#and 'purely harm-based morality is incomplete'

[lokis-wager]

I'm so disappointed

>be me

>looking for new atheist/skeptic/debate content that's thoughtful and useful

>find a youtuber I've never watched before that I really enjoy

>find out his community has a subreddit

>apparently he used to be a pro-vegan debater and his entire community is full of vegan losers

I was just hoping to find some chill people to talk about philosophy, not get this stupid anti-intellectualism about how eating animals is just as unethical as eating humans and all that shit.

[fluffallamaful]

Lore Discussion Incoming — Soup

c!Wilbur is the character on the DSMP that I would probably be most likely to punch in the face, lol. Hell, if I were to choose a True Villain of the story, it would almost certainly be him.

A list of what he’s done, canonically (likely incomplete):

Drew lines in the sand with L’Manberg so that he could gain power (basically the exact thing that he accused Dream of doing)

Manipulated people into supporting L’Manberg using every propaganda tool in the book (including writing Dream into the role of one-note villain, a role that he would later don himself)

Waged a years long harassment campaign against Eret after she had the gall to be the only one to not fall into the roles he slot out for everyone (The Control Room) that resulted in her being completely obsessed with her image and with the idea of her being redeemed in the eyes of others (count how many times c!Eret has tried to “redeem” herself in the eyes of those characters) (it’s more than once)

Tried to rig an election and then went into a total spiral when it failed that led to him blowing the whole thing up. (The election itself also explicitly paralleled the American 2016 election, if I remember correctly, so. There’s no way to make that situation sound anything but morally bankrupt.)

So much of his “searching for forgiveness” thing that he did post-revival was so performative that it often felt like he did more harm than good (forcing Tommy to confront Dream in prison in a twisted, puppeteer-like show, for example — make no mistake, that was a show, whether he consciously realized it or not) (it didn’t even help Tommy, in the long run, because he was still completely paranoid — it legitimately only served to retraumatize him)

Was an abusive and neglectful father to c!Fundy, canonically, at least in Fundy’s later years (and maybe before that, depending on who you ask, but that can kind of be debatable) (“You made me eat off the floor!”)

Hell, his whole deal with Tommy is a fucked up mess and a half. As his right hand man, Tommy was often the main subject of his manipulation to the point where he was completely submerged in it. Hell — there’s a real reason that Tommy was often directly paralleled with Wilbur by the narrative The only way that Tommy was finally able to see past Wilbur’s rhetoric about Dream being a Pure Evil Monster is because cc!Wilbur literally took him out of the story. (Did you notice that the Finale lore streams — the only ones post-c!Wilbur — were also the only ones to portray c!Tommy’s fucked up black-and-white worldview as destructive?)

Also L’Manberg’s influence has almost always been framed as explicitly negative. Fundy renounced the country as having been horrible to him during Doomsday, Niki burned down the L’Mantree entirely of her on volition, Tubbo was turned into a tyrant due to being forced into the role of Boy President, Philza was put under house arrest for “preventative measures,” Techno was tracked down for an execution (also part of said preventative measures), Tommy was constantly put under duress by Wilbur ESPECIALLY during the Pogtopia arc as he was forced to defend walls that never did the same for him in return (and its really sad actually that he seeks refuge in those walls post Dream’s escape from prison by building them around his base, I mean talk about the parallels of characters seeking solace in the places of their abuse and mistreatment), and probably a whole lot more that I’m forgetting rn.

Honestly in a lot of ways, canon!Wilbur is basically fanon!Dream. c!Dream sucks at manipulating people. Like, he’s terrible at it. He’s an amazing actor, but his lies themselves hardly ever hold up under scrutiny and his misjudgements of people so often end up biting him in the ass that it’s practically a comedy of errors at this point. (Hell, his whole plan to catch Vikk and Lazarbeam relied on him and Punz literally chasing them down! Half of the other characters could have manipulated them into following them, brought them into a trap, whatever, but Dream could not.) The only way any of this act held up is because he was able to convince both the audience and the characters that he was insane enough to believe every word. c!Wilbur, on the other hand, is amazing at it. He’s a true empath in a lot of ways, and he knows how to get the pick turning in just the right way to open the lock.

yessssss i feckin love the dsmp because all the characters have flaws it’s honestly awesome.

i actually was never on lmanberg’s side. i understood dream’s logic of finding it dumb that they were preaching for freedom whilst creating laws and fencing off an area.

and ahhhh you’re analysis of c!wilbur is so cooolllll!! *clap clap* i think also the fact that cwilbur was american this whole time was also such a crazy part to his character. he really did just come onto dream’s server, created a country, blow it up, convince tommy of black and white thinking, then left lmao. i love him and yes i hope he chokes on his soup a couple times 😂

[pokemuseum]

If we're speaking on a purely scientific basis nothing truly needs anything. It's like when people say science says that we need to do X. No, science does not say we need to do anything. What scientific studies say is that in order to have a specific outcome we need to do certain things.

Science doesn't say that you need to breathe, that is an incomplete thought. Science does not have any kind of moral imperative attached, it is just a method of analysis, a way of looking at a situation.

However, science does say that you need to breathe IF you want to survive.

Based on studies of incomplete metamorphosis it also shows that a kakuna, metapod, cascoon, silcoon, or any other Pokémon with a cocoon stage WILL undergo immense physical discomfort and strain if not permitted to evolve, and will also eventually die.

I am going to use a wurmple as my example, because those are what we have at my museum. The specific form of metamorphosis undergone by bug Pokémon with cocoons (or pupa as they can be called) involves a step known as pupation.

The life stages are larval (wurmple) then pupa (silcoon or cascoon) and then adult (beautifly and dustox)

First of all, in the cocoon form (as pupa) they can not eat. So the amount of time they can spend in the form is limited by whatever nutrient reserves they have collected during their larval form. These nutrients are intended to go towards metamorphosis.

Second, many of the larval structures begin to break downs and are disolved, basically melted into individual tissues. These tissues and some of nutrients from those are then used to build the adult structures.

Even with an everstone, this process is still going on, and even if it wasn't, because the pupa is unable to eat it will slowly starve to death. The tissues will eventually be broken down for energy, and because the Pokémon is relatively immobile during that stage in order to conserve its energy, it will take a long time to starve.

Now the Pokédex will tell you that silcoon drink during their pupation, but, while that is technically true in a way, it's not what you think. The membrane of their pupa is what is called semi-permiable, and will allow moisture through in order to keep the Pokémon properly hydrated. It will also unfortunately let them lose moisture if it's too dry.

But this doesn't provide them any kind of nutrients, and even if you were to try to feed them sugar water or some other kind of nutrient fluid through this method it wouldn't work. The pupa allows in water molecules, and has spiracles that allow oxygen to enter and carbon dioxide to exit, but these channels are small enough that larger molecules like glucose (sugar) or any kind of vitamins just won't travel across the membrane.

Now let's ignore the fact that the lifespan of the Pokémon is dramatically reduced because it's starving to death and has no way to evolve into a form where it can feed itself. If pupation is interrupted some things won't happen. For example, the somewhat squishy abdomen of the wurmple may not properly harden into the more durable exoskeleton of the beautifly. Or, the exoskeleton may harden when they're still stuck inside the pupa, and the Pokémon will become malformed and potentially die.

So no, they don't need to evolve, not evolving is a possibility, and some will naturally fail to evolve, be it because of genetic defect, or environmental conditions, or being malnourished before beginning pupation and thus starving before it's completed.

However, if you want the Pokémon to be healthy and to have a decent quality of life you have to allow it to evolve. Being stuck in pupation is a slow death, and, depending on how long they survive, likely a painful one.

And you can't stop pupation either, keeping a Pokémon in its larval form is just as physically harmful to it as failing to complete pupation.

At our museum we raise hundreds of cascoon and silcoon each year to teach children about metamorphosis, and the sad fact of the matter is that, depending on the year, between 20% to 40% of them fail to survive pupation. Occasionally, depending on the circumstances, we may have to euthanize some because of quality of life issues, as we won't be able to release them in the spring. Others end up weak and we know that once they're released they'll likely end up as food for taillow, swellow, and other bird Pokémon.

If a trainer does not want a bedrill, then they should not capture a weedle, or, when the weedle pupates, should find a new home for them. It is just like getting minun or plusle. Even though they don't evolve, they still grow, and they won't always be an adorable tiny little newly-hatched Pokémon. Things grow and change, and nothing can stay a baby forever.

-Tessa

i love seeing a post of someone being like oh i dont want a beedrill so i gave my kakuna an everstone!!

LIKE NO DON'T DO THAT DON'T DO THAT IF YOU CANNOT RAISE A BEEDRILL YOU SHOULD NOT GET A WEEDLE THEY NEED TO EVOLVE AS PART OF THEIR LIFESPAN PREVENTING THEM FROM EVOLVING IS BAD FOR THEM NO

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Republic of Lies: the rise of conspiratorial thinking and the actual conspiracies that fuel it

Anna Merlan has made a distinguished journalistic career out of covering conspiracy theories, particularly far-right ones, for Gizmodo Media; her book-length account of conspiratorial thinking, Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power, is a superb tour not just through the conspiracies that have taken hold in American public discourse, but also in the real, often traumatic conspiracies that give these false beliefs a terrible ring of plausibility.

Merlan's thesis is that the "contagion" model of conspiracy thinking -- the idea that some people are just so danged convincing that merely hearing them will make you a conspiracy theorist -- is at best incomplete, and at worst, totally overblown.

After all, the arguments for the flat Earth, or anti-vax, or eugenics, have not gotten better since they emerged decades or even centuries ago, and to an objective ear, the people who advocate these ideas sound ridiculous.

Some people argue that the rise in conspiratorial thinking is about contagion, but that patient zero is the internet, where Big Tech's almighty algorithms can use machine learning to systematically explore its targets' cognitive defenses, finding and exploiting their weak spots and winning converts, with fully automated proselytizing tools that allow even the most fumbletongued conspiracy peddler to amass a following and found a cult.

This theory is supported by Big Tech's own commercial communications: if you want to find testimonies to the devastating power of Big Tech's persuasion tools, you need look no further than their own sales literature, in which they boast that potential advertisers can expect endless returns from their machine-learning mind control rays.

