does your religion make you laugh?

[Sequoia]

Hi all!

A friend of mine once said "no religion is so serious you can't joke about it" and I think that if it is, you probably feel pretty darn depressed! So I figured I'd share this. Humor is a good thing.

This is a joke version of "We All Come From The Goddess". . . unless of course you're like me and you're a college student who has once made it through the day ONLY because coffee existed.

"We all come from the black bean,
embodiment of great caffine,
like a drop of coffee,
flowing to the great cup!

Where there is life there is coffee,
where there's coffee there is life,
like a drop of coffee,
flowing to the great cup!"

Rumor has it, this helps the caffine be more effective! Think of it as a coffee blessing ritual, it does seem to work sometimes! hehe

Please add any things like this that you know!

[mol]

Well...this is a VERY personal poll. Since everyones Path is different, everyone most likely has views on this...

I voted yes because I get lots of jokes played on me by my higher powers...

Frequently.

[Myst]

Reminds me of the story of my friend Agony's initiation. He opened his hands to receive the blessings of the God and Goddess and the Goddess promptly slapped his hand so hard he almost fell down :)

[reanna]

Ahhh yes!!! Sometimes, trying to be as serious as completely possible...... powers will have their way! In order to discourage insanity, I laugh! We musn't sweat the small stuff.(I have not read this book at all, but I like the phrase)

I voted yes.

My most recent laughs..........

Laying in circle being taken through a guided meditation.
All is very quiet and we are totally relaxed...... The leader instructs us to walk onto the path in the forest....... what does our forest look like? what kind of things are in the forest?

My body takes the most opportune time at exactly that precise moment to give out the largest tummy growl I have ever heard. :D
My thoughts on that particular moment.......:):D:)

I had some big*ss monsters in my forest and they were hungry!
Needless to say....... we were all laughing so hard!

I can't even type it without laughing:D:D:DIt was hilarious!



**guess you had to be there:):):):)

[Rævyn Cigány]

LOL! The druid grove I associate with from time to time call on the Norse Pantheon in their rituals. At Litha this year, the bard made the BIG mistake of calling on Loki....lol...we were giggling through the whole ceremony, as I remember (hey Wyrd...HOOOOAHHH!!!)!
I think if religion was supposed to be solemn, they wouldn't call a rit or mass or service a 'celebration'!!!! It's a celebration of LIFE, people...don't look like it's a funeral!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Dancing for the Goddess every day!

Rae )0(

[Twig]

Ohyas, theGod[ess]s Have a sense of humor.....and it is warped at times !

Peace,
Twig
:elf:

[Danustouch]

When I was part of the Open Circle (moonlight Circle) in Danbury, we used to have to aknowledge Loki at almost EVERY circle we had. Odd things used to happen, were we to forget. For instance, someone burning their hand on a candle, or ..worse, their hair. Or everyone forgetting the words to a chant, and having to mumble unintelligble words. My own experience with this was once when I was reading the Charge of The Goddess. Ever have a giggle fit that you just can't control? Well...at the part where the charge reads.."and ye shall be naked in your rites"..i kept hearing my friends voice in my head...he used to always say..."gettin NAKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and I lost it...I couldn't stop laughing. Someone else had to finish the charge for me! And even then, I had to cover my mouth. I felt very bad, but..our motto was "all acts of love and laughter"...and it's true. Where there is laughter, the Goddess is also present. For she is Joy!

