Well, your wording seemed like it was trying to force my polytheistic beliefs into an artificially monotheistic terminology and framework. It seemed manipulative, but it appears that you simply didn't know much about polytheism and classical mythology. Which is alien to me, but I'll do my best to explain patiently and clearly. Yes. Generally, each god has a particular thing that they are patron of. They have power beyond these areas, of course, but their main focus and special care is of the area they are patron of. And they may have more than one focus area--and certain specialities may have more than one deity with patronage. Ares, for instance, is almost entirely a god of battle and war; whereas Athena, another war deity, was also goddess of craftsmanship and education. Both are war gods, but in different ways. For the most part, no, I do not believe so. The only exceptions I'm considering, are mortals that are deified by their cultures, e.g. Romulus was considered by the Romans to have become the god Quirinus. But these are rather particular individuals, and they are still intimately connected to their mortal deeds. The Olympian gods, by contrast, are very clearly Immortal and cosmic. "Legend" isn't quite accurate. Mythology is complex, because it originates from an oral tradition and is integral to a particular society as sacred stories. Legends follow from mythology, but generally occur in a literary tradition that establishes itself after an oral mythic tradition. I, and most polytheists of the contemporary Pagan movement, believe that many pantheons exist simultaneously. We have no reason to deny that the other gods exist. Polytheism is inherently pluralistic in its mentality. I'm a hard polytheist, which means that I view the gods as individual, distinct beings. I myself worship some Roman state deities. And I worship a few gods of the Celtic tribes. But the majority of my daily practice is Hellenic, and framed around the worship of the gods the Greeks. This ties in with what I said above about Hard Polytheism. I believe that the Roman gods and the Greek gods are, with few exceptions, separate beings entirely. The archaeological and scriptural evidence implies that the Romans had a very distinct, regional mythology prior to the infusion of Greek myth to the Roman world. But it is very difficult to tell exactly what this was, because Italy had a strong influence from Greek culture from the Archaic period onwards. They absorbed Greek myths in part because their own mythology mostly didn't concern the gods, but rather the deeds of historical and legendary mortal Romans. The Roman gods had very few stories about them, and the Greeks were among the first peoples they encountered and assimilated in their rise to dominance.
Thanks. I'm going to ponder on what you are saying and hopefully you'll be able to answer some questions when I have compiled them.
Just rewinding to this post. You have been brave enough to share how you experience contact, I will do the same. Firstly, do you communicate through thoughts? I've had one stand out experience that to this day I cannot explain... I woke up at around 4am in my bed, alone about 10 years ago. I felt a presence that was above and in front of me, I just felt complete love, both from the entity and within myself. I didn't ask for a name, but it did answer questions instantly telepathically, and I have to say, the vibes I was getting from this spirit were incredible, I felt amazing, never had a feeling like it. It left a song in my head which I still play now. When it left, I watched out of the window and saw about 7 seagulls, or maybe doves fly off. Incredible experience. I guess you have had a few based on how strong your faith is.
Because I think this kind of experience is common to humanity and shouldn't be taken as evidence of the supernatural.
Even though I got up and went into a different room(entity didn't follow) and had a fag. Went back, still there. I never went back to sleep. That was a question specific to one person btw.
Me posting will not prevent them from responding. This is a public forum after all. What is your explanation for your "encounter"? The spirits are real but only visit you once every 10 years and only right after you wake up?
It's common courtesy to avoid the one to one subject. It stayed for 10mins, I was well awake and well aware. But your next answer/question?
It was a dove from above...Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I haven't got a clue as far as explanation is concerned.
Why is it meaningful (to you) if you have no explanation? One thing I've learned about dreams is that you don't dream about things you have never thought about. I don't have those kinds of dreams. When I use to scuba dive a lot (several times a week) I sometimes had dreams where I was underwater. I haven't been diving now in several years and I never have those dreams now.
