EarthyAngel

I've been meaning to get back to your post, mrscurlymo. There's much I want to respond to in it. I just want to say for now: I'm not "inactive", and I'm not "bitter". I'm "done". That chapter of my life has been written and is closed. I will not return to the LDS church. No good would come of it. I would be miserable. I'm full of joy and love and peace as I am right now. The ONLY suffering I am experiencing in my life right now is in relation to my financial health (because I've chosen personal happiness and freedom over monetary security and materialism) and my physical fitness (because I'm still too lazy to get my fat backside out every day to exercise like I should). Why would I ever want to go back? Kevin

Are you trying to make me feel better? Kevin, proud of being "one", and not "one of ninety-nine".

Well, fortunately, your message got to me unedited in my email, due to the way subscribing to threads instantly sends replies out. I appreciate the warning. I just think it's a matter of semantics. Jesus was accused of performing miracles by the power of the devil. So whether you call it magick or miracles, it's not what you call it that matters, but the power behind it, don't you think? Kevin

I'm not familiar with his work. And, by the way, the best magick isn't "practical", meaning directed at manifesting into the material world that which you want or need for daily living. The best magick is that which transforms yourself. Repentance through the Grace of Christ is a form of this kind of transformational magick. Technically, it's from the school of magick called "Theurgy", which is magick by the power of Deity. The intent is our own, but the power is Divine. This is generally considered a "safe" form of magick, as it only works when in harmony with the will of the Divine entity one is calling upon. I know that LDS and other Christians prefer to refer to this as "miracles" rather than magick, but magick, by definition, is using one's intention and will (with faith) to change something in the manifest world. So miracles are a form of magick. LOL @ "the shadow knows" (thinking of the radio drama). Many would say that the very best use of the Tarot is for meditation. When I read the Tarot for others, it is as a tool to initiate a discussion of an inner aspect of their soul (Jungian translation: "an archetype of the collective unconscious) that is needing to be heard or spoken to. It's a means that is often useful to help people access their inner realities (including shadow selves). Thanks for this discussion, by the way. I find it surprisingly refreshing. You DO know that many LDS won't even touch a deck of playing cards, because they are based on the "satanic" tarot? Kevin

Don't be hard on him. He tripped over my Coyote. Kevin

Ugh! That went over like a lead balloon! Kevin

Thelema and the Golden Dawn are based mostly on Hermeticism, Alchemy, and the Keys of Solomon. In many esoteric traditions, Solomon was considered to be a great magician. Solomonaic magick is a major order of "high magick". The Rider-Waite Tarot is strongly based on the Kabballah, which Joseph Smith studied, by the way. I read the Tarot. I'm told I'm pretty good. I also like the Tarot because it has strong links to Jungian Transpersonal Psychology. Shamanism is healing work, first and foremost. It is a toolbox of many different tools from many different cultures. Every primitive culture has its shamen. We discount their wisdom at our peril. Thanks for the welcome! Kevin

So glad I was able to provide some fertile ground for your growth and learning! That's actually a very important part of my personal mission in life. Thanks for the welcome! Kevin

Thanks for the welcome! I must have a spiritual twin out there... though I'm WAY too much of a mystic to ever really give atheism a try. Kevin

Well, my daydreams are just that... daydreams from a part of me that is a bit mischievous. We all have a bit of that in us, don't we? A Trickster? A Coyote? I do know when to let my inner Coyote out, and when to keep it on a leash. Mythologically speaking, the Tricksters aren't there to be cruel, but to provide teaching opportunities. They stirred things up to help you learn a lesson. I let my Trickster out only when I perceive that there's some good to be achieved, and little risk involved. I do apologize that I have apparently caused you some consternation, Skippy. You've been trying to be nice... I can plainly see that. And as far as "holier than thou"... no, I don't particularly think it's a particular fault of yours. I was merely trying to point out to you that your particular world-view of what is sin, and requiring of repentance, is perhaps only one of many ways of looking at things. If that idea didn't land on fertile ground with you, I'm okay with that. One thing you'll learn about me, if you choose to get to know me, is that I'm less concerned about being right than I am about giving people new ideas to consider. The Book of Mormon talks about the law of opposition... that there's opposition in all things. Quantum theory, however, has taught me that there's more than "on" or "off". Sometimes, there's "on" AND "off" all at once. A "third way". And yeah... I know I get kinda squirrelly that way.

Now, you see... though you may not see it, there's inherent judgment in your response. You're right that I shouldn't go through this process, but not because I'm unrepentant. The way I see it, I have nothing to repent for... at least none of the things that I'd be confessing, anyway. The spirit of Christ is in me, to the extent that I am aware of my real sins... when I have lacked compassion for others; when I have acted selfishly for my own gain at the expense of another; when I have looked down upon others, convinced of my righteousness. None of the things that would get me excommunicated are sins, in my estimation. In fact, some of those things I have done I am quite proud of, because they have deepened my sense of compassion and connection with other human beings. I guess you could say that my definition of sin is much different now than when I was active LDS. I worry less about sin these days... I have chosen to stop eating from the Tree of Good and Evil... Instead, I choose to eat from the Tree of Life, which is the Tree of Love. When a people learns to put the principles of Compassion and Empathic Connection before their pharisaical checklist of Righteousness... they will begin to see Zion coalesce. And I have chosen to move toward Christ... though it is not the path you expect. Kevin

Spiritual line of work.

Please do. ;-) You can love or hate me as you choose just as well tomorrow as tonight.

You see, it's all part of my Jedi mind tricks... It starts with my genuine expectation that I will, by my virtue of being an apostate (and heretic) and somewhat proud of it, generate some hostility toward me. So, instead of trying to sneak in here do it all quiet-like, I'd just start off by announcing my status as apostate (and heretic), and that I really do expect to be hated for that by some. Because of that act, I have created some cognitive dissonance in some, who definitely do NOT want to think of themselves as capable of hating someone on that basis (or at all), and found a number of people ready and willing to jump to my defense... because Heaven forbid that my expectations should be true! That said, now that I have revealed my diabolical plan to trick people into coming over to my side... do I now lose their support, and earn their hatred (because no one likes being tricked), or do they stick with me, further convinced of their need to convince me that I am not the subject of hatred, but rather of love and support... because don't we all want to be thought of (and think of ourselves) as loving and supportive people? And now that I have thoroughly messed with everyone's heads, maybe I'll start seeing some authenticity from people, which is my REAL goal in the first place. :-)

A drop in the bucket by comparison. If the LDS church had 50,000 volunteer humanitarian missionaries in the field, it would generate some real buzz (as well as a huge benefit to those in need).