[SpikesPet5150]

My friend and I were writing chants for a spell we did not too long ago. I'm not sure if it was the situation or the fact that it was 2am.. but for some reason every single thing we wrote ended up sounding dirty or perverted in some manner. We were writing these through instant messages, because she lives in Arizona and I live in Colorado.. and every other message was one of us saying, "No more, my stomach hurts!!" I kept all of the funny chants, and now, when I'm having a bad day, or just need a good laugh, I look at those. :) I think it's good to be able to laugh at religion. When I was practicing Christianity, I got kicked out of my church, because I had a giggle fit. I couldn't stop! I'm not sure anymore what set me off... but the pastor didn't like that at all. There's humor in all things in life. Remember Steel Magnolias? I love that part after the funeral, where the women are laughing and celebrating life, instead of mourning. Some people call that cruel, or uncaring. I call it coping.
~Bree

[Wyrdsister]

Originally posted by mol
I voted yes because I get lots of jokes played on me by my higher powers...

Frequently. Hmm, I don't suppose this has ever taken the form of server problems?! 8O :D

teehee!

Wyrdsister
the mischievious

[Wyrdsister]

Originally posted by Rævyn Cigány
LOL! The druid grove I associate with from time to time call on the Norse Pantheon in their rituals. At Litha this year, the bard made the BIG mistake of calling on Loki....lol...we were giggling through the whole ceremony, as I remember (hey Wyrd...HOOOOAHHH!!!)! HOOOO-AAAAAHHH!!! :D :D :D 8O 8O :D

Oh, I don't know if I'd ever say calling Loki would be a mistake; He's just an interesting addition to a rit!! :) :D

I definitely voted YES in this poll. While I agree that there are times when being serious and focused is good, overall I think anything should be approached with good humour and a spark of life! My spirituality is no different (thanks the Goddess!).

Whether it be the fae dancing on your toes or the voracious (sp?) hungry growl of a forest-dwelling tummy gremlin, the spirits of Life will always let you know when humour is needed! :) (your story made me giggle, reanna!)

And I hope next time I hear the Charge I won't blurt out "get NAKEY!!" LOL!!! :bigredgri

May the Goddess bless you with much good humour today!!

Wyrdsister

[Danustouch]

I'd love to be a fly on the wall of the Circle where you do that, wyrd!

oh...and as an aside...one of the first rituals I did with my circle, I was the High Priestess for, when we were planning out the ritual, we kept getting stuck on a blessing for the feast. I teasingly suggested..."Rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub, Yay CERNUNNOS!!!!"...it became our standard blessing! LOL. We would do a nice serious one, and then at the end..we would all say the rub-a-dub-dub thingy. It was great to just watch the faces of people who were there for the first time. Heheheh.

[Revelation]

Hey, there wasn't an option for "Yeah, the people in my religion are worthy of a good laugh!"

*g*

[Xois]

me skyclad!!!!

Oh yes...VERY FUNNY!!! ;)

[threenorns]

now i almost wish i belonged to an organized religion instead of being the only one, lol!

[mol]

Originally posted by Wyrdsister
Hmm, I don't suppose this has ever taken the form of server problems?! 8O :D

teehee!

Wyrdsister
the mischievious


Yah...like sending out a community bulletin to say that the database is fixed and everything is fine.

As soon as the bulletin was sent.

Database crashed.

:rolleyes:

[Sequoia]

wow! this thread's got life! hehe

any time I do any kind of ritual or spell or anything the like, I get the itchies. My nose itches, or my face itches, SOMETHING always itches. And it's only when I need my hands, like if I'm drawing something in the air or things like that. So I look VERY silly trying to brush my nose on the way or itch my cheek really fast.

and that's just the easy, polite itches! ;) 8O

[gunner]

"Yah...like sending out a community bulletin to say that the database is fixed and everything is fine.
As soon as the bulletin was sent.
Database crashed."

that just goes to prove the true ruler of the universe is an irishman, feller name of "murphy"

[LadyCelt]

it makes e laugh and cry. I can laugh at contraditions, especially with people too literal and fundamental. I also cry when thinking of Crusades and things etc.

[Renny]

I poke fun at my own faith... cause it is funny... to make fun of vikings and stuff... And if you read alot of Norse mythology you find some funny stuff, like a crossdressing Thor for instance.

