Staying in the Light

a reply to: SLAYER69

very nice positive message. A great inspiration for the mind. Thanks for sharing this with all of us.

a reply to: artistpoet

Hard polytheism is "all gods exist", soft polytheism is "all gods aspects of a limited number of gods (ore even singular). Archetypes are the "stories we tell ourselves". I'm not a fan of Campbell, and Jung is amusing, but I have personal gnoses which disagrees with that. Thus for Hard polytheists, all gods are real. None supreme, and I only have a small subset who are deities of worship.

a reply to: Noinden

I see things a little differently
Yes the gods and goddes's represent archetypes and as such are aspects of the whole

The gods and godess's of ancient Egypt were the same in that they represented natural law
Non are supreme individually but all together they represent the whole which is also a oneness
This oneness is what all are a part of

a reply to: artistpoet

That is a difference in gnoses, and they are unprovable. For me there is a difference between community (interconectedness) and "oneness" . The lessons the Gods teach to me is not about being one of the whole.

a reply to: Noinden

I am for an age of reason
No use waiting around to see if God arrives

a reply to: artistpoet

You're too self-aware artistpoet.

It can be liberating, or torturing, depending on whom you interface with.

a reply to: Astrocyte

I take myself too seriously at times
Maybe a bit of torture is good for the soul

a reply to: artistpoet

I take myself too seriously at times

Well, its sort of real, this Self....Maybe it plays a fundamental role in the evolution of matter? Maybe our yearning to be decent is real thermodynamic work?

Ervin Lazslo's theorizing gets you thinking....

Maybe a bit of torture is good for the soul

I tell myself the same thing.

a reply to: artistpoet

What part of what I've said says I am not. I work in Science after all. I see my labours helping humanity. Being of a faith, does not mean you are not with reason.

a reply to: Astrocyte

So whats "thermodynamic work"? Does it involve calormetric equipment? Which laws apply?

a reply to: Noinden

So whats "thermodynamic work"?

Trying to be good in a confused world. You gotta over come the "hill" of other peoples feelings. That's thermodynamic work.

Does it involve calormetric equipment?

My brain - my heart pumping oxygen and glucose to my brain for mental thinking, discriminating, understanding, and then relaxing my anxiety response.

Which laws apply?

The search for coherency - perhaps the basic law of self-organizing matter. The 'pursuit of paths of least resistance' are not the same for all of us; some of us are forced by experiences to merge themselves with kindness/love/compassion, if they want to ever feel good i.e. to not suffer.

It can be agonizing sensing the truth - and sensing how other people experience that truth, and understanding the reason for both positions.

I remember Doesteyvsky's take in the brothers karamazov, "the grand inquisitor", a sort of allegory for the human situation. Here, a cardinal grills Jesus about the reason and rationale for the churches behavior. "If they, the public, knew the truth, they would resent and hate it, so we build for them a palatable reality" - just as "we do for ourselves", it should be added.

Developmental neuroscience though presents a very different situation. But so far, the 'science' of it admits no larger ontological significance. In a good world, in a world where people only know goodness because they only ever been treated with kindness, respect and love, what kind of world would that produce?

I know I live in this world because I can feel the multitude of possible responses to this picture.

a reply to: Astrocyte

But is it endo thermic or exothermic? Where does kinetics play a role (Use Science terms alot? I can play that game too).

If one is doing thermodynamic work, surely the laws of thermodynamics come first. Unless we are talking pseudoscience here, then its all "time whimmy wibbly wobbly gobbly gooky* nonsense. Not very locial.

a reply to: Noinden

But is it endo thermic or exothermic? Where does kinetics play a role (Use Science terms alot? I can play that game too).

Well, if you spend your days reading, writing and talking about science things, you tend to think in that mode.

If one is doing thermodynamic work, surely the laws of thermodynamics come first.

Living processes - consciousness in particular - seem capable of in-forming what happens within thermodynamical systems. As the complexity theorists tell us, life exists "at the edge of chaos", and so are rather paradoxically automatic and autonomous depending on the degree to which consciousness is involved.

a reply to: Astrocyte

You used the term thermodynamics Words have power, misuse of words is a great way to destroy knowledge too, that is naughty

I don't just spend my days thinking, writting and talking about science (I even do it, on ton scale). No I do other things. My spiritual side has expression too, as does my physical.

You use a whole bunch of word salad for things I don't think you understand very well neighbor. Not only have you proven yourself igorant of neopaganism, you seem to not be very good at the sciences, yet you throw buzz words in.

a reply to: SLAYER69

It's like feeding my own cancer of sorts, Who needs that?

Yes, hate is a cancer. It starts off as individual cells and it grows and manifests. Outside influences either accelerate the growth or it counter acts the cancer. The "hate" must be eradicated.

Oh, for some I've held onto anger and resentments towards them, but honestly, given a chance, I'd clear the air as soon as possible between us. Make amends, Empty the cupboard of life and restock with healthier ways of dealing with issues that kept or keeps the rift between us. Takes two though.

Nobody should ever feel guilty if you extend your hand and it's slapped away. This isn't Star Wars and there is no Yoda in the swamp with a young Luke Skywalker saying, "There is no try, do or do not". We're human and trying is the best we can do. Trying is how we get better, some would call it practice, but that is getting into semantics.

And nobody should feel guilty for trying to live a well intentioned life.

Judging other people based on what I think they should do or not do.....

I quote this to quote...

Meanwhile. The only person it hurt was myself.

Good post, we should all try staying in the light. While hate can sometimes be a useful emotion in certain situations, it is no doubt an unhealthy one that can easily and quickly lead to self-destruction. Especially when it comes to hate of ones-self for something they did or did not do.

a reply to: gpols

Such a sensible post for someone with a satanic symbol in his user name.

Ultimately, we all speak from our own experience of reality i.e. are vulnerable to projecting our needs onto others.

a reply to: Astrocyte

There you go with that judgment again. That "satanic symbol" has been used by Christianity to represent the "5 wounds of Christ" and predates the Christian faith (and thus Satanism) by a great many centuries.

a reply to: Noinden

There you go with that judgment again.

I was actually speaking to the irony - or paradox - of how we can misunderstand one another in superficial ways.

I wasn't actually "judging him". My judging is fundamentally about what is said and not the face, body or, in this case, the "sigil" which initially misdirects.

You don't need to rush to other peoples defense. I am smart-enough to know how to be a reasonable person.

a reply to: Astrocyte

Yet you misidentified something as "satanic" when it was not. Just as you judged my paganism as "sacrificial" and "causing harm" earlier today.

I'm not white nighting anyone rather I am confronting an obvious gap in your knowledge when it comes to non Abrahamic faiths.

If you had meet any actual satanists, you'd know they are eminently sensible individuals

You are also still projecting your issues on me.

And more generally, the vast majority of people will interpret that picture in terms of what they have seen before i.e. as a "satanic symbol". That's when happens when you have a brain that reflexively categories the world.

Assuming that I should know what you know i.e. that the picture refers to the 5 wounds of christ, is an unreasonable assumption to have of me.

Just as I don't expect you to understand things I don't imagine you having the pre-existing scaffold to know or understand.