Witch on Board

[Mohana]

Greetings. There's no usergroup for Witches, so I am declaring myself here. There's no New Age usergroup either. I guess treehugger will have to suffice.

I fall under so many categories that its hard to choose just one as no category seems to be quite the right fit.

I was raised in a Christian cult till I was 18 years of age, although I was never indoctrinated. Doesn't mean I didn't have issues down the road! That is all behind me now, although it has been only three short years ago that I finally found my nitch in life and feel comfortable in my skin and with my beliefs. I try to stay away from saying that I do not believe this or do not believe that. I figure if something has not been my experience, it doesn't mean it is not real or true for someone else.

I am a self-proclaimed witch. My brand of magick/spellwork revolves around Reiki/energy healing as it is my belief that there is no situation that can't be helped along with a little healing. My healing methods involve Reiki, Aromatherapy, positive affirmations, and using the vibrational energies of crystals and sound to heal.

I apply the term Atheist to myself, yet I do believe there is a life force/cause to all existence. I call this life force/cause the Goddess. That confuses people, I know. I see all existence as the exploration and expression of "the cause".

This is my post in the "By what name do you call your god?" thread. Just so I don't have to type it all over again.

http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 0&start=30

So that's it for now. I'm sure we will get to know each other better over time. That is if I get brave enough to join a discussion. From what I have read so far, there are some very knowledgeable folks here.

[JoeyKnothead]

From the OP:

Welcome Miss Mohana, hope you enjoy the debates.

Greetings. There's no usergroup for Witches, so I am declaring myself here. There's no New Age usergroup either. I guess treehugger will have to suffice.

You can request creation of new usergroups here.

I fall under so many categories that its hard to choose just one as no category seems to be quite the right fit.

Complex. Not to be confused with complicated. In my travels I've yet to find a person who fits into only one category.

I was raised in a Christian cult till I was 18 years of age, although I was never indoctrinated. Doesn't mean I didn't have issues down the road! That is all behind me now, although it has been only three short years ago that I finally found my nitch in life and feel comfortable in my skin and with my beliefs. I try to stay away from saying that I do not believe this or do not believe that. I figure if something has not been my experience, it doesn't mean it is not real or true for someone else.

The ever-present hand of Christianity has slapped many folks. I do agree one's belief should be conditional, and seldom hold to hard and fast claims myself.

I am a self-proclaimed witch. My brand of magick/spellwork revolves around Reiki/energy healing as it is my belief that there is no situation that can't be helped along with a little healing. My healing methods involve Reiki, Aromatherapy, positive affirmations, and using the vibrational energies of crystals and sound to heal.

I am perfectly fine with them as your belief, but would challenge these claims till the cows came home and started watching TV.

I apply the term Atheist to myself, yet I do believe there is a life force/cause to all existence. I call this life force/cause the Goddess. That confuses people, I know. I see all existence as the exploration and expression of "the cause".

8<

So that's it for now. I'm sure we will get to know each other better over time. That is if I get brave enough to join a discussion. From what I have read so far, there are some very knowledgeable folks here.

I 'preciate that

Dive in, all you have to lose is dignity, and what good is that anyway!

[KennethM]

From the OP:

I am a self-proclaimed witch. My brand of magick/spellwork revolves around Reiki/energy healing as it is my belief that there is no situation that can't be helped along with a little healing. My healing methods involve Reiki, Aromatherapy, positive affirmations, and using the vibrational energies of crystals and sound to heal.

I am perfectly fine with them as your belief, but would challenge these claims till the cows came home and started watching TV.

I apply the term Atheist to myself, yet I do believe there is a life force/cause to all existence. I call this life force/cause the Goddess. That confuses people, I know. I see all existence as the exploration and expression of "the cause".

8<

I'm with joeyknuccione on these two points.

[Mohana]

From the OP:

I am a self-proclaimed witch. My brand of magick/spellwork revolves around Reiki/energy healing as it is my belief that there is no situation that can't be helped along with a little healing. My healing methods involve Reiki, Aromatherapy, positive affirmations, and using the vibrational energies of crystals and sound to heal.

I am perfectly fine with them as your belief, but would challenge these claims till the cows came home and started watching TV.

I apply the term Atheist to myself, yet I do believe there is a life force/cause to all existence. I call this life force/cause the Goddess. That confuses people, I know. I see all existence as the exploration and expression of "the cause".

8<

I'm with joeyknuccione on these two points.

Oh, I've been around the block having my beliefs challenged before. The best I can do right now is offer what I said in my OP in that if something has not been my experience then it is not true for me... if you have not had my experiences in Reiki and other forms of vibrational healing methods, then they are not true for you. Hope you don't find that a cop-out. I would be more than happy to discuss my beliefs further in the appropriate thread. The only thing is that I would offer the same conclusion.

As to Atheism and the term Goddess... I define Atheism as not believing in a god or diety. I do not consider the life force/chi/prana to be such. I do understand that some believe Atheism means not believing in any so-called life force or "power behind the scene".

[Lux]

Hi Mohana, welcome to the forum!

I hope to see you arround the debates, you seem to be quite interesting.

[Zzyzx]

.
Hi Mohana,

WELCOME to the forum.

Greetings. There's no usergroup for Witches, so I am declaring myself here. There's no New Age usergroup either. I guess treehugger will have to suffice.
As Joey says, you can start usergroups; however, you will need to acquire some tokens to do so. I will donate 250 and maybe others will do likewise.

