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Dec. 29th, 2009 09:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sorcyressActually going back and reading through the chain, I learn that the meme originally started with the idea of explaining your religion as your first choice, and then two more that you find fascinating.
So, let's examine my own twisted religion.
When pinned, I say that I am some combination of naturist-pagan-satanist-pseudoChristian-discordian-Pastafarian. (Or, if I don't feel like explaining, "Agnostic") What it really boils down to is that I don't have any sort of organized religion of my own, nor do I want such a thing --I understand that many people can and do worship better in a group or like having the guidance of a religious leader of some sort or another, that's just not for me. My spirituality is a personal thing.
What it boils down to, for me, is my pantheon --five gods, who I worship in varying ways. Part of having my assembled pantheon is that I can and do accept the idea that there are many more gods out there besides my own, and sometimes I have interactions with them as well1.
My Pantheon is thus, in rough order of importance:
Mother Nature: I have been a tree worshipping hippie since middle school, and possibly even earlier. I haven't always called it worship --for a very long time, it was simply that every once in a while when I was outside walking, I would have a conversation with Mother Nature about life and things and the world.
In the fall of 2007, I was given a moment that, if not the catalyst for classifying my feelings towards her as worship, was reasonably soon after. I was given about an hours length of time when I realized that I had been forgiven for all sins, and so forgave the world, and was able to fully and completely and unconditionally love myself. I can't really say that its happened since, but it remains one of the most perfect moments of my life.
When I pray to the stars (what many of you would recognize as my reciting "Star Light, Star Bright", and which I do almost every single night) I am praying to Mother Nature.
I can only truly access her when I am outdoors. Occasionally I can talk to her when I'm inside if I have access to a window, but communication is shaky, and reduced to just conversation, not so much proper prayer.
I call her Mother and Mama and Gaea. I'm sure she will eventually have a symbol for me to wear on my necklace o' religion, but I've yet to find something perfect.2
Athe: The name "Athe" is a joke, stolen from this SMBC comic, as the name of the god atheists pray to. I latched onto the name immediately, and started doing my best to swear by her, it took little time for that to adapt to praying by her.
She is a reflection of me --it gets a bit into the LaVeyen Satanism ideals of "thou art God"-- and so therefore is around anywhere I am. She is often who I pray to when I need support and strength greater than what I feel I have --or more importantly, to ask for the help to access my own strength.
She works hand and hand with Mother Nature. The two of them get along charmingly, and often I will talk to both at once. Unlike Mother Nature, however, Athe very much likes houses of worship, more than anyone else in my pantheon, and so often when I am in such a place, I will pray to her, in addition to the god who the place belongs to.3
Her symbol is the ankh. The current one I wear has been around my neck for about a year and a half now, but I own at least five (one broken, one cheap plastic), and have had a fascination with them since...oh gods...fifth grade? The ankh is what I largely consider to be my symbol, and is what I would most like to have tattooed upon myself --right shoulderblade, opposite my scar.
The Flying Spaghetti Monster: I am a proud, albeit unbaptized, Pastafarian. I look for excuses to dress as a pirate, I believe in the importance of midgets, and I truly *have* been touched by his noodly appendage.
Most of it is silliness, or perhaps the necessity of having a token male god in my pantheon, but he's around, and certainly a part of it all. Oh, and you know, beer volcano. Stripper factory. If I was ever going to go to a heaven4, I'd want it to be this one.
His symbol is, of course, this FSM charm, which I've worn for about six months now.
Eris: Not quite my god, but the god of my clone, and thereby important for me to be aware of, and stay in the good graces of. I try to avoid praying to her (as that summons her) and when I do, it's often to tell her to knock it off.
I do my best to keep life interesting, to keep her happy with me. A dull life is nothing worth striving for, after all. Her and the FSM are perhaps my minor gods, there to remind me that life is silly, and I should do what I can to not take anything too seriously.
Her symbol is the Sacred Chao. I don't have one of these for my necklace *yet*, though I intend to find one.2a
Chort: A friend of mine through mom --they were buddies in Markland back in college, and therefore used to hit each other with sticks and probably make-out in a very non-serious sort of way. Chort is a fantastic dancer, recreates just about everything (I believe his current passion is Steampunk, and oh is it marvelous!), likes sushi, and has more miniatures than your average Games Workshop actually stocks.
