Religion questionnaire
Gotten from nancylebov.
1) Do you believe in God?
The obvious wiseass answer is, of course, "Which one?" but honestly, I don't do belief so much.
I'm a hard agnostic ("I don't know and you don't either") and even if I had beliefs on this subject, I don't think they actually matter. I choose to act as though there are gods; whether or not those gods are independent entities, emergent properties of explorations of human consciousness a-la-Jung, metaphorical refractions, products of a disturbed mind, or some other thing entirely is irrelevant. The gods in question do not appear to think I treat them with less respect than They would prefer.
At the same time as the above, I'm also working on the whole Pratchett-style witchcraft thing, which leads me to this quotation: "Most witches don’t believe in gods. They know that the gods exist, of course. They even deal with them occasionally. But they don’t believe in them. They know them too well. It would be like believing in the postman."
(It's that bit that probably underlies my basic theism.)
2) Define God.
A god is an elemental entity that possesses sia and universal manifestation within its domains. (This is a slightly circular definition, as the simple definition of "sia" is "divine knowledge". But, continuing....)
"Elemental" in this case means possessing a pure, indivisible essence. To be simplistic: A tree god is a god of trees, and contains no parts which do not consist of tree-ness. It can even be said that if one points at tree-ness one is indicating the god. (Divine elements are not actually that simplistic, in my experience; there are an infinity of them and it is interesting to explore the nature of them in order to approach an understanding of the un-speakable core thereof. But we will run with this example.)
Sia, divine knowledge, indicates that the god has the knowledge of or the capacity for knowledge of all things pertaining to its element. That simplistic hypothetical tree god knows everything there is to know about every tree that exists; it only knows of non-tree-related things as it is informed. (It knows a little about lightning because of the way it impinges upon the growth properties of oaks; it would only know about how it is generated if someone said.) Depending on how one defines the element "tree-ness" it may also have knowledge of branching logic systems or the kabbalah, as a for example to indicate that even the simplistic definition is not simple.
Universal manifestation means that wherever the element is, there is the god or the potential for the god. If there is a tree, the tree-god is there. This distinguishes a god from, say, the elemental spirit of that tree, which knows nothing of other trees, even those of its same species.
(And, of course, depending on how you contain and constrain the definitions, that spirit of that tree or the spirit of elm trees or what have you could be construed to be much smaller gods. Generally speaking I think of non-god entities as being composite rather than elemental, but it is possible to slice this metaphorical cake differently. Thus if you asked me "Am I a god?" or "Are you a god?" I would have to answer that it depends on your sense of scale and reference frame. Personally, in my working framework of the moment, that portion of me which has sia of my elemental nature is something I would like to have better communication with - but it is distinct from my conscious being in many ways, no matter how I would minimise it. Different gods nonetheless have clearly different sizes.)
3) What religion were you raised with?
I wasn't, really. My parents were (as far as I can tell) nonbelieving Christians of different denominations. We celebrated Santa Brings Pressies and Bunny Candy Day.
I attended a Methodist church after, at one point (I was told much later) the neighbors expressed concern about my receipt of appropriate spiritual guidance.
4) Do you practice that religion?
No. I have a lingering fondness for it, but it was made quite clear to me that I did not belong there when I was eight or nine or so, encountered a feeling that I identify as the presence of the Holy Spirit, and recognised that I was not a part of the community that it was there for. That combined with readings of Bible stories in which the divine was an active presence in the lives of the characters interestingly.
I decided somewhere around then that I was going to hold out for a god that was interested in being an active presence in my life.
4a)Any subsequent religions? (I added this question.)
Several.
I was into neo-Wicca back in high school, which is the timeframe in which there were accessible public books, but before those books were all shit-tastic. I eventually drifted out of it because, while it was more compatible with me than what I had previously, it was extremely incompatible with me on several other levels. (Depth of available theology, ritual practices, and gender issues, primarily.)
I wound up an Egyptian reconstructionist through a sequence of odd events in, I believe, the early 2000s. My reaction to Kemetic ritual the first go around was roughly, "Whoa. That was the best fucking ground and center I've ever encountered." My practice has gotten oddly more nebulous, more concrete, and less strictly reconstructionist over the intervening years, both as I have learned more and as I have gotten more frustrated with unfortunate elements of both Egyptian recon and the practice of reconstructionism in general.
