As Per Kami's suggestions in item #21, this is a place to discuss rituals
you havew attended, share bits of ritual performance, poetry, invocation,
etc, and if appropriate discuss any effect the ritual had on you.

40 responses total.

I wouldn't counsider it a ritual, but rather a personal worship.  Each night
w/o sacrifice I pay homige to the high gods: Odin, Thor, Tyr and others.
How do I accomplish this?  Psionic Communication, Telepathy.   Yes, I talk
to my Gods.  Occasionally they have granted me favors.  But it only happened
once, to my recollection.

Sounds decent.  I used to ask the Goddess for favors, but these days
I just meditate daily, and if I get the favors, hey, I'm not
complaining!

I've blithered enough for a bit; later I'll toss in a transcript or two, but
for now-
When I was a kid I took the "god bless mommy, god bless daddy" routine to the
point of counting people who loved me, people I loved, and collective bodies
I cared about and giving thanks/ asking protection for them as I settled for
sleep.  Later I took to cataloging what was good or difficult about each day
and giving thanks for the gift or challenge.  God seemed very personal, going
from mostly my grandmother and great aunt watching over me to a gentle father
to a wise mother.  To this day, when I'm too deep in shit to do specific work,
a loud mental shout of "mother, help me" seems to suffice.  Last year the shit
really hit the fan for a protracted period of time (actually ending 2 Xmases
ago- so not last year but the previous), and for the first time I found myself
working with deities who had consistent names and faces.  Prior to that I was
content with vague forms and sweeping attributes; "may the face of the mother
which is needed for this work be here in this space" would have been the words
if I needed any.

I wanted to say Hi to Kami- see I took your advice!

Re#4: It would have been a little more polite if you took it to mail.

Drifting away from the drift and back on topic:

hey, Vidar- go easy on new users; you've had your days, too. She joined grex
in response to my mail.

Hi Anne.
I agree Kami, take a pill Vidar.
I have just started having a solid perception of what I see the divine as too.
I wonder if it just takes some time, being alive a while. Being a young pup,
it seems strange to start to have some tangible concepts. and to know how 
ignorant I really am. I wonder if that's what the 20's are about?
Vidar, it's great that you give reverence to your God/Godess-es every night.
I too have daily rituals I perform, nothing major. Maybe as little as lighting
a candle for my ancestors.
-phaedrus

It seems useful to me, to find the sacred, the "little magics" in everyday
living.  THere is little benefit in Full Moon Paganism or Sunday Xtianity.

Are you shootin' straight today Kami!! Again, I completly agree. The weekend
stuff is also disrepectful to the God/ddess. To have some integrity and courage
to stand up for her/him/them!
-phaedrus

I should quit jawing (fingering?) and get some work done...
there seem to be two or three "tracks" of worship- personal, unstructured,
inspired stuff- mostly for self-discovery, "pure magic", etc. is one. Formal,
organized group ritual for worship, study, celebration, or "work" is another.
A third is social- large group public ritual where we share common language 
and get reinforced in our "rightness" by seeing lots of fellow-folk, and one
more is the relatively formal personal ritual we devise for communion with our
personal deities, for healing and self discipline.  These types of worship
seem to involve rather different forms, language and structure. I don't know
if they can or should be integrated. At least for me, they are not but I am
trying not to ignore one for another too completely.

Okay, So I am a bit harsh.   I shall settle down, though it might take 
a whilt (odie is getting on my nerves)

thanks. I've noticed you seemed quieter or mellower lately. good?.

Mainly I don't have anyone bugging me anymore.  (Except in party)
It could be just that I am feeling a little strange.  Moving to Malaysia
is the first move I'll have made in 13 years.  
Last night at Model U.N. I decided to embarrass myself to get a few laughs
from fellow students: I move to question the sanity of the chair.
It should have been a point of oder, as the chair was out of order.
|\  \  /\  |\ \|
|/ //  \/  |/  |\
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|/

right! uh-huh.
major changes can be great catalysts for growing up- a sense of being out of
leeway, as it were. Try to observe aned enjoy the process; your feelings, what
memories seem particularly important to store up, how you're changing, etc. 
These will all give you insight into your self which is the framework your own
magic must be built upon for strength, and make great stories for your grand
children some day.

