Talk About Hitting Some Nails On the Head!!!
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Religious-and-Cultural-Paganism-Gus-diZerega-11-11-2011?offset=1&max=1
I'd noticed this...difference, this separation, in the indigenous religions of North America...or rather the 'god-fearing Christians' that participated in the cultural celebrations of the paths of the First Nations. This author (Gus DiZerga) takes it one step over the pond to Lithuania and the difference between cultural and religious paganism. I thought it was definitely worth a plug. I strive for both. Or rather, my heart cries for the lost ways of the Ancestors, and longs for and searches for ways to honor them, as well as live life in a modern world and not lose touch with Nature so much that the 'the Wheel kills the butterfly', so to speak. That's a nod to "Paradise" by Coldplay.
I dunno if that's the meaning they wished people to get out of it or not, but after it was brought back to my attention my someone close to me who is going through her own spiritual disconnect from her childhood faith of Christianity, it became even more clear to me that I am on the right path. I can no longer shackle myself to people with such a sense of entitlement that it chokes the knowledge and wisdom out of what they profess to want to learn. I'm convinced, like the saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." Well you can lead someone to knowledge, or wisdom, but you can't make them think!" I never realized how hard I was trying to do just that...and how tired I had gotten of doing it.
I'm not depressed in the ordinary sense of the word I don't think. But apathy disgusts me, and I was seeing a little too much of that in the mirror when I would look of late. Add to that all the changes and transitions and gods, the physical challenges of menopause and auto immune disease flares...well, I'm purty near exhausted, but I'm still kickin' and with enough curiosity to make me want to stick around just to see what happens next. If nothing else, in selecting tags for these entries, I've realized I've outgrown a few whose entries can be reclassified and those tags can be retired. Go me.
I'd noticed this...difference, this separation, in the indigenous religions of North America...or rather the 'god-fearing Christians' that participated in the cultural celebrations of the paths of the First Nations. This author (Gus DiZerga) takes it one step over the pond to Lithuania and the difference between cultural and religious paganism. I thought it was definitely worth a plug. I strive for both. Or rather, my heart cries for the lost ways of the Ancestors, and longs for and searches for ways to honor them, as well as live life in a modern world and not lose touch with Nature so much that the 'the Wheel kills the butterfly', so to speak. That's a nod to "Paradise" by Coldplay.
I dunno if that's the meaning they wished people to get out of it or not, but after it was brought back to my attention my someone close to me who is going through her own spiritual disconnect from her childhood faith of Christianity, it became even more clear to me that I am on the right path. I can no longer shackle myself to people with such a sense of entitlement that it chokes the knowledge and wisdom out of what they profess to want to learn. I'm convinced, like the saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." Well you can lead someone to knowledge, or wisdom, but you can't make them think!" I never realized how hard I was trying to do just that...and how tired I had gotten of doing it.
I'm not depressed in the ordinary sense of the word I don't think. But apathy disgusts me, and I was seeing a little too much of that in the mirror when I would look of late. Add to that all the changes and transitions and gods, the physical challenges of menopause and auto immune disease flares...well, I'm purty near exhausted, but I'm still kickin' and with enough curiosity to make me want to stick around just to see what happens next. If nothing else, in selecting tags for these entries, I've realized I've outgrown a few whose entries can be reclassified and those tags can be retired. Go me.