I started training in the Craft in a largely exoteric fashion about six years ago (gracious) and have gotten less and less willing to talk about it over time.
I am rattling through an interesting process of becoming a Unitarian Universalist, and attend a lovely UU church. I find my church's theology (as expressed by the senior minister and certain guest preachers) to be essentially Kemetic ethics without the Egyptian symbolism. Also, it tickles my funnybone as a pagan to have returned to one of the modern manifestations of the religion of my ancestors. (By which I mean "the Puritans".)
5) Your most spiritual moment?
This question strikes me as from the same school of thought as "Your wedding day is the best day of your life!" I find its assumptions questionable and its attitudes abhorrent.
6) The last time you were in a house of worship...
About two weeks ago. Missed church last week due to exhaustion and illness.
7) Death is...
Simultaneously overblown as a religious subject in ways that piss me off and utterly disrespected.
8) How do you picture the end of the world?
I don't. Eschatology pisses me off even more than death obsession.
Aside from that I agree with nancylebov and will quote her: "The earth will eventually be engulfed by the sun unless people move it to a more distant orbit."
9) God has spoken to you...
Several, on occasion. Professional hazard of being a mystic.
There is no question #10, apparently.
11) Do you feel that most wars started because of religious conflict?
No. Most wars started over resource access and territory control, with a sidebar of urge to power. Religious conflict provides a handy rallying excuse especially when one gets to "they have different gods and thus they're WRONG" as a mindset. (Personally, I'm like most tribal folks; "they have different gods" is perfectly normal, as if they had the same gods they'd be us, not them. Us vs. them issues are not resolved by this, but it tends to remove gods as a solid excuse for conflict of themselves.)
12) Does life exist on other planets?
It would be far-fetched to assume otherwise.
13) Have they made contact with us?
If they've made contact with me they have very good disguises.
14) Do you believe that we are descendants of Adam and Eve.
If I were to be the sort of person who does belief, I'd pick my own mythology, not someone else's.
15) Do you believe in evolution?
It happens whether or not I believe in it or not. "Belief" is a particularly silly notion here.
16) Do you believe in astrology?
See above about belief. But it's a really entertaining toy.
Symbol-sets are just symbol-sets.
17) Do you read your horoscope? 18) If yes, why?
Sometimes I check in on Free Will Astrology when I see someone on my flist has posted theirs, because it's funny.
19) Have you ever been in psychotherapy?
Yes.
20) If yes, why?
Dunno why I was in and out of it in my childhood, honestly; probably had to do with my social issues and depression. My actual effective time in therapy was for major depression and social anxiety.
21) Do you believe in reincarnation?
I consider it largely irrelevant.
22) If reincarnation exists, what would you like to come back as?
... if reincarnation exists, then the currently formulated I will have dissolved as a functional entity, and its likes or dislikes won't likely register on the universe.
That being said, I suppose something that has a reasonably pleasant life, because I would rather not add unpleasantness.
23)Anything else you'd like to add?
I think I'll do this pagan questionnaire from luellon too!
BASIC
Do you have a magical/Pagan name?
I've had 'Darkhawk' as a handle since I was fourteen and into neo-Wicca. Over the last few years I've been less comfortable with defaulting to it for a wide variety of personal reasons, but it's a perfectly good net-handle so it sticks around. (Among other things, it's eight characters long. As are the other two things I use when it is taken.)
What does it mean?
Those predatory bird things, right? Not a light colored one.
(In a more metaphysical sense, it actually makes reference to the chaotic/intuitive side of the Apollonian/Dionysian split.)
How did you find Paganism?
io lent me a Cunningham book.
How long have you been practicing?
Vague paganness since 1992 or 1993, I guess. Others answered above.
Solitary or group practitioner?
Mu. I have my individual practice, I have my family practice, I have the extended Kemetic community, I have the extended Craft community, I have my UU church. And probably some other stuff too.
What is your path?
Inordinately complicated and currently scaring the everliving fuck out of me.
Are you out of the broom closet?