I was raised in a Christian cult till I was 18 years of age, although I was never indoctrinated.

My wife was also raised in a religious cult – Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (polygamous Mormon) until she escaped at age sixteen (and just recently purged that last of the brainwashing / indoctrination from her thinking – more than twenty-five years later).

Doesn't mean I didn't have issues down the road!

Depending on the depth of indoctrination and your level of acceptance as a child, it can take a couple decades.

That is all behind me now, although it has been only three short years ago that I finally found my nitch in life and feel comfortable in my skin and with my beliefs.

Caution – it is not uncommon for a person to escape one form of cultism only to fall into another.

I try to stay away from saying that I do not believe this or do not believe that. I figure if something has not been my experience, it doesn't mean it is not real or true for someone else.

I agree – with emphasis on “true for them�. That does not entitle anyone to assume or assert that what they believe is true for others – not that you do so, but it is common practice as you will see by reading these threads.

I am a self-proclaimed witch.

All “isms� tend to be self-proclaimed. My preference is Non-Theism (to avoid the connotations and “baggage� commonly associated with or attributed to Atheism and Agnosticism).

My brand of magick/spellwork revolves around Reiki/energy healing as it is my belief that there is no situation that can't be helped along with a little healing. My healing methods involve Reiki, Aromatherapy, positive affirmations, and using the vibrational energies of crystals and sound to heal.

If you profess that those beliefs are true, you may encounter challengers (me included) who ask for firm evidence (beyond personal affirmations and testimonials).

I apply the term Atheist to myself, yet I do believe there is a life force/cause to all existence. I call this life force/cause the Goddess. That confuses people, I know. I see all existence as the exploration and expression of "the cause".

Some might identify that as Agnosticism or as a form of spiritualism. I take no position on the matter.

This is my post in the "By what name do you call your god?" thread. Just so I don't have to type it all over again.

So that's it for now. I'm sure we will get to know each other better over time.

I, for one, look forward to your contributions. If you are new to debate, there is a thread in General Chat that may be helpful.

That is if I get brave enough to join a discussion.

Be brave. We are just a bunch of anonymous Internet junkies

From what I have read so far, there are some very knowledgeable folks here.

That is an excellent first observation. Many make the mistake of underestimating the experience and knowledge of members (and may attempt to “bowl them over� with pseudo-knowledge and platitudes).

[Crazy Ivan]

I apply the term Atheist to myself, yet I do believe there is a life force/cause to all existence. I call this life force/cause the Goddess. That confuses people, I know. I see all existence as the exploration and expression of "the cause".

For any practical purpose, "atheist" isn't a far-fetched description for you. I think it tends to be used by more skeptical people, in what concerns "life force/energy" matters, but without belief in a specific conscious creation intent behind it, I don't see an issue.

[Mohana]

Drat! I typed a response and it disappeared. Perhaps it was a non-believer counteracting my magick. Honestly, I don't know if that's possible. Nah...

Looks like I am going to have to get busy and get all my ducks in a row before I open my mouth further as to my beliefs and practices. I don't mind a challenge, but I admit I do at times fail on presenting evidence. No Christian as yet has been able to prove God to me, therefore I highly doubt I will ever be able to prove any of my claims by word of mouth... but just let me get my hands on you! Seriously, I didn't believe in Reiki till it healed me. A discussion for another day. I need time to do more reading around here.

Thanks for all the welcomes!

Edited to add: I am quite impressed with how well everything works on this forum with all the little add on's and such. Good job!

[Mohana]

Doesn't mean I didn't have issues down the road!

Depending on the depth of indoctrination and your level of acceptance as a child, it can take a couple decades.

That is all behind me now, although it has been only three short years ago that I finally found my nitch in life and feel comfortable in my skin and with my beliefs.

Caution – it is not uncommon for a person to escape one form of cultism only to fall into another.

I was never indoctrinated but forced to comply with the code of conduct and dress. Physical and demeaning mental abuse by my parents was the way they sought to keep me in line. In all fairness, this is not what the cult taught.

I found I had to force myself to believe in nothing for quite awhile, as I realized I was spending my time substituting one belief for another. I knew I needed to disassemble my beliefs before I could rebuild a solid foundation. At times even now I feel the need to hold on to a higher power in the hopes that said higher power will somehow accomplish for me what I cannot seem to accomplish for myself. There are times I doubt what I know from first-hand experience to be true. Then I slap myself silly and get over it.

I figure if something new comes down the road that I will examine it and if it pips my interest I will try it on for size. If it works for me, then I find a place for it in my belief system. If my beliefs are proven to be false, then I shed what I need to, re-examine, rearrange, and keep on walking. My belief system conforms to me, not the other way around.

I found a quote recently that says it all from my perspective.

True happiness is fidelity to a working purpose. ~ Helen Keller

[Zzyzx]

.

At times even now I feel the need to hold on to a higher power in the hopes that said higher power will somehow accomplish for me what I cannot seem to accomplish for myself.

This is a dangerous position to hold because it hands over your personal responsibility to a "higher power" that may or may not exist. No matter how fervently a person may believe in supernaturalism, our life in the real world (where we actually live) is the product of OUR decisions.

In my opinion, we are responsible for all outcomes of all decisions we make -- no excuses and no passing responsibility, credit or blame for our decisions onto others (including a proposed "something greater than us")