It's weird that we'd believe these boasts, though. Big Tech, after all, is led by "morally bankrupt liars" whose every pronouncement about their labor practices, economic activity, tax planning, private data handling and political lobbying turn out to be bullshit -- it would be pretty remarkable if the only time Big Tech told the truth was when they were trying to entice customers to given them money in exchange for access to their advertising products.

It's indisputable that Big Tech's nonconsensually assembled deep dossiers on billions of internet users are good for something, though, and that something is finding people based on whether they possess certain hard-to-find traits, like "people who are thinking of buying a refrigerator" or "people who have nonbinary gender identities" or "people who are fed up and ready to get involved with #BlackLivesMatter" or "people who want to carry tiki torches through the streets of Charlottesville, chanting 'Jews will not replace us.'"

This people-finding capacity is at the heart of the rise in conspiracism. It's what lets recommendation algorithms find people who are susceptible to videos about eugenics or the flat Earth, and it's what lets people who find these ideas compelling locate similar people to form groups with; groups that give them a sense of belonging, community and capacity for action.

Which leaves us with the question: why are so many people so vulnerable to conspiracism? What are the traits that give rise to a susceptibility to believe in conspiracy theories?

Merlan's answer echoes much of the consensus among psychologists: conspiracy is trauma's traveling companion. People who have encountered situations in which real conspiracies have harmed them or the people they love find it easy to believe that other conspiracies are at the root of harms they are living through now.

Take the persistent belief that the flooding in New Orleans's Black neighborhoods during Hurricane Katrina was caused by dynamiting the levees in order to spare white neighborhoods from flooding. This did not happen, but in 1927, the Black homes of Tupelo, Mississippi were wiped off the map when the authorities decided to blow the levees in order to spare the richer, whiter homes that were at risk from the floodwaters. Both floods followed a common pattern (right down to the mass expropriation of Black homes after the floodwaters receded).

The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 isn't a conspiracy theory, it's just a conspiracy. The fact that the white establishment was willing to conspire to drown and rob Black people in the region is what made the theory that perhaps it had happened again in New Orleans plausible.

We are living through a moment in which official truth-seeking exercises are being remade as auctions in which the wealthy bid to decide what the official truth will be, from the safety of opioids to the urgency of climate change. Which is another way of saying that we are living through not just an age of conspiratorial thinking, but also of actual conspiracies, often conspiracies that are so bold that the conspirators are barely phoning in their cover stories.

Merlan has spent time embedded in conspiracy communities of all stripes, from daffy New Agers to vicious white nationalists, and her keen anthropological analysis of the dynamics of these communities and the personalities within them foregrounds the historical precedents that conspiracists rely upon in shoring up their own beliefs. Scratch a vaccine denier, find someone who'll tell you about ghastly pharma coverups and experiments from Tuskegee to the opioid epidemic. Ufologists can go chapter-and-verse on real military/aerospace coverups and conspiracies (see also: Pizzagaters driven to frenzy by Jeffrey Epstein revelations).

From Watergate and Iran-Contra to MK ULTRA and Cointelpro, the US establishment has shown itself time and again willing to engage in coverups and palace intrigue. The "Deep State" isn't what the far-right imagines it to be, but it does exist, in the form of career civil servants and prominent government contractors who can and do exert pressure to maintain the status quo for good and ill, from keeping Guantanamo Bay open to frustrating the most unhinged plans of Trump and his cabinet.

Inequality is a driver of conspiracy, because with unequal distributions of money come unequal distributions of power, and thus corruption, self-dealing, and, naturally enough, cover-ups to keep the boat from rocking too much.

Countering incorrect conspiratorial beliefs is important and urgent work, but it is purely reactive -- ideological fire-fighting. The case that Merlan forcefully builds in her outsanding book is that we need fire-prevention, not just fire-fighting: we need to change the conditions that prime people to believe conspiracies, which is to say, we need to root out corruption and impunity and rebalance the inequality that gives rise to them, otherwise, the fires will become too numerous to extinguish.

Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power [Anna Merlan/Metropolitan Books]

https://boingboing.net/2019/09/21/from-opioids-to-antivax.html

[tipsycad147]

Wicca questions answered: Just the facts about Wicca and Paganism

by Michelle Gruben

Curious about Wicca and Paganism? You’re certainly not alone! In my almost 20 years as a practicing Pagan, I’ve met lots of people who want to learn more about this small-ish, little-understood religion. Some are interested in joining Wicca (or another Pagan tradition). Some just want to better understand their Pagan friends and neighbors.

Like many Pagans, I started my training under Wiccan teacher before moving onto my own personal path. I’m not a Wiccan myself, but I attend Wiccan rituals and count many Wiccan folks among my friend. This article is my attempt to answer some of the most common questions about Wicca, Paganism, and the relationships between the two forms of belief.

What is the difference between Wicca and Paganism?

When I tell someone that I’m Pagan, a typical response is, “Oh, so you’re Wiccan?” Wiccan and Pagan mean the same thing to a lot of people. They’re not synonymous, but there is quite a bit of overlap between people who identify as Wiccan and as Pagan.

Simply put, all Wiccans are Pagans, but not all Pagans are Wiccans. Wicca is a denomination or subset of Paganism. Many other religions have branches or denominations. If someone tells you that they are Presbyterian, you can safely assume that they are also Christian. But if someone tells you they are Christian, they may or may not be Presbyterian. The case is similar for Wicca and Paganism.

Wicca is probably the best-known of all modern Pagan religions, but there are many others. Broadly speaking, anyone who believes in more than one god can be classified as Pagan. Norse Heathens, Classical reconstructionists, and Kemetic (Egyptian) Pagans are just a few of the characters you may encounter in Pagan communities. Some people even argue that Hindus are Pagan—in which case, Paganism sheds its minority status among the world’s major religions.

Do all Wiccans practice witchcraft?

Some Wiccans practice witchcraft—perhaps most. But practicing witchcraft is not a requirement of the Wiccan religion. Also, not everyone who practices witchcraft is Wiccan.

Witchcraft is a broad term for a variety of practices, including spellcasting, divination, spirit communication, trance journeying, and many more. Some form of witchcraft has occurred in every known civilization since the beginning of recorded history.

At its heart, witchcraft is about using interactions with the unseen world to effect change on the mundane world. The Witch’s power comes from within his or herself, from Nature, or from allied gods or spirits. Witchcraft may be practiced or part of a religion, or independently—even by non-religious persons. Witchcraft is a morally neutral term. It encompasses hexes and curses as well as benevolent and healing magick.

Wicca teaches that every man and woman has the power to become a Witch through study and practice. Many people are attracted to Wicca because of an interest in witchcraft. I’d venture—based on purely anecdotal evidence, of course—that most Wiccans do practice some form of witchcraft.

However, the core rites of Wicca are devotional practices that are not necessarily witchcraft. Wicca emphasizes respect for Nature, connection with the Gods and ancestors, and ethical behavior over psychic training. Learning spellwork and divination are really a secondary part of most Wiccan paths.

Here’s where it gets complicated. Both “Wicca” and “witch” share the same linguistic root word, an old Anglo-Saxon term meaning “wise one.” Any adherent of Wicca may called herself a Witch—whether or not she practices witchcraft. (A male Wiccan is also called a Witch.) Some Wiccans capitalize the word “Witch” to emphasize that it is a religious affiliation, not just a description of their behavior.

Where did Wicca come from?

Wicca was first named and described by an Englishman named Gerald Gardner. In the 1930s and 1940s, Gardner began assembling a group of practicing Witches into what ultimately became the Bricket Wood Coven. He initiated several priestesses, including High Priestess Doreen Valiente, who collaborated with Gardner to develop the Wiccan liturgy.

Gardner wrote down the main rituals of Wicca in his published books, and in a collection of private papers now known as the Gardnerian Book of Shadows. Gardner claimed that his knowledge of the Wiccan tradition came from a group of witches known as the New Forest coven. He claimed to have been initiated into a British tradition of witchcraft stretching back to pre-Christian times. The tradition he called Wicca had supposedly been alive for centuries, kept underground by Britain’s anti-witchcraft law.

Some people buy this explanation, while some people believe that Gardner fabricated or embellished his stories about the New Forest coven. There is very little evidence for an unbroken tradition of British witchcraft before the 1930s. And it’s clear that the Gardnerian corpus is heavily influenced by English Freemasonry, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the field of cultural anthropology, and the famous magician Aleister Crowley (of whom Gardner was an associate).

Even if there’s no truth at all to Gardner’s claims of an ancient tradition, Wicca is now around 80 years old, at least, with many branches and offshoots. The oldest branch of Wicca is called Gardnerian Wicca. Gardnerians attempt to follow Gardner’s rituals and instructions as near as possible to how they were written down. Some Gardnerian groups claim a lineage stretching across a chain of initiations to Gardner himself.

Despite Gardner’s historical importance in the modern witchcraft revival, he does not occupy a lofty position in the Wiccan belief system. Wicca has no holy book, no prophets, and no written dogma. Gardner’s title within Wicca is simply “Witch”—the same as any other Wiccan initiate.

What do Wiccans believe?

Wiccan beliefs are so diverse that any list of Wiccan beliefs is certain to be incomplete. The following is my attempt to summarize Wiccan tenets in a few paragraphs:

Central to Wiccan beliefs is a reverence for nature. The Wiccan liturgical calendar is based on the movement of the sun and moon. Wiccan observe eight seasonal rites based on the annual cycle of the sun. They are called Sabbats, and are evenly distributed throughout the solar year. There are also thirteen Esbats per year, and these coincide with the lunar cycles.

Wiccan believe that human beings are not a separate creation, but an integral part of Nature. Wicca emphasizes connection with the plant and animal kingdoms, and with our human ancestors. Wiccans revere the life-giving power of the sun, the generative energy of sex, and the cycles of death and birth. Ritual offerings of food and beverage underscore our dependence on the gifts of nature. Future anthropologists might describe Wicca as a solar fertility religion—but Wiccans will certainly find that hopelessly reductive.

