Beliefs.

[Pan]

I was sitting down during lunch, at 3am no less, and I figured I'd write down some of my beliefs ... since I'm kind of in a spiritual rut here. I didn't have a lot of time to write much down, but here's what I did have.

Q: What do you believe the Divine is, if anything?

A: I believe the Divine is nature and all that nature entails. I believe the Divine is male and female at the same time. To me, the Divine is split into many Gods and many Goddesses. All of these Deities are connected, thus the same, yet are separate entities. Loki is the same as Pan is the same as Herne is the same as Cernnunos. Hermes is the same as Mercury is the same as Thoth. At the same time, Hermes and Thoth are not the same as Pan and Herne. Like gods share the facets of a gem, while all of these gems are set into the Crown of the Divine. (There's a diagram, and I'll draw it later)

So, while the Gods and Goddesses share the Crown of the Divine, they each have separate traits that are, at the same time, similar to one another.

Some people, including me, believe in differentiating the Gods from one another. Though Pan is the same as Loki, and thus they share the same gem, Pan has slightly different energies, thus holding a different facet on the Gem. (There's another picture here)


That's all I have so far. I'll be putting more as I progress.

[RubyRose]

That was a very interesting read ... and perspective. Thanks for sharing

[Maiden Zafirbel]

lately i've been trying to define my own beliefs and am having troubles.. are there any kind of tips maybe.. that someone could give me.. i'm having troubles digging down deep for my true beliefs.. all i'm coming up with is.. basics.. like.. don't be mean to people.. and there is a goddess and a god.. (i don't really follow any one tradition.. just mainly pagan.. with some celtic.. and faery.. i guess... i'd say eclectic pagan..) :) sorry for the rambling. :)

[She-Arna]

Fascianting, I think analysing one's beliefs can be a major eyeopener.

[Pan]

For tips, why not think of what you're typing as an interview? I'm posing questions for myself and answering them as if telling it to someone orally, only I'm writing it down. Recording it could also help a lot, if you'd rather do it that way.

Here's more of my beliefs that I wrote down at work during lunch. This was about 345am EST.

Continued from "What do you believe the Divine is, if anything?"

The same would be the same for other Gods and Goddesses. (There's another picture here, I'll upload it later)

According to diagram A3 (upload later), Gods and Goddesses may share the same gem, since their energies are much the same. However, the more the deities differ, the further they are form one another on their respective gem.

The Divine generally do not interfere in our lives, but there are instances where one of them will interfere. This is usually when someone is the chosen follower of that God or Goddess. This would be the same as the Patron of Matron Deity helping their children.

For those who follow the Morrigan, for example, would have direct help from Her, regardless if the person asked Her or not. If someone who is not a child of Morrigan, rather if Morrigan is not their Matron Goddess, then she usually will not interfere without a direct request. The same for those of Hecate, Pan, or any other Deity.

As for the case of the Divine being creations of man, I only partially believe in this. The energies were there, only without name and form. Man only named these energies and gave them the likeness of themselves. Of course, I do believe that the Divine may come to people in visions, bestowing upon them their appearances. Of course, the way the person interprets this may differ from what the Deity showed them.

[Pan]

Q: What about the afterlife?

A:

I believe in the afterlife. Of course, it may be different than what anyone else believes. I believe in a sort of heaven and a sort of hell. They aren't really like the Christian concepts of heaven and hell, but are more subtle.

My version of heaven, which I call the SUmmerland, or only the Afterlife, is bliss. It's not all clouds and winged people, rather those that go there take the form of their Soul, no matter what that form may be. These are the people that have learned all of the lessons assigned to them for that life. Their Soul is fulfilled for that life and may rejoice in that revelation. The Summerland may be whatever that person makes it to be. One may even have a house there to return to after each life. Trees, grass, flowers, and other Souls are there, each Soul fulfilled like the last. The Souls there may stay as long as they wish, however they do have to return to life if they have more lessons to learn. If not, then they may stay in the Summerland, or choose to be reborn for no other reason than to live.

My version of hell, on the other hand, is different than that of most branches of Christianity, or even other beliefs. Hell, to me, is more of a place where lessons are learned. There are those of us that die before all of our lessons are learned. There are some of us that, no matter how many lives we live, nor how many times the lesson is assigned, the Soul just does not wish to learn that lesson. In my version of hell, which has nothing to do with karma, a person is made to learn the lesson they have refused for many lives. Depending on the lesson refused, a person may be allowed one or one hundred chances to learn it. There is no set time limit for all lessons.

If a person was to learn ... poverty, we'll say, since it's an easy one, but refused it at all costs, they would be forcibly encouraged to learn poverty in my version of hell. This could be through living in a box surrounded by mansions, living in a homeless shelter, or any other number of things. This is not necessarily punishment, but a necessity of learning. Once the lesson is learned, the person is allowed to be reborn.

Reincarnation is a big thing for me. We are reincarnated based upon the lessons we are to learn in the next life, rather than what we have done in the previous life. If we are assigned to learn the lesson of family co-operation, we could come back as a wolf, depending on if you wanted to learn it the easy way or the hard way. Sometimes that is not an option.



And then my lunch time ran out. 8O I'll write more later!

[Maiden Zafirbel]

wow.. that's so interesting.. it's really helping me think more deeply about what i believe.. or don't believe :) i can't wait for more! :D

[LeftToWonder]

You might want to cruise over here, we started a new thread about it :)

http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=36189