Month: April 2022

Evening all,

I’m new here, for as long as I can remember I’ve always felt a connection with “God” I know there is something there. I’m quite methodical and like to get things “right” if you like, perhaps that isn’t the best way to put it but I hope you know what I mean.

I’ve always felt extremely conflicted about the correct way to give myself to God or the power I know exists, as of right now I would probably best call myself a Christian, but even then I feel like a lost sheep. I have looked into various different theologies I have also looked into Islam.

I suppose I am just writing this for some guidance, a sign I might read between your replies, something to set my compass and help me navigate my feelings.

Maybe this is the wrong place to come to? But something lead me here.

I look forward to talking to you all and learning more as each day passes

(Discussion in ‘Abrahamic Religions‘ started by SeekingTheWay 19/04/2022)

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https://www.interfaith.org/community/threads/20137/

I have often wondered why Jesus gave Simon BarJonas the name ‘Cephas’.
I have often wondered why so many people have become used to calling him ‘Peter’, a name that neither he nor Jesus heard, imo.

And I’ve often wondered what Jesus did for work along the Capernaum shoreline, before he started his mission.

Thoughts? Ideas?

(Discussion in ‘Christianity‘ started by badger, Mar 28, 2022)

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https://www.interfaith.org/community/threads/20089/

I see the deep, black scar on our community.

People unsatisfied with their lot, empty egoists who need to take, take, take.

People running from themselves, seeking nothing but higher highs on an endless hedonic treadmill.

People that can’t be happy because they need to be the best. The richest, the most famous, and then there will always be a bigger fish.

Our society pushes this on people. It creates all of these fake “needs” and tries to sell us that they’re the only way we can find fulfillment and contentment. It rewards the hollowest of us who are willing to sacrifice everything, even their own humanity, for their own selfish greed and hedonism.

Cooperation and sacrifice have become dirty words to people who might be too far gone. All of the compassion in the world might be too little, too late. And we rip each other further apart.

(Discussion in ‘Politics and Society‘ started by Ella S. 22/04/2022)

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https://www.interfaith.org/community/threads/20140/

Wil, clean up on aisle three!

I copied some posts from a derail so we may continue here.

BrotherMichaelSky said: 

Since I am always guilty of using the term “vibration” when trying to describe my experiences – i will interject here…
It seems you folks are trying to fit everything about this subject into the descriptions of the very narrow range of audible sound.
I do not think that is going to work.
The reason is this (and please bear with me – I am trying to avoid scientific terms and describe something I experience ) :
If one is to experience vibrations higher ( or lower – for whatever reason ) they will indeed “experience” those sounds using perceptions which are “outside” of the ears…… my entire being vibrates with those frequencies when I explore them – not the bones in my ears….
How do i explain the use of senses you are not even aware you posess? I cannot.

But I CAN tell you that i have worked on boats – I became aware of a phenomenon called Cavitation. When a boat has two props, they must be operated at the same speed or cavitation will occur – an example of the Chaos Theory… the two vibrations will “battle” and all sorts of cross currents and chaos will ensue….

This can be displayed easily in your driveway as well – place a glass of water on the hood of your car… it will vibrate and concentric rings will be seen on the surface of the water as it idles evenly…. rev the engine and the water will splash and thrash until a higher vibration is evenly assumed, where the concentric rings will form again….
the period of thrashing describes the change from one vibration to the other…. a period of chaos….

I believe the asymmetrical frequencies you mention are just these types of frequencies – the contact of two dissimilar vibrations…. portions of reality going through a change….

Symmetry is a message from our Creator. It is representative of Universal Law. It tells us that peace may be had anywhere we exist – if we are aware of our natural state. Furthermore, it assures us that during our moments of Chaos – that peace and rest is to be found at the end of our trials…

Harmony is the result of Symmetry… and it is representative of Perfection – which we are never to forget is our destination ( which is why the examples surround us… )

and to forestall another question – Yes, even asymmetrical vibration is “perfection” – for it leads us in a natural way towards that which is perfect …. one might even say that it is the asymmetrical which is even more beneficial to us at this stage than the symmetrical – it keeps us seeking… one can not relax in chaos….
and do not forget that the physical is where we are confronted by opposites…. and one of those opposites MUST appear “Bad” to us… that’s how the physical works….