I don't do closets.
DEITY
Who is your patron god?
Oh, fuck, I see from this context that it's got 'patron god' and 'patron goddess' as separate things. That kind of annoys me.
Let's put it this way:
Neb.y Set owns my ass. I am pledged to Hetharu(-Nut)'s service as Her warrior. Khnum is probably my actual patron if you look at it in terms of what the words mean, but He isn't a focus of my practice and devotion to the extent of the above two. Wepwawet matters a hell of a lot in ways that are complicated and in many ways dictate my studies.
What gods do you worship?
Gods of Egypt.
Gods of Feri.
Lilitu.
Ganesha.
I also have a shrine which in part belongs to Brighid.
Do you fear darkly aspected Gods/Goddess, or rather respect them?
Set owns my ass.
Do you worship the Christian God?
No.
Do you ever worship animals? Or plants?
They have decent odds of being theophanies, but I don't know any of those personally.
NATURE
Do you regularly commune with nature?
I'm natural. There's no escaping it, yo.
Ever walked barefoot in the woods?
Occasionally.
Describe the moment you felt closest to Mother Earth?
Mmm, gender issues. Yummy.
I've been better at my World Tree meditations since KJ was born, though.
Do you have a familiar?
No.
Have you ever called upon the powers of an animal in ritual? Or a plant?
Back to consequences of mysticism, though I suppose that's not inherent.
Do you hug trees?
That's autumnesquirrel's job.
Give them gifts?
As appropriate.
What is your favourite tree to work with?
Mu.
WHEEL OF THE YEAR
I'ma skip this section rather than bitch about the assumption that "pagan" means "Wiccan ritual calendar".
DIVINATION
Do you use Tarot?
On occasion.
Do you use runes? A pendulum? Dowsing rods? Astrology?
No.
Any other form of divination?
Yes.
SPELLS
... skip most of these, because honestly I can't remember the answers to 'em, but:
What was the most powerful spell you’ve ever performed?
The one that led to KJ's conception.
What deities do you usually call on?
Me.
... yoi, the rest of this mostly makes me want to bang my head on a wall, so I'll stop.
1) Do you believe in God?
The obvious wiseass answer is, of course, "Which one?" but honestly, I don't do belief so much.
I'm a hard agnostic ("I don't know and you don't either") and even if I had beliefs on this subject, I don't think they actually matter. I choose to act as though there are gods; whether or not those gods are independent entities, emergent properties of explorations of human consciousness a-la-Jung, metaphorical refractions, products of a disturbed mind, or some other thing entirely is irrelevant. The gods in question do not appear to think I treat them with less respect than They would prefer.
At the same time as the above, I'm also working on the whole Pratchett-style witchcraft thing, which leads me to this quotation: "Most witches don’t believe in gods. They know that the gods exist, of course. They even deal with them occasionally. But they don’t believe in them. They know them too well. It would be like believing in the postman."
(It's that bit that probably underlies my basic theism.)
2) Define God.
A god is an elemental entity that possesses sia and universal manifestation within its domains. (This is a slightly circular definition, as the simple definition of "sia" is "divine knowledge". But, continuing....)
"Elemental" in this case means possessing a pure, indivisible essence. To be simplistic: A tree god is a god of trees, and contains no parts which do not consist of tree-ness. It can even be said that if one points at tree-ness one is indicating the god. (Divine elements are not actually that simplistic, in my experience; there are an infinity of them and it is interesting to explore the nature of them in order to approach an understanding of the un-speakable core thereof. But we will run with this example.)
Sia, divine knowledge, indicates that the god has the knowledge of or the capacity for knowledge of all things pertaining to its element. That simplistic hypothetical tree god knows everything there is to know about every tree that exists; it only knows of non-tree-related things as it is informed. (It knows a little about lightning because of the way it impinges upon the growth properties of oaks; it would only know about how it is generated if someone said.) Depending on how one defines the element "tree-ness" it may also have knowledge of branching logic systems or the kabbalah, as a for example to indicate that even the simplistic definition is not simple.
Universal manifestation means that wherever the element is, there is the god or the potential for the god. If there is a tree, the tree-god is there. This distinguishes a god from, say, the elemental spirit of that tree, which knows nothing of other trees, even those of its same species.
