What is your religion?

[Guest]

Catholic boy born and bred. 

[trivialuvs]

I grew up lazy catholic? My family didn't go to church, but my uncle and their family did. My great grandma went to a catholic church. I was baptized because great grandma Lucille was adamant. 

 

I've always believed in the mysteries of the universe, I guess, the stars above and the things out there no one can explain. I can find a logical reason in most things, and I've never had "paranormal" experiences. I do believe people believe in those things, if that makes sense.

 

No organized religion, for sure. Maybe some kind of... witchery? Putting forth energies and effort to get stuff back with extra?

 

Although it rarely happens to me, but that's another tale. Maybe my family or past life has bad karma.

[BriarRose]

Since I was a little girl in the single digits religion  seemed to me to be revised to fit different cultures to keep people controlled. 

 

I've been reading Zachariah  Sitchin's books and books related to the Anunnaki.  

 

Sitchin's books are hard to read. I have to get into a very present state of mind and block out any thoughts that surface, and stop reading when that occurs and pay attention to those thoughts to see if they coincide with what I'm reading. 

 

So I believe that we were created with the genes of the Anunnaki  and mixed with the genes of monkeys. 

 

The proof is there because most people are RH positive. That means then we cannot be a divine creation of the swirling of a magic hand of God.

 

Could we be a divine creation of what we call God?  I think that's doubtful because you don't find bear genes in dogs or snake genes in iguanas.  

 

I have yet to understand what this God is.

I think it's an energy vibration. 2020 was a real eye opener about many truths. 2020 vision. The clearest. 

 

With studying The Crusades, I cannot be part of any Christianity that can traced back to the slaughter of killing, pillaging, rape, and burning of humans in the name of God. 

 

I feel this section of the universe is a law of attraction. What you think about you bring about. And that all emotions are either fear based or love based. 

 

Very intense topic. 

[2dogs]

No particular religion for me; life is a puzzle.🧩

[Misterei]

Born Greek Orthodox.

Now? Buddhist Hindu Sufi Mystic Christian Voudoun Theosophist

I find I love the esoteric part of most religions and reject the exoteric parts that want to control people.

[2dogs]

You worship 

7 minutes ago, DeathFlowerKing said:

a giant pizzle

??? 🙀😹

[Chariot]

Don't most religions claim to explain what we don't understand?  What makes the universe tick, is there any Being (or Beings) in the driver's seat, whom we must please or appease?  What happens after we die (and before we are born) and how we came to be here on earth in the first place, etc.  

I don't  know any of these things.  However, I have no trouble saying 'I don't know,' and just getting on with life as best I can with what I CAN know, and learn things as I go.  I'd rather be ignorant than wrong, if that makes sense.  All religions can't be right, but all religions CAN be wrong.  I'll take my lumps in the afterlife,  if I've misjudged the situation.

 

Meanwhile, I'll just go with what seems to work in the here and now, however mundane or stupendously supernatural it might be.  The Tarot works.  Astrology works, when it's done carefully.  I've had experiences, hunches and even visions and compulsions—to do or not do—that I can't explain.   I'm content to leave the explanations to time.

Edited May 10, 2023 by Chariot

[Nemia]

I didn't know the word omnistic until now but it's pretty close to where I stand. I believe that humans have an inborn need to make sense of the world, and each culture and religion have tried to give answers to eternal questions: where do we come from? where do we go? why do we live, why do we die? how should we act and decide and lead our lives? And each religion has found some pieces of the puzzle, and found some beauty, and also given room for things like control, manipulation, and we-vs-you-thinking. Because we're humans. I respect the truth and beauty of each religion, and see the less positive things critically. 

 

For me, the great divine power always felt feminine, like the embrace of a mother, if there is any gender at all. I love the great goddesses of the past, and have always felt drawn to Aphrodite, Hestia, and especially Mnemosyne and Hekate. Lately, I have discovered smaller goddesses of my native area, like Sunuxul and the Matrons, and they feel very very familiar to me, like some part of my heritage that I have to integrate into my life. 

 

I love the idea of nymphs who personify and embody parts of nature, obviously Nemeia, the naiad, whose name was also Pandeia, the all-goddess, the daughter of Selene, the Moon, and Helios, the Sun (and let's forget for a moment that these two were siblings! oh those Greeks!!) I also felt drawn to saints from all religions since my childhood, saints as spiritually gifted humans who bridge the gap between the Gods and humans. 