My boyfriend and I sometimes make fun of the gods and make up little pretend conversations/skits for them... cause it's funny... and I think even they find it amusing too ^_^

[Ninjakitten]

Of course I find laughs in it. I'm a Christian. But seriously, I don't want a relationship with anyone that doesn't have a sense of humor, and that includes my God, Goddess, and the Saviour. I mean, come on! Something is pretty funny about a Godde (God and Goddess combined) that will create a creature that will inspire someone to ask if Godde was using a bunch of spare parts to create it, like the platypus!

[Heart of Isis]

Oh yes! I don't know where we humans got the idea that everything has to be a solemn occasion or that everything has to be stuffy and rigid.
Sure, as with everything there is a time and place. I don't care much for rigid stuffy funeral-like rituals no matter what religion or spiritual path one claims to try to follow. Some of the best rituals I've attended where a hoot! Laughing and messing about a little but within context. The deities have a sense of humor, make no mistake. Even Anubis has a silly side.

Heart of Isis

[stella01904]

I voted yes because I get lots of jokes played on me by my higher powers...

Frequently.MM ~ After an long, frustrating, expensive search for my birth mother, I found her in 2001 - she is a fundie and a Bush republican.
Nuff said.
BB, Stella

[aluokaloo]

Yeah it sure can! I remember not too along ago, i was honoring Tiamat, well, while I was searching for something or other, can't remember what, I forgot to blow the incense out, and a large flaming piece fell on my poor abused altar cloth, so I saw a piece of paper, and grabbed it really fast and burnt myself, it fell behind the nightstand, and there are wires back there so I took my water chalice and dumped it behind the nightstand, and I laughed after I made sure it was out, and said "Yup! Tiamat's definately here tonight."

[Theres]

http://www.livingwithmagick.com/billthecat.html

[Meadhbh]

Of course, it can't serius all the time. Not only would it bore us it would bore the gods. Honesty who want to be a diety where people were so dull and completly serius all the time? It'd make me want to go looking for a new group of devotees.

[Sambya]

Ooohh definatley. I incoperate aspects of the Discoridan Path into my Religion (is it a joke? Is it a religion? Is it a joke disguised as a religion disguised as a joke?...) and let me tell ya it can get vair amusing sometimes ;)

[Windsmith]

Oh, yes. I belong to an ecstatic tradition, which means that very little in our workings is preplanned; it's allowed to come forth in the moment as we are called. As you can imagine, that leaves a lot of room for humorous moments, both intentional (like when I was part of an invocation of North where we enacted the entire lifecycle of a herd of large, horned animals, complete with rutting, birthing, and the death of one of the "old" members, or the infamous "No, No, Nornette" musical extravaganza of '03, which included the immortal phrase, "What do you want? I was having drinks with Loki, the f*cker!) and not-so-intentional (like the accidental invocation of "Gigglemesh").

Of course, it helps that one of the elders of our community believes that being able to laugh at your faith is essential to all witches. When I started my first class in the tradition, the first thing he taught me how to do was cackle. And he sings a delightful parody of "Jesus Loves the Little Children" that I wish I could remember the words to. It's "Kali Loves the Little Children," and where the original goes "red and yellow black and white," it has a list of ways to cook things! :dinnertim And one of the others (who coined the phrase "sacred geezer" to describe himself) counts Loki AND Enki among his patrons. So you know that's a man who understands laughing at your faith!

[DoktorSick]

It's well documented in the church of the subgenius
you have your 3 senses.
common sence
dollars and cents
and a sense of humor.

[Vincent Verthaine]

From:The Principia Discordia

NONSENSE AS SALVATION

The human race will begin solving it's problems on the day that it ceases taking itself so seriously.

To that end, POEE proposes the countergame of NONSENSE AS SALVATION. Salvation from an ugly and barbarous existence that is the result of taking order so seriously and so seriously fearing contrary orders and disorder, that GAMES are taken as more important than LIFE; rather than taking LIFE AS THE ART OF PLAYING GAMES.

