You guys need to merge some forums

Yeah, I would arrange a forum like this differently as well, but apparently some people see distinctions where I don't. All these dividers between highly related disciplines and ideas can be confusing to those who don't prefer them. In general, I thought there were far too many subforums here when I signed up.

"Paganism" and "Wicca" should probably be merged.
"Spirituality and Sexuality" should be merged with "Love and Relationships."
"Spirituality" could probably be merged with "General Beliefs" given how nebulous the word spirituality is.
"Angels and Guides" could be merged with "Faeries, Elementals, Nature Spirits, & Woodland Creatures" as they all deal with denizens of the otherworlds.
"Signs and Synchronicities" and "Astrology" could be a sub-forums of "Divination" since they are both types of divination (omens, specifically).
Something could be done with the various medium/channeling ones as well, such as having a parent forum related to the otherworlds and then subforums for "Channeling" and "Mediumship" and the like.

But I know none of this will actually get done. Just something for people to think about. Merging would definitely make these forums easier to navigate. As it is, I never actually browse anything by using the forum lists. It's too much of a pain. Instead, I go to "posts since last visit" and scroll through. What would be nice is if I could do "posts since last visit excluding certain forums I have no interest in replying to." Yeah, I know there's the advanced forum search, but it's rather unwieldily.

[Podshell]

Yes I till get confused, ideally a way of arranging and sorting ones own personalised layout would be something (although I could see that being a constant task for the poster and the board!)

Originally Posted by Quintessence

Yeah, I would arrange a forum like this differently as well, but apparently some people see distinctions where I don't. All these dividers between highly related disciplines and ideas can be confusing to those who don't prefer them. In general, I thought there were far too many subforums here when I signed up.

"Paganism" and "Wicca" should probably be merged.
"Spirituality and Sexuality" should be merged with "Love and Relationships."
"Spirituality" could probably be merged with "General Beliefs" given how nebulous the word spirituality is.
"Angels and Guides" could be merged with "Faeries, Elementals, Nature Spirits, & Woodland Creatures" as they all deal with denizens of the otherworlds.
"Signs and Synchronicities" and "Astrology" could be a sub-forums of "Divination" since they are both types of divination (omens, specifically).
Something could be done with the various medium/channeling ones as well, such as having a parent forum related to the otherworlds and then subforums for "Channeling" and "Mediumship" and the like.

But I know none of this will actually get done. Just something for people to think about. Merging would definitely make these forums easier to navigate. As it is, I never actually browse anything by using the forum lists. It's too much of a pain. Instead, I go to "posts since last visit" and scroll through. What would be nice is if I could do "posts since last visit excluding certain forums I have no interest in replying to." Yeah, I know there's the advanced forum search, but it's rather unwieldily.

I think discussion of inter-faith is very important
we should be eager to learn how things are similar and not how they are different

[norseman]

"Paganism" and "Wicca" should probably be merged."
+ Witchcraft of course !

Originally Posted by norseman

"Paganism" and "Wicca" should probably be merged."
+ Witchcraft of course !

It is kind of odd that there is not a forum for general spellcraft and magical practices. They feel lonely without a designated home. Wicca, after all, isn't really all about spellcraft but it seems to be where all those threads get stuck.

Wicca is an actual religion,
so is Spiritualism (Spiritualists National Union est. 1901)
There can be discussions relating to those specific religions.


and shouldn't be used at all

I don't care if people call themselves that or want to, its a stupid thing to call yourself. Either be specific or don't. All paganism means is any faith that is not Christian. Islamic people or Hindu people are as pagan as anyone else.

Mediumship, Channeling, Spiritualism, Pentecostalism, Shamanism, Taoism, etc... it is important I think to make these ideas one forum. To have 1 forum to talk about all of these practices together. It is also appropriate to have sub forums for each one, but a general Shamanism forum encouraging those discussions as a general thing would be welcome

I rather agree that a simpler arrangement might encourage more folks to contribute to a thread (and learn)
Yes there seems to be an overlap in some catagories.

However, I kinda ignore threads with 15+ posts , as it tends become a series of soliloquies rather than a discussion.

More talk isn't always better, and I prefer dialogue to speeches. The setup isn't perfect but seems to work for the more frequented catagories.

[norseman]

Originally Posted by Quintessence

It is kind of odd that there is not a forum for general spellcraft and magical practices. They feel lonely without a designated home. Wicca, after all, isn't really all about spellcraft but it seems to be where all those threads get stuck.

Exactly ! Wicca is just a new branch off an ancient tree i.e. Witchcraft.

A lot of work has gone into educating the public that all shamans seek the same experiences and goals. There are differences region to region but a forum like this has tremendous power to truly educate on shamanism in this way, by grouping discussion together.

[Avilucis]

Originally Posted by Quintessence

It is kind of odd that there is not a forum for general spellcraft and magical practices. They feel lonely without a designated home. Wicca, after all, isn't really all about spellcraft but it seems to be where all those threads get stuck.

It would be good to have a magical forum, Enochian magic etc.