The central Wiccan deity is a Goddess, who may go by many different names. She is often described as a trinity—the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. In Her aspect as Maiden, the Goddess takes a male consort and together they bring forth life. In some versions of Wicca, the God and Goddess are co-equal. In others, the Goddess is clearly primary. The story of the courtship of the God and Goddess, His death, and His subsequent rebirth, is a solar myth tied to the Wheel of the Year.

Wicca has few behavioral codes. Wiccans eschew the concept of sin, instead focusing on ethical behavior and personal responsibility. The Wiccan “Rule of Three” posits that any good or harm released into the world will come back to the sender threefold. Whether they literally believe in the Rule of Three or not, Wiccans strive to heal the world, to grow in wisdom, and to live without harming others.

The Wiccan Rede, “An it harm none, do what ye will,” is sometimes cited as Wicca’s only binding piece of scripture. Not that these eight words are simple to understand. Wiccans can get into heated debates about what exactly is forbidden by the words “harm none.” And attempting to discover and follow one’s will is a magickal quest that can take a lifetime (or several).

While we’re on the topic, Wiccans also have varied beliefs about life after death. Some believe in reincarnation, others don’t. Some Wiccans speak of a heaven called the Summerland, celestial voyages, or journeys through the lands of Faery. (Wiccans don’t accept the concept of Hell or eternal punishment.) Some Wiccans claim to communicate with departed relatives and other spirits, while others don’t believe in the survival of individual consciousness after death.

All of this ambiguity makes Wiccan funerals veeeeerrry interesting. A “reunion with the Mother Goddess” may be the literal hope of the departed person, or just a poetic description of a dirt nap. It’s probably fair to say that Wiccans aren’t that fixated on the afterlife, because it can’t be known for certain. Most focus instead on honoring the gift of life while they’re alive.

Is Wicca an ancient religion? Is Paganism?

This is a question that is not easily answered. It is sure to spark a debate among any gathering of Pagans.

There is a certain perception that an older religion is somehow more legitimate than one that was developed more recently. Right or wrong, this bias affects the religious paths people choose to follow.

Interest in Wicca peaked in the late 1990s, and is now on the decline—that is, according to internet traffic statistics. The internet itself is probably to blame. As the 20th-century origins of Wicca have become more widely known, Pagans have tended to seek out other paths. It’s seen as more credible to be a member of a “real” ancient religion. Or at least, one in which ancient texts are available.

The truth is, there are very few (if any) unbroken occult traditions in the West. We have endured Inquisitions, Enlightenments, Dark Ages, and militant monotheism so widespread it has obscured any legacy of traditional witchcraft. (Except for a few Sicilian grandmas and, perhaps—if we’re feeling generous—a secret coven tucked away in southern England.) Any Western Pagan tradition that claims a continuous lineage of hundreds of years should be regarded with extreme skepticism. Some writers use the term “Neo-Paganism” to make it clear that contemporary Paganism is a revival and not a continuous tradition with the distant past.

Does that mean Neo-Paganism is a modern invention? Not necessarily. Many Pagan practices and beliefs are very old, even if the lineage is not. Pagans hold sacred the same things that would have moved our Stone Age ancestors: The movement of the sun and moon, the cycles of the seasons, the beauty of the natural world, sex, death, and harvest.

Some Pagan rites are inspired by centuries-old practices that we have records of. Some have to be completely re-imagined. The fairest way to describe Neo-Paganism might be to call it a modern religion with ancient roots.

Does Wicca require initiation? Is self-initiation allowed?

Wiccans believe that embracing the calling of a Witch is a personal choice. It cannot be simply inherited or conferred by another person. The power of the Witch is a birthright, but it must be claimed.

Dedication refers to the act of dedicating oneself to a path of Wiccan study. This “trial period” can last any length of time, while a person decides if Wicca is right for them. (A year and a day is the traditional interval.) Initiation is the more formal rite of passage, and involves full commitment to the path of the Witch.

Many Wiccans participate in a dedication ceremony sometime during their journey. Each coven, or group of Witches, may set their own requirements for dedication or initiation. For solitary Wiccans—those who practice without a coven—self-dedication is the norm.

Wiccans disagree on whether self-initiation “counts” as a true initiation. Not all branches of Wicca allow self-initiation—though most Wiccans would grant that it is permissible if a suitable teacher cannot be found. In formal Wiccan traditions, there is a three-degree system, probably inspired by the Masonic degree system. The aspirant must be initiated by an existing priest or priestess. Once the candidate rises to the rank of third degree (High Priest or High Priestess), he or she is eligible to initiate others or to “hive” (form a new coven).

Many covens have secret teachings that are available only to initiates who have reach a certain rank. (As you progress through the degrees, more of the coven’s knowledge is revealed to you.) Others are more open to non-initiates, and some even host rituals for the public. You don’t need to be initiated to participate in an open Wiccan ritual.

What are some of the symbols of Wicca?

The most familiar symbol of Wicca is the pentagram, or five-pointed star.  In Wicca, the pentagram represents the four elements (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water) surmounted by Spirit. The pentagram is also a symbol of the microcosm, the human being. Surrounded by a circle, it is called a pentacle and stands for completeness, balance, and perfection.

The pentagram is used as both a symbol of faith and a protective seal. The Wiccan pentagram is usually drawn upright, with the single point at the top. (Despite its frequent appearances in horror movies, the Wiccan pentagram is not a symbol of evil or Satanism.) Many Wiccans identify themselves with a pentagram necklace or tattoo. There are different versions of the pentagram, from the very simple to the very elaborate.

The triple moon is another symbol of Wicca that you may encounter. It is a circle (the full moon) with a waxing and waning crescent, one on either side. The triple moon symbolizes the Triple Goddess, the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. The lunar cycle, in Wicca, is evocative of the cycles of life, death, and birth.

The triquetra and triskele are Celtic symbols dating to pre-Christian times. Wiccans have adopted them, though some Celtic Christians use them, too. Both symbols represent trinities, the cycles of life, and eternity. (The triskele is a triple spiral, and the triquetra is a three-cornered knot. Read more about their similarities and differences.)

The eight-spoked wheel stands for the Wheel of the Year, and the eight Wiccan Sabbats on the Pagan calendar. The eight-pointed star is a solar symbol dating back to ancient Sumer. Sometimes the symbol will have a solar circle in the center, representing the constancy of Earth’s sun.

The spiral Goddess is usually shown nude with her arms stretched over her head. A spiral at Her belly represents Her infinite power of creation. The faceless, bare-breasted goddess is an echo of the fertility objects that have been found at many archeological sites around the world.

https://www.groveandgrotto.com/blogs/articles/7-questions-about-wicca-and-paganism

[dykeishheart]

Honestly though, coming from a conservative household where news isn't really watched a lot... the relatively moderate Republicans literally don't know what Trump's presidency was like. My conservative white parents don't know how bad it was for people who aren't middle classish white people. They don't have any black friends to discuss their struggles in this tiny white town. They don't know any homeless people. They don't talk to their only queer relative about their struggles (me). The only rhetoric they've ever heard is amplified soundbytes of angry liberals saying Trump is racist without any provided context, some really cleaned up bits of speeches from the white house that make Trump sound at least mostly coherent, and a lot of polished speeches about taxes and jobs and economies.

Honestly, if I had to guess why my parents, who are both reasonably smart, honest, kind people who try to do right by their friends and at least behave like morally decent human beings, voted for Trump? It's because they live in an information void. All the evidence they could ever want on why Trump is bad and what he's done is right at their fingertips with the internet, but why would they search? Their taxes haven't gone up so as far as they're concerned all is right with the world. All the information that's forced into their view from ads or talk shows is incomplete in a way that can seem reasonable or ridiculous purely based on your starting position, and their starting position is obviously not the height of social consciousness. When the riots started they immediately sided with the cops because why would they ever think law enforcement is bad? When Trump said the pandemic wasn't that serious, they believed him, because they've never lived through a pandemic and just kind of accepted that news is sensationalist. If you asked either of them how many died of covid in the US, I guarantee neither would say a quarter million.

Yeah, there are definitely extremists and the like among Trump's voters but honestly? I think there's probably a large number of them who are good, reasonable people, who just don't know they're in the wrong because they're lucky enough to not have to think about it too hard. I don't think the average conservative is racist on purpose, they just lack the motivation to go out and learn why their views are harmful because just accepting the answer you're given is easier. Nobody on the side of the majority became socially conscious by accident or without prompting because when you have privilege it lulls you into a complacency. Why learn about other people's struggles you don't have when you can just assume it's out of your hands and then ignore it?

How do you deradicalize 70 million people?

I can step back and look at the Trump supporters today, the ones who are protesting, the ones who are crying FRAUD, the ones who are scrambling at any reason to deny the results- and I can feel sympathy for them (even though they never showed sympathy for us.) I remember 2016. I remember the terrible, sinking, nauseating feeling of watching election results come in and come in wrong. 

I know they are hurting. They are angry. They are upset. There is, and I mean this sincerely, a grieving process. I fully expect them to be angry and bitter for a while. I know I was in 2016. I think that’s normal. 

But I also hope that as we move forward, past the legal Electoral Confirmation, past inauguration day, that they are able to come to terms with this. These last 4 years (and in many ways, the past 12 years, given the tone of the Republican party under Obama), have been a steady and intense radicalization of the American Right. They have been told that Loyalty is more important than Truth. They have been told that WINNING is defined as “making the other side angry” instead of “what actually helps Americans prosper.” They have been told to ignore and deny any news that goes against their narrative, to revel in being divisive, to put Party over Country. They have been told that ANYTHING is justifiable, as long as the right people are doing it, as long as it hurts the people they want to hurt. They have replaced the American Flag with MAGA hats and Trump Flags because devotion to that one man superseded all else. 

I want those people back. I want us to find a way to deradicalize them. I want them to believe that the vast vast majority of this country, that Democrats and leftists included, honestly want what is best for this country, even if their policies and proposals differ from Republicans. I want them to be able to disagree with us without dehumanizing us. I want them to be able to read news that disagrees with the party line and accept that it is true. I want them to be able to criticize the party when the party does something that goes against their own morals (instead of shaping their morals to justify whatever the party does.) 

70 million Americans voted for Trump this election. I doubt that we will ever make granola munching hippie socialists out of them, but I would like it if we could drag them back from the edge of this weird ultra-right cult of personality that has overtaken them.  

