Path: shell.portal.com!svc.portal.com!sdd.hp.com!swrinde!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.kei.com!intac!lilith.necronomi.com!Cthulhu From: Clifford Low Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.pagan,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.christian,alt.satanism Subject: Re: CHLow: Dark/Light Neopaganism (Was Re: Dark roygbiv Light) Date: 5 Jan 1996 07:04:25 GMT Organization: Dragonglory Enterprises Lines: 67 Distribution: world Message-ID: <4ciihp$s37@uucp.intac.com> References: <4chbmq$cf0@falcon.sat.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: lilith.necronomi.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Newsreader: Nuntius 2.0.4_68K X-XXMessage-ID: X-XXDate: Fri, 5 Jan 1996 06:37:25 GMT Xref: shell.portal.com alt.magick.tyagi:6070 alt.pagan:139854 talk.religion.misc:197817 alt.religion.christian:79298 alt.satanism:31772 In article <4chbmq$cf0@falcon.sat.net> Mandrake .....the Bard, mandrake@sat.net writes: >would frequently invoke the favor of the gods in ritual, and would "sacrifice" >favorite items of weaponry for this purpose. Blood sacrifice was rare in these >cases, and according to accounts was only done in a case of last resort, when >facing a defeat. Further evidence of the existence of object sacrifice may be Well, here you've stepped into a quandry. Why would blood sacrifice be thought of as the most critical of sacrifices. In an emergency, they don't reach for what they value intrinsically- but what their gods like to sup upon- blood. >>We make a big assumption here- that your gods actually give a shit about >>what you value over what they value. If gods command worship with blood, >>but you think flowers are more pretty- what kind of reaction can you >>expect from them? > > I do my best and I expect the gods to act as they see fit. That's all any >of us can do. But, yes, I DO assume that my gods give a s***. Perhaps then, we should redefine them as "glorified familiars" rather than "gods". If they do what you want them to and only ask for scraps you throw them, they're pets. If you are the person deciding what goes in the food tray, who is in control? Why would an entity of any significant power submit to your whims, a mere 20th century witch who treats him/her like a plaything? If your gods asked you for an offering of something difficult- like human hearts- and you would abandon them for such requirements; how can you assume they wouldn't ditch you the minute _you_ asked for something tricky? Perhaps they already assessed you as this sort of squeamish person and have no intention of throwing you any big favors. Someone who offers little, and seems content with getting trinkets and statements of shallow wisdom as rewards. Your dedication has it's limits- convenience and aesthetics. Why wouldn't the tables be turned on you? >>Also, go check _serious_ books on Greek mythology and archeology, not >>kiddie ones. Pan was the god of rape and madness; Priapus was more lust >>oriented, from what I recall. > > I have chcked out such books and I still assert that Pan was more lust >oriented. Of course, rape and madness are things that can come out of lust, so >they are a part of him. But, I do not see that as having been the focus of >that particular deity. Instead I think he's another one of those who got a bad >rap from some of the people who read some mythology and said "eeuuuwwwww, how >could he do that !". Pan was a god who was feared by the Greeks. If he was just Mr. Lust, why would the Greeks be afraid of him- a people who'd be considered quite lusty by today's standards. Not people particularly skittish when it came to messin around. The word panic comes from Pan, referring to the state he inspired by his presence. Doesn't sound like Fabio on the Island of Dr. Moreau to me- sounds like a god of wildness, rape, madness and terror. Pan symbolized (if we are to use that symbolic thang) things which were out of control. That can be quite sexy, but more commonly terrifying. -CHL +----------Clifford Hartleigh Low------------+--------------------+ | Email: cthulhu@tfs.necronomi.com | familiar@intac.com | +--------------------------------------------+--------------------+ | WWW: http://tfs.necronomi.com/u/cthulhu/ | * VIOLET SHADOWS * | | Finger/Talk: Cthulhu@lilith.necronomi.com | TAINTED BUT HUNGRY | +--------------------------------------------+--------------------+