As much as I find wisdom through song lyrics to be trite, Everclear got it right:

I'm not against money, being fairly well-off myself. There is no reason for Pagans to shun desire- be it greed, lust, ambition- only those who harm others to get what they want.

Well, given that greed is, by definition, 'too much desire', then yes, it should be shunned.

A person may feel greed, but they should not give in to it. That way leads to bad places.

edited 24th Jul '12 12:20:01 AM by InverurieJones

People aren't nearly greedy enough. Self-sacrifice and submission are integral for capitalism, as is the taking of most of our wealth by people who do not work.

No, neither of those things are required for capitalism. The inability to tell 'need' from 'want' and a tendency to want everything are all that are required.

People who willingly buy in to capitalist ideology don't believe they are sacrificing anything; they are entirely focussed on what they can gain.

Greed is the black, rotting heart of capitalism.

edited 24th Jul '12 2:58:12 AM by InverurieJones

I'm not sure you're talking about the same thing, Ten Tails.

Capitalism as-practiced seems to require (as most systems) acquiescence by those it fucks over. Generally obtained (again, like in most systems) by getting those people to feel that they deserve it.

Talking as an outsider here, so I may well be getting it entirely wrong, but a danger of paid "readings" that comes to my mind is that that sort of thing seems to attract frauds easily.

If one considers divination a part of their religion, I am not casting aspersions on that — it's not my thing, but whatever — but refusing to pay overly much for that sort of thing might be a good way to filter away the fraudsters.

That is, sadly, true of all things. As soon as people are willing to pay for a thing then those will appear who want to get the money without having to hand over or even bother having the 'thing'.

So. I've never really been able to take a close look at Paganism.

Any advice on where I should start staring?

I've always liked this website, for a start. It outlines what paganism is, gives examples of a few of the more well-known paths, links to several FA Qs and articles...

Are you thinking about following one of the pagan religions, or are you just curious?

Mostly curious.

I'm not really looking for religion at the moment, but I like to be well informed in the event that I do.

So I was looking at my Tarot cards for answers to the extremely confusing ordeal I'm undergoing, and one of the questions I asked was, "Is The-Guy-I-Call-Moritz a person or a metaphor?"

The Spiral Tower showed up going, "Congratulations! You asked the right question!"

And at first I wondered if maybe I was focusing too much on the literal meaning of the visions and ignoring any symbolism that was there (especially the new ones that have turned the symbolism Up to Eleven), but then Aengus reminded me that when I actually did that, they only stopped for a couple of weeks and then started up again.

So I've realized that whenever I try to pick "metaphor" or "literal, " I never feel content for long because "it's just a metaphor" is giving up on possibilities and "they're literal visions" means that I'm missing out on the symbolism.

Tealdeer?

Me: "Are all these visions literally the future, or just a metaphor?"

Universe: Both.

edited 28th Jul '12 6:33:20 PM by Sharysa

Oh Castor, what a day.

So I had planned on going canoeing with a friend of mine today: we'd been planning it for a couple of weeks now and were both pretty excited to go, since it had been years since either of us had been canoeing.

I had a look at my cards this morning and asked them what kind of a day I could look forward to. I drew the Two of Cups.

I immediately knew what the card was telling me: "Love is in the air." :/ I kind of brushed it aside, though, thinking "nah, this can't be anything romantic that it's talking about! It's got to be creativity or something like that..."

But it wasn't, and I knew that. And sure enough, my friend asked me out.

Sooo...what a day, hahahaha.

edited 29th Jul '12 3:33:51 PM by Iulla

Ihave been instructed to build a clock or some sort of brass object. Apparently I need to make things again, learn to focus properly again.

Seems reasonable.

I'm currently plagued by thoughts and dreams of draugar. This can't be good.

May I ask if anyone knows any decent online resources for Celtic/Irish mythology?

Sacred-texts.com, ancient-mythology.com, and timeless-myths.com are really good general sources with Celtic and Irish collections.

Also, I've finally managed to pin down why I keep trying to spiritually "find" the people in my visions. Time to see if Aengus can figure that shit out.

edited 3rd Aug '12 10:40:05 AM by Sharysa

Thank you.

...So apparently, the Grail Maiden's constant statements that I need to "reconnect/regain my lost childhood" was meant literally.

Because apparently, I needed to find the missing bit of my soul representing my childhood.

On the plus side, I finally know what the boy in my visions looks like. He's gorram Adorkable.

I really didn't appreciate Aengus Og laughing at me, though.

Apparently I have the rabbit as my current totem animal. I've never really put much stock in "totem animals", but...for me to be seeing it right now is just too much of a coincidence.

I'm not really sure what to do with this information. Guess I'll meditate on it.

I never really thought much of totem animals, either. I thought it was just a sort of 'ooh, look at me, I'm cool like a wolf!' kind of thing.

Then I did some, well, 'journeying' they call it, at a meeting with some shamanic-types that I went along to with my girlfriend (as she was at the time) because she was interested in these things.

That's when I found Boar and things have never been the same since.

I'm not sure if 'totem' is the right word for what he is, but looking back it seems he's been there all my life, in coats of arms, logos and insignia of organisations and establishments I've belonged to. Wherever I've been, a boar has been there somewhere.

Funnily enough, when I told my girlfriend about Boar she said 'Well, that makes sense'. Obvious to all but me, I guess.

edited 5th Aug '12 11:13:30 AM by InverurieJones

Boar as in the species or boar as in the generic term for a male hog?

Boar as in the species.

Gotcha.

Holy shit. Holy gorram shit.

Not only did the Teenaged Bit of my soul come back, I may have found the "Moritz" figure in my visions.

And Aengus keeps saying "almost" in that REALLY positive "almost there"/"you almost found him" way, so... FKLDSJLKSALKNGFA.

HOLY SHIT.

I have to snicker at people who boast about having a "cool" totem animal. Totems/spirit animals/power animals are not reflections of your soul (whatever that means); they are animals that have something to teach you. In other words, what that animal represents is something you're missing. Chew on that for a while.