The Christian Religion

Christianity

Understanding of Christianity is based first on the leap of faith that there is a God. The condition and nature of God varies considerably from one denomination to the other, however, God exists. Some other generally accepted views are;
God created the Heavens and the Earth. God is the fount and basis of all goodness. God knows everything.
God dwells in Heaven. This is a not easily described. Various denominations attempt to say what living there will be like but agreed specifics are hard to come by. Two principles, however, are generally agreed upon by all denominations.
a) It is the most desirable place to be.
b) God will not allow sin to enter Heaven.
c) We are all sinners, every one of us and we are born that way.

This raises an important question: “What is sin?” The answer generally is, “To disobey the will of God.” The question that logically follows then is, “What is the will of God?” With slight variations, the answer is given that: “The will of God is that you Love Him with all your heart and soul and that you accept Jesus Christ, his son, as your savior believing that he died for your sins at Calvary then rose again to conquer death and lead those without sin into the presence of God. Then strive to live the commandments of God that you may demonstrate outwardly that you are a new person inwardly.”

This is Christianity as I understand it. Various denominations within Christianity have variations on what all of the above actually means but this seems to be a common thread.

Christian beliefs and their difficulties
I have a number of difficulties with the above philosophy. Not least is the idea of worshipping a God who was tortured to death. That seems way too freaky. The belief among Christians is that this was done at the will of his father. That is disturbing.
I also find it strange that otherwise rational and sensible people will insist that the reason we are all “Born in Sin” is because a talking snake convinced a woman she should eat some fruit.
Another bothersome point is that love is shown to God and absolute devotion must be given in total faith and total love. These are the prerequisites of entrance into Heaven. “Love me or I won’t have anything to do with you and I will banish you from my home forever.” This sounds like blasphemy. It appears to take the creator of heaven and Earth, a being with the ultimate in intelligence, inspiration and creativity and give him the petulance of a small child. Moreover, this love extends to kneeling on the floor, clasping hands together with head bowed. The God who created iron, who made the wind and the storms, how can it be believed that He made slaves? How can anyone believe that He would want slaves?

Most troublesome of all is the doctrine of Hell. This is the place reserved for those who do not love God in the manner described and who reject the notion that someone could take on themselves the karma of the world. Those who refuse to believe are damned forever. If the Bible is to be believed, and Christians insist it is the word of God without lies, then hell is a place of eternal torment. A lake of fire and brimstone where the pain never ends. So somewhere out in the cosmos is a massive concentration camp. It’s not like the Reich, built for a thousand years, but for eternity. The Kommandant is God and the guards are his angels. If you ask a Christian why would God do such a thing? The answer is “Because he loves you.”

This is my understanding of Christianity along with some of the questions I have. If anyone has serious answers I’d be glad to hear them. 

Learning the Tarot

My Mother used to read the Tea Leaves. There always seemed to be a string of women coming to our house for “A cup of tea” Mam would read the leaves and she developed a very favorable reputation. When I was 15, or thereabouts, I saw a book on Tea Leaf reading at the local library. Scanning through it I read that seeing a ladder means one thing, a wolf means something else and so on. Later I asked my mother, when she read the tea leaves what did she see? My Mother answered “Tea Leaves”.  That’s it really; the shapes and figures my mother saw were what she saw. Others may not see or interpret the way she did. I know she never read a book on the subject, she learned the way I have learned, from the teachers who cross my path. My Mother saw Tea Leaves at the bottom of a cup and could tell the person who drank from it things of the past, present and future.

So let’s talk about Tarot Cards.  The Tarot contains 78 cards and within the symbolism of those cards can be found the infinite possibilities of Human existence. Understanding the symbols and how the cards interact to create infinite possibilities is the purpose of this blog.

