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  1. Quintessence

    What should good religious get?

    I'm not really clear on what "good religious" are and what "the rule" is, exactly.
  2. Quintessence

    Vance and the childless cat ladies

    I am still baffled by the "impressions" you are getting of American culture given how far out of touch with the reality of things it is. Though, unfortunately, because women were stripped of basic human rights two years ago and any man who rapes her can force her into a temporary state of...
  3. Quintessence

    Does the word "evil" mean anything in a non-religious sense?

    Arguably, no human words mean anything in a non-religious sense since all humans are fundamentally religious (that is, all humans construct narratives of deep meaning and values that help address the existential nature of life and living).
  4. Quintessence

    Terms that require a dictionary referral to verify we used them correctly

    Fun fact - looking up "Paganism" for a college assignment because I didn't understand what the writer meant by it in the context of what I was reading is what sparked the fire that set me on my current lifeway. That rabbit holed into learning about contemporary Paganism. That aside, I don't...
  5. Quintessence

    St. Francis Feast Day

    If I ever delved into studying something of Christianity in a bit more depth, it would be St. Francis. I discovered a Fransiscan religious center after finding Paganism, but I think if I'd found them first that might have been my "ah ha!" religious moment. A bunch of tree-hugging...
  6. Quintessence

    “Let the states decide.”

    This is seriously your response to gross human rights violates and the complexities of people's lives that make this a completely unrealistic and outlandish expectation? For flip's sake. You might as well be telling domestic abuse victims "if you want your husband or wife to stop beating...
  7. Quintessence

    “Let the states decide.”

    No, they can't. People's personal lives are a lot more complex than "I'm just going to abandon literally everything about my life right now to go somewhere else." I've already had my first student who almost had to drop out of college this semester because I live in a slave state (and we don't...
  8. Quintessence

    Contacting the dead for non Pagans

    One can if one wants to, but when the word God (proper case) points to different things depending on who one is talking to, it creates uncertainty in communication that could be remedied with more precise terms. There's gonna be conflicts regardless. I'll take clarity in communication any...
  9. Quintessence

    The ecosystem of an individual

    There's an entire field of life science that addresses these sorts of questions - microbial ecology. It's been a thing for quite some time and has specific medical implications with the gut microbiome for example. It's not something I have really looked into as it is a bit too micro scale for...
  10. Quintessence

    Contacting the dead for non Pagans

    Same reason anything can use a name - it helps in communicating with other humans about things. It is too easy to conflate God with god. Or God with God. Especially in verbal communication.
  11. Quintessence

    A 'Soul' is a Living Organism's Genome Sequence

    Too reductionistic for my taste - it reduces one's essential nature down to a bunch of molecules. It doesn't take into account one's lived experiences, or one's relationships with things outside of oneself that shape who one is in profound ways.
  12. Quintessence

    Moon rituals

    I've been a devotee of Moon for several years now; something about it stuck and it's been an every moonth thing. A lot of that is because I keep it simple and uncomplicated. I do my standard ritual openers - you would not want to use them because they are specific to my tradition - and the...
  13. Quintessence

    Where should the "I don't know" go?

    I'm not sure I understand. All human words - and it genuinely doesn't matter what the word we're talking about here - points at something. This means the human can experience whatever it was the word is pointing at in some capacity, and it exists in some capacity. If the word pointed at...
  14. Quintessence

    Subservience? (Religion)

    Yup, polytheism is flexible - whatever you want to honor and respect in your life. Some polytheists feel they have a particular cultural obligation and will only honor gods from certain regions of the world or certain historical pantheons. Some will let whatever speaks to them just flow...
  15. Quintessence

    How to prepare/cleanse yourself for ritual/interaction with the Divine?

    When you've been out in the field all day with no shade and stagnant wind in hot weather and high humidity? Yes.
  16. Quintessence

    How to prepare/cleanse yourself for ritual/interaction with the Divine?

    Haha, yes, indeed. Back when I was still doing field work there were days I'd come home caked in dirt and pollen. Then it's just uncomfortable, so it is honoring myself to make myself not uncomfortable with a cold shower.
  17. Quintessence

    How to prepare/cleanse yourself for ritual/interaction with the Divine?

    There may be better question to ask: why do I think I am filthy? There may be some healing you need to do there. Different religions will teach different things about the nature of humans. In my tradition humans are not seen as filthy or in needing of cleansing before approaching the gods...
  18. Quintessence

    If you were going to create a holiday, what would it be?

    I do this fairly regularly in my religious tradition - usually not so formalized but on a regular basis there's something to celebrate. That's a lesson that could be brought forward to culture at large. There are so many things to celebrate and be thankful for. Be spontaneous about it, be...
  19. Quintessence

    Subservience? (Religion)

    I suppose there's different ways to interpret it. The OP certainly had a particular notion in mind for what subservience means and this is not universal or shared by all of those who accept the gods as part of their lifeways. Unsurprisingly, relationships humans have with the gods are...
  20. Quintessence

    Subservience? (Religion)

    It sounds like you believe in some connotations to the word "subservient" that I do not as I don't understand what "right to exist" has to do with anything. All things are able to exist through an interconnected web of interdependencies and relationships, some of which always include...
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