Heathens, Pagans and Witches discussion

Two from: Colin Wilson

“As a young man I was scornful about the supernatural but as I have got older, the sharp line that divided the credible from the incredible has tended to blur; I am aware that the whole world is slightly incredible”

“Simple perception then is a fallacy. Besides the conscious prejudices that we are aware of imposing on the world, there are a thousand subconscious prejudices that we assume to be actuality.”

Plutarch

A favourite:

“In Springtime, O Dionysos,
To thy holy temple come,
To Elis with thy Graces,
Rushing with thy bull-foot, come,
Noble Bull, Noble Bull”

Quintus Aurelius Symmachus

“We gaze up at the same stars, the sky covers us all, the same universe encompasses us. What does it matter what practical system we adopt in our search for the truth? Not by one avenue only can we arrive at so tremendous a secret.”

Eckhart Tolle

“Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to "die before you die" --- and find that there is no death.”

‘We don’t sleep to sleep, dammit, any more than we eat to eat . We sleep to dream. We’re amphibians. We live in two elements and we need both.’

Edward Nesbit, from The Chymical Wedding by Lindsay Clarke

A friend of mine just added this quote by Rumi . I think it is beautiful.

"In silence there is eloquence. Stop weaving and watch how the pattern improves."

"You suppose you are the trouble
But you are the cure
You suppose that you are the lock on the door
But you are the key that opens it
It's too bad that you want to be someone else
You don't see your own face, your own beauty
Yet, no face is more beautiful than yours."

"Only from the heart Can you touch the sky."

"People of the world don't look at themselves, and so they blame one another."

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."

Do you mind if I put in snatches of a healer's (shaman's) song? It's about sympathy. Enlightenment? I don't know about that; but if nothing else, I believe in the powers of sympathy.

To strike root throughout the world is the fate of the willow tree:
My great, grievous fate is to weep for each soul I see...


When the flowers wither on the hill
Are they lovely still?
In illnesses’ cruel claws
Whose cheeks keep their roses, whose eyes shine?
When wilts the waterlily,
When the sunflower fades.

One who has gone through life without griefs,
How is he to understand the sad?
One who has never been lonely, in misery,
Can he feel with the sick, with the mad as they suffer?

But I, I in these my flesh and bones,
Have known the sadness of the forsaken,
The madness, ugliness, agony of disease.
I was eighteen; I went through every pain.

The sick cannot keep a fresh and lively face.
Does she find love, even in her own house?

Anonymous shaman song, but taken from this wonderful book: Shamans And Elders: Experience, Knowledge And Power Among The Daur Mongols

Lovely, Bryn! Everyone, feel free to add your favourite passages or quotes!

“Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.”

Zhuangzi

"Rather than seeing a contest between Druid and Christian, I see a kinship between stone chapel and stone circle. One encloses and protects the spirit; the other exposes it and joins it with the elements. In both of these places we conjure the powers that affect and transcend us. We remind ourselves, in both places, that we need oats and milk, but we also need what we cannot see or put in our food bowls."

Kate Horsley
Confessions of a Pagan Nun: A Novel

Hafez

"Even
After
All this time
The Sun never says to the Earth,

"You owe me."

Look
What happens
With a love like that,
It lights the whole sky."

7 Principles of the Huna Philosophy:

-There are no limits--be free.

-The world is what you think it is, be aware of what you are creating.

-All power comes from within you--be confident.

-Now is the only moment of power--be present.

-Love is to be happy unconditionally.

-Honesty is the measure of all truth.

-Energy flows where attention goes.

Georgina wrote: "7 Principles of the Huna Philosophy:

-There are no limits--be free.

-The world is what you think it is, be aware of what you are creating.

-All power comes from within you--be confident.

-Now i..."
Lovely :)

Interesting how these different philosophies resonate with each other. I read The Cry of the Huna: The Ancestral Voices of Hawaii a while ago, but let it go - I found it slightly too alien.

"Aumakua is a compound of makua (parents) and au, the endless ancestral chain that stretches through time. Each individual on earth represents a temporary end to that chain. As we age and our vision of life slowly looks toward death, our descendents come forth to provide the next eyes in the chain of witnessing and transmission."

Isn't that a lovely concept too!

And yes, the core 'truths' of different philosophies resonate don't they. I was thinking of Krishna's words the other day, and the relevance of Now hit me again...

Gina wrote: Isn't that a lovely concept too!

It is, and it seems that Now is everywhere, and all ideas the same but differently expressed :)

"Mysticism is the art of union with Reality."

Evelyn Underhill

Practical Mysticism: A Little Book for Normal People

Georgina wrote: "7 Principles of the Huna Philosophy:

-There are no limits--be free.

-The world is what you think it is, be aware of what you are creating.

-All power comes from within you--be confident.

-Now i..."

I was unfamiliar with this and was pleased to read them this afternoon. They show up and resonate with some of what I am currently engaged in thinking.

One of my favourite poets is Rainer Rilke. This quote is one that has been used by David Abram in his work, and it truly resonates for me.

Ah, not to be cut off,
not through the slightest partition
shut out from the law of the stars.
The inner--what is it?
if not intensified sky,
hurled through with birds and deep
with the winds of homecoming.

Beautiful, Sara!

"If you wish to upset the law that all crows are black... it is enough if you prove one single crow to be white."

William James

The secret and the sacred are sisters. When the secret is not respected, the sacred vanishes. Consequently, reflection should not shine too severe or aggressive a light on the world of the soul.

From by John O'Donohue.

“Seek the Truth, and run from those who claim to have found it!” Anon

"The power of imagining the possible is great, but how much greater the power of perceiving the possible unfolding in its own myriad, unimagined way! The space where this can happen exists within and around each one of us each time we enter into the discipline of spiritual attention."

