reiterating myself

<+Arcadia> Hi.  :)
<+Arcadia> You're having a good day, I trust.
<+oblivion> i was going to say soemthing witty
<+oblivion> but i forgot
<+Arcadia> Not to worry.  :)
<+oblivion> Arcadia
<+oblivion> are you a wiccan?
<+Arcadia> Not a practising Wiccan, no.
<+Arcadia> I used to be.
<+Arcadia> It's still holds an interest for me.
<+oblivion> what path do you follow now?
<+Arcadia> I don't really follow any path.
<+oblivion> :O
<+oblivion> <oblivion> after our little exchange i think i've worked out what i like about wiccans :P
<+oblivion> <oblivion> they are unconcerned with transendence, they deal in powers with sublime objectives, even if they generally use them for trivial ends
<+Arcadia> :)
<+Arcadia> What about you?
<+Arcadia> How do you approach it?
<+oblivion> polytheistic reconsructionist
<+oblivion> ;P
<+Arcadia> lol
<+oblivion> i'm working from a comblination of the writings of ernest westlake and aradia
<+oblivion> informed by c.r.f. seymour and the greek magic papyrii
<+oblivion> but its hard to like
<+oblivion> boil that down into an easy to understand lable
<+oblivion> :P
<+Arcadia> Yes.  :)
<+Arcadia> I'm familiar only with Aradia.
<+oblivion> the book
<+oblivion> ?
<+Arcadia> Yes.
<+oblivion> well you are far more informed than most then
<+oblivion> ernest westlake was the first pagan reconstructionist writing in english
<+oblivion> around 1919-1921
<+oblivion> its amazing how many of the currents that later informed wicca and other neo-paganisms were already present
<+Arcadia> Yes.
<+oblivion> one of the resources cited in the back of his book is jungs psychological types
<+Arcadia> :)
<+oblivion> but it has the advantage over wicca in being genuinely reconstructionist (of classical paganism) rather than hinging on being a continuing tradition :P
<+Arcadia> Yes.
<+oblivion> :)
<+Arcadia> Yes.
<+oblivion> :)
<+oblivion> what would be a good lable Arcadia :(
<+Arcadia> Well, the current label seems apt.
<+oblivion> what label :P ?
<+Arcadia> Polytheistic reconstructionism.
<+Arcadia> And it's already used by the mainstream, isn't it?
<+oblivion> what i dislike about it is its lack of specificity
<+oblivion> it generally applies to germanic paganism
<+oblivion> in the english speaking world :P
<+Arcadia> :)
<+oblivion> thats the problem with coming at it from a british perspective :P
<+oblivion> i'd call it romano-celtic syncreticism
<+Arcadia> :)
<+oblivion> you ever heard of this guy Arcadia?
<+Arcadia> What about Celtic neopaganism?
<+oblivion> hmm
<+Arcadia> Which fellow?
<+oblivion> well
<+oblivion> i think its too much made up whole clothe
<+oblivion> alot of the new age stuff thats grown up around it is pretty native american :P
<+oblivion> which does nothing for me
<+Arcadia> lol
<+Arcadia> Yes.
<+oblivion> hense the "romano" part of romano-celtic
<+oblivion> requires less reaching
<+Arcadia> Indeed.
<+oblivion> but yes
<+oblivion> this guy
<+oblivion> http://s23.org/wiki/Onisaburo_Deguchi
<+Arcadia> No, I haven't heard of him.
<+oblivion> i think shinto is quite interesting... esspcially in its parallels to early roman polytheism... argraian, animist, deified emperors and as a bonus it still exists :P
<+Arcadia> :)
<+oblivion> and in a highly developed country
<+Arcadia> Yes.

on following a defined philosophy

<Andromeda> I hate how labels constrict people though. Once you take on a label then you start having to think within defined borders
<thor-> naw.. you need DOGMA and DOCTRINE.. and TRADITIONS to be a real religion
<yudit> thor I do have an answer to u on the old testment and sacrificing animals, this is according to the tanach, Fourth Aliyah: This section, too, introduces us to many new mitzvot: the prohibitions against cursing a judge or leader, consuming meat that was not ritually slaughtered, offering a sacrifice before the animal is eight days old, perjury, and judicial corruption; the commandments to separate all agricultural tithes in their proper order, sanc
<tomprophet> Evian who r u?
<yudit> says to santify the oldest son, not kill him
<oblivion> philosophy is a orienting tool
<thor-> yeah.. i agree.. sacrifice of animals and plants to gods is VERY OLD. predating the bible
<oblivion> hewing to a defined philosophy is an experiment
<Evian> DOGMA DOCTRINE = evolution , TRADITION = progressist view of living
<thor-> good point bat
<oblivion> it can be a noble endevour

What makes someone a pagan

<oblivion> when did you stop being a christian thor-?
<thor-> no.. christians DONT reject pagan gods.. justin martyr says they are basically the same thing
<thor-> um.. when i was 25.. about 30 years ago now
<thor-> there was no specific DATE
<thor-> it was a gradual deconversion.. as i began to truly study the bible
<thor-> christians rarely STUDY the bible.. they mostly WORSHIP it
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<thor-> they claim otherwise.. but that is exactly what they do
<thor-> SOLDIER.. so you dont have any answers?
<oblivion> thor- they reject them in name
<thor-> where does it say that?
<thor-> you mean the GOSPEL WRITERS?
<thor-> those are GREEKS
<Evian> atheists in here should stand seriously against islam...cause its a way more disturbing than any other religion...moreover all those atheists who have no knoweldge about islamofascism are easy catches for those convert seekers...
<oblivion> ask any self proffessed christian to recognise apollo thor- :P
<thor-> there is not one word written about jesus in his native language
<thor-> oh.. i know that the BELEIVERS of christianity will say that
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<thor-> but the actual descripton of jesus.. comes right out of the pagan playbook
<oblivion> thats why they arn't pagans in my book thor-
<thor-> i see.. you  have your own book
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<thor-> i use logic.. not just quote from a book
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<thor-> i think for myself
<oblivion> they don't acknowledge the gods