I don’t think it’s reasonable, or kind, or radical to just write those people off. We can’t lock them all up and throw away the key. They will still be our neighbors, our coworkers. They will vote again in 2024, and 2028, and 2032. I’d like them to not vote for the next demagogue fascist.  I think they can be de-radicalized. And even if I will NEVER agree with them, even if I always disagree with their politics, even if I will always fight against their policies that cause harm to others,  I want to be able to drag them back into at least a reasonable sphere of discourse.

[finalbiblecom]

Religious Pluralism and True Faith in the State of the Apocalypse

“Falsehood has an infinity of combinations, but truth has only one mode of being.”

Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Religious Pluralism and True Faith in the State of the Apocalypse

Religion – derived from the Latin word religare – reunion (re-establishing connection), in this case, the connection between man and God.

Pluralism - diversity, a philosophical concept or policy advocating a state of society in which members of diverse ethnic, racial, religious, or social groups may co-exist independently from each other and without being reduced to a common principle.

True faith - not just an intellectual statement but a genuine spiritual state of openness to the Creator.

Apocalypse - the Greek word for revelation. This word typically refers to the Judgement Day and the End of Ages.

Pluralism has its strength in advocating peaceful acceptance of any non-aggressive concepts, opinions, liberal attitude towards different cultures, traditions, etc. While the idea of pluralism is valuable in theory, it hardly works in real life. The drawback is that the advocates of this concept, unfortunately, are not aimed at convergence or at least respect of their counterparts but at separatism based on a conviction in rightfulness exclusively of their views. However, only personal spiritual experience can be the merit for such conviction. In case of its absence, fanaticism rules over one’s consciousness, which is the product of blind faith and spiritual laziness. Such fanaticism is always inevitably accompanied by aggression.

Division of humanity happens due to sins, including hypocrisy, vanity, fears, resentment, envy and many other negative emotions that lead one to wrong conduct, erroneous stances in life, antagonism, and divisions within society. There will never be convergence or peace in the world without a victory over sins. Opportunists of all kind skillfully use this knowledge to make their fortunes.

The topic of religion is quite broad. It is impossible to review the history of the development of religious denominations, even the major ones, since each one of them has many subdivisions. In this article, we will solely examine Christianity.

Almighty God is bound by His own Law of Choice, which was granted to men. To choose God means to believe in Him and to really strive to change your character for the better. If there is no movement along this path given by Christ, there will be no help from Above. The Law does not help criminals unwilling to amend themselves. In this case, the Law does not support the ones who are lazy in spirit.

There is only one God and one Savior who gave a clear definition of the root cause of human suffering – sins, as well as precise instruction on how to climb out of the immoral quagmire. Then the question arises: “Why are there so many different Christian denominations?”

Let me quote Jesus Christ: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew ch. 22, v. 37, 38). That means there is no Christian without love for God. How does Jesus Christ Himself define love for God? The answer is: “If you love Me, keep My commands.” “Whoever has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me.” “Anyone who does not love Me will not obey My teaching.” (John ch. 14, v. 15, 21, 24). So, we can conclude: the majority of the believers in God do not love Him!

If disciples would accurately and fully learn His Word, the individual interpretations would converge. Then, there would be only one denomination with precise and systematic delivery. Since there is just one source, that should be inevitable.

So, what do we now see? Faith that has been cultivated over centuries in the authority of Jesus's apostles that is now indisputable. What about Christianity by Jesus Chris Himself?

What was His opinion about His apostles? Addressing the apostles, He spoke: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” (John ch. 16, v. 12). After Jesus's death, in a revelation He addresses John: “I know your deeds, your hard work, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.” (Revelation, ch. 2, v. 2).

I will quote one of the apostles: “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.” (Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians, ch. 13, v. 9, 10).

Once again, pure logic tells us that imperfect and incomplete knowledge cannot lead to the Truth. Perhaps, this is the reason for discrepancies in theory and practical application, as well as for the fact of the existence of numerous denominations and the moral collapse to which we have succumbed. Paul the apostle in his message to the Romans made a statement about the impossibility of victory over sins of the flesh. However, in Russia, there are religious devotees who are known to have disproved this doctrine with their personal experience.

The apostles were brave and honorable people, but like any person, they were not insulated from making mistakes. It was not the apostles’ fault that in the 4th century some felt the need to merge and canonize contradicting opinions. These contradicting opinions were not scrutinized by personal experience and were exalted to the status of the unchallengeable religious core. Any unbiased researcher of biblical texts can see the discrepancies between the opinions of the apostles and with the Teaching of Jesus Christ. People’s undefeated vanity, besides other vices, became an insurmountable obstacle on the road to delivering the Word to people’s consciousness.

So, whose opinion do we accept as the truth? If this is a religion from Jesus Christ, then His direct speech, His Word must be the base for theory and practical application of the religious doctrine for any Christian. The Son of God gave men a task – obey the Commandments to guarantee a happy life. The human spirit inadvertently carries within it the matrix of the Law. The Law, God’s Will or Holy Spirit, created the human spirit. To make this a spiritual realization for a person means to stop the multi-thousand-year battle with himself of not obeying the Law and suffering the consequences. That will lead to an understanding of the purpose of living on earth, as well as the meaning of life itself. That is the real journey to the Truth. We still do not see this happening.

The Truth, which came to earth, is strict and irreconcilable with the sin. However, the key to the Truth was lost somewhere centuries ago. Foreseeing this loss, Jesus Christ predicted the inevitable Judgment and the coming of the Son of Man when “… all the people of the earth will mourn…”. The purpose of His coming is to reinstate Lawfulness and to overthrow the Darkness and its earthly carriers. “Whoever is not with Me is against Me.” (Matthew, ch. 12, v. 30).

The experience of a very few spiritual devotees has proven that to bring oneself under the Law of the Creator is challenging and time-consuming, but doable. It is precisely this work that brings real living in accordance with the Word given from Above. That is the real Communion with Christ versus the symbolic Communion via bread and wine.

Leading a life free of sin means achieving reconciliation with the Creator, love towards Him, and re-establishing the connection with Him. Then and only then the word religion becomes meaningful. This spiritual experience is necessary. Then all branches would merge into one religion; there would be no reason for opposition, for the Word of God is free from contradictions.

“Whoever says, “I know Him,” but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them.” (1 John, ch. 2, v. 4).

There is no desire to accuse any of the denominations, which showed many good deeds and earthly accomplishments. At the end of the day, it’s not the governments, disagreements of the numerous denominations, the materialism of science, or the harmful technological advances to blame, as many may think. All of that is merely the product of spiritual poverty and the false stance of each and every individual that makes up the entire spiritually deprived society. Such a fallen civilization is doomed unless it makes a drastic turn towards morality!

It’s not the biblical quotes or the superficial appeals that are needed, but the sharing of spiritual experience and modes of battling with sins. Without this battle, there is not and never will be any healing spiritual process. But to share such an experience, one must have one. Humanity has learned many things except for one thing, the main thing – how to live.

Physics of Religion in a Nutshell

When a person possesses genuine spiritual faith and is victorious over his sins, including negative emotions and thoughts, he gradually recovers the ability to perceive intuitively. That ability was previously lost as a result of the Fall of Man. Intuitive perceptions are generated by the spirit and are a different type of radiation. This type of radiation has a wave speed much faster than the slow waves of our feelings. Thus, it is much more powerful.

Then, the dominant of Conscience and Love is gradually restored, which is in much deficit in modern society. Recovery of the spiritual qualities and abilities was achieved to some degree by such individuals as Sergius of Radonezh, Seraphim of Vyritsa, Seraphim of Sarov, and so on. “Not everyone who says to Me “Lord, Lord” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven.” (Matthew, ch. 7, v. 21). The Will of the Father is the Laws, the commandments. The above quote defines the “pass” into the spiritual world, which is impossible without rectification, meaning obeying the commandments. Otherwise, the connection is not restored with the spirit, since personal vibrations, distorted by sins, do not correspond and are not in line with the lawful spiritual vibrations! There is no resonance, no correlation in characteristics of the waves, which is the base for any wave coupling.

The Word of Jesus Christ and the experience of the people mentioned above, who practiced His Word, is an example to be followed. That is the all-cure and the national idea at least for the part of society that did not yet succumb to the brazen onslaught of immorality, hypocritical lies, and corruption. “… but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew, ch. 24, v. 13).

Many, including very well-known scientists, speak of the fact that God began His silent but conspicuous dialog with men. What is happening with Earth and the Solar system, where many astronomical, helio, and geological parameters have gone out of their regular mode, speaks of impending changes. What changes and when? The Bible answers: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in Heaven, or the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew, ch. 24, v. 36). Jesus Christ pointed out indirect indications of the approaching Catastrophe: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places… and many will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” (Matthew, ch. 24, v. 7-10).

The ongoing developments warn us and put us at a crossroads. If we are the children of Truth and Light, we must prove it by amending ourselves. If we let spiritual laziness put us to sleep and we continue compromising with the Darkness, then we will be left in the dark and will keep on enduring humiliation and degradation until the sentence is given by the Supreme Judge.  

What is man’s sin or felony before the Creator? Unfortunately, the masses (I only refer to the believers) consider themselves nearly sinless. Those people have an opinion that sins take place only in the realm of words and deeds. However, there is also an invisible but quite real realm of thoughts and feelings that comprises the relationship between man and the world.

Everyone understands how uncomfortable it is to be in the presence of an envious, rude, or cruel person even if the person is not interacting with you. That is an impact of the field of vibrations of forms created by thoughts and feelings. Those forms are unpleasant because they are malevolent, hostile, and we can register them with our biosensors. Our deeds may be physical, verbal, mental, or emotional. All of these realms are permeated by radiation of the Supreme Will that created us. Somewhere our misconduct is registered and eventually is returned to us in the form of an adverse life event. And most people wonder why they have such an unfavorable destiny despite being good citizens and “faithful believers”. This approach results in searching for someone to blame. Their complaints are even sometimes directed at the Creator.

The knowledge of the Laws of God and the knowledge of His qualities is the foundation in battling one’s sins. True Faith is the base for moving upward. If one has Faith, then the logic of religion is simple and clear. This logic will lead a person to make a realization about the necessity of spiritual transformation.