I named him a god when I was having a particularly off mood, and he managed to give me just precisely what I needed at that time --a really nice head scritch. Also, like I said in my other post, because he's responsible for me owning my good tailcoat, and breeches, and just generally being warm and friendly and wonderful.
I suppose he would more accurately be called a demigod than an actual god, as I do not actively worship him in any way, beyond having him listed in my pantheon. He has no symbol, nor is he likely to gain one.
YAY PANTHEON!
~Sor
MOOP!
1: Most recently when, in a string of curses I managed to hiss "Fuck you, Jesus" and then promptly had a very apologetic conversation with the man in question, assuring him that I didn't mean it, I was just in considerable pain at the time, and not thinking very well. Bacon grease on your ear hurts considerably.
2: If you've found something you feel is perfect, please let me know, but do not buy it for me. They have to be bought by me, and they have to be picked out by me. The necklace o' religion is weird, but it's also something I wear every single day, and therefore I feel totally justified in being fussy.
2a: See above, but with the Sacred Chao, I *might* be willing to accept an old one --from someone who used to wear it and now legitimately does not anymore-- as a gift.
3: I feel I am no longer uncomfortable in churches, and I never really was in temples or the like. When I am in someone else's house of worship, I do make a point of giving the God a prayer, and thanking him for letting me and mine stop by.
4: I am a child designed for reincarnation. It's something I've always believed in, and an idea I've always been fond of. The standard Christian heaven would just get too boring for me, after a while.
So, let's examine my own twisted religion.
When pinned, I say that I am some combination of naturist-pagan-satanist-pseudoChristian-discordian-Pastafarian. (Or, if I don't feel like explaining, "Agnostic") What it really boils down to is that I don't have any sort of organized religion of my own, nor do I want such a thing --I understand that many people can and do worship better in a group or like having the guidance of a religious leader of some sort or another, that's just not for me. My spirituality is a personal thing.
What it boils down to, for me, is my pantheon --five gods, who I worship in varying ways. Part of having my assembled pantheon is that I can and do accept the idea that there are many more gods out there besides my own, and sometimes I have interactions with them as well1.
My Pantheon is thus, in rough order of importance:
Mother Nature: I have been a tree worshipping hippie since middle school, and possibly even earlier. I haven't always called it worship --for a very long time, it was simply that every once in a while when I was outside walking, I would have a conversation with Mother Nature about life and things and the world.
In the fall of 2007, I was given a moment that, if not the catalyst for classifying my feelings towards her as worship, was reasonably soon after. I was given about an hours length of time when I realized that I had been forgiven for all sins, and so forgave the world, and was able to fully and completely and unconditionally love myself. I can't really say that its happened since, but it remains one of the most perfect moments of my life.
When I pray to the stars (what many of you would recognize as my reciting "Star Light, Star Bright", and which I do almost every single night) I am praying to Mother Nature.
I can only truly access her when I am outdoors. Occasionally I can talk to her when I'm inside if I have access to a window, but communication is shaky, and reduced to just conversation, not so much proper prayer.
I call her Mother and Mama and Gaea. I'm sure she will eventually have a symbol for me to wear on my necklace o' religion, but I've yet to find something perfect.2
Athe: The name "Athe" is a joke, stolen from this SMBC comic, as the name of the god atheists pray to. I latched onto the name immediately, and started doing my best to swear by her, it took little time for that to adapt to praying by her.
She is a reflection of me --it gets a bit into the LaVeyen Satanism ideals of "thou art God"-- and so therefore is around anywhere I am. She is often who I pray to when I need support and strength greater than what I feel I have --or more importantly, to ask for the help to access my own strength.
She works hand and hand with Mother Nature. The two of them get along charmingly, and often I will talk to both at once. Unlike Mother Nature, however, Athe very much likes houses of worship, more than anyone else in my pantheon, and so often when I am in such a place, I will pray to her, in addition to the god who the place belongs to.3
Her symbol is the ankh. The current one I wear has been around my neck for about a year and a half now, but I own at least five (one broken, one cheap plastic), and have had a fascination with them since...oh gods...fifth grade? The ankh is what I largely consider to be my symbol, and is what I would most like to have tattooed upon myself --right shoulderblade, opposite my scar.