 

Another important part of my spirituality is nature, especially the beauty of the heavens. I'm a star watcher, and observing the changing constellations of the seasons, the movements of the planets, and the sequence of the moon phases have opened a whole new universe for me. I feel connected to the divine when I stand outside and greet Venus, Aldebaran, Vega and Antares. 

 

I draw strength from the Earth and the Skies by standing up, facing North, stretching my arms to the East and West, breathing in energy from my feet and letting it flow through my hands and head. It's my way of grounding and centering. In many ways, I feel like a witch, and have been called a witch often. I believe in protection magic through blessing, but I wouldn't dare to work with negative or distructive energy. 

 

I'd probably call my religion Eclectic Pantheism. It's Earth based, Star based, and I feel there is harmony and serenity beneath the surface of chaos, strife and struggle. We may not find it in this life, but I firmly believe that we will find it once our earthly lives are over. 

 

 

[Nemia]

Of course, these connections are symbolic, like connections between different concepts. And the genealogies changed from tradition to tradition. Greek religions and cults were not homogenous; each city and tribe had their own version of the Gods. 

[Misterei]

5 hours ago, Chariot said:

Don't most religions claim to explain what we don't understand? 

This is what I loved about being born into the Greek church. They're mystical. It's assumed that God is a mystery humans will never understand. Plus I'm old enough that they still did the services in Byzantine Greek chants when I was a kid ... didn't understand a word of it ... but the music itself was so transcendental. Now the American Greek churches do the service in English and its just not the same.

3 hours ago, DeathFlowerKing said:

1) To quote Cersei from Game of Thrones "The Gods have no mercy that's why they are Gods." All Gods (including the God of Abraham) are neither good nor evil. In fact many of them are downright indifferent towards us humans. People in ancient times seemed to grasp this far better than people in our modern age

Honestly, we moderns are a bunch of terminally online narcissists who cant grasp that the gods and the universe could care less about us.

3 hours ago, DeathFlowerKing said:

... the Mesopotamians ... believed that we humans were basically created just to be the slaves and playthings of the more powerful cosmic entities of our world and I believe that there is a lot of truth to this belief.

Yes. It's why I rejected atheism and embraced Theosophy. I figured if I was doomed to be the plaything of larger forces ... I at least wanted to CHOOSE which hierarchy I serve. I think of large global corporations as "Demon Kings" who definitely have huge swaths of the population as their slaves and playthings. *sigh*

Edited May 10, 2023 by Misterei

[Eric13]

Well, this one's a blast from the past!

However, I follow the Duderronomy. Bowling is part of our belief. 

[2dogs]

Oops, I only posted that middle painting by John Collier on another forum 4 days ago.🙈 I know it’s entitled “Lilith”  but no offence intended to any real entity, the image spoke to me rather of the feminine soul embraced by the intellect / knowledge / energy etc. in the Victorian style of “this isn’t soft porn, it’s symbolic and deeply meaningful”.😼

[Morwenna]

I got neutral good, with zero evil. :)

 

I was raised Catholic by my mother; my father was lapsed Universalist until I was in my teens and his first wife died, at which time he converted to Catholicism, probably in solidarity with us, but he had been attending church with us for years. In mid-adulthood I made friends with several Neo-Pagans and learned a lot from them; meanwhile I had been still attending Mass but began lapsing, and in fact I had been disagreeing with the Church's policies more and more ever since childhood but stuck with it partly out of habit but partly because I found beauty and comfort in much of it, whether or not I agreed with the church. So essentially I am that category with the despised title Christo-Pagan; I still feel Christian in a lot of ways but also Pagan in a lot of ways. And for several years I've been attending a Unitarian-Universalist church (and since this particular church was Universalist before the merger, I'm sure my father is out there in the ether having a good laugh); my only quarrel with them is that so many of them are humanist to the point of rejecting Christianity (though they seem to be OK with Paganism). Fortunately there are a few in the congregation who appreciate a moderate form of Christianity and stand their ground. 