Let’s take an emotion such as resentment as a reaction to injustice. If we ask a believer: “Is God fair?”, the answer will be: “Yes!” “Is God perfection?” “Yes!” That begs for another question: “Then how could a fair and perfect God create an imperfect and unfair world where it appears that evil wins? Isn’t He the Creator and the ruler of this world?”

So, what is the reason for this apparent discrepancy or inconsistency? The answer is simple. Assume, a sinful person (nobody is a saint) got offended. People tend to view the situation between the offender and the offended as something that happened here and now. Instead, it must be examined in the context of one’s entire past life, where a person made numerous sins. Then one may view it as “what you sow, that shall you reap a hundredfold”, where sowing was a sin, or breaking the Law. Reaping is suffering when the sin is returned by the Law. That is fair from the point of view of the Creator, and that Justice rules the world. Each crime receives an inevitable punishment.

True Christianity is free of the feeling of resentment, and it shows genuine forgiveness through a logical realization of being responsible for each and every act. In this case, forgiveness is called humility, when an offended person considers his offender an intermediary of the Law, simply returning his sin back to him. Forgiveness is accepting in humility the right to be punished for one’s misconduct. Otherwise, a person who lacks understanding of this arrangement becomes upset with the act of the Law. Therefore, he resists God without even realizing it. Resentment is not as harmless as one may think. Additionally, genuine and conscious forgiveness leads a sinner to be forgiven by the Creator for the sin that was “tied” to the punishment. Then, the sinner is redeemed before the Law for that particular sin. He personally redeemed it with his suffering.

This mechanism of redemption was given directly by Jesus Christ when He addressed His disciples: “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew, ch. 6, v. 14, 15). The spiritual devotees in their personal experience were implementing precisely this. Sergius of Radonizh, for example, in his teenage years became a hermit, left society, and for many years was redeeming his sins. As you can see, he succeeded in it quite well!

We have been told that we suffer because of our sins, and that is true. The experience of Sergius of Radonizh and others like him showed that the real process of redemption is lengthy and tough.  God is constant, and from the day of creation of the world He never changed His Laws or the essence of His Word addressed to people.  The only thing that varied was the form of delivery, according to the educational and cultural level of the society to where the Visitor from Above came.

Who does humanity consider their societal leaders?  Politics, science, and the church claim this role. How far have we come, despite a large number of geniuses?  You yourselves can answer that question. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.” (1 Corinthians, ch. 3, v. 19).  What is the weakness in the scientific approach? In the best-case scenario, they educate and raise an intellectual individual.  However, there is a lack of moral education, such as conscience and sense of responsibility for one’s behavior.  The process of education had obviously failed a long time ago.  As a result, society is degrading.  An intelligent person without control of conscience is a terrifying phenomenon.

Without faith and spiritual experience, there is no access to the world beyond visible matter where the causal (cause of) level of all knowledge lies.  The psychic experience proved a thousandfold that a human has abilities to access the world beyond visible matter.  This spontaneity must be researched.  Learning this process should be included in the curriculum of a civilized form of education.  However, a researcher in this field cannot analyze data and draw valid conclusions because he operates only with his brain, which is limited to the wave speed of electromagnetic fluctuations of about 300,000 km/sec.  And psychic mediums, except hypnotists, work at the wave level of about two orders of magnitude faster than 300,000 km/sec.  Advanced physics (torsion physics) partially tapped into that knowledge.

What about religion?  That which we call revelation (not to be confused with meditation) is much more abundant in comparison to psychic achievements, but most importantly, revelation is the key and not the lock pick to Heaven.  “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John, ch. 14, v. 6).  We can quote beautiful phrases until blue in the face, however, as we know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  That is where we are headed.

Allow me to go over the anatomy of stress and the origin of disease of the physical body.  Our bodies are made of cells.  Cells are made of molecules, atoms, protons, neutrons, and electrons, which are connected by specific dependencies and constants.  Ideally functioning elementary particles provide a harmony of atoms, cells and, thus, the health of the body.  In the material world, the stability of the atomic processes is ensured by the wave speed of 300,000 km/sec, whereas the wave speed of emotions is two orders of magnitude faster.

Impulses of resentment, fear, jealousy, or envy cause a “crushing” of the atom, meaning the regular interaction of the elementary particles, cells, and biochemical processes in the body become disrupted.  That is how the initial stage of the disease takes place.  With continuous daily pressure by the negative emotions, the disease progresses on to more advanced stages.  Man is a sinner, and therefore, whether he admits it or not, he creates evil.  By the Law of Resemblance, he thus attracts evil.  This is the result of a lack of knowledge in this field.  It is impossible to get rid of negativity, which is destroying our lives, without the right world outlook and help from the Light.  And that is practically unachievable without the deep understanding of the essence of religion, which holds the knowledge of the laws of life of this world.  Without this knowledge, we are blind and deaf.

All those who came from Above tried to wean us off of our mistakes and taught us how to be happy.  At best, we ignored them, but more often we chased them away, persecuted, and even murdered them.  Apparently, after the murder of Jesus Christ, the Creator ran out of patience.  Therefore, the warning about the Last Judgment is conveyed in the New Testament.

The effort to change the world without altering people’s consciousness is a waste of time.  We have been sowing sins for ages, and now they are returning to us.  We get offended.  Thus, we refuse to pay our dues, causing the Law to double the punishment, and so forth.  Consequently, we do not have the right to a happy life even in theory.

It is important to remember that all people are of the same spiritual origin.  Thus, the idea of evolution, presented in the Christian religion, is one for all.  All a man needs to do is to abandon his spiritual laziness, verify through personal experience the accuracy of the direction he is heading (just like in scientific approach), and to subdue his earthly activity to the spiritual dominant.

There are some interesting findings based on the acquired experience.  The accumulated material would be sufficient for many hours worth of lectures.  Anyone reading these words will inevitably have questions.  There are answers, including to the sacred question: “Why in the just world do bad people seemingly prosper, and good people suffer and sometimes perish?”

Given time, I will explain it in detail, using simple logic.  Only personal experience allows one “to separate the wheat from the weeds” in this challenging process of spiritual development.

The main reason why a man gets lured by false teachings is laziness.  Many false teachers appeal to the masses to believe without reservation in their messianism.  They demonstrate paranormal abilities as proof of their divine origin.  In return, they promise to free people of their problems, meaning to relieve a sinner from the consequences of one’s sins without personal labor.  The lazy in spirit is attracted to the idea of getting everything effortlessly.  This is the reason for the massive success of false teachers.

God is pure Clarity and Naturalness.  The teaching of the Truth is very simple.  Jesus for a reason chose His disciples out of modest people like fishermen, etc., instead of priests, Pharisees, and clever teachers.  They neither possessed the vanity of the all-knowing, hypocrisy nor artful trickery.

If you find yourself exploring spiritual science, keep in mind that if the teacher does not have comprehensible and straightforward answers to your questions, then he does not know his subject.  Vanity prevents one from acknowledging it.  In the meantime, the “fog” is created out of complicated terminology, restrictions, and hints of the teacher’s exclusivity.  In the business of freeing the spirit, there are no inflated ambiguities and mysterious concepts.  That is a smokescreen to pompously hide one’s ignorance while luring many onto wrong and dangerous paths.

The Truth unites, binds, gives Faith, Hope, and Love.  The Darkness (Evil) operates in the mode of “divide and conquer” by using our vices.

Pluralism in religion is necessary as the only measure in sustaining good relations while we are divided by ignorance.

Yuri Lutsenko

[n-o-w-is-l-a-t-e-r]

Everything is Exploited for Survival Pt.3

In order to deal with pain, one must become empty. They must detach from any form, one must cling to a goal ardently and in turn you must shape your self within that image. This is the essence of succeeding in performance: characterization. This is the basis of whiteness: surface. Projecting an image is key. This is why whitef**e is essential. Blackness will always be abject in a white society because of whiteness will always foreground blackness, always cast its shadow amongst the behavior of POC's through its division. Naiveté is weakness, know!edge is power. Light = top (surface) and Night = bottom (darkness) Darkness takes no form, whereas light is separated. The surface is empty. Pretty is an illusion. Surface is the greatest illusion. For on the surface, we can convey anything. Always judge a book by its cover. We are always being watched, judged by how we appear and most importantly, judging ourselves based upon what we percieve our selves to be. Culture is the biggest illusion because it is based on precognition, existing in an image of someone else and then being orchestrated by its powers (morality).If someone else is doing it, than I MUST/HAVE to do it. These rituals are simulations, empty and meaningless, however, only we give it power. Uniform cultures have no meaning aside from the instruction of what came before. This is key to freeing yourself from the oppressive structure of others.  This is what makes identity politics so dangerous. Punk attempted to subvert the cis-heteronormativity of the dominant culture. In doing so, it resisted the strict formalism of gender in creating a space of protest. Safety pins, leather, vinyl, torn fabrics, and strewn textures all symbolized a subversion to the mass semantics. The Beautiful Surface-the false surface. The surface is fake, however, underneath is nothingness. Pretty empty. Beauty is the only reality. When you’re young, you're admired. When you're old, you're dead. The surface symbolism allows us to judge based upon what we choose to show and ultimately what we choose to see. Men, exploit. Women, are used.

The mind is programmed to function based on human logic. This is the root of divided consciousness. We are then indoctrinated and judged based on our perception of knowledge. Humans are bored by nature due to the construct of reality. They can never truly turn off the mind so they are in search of ways to continually stimulate their senses to their detriment. Eating, exercising, fucking, fighting, playing  everything is a distraction due to the divisive nature of humanity. In truth, we are empty devoid of meaning, devoid of any singular/objective purpose. This subjective filtered consciousness is what separates us, which prevents us from full interaction. We are all just dead inside. Emptiness is the ultimate reality. We can only remain free as long as we recognize our emptiness. In Fight Club, the very projection of the phallus (surface) is what keeps us from recognize the true reality: death. Duality is an illusion. Gender is an illusion. Everything is an exercise in futility. I am merely a copy of a copy. Give yourself to the darkness. Drag allows you to transcend gender in embodying an expansive version of yourself. You are no longee bounded by conventions of time. You transform into a character that although illusive on the surface is freed. Emptiness means fullness. It means being open to change constantly. The surface doesn't mean anything so have fun. Full of nothingness: Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. Stop looking for tomorrow and live right now,

Humor me. Lyrics to: "People Are Machines"

This is me...

