What better way to show God you appreciate him than to squander his most
precious gift, life, in a miasma of ruthlessness and gore? In addition to justifying Crusades, Witch Trials and Wars, this theological
breakthrough is also the main justification for the time-honored practice of
human sacrifice.
Sacrifices are perhaps the most ancient method to honor deities, going right
back to the earliest ancestor-worship religions of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The original theory was "everyone needs to eat," including the ancestor-gods.
So priests would dutifully leave food sitting out for the gods, who would never
actually eat the food.
It was embarrassing to have all this food sitting around, so the priests
eventually began burning, cutting or bleeding the sacrifices instead of just
leaving them out to rot. As time went on, the original theory of feeding the gods was forgotten and
the practice became a ritual which was essentially meaningless to its
participants (like the use of chrism in a Christian baptism, just for example). The first sacrifices consisted of food and meat, but the emphasis slowly
shifted to animal sacrifice and from there to blood sacrifice. Once you've moved
past the notion that you're actually feeding the gods, an animal hierarchy kicks
in, so a goat is a better sacrifice than a chicken, and a cow is better than a
goat. So what would be the bestest sacrifice of all? Eureka! There is some
controversy about when the practice of human sacrifice actually began.
Some argue for a
prehistoric origin, but the evidence for these claims unfortunately tend to be
10,000-year-old bodies found in Northern European bogs, which leaves room for a
not-insignificant amount of interpretation. There's a better than even chance
those bodies were the result of early executions or ritual killings, among all
of which there is an admittedly fine line. Human sacrifice is more or less
defined here as the ritual killing of a person to appease or coerce a god
figure. The scholars don't really agree on where to draw the lines, but
the bloodthirsty bastards have a marked tendency to designate just about any
ancient death a "human sacrifice" for no defensible reason. Virtually every
culture and region has a history of human sacrifice, from the Romans to the
Celts to the Aztecs... Hell, even the Dutch...
What better way to show God you appreciate him than to squander his most
precious gift, life, in a miasma of ruthlessness and gore? In addition to justifying Crusades, Witch Trials and Wars, this theological
breakthrough is also the main justification for the time-honored practice of
human sacrifice.
Sacrifices are perhaps the most ancient method to honor deities, going right
back to the earliest ancestor-worship religions of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The original theory was "everyone needs to eat," including the ancestor-gods.
So priests would dutifully leave food sitting out for the gods, who would never
actually eat the food.
It was embarrassing to have all this food sitting around, so the priests
eventually began burning, cutting or bleeding the sacrifices instead of just
leaving them out to rot. As time went on, the original theory of feeding the gods was forgotten and
the practice became a ritual which was essentially meaningless to its
participants (like the use of chrism in a Christian baptism, just for example). The first sacrifices consisted of food and meat, but the emphasis slowly
shifted to animal sacrifice and from there to blood sacrifice. Once you've moved
past the notion that you're actually feeding the gods, an animal hierarchy kicks
in, so a goat is a better sacrifice than a chicken, and a cow is better than a
goat. So what would be the bestest sacrifice of all? Eureka! There is some
controversy about when the practice of human sacrifice actually began.
Some argue for a
prehistoric origin, but the evidence for these claims unfortunately tend to be
10,000-year-old bodies found in Northern European bogs, which leaves room for a
not-insignificant amount of interpretation. There's a better than even chance
those bodies were the result of early executions or ritual killings, among all
of which there is an admittedly fine line. Human sacrifice is more or less
defined here as the ritual killing of a person to appease or coerce a god
figure. The scholars don't really agree on where to draw the lines, but
the bloodthirsty bastards have a marked tendency to designate just about any
ancient death a "human sacrifice" for no defensible reason. Virtually every
culture and region has a history of human sacrifice, from the Romans to the
Celts to the Aztecs... Hell, even the Dutch...
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(Read the FULL Article here... | 9850 bytes more | comments? | Score: 0 ) Posted by nuke on Sunday, January 07 @ 11:55:26 CST (738 reads)
The
Rose Cross Ritual (RCR) is one of several ceremonial techniques including the
Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP) and the Lesser Banishing Ritual
of the Hexagram (LBRH) commonly used to ward a space or create a psychically
cleansed area for spiritual or magical work. The RCR has certain differences
from the others which make it useful. These points will be covered after
instructions on how to perform the ritual.
