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Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

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    #1

    Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

    The death of so many musical and cultural icons this year has gotten me thinking about people who work with those who have passed away. These are usually relatives or someone the person knew in life, however. What I'm specifically asking about in this thread is contacting the spirit of someone who has passed that you knew from their fame. Maybe you idolized them during their life. Maybe you didn't find out about them until after they had already passed away. Would contacting them be disrespectful?

    Just as example (I haven't contacted any spirit in any way): Bruce Lee passed away ten years before I was born. If I contacted him because I admired his thoughts and philosophy, and because I was a martial artist and would draw strength from speaking with him, would that be disrespectful to his spirit?

    (Note: this isn't a post about "doing it right". I'm interested in people's thoughts and how they feel about this question ethically.)
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    #2
    Re: Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

    If indeed you could contact someone,and if the spirit in question was receptive,I would think it would be respectful. In some cultures this is a common practice(think day of the dead in Mexico)

    Only disrespectful way I think is if you tried to force the connection without proper preparation.
    MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED

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      #3
      Re: Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

      IMO: No. Its sort of like a sending a fan letter when they were alive--either they answer it, have their publicist do it, or don't. Putting out a sincere invitation* is never disrespectful.

      *unless its a disrespectful sort of invitation
      Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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        #4
        Re: Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

        Let's go with me believing in the afterlife. The answer would be it's probably not going to do a thing. I would venture to say the afterlife would not carry my brain on over. It would probably mean I'm in some other form you can't see. I would imagine all human aspects of 'me' would be gone.

        Let's go with me believing there is no afterlife. Thee answer would be it's probably not going to do anything. Because well ded.

        Let's go with my actual belief of not having a single clue. The answer would be it can't hurt. Unless you piss off the wrong 'spirit' and it haunts you and your lineage for the rest of your line. Then you are effed.

        Going with the assumption the spirits aren't all Casper.


        hedge your bets.
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          #5
          Re: Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

          I don't think there's any harm in it - but of course, the astral plane is a bit like the internet. Just because someone gets back to you and 'says' they're David Bowie (for example) doesn't mean that they are.
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            #6
            Re: Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

            My take on this as an evil atheist - when you do this, you are asking your subconcious impression of what that person represents to you for advice.

            There's no disrespect in asking yourself for help, but, in line with what Tylluan Penry said, you can't always trust your subconcious - it has an agenda of its own that may not match the agenda of your concious. Proceed with caution.
            Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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              #7
              Re: Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

              Putting aside the fact that I know this all isn't real... here's what I think.

              It all depends on how it works. If it's like sending someone an email, where they can choose to open or not, read or not, reply back or not, then I don't think it's disrespectful at all. If it's like snatching someone out of whatever they were doing, or like waking someone up, or taking someone away from something they were busy doing then I'd say it's rude and disrespectful.

              So tell me first what the rules of the game are and then I will form my opinion.
              [4:82]

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                #8
                Re: Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

                Originally posted by habbalah View Post
                The death of so many musical and cultural icons this year has gotten me thinking about people who work with those who have passed away. These are usually relatives or someone the person knew in life, however. What I'm specifically asking about in this thread is contacting the spirit of someone who has passed that you knew from their fame. Maybe you idolized them during their life. Maybe you didn't find out about them until after they had already passed away. Would contacting them be disrespectful?

                Just as example (I haven't contacted any spirit in any way): Bruce Lee passed away ten years before I was born. If I contacted him because I admired his thoughts and philosophy, and because I was a martial artist and would draw strength from speaking with him, would that be disrespectful to his spirit?

                (Note: this isn't a post about "doing it right". I'm interested in people's thoughts and how they feel about this question ethically.)
                In most selfless acts of giving honor to another you don't intend to get anything out of it. If you contact a spirit for personal gain it might taint the idea of respectful communication.
                On the other hand if you seek to learn for the sake of passing on your ideas and theirs without gain you might have a better chance with the process. What do you have to offer the spirit? I think the "fair energy exchange" could also play a part in this.
                Ultimately you will never know until you do it.
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                  #9
                  Re: Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

                  Originally posted by Dumuzi View Post
                  Putting aside the fact that I know this all isn't real... here's what I think.

                  It all depends on how it works. If it's like sending someone an email, where they can choose to open or not, read or not, reply back or not, then I don't think it's disrespectful at all. If it's like snatching someone out of whatever they were doing, or like waking someone up, or taking someone away from something they were busy doing then I'd say it's rude and disrespectful.

                  So tell me first what the rules of the game are and then I will form my opinion.
                  A Muslim who doesn't believe the dead continue on after death, huh, which sect is that?
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                  But that day you know I left my money
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                    #10
                    Re: Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

                    Originally posted by Briton View Post
                    A Muslim who doesn't believe the dead continue on after death, huh, which sect is that?
                    You're jumping to a conclusion that you probably shouldn't. His post could just as easily and with less contradiction be interpeted as not believing that we have any power to contact the dead.
                    life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

                    Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

                    "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

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                      #11
                      Re: Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

                      Originally posted by Briton View Post
                      A Muslim who doesn't believe the dead continue on after death, huh, which sect is that?
                      As MaskedOne pointed out, there is a difference between believing in an afterlife, and claiming someone is able to contact the dead.
                      [4:82]

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                        #12
                        Re: Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

                        I tend to operate on the assumption that if there is an afterlife, the dead need to move on to new things. I can see that some of them might have a new role as guides of sorts for the living, but I cannot fathom how I would claim to know who is supposed to do what. I suspect that in the case of inspirational people, their accomplishments in this life are what we are supposed to use for inspiration. I'm not arguing with anyone's UPG. Just basing this on my own observation.

                        Offering respect and an openness to guidance is probably okay. It sounds as if this is what you meant. I'm not really comfortable with people who seem to treat the dead as their own personal staff. I find it disrespectful, and also probably not healthy for the living.

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                          #13
                          Re: Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

                          Imagine all those afterlife pervs watching you tinkle.
                          Satan is my spirit animal

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                            #14
                            Re: Inspiration From Beyond: Respectful or Disrespectful?

                            Hay,hay,I'm busy in here...get out...Have to remember to lock that door!!!!
                            MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED

                            all i ever wanted was a normal life and love.
                            NO TERF EVER WE belong Too.
                            don't stop the tears.let them flood your soul.




                            sigpic

                            my new page here,let me know what you think.


                            nothing but the shadow of what was

                            witchvox
                            http://www.witchvox.com/vu/vxposts.html

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