Oh, this is me Neglected and obsolete, I am incomplete This is me returning to my stability This is me giving up and learning not to feel a thing

(We all work, eat, sleep, repeat Every one is a machine)

This is me preparing my grave in the shade, Learning that everyone loses their place under the sun eventually

This is me dealing with my discontentment and deficiency I am handing in my resignation and vulnerability My guts have been hollowed out There is nothing left for me to spill I'm covered in dust because my life has been sat on the shelf

I'm a machine I'm a machine I'm a machine I don't feel a thing

I'm a machine I'm a machine I'm a machine I don't feel a thing

This is me going back to bed, destroying all my intents This is me going back to bed, abandoning all of my friends This is me going back to bed, destroying all my intents This is me going back to bed, abandoning all of my friends

I'm a machine I'm a machine I'm a machine I'm a machine I'm a machine I don't feel a thing

I'm a machine I'm a machine I'm a machine I don't feel a thing

I'm a machine I'm a machine I'm a machine I don't feel a thing

Every one is a machine Work, eat, sleep, repeat...

Fabulations The visible sleeve Which separates that which is unseen Whole nothingness non-form man is a dildo, separated from oneness. Empty masculinity, empty form, always symbolic, A woman is both inside and out, always embodying her opposite A man is closed, and cums on the outside (power) A mans identity is comprised of his hardness Whereas a woman her liquidity, her freedom of expression The essence of formalism is symbolic, always determined by gesture By the basis of social formalism, what is defined as masc. or fem. Men are pyramids, closed external Women are opened internally The phallic seperation

Dragon Ball Z: All Consuming Destructive Masculinity. This system comprises itself on fear, on the competitive advantage of those who are already head due to hegemonic influence such as property, wealth, etc. Those that exist at the bottom are at a disadvantage because they don't have access to the resources needed to fully assess and leverage their reality. On top of that, the market pumps these food desserts chock full of cheap, toxic waste foods which poisons the development of their minds. Those who are at a disadvantage are only capable of doing. They want all those of whom exist at the bottom to do their bidding: working the slave jobs, doing work day in and out so they can continue to exist in squalor. These are empty souls born into a world where they must constantly work or they suffer the consequences. Empty people are clones: copies of copies of copies produced for the purpose of massive consumption and the wealth of those at the very top. The illusion (trap) of gendered dualistic bodies keeps us misaligned intentionally keeping us from the neutral whole. We don't need tradition. Edna Pontellier was aware of the construct of gender both biologically and psychologically. She was able to release her bodily form her oceanic suicide symbolic of the wholeness regained, no longer fragmented by whom she is suppose to appear to be (rigid formalism). The ocean is the fullness of emptiness, of sublime nothingness. Women are freer than men. Unbounded by the hardness that consumes men, they are able to devote themselves to whatever they choose. Formalism/socialization is very harmful in that it denotes separation. I don't believe. Nothingness- which is comprised of everything is alive, truly loose and free of any worry. This is perfectly comprised in the song Lost in Music by Sister Sledge, the wavy ethereality of the nothingness, free from vanity and selfish materialism. Joss Stone also mentions this freedom in her song The Answer, freedom from worry. I'm going to free myself. Free myself from worry, from fear. I'm going to put it all on the line because, honey, I'm all I got. Narcissistic form and function: The sensual world is empty. an empty body, a vessel of surface reflection that is utterly meaningless in creation. A slave of form is someone who is utterly materialistic. Concerned only with their senses, and ultimately how they appear amongst others. Their only goal is to fit in, do as they are told. They are ignorant of their circumstances on earth and either only question their reality to a limited extent or nearly not at all. To avoid any potential pain they avoid themselves from anything that may trigger them concerning their seemingly limited existence. They will toil away, committing themselves to ideologies that is most logical for their “humanity”. In the end there is no meaning, no singular purpose only an ego based one that allows one to construct their reality however they see fit. There is a way for us to exist in the material world while recognizing simultaneously that it doesn't truly mean anything. I can fuck someone while remaining completely detached from him/her because I don't need to own them. This is beauty of futility is it doesn't mean anything, truly. Beauty and the Beast. The beast is cold materialism, separated from the whole of nothingness by vanity and greed. The body is separated from the spirit and ruled by the mind. It is an object, the penis (phallus)is just a tool. Gaston is an example of pure ego form: materialistic, selfish,and ultimately lacking in emotion. Belle is the spirit, the anti-matter full of overflowing love and grace. Sensitive to the world. Inception: the restless materialism conveyed by Dom is an example of how far he is willing to detach himself from the present-which is full of love. He further expands into an empty world that eventually infects the perspective of his wife Mal, who can longer distinguish what is real and what isn't. She commits suicide but this memory is lodged deep in Dom's basement (subconscious), symbolizing both his avoidance and his attachment out of grief/guilt. Mal is a projection of his subconscious but he cannot seem to let her go this projection interferes with the inception that has taken place. Mal’s suicide is also symbolic of the lost feminine, the love that Dom has lost due to greed. He finds redemption and learns to exist in the present. Dom is symbolic of the demiurge, and its construction. White materialism is always determined through control. The very basis of white culture is animalistic, always insisted upon greed. Love, is useless in a white materialist, patriarchal system. Transcending form (ego): transcending age, appropriateness, always being childlike in exploration, always living in the now or at least. affirming it daily. Accepting and giving love routinely. Affirming the nothingness that is the ultimate nothingness. Excerpt from Art as the Absolute: Art's Relation to Metaphysics in Kant, Fichte, Simone In this current age, The Kali Yuga (Iron Age) is a period involving man's lowest degradation: the senses. We exist primarily in the sensual world where we value fame,money,power (symbolic),and everything else concerning the sensual body (ego). Humans only exist for the pursuit of pleasure. Places of divine intention such as ashrams are replaced by competitive profit-based materialist institutions. The world becomes chalk full of illusions based on glamourous appeal (surface. Nothing is as it seems. Delusional fear based ideologies are used to control the quantity of life. Much like the depiction of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho (1999)Everything becomes artificial.

Whiteness is a mirror. It utilizes light (surface) in both projection/reflection. Whiteness is a mutation, for it mirrors its subjects. It is a cannibalistic subjectivity as consumption is central to its power.  for it is utilized in the process of glamour. It is use to charm those who are in opposition, thus creating luminance (haze-mind control). The best way to deflect is to become aware of the glamour (haze) this is best done through direct analysis. This tactic is often used on those whom are the most susceptible aka naïve children and most likely women. These targets are the easiest to control: Diffuse reflection is the reflection of light or other waves or particles from a surface such that a ray incident on the surface is scattered at many angles rather than at just one angle as in the case of specular reflection. An ideal diffuse reflecting surface is said to exhibit Lambertian reflection, meaning that there is equal luminance when viewed from all directions lying in the half-spaceadjacent to the surface. A surface built from a non-absorbing powder such as plaster, or from fibers such as paper, or from a polycrystalline material such as white marble, reflects light diffusely with great efficiency. Many common materials exhibit a mixture of specular and diffuse reflection.

Links: o Is the Mirror Racist? Interrogating the Space of Whiteness by Shannon Winnubst o ‘Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power’, in Feminism and Foucault: Reflections on Resistance, ed. Irene Diamond and Lee Quinby. Rocha evokes an ethereality that I admire, a form that engages with both the real and the surreal. It exists in a place that is non-gendered that is equally whole and fractured in its components. It exists in a realm that is open. We exist in a masculine age. Hot and hairy. vulnerability / sensitivity are not valued as highly as intellect. Science, the study of surface mechanisms is the new religion. Metaphysics is not integrated into this system. Mechanics, engineers, technicians are the highest form of intellectualism in this era. They replace the form of the biological mother, creating machines instead of humans. The masculine era also breeds competitive cultures which forces one either to adapt or die. The patriarchal matrix (kali yuga aka Agni-Fire Age *Iron): Dominance of fire over water and every other force on the planet. This polarity throws everything out of balance as fire cultures are based on conflict (war) and control (hegemony) Water based creatures turned into a hierarchy of servants or slaves. Difference is demonized, and or disciplined into servitude or the more extreme: eradication. The dominance of kings and the sharp incline in narcissism begins. Fire dominant (father) based systems become instated through war. Religion becomes a dominant moral system. The primitive societies transition from gathering into hunting/agricultural systems. The soul “holy spirit”-divine feminine becomes erased, the mother is lost. The birth of glamour (film industry) begins, the camera is always “on”. Voyeurism/exhibitionism is the mode. Gods Puppets: Narcissism, Hegemony, and the GOD complex in the dawn of Western Civilization o It’s always the narcissist who believe they are God. o The narcissistic god is Aries (Agni) the Fire God who is controlling. o Filmic Example: Embrace of the Serpent- the Christian missionaries who converted the South American tribes and turned o Gender mimesis. Discipline is the mode of control in a patriarchal hegemonic matrix. Discipline allows. We will all evolve into white men through white ideologies such as Christianity. Jordan Peterson is correct, Independence is freedom from the chain. Freedom is being able to exist as yourself at all times. Love is care. we're all just heading towards death. The Ray of Light: Pyramid of success (ascension)

