Religious Knowledge Thread

[Legolas_Frodo_Aragorn]

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
Are these rituals kind of like...um...I suppose praying is the best example, something one does to honour/worship the God and Goddess?

many things
depends on the season, mostly. And what phase of the moon, zodiacs, and planets can be what the spell depends on. but you could meditate and thank the g-d for the sunny day, and the
g-ddess for moon filled night. And everytime you do a spell, you call them, and when your done, you thank them for it

Since wiccans beleive that the g-d adn the g-ddess are in everything, let say if you spread out birdseed for birds, and said thatnks to them, that would be one

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Okay, then; I don't think that's what I was talking about. I meant rather actual witchcraft with actual magic effects, which, if I am understanding right, is not what you mean?

[Ninquelote]

Um, nope.

[TinuvielChild]

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
Are these rituals kind of like...um...I suppose praying is the best example, something one does to honour/worship the God and Goddess?

Pretty much, yeah. Then there are the ones that have some other purpose, like if you're asking for protection or healing for someone like a family member, or whatever. And then there are the ones on the holidays, like Beltane and Samhain. Those are the ones that are focused almost entirely on honouring/worshiping the God and Goddess, sort of like Christian Christmas/Easter church services. Hope that helped.

[Ninquelote]

Blech! I mean yes. Yes I used to pray to them.

[TinuvielChild]

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
Okay, then; I don't think that's what I was talking about. I meant rather actual witchcraft with actual magic effects, which, if I am understanding right, is not what you mean?

What exactly do you mean by "actual witchcraft with actual magic effects"? Because I recall a rather famous quote:

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

There's a fine line between the "religion" part of Wicca, and the "magick" part. Some people only follow it for the religion, and some people only follow it for the magick. Some people integrate the whole religion into their lives. I'm not sure what you're asking here...

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I suppose I mean a ritual the sole purpose of which was to achieve a magical effect.

[TinuvielChild]

Originally posted by Ninquelote
Blech! I mean yes. Yes I used to pray to them.

?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Originally posted by Ninquelote
Blech! I mean yes. Yes I used to pray to them.

Did you perform rituals for the sole purpose of evoking magickal effect?

[TinuvielChild]

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
I suppose I mean a ritual the sole purpose of which was to achieve a magical effect.

Yes, Wiccans do those, but they usually also involve some invocation to the God/Goddess (in the case of a ritual focused solely on achieving a magical effect, it'd be a specific God/Goddess, such as Aphrodite, or Pan, etc). It's kind of hard to separate the praying aspect from the asking-for-something aspect, because most people realize that in order for them to get what they are asking for, they can't just throw the request out there and hope that something will grant it; they want to ask a specific entity for it.

[Legolas_Frodo_Aragorn]

wiccans beleive that everyone has magickal energy in them, but conjuring it up is what takes work, you suppose to build your own "cone" of power, then use it to help make a spell work

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Would these invocations be in a...I dunno...almost a "formulaic" form? Or would it just be something like, "Dear Athena, this is TinuvielChild. Please grant me wisdom in the days to come"?

[TinuvielChild]

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
Would these invocations be in a...I dunno...almost a "formulaic" form? Or would it just be something like, "Dear Athena, this is TinuvielChild. Please grant me wisdom in the days to come"?

Hmm. I think it all depends on the individual, really. I mean, I know people who work that way, and I know people who are really focused on the ritual format - casting a circle, conjuring the quarters, invoking the God/Goddess, etc. When I do rituals for a specific purpose, they tend to be more informal - more like simple prayer, like your "Dear Athena, this is TinuvielChild. Please grant me wisdom in the days to come" example, though usually worded a bit more formally - in almost Shakespearean language, you know what I mean? Somehow it seems more...I don't know, more proper? Not quite the word I'm looking for...like the language used in the KJV. It just doesn't seem right to approach a higher being using language you'd use to address your best friend. Respectful! That's the word I was looking for...That's just me, though - you'd have to ask L_F_A or Ninquelote or one of the others for their point of view on this.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Nin isn't Wiccan anymore, so she wouldn't do it in any way.

King James English, I believe it's called.

Okay, thanks for answering those questions. Now we just have all the others...

The Lady of Ithilien
Doesn’t anyone have any questions for Buddhists?

LoI: I believe Lief said something on another thread about asking Buddhists why they felt that this was where Truth lie, or something along those lines.

The Lady of Ithilien
Interesting. Do more primitive religions act primarily out of fear, while the members of four of the five great religions currently (the fifth -- I'm serious -- being irreligion) are advanced beyond fear into worship or another form of intellectual activity?

GW
what is the Catholic foundation for the practice of "praying" to and canonizing Saints? What is the Scriptural basis?

GW
To Coney: In what way do you worship your Gods?

GW:

To Jews:
1. Do you believe in Kabbalah, and could you give a general overview of it?

2. Do you believe in a "golem"?

3. Do you believe that if one utters the name of God (the Ineffable Name) as spelled by the Hebrew consonants, that they have no place in the World to Come?

4. Could you give a general overview of your stance on animal sacrifice, if the Temple were rebuilt?

And any others other folk wish to ask.

Maaaarkedel, Coooooney, Aaaaarien!

[TinuvielChild]

I've got a question for devout Muslims - How do you pray at the five times daily if you have a 9-to-5 or if you go to a public school?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Are there any Muslims on this board?

[TinuvielChild]

Dunno. Actually, probably not - at least, none that I've run into so far. This makes it rather hard to answer my question, doesn't it...

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Alas! :One religion I can't learn much about.

[Legolas_Frodo_Aragorn]

Originally posted by TinuvielChild
Hmm. I think it all depends on the individual, really. I mean, I know people who work that way, and I know people who are really focused on the ritual format - casting a circle, conjuring the quarters, invoking the God/Goddess, etc. When I do rituals for a specific purpose, they tend to be more informal - more like simple prayer, like your "Dear Athena, this is TinuvielChild. Please grant me wisdom in the days to come" example, though usually worded a bit more formally - in almost Shakespearean language, you know what I mean? Somehow it seems more...I don't know, more proper? Not quite the word I'm looking for...like the language used in the KJV. It just doesn't seem right to approach a higher being using language you'd use to address your best friend. Respectful! That's the word I was looking for...That's just me, though - you'd have to ask L_F_A or Ninquelote or one of the others for their point of view on this.

yea. personally i like to do it sorta formally*runs to get book of shadows, realizes is at dads house, swears proundly*, like open the circle, call the g-d adn the g-ddes, call the elements, invoke the elements, do the spell, thank everyone and close the circle.

it helps if u ryme the spells, it gets you into more of a mindset to concentrate on it i think

edit: i changed it to mindset

[TinuvielChild]

Originally posted by Legolas_Frodo_Aragorn
it helps if u ryme the spells, it gets you into more of a midste to concentrate on it i think

Calling Afro-elf...Afro-elf, Moriquendian Lord of Typos, will you please translate the word "midste" into English...


[edit]Ohhhhh, you meant "mindset". Okay...(sorry, I tend to have a little bit of difficulty with words that are horribly mutilated by typing errors, as my good friend DaughterofElros can tell you)