Wow! you're really putting effort into these ascii runes.  I'll have to play
around in pico some until I can do the same.  Not today, however- I've nearly
sliced through my forefinger, and the typos that result from not using that
finger are driving me nuts.

Ow!  And I remember when I used to cut myself un purpose.  I still do, but
only if I'm promising something, for some strange reason letting blood is
the only way I ever keep promise (or there is that slight referance to the
sacred Blood of Odin, and I've never broken one of those yet).  The orignal
reason is I found it actually helps with some minor illnesses.

how medieval <g>

Actually, there can be times when ritual blood-letting is appropriate,
but I don't think mere self-desctruction is one of those.  I read
an essay on the use of blood in ritual, from an ftp server in
Sweden.  It was interesting.

I use it medieval like, as Kami says.  Blood seems to equal truth.

I agree, blood is really the "zero B.S." ingredient in ritual!
It tends to banish any unseriousness. Sometimes people.
-phaedrus

Well, people who can't stand the sight of blood don't deserve to live.

If it's the sight of their own blood they can't see, they may be engaged in
fulfilling just your sentence :)
Seriously, each person's magic comes from a different base- Here's an odd 
thought: if one finds "cold iron" to be inhibiting, since blood is iron based,
might it not actually be counter productive.  For other folks, iron is the 
tool of their will, and both blood letting and smithcraft might serve for 
different purposes.  I find I'm pretty changeable, but mostly work best with
"found objects" in the woods, movement, sound patterns and more abstract stuff.
Once in a while I can't touch metal for a bit.  That gets weird and usually
results in something intense and neat if I go with it.  Actually, if I were
going to do any sort of blood magic, it would be with menstrual blood- not an
option for you guys, I suppose ;) , but I'd sooner use hair. Goodness, come to
think of it, copper is my favorite metal, and hair is a copper based protien.
Cool. 

what a neat item!

if i had to swear an oath in the name of a god, and i knew i would
have to break that oath, i would swear it in the name of odin.
yes, odin is the god of truth, but many forget he is also the god of lies.
<i has several references to this, but it was a book borrowed from the
university library and i had to return it. it was about not the gods
themselves, but how the ancient people interacted with them.>

Iggy, good point.  I'd like to see this book.  Do you have author and title?
Would you like to summarize some of your notes?

should i find it again, i would be more than happy to.

i remember reading about a raiding party that was captured in great britian.
their captors for some reason didnt want to kill them outright, so
they made the norse landing party swear an oath to one of their gods
that if they were turned loose they would leave and not attack.
they swore upon their oath rings to odin. they were released,
and the villagers felt safe as it was a very powerful
oath sworn that night.
the entire rading party attacked soonafter.

for some reason, nobady seems to take oaths very seriously these days.  it's
kind of sad reall.

we are a literate society, so the only binding "oath" is a contract on
paper.  papers can be lost or changed.  I think that since the bond is
between only the people whose names appear on the paper, no one thinks 
of the gods witnessing their words or anything like that.  the concept
of personal honour has often been class-bound, so in a "classless society",
that concept is not even laughed at-it's irrelevant.  Perhaps that is 
one of the cultural holes the pagan community can work to correct, at
least among ourselves; "a witch's word is her bond", etc.- if your
words and thoughts reflect/mold your Will and thus your magic, than
keeping your word strengthens your magic and ignoring it weakens your magic.
Moreover, as we begin to bring home the concepts that the divine is in all
things and people (including ourselves), then we must act in ways we want
the gods to see and respond to all the time (why should they be present in
our workings unless we respect ourselves and show ourselves worthy by the
strength and honour of our dealings...)
Sorry about the diatribe.  Hope it gets us all thinking.

we do need to start honoring oaths more.  we also need to startt obeyng 
oaths more.