Casting the Circle
The RCR creates a circle or sphere of protected space which can be thought of as
a curtain or bubble of energy surrounding the working area. Generally one will
want to ward the entire room one is working in, so the perimeter of the bubble
should roughly approximate the room. It is OK if the bubble of energy projects
slightly outside the walls if the room is irregular in shape. Particularly the
bottom and top of the bubble may project through the floor or ceiling,
especially if a sphere is visualized. It is fine if mundane furniture in the
room falls without the circle. It helps the visualization to let the walls of
the room assist in containing the energy, for physical walls reinforce the
mental sense of protection, and it is the mind that does the work. In general,
it is a harder to visualize protection of only a small area around yourself when
you are in a room which is much larger. We have found that when working out of
doors, without any walls, it is harder to cast any kind of circle. In such a
case, using natural boundaries to define the space warded helps, such as trees
or rocks. This is probably why clearings surrounded by a wall of trees, sacred
groves, or circles of standing stones have been favourite sites for ceremonies.
We have found that erecting banners helps define an outdoor space. Rarely, when
working with a small group in a very large room, we have again used banners to
cir*****scribe an area to be warded instead of using the entire room.
The Basic Image
The basic image of the Rose Cross Ritual in operation is of a rectangular bubble
of white light surrounding the operator with Rose Crosses glowing at four points
around the circle, at the apex above the centre, at the nadir below the centre,
and at the centre of the room. This totals seven Rose Crosses in all, six at the
periphery and one in the centre. Each Rose Cross except the one in the centre of
the room is connected to the others by a line of light. This creates an image
similar to lines of a force field. The Bubble is often slightly squashed into a
rectangular shape along the sides since most rooms are usually rectangular in
shape. The Rose Crosses at the periphery are not in the true quarters of the
room ? East, South, West, and North ? but in the cross quarters ? Southeast,
Southwest, Northwest, and Northeast. It really doesn?t matter what sequence you
follow in tracing the lines and drawing the Rose Crosses, as long as they are
all there when you finish. Different techniques are given by different
authorities, and we will give the one given in our tradition...
Wicca is a religion based, in part, on ancient,
northern European Pagan beliefs in a fertility Goddess and her consort, a horned
God. Although the religion is a modern creation, some of its sources pre-date
the Christian era by many centuries. Most Wiccans do not believe that their
religion is a direct, continuous descendent of this earlier religion. They see
it as a modern reconstruction.
Joanna Hautin-Mayer has written: "We know tragically little about the
actual religious expressions of the ancient Celts. We have a few myths and
legends, but very little archeological evidence to support our theories. We
have no written records of their actual forms of worship, and the accounts of
their culture and beliefs written by their contemporaries are often highly
biased and of questionable historical worth."
Ms. Hautin-Mayer is particularly critical of
recent Neopagan books which she demonstrates to be largely fictional accounts of
the history of Witta (presented as an Irish Pagan tradition),
Faery Wicca (presented as an ancient tradition), and 21
Lessons of Merlyn (a somewhat racist and sexist account of
Druidism).
Silver RavenWolf wrote in 1998:"Wicca, as you practice the religion
today, is a new religion, barely fifty years old. The techniques you use at
present are not entirely what your elders practiced even thirty years ago. Of
course, threads of 'what was' weave through the tapestry of 'what is now.'
...in no way can we replicate to perfection the precise circumstances of
environment, society, culture, religion and magick a hundred years ago, or a
thousand. Why would we want to ? The idea is to go forward with the
knowledge of the past, tempered by the tools of our own age."
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(Read the FULL Article here... | 11259 bytes more | comments? | Score: 0 ) Posted by nuke on Monday, May 23 @ 09:45:41 CDT (180 reads)
The Pagan seasonal cycle is often called the Wheel of the Year. Almost all
Pagans celebrate a cycle of eight festivals, which are spaced every six or seven
weeks through the year and divide the wheel into eight segments.
Four of the festivals have Celtic origins and are known by their Celtic
names, Imbloc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain.
The other four are points in the solar calendar. These are, Spring Equinox,
Autumn Equinox, Summer and Winter Solstice. Neolithic sites such as Stonehenge
act as gigantic solar calendars which marked the solstices and equinoxes and
show that solar festivals have been significant dates for hundreds of thousands
of years.