I am convinced that vibration will one day be our best road map to the Heavens – i feel the equipment within me to determine vibration in an exact way. I can find the same vibratory “places ” EXACTLY, with no difficulty – in a repeatable way…. and i accept information which directly equates to vibration… which must “lower” itself before i begin to understand….. Life is Movement – of which Vibration is the signature….

seattlegal said: 

Hey, speak for yourself! 

BrotherMichaelSky said: 

well, perhaps I should say ” Relaxing in Chaos has it’s costs…”

seattlegal said: 

Let’s back up a bit here:


Where is the harmony in the symmetry of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth?” I say “nay,” as hate does not overcome hate.


Oh, you mean like not paying back evil with evil, and such? 

So yes, I can relax in such asymmetry, and balance and harmony can be achevied without symmetry.

We are getting away from sound and sacred geometry here. Maybe we can start another thread?

wil said: 

I look forward to it. (oh and that eye for an eye thing ain’t a minimum, it is a maximum if any penalty at all is imposed)

BrotherMichaelSky said: 

When the Law of Karma is considered, hate is hate’s own destruction…
give hate, and hate is received until the error is noticed…


well, we didn’t actually get to thoroughly link my comment with the topic…. but if you are done….

seattlegal said: 

There is the karma that is the fruit of action, but then there is the karma of intent which affects ones mind. When your mind is overcome with greed, hate, or delusion, you do silly things like killing, lying, stealing, and telling others to do so, which escalates long term suffering. So no, when you apply the law of karma regarding hate, hate does not become its own destruction. Hate actually escalates suffering for everyone, especially if everyone symmetrically plays along.


If you want to start a thread, I’d be happy to continue there. We might even get wil to move these posts there too, if we ask him nicely.

(Discussion in ‘Belief and Spirituality‘ started by seattlegal, May 14, 2012)

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According to this passage found in the Bible, it appears the answer Jesus gave to the Jews shows that he isn’t God, the Lord and Savior that Christians believe in.

John 7
13: Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
14: About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.
15: The Jews marveled at it, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?”
16: So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me;
17: if any man’s will is to do his will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.
18: He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.

(Discussion in ‘Christianity‘ started by IAMinyou, Sep 10, 2020)

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https://www.interfaith.org/community/threads/19485/

This is an attempt by me to better understand the need for “the abramelin operation”, as seen in the movie A Dark Song.

I have zero experience of magick and this movie was my introduction to it. Because of the way the movie ended I think a few with Christian backgrounds might find it palatable. I know I did.

My take on the operation as presented in the movie is that it follows the natural path of creation (begins with darkness, continues with a process of separation, and ends with perfection). That’s a gross oversimplification, but here I’m thinking of creation as described in the book of Genesis. To simplify even further, darkness first, then light. The book of Job also crosses my mind, and the principle of death and resurrection.

I’m thinking there might be a way to bridge the gap between the two camps for those who are interested. Likely there will be few, maybe only some of us who have been around for a long time and have taken more than a few trips around the block. If not here at interfaith, then where? To me, it’s at least worth looking into.

My question is a simple one: what can a magical operation give me that I don’t already have by faith?

(Discussion in ‘Magick‘ started by stranger, Apr 9, 2022)

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https://www.interfaith.org/community/threads/20112/

This is a continuation of a conversation that started in this thread:
https://www.interfaith.org/community/threads/20095/

To @badger, I apologize for bogging down your writing thread with my discussion.

Badger said:

Hi……. Josephus saved three friends who were taken down from their crosses and given treatment, one of them lived. We don’t know how long these three men were up on crosses before salvation which is a difficulty, but Jesus had only been on the cross a few hours….. convicts could often survive and keep themselves alive up to three days, the whole idea of the punishment…a slow self torturing death in the most shameful way possible because the stripped body would continue to excrete in various ways. The Christian depiction of a fairly clean European Jesus in loincloth being crucified is far from the true picture.

For your info:-
Josephus (b. 37 C.E.) is our best literary source for the practice of crucifixion in Palestine during the Greco-Roman period. As a general in command of the Jewish forces of Galilee in the Great Revolt against Rome (66-73 C.E.), he reports his attempts to save the lives of three crucified captives by appealing directly to the Roman general Titus. One survived the cross under a physician’s care, the other two could not be saved.

Life 76
And when I was sent by Titus Caesar with Cerealins, and a thousand horsemen, to a certain village called Thecoa, in order to know whether it were a place fit for a camp, as I came back, I saw many captives crucified, and remembered three of them as my former acquaintance. I was very sorry at this in my mind, and went with tears in my eyes to Titus, and told him of them; so he immediately commanded them to be taken down, and to have the greatest care taken of them, in order to their recovery; yet two of them died under the physician’s hands, while the third recovered.

