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| Blogs > oneladybrijit > For What It's Worth! |
Somebody said something . . .
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Somebody said something . . . Recently, somebody said something to me one day, out of the blue, which stunned me. They said: "I am a Satanist". My first reaction was why did this person say that? I was thinking was this a "drama queen" thing? Was this person serious? I was really stunned, so I said nothing at the time, about what I had just been told, as I needed time to think it over. The outcome was devastating, only I don't want to go there right now. About a week later, I did go online and look up 'Satanism' and it seems there are quite a few varieties. Ok, that makes it a bit complicated as there is your garden variety, the "atheistic satanist", who is not really any more than someone like me, who no longer has a religion, only for some reason they are called this name. I am not sure why they are called that, as I feel that would be an offensive thing to call me. I do not see myself like that. There is another variety who are just teenagers calling themselves 'satanists' to cause a stir, get negative attention, and to perhaps upset some, just for the fun of it. I am sure lots of us have met that type. They often dress up in black, or as "goths", and do anything else they can to get negative attention. I actually like the look when it's done properly, even if some see it as bad. To me it looks really smart. There are those who would remember "The Addams family" I loved their looks, always so smartly dressed, and they didn't wear extremely long fingernails, and most don't wear them, just the black nail polish. Then there are quite a few different religions, all under a similar umbrella of actually worshipping a "deity" with horns. Different ones started at different times, a few in recent times, as the world became a more accepting place. The various different ones practice different rituals, some offending people like me, or people of more accepted religions. However it is wrong to assume that all of these religions go to extremes, as many don't. Again, I really like some of the symbols, which others find extremely offensive or inciting fear in themselves. I just look at symbols as symbols, chosen by some to represent certain things, only unless I know what the symbols really represent, they are nothing more than "etchings" that I can either like or dislike. I do love stars, so a pentacle for me, is something very pretty, no matter what others might use it for. I have always had an issue with any concept that it could be bad, as it is a star. Then it seems some others even have an issue with certain star shapes, if they have the wrong number of points. To me a star is a star, and a five pointer is much easier to draw by hand, however a six pointer is much easier to draw with accuracy with drawing tools. Anything with less than five points doesn't look very starry to me, and anything with more than six points can be quite difficult to draw, so I suspect that few draw a star any other way, except when one does it like an asterisk. Then again, it is quite pretty to me. I was given a necklace by my father as a . I was told it was an Egyptian symbol of fertility. I just loved it because my father gave it to me, so I wore it endlessly. People made various comments at different times, and today, I would feel very judged if I wore the same symbol, yet it was never intended to mean something, nor to offend. It was merely a necklace that I was given, nothing more. If I were to explain it, it was shaped much like the symbol of a female, only in a circle. If I saw it, I'd recognise it immediately, only I have forgotten its' exact appearance over time. My apologies. I look at all this and go "what?" Isn't it bad enough that there are religions? I do apologise if anyone finds my opinion distressing in any way. I just find all of this really distressing, as I find the churches are trying to control the way I live already, and I don't need another different lot of people trying to control me as well, however now that this subject has arisen, I am sure that certain people of different types of religion have tried to control me a lot over the years, and that has annoyed me greatly. Only rather than go into it, I would prefer to stay with my stance. That stance is that I am no longer of any organised religion. Because I have certain inner qualities, that some would call "gifts", such as having a darned good idea of what is going to happen sometimes, and sometimes in very accurate detail, not always - because I have these inner qualities some have called me a "white witch", and I understand why they have called me that, only under freedom of religion in Australia, I have the right to choose not to have a religion, and I do choose to call myself either a believer in "nature" or as having no religion. My gifts can also be labelled in christian ways, so it would definitely not be fair to label me one way or another because of my gifts, as they can be seen as either foresight or premonition. They can also be called other names, which right now, I have forgotten. I do not want to be pressured into choosing a different direction just because I no longer am affiliated with a church as such. As it is, I am recorded as being of three different faiths, being born into one, and having involvement with two others at different times in my life, and if I were to choose one, I'd stick with my birth one, more to do with the people I know from my childhood than anything else. However I am not really religious in any way any more, and I feel I have the right to choose that. To me, to choose to go in the direction of the "antithesis" of christianity is even less productive than the religion itself. I know there are those that feel witchcraft is a religion thousands of years older than christianity, only it is once again a "religion", so not acceptable to someone like me who feels it is all superstition and fairy tales. It is how I feel, and I have the right to feel this way, just as you have the right to your beliefs. To me, Science is about proving theories of chemistry, biology, and physics, to do with real life, and I accept science as real. If it can be repeated in a controlled environment, and if it actually helps us survive, then it is ok, which science does. I also accept that herbs were the foundations of modern medicine, and unlike drugs, still have the support substances in them, which makes the taking of the "safe herbs" in a way that is known to be safe, acceptable to me. I have studied a number of books over the years, and even everyday herbs like sage and rosemary, must be used carefully and in moderation. This is something that many people are unaware of, that herbs are actually to be treated with care, just like drugs, and until you know they are 'safe', it's really clever not to take too much of any. The one that I would really consider safe, is curly parsley, as it can be used in tabouli, in large quantities. I find that all other herbs need to be respected, and used in suitable quantities only, after finding out what is ok and what the side effects of excessive doses would be. Women who know they can miscarry should leave celery alone for the duration of their pregnancy, as it is called an 'abortifacient'. Yet, celery is known as a vegetable to most of us, and seen as quite useful in losing weight because it is a good source of fibre, as well as being a source of useful vitamins and minerals. It is also known as a 'diuretic' meaning that it helps you lose fluids. When one has been a part of rituals and practices in churches, or other practices which were culturally based, it's sad to no longer have any of that. I would like to initiate new rituals in my life which are not based on religion of any type as such, however rituals which are acceptable to those of any background, and I am working on that right now. For me the first of those practices, is to celebrate Christmas in Australia, no matter what religion one might be, in a way that is neither meant to offend or in any way interfere with other's beliefs. For me, Christmas is about gathering with family, and other loved ones, making sure one catches up with all of them in the few days over Christmas as long as one has the financial means, and spending some positive time with them to emotionally nurture and support them. If not possible, then one might have to just spend more time at home, or in other company. This is only my opinion, and quite a few people will agree with me. There will be others who don't. |
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