(The seasonal differences between the hemispheres mean solar festivals are
celebrated opposite different dates in the southern hemisphere)
Winter Solstice
20th/21st December
The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice (also
known as Yule) is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world.
Ancient people were hunters and spent most of
their time outdoors. The seasons and weather played a very important part in
their lives. Because of this many ancient people had a great reverence for, and
even worshipped the sun. The Norsemen of Northern Europe saw the sun as a wheel
that changed the seasons. It was from the word for this wheel, houl,
that the word yule is thought to have come. At mid-winter the Norsemen lit
bonfires, told stories and drank sweet ale.
The ancient Romans also held a festival to
celebrate the rebirth of the year. Saturnalia ran for seven days from the 17th
of December. It was a time when the ordinary rules were turned upside down. Men
dressed as women and masters dressed as servants. The festival also involved
decorating houses with greenery, lighting candles, holding processions and
giving presents. Before Christianity came to the British Isles
the Winter Solstice was held on the shortest day of the year (21st December).
The Druids (Celtic priests) would cut the mistletoe that grew on the oak tree
and give it as a blessing. Oaks were seen as sacred and the winter fruit of the
mistletoe was a symbol of life in the dark winter months.
It was also the Druids who began the tradition
of the yule log. The Celts thought that the sun stood still for twelve days in
the middle of winter and during this time a log was lit to conquer the darkness,
banish evil spirits and bring luck for the coming year. Many of these customs are still followed today.
They have been incorporated into the Christian and secular celebrations of
Christmas...
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(Read the FULL Article here... | 26559 bytes more | comments? | Score: 0 ) Posted by nuke on Monday, May 23 @ 09:40:20 CDT (191 reads)
Britain"s spymasters became convinced that astrology could hold the key to the defeat of Adolf Hitler during the Second World War, it has emerged. Secret files released by the National Archives show how intelligence chiefs were hoodwinked into recruiting a bogus Hungarian nobleman to study the Nazi leader"s horoscope in the hope of penetrating his military plans.Despite warnings from the Security Service, MI5, that Louis de Wohl was a "charlatan", he managed to persuade senior figures in the int... Read More
The idea of the vampire has caused some extreme behaviour. In October 1974 a drunkard was lured to the home of a Mr Lorca in Germany. Promising him food and shelter, instead, Mr Lorca descended on the man and bit him hard on the neck, drawing blood. Passing out, when the drunkard came round, he rushed out of the house and went to the police. Arriving a short time later, they found Mr Lorca asleep in a coffin with blood on his lips. Mr Lorca, it seems, liked to be called Count, ate only raw meat ... Read More
Natalie wells talks to Danny Penman: "We watched the last of the balloons drift off into the distance before we could bear to leave the crematorium. I hugged my mum and dad and said it was time to go. We were all blubbering and doing our best to face up to life without my younger brother David. He"d been killed in a car crash a few days earlier. He was just 19. No age at all. It was so cruel. Dozens of his friends and family had been at the funeral to say goodbye. David loved balloons so we ... Read More
The catholic church has revealed how growing interest in satanism and the occult has led to a rise in exorcisms across Queensland. One priest, who asked not to be named for fear of "reprisals", said he was carrying out at least one exorcism a fortnight. More requests for exorcisms came from the Gold Coast than anywhere else. An exorcism involves holy water, sacrament and Bible reading and can go on for many hours, the priest said. Linda Blair made the subject famous in the 1973 film, The Exorcis... Read More
After roughly 5 months of a fruitless search and rescue mission, the missing millionaire and record-holding adventurer Steve Fossett has finally been declared dead, although the wreckage of his sport aircraft was never found. His estate is worth tens of millions of dollars, and he will certainly be mourned by the likes of Richard Branson, Mick Jagger and other over 60 alpha males who have cheated death themselves countless times but keep on performing. Maybe because he was loved and admired so m... Read More
Anthony north: We"ve all heard of the witch, but do witches have a real existence? Yes, they have existed since the dawn of history, and most likely for millenia before. In the Bible, Saul, afraid of the might of the Philistine army, took himself off to be counsellefd by the Witch of Endor. In Classical literature we have Homer’s Circe who bewitched men and turned them into swine. Ovid tells us of the Strigae; erotic beings who flew through the air to carry out their murderous deeds. But with su... Read More