Caitlín Matthews in The Celtic Spirit: Daily Meditations for the Turning Year

Although this is from a decided sci-fi series, this quote has been one of my faves for years. It is a benediction of sorts spoken during the graduation of a new Bene Gesserit Sister in the "Dune" series of books. It can been found scattered throughout both Frank and Brian Herbert's books.

“I stand in the sacred human presence. As I do now, so should you stand some day. I pray to your presence that this be so. Let the future remain uncertain for that is the canvas to receive our desires. Thus the human condition faces its perpetual tabula rasa. We possess no more than this moment where we dedicate ourselves continuously to the sacred presence we share and create.”House HarkonnenBrian Herbert

That is a lovely one, C-Cose. There are pearls of wisdom in Frank Herbert's books.

I'm also going to add a great quote I saw on your page:

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

Mother Teresa

Georgina wrote: "That is a lovely one, C-Cose. There are pearls of wisdom in Frank Herbert's books.

I'm also going to add a great quote I saw on your page:

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgi..."

I often turn to Herbert's books for inspiration. Mind you I also turn to Marion Zimmer Bradley and a host of other ~teachers~ :) Mother Teresa was a natch and unexpected find.

Throughout the universe
Life does wander
Appearing here and there
Sometimes popping out of the woodwork
Other times carried on the wings
Of Mercury and meteorites

Living in the Event Horizon of a Big Mud Hole
Robert Zwilling

Georgina wrote: "7 Principles of the Huna Philosophy:

-There are no limits--be free.

-The world is what you think it is, be aware of what you are creating.

-All power comes from within you--be confident.

-Now i..."

i love these quotes

They are great aren't they! :)

"We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be."
May Sarton

"The true ascetic makes a cape of discarded rags he finds in the random alleyways of the world.

He resides naked in the temple of Emptiness.

He seeks not to seize any virtue, or discard any sin.

He is immersed in the bliss of purity, and is absorbed in his one true essence."

Avdhut Gita by Dattatrey, an unknown ascetic, who transcribed a dialogue he had with his own mind in meditation.

"Everything bows to beauty when it is fierce, and when it is flawless."

Ani Difranco

“Remember:
Life is short, break the rules (they were made to be broken)
Forgive quickly, kiss slowly
Love truly, laugh uncontrollably
And never regret anything that makes you smile.
The clouds are lined with silver and the glass is half full (though the answers won't be found at the bottom)
Don't sweat the small stuff,
You are who you are meant to be,
Dance as if no one's watching,
Love as if it's all you know,
Dream as if you'll live forever,
Live as if you'll die today”

― James Dean

"And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence"

— Bertrand Russell

"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."

— Bertrand Russell

Georgina wrote: "A friend of mine just added this quote by Rumi. I think it is beautiful.

"In silence there is eloquence. Stop weaving and watch how the pattern improves."

"You suppose you are t..."
This is an old one, however I just found it. It's lovely, Gina. I am often moved by Rumi

A wise soul. :)

Georgina wrote: "“Remember:
Forgive quickly, kiss slowly
Love truly, laugh uncontrollably
And never regret anything that makes you smile.
The clouds are lined with silver and the glass is half full. Don't sweat the small stuff,
You are who you are meant to be,
Dance as if no one's watching,
Love as if it's all you know,
Dream as if you'll live forever,
Live as if you'll die today” "


This is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE QUOTES!!! ;D

Humans are the only animal who invented the idea of a God, and they're the only one's who behave like they don't have one.

Quote from the film The Rum Diaries. (Spoken by a catfish)

“The real seeker of truth never seeks truth. On the contrary, he tries to clean himself of all that is untrue, inauthentic, insincere—and when his heart is ready, purified, the guest comes. You cannot find the guest, you cannot go after him. He comes to you; you just have to be prepared. You have to be in a right attitude.”
—Osho

&
(the actual quote is a little longer but this part says it all)

"To sing, to scream, to dance barefoot in the woods in the dead of night, with no more awareness of mortality than an animal! These are powerful mysteries. The bellowing of bulls. Springs of honey bubbling from the ground. If we are strong enough in our souls we can rip away the veil and look that naked, terrible beauty right in the face; let God consume us, devour us, unstring our bones. Then spit us out reborn."
- The Secret History, Donna Tartt

Celeste wrote: "Georgina wrote: "“Remember:
Forgive quickly, kiss slowly
Love truly, laugh uncontrollably
And never regret anything that makes you smile.
The clouds are lined with silver and the glass is half full..."

Yes. I stole it from your GR page :D:D

Georgina wrote: "Yes. I stole it from your GR page :D:D"

LOL ~ Are you serious!?! ~ That's too funny! I know most people quote the "Dance like nobody's watching, live like you'll never be hurt, sing like nobody's listening..." But I much prefer the longer James Dean version... When I read your post, I was like ~ OMG, I really am glad I came across you because you and I "seem" to have so much in common, because nobody else I've ever come across randomly was even familiar with the quote... That you found it on my page is just too funny to me...

Yep. Loved it. :D:D

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away." Maya Angelou This is one of my favorites

Just beautiful. :):)

(Spoken by a deity) "If you want to please me, don't interfere with anyone."

I've personally found that one quite hard to follow.

"I'm obsessed with Greek mythology. My favorite goddess is Artemis. She's strong and reminds me of Katniss, the heroine of 'The Hunger Games'." ~Isabelle Fuhrman

"It is when we stop believing that religions have been handed down from above or else that they are entirely daft that matters become more interesting."

Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion

“The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question: "Is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey, don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we kill those people. ” — Bill Hicks

“There is a saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.'
No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.”

― Dalai Lama XIV