There is no sexuality, only energy. The tradition of gender is illusive in that it requires opposition. BREAK THE BINARY. The only purpose of sex is reproduction. This creates culture. When a man wants a woman, he years for his mother: loving, warm, affectionate. When a woman wants a woman, she wants fluidity. I was told I was greedy because I wanted more. Because clearly valuing my needs over others was considered lazy. The competition of opposites is useless when everything is available. When there is so much diversity present it is pointless to argue your point when you should just let live. Shame- of not knowing what to do and becoming frustrated by my abilities lack thereof and putting off my progress through laziness. I had no discipline in my early home life so I was adept at being lazy. I yearned for stability and yet the very foundation of my home life was the definition of unstable. Such is life you live and you change, you grow and then you die. Part of innocence is ignorance. A child is not aware of the circumstances that awaits them so they must learn to adapt to the suffering. Life in truth is suffering. My mother sugar coated the truth and breeded weakness in her children. She got a man who was disciplinarian, who would step in place of my father. Blinded by the guiding light Our truths hidden by expressions. Exploring the Ascent of Narcissism through Humans in Aronofskys Mother!:  Is a gnostic tale of separation (duality) energies that grow further apart due to the Father/Sun(Javier Bardem) narcissism. Mother (Gaia/Sophia) played by Jennifer Lawrence is the embodiment of the heavenly maternal; love, affectionate, caring. She is matter, Gaia, the earth itself. The house is symbolic of the divine feminine from which all matter arose Father/Sun (Yaldabaoth) conveyed by Javier Bardem is the patriarch. He “created” the realm of matter. However this realm is false. His room at the top of the house symbolizes the Mind: logical, prescient, and illusive. He craves more and more attention and this begins to take form through the creation of humans. Adam and Eve (Brother and Sister) are replicas of the duality of the feminine and the masculine, however, imperfect. Their flesh is flawed through its own ignorance. This is symbolized through the death of the first human death, Abel by his brother Cain. The curse of Cain was Whiteness, which eventually separated him. Through this very act we begin to see the  begins to tear the relationship between the two even further as more humans multiply thus intruding their once quiet home (oneness) Patriarchy-Iron Age-Yang (Kali Yuga): • Male-centric patriarchal societies controlled by men. • Hierarchal systems • The dawn of initiatory “Secret Societies” • GOD (Male) • War • Poverty

[photeinos-blog]

Sutra of the Three Heaps and the ten non-virtues

Sutra of the Three Heaps, also known as the sutra of the confession of downfalls- a sutra used in the confession and purification of transgressions of vows, especially downfalls of the bodhisattva vow. It features the thirty-five buddhas of confession. The 'three heaps' or three sections referred to in the title are 1) homage, 2) confession, and 3) rejoicing or dedication. I, whose name is . . . , at all times go for refuge to the Guru, go for refuge to the Buddha, go for refuge to the Dharma, go for refuge to the Sangha.

To the Teacher, Blessed One, Tathágata, Foe Destroyer, Completely Perfect Buddha, Glorious Conqueror Shakyamuni I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Complete Subduer with the Essence of Vajra I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Jewel of Radiant Light I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Powerful King of the Nagas I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Leader of the Heroes I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Glorious Pleasure I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Jewel Fire I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Jewel Moonlight I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Meaningful to Behold I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Jewel Moon I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Stainless One I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Bestower of Glory I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Pure One I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Transforming with Purity I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Water Deity I prostrate.

To the Tathágata God of Water Deities I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Glorious Excellence I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Glorious Sandalwood I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Endless Splendor I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Glorious Light I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Glorious One without Sorrow I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Son without Craving I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Glorious Flower I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Clearly Knowing through Enjoying Pure Radiance I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Clearly Knowing through Enjoying Lotus Radiance I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Glorious Wealth I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Glorious Mindfulness I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Glorious Name of Great Renown I prostrate.

To the Tathágata King of the Victory Banner Head of the Powerful Ones I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Glorious One Complete Subduer I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Great Victor in Battle I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Glorious One Complete Subduer Passed Beyond I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Glorious Array Illuminating All I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Jewel Lotus Great Subduer I prostrate.

To the Tathágata Foe Destroyer, Completely Perfect Buddha, King of Mount Neru Seated Firmly on a Jewel and a Lotus I prostrate.

O All you [Tathágatas] and all the others, however many Tathágatas, the Foe Destroyers, the Completely Perfect Buddhas, the Blessed Ones there are dwelling and abiding in all the worldly realms of the ten directions, all you Buddhas, the Blessed Ones, please listen to me.

In this life and in all my lives since beginning-less time, in all my places of rebirth while wandering in samsára, I have done negative actions, have ordered them to be done, and have rejoiced in their being done. I have stolen the property of the bases of offering, the property of the Sangha, and the property of the Sanghas of the ten directions, have ordered it to be stolen, and have rejoiced in it being stolen. I have committed the five unbounded heinous actions, have ordered them to be committed, and have rejoiced in their being committed. I have completely engaged in the paths of the ten non-virtuous actions, have ordered others to engage in them, and have rejoiced in their engaging in them.

Being obstructed by such karmic obstructions, I shall become a hell being, or I shall be born as an animal, or I shall go to the land of the hungry ghosts, or I shall be born as a barbarian in an irreligious country, or I shall be born as a long-life god, or I shall come to have incomplete senses, or I shall come to hold wrong views, or I shall have no opportunity to please a Buddha.

All such karmic obstructions I declare in the presence of the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones, who have become exalted wisdom, who have become eyes, who have become witnesses, who have become valid, who see with their wisdom. I confess without concealing or hiding anything, and from now on I will avoid and refrain from such actions.

All you Buddhas, the Blessed Ones, please listen to me. In this life and in all my previous lives since the beginning-less time, in all my places of rebirth while wandering in samsára, whatever root of virtue there is in my giving to others, even in my giving a morsel of food to one born as an animal; whatever root of virtue there is in my maintaining moral discipline; whatever root of virtue there is in my actions conducive to great liberation; whatever root of virtue there is in my acting to fully ripen sentient beings; whatever root of virtue there is in my generating a supreme mind of enlightenment; and whatever root of virtue there is in my unsurpassed exalted wisdom; all of these assembled, gathered, and collected together, by fully dedicating them to the unsurpassed, to that of which there is no higher, to that which is even higher than the high, and to that which surpasses the unsurpassed, I fully dedicate to the unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment.

Just as the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones of the past, have dedicated fully, just as the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones who are yet to come, will dedicate fully, and just as the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones who are living now, dedicate fully, so too do I dedicate fully.

I confess individually all negative actions. I rejoice in all merit. I beseech and request all the Buddhas. May I attain the holy, supreme, unsurpassed, exalted wisdom.

Whoever are the Conquerors, the supreme beings living now, those of the past, and likewise those who are yet to come, with a boundless ocean of praise for all your good qualities, and with my palms pressed together I go close to you for refuge.

This Sutra is a sort of a confessions and repentance. When we went over this many years ago at UD, a Western approach was taught to us:  -our morality and ethics are not created by God/a Supreme being. - when we create negative karma, it is not an offense against God, it is merely unskillful. -confessing and requesting is not asking for a Gods forgiveness, it is acknowledging cause and effect; a process of seeing how we create suffering and resolving to correct the habit and remove the pattern. - confessing is just the lay bare, to stop hiding, to own up so that it can be purified and moved through, beyond. - paying homage to the 35 Buddhas is saying, ‘we aspire to be like you who have achieved -in dedicating the practice, whenever we achieve virtuous merit we should dedicate it to permanent goals as opposed to temporary goals; goal of buddha-state and being free from confusion. 10 non virtues: - broken down into physical, speech and mind  - physical 1.killing - a sentient being, 2. having the intention to kill, 3. carrying out the killing, 4 succeeding in killing 2.stealing - desire to steal, effort put forth to steal, and succeeding in stealing 3.sexual misconduct - intention, efffort, succeeding. misconduct defined as - relations with those we are not to; incest, celibate people, people who do not or cannot consent, people are are married/ in a monogamous relationship, minors. the end goal here is the avoid creating harm. - Divisive speech 4.Lying - chance to lie, intention to lie, effort to lie, succeeding in lying. 5. sewing discord- instigating, back stabbing, slander, etc. 6. harsh, hurtful, hateful speech- intended to hurt 7. idle gossip/ worthless chatter- social settings, BE AWARE- starts innocently but isnt productive or go anywhere, often leads to the other three forms of divisive speech.  - Mind 8. covetousness 9. ill will/ wishing harm  10. wrong view - denying cause and effect, nihilism & eternalism- developng wisdom is the fix for this. 

[tipsycad147]

Wicca questions answered: Just the facts about Wicca and Paganism

Posted by Michelle Gruben on Jun 14, 2017

Curious about Wicca and Paganism? You’re certainly not alone! In my almost 20 years as a practising Pagan, I’ve met lots of people who want to learn more about this small-ish, little-understood religion. Some are interested in joining Wicca (or another Pagan tradition). Some just want to better understand their Pagan friends and neighbours.

Like many Pagans, I started my training under Wiccan teacher before moving onto my own personal path. I’m not a Wiccan myself, but I attend Wiccan rituals and count many Wiccan folks among my friend. This article is my attempt to answer some of the most common questions about Wicca, Paganism, and the relationships between the two forms of belief.

What is the difference between Wicca and Paganism?

When I tell someone that I’m Pagan, a typical response is, “Oh, so you’re Wiccan?” Wiccan and Pagan mean the same thing to a lot of people. They’re not synonymous, but there is quite a bit of overlap between people who identify as Wiccan and as Pagan.

Simply put, all Wiccans are Pagans, but not all Pagans are Wiccans. Wicca is a denomination or subset of Paganism. Many other religions have branches or denominations. If someone tells you that they are Presbyterian, you can safely assume that they are also Christian. But if someone tells you they are Christian, they may or may not be Presbyterian. The case is similar for Wicca and Paganism.

Wicca is probably the best-known of all modern Pagan religions, but there are many others. Broadly speaking, anyone who believes in more than one god can be classified as Pagan. Norse Heathens, Classical reconstructionists, and Kemetic (Egyptian) Pagans are just a few of the characters you may encounter in Pagan communities. Some people even argue that Hindus are Pagan—in which case, Paganism sheds its minority status among the world’s major religions.

Do all Wiccans practice witchcraft?

Some Wiccans practice witchcraft—perhaps most. But practising witchcraft is not a requirement of the Wiccan religion. Also, not everyone who practices witchcraft is Wiccan.

Witchcraft is a broad term for a variety of practices, including spellcasting, divination, spirit communication, trance journeying, and many more. Some form of witchcraft has occurred in every known civilisation since the beginning of recorded history.

At its heart, witchcraft is about using interactions with the unseen world to effect change on the mundane world. The Witch’s power comes from within his or herself, from Nature, or from allied gods or spirits. Witchcraft may be practiced or part of a religion, or independently—even by non-religious persons. Witchcraft is a morally neutral term. It encompasses hexes and curses as well as benevolent and healing magick.