I am aware that one can be saved from crucifixion before death. It’s someone coming back 3 days after they died that I am skeptical of.

Personally, I doubt that there is any truth to that part of the story. I don’t think it references any natural phenomenon. I think it’s more likely to be an element of later folklore, probably exaggerating Jesus going into Heaven since the earliest account of a supposed resurrection was written several decades after Jesus died (by an anonymous author who likely never met him) and that sort of exaggeration is common with orally transmitted legends.

An exaggeration of legend seems, to me, certainly more plausible than someone coming back from the dead or any of the other proposed naturalistic explanations. For instance, Jesus was not saved from the cross by anyone in any account. On the contrary, he is consistently portrayed to have died on the cross and to have had his side pierced by a spear to prove it. I don’t think he would have survived such a crucifixion.

(Discussion in ‘Ancient History and Mythology‘ started by Ella S., Apr 8, 2022)

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I wonder what happened to the Druids.

Recently, at another meeting place far away, a druid introduced me to his ideas about Druidism, or is it Druidry? I never did get a chance to ask much more because that was the day I emigrated to here, an asylum seeker, if you like. 

But I did buy a book about the Druids from an ebay seller at the enormous outlay of £2.99 with free post. The author had researched the Druids through his lifetime, was a university professor and language specialist and he seemed to know a lot about this subject, but please don’t ask me his name or I’ll have to go to ebay and research my recent purchases before I can answer.

The thing is, as I read through the early chapters it became clear that historians, researchers and modern-day Druids cannot agree about the Druids……. only that they held Nature and all things Natural as dear, special and ‘holy’, which is why I was interested, being a Deist.

For example, some explain that the Druids held the sun in awe but not particularly the moon, others wax lyrical about the moon as well, which I do too…… I could bore you to death about the moon, in fact that’s a another thread (  ). Some explain that Romans loved killing Druids, really good sport, whilst others explain that Druid priests simply inserted themselves in to the new culture or religion as it swept swept over them…. as the people of an area were drawn in to the new way, so the priests went with them. I suppose that both of these possibilities happened, just at different times and in different places. But almost everybody agrees that the Druids held Nature in high esteem, even worshipping aspects of it. And that is what caused my interest.

As I approached about halfway through this introduction to Druids it became fairly clear that the Druids were mostly without a written language which is why nothing much has been left by these ancient folks, and the Romans and any Greeks who wrote about them could have been so filled with prejudice and bigotry that their perceptions were inaccurate.

Maybe, Could be, Think so, Think not, Possibly, Unlikely……….. these were the fruits of research, as far as I could tell. The great stones ‘probably were there before’, or so I read, so there’s not much point in a Druid going to fall on face before a stone circle unless s/he just wants to have fun with imagination….some kind of New Age thing.

Get it? So I have not got a clue about the Druids, apart from ‘Nature is it’.
So……….. what have you got? Almost certainly more than me……. I didn’t finish that book!!!

(Discussion in ‘Pagan‘ started by badger 16/04/2022)

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This is only one potential scheme.

Monad – Ever-present silent stillness.

Sun – The Teacher
Moon – The Caretaker

Salt – Id. One’s instinctual and emotional drives, similar to the epithymia and eros.
Mercury – Ego. One’s identity and sense of virtue, similar to ethos.
Sulphur – Superego. One’s analytical mind and goal-driven sense of reason, similar to the logistikon.

Earth – Discipline. Also associated with the Melancholic Temperament, characterized by cautiousness.
Water – Wisdom. Essentially one’s maturity and perspective. Also associated with the Phlegmatic Temperament, characterized by introspection.
Air – Intellect. Essentially one’s capacity to reason, problem solve, and remember. Also associated with the Sanguine Temperament, characterized by extroversion.
Fire – Will. Essentially passion and motivation. Also associated with the Choleric temperament, characterized by aggression.

I’ve been thinking about how to best describe these archetypes for years now and, ironically, I feel like I finally found the best way to describe them now that I am no longer enmeshed in Hermeticism. Perhaps they will be of use to someone else, probably one of those people that collect long-running lists of Hermetic correspondences.

I’m open to discussing why I came to the understandings that I have here.

(Discussion in ‘Pagan‘ started by Ella S. 17/04/2022)

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