Actually, the word "warlock", which originally meant "oath-breaker",
is better applied to those Christians who had sworn fialty to their
Pagan brethren just long enough to stab them in the back (not that 
the practice was limited to Christians, or that all Christians do it),
than to the Pagans (male) to which it is now applied.

The source of the connection, though, is the heretical nature of some
Pagans -- I myself have been confirmed to the Christian God, so am I
an oath-breaker?  If so, what ramifications does that have?  When can 
one break an oath to a God, and how?

Nice can of worms, deary.  Some good points.  As to your previous confirmation,
a couple of questions arise- did you accept confirmation knowingly and in
good faith or was it thrust upon you when you were too young to complain or
too powerless to object?  Do you see "the Christian God" as an entity in
his own right or as part of the entirety of deity ("all gods are one god"), 
and are you really rejecting that father-god or rather the teachings
promulgated in his name?  I know, equivocation.  Without being foresworn,
how might one obtain release from an oath to a god known to be jealous and
tenacious?  

Good answer!  Good answer!  Survey says....

Sorry.  I'm in a flip mood tongiht; better than the mood I was in 
earlier.  :-)  

At the point I was confirmed, I remember feeling as though I was
going through the motions;  I think I had already lost the faith,
and was doing it more to make my father happy and because I didn't
really believe in any dieties myself.

But, yes, I do not reject the teachings of Jesus, I reject the way in
which these teachings were interpreted by his followers, particularly
St. Paul, and I reject certain aspects and interpretations of the 
mythology of Christianity.

Ok then- to what were you confirmed? The god or the men?

Good point.  This reminds me of the "Atheist at a Wedding"
discussion going on in Scruples, where my comments have roughly been:
Going through the motions at a religious service which you are attending
to make other people happy doesn't count as religious worship because
you're behaving for other humans, not for the Dieties.

I had to work out that problem over singing Christmas carols- they are so
beautiful, but I didn't want to be praying to a god I didn't feel good
about and whose worship was against what I had been taught.  At first I
wouldn't sing, then I decided to sing all but the lines which spoke of
that god as THE god or of obedience to him or whatever, but eventually I
decided to enjoy the art and trust that the feelings in my heart were 
clear to any who would care that much.  Nowadays, I just filk whatever I
like best...<g>

works for me!  actually, as long as the songs arent "beat the wotrd of
god into every known man whether or not they want it", i can sing it.
it actually came up a couple of times in high school, though, when the
teacher wanted us to sing so VERY christian songs.  the class literally
rebelled!  the only time we didn't was when a gospel choir came to work
with us, and they gave us a list of stuff that we were supposred to know.

I think it must have helped that everyone rebelled- makes you feel less
like a herring in a tree.  I never had a sense that anyone really thought
about what they were singing.  Nowadays I have pagan versions of some of
the better ones, but Adeste Fideles and Come oh Come Emanuel really can't
be changed at all. Oh well.  I've also seen a moderately serious pagan
version of Amazing Grace and a truly silly one called "Amazing Pan" which
I wish I could find my tape of. 

kami, those sound really cool, i'm really in to medieval  music. do you have
any of the lyrics to some of the more traditional tunes?

don't know as how I have anything as far back as medieval.  well, maybe
some of my favorites are rennaisance.  I'll type some lyrics into the
"lord of the dance" item if I remember (or you remind me) on Friday- I don't
know that I'll have any time to get on grex tomorrow.  
Kitten, you are local, no?  In the SCA?  The local shire has a fairly
serious music group (not at all pagan) and an entirely silly theatre group
(rather more pagan). 

i think that i'm interestend in the group.

check out the rialto conference.  Local SCA meetings are Monday nights with
a workshop at 7 and the boring (I mean *business*) part at 8, in the EECA
(oops- EECS) building on North Campus- room 13..something, on the ground
floor off the atrium.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss