SUNFLOWERME:

..............Are we ready?................

Red Deer:

Yes

PAnightowl:

yes

Rainstar:

Yes

courtney:

Always ready for your wisdom

PAnightowl:

En Guarde

Red Deer:

Touche!

SUNFLOWERME:

not fair to make the teacher laugh. . Courtney!!!

safphire:

back

SUNFLOWERME:

....Ok....here we go......

courtney:

not meant to be funny. meant in all seriousness

SUNFLOWERME:

(wink)

Red Deer:

A moment for Litha?

Red Deer:

(WINK)

PAnightowl:

For Litha (wink)

safphire:

(smile)

safphire:

or (S)

Red Deer:

(warm smile)

courtney:

(gentle smile)

SUNFLOWERME:

...May she guide me through my travels.. and may i live up to her teachings within this community...(wink)

courtney:

BB, Sunflowerme

SUNFLOWERME:

I chose the road less taken...

and it has made all the difference...

but why did I chose it and how did I find it...

that is what we are here to discuss today...

our paths have been different but the community we are building is the same...

we have each been called to this place and time to build a fine tapestry...

woven with the riches threads and the softest of colors...

recently I read in Drawing down the Moon...

that following the path of the Pagan and Wiccans is a calling for most...

a hidden feeling that come from within.. and at a certain time...

is awoken....

I would like to think of this moment as a Spiritual Awakening...

the time the spirit child within us all...

arises and says...

listen to my voice...

i am here to bring...

you new life and new enlightenment...

SUNFLOWERME:

{Room check...you all with me so far? Comments? }

Red Deer:

Aye

PAnightowl:

:)

courtney:

that is beautiful

Rainstar:

yes

SUNFLOWERME:

...going on....

SUNFLOWERME:

...through out all religions both those that grow out of nature and those that were created and are now hold formal acceptance in society...

We shall call those religions main stream...

the people...

who have served their gods have all had a calling to walk that path...

My mother received her calling to serve Jesus...

and so she took up his cross and became a Nun....

We too have...

all received callings...

Mine was on Christmas Eve...

I danced with the Moon...

and the Earth held me close...

and my Inner child cried out...

Be One With Her and Follow Her...

safphire:

such beauty in you and your words

PAnightowl:

yep

SUNFLOWERME:

Welcome Herne...Peace and thank you for coming....

Red Deer:

AWEsome, and yes, SF

courtney:

plz continue...please!

Rainstar:

yes, certainly

HernesCat:

mm Sunflowerme, BEAUTIFUL, THANK YOU. :}

SUNFLOWERME:

...those who are called on this path...

the path of the earth spirits the path of the Natural Religion...

the path that holds many names...

must form a community...

must share and nurture....

their individual beliefs and their group concerns...

beacons of light in darkness aide those who have just heard the calling and are taking their first steps down the path less taken....

How do these callings come to us? ...

I asked my mother that once...

How did you know mom that you were called to higher service?...

she responded by saying a light surrender her and she heard a voice say follow me...

The light was the same for me...

The voice echoed the timeless stars and waves...

Only our Gods were different...

but is the feeling any different? ...

For me it wasn't...

I ran to the Earth and welcomed her...

I dedicated my life to Her...

and to Her Peace...

We must always remember that we are here for a purpose...

we are here to model that which will enhance our worlds for all time...

{everyone still ok out there...you are all so quiet...}

safphire:

listening

PAnightowl:

Sun.. you are raising a consciousness within me

HernesCat:

yes

Rainstar:

yes

courtney:

my heart is full. I thank you Sunflower me...BB.

brick bat:

listening too

Red Deer:

still here - you are a voice of moderation we've been needing

PAnightowl:

You are giving me a challenge that I've been avoiding...

SUNFLOWERME:

...To build this tapestry...to create a community...we must share our callings...we must join together and see the similarities that all of us have experienced....the road is not all..

Red Deer:

We have to recognize that not all Xtians are fundies!

safphire:

yes

SUNFLOWERME:

...that different for us...we need to come together under the blanket of enlightenment...

SUNFLOWERME:

You are right Red Deer...to stereotype them is to stereotype ourselves...

SUNFLOWERME:

.....Who would like to share how they chose the path?

PAnightowl:

Sun.. you are talking about something that has frightened me for so long.. organized religion

SUNFLOWERME:

.....Welcome brick bat....

brick bat:

thank you

safphire:

Organized does not frighten me, as long as all were to keep the purpose in mind and know when to stop short of restricting rules.....maintain a purity. Cannot be done by one unless the

safphire:

one is special

SUNFLOWERME:

.....Religion as an organization as we think of it the Catholic Church etc...is beginning to come apart and rethink what dogmas they have created for themselves...What scared you?

courtney:

:I knew organized religion was not for me, when my parents used to take me to church and all the people there did was criticize and talk about each other and try to one up each other

safphire:

and to damn the innocent to hell

courtney:

:yes!

PAnightowl:

the loss of the individual.. I did not see a deepening of faith, but a mindless following

SUNFLOWERME:

...... for many in church courtney they see that they are inside a community for which they do not have to answer to....

courtney:

:when what you were wearing was more important than ones soul.

courtney:

:the shallowness drove me away.

safphire:

a mass movement of sheep. Too many preach the following and not the soul of each in a relationship with the divine

PAnightowl:

to be here with you all, and sharing basic feelings without prejudice has been wonderful.

Red Deer:

It is not the religions that we need fear, but the mindless followers and the almost-as-mindless leaders!

brick bat:

I'm enjoying the words and comfort

SUNFLOWERME:

...I feel within our Pagan Wicca communities we do have to answer for our actions....Personal Responsibility within the Mainstream Churches has long lost importance.....

safphire:

yes, mostly the mindless leaders

PAnightowl:

Yes Red...

HernesCat:

Personal Integrity

SUNFLOWERME:

....Saf...they are not mindless leaders...they have forgotten their calling and in so they have lost their way......

Red Deer:

Aye, PI

PAnightowl:

More atrocities have been committed in the name of Religion than for any other reason

safphire:

yes, good point sun

courtney:

:As I said before I have to go, but once again, Sunflowerme, thank you for your peace, encouragement and beauty of your words...

safphire:

Blessed Be Courtney

Rainstar:

PA, yes that's certainly true.

Red Deer:

Remember, PA - IN THE NAME of religion. That's very different than something done truly FOR religion.

SUNFLOWERME:

... but PA their will always be those who wish evil done and if possible will drape it in any flag they can find...

May we get back to sharing our calling...?

PAnightowl:

you are both right.. I'm afraid I have let it restrict me in sharing and teaching the path

safphire:

yes

Red Deer:

yes

PAnightowl:

yes

brick bat:

does any one know what a deist is ?

safphire:

no

safphire:

explain please?

Red Deer:

Guys, our teacher just ask that we get back to subject - deist for later, OK?

safphire:

yes

PAnightowl:

ok

brick bat:

some one who believes in god but that he does not get involved in the affairs of men

SUNFLOWERME:

...Would anyone like to share their remembrance of how the calling came to them? ...

remember to weave a tapestry someone need to be the first thread...

Red Deer:

'Tis a little lengthy, but if you've the ears...

PAnightowl:

It was so long ago Sun

safphire:

I had spiritual awakenings since I can remember and could see the light. But after all those years, I found the words of the Goddess with a physical vision that came at the time

safphire:

and now can also understand the blood of Christ

safphire:

in depth

SUNFLOWERME:

...Safphire continue please....

safphire:

I am a spiritual battle ground. Both sides so real and I know that I have to look into everything and to take what I learn and bridge the gap. But which side or is there a side?

PAnightowl:

No Side Saf

safphire:

I am a babe

PAnightowl:

may I? ?

safphire:

yes, I must discover the truth. I cannot see a side tho others claim too

Red Deer:

...so long as you are a babe in the WOODS...

SUNFLOWERME:

... Saf what religion were you raised with? ....

safphire:

Christian and none. Always some pagan ways mixed in

HernesCat:

please explain "blood of christ? "

safphire:

It is too lengthy for now. I will be able to soon. Is not what people see on surface. Will prepare and post somehow

safphire:

It is a continuous circle

safphire:

Not the blood of a man senselessly murdered

SUNFLOWERME:

...I began to build the bridge by finding what was important to me from my religious upbringing....

the community aspect was important...

the truth of caring was important...

the ceremony was important for me...

it was a way to focus...

then i looked at what was making me leave...

the hypocrisies i witnessed...

the detachment of the priests from the flock....

I then read.. and meditated and the answers came...

I felt that there was more than one spirit guiding us...

safphire:

yes

PAnightowl:

Please forgive me.. I have to leave...Bright Blessings all

SUNFLOWERME:

...i began to build slowly... i went to many churches... i sat in the background and observed...

HernesCat:

yes, each path unique, every man and woman on their way to a soul shining star. "Try all things, hold fast to that which is good. "

SUNFLOWERME:

...Wise Words Herne...thank you for sharing....

HernesCat:

thank you for being and shining with us.

safphire:

Red, would you share?

SUNFLOWERME:

...slowly safphire.. you will build a strong bridge one that many can cross so they can also find their paths and their spiritual happiness...

SUNFLOWERME:

...Red please share...

Red Deer:

Thanks.

Red Deer:

It's more like living a web for me, than a singular experience. I come from a family that I believe to be an old line of witches who have lost the path, but not many of the practices.

enigma1082:

practices without a path...a hollow victory, possibly?

Red Deer:

As a child. my mother always sang me to sleep on the porch when there were electric storms, and talked about the beauty and singularity of Nature, and how we should revere it. (she wasn't much on organized religion, either) I grew up in the woods - always at home, day or night, rain or shine. As a young teenager, I'd sit on the dam of the pond behind our house and call down the lightening during storms - never though about it maybe being dangerous, and mama never was bothered. 'Twasn't till much later that I realized what was going on. Read "The White Goddess" in graduate school, and everything started to fall into place.....Ah, Graves!

SUNFLOWERME:

...your path then Dear Red Deer... is one of tossed stones that you must gather together and add to so that the path can be seen through the forest and the journey can begin for all...

Red Deer:

Have studied and learned for the past 15 years, more or less defining my own path - in the broom closet as far as my relationship with my signif other. Then, I found Utah.

SUNFLOWERME:

...please continue...

Red Deer:

The desert and the red rocks sing to me, in an entirely different way than nature here - perhaps a link to a previous turn on the wheel. First experience was with Elenya, briefly, but I was hooked. Then back to hike with my brother, and it was a religious experience for me. Lastly, back with another brother, and it happened. I was sitting on a rock face looking at the Needles under a full moon, when a peregrine falcon flew up to the rock and invited me to fly the canyons with him. I jumped off the rock, (guess this is more VISION now, but was real to me then) and began to fly on the wing of the night. We spent from midnight 'til dawn flying.

SUNFLOWERME:

...always remember Visions are real...they are a message to your soul and spirit...

Red Deer:

Oddest part was, when Al and I left for another Nat Park, I was able to describe to him part of a canyon we were to drive through, even though I'd not been there in the body

SUNFLOWERME:

...you are blessed my friend...

Red Deer:

Remembered it from the night before. That was 1993, and I've grown stronger in my faith since, and now have my Goddess by my side at all times! (I mean not just Mother, but Elenya)

SUNFLOWERME:

...how beautiful it is a compliment to the Mother that you and Elenya have joined Spirits...rejoice in your good fortune...

Red Deer:

We do, Sun

SUNFLOWERME:

...Would anyone else like to share?

ToadFan:

May I be so bold? Even though I am a newcomer?

SUNFLOWERME:

...Yes toad....

ToadFan:

And it has to do with something Nueva said before the hasty retreat.

SUNFLOWERME:

...Please continue....

ToadFan:

About 6 years ago, while I was a teenager, I has a nasty experience with alcohol.

SUNFLOWERME:

...go on...

ToadFan:

I drank in excess, and found myself in a hospital bed the next morning, not knowing how I had gotten there.

SUNFLOWERME:

...go on...

ToadFan:

I only remembered briefly apologizing to my dad over and over for what I had done in a drunk stupor. The next morning, I was told that my heart had stopped. And that I had been revived. I don't remember anything about it. This had a large impact on me spiritually.

SUNFLOWERME:

...those memories may lie hidden inside you...

ToadFan:

I began searching why I was allowed to live.

ToadFan:

I felt great shame for what I had done, and felt awkward going to the church with it.

ToadFan:

So, I communed with nature, on a beach in South Carolina that same week.

Red Deer:

Ah, the Carolinas!

safphire:

:)

AgShadow:

:}

HernesCat:

?

ToadFan:

I went alone to the beach late one night, with the waves, and a radio. I was cool and clear, and I sat there, with the music of the waves and the music of Enya, which I meditate too, meshing together. It was I found that I did not need to know why I was spared. The important thing was what I would do with my life now. My life is a gift twice now. I have been doubly blessed.

safphire:

yes

SUNFLOWERME:

...you have been blessed Toad...

ToadFan:

I found this truth in nature and in God. I worship in nature, and I follow Jesus as my master.

ToadFan:

I believe the two can coexist.

AgShadow:

yes

safphire:

yes

SUNFLOWERME:

...yes...

ToadFan:

I do not know the Goddess. But I do not discount Her.

ToadFan:

We just have not met.

SUNFLOWERME:

...Jesus is a prophet who from my readings was very close to nature...He came from a woodworker.. and his first followers were fisherman...Nature would be important to his way of life

Red Deer:

I feel that you probably have met, perhaps you didn't recognize Her, Toad.

safphire:

That is a beautiful history

ToadFan:

That is my story. I can't say that I am a better person, that is for others to see in me. Or not. Thank you for letting me share.

safphire:

I can feel what you are Toad. I think you are really wonderful.

AgShadow:

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{TOAD}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Red Deer:

May I suggest that you meditate upon her triune form as it is expressed within Xtianity - Mary, Mary Magdalene & Mary Elizabeth?

SUNFLOWERME:

..Dear Toad...

be at peace with what has been shown to you...

The message is different for each of us...

ToadFan:

Thank you Ah Shadow.

Red Deer:

{{{{{{{{{toad}}}}}}}}}

AgShadow:

Even though I don't know you I appreciate your story I love hearing about miracles

Plantlady:

I have to go. Toad and Red Deer, I appreciate the opportunity to hear your stories. Everybody else, thanks for letting me listen. Blessings

HernesCat:

thank you Toad Fan, they have such beautiful eyes, toads do

Red Deer:

Merry Part, Plantlady

safphire:

bye Plantlady blessed be

enigma1082:

oh toad-aceous one, sally forth and build on your victories

Red Deer:

Aye, E

SUNFLOWERME:

...I agree Red Deer.. Toad you could also take the Taoist approach and see the Masculine and Feminine in each of us...

ToadFan:

You are very kind, all of you.