(And, of course, depending on how you contain and constrain the definitions, that spirit of that tree or the spirit of elm trees or what have you could be construed to be much smaller gods. Generally speaking I think of non-god entities as being composite rather than elemental, but it is possible to slice this metaphorical cake differently. Thus if you asked me "Am I a god?" or "Are you a god?" I would have to answer that it depends on your sense of scale and reference frame. Personally, in my working framework of the moment, that portion of me which has sia of my elemental nature is something I would like to have better communication with - but it is distinct from my conscious being in many ways, no matter how I would minimise it. Different gods nonetheless have clearly different sizes.)
3) What religion were you raised with?
I wasn't, really. My parents were (as far as I can tell) nonbelieving Christians of different denominations. We celebrated Santa Brings Pressies and Bunny Candy Day.
I attended a Methodist church after, at one point (I was told much later) the neighbors expressed concern about my receipt of appropriate spiritual guidance.
4) Do you practice that religion?
No. I have a lingering fondness for it, but it was made quite clear to me that I did not belong there when I was eight or nine or so, encountered a feeling that I identify as the presence of the Holy Spirit, and recognised that I was not a part of the community that it was there for. That combined with readings of Bible stories in which the divine was an active presence in the lives of the characters interestingly.
I decided somewhere around then that I was going to hold out for a god that was interested in being an active presence in my life.
4a)Any subsequent religions? (I added this question.)
Several.
I was into neo-Wicca back in high school, which is the timeframe in which there were accessible public books, but before those books were all shit-tastic. I eventually drifted out of it because, while it was more compatible with me than what I had previously, it was extremely incompatible with me on several other levels. (Depth of available theology, ritual practices, and gender issues, primarily.)
I wound up an Egyptian reconstructionist through a sequence of odd events in, I believe, the early 2000s. My reaction to Kemetic ritual the first go around was roughly, "Whoa. That was the best fucking ground and center I've ever encountered." My practice has gotten oddly more nebulous, more concrete, and less strictly reconstructionist over the intervening years, both as I have learned more and as I have gotten more frustrated with unfortunate elements of both Egyptian recon and the practice of reconstructionism in general.
I started training in the Craft in a largely exoteric fashion about six years ago (gracious) and have gotten less and less willing to talk about it over time.
I am rattling through an interesting process of becoming a Unitarian Universalist, and attend a lovely UU church. I find my church's theology (as expressed by the senior minister and certain guest preachers) to be essentially Kemetic ethics without the Egyptian symbolism. Also, it tickles my funnybone as a pagan to have returned to one of the modern manifestations of the religion of my ancestors. (By which I mean "the Puritans".)
5) Your most spiritual moment?
This question strikes me as from the same school of thought as "Your wedding day is the best day of your life!" I find its assumptions questionable and its attitudes abhorrent.
6) The last time you were in a house of worship...
About two weeks ago. Missed church last week due to exhaustion and illness.
7) Death is...
Simultaneously overblown as a religious subject in ways that piss me off and utterly disrespected.
8) How do you picture the end of the world?
I don't. Eschatology pisses me off even more than death obsession.
Aside from that I agree with nancylebov and will quote her: "The earth will eventually be engulfed by the sun unless people move it to a more distant orbit."
9) God has spoken to you...
Several, on occasion. Professional hazard of being a mystic.
There is no question #10, apparently.
11) Do you feel that most wars started because of religious conflict?
No. Most wars started over resource access and territory control, with a sidebar of urge to power. Religious conflict provides a handy rallying excuse especially when one gets to "they have different gods and thus they're WRONG" as a mindset. (Personally, I'm like most tribal folks; "they have different gods" is perfectly normal, as if they had the same gods they'd be us, not them. Us vs. them issues are not resolved by this, but it tends to remove gods as a solid excuse for conflict of themselves.)
12) Does life exist on other planets?
It would be far-fetched to assume otherwise.
13) Have they made contact with us?
If they've made contact with me they have very good disguises.
14) Do you believe that we are descendants of Adam and Eve.
If I were to be the sort of person who does belief, I'd pick my own mythology, not someone else's.