To this end, we propose that man develop his innate love for disorder, and play with The Goddess Eris. And know that it is a joyful play, and that thereby CAN BE REVOKED THE CURSE OF GREYFACE.

If you can master nonsense as well as you have already learned to master sense, then each will expose the other for what it is: absurdity. From that moment of illumination, a man begins to be free regardless of his surroundings. He becomes free to play order games and change them at will. He becomes free to play disorder games just for the hell of it. He becomes free to play neither or both. And as the master of his own games, he plays without fear, and therefore without frustration, and therefore with good will in his soul and love in his being.

And when men become free then mankind will be free.
May you be free of The Curse of Greyface.
May the Goddess put twinkles in your eyes.
May you have the knowledge of a sage,
and the wisdom of a child. Hail Eris.

Humour is the very basis of discordianism.

Thornley and Hill created discordianism as a joke disguised as a religion,but little did they realize how popular the joke has become.Now it is a religion disguised as a joke.
50 years and no sign of it fading.

We were one of the first pagan paths to incorporate humour into our beliefs.

[LostSheep]

Well, some of the people I've met through it have made me laugh.

:T

[lonewhitewolf]

This year is the first time I went to a circle [for Yule]. 25 people in all. Someone in the group read the 12 days of Yule. One line I remember was 6 Warlocks skyclad. I was practically falling off my chair. Also we couldn't find the song we were going to use for the ritual. Everytime the song was over we'd have to put it on repeat. Laughing is a good thing tho.


-Jessica [aka Whitewolf]

[Nitefalle]

I honor a goddess of laughter, whom we invoked for Midsummer - along with the Faerie horde. We were giddy for hours! This past Yule, we were burning wishes for healing in a candle and someone's paper wouldn't burn. Someone blurted out "NO healing for you!!" and we all started laughing. It was lots of fun, especially with S calling Earth. He is the pagan Martha Stewart and brings the powers of Girly Elf Cloak to every rite he attends. And then T kept accusing the Fae of literally pushing her around, lol. Serves her right for calling them LOL It was just lots of silly little things and I find it keeps the rituals light and fun. To me, retaining the wonder that most adults claim as a "child's" wonder is what keeps paganism alive and makes it wonderful. My path is a joy and a celebration!!!

[Amber Wynd]

I would have voted yes on this poll. Laughter and silliness is a huge part of my religion. In fact, we Discordians practice the principle of Nonsense as Salvation and believe that the enlightened take things lightly. The following quote was lifted from the Principia Discordia:

NONSENSE AS SALVATION

The human race will begin solving it's problems on the day that it ceases taking itself so seriously.

To that end, POEE proposes the countergame of NONSENSE AS SALVATION. Salvation from an ugly and barbarous existence that is the result of taking order so seriously and so seriously fearing contrary orders and disorder, that GAMES are taken as more important than LIFE; rather than taking LIFE AS THE ART OF PLAYING GAMES.

To this end, we propose that man develop his innate love for disorder, and play with The Goddess Eris. And know that it is a joyful play, and that thereby CAN BE REVOKED THE CURSE OF GREYFACE.

If you can master nonsense as well as you have already learned to master sense, then each will expose the other for what it is: absurdity. From that moment of illumination, a man begins to be free regardless of his surroundings. He becomes free to play order games and change them at will. He becomes free to play disorder games just for the hell of it. He becomes free to play neither or both. And as the master of his own games, he plays without fear, and therefore without frustration, and therefore with good will in his soul and love in his being.

And when men become free then mankind will be free.
May you be free of The Curse of Greyface.
May the Goddess put twinkles in your eyes.
May you have the knowledge of a sage,
and the wisdom of a child. Hail Eris.

[morningstar2651]

The pope, a rabbi, and a Pagan walk into a bar. The bartender looks up and says "What is this, a joke!?"