There are many different decks floating around and many books. Frequently the books give a different meaning to the symbols on the cards and it can be very confusing for the beginner. What I am suggesting is; forget all that. Stop trying to learn someone else’s interpretation of the symbols and develop your own. There is however, some basic information that should be common to all serious students of the Tarot;

There are 5 suits; the first is the suit of Trumps or the Major Arcana. This suit is made up of 22 cards. The first, “The Fool” is numbered 0 (Zero) the last is numbered 21 “The World” The other four suits, known as the Minor Arcana, correspond roughly to the suits in a normal deck of playing cards.( Modern playing cards owe their origin to the cards in the Minor Arcana.) There are 56 cards in the Minor Arcana. What is important to know are the correspondences or the associations of the suits with the 5 elements.
Major Arcana……………..Spirit. The immortal soul, the essential you.
The suit of Swords………Air. Intelligence, knowledge the thinking mind.
The suit of Cups………..Water. Emotion, feelings, desires of the Heart,
The suit of Pentacles……..Earth. The senses, the physical, Material needs.
The suit of Wands………….Fire. Intuition, spiritual understanding, Magic.
Having grasped the elements and principles associated with each suit it is time to begin the journey. The only other thing you need is a pen and paper because you are going to write your own adventure through the World of Tarot.

Take the 22 cards of the Major Arcana and lay them out in front of you, face up and in order from 0 to 21. All cards are to be face up, this is not a reading this is an exercise in understanding. Group the other 56 cards into their suits and lay them in front of you but separate from the major Arcana. Now, with the Fool, begin your journey. The Fool is you, you are setting out on an adventure, are you stepping off a cliff? Or are you walking beside it? Is the dog playing or warning you? Look at all the symbols and decide who you are and what you are doing. The next card is the Magician. Is he someone you meet? Or is he you? The symbols of the four suits are on the table, is he showing you? Or are these the contents of the bag the Fool is carrying? Make up a tale, an adventure as you move from card to card. This is you travelling through another World a realm of your own creation. As you do so, look at the other cards. The minor Arcana are your tools, and your guides. Look carefully for your nemesis may be there also. Draw from them as you need. When your journey falters and you do not know where to go, look in the four suits. Advisors are in there, useful tools and weapons can be found. Continue on your journey, the cares of the mundane world may require you to put them aside for a while as you fulfill your obligations. Return as you can and complete your quest as you are able. Finally you reach card 21, The World.
The cards will have a deep meaning for you now. A meaning that is uniquely yours. You will understand the tools the advisors and the assistance, or hindrance that each card brings. You will also find that you have not only learned the Tarot, you have found out valuable things about yourself.

Don’t forget to write it all down. You may have a best seller on your hands.

My "Beat the Curse" Birthday

I just had a Birthday, September 22^nd 2012 I officially circled the Sun 65 times. This is a big occasion for me, I’ll explain later.

First though, I had a wonderful Birthday Party. I have no idea how many people turned up but it must have been close to 100. I had a Band of three great guys and personal friends, they call themselves “3 of a Kind” After drinking a few beers I sang a song with them, but unfortunately they didn’t know how to play in the key of H. The food was marvelous, prepared by another friend who literally worked all day to prepare this gourmet feast. It was amazing. It was an incredible night all the way round. For a while my home became Tolkien’s Rivendell, a place of song story and laughter.

I consider it an honor and a privilege to have been born at the time of Alban Elfed, or the feast of Mabon, as my Pagan cousins would say. I was born about 1:30 am so it seems I was right on the cusp, at the time when the wheel of the year is in balance. This is the time of year when day and night are of equal length. Balance may seem a strange concept to those who know me well. I live my life preferably to excess. I share with Robert Heinlein the view that moderation is for Monks. I have discovered over the years that in a paradoxical sort of way that is balance. The society I live in seems to hold the view that living moderately is the key and yet, that so often means denying who you really are. It becomes a battle within us to overcome that base nature. What about accepting who we are for what we are and just living beyond constraints. I was once invited to a Buddhist temple where they were giving an introductory class on the teachings of the Buddha. The teacher spoke of desire and how desire causes suffering. I raised my hand and said: “I get it. I’m faithful to my wife because I desire to be, but I could overcome this desire by sleeping around” I couldn’t help noting that all the men laughed and all the women said “NO”

It seems to me that if we just live and enjoy being alive without struggle or pretense then we discover something about ourselves. We are good people, we are caring and decent and we never did eat the forbidden fruit. We are without sin as soon as we stop worrying about it.

