Hello

[Shahaku]

Re: Fun things to do to piss people off

"Name your dog, Dog."

My friend named her boy boxer DeeOhGee because she thought it was clever...

I named my stuffed animal "Stuffed" and always wanted to name my dog "Dog". Unfortunately we're running with a gun theme for names with our current dogs so we have Stoeger and Colt.

[Adosia]

Re: A Curious New Member

Welcome! and intresting story, id recommend looking up your ancestors and seeing what they used to belive, i think it might be what your heart is looking for.

As for your friend, thats a confusing one. they say their are Pagan but against witchcraft? This is actualy a first for me, never heard of that. But it makes me wonder if they understand what Paganism is... not to sound like a iforgottheworld

Coz like, when i was introduced to Paganism, the first thing i learnt was that Witchcraft isnt some big evil thing unless you watch too much Disney. Witchcraft can be quite a loving and imtimate experiance that ive had to pleasure of taking part in.

I mean, Salem was a long time ago, i thought people learnt from this O.o

Yes, I have been looking into the festivals of the Cherokee. The religion itself revolves around a lot of supernatural elements like ghosts and immortal spirits, which I'm still unsure as to how I feel about those, but a lot of the festivals are easy for me to draw from as they're usually "thanksgiving" rituals for a good harvest, etc.

Yeah. My friend was raised Catholic, and so I feel like some of her bias against witchcraft comes from that. I also do not want to accuse her of not understanding Paganism, as the first thing I've learned since joining this site is that there are a huge amount of paths one could take. I feel like she mixes naturalism elements with various elements of ancient Greek beliefs, while that Catholic background is what scares her off things like witchcraft.

She also practices Tarot, though, and has done a couple readings for me, and believes in the concept of Karma. Her collage of different beliefs is pretty much the reason I became interested in Paganism rather than straight-up atheism in the first place. She confuses me, but it's still pretty interesting :P

You say you live in New Haven. Is that in New England? If so, you live extremely close to me.


Also, Dumuzi, thank you for the welcome

[Burdock]

Hi

Hello from Pa!

[Stoph]

Re: A Curious New Member

Diffrent Newhaven, the orginal one in the UK. sorry to disapoint :-p

And i understand where your coming from about the spirits. i was Atheist for many years before i became pagan so its still a kinda slow transition for me. i have my belifes but im still to put them into practice, but in a way that if i was to die tomorrow i would die knowing i am content with my belifes and i await whatever hall greets me.

Ultimatly, the path you choose will show itself at some point, and when it does it will become clearer to you, something will happen, you will experiance something see something or just a thousand thoughts in your mind will finaly snap into place. thats what happened to me, to name but a few i realised that my love for strong male characters who weild great power, can exact great wrath and destruction if they fancy it, and my huge respect for those who give their lives in combat- amoung many other things, all pointed towards the North, towards scandinavia and the home of the Norse.

But none of that snapped into place untill i one single item just seemed to jump out at me...



I didnt consider it for much at first glance, but it just kept pulling me in. it was part of a Norse themed pendant display and i just had to have it, and -that-.. is what started it all.


Im rambeling now...


it will happen when you least expect it. it will find you! And maybe refer her here aswell so you have someone to share this site with :-)

[Adosia]

Re: Hi

Hello Burdock, nice to meet you

[Avarin]

Greetings

Hi I'm Avarin pleased to meet you!

I have been surfing your forum and you all seem like a good group of people.

I'm 23 but I've been at this (offically) since I was 13 and unoffically since I was a kid. I call myself a perpetual beginner as I am constantly in a novice mindset.

I'm not really strict about my path I just do what I feel like and I love to learn new things about paganism.

I'm an otherkin and I frequent otherkin boards, I've seen one member having a septagram and I wondered is she/he was an otherkin.

Anyway I'll be haning around some,

Thank you for having me aboard!

Avarin

[Caelia]

Re: Greetings

Welcome to the forum.

[ConnollyCelt]

Re: Greetings

Welcome to PF!

[LiadanWillows]

Re: Greetings

welcome to PF

[kaine]

need advice please

hi i just want advise on where to start
all my life i knew i was different and that i had alot of gift (as i would call it ) its been a while im aware of what i can feel from people intuition and energy and more

i feel paganism is what suit me best because i talk with some pagan and i felt they understand me

so wath im looking for its advise on how i can get myselft grounded with energy and all my gift that sometime get me angry because i cant control my feeling when i feel bad energy

it would really help me to get stable

thank in advance for all advice and tooked the time to read this

[Caelia]

Re: need advice please

I sit on the ground and visualize the energy emerging from the earth on one side of my body and then going back into the earth on the other side of my body. I prefer to ground this way because I noticed that when I just visualize the excess energy going into the ground I tend to ground too much.

[LiadanWillows]

Re: need advice please

The best way to calm and connect with energies that I have found is through meditation.

If you aren't familiar with how this should be done here is a great source http://www.wikihow.com/Meditate

While meditating I like to focus on my chakras, especially for grounding. Here is some info on chakras that I have found very useful http://www.eclecticenergies.com/chak...troduction.php

So I will start with my root chakra which is where (when you are sitting) your body touches the ground at the base of your spine and I will envision that chakra having actual roots and reaching down into the earth. I envision my "roots" making a journey all the way to the center of the earth and pulling up all the energy through that. Then I work my way up my chakras until I reach the crown chakra which rests slightly above or at the top of your head. I envision this chakra to also have roots or branches and I reach out all the way with my mind through the sky, clouds, and space and draw in the energy of the universe to me.

When I am done I usually feel energized and focused. Hope this has helped

[kaine]

Re: need advice please

thank you i will try this

[kaine]

Re: need advice please

ok my other question is how long and many time should i do it to be perfectly grounded?

[LoganRoad]

I'm new!

I'm very happy to have found this forum

Yesterday, I finally acknowledged my decade-long aversion to anything spiritual... and allowed myself to feel like part of the universe. It still feels like I'm in celebration!

My inclination is to follow a pagan path, though I'm not sure which one yet.

When I was a kid, I found my mom's Wheel of the Year and read it twice... but when I started making amulets, my parents introduced me to Catholicism. Which led me to Atheism (which was wonderful, except that I felt slightly squashed). Luckily, nature has always been extremely present in my life, and I have a very scientific background. It's thrilling, how well science and these traditions work together.

The internet has been extremely informative and inspiring in my transition so far, but as I live in a small, judgemental city, I don't actually know any openly pagan folks. I'd welcome any advice or literature recommendations!

Peace,

Lo