Power of Prayer...

[Dargor]

Originally Posted by davidmartin

Slayer I find your pessimism rather uplifting, I can tell you've been around monks. I find your posts are honest but behind the veil there is something that would answer your every question

I still am since I literally work and converse with them on a daily base, but thanks though. I'm not sure which veil you mean but I'm sure I already know the answers to a lot of things, although most of the truth I learned doesn't exactly amuse me at all.

[davidmartin]

Originally Posted by SlayerOfLight

I still am since I literally work and converse with them on a daily base, but thanks though. I'm not sure which veil you mean but I'm sure I already know the answers to a lot of things, although most of the truth I learned doesn't exactly amuse me at all.

that must be quite a unique experience. part of me would very easily want the monastic life. the veil i meant was all the obstacles that get in the way and hide the truth. there is almost every permutation of them including ones that almost don't like them but they are on some level obscuring things. i think the truth is unbelievably unbelievable so crazy hardly anyone would believe it

[sky]

Originally Posted by lomax

By training.

That's a very clever question sky123,but it's a topic that doesn't fit here.
I feel uncomfortable to talk about my training,and i don't want to wreck slayer's thread.
(But i stand for what i said).

But it fitted in when you advised it on Slayers Post

[sky]

Originally Posted by davidmartin

that must be quite a unique experience. part of me would very easily want the monastic life. the veil i meant was all the obstacles that get in the way and hide the truth. there is almost every permutation of them including ones that almost don't like them but they are on some level obscuring things. i think the truth is unbelievably unbelievable so crazy hardly anyone would believe it

" I think the truth is unbelievably unbelievable so crazy hardly anyone would believe "

I personally think life is so simple that we choose to make it complicated

[davidmartin]

Originally Posted by sky123

" I think the truth is unbelievably unbelievable so crazy hardly anyone would believe "

I personally think life is so simple that we choose to make it complicated

yes sky that's what I meant. the complications hide things by confusing them, but people believe in the things surrounding what is simple and couldn't believe it if it were not so, like I mean, the truth about Jesus

[LadyMay]

Originally Posted by SlayerOfLight

But let me offer you some words of my own wisdom: Believing in an invisible friend and the magic of prayers is all fun and games until your life suddenly hits rock bottom and there's literally nothing you can do about it, and no amount of prayer, not even if the entire world prays for you, is gonna move a single grain of sand. That's how I got my wake up call to leave religion.

I have been through it, and it goes back to what No One says, ultimately it's not about prayers being answered, it's about relationship and having a friend up there somewhere you know will never leave you. Who is by your side through the worst of it even when you can't feel them. For many reasons we can't always get what we want in prayer but we can always have a friend. Even if they are imaginary in the end honestly what's the problem with that if they help? Studies have shown religion used in a positive, beneficial way can really aid and support someone through hard times. Of course, a lot of religion is used in the opposite way, negatively, and it's easy to become disconnected from it.

The Goddess has always been here for me, She's never left my side, I might not always get everything I pray for (though, I would say a good 80% of the time I do), but it's Her support and friendship which is the most beneficial of all. Knowing or believing that someone or something cares enough about you to stick around in the worst of it. I may go through tough times but that's just what it means to be human, and I will love Her regardless as I know She loves me. And again what if it's all just imaginary and a projection? Then I am just loving myself in a round about way, being my own support and friend.

I don't pray for the benefits, I pray for the relationship, but the benefits come along anyway as a result of the relationship. Just like any human relationship. Your best friend will do whatever favours they are able to for you. And it's the same with Deity. I don't think Deity necessarily has to be all-powerful or whatever, I don't concern myself with that. I just think if my 'best friend' can help then that's great and I appreciate it a lot. If She can't then it's not a problem, I will try and find some other way.

[NoOne]

Originally Posted by SlayerOfLight

Well when I was a Christian I tried very hard to build a relationship with the non cross-dressed God, even going so far as to make an utter fool of myself. And as well placing all my trust in him despite my numerous personal issues he never bothered to look at. But let me offer you some words of my own wisdom: Believing in an invisible friend and the magic of prayers is all fun and games until your life suddenly hits rock bottom and there's literally nothing you can do about it, and no amount of prayer, not even if the entire world prays for you, is gonna move a single grain of sand. That's how I got my wake up call to leave religion.

