Best things you can ever say as a Pagan

[[lady joker]]

TeaDidikai

[lady joker]

This is what i love most. I love to see the reactions the the Jahova people cuz i was a nudist at the time but

"well in my religion, my gods ((and goddesses))have been around for centruies. Yours been around for how long now?"

Millienia. So... you might have wanted to rethink that.

MoreSpareParts>>I agree with the first two. Not so much the last.

rethink what? i don't get it  

[Striga]

[lady joker]

TeaDidikai

[lady joker]

This is what i love most. I love to see the reactions the the Jahova people cuz i was a nudist at the time but

"well in my religion, my gods ((and goddesses))have been around for centruies. Yours been around for how long now?"

Millienia. So... you might have wanted to rethink that.

MoreSpareParts>>I agree with the first two. Not so much the last.

rethink what? i don't get it

Because Christianity has been around for almost 2 Millenia (20 centuries) now, and Judaism for a good while longer than that.  

[Elizabeth Tarion]

TeaDidikai

MoreSpareParts>>I agree with the first two. Not so much the last.

Could you please explain?
How can one be a useful magician (one who uses magic) if one doesn't use magic?  

[[lady joker]]

Striga

[lady joker]

TeaDidikai

[lady joker]

This is what i love most. I love to see the reactions the the Jahova people cuz i was a nudist at the time but

"well in my religion, my gods ((and goddesses))have been around for centruies. Yours been around for how long now?"

Millienia. So... you might have wanted to rethink that.

MoreSpareParts>>I agree with the first two. Not so much the last.

rethink what? i don't get it

Because Christianity has been around for almost 2 Millenia (20 centuries) now, and Judaism for a good while longer than that.

yeah but i thought the Greek Gods and Goddesses were before all that.  

[Cranium Squirrel]

[lady joker]

yeah but i thought the Greek Gods and Goddesses were before all that.

In historical practice.

But if you play by their theology, they still have an out - capital G God has, according to their scripture, been around since forever. And they'll use that fight against you.

Just because the codified theology hasn't been around doesn't mean the god it pertains to wasn't here. Or somesuch.  

[Henry Dorsett Case]

If you don't agree with the theology, don't follow the religion.
If you don't agree with the dogma, don't follow the man.  

[Tsuzuki]

TeaDidikai

But I tend to think most of us are far more interested in the way one holds oneself than the actual words that comes out of our mouths. So perhaps this is a bit more complex.

*insert intelligent words relevant to individual situation*  

[Tsuzuki]

Here's some general good advice:


"Our ancient Celtic ancestors said: 'Never give a sword to a man who cannot dance'.

We might well add: 'Never give a wand to anyone who cannot handle ordinary reality'.

Magick will tend to amplify whatever tendencies a person has. It will increase general incompetence in life, just as readily as it will augment competence.

Although we have seen those who started off reasonably well-organized and made a magnificent success of their lives with magick, we have observed plenty of unpromising cases taking a powered nose-dive to disaster with occult assistance.

The best orders and the best books on magick make the neophyte work very hard to gain anything. For, in brutal fact, nothing of any value comes from involving people who do not pursue excellence for its own sake in magick.

Magick does not offer an escape from ordinary reality: rather it offers a full-on confrontation with it, which one can easily lose."

- Peter J. Carroll, PsyberMagick

 

[ShadowSharrow]

Tsuzuki

Here's some general good advice:


"Our ancient Celtic ancestors said: 'Never give a sword to a man who cannot dance'.

We might well add: 'Never give a wand to anyone who cannot handle ordinary reality'.

Magick will tend to amplify whatever tendencies a person has. It will increase general incompetence in life, just as readily as it will augment competence.

Although we have seen those who started off reasonably well-organized and made a magnificent success of their lives with magick, we have observed plenty of unpromising cases taking a powered nose-dive to disaster with occult assistance.

The best orders and the best books on magick make the neophyte work very hard to gain anything. For, in brutal fact, nothing of any value comes from involving people who do not pursue excellence for its own sake in magick.

Magick does not offer an escape from ordinary reality: rather it offers a full-on confrontation with it, which one can easily lose."

- Peter J. Carroll, PsyberMagick

oh oh oh Yoink!  

[godhi]

To those who have just started upon the Pagan path, my advice would be:
Put away your mass market books on witchcraft and paganism. Go to your library and read books on anthropology, archeology, comparative religion, history, and theology. Learn why people believe the way they do.

Remember Sturgeon's Law:
90% of everything is crap.
This especially applies to books on metaphysics, witchcraft, and the occult!

...and to those who want to become Norse Heathen or Asatruar:
RTFE!*

*Read the friggin' Eddas!  

[TeaDidikai]

MoreSpareParts

TeaDidikai

MoreSpareParts>>I agree with the first two. Not so much the last.

Could you please explain?
How can one be a useful magician (one who uses magic) if one doesn't use magic?

Because thinking and providing information for others can be just as useful.

[lady joker]

Striga

[lady joker]

TeaDidikai

[lady joker]

This is what i love most. I love to see the reactions the the Jahova people cuz i was a nudist at the time but

"well in my religion, my gods ((and goddesses))have been around for centruies. Yours been around for how long now?"

Millienia. So... you might have wanted to rethink that.

MoreSpareParts>>I agree with the first two. Not so much the last.

rethink what? i don't get it

Because Christianity has been around for almost 2 Millenia (20 centuries) now, and Judaism for a good while longer than that.

yeah but i thought the Greek Gods and Goddesses were before all that.

You also only claimed centuries.  

[Elizabeth Tarion]

TeaDidikai

MoreSpareParts

TeaDidikai

MoreSpareParts>>I agree with the first two. Not so much the last.

Could you please explain?
How can one be a useful magician (one who uses magic) if one doesn't use magic?

Because thinking and providing information for others can be just as useful.

Sounds like I'm confused as to the definition of "magician".  

[NMMoriaki]

Faith is faith, mine is as important as yours. Which is not to say it outweighs yours, merely that it is as great, and in my mind, obviously correct  

[Tsuzuki]

TeaDidikai

MoreSpareParts

TeaDidikai

MoreSpareParts>>I agree with the first two. Not so much the last.

Could you please explain?
How can one be a useful magician (one who uses magic) if one doesn't use magic?

Because thinking and providing information for others can be just as useful.

That information would be a lot more useful if it were field tested.  

[Fiddlers Green]

Field testing is one thing... but there are certain things that probably shouldn't be bandied about...
We have field tested nuclear weapons... it isn't the same as using them on a day to day basis.

Besides, scholars and theorists can contribute, and one needn't be stabbed to know that a blade is sharp.

As for Tsuzuki's quote from Peter Carroll... it still hurts me to this day that I am no dancer... but that doesn't mean my swordsmanship is terrible. sweatdrop xd