15) Do you believe in evolution?
It happens whether or not I believe in it or not. "Belief" is a particularly silly notion here.
16) Do you believe in astrology?
See above about belief. But it's a really entertaining toy.
Symbol-sets are just symbol-sets.
17) Do you read your horoscope? 18) If yes, why?
Sometimes I check in on Free Will Astrology when I see someone on my flist has posted theirs, because it's funny.
19) Have you ever been in psychotherapy?
Yes.
20) If yes, why?
Dunno why I was in and out of it in my childhood, honestly; probably had to do with my social issues and depression. My actual effective time in therapy was for major depression and social anxiety.
21) Do you believe in reincarnation?
I consider it largely irrelevant.
22) If reincarnation exists, what would you like to come back as?
... if reincarnation exists, then the currently formulated I will have dissolved as a functional entity, and its likes or dislikes won't likely register on the universe.
That being said, I suppose something that has a reasonably pleasant life, because I would rather not add unpleasantness.
23)Anything else you'd like to add?
I think I'll do this pagan questionnaire from luellon too!
BASIC
Do you have a magical/Pagan name?
I've had 'Darkhawk' as a handle since I was fourteen and into neo-Wicca. Over the last few years I've been less comfortable with defaulting to it for a wide variety of personal reasons, but it's a perfectly good net-handle so it sticks around. (Among other things, it's eight characters long. As are the other two things I use when it is taken.)
What does it mean?
Those predatory bird things, right? Not a light colored one.
(In a more metaphysical sense, it actually makes reference to the chaotic/intuitive side of the Apollonian/Dionysian split.)
How did you find Paganism?
io lent me a Cunningham book.
How long have you been practicing?
Vague paganness since 1992 or 1993, I guess. Others answered above.
Solitary or group practitioner?
Mu. I have my individual practice, I have my family practice, I have the extended Kemetic community, I have the extended Craft community, I have my UU church. And probably some other stuff too.
What is your path?
Inordinately complicated and currently scaring the everliving fuck out of me.
Are you out of the broom closet?
I don't do closets.
DEITY
Who is your patron god?
Oh, fuck, I see from this context that it's got 'patron god' and 'patron goddess' as separate things. That kind of annoys me.
Let's put it this way:
Neb.y Set owns my ass. I am pledged to Hetharu(-Nut)'s service as Her warrior. Khnum is probably my actual patron if you look at it in terms of what the words mean, but He isn't a focus of my practice and devotion to the extent of the above two. Wepwawet matters a hell of a lot in ways that are complicated and in many ways dictate my studies.
What gods do you worship?
Gods of Egypt.
Gods of Feri.
Lilitu.
Ganesha.
I also have a shrine which in part belongs to Brighid.
Do you fear darkly aspected Gods/Goddess, or rather respect them?
Set owns my ass.
Do you worship the Christian God?
No.
Do you ever worship animals? Or plants?
They have decent odds of being theophanies, but I don't know any of those personally.
NATURE
Do you regularly commune with nature?
I'm natural. There's no escaping it, yo.
Ever walked barefoot in the woods?
Occasionally.
Describe the moment you felt closest to Mother Earth?
Mmm, gender issues. Yummy.
I've been better at my World Tree meditations since KJ was born, though.
Do you have a familiar?
No.
Have you ever called upon the powers of an animal in ritual? Or a plant?
Back to consequences of mysticism, though I suppose that's not inherent.
Do you hug trees?
That's autumnesquirrel's job.
Give them gifts?
As appropriate.
What is your favourite tree to work with?
Mu.
WHEEL OF THE YEAR
I'ma skip this section rather than bitch about the assumption that "pagan" means "Wiccan ritual calendar".
DIVINATION
Do you use Tarot?
On occasion.
Do you use runes? A pendulum? Dowsing rods? Astrology?
No.
Any other form of divination?
Yes.
SPELLS
... skip most of these, because honestly I can't remember the answers to 'em, but:
What was the most powerful spell you’ve ever performed?
The one that led to KJ's conception.
What deities do you usually call on?
Me.
... yoi, the rest of this mostly makes me want to bang my head on a wall, so I'll stop.