very fascinating discussion. it seems to me that if we were practicing a truly ancient religion, as many of us wish we were, rather than a reinvention and reinterpretation, this would be true. if my mother and her mother, etc. had passed on a tradition, it would and should be tied to ancestry & location. but this just isn't the case for most of us.
i think whatever practices & pantheons we align our energies with, it is ok as long as a respect for that original religion is observed. it's tricky, though, & i can quite understand the British being reticent about americans adopting druid rites, but in my experience, all neopagans do this to some extent.
and in a related story, a Hindu professor of mine was delighted that i carried an image of Sarasvati with me to class.
I find the idea of gods being restrained to one part of the world rather ludicrous. Religious practices had geographical limits, yes, but not the gods themselves. As for religious practices, very little druidic practice has been verifiably preserved, so it's really very reconstructionist in philosophy, unlike Native American traditions which are a little closer chronologically to the present
( ... )
I've been meaning to look into that, however I'm leery of many sources, so I've been waiting to talk to shamanism-practitioner friends. Perhaps you have some books recommendations? Or a link?
..o O(Ok, LJ keeps eating my reply as done from within gmail, so I'm copy/pasting. If I double+ post, I apologise)O o..
I don't, really.bittercatAugust 26 2005, 15:58:36 UTC
I used to subscribe to "Shaman's Drum" magazine, I've taken classes here and there, and I've built a lot of my practice intuitively. I'm no expert, either.
The biggest key is just to open yourself to your instincts and to trust your intuition. Wish I had a better way to explain. I've had no formal training, though.
I can't believe that a connection to the gods must be restricted to geography or heritage. Especially when you consider that 1) Most of the people in America came from somewhere else at least a few generations ago and 2) If you believe in reincarnation, you may have spent several of your previous lives in one place, or connected to one god that you have no connection to in this life that you can see, yet you still feel drawn to. Stranger things have happened.
Besides, some gods just don't apply now. You'd be hard pressed if, living in Asia, you thought you were obligated to pray to one of the various goddesses of small-pox. Personaly, I wouldn't even know how to go about that, having no experience with the disease myself.
Besides, as narcissisma said, the gods shouldn't be restrained to one part of the world. If you go from the Neil Gaiman standpoint, people bring their gods with them wherever they go. So long as we believe they are there, they are.
Hope the question isn't presumptious: What helps you to choose a path / a deity?
In my case, my deity chose me, not the other way around.
If all the geographical/cultural stuff were 100% true, I should be either Christian or Roman recon, or working with the very-most-Southwest Indian tribes.
No. Who do I get tapped by?
Loki. *rolls her eyes amusedly* I've been poking a bit more at the Norse pantheon recently, and I am being called more and more strongly.
As far as I can figure, unless San Diego looks like Muspellheim or something, your gods are your gods for whatever reason, and that's just that!
And my cat appreciates your reverence! Though he says you could scratch his neck a bit more frequently.
I find it difficult to find which gods are "my" gods - being a hard-boiled scepticist and trying to find one's own religion at the same time is not a good combination.
*scritches the kitty virtually* Virtual kitties = no allergies for me. Yay. ^_^
I totally understand how you feel, by the way. I am still pretty skeptical at times. I mean, there's that whole talking-to-invisible-friends thing. ^_^;
I asked around on a different Pagan forum a few years ago as to how you'd know who your patron deity/deities were, since I didn't really have any idea as to how one would figure that out. The answers I got (sense of presence, identification, appearance in life, etc.) were enough to lead me to flippantly say, "Ha, well, that must mean mine is Loki." And then promptly got a loud-and-clear mental response of "Took you long enough to figure that out!"
It's been hard to be quite so skeptical after that. ^_^; Moral of the story: never make jokes about a trickster god. Not that I'm complaining. (:
I think which Gods a person best 'relates' to/understands has more to do with culture and mindset than it has to do with geography or blood. For instance a person may be Irish by blood, and live in America, but they may very well still have virtually no comprehension or attraction to either the Gods of Ireland or the Native American Gods of their region. They were not raised with those concepts, and those myths may seem totally foreign and alien to them. Perhaps due to their upbringing, education and just the way their mind works, they have a far better comprehension of the Roman Gods. And that understanding may possibly lead them to a religious experience, confirming their belief in and affiliation with the Gods of Rome
( ... )
Re: Tangent: American Culturec_koroneAugust 26 2005, 16:09:56 UTC
Hey, you know, when you're right, you're right. Good points.
I guess what I meant in regards to a religious culture in America, we have quite a diversity. This is not only due to an inherent diversity due to our laws, but also to the influx of immigrants from all over the world, which has been a pretty constant activity. But you are right - that is not the same thing as saying we don't have any one 'American culture'. Good call.
Comments 77
i think whatever practices & pantheons we align our energies with, it is ok as long as a respect for that original religion is observed. it's tricky, though, & i can quite understand the British being reticent about americans adopting druid rites, but in my experience, all neopagans do this to some extent.
and in a related story, a Hindu professor of mine was delighted that i carried an image of Sarasvati with me to class.
Reply
Reply
That's why I enjoy studying Shamanism. (I'm not referring to any specific culture. Just the practice.)
Reply
..o O(Ok, LJ keeps eating my reply as done from within gmail, so I'm copy/pasting. If I double+ post, I apologise)O o..
Reply
The biggest key is just to open yourself to your instincts and to trust your intuition. Wish I had a better way to explain. I've had no formal training, though.
Reply
Besides, some gods just don't apply now. You'd be hard pressed if, living in Asia, you thought you were obligated to pray to one of the various goddesses of small-pox. Personaly, I wouldn't even know how to go about that, having no experience with the disease myself.
Besides, as narcissisma said, the gods shouldn't be restrained to one part of the world. If you go from the Neil Gaiman standpoint, people bring their gods with them wherever they go. So long as we believe they are there, they are.
Reply
Reply
In my case, my deity chose me, not the other way around.
If all the geographical/cultural stuff were 100% true, I should be either Christian or Roman recon, or working with the very-most-Southwest Indian tribes.
No. Who do I get tapped by?
Loki. *rolls her eyes amusedly* I've been poking a bit more at the Norse pantheon recently, and I am being called more and more strongly.
As far as I can figure, unless San Diego looks like Muspellheim or something, your gods are your gods for whatever reason, and that's just that!
Reply
Loki.
And my cat appreciates your reverence! Though he says you could scratch his neck a bit more frequently.
I find it difficult to find which gods are "my" gods - being a hard-boiled scepticist and trying to find one's own religion at the same time is not a good combination.
Reply
I totally understand how you feel, by the way. I am still pretty skeptical at times. I mean, there's that whole talking-to-invisible-friends thing. ^_^;
I asked around on a different Pagan forum a few years ago as to how you'd know who your patron deity/deities were, since I didn't really have any idea as to how one would figure that out. The answers I got (sense of presence, identification, appearance in life, etc.) were enough to lead me to flippantly say, "Ha, well, that must mean mine is Loki." And then promptly got a loud-and-clear mental response of "Took you long enough to figure that out!"
It's been hard to be quite so skeptical after that. ^_^; Moral of the story: never make jokes about a trickster god. Not that I'm complaining. (:
Reply
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
I guess what I meant in regards to a religious culture in America, we have quite a diversity. This is not only due to an inherent diversity due to our laws, but also to the influx of immigrants from all over the world, which has been a pretty constant activity. But you are right - that is not the same thing as saying we don't have any one 'American culture'. Good call.
Reply
Leave a comment