Mailbag

Mailing List

Subject: Re: a matter of concern

> I fear for your life after death. Did you know that you are very confused?

Psychologists would say you are projecting.

-Jesus


From: ...@aol.com
Subject: (no subject)

THIS SITE IS SICK. YOU ARE A PIG! AND I HOPE JESUS HIMSELF BURNS YOU IN
HELL! I SPIT ON THIS SITE, AND WILL NOT RECOMENED THIS TO ANYONE!!!!!!


[excerpt from my assessment of the DC area]

...

People here are closed off, though they like to pretend to be open.  As
soon as anything real comes up, most become evasive.  They are "open-minded"
until a new idea is voiced, especially if it is not a politically correct
one.  Most people lie in unison, i.e. they support the appropriate lies
and maintain that public face.
 
People here are drained.  Perhaps it's too much media exposure.  Maybe
the proximity to politics and the subsequent submissive order of mindless
compliance to faceless directives.  People like to keep up with the news
and spend time and energy following the details, though few events have
any impact on their lives.  They are sold fear, empty promises, feel good
cliches, petty accusations, and meaningless scandals.  All of this is a
distraction and drains them, yet they have been made to crave it.

People here disbelieve in possibilities.  Each day we awake and know that
anything is possible, but they cling to their safe routines and duty where
they are left with the dull echo of complacency.  We could do anything, we
could create anything, we could share anything, we could make the anything
in the world the way we want it, but we disbelieve so much that we take no  
action and thus nothing happens.  If you look around you will see much
busy, frantic activity, but nothing innovative of thoughtful ever happens.
It consists of half-measures, compromises, lofty talk, image projection,
justifications, and denial of reality.  Few people have faith enough in
reality to desire what's real and to want to make dreams into reality.

...

-Jesus


> So are you going to help me explore my roots?  Or shall I drudgingly walk the
> face of the earth in a blind forum where my creative ideas are crushed from
> the soles of the media who creates the facade that we live in.

You are right to understand that the media creates this facade, but
after all a facade is only a mask.  Behind the mask is a reality, and
even better: a truth.

There are hints all around you and I can help point them out to you,
as well as paths you can explore.  The work is yours to do though and
I cannot give you the direct answers because you must win them for
yourself, but when you do you will truly understand for you will have
discovered truths instead of merely being handed facts to consume.

First a warning: there is a lot of nonsense, confusion, and half-truths
out there.  Don't jump to any "easy" answer because the simple answers
are always lies and compromises.  The Judeo-Christians have slandered
the pagan past because it revered the earth instead of material concern
and an external god.  When we had our traditions, we never sacrificed
ourselves for material riches or considered God to be anything other
than what is a part of us and our nature, i.e. God is around us and
with us all the time, not a force to be worshiped outside of our normal
lives.  We are never apart from God and if we revere life than we
worship life by living.  Life is the most real thing we will ever know
and despite it being in front of us, it holds mysteries and secret  
meanings that most people will never explore or uncover.

You will find answers in music which keeps the spirit alive despite  
the face of society.  You will find a hidden side to spirituality that
is not the ready-made answer that is supposed to dictate what you have
experienced and feel.  You will also find a smattering of ideas in the
history that your ancestors were able to preserve, from which you will
have to infer and recreate the whole with your experiences and insight.
It will take time, but keep your eyes open -- especially the eyes in  
your spirit.

A few books that might get you started with the larger European context,
from which your Celtic tradition can then be specifically studied and  
understood:

 A History of Pagan Europe
 by Prudence Jones, Nigel Pennick

 Roles of the Northern Goddess
 by Hilda Ellis Davidson

There is some information on the net as well, but there are lots of
dabblers and people who are into role-playing.  When you find facts,
they will reunite you with the spirit of the past and everything
will make sense.  If you look hard enough, you can find what speaks  
to your spirit and you will know then what is right.

-Jesus