Not telepathically. I don't really believe in that, or most other "psychic" stuff. I know that the majority of Neopagans do, though. For me, it's just a matter of not having sufficient evidence. Most "psychic" stuff comes across as pseudoscience more than spirituality. A lot of things categorized under it are explainable. And the parts that aren't readily explainable thorough science...I'm unwilling to manufacture a falsely-scientific explanation for it just to make it sound more plausible and appealing. If something is magic, I'll just call it magic. I'd research some more before using that as a basis for supernatural beliefs. Some of that can be explained as being symptomatic of sleep paralysis. The parts of your brain that create dreamlike thought and imagery is still active, but your physiological senses are active, even though your body is unable to move. It normally occurs midway between waking and dreaming states of consciousness. Even if you regain motor function, your brain isn't all there yet. In addition, it seems like you're going off of just one experience. Forgive me if I seem like I'm overstepping, but I feel like that isn't sufficient evidence to build a belief system or spirituality out of. A one-off event can be explained by any number of scientifically-described phenomena. I've built my belief in the gods out of numerous, consistent experiences, both personal and shared, and in comparing them to the reported experiences of others. And not just vague "dream" or "vision" types of things; I've experimented and sought direct encounters with divine or semi-divine beings. That is the sort of thing I'd recommend to you: don't be satisfied with a passive vision or feeling--actively search for more than that. And don't go off of just your feelings and intuition. Collaborate with others, compare and contrast your experiences, and be open-minded to new evidence. Experiment. Don't just go with faith.
Telepathy seems like the perfect form of communication between a "spiritual" being and a human being. Do you actually talk to your gods? If I was asleep then I'm still dreaming now. My mental state did not change, I was in complete control. I was fully awake. I have had experiences that fall under negative also, very negative. Yeah you are overstepping, I'm willing to give your experiences the benefit of doubt, yet when something happens to someone else you call in science? This incident did not make me a theist, or believe in something I didn't before, it had no influence on what I believe, I don't know why you would say that. These direct encounters... are you actually talking to an invisible being?
I chose "always have and always will believe", which may come as something as a shock here. Most here would probably paint me as either an atheist or an agnostic, which I have never been. Einstein never declared any strong beliefs along religious lines, but in retrospect perhaps he should have shared some of his with the rest of us, if only because his clarity of thought on related issues was unsurpassed, before or since. I'm including individuals supposedly alive and capable of miracles over 2000 years ago. Actual miracles continue each and every day, even if most don't recognize them as such. I changed religions at mid life when I found that I could no longer sanction the bigotry and lies rampant in my old one. I draw a sharp distinction between belief in a creator and belief in a religious tradition, its scripture, and its leadership. To paraphrase Clarke, any religious tradition unable to withstand conflict with hard truth is really not worth many regrets. My previous religion lost me when parts of it began an initiative insinuating its 2000 year old thrice translated scripture into 21st century science education. To err may be human, but to forgive certain things is that slippery slope we keep hearing about. Forgiving bigotry, for instance, sanctions, empowers and promotes it. The same goes for intolerance, which is unequivocally the same issue. If you stop practicing bigotry, the issue of whether that action (or a lack thereof) is another form of intolerance vanishes completely without contradiction. Tolerance leads to promoting diversity just as intolerance promotes conformity and a society where even ideas are inbred. I don't enjoy word games or any philosophies, religious or otherwise, that toys with them. If I were a bigot, or even just obsessive about my religious tradition and tried to impose that idea on others, I would expect people to have the good sense to both shun and ignore me. The golden rule is thus satisfied for all religious traditions. I believe that for as long as the human race endures, the things we don't know anything at all about will be orders of magnitude greater than the things we believe we understand just a little. Those who would challenge this idea know even less, and of this we can be absolutely certain. Rumsfeld's "unknown unknowns" is an example. Russell he was not. An idiot? One of those unknown unknowns, I guess. Had lots of company, however.
Can you add some clarity as to the nature of the God you believe in? Does it compare to any figures in any ancient text? I disagree about Einstein being more "enlightened" than Jesus, if it was Jesus that you were referring to.
Not only are they accessible to anyone with the right entheogen I don't think you've said why you believe. I may have missed it.
