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    Prayer

    Can i somehow pray even if I do not literally believe in deities but see them as metaphors? If so, please explain. Thanks

    #2
    Re: Prayer

    What goal are youseeking through prayer if not to converse with deity (ies)? Truth fully there's nothing stopping you from paying just send out your thoughts/wishes/requests to whatever you believe will receive them
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      #3
      Re: Prayer

      just as a way to connect with myself and nature sorta. to relax and really feel the energy of earth and regain mental strength.

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        #4
        Re: Prayer

        Meditation might be more along the lines of what you're looking for. But, again, there's nothing stopping you from sending prayers out to nature
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          #5
          Re: Prayer

          i agree with wisp...meditation does sound more like something that would fit your needs hence it is very relaxing and an awesome connection (at least for me) to nature, especially if you are doing it outside.
          but in all reality, you can send out prayers/wishes/requests etc etc to whomever you want and whenever you feel its right.
          i've known people that pray even to the elements or to the sun or the moon...or even other planets for that matter...i dont think you can go wrong!

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            #6
            Re: Prayer

            Originally posted by Greenlife View Post
            Can i somehow pray even if I do not literally believe in deities but see them as metaphors? If so, please explain. Thanks
            There is a UU saying about prayer--When in doubt, pray. When in prayer, doubt.

            Yes, you can absolutely pray without a literal believe in individual deities. You may even get a response. You can pray to specific deities that you see as metaphors, or to the Universe-at-Large, if you have a pantheistic or panentheistic world view... Prayer, at its most simple, is a conversation with the divine. It might be a one-sided conversation, or it might not. What is divine and how to see it is entirely up to the individual.
            Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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              #7
              Re: Prayer

              Metaphorical deities are closely related to archetypes, if not the same thing. Archetypal gods are accessed in prayer that is directed inward rather than outward, for the archetypes are said to be various sections and aspects of our own psyches. If your desire is to connect with the earth/nature, key into some Earth deities. Whether they are literally real to you or only metaphors is of no real importance if you're attaining what you seek.
              Children love and want to be loved and they very much prefer the joy of accomplishment to the triumph of hateful failure. Do not mistake a child for his symptom.
              -Erik Erikson

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                #8
                Re: Prayer

                Personally, I do not believe that prayer works in any metaphysical sense. But, I do think that prayer to certain deities can excite certain archetypal pieces of the mind. I think it works more as a means of discovering inner strength/support.

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                  #9
                  Re: Prayer

                  Prayer, for me, is a focusing of the mind, and allowing my innermost desires to become manifest, even in ethereal space. It gives them shape and form, so that I may become aware of them fully and work towards making them so. If it's something that's out of my hands, it frees my mind from the burden of imagined responsibility. Whether you believe or not, it can have this effect.
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                    #10
                    Re: Prayer

                    I have no doubt regarding the efficacy of prayer, no matter the form it takes. In my experience, it seems that the metaphorical vehicle a person uses really makes no difference, but the depth of belief and certainty of outcome are crucial.

                    "No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical." -- Niels Bohr

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