 

I took that Beliefnet quiz a few times years ago and came out UU, and liberal Quaker, and a few Eastern religions I knew nothing about. Catholicism was almost at the very bottom. My main quarrel with that quiz (which some like-minded folks agreed about) was that all the things that mattered to me about religious belief and practice weren't listed but things that didn't matter to me were; this is what skewed the Catholicism angle. There wasn't one single question about beauty or symbolism or mystery, as I recall (I don't know if the quiz has changed since then). All the questions that spoke of the rigidity of belief such as found in Catholicism were the ones I rejected, of course. And of course it's not the dogma of Catholicism I love, it's the beauty and symbolism and mystery. Now those are the very things you don't usually get in the religions that the quiz put at the top of my list! Of course it's beauty and symbolism and mystery that is the draw to Paganism for me too; I'm an unabashed ritual junkie. :) 

[fire cat pickles]

I took the quiz and got Orthodox Quakerism 🫠

 

Would @gregory be proud?

[gregory]

Why would I be proud of your religion ? It's not something I did anything to achieve ! Did I do this quiz ? I forget; I just did, and got Secular Humanism. It came in at 12%. Actually I am so little on anyone's side I am quite impressed:

)

Edited June 16, 2023 by gregory

[KingOfPents]

I was raised Catholic, but as I grew up, I saw the church as a business just like any other. But that is my opinion and I do not hold that against anyone else who is a follower. 

 

I believe in higher powers, mysteries of the universe, karma and fate. Too many coincidences in my life that I can't turn a blind eye to. Be genuinely kind and the world will reward you.

[Natural Mystic Guide]

 I identify with this quote by Gandi:

 

‘Yes, I’m  a Hindu and I’m also a Muslim, and a Christian a Jew, and a Buddhist.’ — Gandhi

 

I took 'the test' and received that I am a 'neo-pagan'.  That sounds good.

 

I'm ordained clergy:  I am a Kohenet through the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute.  As far as Judaism goes, I am 'renewadox' -- a blend of Orthodox observance with Renewal sensitivities.

 

I have been through the entire series of steps necessary to be a Balinese Hindu here in Bali, including tooth filing.  I live in Bali.  This is what is happening here.  It's beautiful.  All of my friends are not just devout, but enthusiastically devout.  The requirements are actually more time intensive than those of Orthodox Judaism.  We spend all of our time:  preparing for ceremonies; doing ceremonies; recovering from doing ceremonies...

[Arianalit]

I was born Christian. At different periods of my life, I've been interested in Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, and Paganism. Now I believe in the existence of higher forces, destiny, and karma.

[Scandinavianhermit]

I practice Religion, but not a particular one. Labels don't fit. 

[Scandinavianhermit]

On 6/18/2023 at 3:28 AM, Natural Mystic Guide said:

As far as Judaism goes, I am 'renewadox' -- a blend of Orthodox observance with Renewal sensitivities.

I admire Zalman Schachter Shalomi. If I had been born Jewish, I would have been enthusiastically Renewal, but I'm a gentile. Ethnical religions like Hinduism, Judaism and Zoroastrianism are closed to me, but the three missionary religions – Buddhism, Christianity and Islam – doesn't fit my beliefs 100% either.

[Scandinavianhermit]

On 9/26/2017 at 4:34 PM, chongjasmine said:

Even though Christianity strong opposes tarot cards, I never regret being a christian as I have a strong relationship with Jesus Christ.

Since tarot cards were invented with very Christian Italian noblemen and artists in the 15th century (Milano, Ferrara, Florence) I wouldn't worry about that.

 

Justice, Strength (Fortitude) and Temperance are virtues mentioned in Wisdom 8.7 (found in full Anglican/Episcopal editions of King James Version and also in Orthodox and Catholic editions of the Bible). The Papess looks like allegorical conventional depictions of 'Faith' and 'The Church' in the renaissance. The Pope is ... duh ... the bishop of Rome. And there is a hermit, Judas hanging from a gallow, a devil, Last Judgement. Death looks very much as ecclesiastical art in vogue after the outbreak of black death. The only blatantly Græco-Roman trumps are The Lover (depicting Hercules) and The Sun (depicting Memnon and Emathion), but every educated Catholic Christian at the time was familiar with Greek and Roman mythology.

[Scandinavianhermit]

The online test mentioned above claims that I best fit Unitarian Universalism. I doubt it. The Unitarian Universalist Association doesn't even have any local units in the part of the world where I live.