Becoming a rune dancing priestess

Jesus was not the first to come up with that idea and like all monotheistic religions, it comes with a whole load of authoritarian baggage.

Paganism is all about experiencing the divine, and not about being told what to believe.
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you are right about that…cant we have both nature and jesus
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Jesus represents monotheism, and is just one of a long line of self-styled prophets telling others what to do. Monotheism is the antithesis of Paganism, the de-sacralising of nature and life.
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but maia -----lets forget jesus…what about the golden rule…

What’s the golden rule?

please see ted talk by Karen Armstrong…

I still cannot see how a type of coping done in the infancy of the human race can be valid now in our adolescence. (The race has not yet approached maturity.) Shouldn’t we move on and put away childish things?

I don’t think this is “childish things”…after church yesterday I find the resurrection of jesus to be a big problem for me…

Resurrection of Jesus has nothing to do with runic (sympathetic) magic. It has to do with aspiring that what we see in the flesh is not the whole picture of reality. Jesus has more to do with hope than with magic. The resurrection could also be of your own renewal. For me the resurrection is proved in jonquils that pop through soil that appeared dead in winter.

duplicate post.

I am sorry ier…you cant have it both ways…the majority opinion in most Christian churches is actual life after death for jesus and for us…

The ways are the same.

here is the problem…you say the pagan ways are childish…I say this Christian way is causing people to stay away from church…the fundies are the majority player and they insist on magical thinking…
I know you can see it both ways but when you call the pagan a child and grow up… I have a problem with those words…

You noted it well. Fundie magical thinking is immature. I think all people will be judged according to their level of spiritual maturity. There are lesser and greater in the kingdom of heaven. However, I think we have digressed somewhat from the OP.

“Who, by thinking, can add one cubit to his stature?”–Jesus. Sympathetic magic is an attempt to outthink the fates.

You noted it well. Fundie magical thinking is immature. I think all people will be judged according to their level of spiritual maturity. There are lesser and greater in the kingdom of heaven. However, I think we have digressed somewhat from the OP.
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we haven’t digressed…the problem at this point is maia is not here now…

we haven’t digressed…the problem at this point is maia is not here now…
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I’m here. The thing is that magic works, so these debates about “spiritual maturity” and so on are really missing the point. They are like trying to disprove the existence of electricity by theology.

I’m here. The thing is that magic works, so these debates about “spiritual maturity” and so on are really missing the point. They are like trying to disprove the existence of electricity by theology.
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maia–I am sorry… I did not write about fundie magical thinking…I am with you and not arguing about what you say…it seems to work for you…it is not immature…many so-called mature people can make awful mistakes…we are all immature…we have no idea about the big questions…can you explain more about your beliefs…some peop[le have trouble just listening to other views…what about the electricity…how does it work…I want to know

maia–I am sorry… I did not write about fundie magical thinking…I am with you and not arguing about what you say…it seems to work for you…it is not immature…many so-called mature people can make awful mistakes…we are all immature…we have no idea about the big questions…can you explain more about your beliefs…some peop[le have trouble just listening to other views…what about the electricity…how does it work…I want to know
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It’s a very big subject, too big to do it justice in a single post. I started a thread on it over a year ago, which became quite long.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=181696

maia----what are the problems with paganism as you see it…I can see a lot of problems with theism and atheism…

The main problem, I would say, is its factionalism. Its diversity is both its strength and a cause of weakness. Yet for all their arguments and disputes, Pagans always work together and never seek to slaughter each other as factions of monotheists do, with differences so minor as to appear non-existent to outsiders.

that sounds pretty good…are they like quakers…no war

Not really. Some Pagans are pacifists, others will fight for what they believe to be right.