Back to my Birthday; apparently I am now officially an old fart. I have reached “Old Age” I don’t feel it I must say. I don’t feel that I’ve got older I still feel as spry as ever. Just because I’m growing old doesn’t mean I have to grow up and I will certainly resist any notion that I should.

My Birthday Party was dubbed the “Beat the Curse” party. The reason for the name is due to what our family refers to as the “Freeman Curse” No one in my family, and I mean no one ever, has lived to see their 66^th birthday. Everyone dies at 65 or younger. I am the oldest living person in my family. My younger brothers and my children are watching me rather closely and the wife seems to have a passing interest in the situation herself. I intend to hang out here as long as I can. I would like to think that 65 only marks the half-way point. The sucky thing about a life span is that it’s rather like walking into a movie theater half way through the film and then having to walk out before it ends. I would like to see how this all turns out. What will be will be, and I’m sure I’ll be around for a few more incarnations. As for now, while the Gods are smiling and the beer is flowing I’ll be here; singing in an unheard of key and toasting all my friends and companions on this winding road.

Pagan Spirituality

The word “Spirituality” often crops up in discussion amongst Pagans. It’s an interesting concept, Pagan spirituality can almost seem like a contradiction in terms to the individual outside the Pagan realm; references to Magic and occult ceremonies, an assertion that the divine feminine loves all beings and that eternity is not judged by this life alone. In fact Pagans tend to resist the whole concept of a “Day of Judgment” Referring instead to laws of cause and effect; the three fold law or versions of Karma. The rewards or punishments of actions will be received either in this life or in another incarnation. That, in itself, presents a rather different concept. To the Pagan community, there is no permanent Hell. When you have sufficiently made recompense for your actions you may move on. This is best illustrated by the following story;

“Once there was a Priest whose duty was to prepare Goats for sacrifice. One day as he was commencing his duties the Goat he was preparing began to laugh, a very human laugh. Startled, the Priest asked ‘Why are you laughing?’ The Goat replied ‘For five hundred years I have been born as a goat to be sacrificed, born and reborn for the same fate but this time, when I am sacrificed I will be reborn as a man’ The Priest congratulated the Goat and said he was happy it would be so. Just then he saw a tear in the Goat’s eyes. ‘Why the tears?’ Asked the priest. ‘Because’ replied the Goat ‘five hundred years ago I was a Priest who sacrificed Goats’

The question that is then asked, and it is a fair question from the religion point of view, is that if there is no immediate judgment and everything will balance out in the by and by, what is the incentive for being spiritual?

Another apparent contradiction to Pagan Spirituality also raises itself. Pagans often speak of using Magic to manifest desire; Pagans frequently find themselves defending gay marriage and group arrangements. There is Sex Magic, The Great Rite and men and women jointly performing rituals naked, or “Sky Clad” as it is often called. This manifestation of Earthly desire and the glorifying of the body appear to the outside as the very opposite of spirituality. These questions bring us to the very foundation of what makes the Pagan, the Magical People, different.

Religions see a duality of Body and Spirit, Religions see them as separate entities and insist that the Body with all its earthly desire must be controlled and subordinated. The Pagan sees no such duality. To the Magical People there is no duality in that sense. We are one person and honoring our body and the body of another is a spiritual practice. The phrase often heard in Witches Coven and Druid Grove alike is;

“We are not bodies having a spiritual experience. We are spirits having an earthly experience.”

Once this concept is fully grasped then the questions of birth, death and re-birth are easily answered. The fulfilling of the Mortal experience is the aim along with a realization that such an experience must be done carefully, thoughtfully and with attention to the ripples it may cause. “Do as you will but harm none” is still the best counsel though the application is not as easy as it may sound. Pagan Spirituality is not about controlling or abandoning the desires of the body, Pagan Spirituality is about recognizing the whole person. Completely existing in this incarnation and living life to the full.