Wicca teaches that every man and woman has the power to become a Witch through study and practice. Many people are attracted to Wicca because of an interest in witchcraft. I’d venture—based on purely anecdotal evidence, of course—that most Wiccans do practice some form of witchcraft.

However, the core rites of Wicca are devotional practices that are not necessarily witchcraft. Wicca emphasises respect for Nature, connection with the Gods and ancestors, and ethical behaviour over psychic training. Learning spellwork and divination are really a secondary part of most Wiccan paths.

Here’s where it gets complicated. Both “Wicca” and “witch” share the same linguistic root word, an old Anglo-Saxon term meaning “wise one.” Any adherent of Wicca may called herself a Witch—whether or not she practices witchcraft. (A male Wiccan is also called a Witch.) Some Wiccans capitalise the word “Witch” to emphasise that it is a religious affiliation, not just a description of their behaviour.

Where did Wicca come from?

Wicca was first named and described by an Englishman named Gerald Gardner. In the 1930s and 1940s, Gardner began assembling a group of practising Witches into what ultimately became the Bricket Wood Coven. He initiated several priestesses, including High Priestess Doreen Valiente, who collaborated with Gardner to develop the Wiccan liturgy.

Gardner wrote down the main rituals of Wicca in his published books, and in a collection of private papers now known as the Gardnerian Book of Shadows. Gardner claimed that his knowledge of the Wiccan tradition came from a group of witches known as the New Forest coven. He claimed to have been initiated into a British tradition of witchcraft stretching back to pre-Christian times. The tradition he called Wicca had supposedly been alive for centuries, kept underground by Britain’s anti-witchcraft law.

Some people buy this explanation, while some people believe that Gardner fabricated or embellished his stories about the New Forest coven. There is very little evidence for an unbroken tradition of British witchcraft before the 1930s. And it’s clear that the Gardnerian corpus is heavily influenced by English Freemasonry, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the field of cultural anthropology, and the famous magician Aleister Crowley (of whom Gardner was an associate).

Even if there’s no truth at all to Gardner’s claims of an ancient tradition, Wicca is now around 80 years old, at least, with many branches and offshoots. The oldest branch of Wicca is called Gardnerian Wicca. Gardnerians attempt to follow Gardner’s rituals and instructions as near as possible to how they were written down. Some Gardnerian groups claim a lineage stretching across a chain of initiations to Gardner himself.

Despite Gardner’s historical importance in the modern witchcraft revival, he does not occupy a lofty position in the Wiccan belief system. Wicca has no holy book, no prophets, and no written dogma. Gardner’s title within Wicca is simply “Witch”—the same as any other Wiccan initiate.

What do Wiccans believe?

Wiccan beliefs are so diverse that any list of Wiccan beliefs is certain to be incomplete. The following is my attempt to summarise Wiccan tenets in a few paragraphs:

Central to Wiccan beliefs is a reverence for nature. The Wiccan liturgical calendar is based on the movement of the sun and moon. Wiccan observe eight seasonal rites based on the annual cycle of the sun. They are called Sabbats, and are evenly distributed throughout the solar year. There are also thirteen Esbats per year, and these coincide with the lunar cycles.

Wiccan believe that human beings are not a separate creation, but an integral part of Nature. Wicca emphasises connection with the plant and animal kingdoms, and with our human ancestors. Wiccans revere the life-giving power of the sun, the generative energy of sex, and the cycles of death and birth. Ritual offerings of food and beverage underscore our dependence on the gifts of nature. Future anthropologists might describe Wicca as a solar fertility religion—but Wiccans will certainly find that hopelessly reductive.

The central Wiccan deity is a Goddess, who may go by many different names. She is often described as a trinity—the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. In Her aspect as Maiden, the Goddess takes a male consort and together they bring forth life. In some versions of Wicca, the God and Goddess are co-equal. In others, the Goddess is clearly primary. The story of the courtship of the God and Goddess, His death, and His subsequent rebirth, is a solar myth tied to the Wheel of the Year.

Wicca has few behavioural codes. Wiccans eschew the concept of sin, instead focusing on ethical behaviour and personal responsibility. The Wiccan “Rule of Three” posits that any good or harm released into the world will come back to the sender threefold. Whether they literally believe in the Rule of Three or not, Wiccans strive to heal the world, to grow in wisdom, and to live without harming others.

The Wiccan Rede, “An it harm none, do what ye will,” is sometimes cited as Wicca’s only binding piece of scripture. Not that these eight words are simple to understand. Wiccans can get into heated debates about what exactly is forbidden by the words “harm none.” And attempting to discover and follow one’s will is a magickal quest that can take a lifetime (or several).

While we’re on the topic, Wiccans also have varied beliefs about life after death. Some believe in reincarnation, others don’t. Some Wiccans speak of a heaven called the Summerland, celestial voyages, or journeys through the lands of Faery. (Wiccans don’t accept the concept of Hell or eternal punishment.) Some Wiccans claim to communicate with departed relatives and other spirits, while others don’t believe in the survival of individual consciousness after death.

All of this ambiguity makes Wiccan funerals veeeeerrry interesting. A “reunion with the Mother Goddess” may be the literal hope of the departed person, or just a poetic description of a dirt nap. It’s probably fair to say that Wiccans aren’t that fixated on the afterlife, because it can’t be known for certain. Most focus instead on honouring the gift of life while they’re alive.

Is Wicca an ancient religion? Is Paganism?

This is a question that is not easily answered. It is sure to spark a debate among any gathering of Pagans.

There is a certain perception that an older religion is somehow more legitimate than one that was developed more recently. Right or wrong, this bias affects the religious paths people choose to follow.

Interest in Wicca peaked in the late 1990s, and is now on the decline—that is, according to internet traffic statistics. The internet itself is probably to blame. As the 20th-century origins of Wicca have become more widely known, Pagans have tended to seek out other paths. It’s seen as more credible to be a member of a “real” ancient religion. Or at least, one in which ancient texts are available.

The truth is, there are very few (if any) unbroken occult traditions in the West. We have endured Inquisitions, Enlightenments, Dark Ages, and militant monotheism so widespread it has obscured any legacy of traditional witchcraft. (Except for a few Sicilian grandmas and, perhaps—if we’re feeling generous—a secret coven tucked away in southern England.) Any Western Pagan tradition that claims a continuous lineage of hundreds of years should be regarded with extreme skepticism. Some writers use the term “Neo-Paganism” to make it clear that contemporary Paganism is a revival and not a continuous tradition with the distant past.

Does that mean Neo-Paganism is a modern invention? Not necessarily. Many Pagan practices and beliefs are very old, even if the lineage is not. Pagans hold sacred the same things that would have moved our Stone Age ancestors: The movement of the sun and moon, the cycles of the seasons, the beauty of the natural world, sex, death, and harvest.

Some Pagan rites are inspired by centuries-old practices that we have records of. Some have to be completely re-imagined. The fairest way to describe Neo-Paganism might be to call it a modern religion with ancient roots.

Does Wicca require initiation? Is self-initiation allowed?

Wiccans believe that embracing the calling of a Witch is a personal choice. It cannot be simply inherited or conferred by another person. The power of the Witch is a birthright, but it must be claimed.

Dedication refers to the act of dedicating oneself to a path of Wiccan study. This “trial period” can last any length of time, while a person decides if Wicca is right for them. (A year and a day is the traditional interval.) Initiation is the more formal rite of passage, and involves full commitment to the path of the Witch.

Many Wiccans participate in a dedication ceremony sometime during their journey. Each coven, or group of Witches, may set their own requirements for dedication or initiation. For solitary Wiccans—those who practice without a coven—self-dedication is the norm.

Wiccans disagree on whether self-initiation “counts” as a true initiation. Not all branches of Wicca allow self-initiation—though most Wiccans would grant that it is permissible if a suitable teacher cannot be found. In formal Wiccan traditions, there is a three-degree system, probably inspired by the Masonic degree system. The aspirant must be initiated by an existing priest or priestess. Once the candidate rises to the rank of third degree (High Priest or High Priestess), he or she is eligible to initiate others or to “hive” (form a new coven).

Many covens have secret teachings that are available only to initiates who have reach a certain rank. (As you progress through the degrees, more of the coven’s knowledge is revealed to you.) Others are more open to non-initiates, and some even host rituals for the public. You don’t need to be initiated to participate in an open Wiccan ritual.

What are some of the symbols of Wicca?

The most familiar symbol of Wicca is the pentagram, or five-pointed star.  In Wicca, the pentagram represents the four elements (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water) surmounted by Spirit. The pentagram is also a symbol of the microcosm, the human being. Surrounded by a circle, it is called a pentacle and stands for completeness, balance, and perfection.

The pentagram is used as both a symbol of faith and a protective seal. The Wiccan pentagram is usually drawn upright, with the single point at the top. (Despite its frequent appearances in horror movies, the Wiccan pentagram is not a symbol of evil or Satanism.) Many Wiccans identify themselves with a pentagram necklace or tattoo. There are different versions of the pentagram, from the very simple to the very elaborate.

The triple moon is another symbol of Wicca that you may encounter. It is a circle (the full moon) with a waxing and waning crescent, one on either side. The triple moon symbolises the Triple Goddess, the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. The lunar cycle, in Wicca, is evocative of the cycles of life, death, and birth.

The triquetra and triskele are Celtic symbols dating to pre-Christian times. Wiccans have adopted them, though some Celtic Christians use them, too. Both symbols represent trinities, the cycles of life, and eternity. (The triskele is a triple spiral, and the triquetra is a three-cornered knot. Read more about their similarities and differences.)

The eight-spoked wheel stands for the Wheel of the Year, and the eight Wiccan Sabbats on the Pagan calendar. The eight-pointed star is a solar symbol dating back to ancient Sumer. Sometimes the symbol will have a solar circle in the centre, representing the constancy of Earth’s sun.

The spiral Goddess is usually shown nude with her arms stretched over her head. A spiral at Her belly represents Her infinite power of creation. The faceless, bare-breasted goddess is an echo of the fertility objects that have been found at many archaeological sites around the world.

https://www.groveandgrotto.com/blogs/articles/7-questions-about-wicca-and-paganism