Why don’t you write about what your Gods tell you? Do They have nothing to say to anyone else?
There’s a lot of reasons why I don’t talk about what goes on between myself and my little Trio os mis-matched Gods. The biggest one happens to fall along the lines of what is a private conversation is a private conversation. Certainly, there is a lot of stuff going on in the world around us where the Gods may wish to involve Themselves or want to communicate something. But that’s not the conversations I’ve had. Much of those interactions are meant directly for me and are typically nudges to keep me on a Path that I’ve promised to keep.
To be honest, I’m skeptical when I hear people claiming to be a mouthpiece for the Gods. That even includes the Christian preachers that clamber for tv and radio time to proclaim their “message from God”. Most of that piles into power dynamics. The usage of such claims to hold power and sway over others. Probably the most distasteful thing I’ve encountered within religious perspectives in my lifetime.
I’m wary when people start saying that something is true because “[X] person received a revelation from the Gods.” As I’ve said before, this is probably one of the largest reasons that I stay within myself for my Pagan and Druid paths. I just refuse to let anyone have dominion over myself…with the sole exception of myself. Human beings tend to disappoint me when it comes to group leadership.
Don’t the Gods tell you to go back to the way things were? When Their worship was more pure, more raw?
You mean reconstructionism? Sorry, I don’t have a desire to live in the Past. Reconstructionist perspectives have never appealed to me. There here, the now, today – that’s where my footfalls are at. When the wind blows through the branches, its now. Tomorrow, its new wind, a new message, a new voice.
I’m not “special” because of Coyote, Crow or Abnoba. I’m special because I am here, I am unique. Same holds true for you…even if you do not hear any of the Gods whispering in your ears or can discern the voices upon the winds. You exist. The Gods exist. Your connections to the world around you exist. The only time I will doubt you is when you claim that you know the ONLY way to make it through life. You alone have the ear of the Gods. You alone understand the voives on the winds racing through the tree branches. There are at least twenty different routes between myself and my local grocer’s, just two miles away. And I haven’t even counted ways to float there by hot air balloon. No one individual holds the truth…except yourself. For yourself.
This is a shorter blog post than most. Because I don’t have a ton to say here. My Gods have quiet, private conversations with me that relate to where I am on my own life’s Path. They don’t have advice for how to keep Russia from slaughtering Ukrainians. They don’t have information to change the minds of radical right-wing nut-jobs. They don’t because They aren’t there to fix our issues here in this realm. The Gods are not prayer machines that bestow presents upon us for our prayers and devotion. I’m not sure I would be able to withstand a relationship with a God that went that route. I certainly couldn’t withstand a relationship with a person that would be in that manner. I’ve been there. I’ve done that. I’ve walked away. If I can’t sustain myself in such a situation in a mortal realm, how could I tolerate the same with a relationship with a God or Goddess?
I realize this is starting to ramble along…so I’ll bring this to a close here. Hopefully, this stuff makes sense to someone. ::shrug::
–T /|\
Life With Trickster Gods 
Honestly, I don’t see why reconstructionism has so much appeal to people. It smacks of the “Make America Great Again” mentality. What do people want to go back to exactly?
If they want to go back to a time before Christianity, good luck. Christianity has done a great deal of harm throughout the world, yes, but the religion isn’t the problem…it’s the love of power, of wealth. There are other instances in history where it wasn’t Christianity doing the damage, but others, hiding behind the façade of religious fervor. And it still happens, like in the middle east with fundamentalist Islam. The religion isn’t the problem, it’s the greed and desire for domination of the leaders.
Do they want to go back to a time of tribal government? Clans and family groups? That’s fine, but good luck getting our national governments to allow you to.
Is it the idea that social values were better? Life was somehow more fulfilling, less stressful? Tell that to all of our ancestors who saw their children die of illness and starvation, who had to eek out an existence from a world where the adaptable survived and the unadaptable perished.
Nature is beautiful and wonderful, she nurtures us and gives us life – but I feel like many people forget that Nature can be cruel and heartless as well. There are no breaks. You have to be strong, you have to adapt – or you die.
Reconstructionism is great in its proper place. Scholarly debate, research and the relearning of ancient wisdom is awesome and has immeasurable value. But sometimes I feel like Reconstructionism as a movement, needs to pick and chooses what it wants to replicate, take what is helpful and good, and leave the stuff that does harm in the past. There are plenty of things that don’t need to come back:
-human sacrifice
-animal sacrifice
-child marriages
-slavery
-raiding and pillaging
-injustices that hinge on ethnic or religious mandates and doctrines
I’m sorry if this is long, but Reconstructionism – when expressed and pursued with almost religious (no pun intended) fervor – frightens me to some extent.
You can’t undo history, there’s no ‘going back’. You can only learn from it and ensure you don’t repeat it.
Great post as always Tommy.
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>If they want to go back to a time before Christianity, good luck.
I’n not too sure that this is entirely the point of Reconstructionists. More like, at least from my understanding, to take their spiritual practices back to “the way it was” for what they believe is “more authenticity.” Still not my cup of tea, so to speak. I agree that sometimes Reconstructionists can be quite zealous in their perspectives…their viewpoint, after all, is quite fundamentalist in its approach. I don’t believe that they would want to bring back things like child marriages, human sacrifices, and the such. Again, according to my understanding, they want to approach their beliefs from a perspective that they see as more “pure and appropriate” which directly correlates to the “Old Ways” in their eyes. Again, not my cup of tea. If it works for them, and it harms no one…bully for their approach. When they start saying that mine or other peoples’ approaches are not authentic because we’re not using their model (something I’ve never heard directly from a Reconstructionist)…then I have a problem and an issue with their approach.
I’m of the same perspective: History is already written. All you can do is write notes in the margins. The Present is written now. But that doesn’t mean that the Present can’t be word-for-word copying from the Past. My preference would be for such copying be annotated, and potentially even updated, to provide for the differences between what was and what is.
I hope all of that makes some kind of sense. I’ll blame it on low blood sugars… 😉
BTW…thanks for being kind about the post…its DEFINITELY not a coherent piece…and I’ll likely visit it again at some point in the future, when I don’t have fifty-billion things going on at once. But I appreciate the kind words (as well as the likes)….
–T /|\
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