Have a wonderful and Magical life my Brothers and Sisters. All that this World has to offer is yours. Do not be distracted by the poverty of mind or the poverty of circumstance that many find themselves in. The Magic and the Blessings of the Gods are yours in abundance, you just have to learn how to claim your birthright.

Your birthright and your joy and the honoring of all that you are lie in the Love of the Earth and the Love that the Goddess has for you.  This is Pagan Spirituality.

Prosperity Ritual

One of the saddest and most disturbing things I hear about is people who follow the pagan Path finding themselves in dire poverty. I am referring to homes lost, cars repossessed and even homelessness. There seems to be something quite wrong about this. Those who have given their lives to honoring the old Gods should not end up this way. Since getting involved in Twitter and Facebook, especially Twitter where almost all of the people I interact with are Pagan, I have become more and more concerned with the brothers and sisters who find themselves in dire straits.

Those who love the Goddess and give honor to the Gods of nature should not find themselves in such a situation. I am firmly convinced that abundance is our goal. Enough to meet your needs is not sufficient. If all you have is enough for your needs then you have nothing to contribute to the truly needy and helpless. How can we donate to causes and give material aid to those in real need if all we have is enough for ourselves. So here, in this blog, I want to share a prosperity ritual. Drawing wealth to yourself through Magic.

Create an Altar specifically for this task. Declare to the Gods and to yourself that this is a Sacred Place. Every morning have your favorite Tarot deck prepared. Place upon your altar four cards from your deck using the 10 cards. These are the cards of abundance in the four suits. Place the 10 of Pentacles in the North, Swords in the East, Wands in the South and Cups in the West. Below the cards place a stone in the north, a feather in the east, a candle in the south and a small vessel of water in the west. In the center place whatever money you may have with you that morning. It doesn’t matter if it is only a coin put it there.

The next part I cannot tell you what to do. This is a matter for yourself, your needs and your relationship to the Gods. All I can give are general guides. First prepare yourself. What you are doing must be done with intent and awareness. Do not let your mind wander from the task at hand. Feel within you your love for the Gods and for the World we live upon. Spend some time in feeling the earth and exploring your feelings. Facing the North, let your consciousness flow down beneath your feet. Feel your consciousness moving below the rock, through the magma down to the very core of the Earth. Then draw that power through the Earth back up into your body. Feel the strength and energy of the Earth fill you.  Face the East, the direction of the rising Sun. Use your own words, drawing upon the way your preparation has filled your being and call abundance to yourself. Repeat this ritual every morning.

Magic appears to most of us in two ways; luck and coincidence. Pay attention, luck and coincidence will occur in your life, be prepared to move in the direction they take you.  Then you will be able to say, as I do every day;

“ I am Goddess Blessed”

Born again, and again and again

Reincarnation can be a tricky subject for sure. I was recently involved in a Twitter discussion on the subject and I discovered that attempting to make a point in 140 characters or less is also tricky. The third tricky subject is definitions. So I thought I would spell out my views on my blog. It’s also worth mentioning that my views come from three sources: experiences, hearing and reading the old Welsh Myths and legends and from conversations with the wise.

To begin with definitions, the third bit of tricky. When I speak of reincarnation I’m referring to the basic “I” the part of me that really is me, eternal and developing, learning and growing but always me.

There are some who believe that when we die we return to the basic life force. That force may be referred to as the Goddess or something else. The analogy I have heard is of electricity, the life force is something like an electric current that lights up a string of light bulbs. When one goes out it is replaced but the current remains. I reject this view; this is a view that negates the person and the concept of eternal growth for us all.

Most of my views on life and death are based on the principle of the Triquetra and I set them out in an article I wrote for HubPages. Basically, I am convinced that we are eternal beings with an eternal essence. The universe is made up of matter and consciousness and just as matter cannot be destroyed only changed in form, so is consciousness. It may change from one life to another but it is never destroyed. We are on a great and eternal quest, an adventure beyond our imagining while in a mortal frame. You and I will always be you and I. We meet as we walk the long and winding road and we always aid and uplift each other even when it doesn’t seem that way.

