals?

I might, I might not. If I agreed with what the temple taught then of course I would use it for ceremonies. However, and all me a tree-hugger, I think nature is the best temple and in fact enjoying being out in it. So if I were to choose the temple or nature, I'd probably take nature any day.

3. Would you feel comfortable getting counseling from a member of the pagan community?

So long as I trusted the person and thought that what they were teaching was right, then of course. If I didn't feel that way I probably wouldn't and probably wouldn't be sitting here typing this right now.  

[Starlock]

1. What do you think the role of pagan clergy is in our society/communities?

I can't really say. I've not met one, though they do advertise their services to whoever needs it. If you're working in a group chances are you take care of that function within the group as they certainly have clergy, and if you're a solitary, chances are you like the way you do things and consider yourself your own clergy as well.

2. If there was a pagan temple in your community like the Temple of Sekhmet, would you use it for a place to hold handfasting, naming, and coming of age rituals?

I might. It's not like I have a family right now for which I would need these things for yet. No kids for naming or coming of age stuff. I might just use it as a quiet place to go to meditate.

3. Would you feel comfortable getting counseling from a member of the pagan community?

Nonprofessional counseling, yes. It can be anybody, really, but Pagan makes it even better since they're more likely to understand how I see the world. Their insight could be useful, but unless they're also a clinical psychologist, I wouldn't follow their prescriptions to the letter unless I've already developed a trust relationship with them.