I think we think very similarly SOL, in fact I can recognise my earlier self and thought process in you.

I realise that our relationship with the Goddess and deities in general sounds a bit mad, or perhaps something akin to wishful thinking. The phrase "imaginary friend" is used quite a lot in this context although I noticed you made a slight adjustment and went for "invisible friend", which is a crucial difference.

It would take a very lengthy conversation between us to go through all the different aspects of the divine and how it can affect your life. I don't wish to attack Christianity either, but to me, that aspect of the Divine did not bring any results or revealed itself to me in any form. I simply cannot say whether the Christian God (or Jesus) is real or has any power over this world, because I lack the personal experience to make a judgement on it.

All I can say is that the deities I have been in contact with are entirely real, have answered prayers, sometimes very directly and promptly, have touched me physically, healed me and have visited, physically touched and healed others when I asked them to, on more than one occasion. When that sort of thing happens, you simply cannot deny the evidence in front of your eyes and you have to accept that they are real beings.

It is true that they are invisible to our physical senses and scientific instruments, because of their higher-dimensional nature, nevertheless, for me at least, their existence is not in any doubt whatsoever, and I am a highly skeptical and scientifically-minded person who doesn't just accept something as real without some sort of proof or evidence.

[LadyMay]

Originally Posted by sky123

What is Magick and how does it work?

Magick is traditionally defined as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will".

The basic premise is that everything is connected, so by causing change to one thing on a smaller microcosmic level (using tools and such), you can cause it to happen on the larger microcosmic level (creating change in the real world around you).

It's not like pulling stuff out of thin air, it is more like the ability to subtly influence cause-and-effect on a spiritual-material level. It is about becoming the spinner of your own wheel of fate.

I do magick for the things I can and petition the Goddess for the things I cannot (for example in the case of some magick being too advanced for me). It is like asking a mentor for aid, and I learn in the process. But like I said I do wonder if just the act of desiring something so intently that I pray for it creates the 'change in conformity with will' by itself, considering I have already mastered the fundamentals of that.

[NoOne]

Originally Posted by LadyMay

I have been through it, and it goes back to what No One says, ultimately it's not about prayers being answered, it's about relationship and having a friend up there somewhere you know will never leave you. Who is by your side through the worst of it even when you can't feel them. For many reasons we can't always get what we want in prayer but we can always have a friend. Even if they are imaginary in the end honestly what's the problem with that if they help? Studies have shown religion used in a positive, beneficial way can really aid and support someone through hard times. Of course, a lot of religion is used in the opposite way, negatively, and it's easy to become disconnected from it.

The Goddess has always been here for me, She's never left my side, I might not always get everything I pray for (though, I would say a good 80% of the time I do), but it's Her support and friendship which is the most beneficial of all. Knowing or believing that someone or something cares enough about you to stick around in the worst of it. I may go through tough times but that's just what it means to be human, and I will love Her regardless as I know She loves me. And again what if it's all just imaginary and a projection? Then I am just loving myself in a round about way, being my own support and friend.

I don't pray for the benefits, I pray for the relationship, but the benefits come along anyway as a result of the relationship. Just like any human relationship. Your best friend will do whatever favours they are able to for you. And it's the same with Deity. I don't think Deity necessarily has to be all-powerful or whatever, I don't concern myself with that. I just think if my 'best friend' can help then that's great and I appreciate it a lot. If She can't then it's not a problem, I will try and find some other way.

Well said!

We seem to be making parallel posts today, but I do agree with you wholeheartedly. As I pointed out just a minute ago, SOL very succinctly referred to an Invisible Friend, rather than an Imaginary Friend, which is a subtle, but crucial difference.

If you made a friend online and only ever spoke to them via chat or skype, they would actually qualify as an invisible friend. Even though they can't be with you physically, because of the distance involved or some other reason, they are still important to your life and still entirely real, despite their lack of physical presence in your life.

[LadyMay]

Originally Posted by davidmartin

maybe you have a more whole understanding of God through the divine feminine that is helpful. I do see God and within and beyond gender and not unlike your beautiful goddess. i'm not into magick unless there is a kind that is for the divine will, but I get what your basically saying. your not so far from Jesus (based on feelings not that i'm speaking for him!)

Thank you, that surprisingly means a lot to me, I appreciate your sharing