Everyone is where they are supposed to be along the quest, some are in a tight, well organized religion, and some are free spirited and open to all views. Where you are is where you are, but one thing seems very real to me. When we do leave this mortal frame, when we cast off this suit of clothes we call a body, we will know for sure because in this question of what happens after death, there can only be one answer.

So if you hear that I’ve died, and then you meet a kid with dark hair, blue eyes and a Welsh way about him, keep your hand on your wallet. I’m back.

The return of Magic and the Old Gods

THE RETURN OF THE OLD GODS
The people came to the Earth weak and frail, naked to the elements. The Elves looked on, for the people resembled the Fair Folk in outward appearance while the spirits of Tree and Stone watched and waited.

The people struggled to survive. It was not the will of the Gods that they perish, Mother Earth had brought them forth for purposes yet unclear so the Elves gently guided them and the people learned to survive. They learned when to plant and when to harvest. They learned the movement of animals, those they could eat and those that would prey on them.

In this learning they drew close to the Earth and to Nature. What was done to survive, in time, brought to them the greatest of all treasures. Their eyes and hearts were opened. They touched the AWEN the source of all inspiration and that which had inspired the creation of the Universe. They touched the NWYFRE, the life force of the Earth and the power to create and sustain all life. They saw the hidden world of the Fae. They spoke freely with the Elves and learned and did commerce with them. In those days the Gods walked the Earth and were known to the people.

The people were blessed and prospered and spread throughout the Earth.

As they lived separately they began to perceive the Gods in different ways. The people of the desert viewed the same God differently to the people of the mountains and the forest dwellers perceived other Gods. Then languages changed, words were expressed differently from one family to another and the people forgot that they spoke to the same Gods.

The people went to war. They fought for sport and food and greed. This was a time of heroes and legend. Of great deeds of darkness and of light. Some went to Elvenhome and returned with magical weapons. Some walked with the Gods and became mighty from their favor. This was the undoing of Gods and Men. 
All the tribes of the people called on the Gods to protect them but what were the Gods to do? The people invoked the same God to aid each side and unknowingly set God against God and even invoked a God to war against Himself. After a time it was seen that this could no longer be or the striving of the Gods would tear apart the fabric of time and space. So the Fair Folk hid their world and the Gods withdrew from the cares of the people. Magic was fading from the Earth, weapons of steel replaced prayer and incantation. Anger and fear replaced the sacred circles of love and fellowship.  Winter darkness covered the Earth. 

Still, the Gods knew that, in time, an awakening would occur, light would once more fill the Earth and the joy of life would once more fill the hearts of the people. So the old ways were preserved by an ever diminishing few. 

They were hidden, those who knew the ancient secrets. In cave and forest they hid from persecution and unbelief. They were hunted and those who had sworn to do no harm were burned or worse. Even when the killing ended, those who dared show themselves were called "Workers of Wickedness." Those who love life were called "Friends of Evil". So they hid and the Magic hid with them and was gone from the land. 

Through all this age of darkness a glimmer of hope found its way into the hearts and minds of the people. A story appeared here. A myth appeared there. There were legends and stories of heroes from bygone days. The tales remained, often-times changed so that the darkness would not perceive the light but the deep meanings were untouched. The hidden ones had sown the seeds of a new Magic. 

There came a time when hearts and minds began to open. Some began to look at the old tales again and take a somewhat sideways glance. Some, with subtle mind and sensitive spirit, saw meanings and a glimpse of other worlds in those old tales. They went, as instructed, to the sacred mound and the standing stone. There they looked with fresh eyes and listened with new ears and, from the depths of the Earth and the wide expanse of the Sky, from the cold of the Ocean to the heat of the Sun, They said:
 
                                                                      "YES! IT IS SO!" 

                                                And magic began to return to the land. 
Originally published on HubPages "The return of Magic and the Old Gods"