The Flying Spaghetti Monster: I am a proud, albeit unbaptized, Pastafarian. I look for excuses to dress as a pirate, I believe in the importance of midgets, and I truly *have* been touched by his noodly appendage.
Most of it is silliness, or perhaps the necessity of having a token male god in my pantheon, but he's around, and certainly a part of it all. Oh, and you know, beer volcano. Stripper factory. If I was ever going to go to a heaven4, I'd want it to be this one.
His symbol is, of course, this FSM charm, which I've worn for about six months now.
Eris: Not quite my god, but the god of my clone, and thereby important for me to be aware of, and stay in the good graces of. I try to avoid praying to her (as that summons her) and when I do, it's often to tell her to knock it off.
I do my best to keep life interesting, to keep her happy with me. A dull life is nothing worth striving for, after all. Her and the FSM are perhaps my minor gods, there to remind me that life is silly, and I should do what I can to not take anything too seriously.
Her symbol is the Sacred Chao. I don't have one of these for my necklace *yet*, though I intend to find one.2a
Chort: A friend of mine through mom --they were buddies in Markland back in college, and therefore used to hit each other with sticks and probably make-out in a very non-serious sort of way. Chort is a fantastic dancer, recreates just about everything (I believe his current passion is Steampunk, and oh is it marvelous!), likes sushi, and has more miniatures than your average Games Workshop actually stocks.
I named him a god when I was having a particularly off mood, and he managed to give me just precisely what I needed at that time --a really nice head scritch. Also, like I said in my other post, because he's responsible for me owning my good tailcoat, and breeches, and just generally being warm and friendly and wonderful.
I suppose he would more accurately be called a demigod than an actual god, as I do not actively worship him in any way, beyond having him listed in my pantheon. He has no symbol, nor is he likely to gain one.
YAY PANTHEON!
~Sor
MOOP!
1: Most recently when, in a string of curses I managed to hiss "Fuck you, Jesus" and then promptly had a very apologetic conversation with the man in question, assuring him that I didn't mean it, I was just in considerable pain at the time, and not thinking very well. Bacon grease on your ear hurts considerably.
2: If you've found something you feel is perfect, please let me know, but do not buy it for me. They have to be bought by me, and they have to be picked out by me. The necklace o' religion is weird, but it's also something I wear every single day, and therefore I feel totally justified in being fussy.
2a: See above, but with the Sacred Chao, I *might* be willing to accept an old one --from someone who used to wear it and now legitimately does not anymore-- as a gift.
3: I feel I am no longer uncomfortable in churches, and I never really was in temples or the like. When I am in someone else's house of worship, I do make a point of giving the God a prayer, and thanking him for letting me and mine stop by.
4: I am a child designed for reincarnation. It's something I've always believed in, and an idea I've always been fond of. The standard Christian heaven would just get too boring for me, after a while.
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no subject
on 2009-12-30 03:44 am (UTC)And he does have a symbol - just ask (and ye shall receive?)!
no subject
on 2009-12-30 05:13 am (UTC)a friend wants to discuss atheism, and i realized, thinking on it, that i have never been athiest (however you spell it). there's deity. i haven't always seen it as wanting or needing me in any form, and that was fine, but it's not atheism
one of my harshest swears is 'jesus fucking christ' - and since i believe that jesus did care about sexual relations, it's not something any jesus godhead would be upset over.
ah, i'm babbling. :)
no subject
on 2009-12-30 09:18 am (UTC)If I were to pick a symbol for Nature, it would be a tree, probably a big, spreading, deciduous one. (Unfortunately, stylized things of this sort have a tendency to look like the Timberland logo, though there are exceptions.) The back of the Connecticut state quarter might be a good example. You may have a different opinion, of course.
no subject
on 2009-12-31 02:15 am (UTC)Kindly remind me to talk religion with you sometime when I'm not fighting an Evil Cold of Evil.
no subject
on 2010-01-06 05:22 am (UTC)